World of Dance, By the Numbers – Week 3
So…why are the Jabbawockeez allowed to be mellow and Ian Eastwood isn’t? Just asking. They didn’t get a significantly higher score than Ian did, but the commentary was very, very different. I think that even these judges are susceptible to star power – and make no mistake, the Jabbawockeez are already stars. Well established stars who had their own Vegas show, am I right?
So that begs the question that I’ve seen floating around the internet: is it fair to have well established dance stars compete against complete unknowns? It’s hardly the same as DWTS, where the public votes and therefore it gives the a leg up in terms of fanbase. And, unlike some other sites, I do draw a pretty hard line between Jabbawockeez and someone like Fik-shun. I don’t think Fik-shun is either well established nor a millionaire so I don’t have a problem with him competing at all. But having the Jabbawockeez compete is almost like having Derek himself compete – he’s famous and probably no longer needs the money, although it’s always nice. 🙂 So…is it “fair”?
I’m going to vote yes up until they actually win. 🙂 It’s a dance competition open to anyone and I think these judges are more than capable of not being continually blinded by Jabbawockeez. I even think that Jabbawockeez (along with other well-known acts in the dance world) will be handicapped – their own bar is set very high and they run the risk of letting the judges down. Already you saw it with Derek expressing that he was a big fan of the isolations, implying he likes that over the “groove” they had going on on this show. So, I think for now it balances out. As long as whoever they go up against in the duel doesn’t get intimidated by them. And if they go all the way, I reserve the right to be pissed off. 😉
Although, Jabbawockeez going all the way would be preferable to having a contemporary dancer shoved down my throat on yet another dance show. Jaysus, people – The Mihacevich Sisters and Eva Igo from this week were standouts, but the others were no better than any of the other dancers that have been on the show. Yet that style has gotten the final dance three weeks in a row. I find that highly annoying and I sure do hope that that’s not a harbinger of things to come.
My favorite act was Ian Eastwood. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he is cute as a bug and I like his style. 🙂 Anyway, enough rambling. Here are all the scores to date:
So, I don’t quite know what to make of the fact that we’ve only seen 31 of the 45-plus acts that were announced as competing on this show. I have to assume that those we didn’t see just didn’t qualify and they didn’t feel like showing them, in the interest of time. I also can’t decide if I appreciate that fact or if I would prefer to see more of those who didn’t make it. Since this is the first season of the show, I think we’re going to have to wait until it’s all over to dissect what we liked and what we didn’t – and make our voices heard. I would think with the ratings this show is getting there will be another season. They have a chance to tweak it.
As much as I complain about the contemporary focus, you’ll note that when it comes to scores, they don’t make an appearance in the leaderboard as high up as you might think. See below – I figured, for tonight, that this table might come in handy. The acts are sorted based on average score in the qualifiers – highest to lowest.
Interesting. Perhaps I’ll be able to make more of it after tonight’s show. 🙂 Also possibly helpful – the dancers sorted by group and by average score.
The data sorted this way certainly implies a focus on the Upper group – which makes sense since they likely have far more years of experience than they younger folks and the teams have to work a bit hard to keep everything in sync.
I’ll be watching tonight to see if the qualifier scores have any kind of impact or if it is a clue as to who’s going to win what. But first we have to see how this is all going to work. I’m thrilled to see Kinjaz and The Lab at the top of their categories. But I hope it’s not going to be a very predictable “high scorers demolish low scorers”. We’ll see.
So, do you see any other trends that I might be missing?
If you’re just finding this site, you can find previous number posts and previous power rankings – and get reading before showtime tonight. 🙂
Every established dancer or group of dancers bring their own fanbase. I still think some of the star power on the show is stunt casting to create interest and buzz sustain the ratings and showcase their talent. No doubt by being on the show an established act will be able to give everyone a sneak peak of their next project, and I think that was probably the pitch of the producers. I predict that it will be a relative unknown who will take it all. I don’t think any of the big names will win.
Not sure what to make of all of this yet. I admit to being bored with some dances and I don’t like the fact that we haven’t seen some of the 45. I still don’t like duels or dance offs with different styles, team composition (soloist versus team or duo, etc.). It makes it very hard to evaluate one dance style versus another….I am not a hip hop fan and would always prefer another style if pitted one against another in a duel. Also a team competing against a soloist???? Team has to display unison while soloist has spotlight only on them. When my daughter competed, like was judged against like (style, age group, team versus solo, etc.). Seems more fair when we are talking about a million….I am Very glad, however, to watch something other than reruns and DWTS which has lost it’s glow for me. Not sure I would watch, or will continue to watch, without Derek.
It’s gotta be a little tough for these judges because I think they are even more scrunized by the fans because a lot of the dancers are famous or well known to the dance community. I noticed a lot of comments on Twitter that made me feel that way. I know they say Ne-Yo is the toughest judge but IMO Derek is the only judge who seems to not be afraid to call out the star dancers like Jabbawockeez or Fik-Shun as he expects more from them.