'World of Dance' wraps "The Duels" with 7 acts advancing, Jabbawockeez shockingly ousted

World of Dance concluded "The Duels" and advanced seven acts to the next round during Tuesday night's broadcast of the new NBC reality competition series executive produced and judged by Jennifer Lopez.


Tuesday night's episode featured the last set of duels in which two dance acts from the same division compete head to head on the stage for only one open spot in the next "The Cut Round."

Lopez and her fellow judges, Grammy Award-winning singer Ne-Yo and six-time Dancing with the Stars champion Derek Hough, advanced seven dance acts after they won their respective battles during the sixth episode of the season.

Those winning acts were Ian Eastwood and The Young Lions, a jazz and funk act from Los Angeles, CA; Immabeast, a hip-hop act from Los Angeles, CA; Luka and Jenalyn Cabaret, a ballroom duo from Toronto, Canada; Pasion, a flamenco dancer from Santa Barbara, CA; Chapkis Dance Family, a hip-hop act from Bay Area, CA; Kinjaz, an urban dance act from Los Angeles, CA; and The Mihacevich Sisters, a contemporary act from Brunswick, OH.

Eight dance acts were therefore eliminated: D'Angelo & Amanda, a ballroom duo and former Live to Dance winners and America's Got Talent finalists from Miami, FL; Mini Request, a hip-hop act from New Zealand; DNA, a ballroom act from New York, NY; Kings Unite, a hip-hop act from Los Angeles, CA; Jabbawockeez, a hip-hop act and former America's Best Dance Crew winners from Sacramento, CA; Rhythmatic, a tap act from New York, NY; Rouge, a hip-hop and jazz act from Los Angeles, CA; and Stroll Groove, a step dance act from Los Angeles, CA.


The three divisions are Junior (any size act ages 17 and under), Upper (groups from 1-4 people ages 18 and older) and Team (groups of 5 or more dancers ages 18 and older).

Just like in The Qualifiers round, after a dance act takes the stage, Ne-Yo, Jennifer And Derek each determine a score from 1-20 points in each of the following five categories: Performance, technique, choreography, creativity, and presentation.

The highest score a dance act can receive is 100 points from the judging panel.

However, during each duel, the dance act to earn the highest score wins and moves onto the next round, sending the opposing contestant, duo, trio or group home.

Based on the scores given in The Qualifiers round, the dance acts with the highest scores in each division were allowed to pick their opponents for the duels.


Kinjaz -- who placed first in the Team division -- dueled it out against Stroll Groove, who finished in tenth place in The Qualifiers round.

Ne-Yo told the Kinjaz their performance showed how you win a competition like this because they mastered subtle and explosive moves. Derek also called it "a million dollar routine."

Kinjaz therefore received a score of 91.3 against Stroll Groove's total score of only 81.3.

For the Upper division, fifth-place finishers Luka and Jenalyn squared off against DNA, who placed seventh on the leaderboard in the first round.

The judges scored Luka and Jenalyn 88.7 points compared to DNA's 80.3 points.


Immabeast competed against Mini Request in the Team division. Immabeast received 86.0 points from the judges, while Mini Request earned 85.7 points.

For the Upper division, Pasion racked in 87.3 points compared to Kings Unite, who received 83.7 points from Jennifer, Ne-Yo and Derek.

Chapkis Dance Family won its team battle against Rhythmatic with 88.7 points. Rhythmatic earned only 86.3 points.

The Mihacevich Sisters faced off against D'Angelo & Amanda as members of the Junior division. The sisters won the duel with 81 points compared to the 78.7 points D'Angelo & Amanda earned.

The big shock of the night was when Ian Eastwood and The Young Lions defeated world-famous dancers, the Jabbawockeez.


During an epic three-group duel, Ian's group received 85.7 points, sending Jabbawockeez home with a close 84.7 points and Rouche home with a total of 80 points.

Derek noted it was "heartbreaking" to see the Jabbawockeez go since they are "the standard" of what World of Dance "is all about," but Jennifer pointed out Ian's group simply outdanced them in this particular routine.

The Jabbawockeez figured they were at a disadvantage going into this competition because the bar was set so high due to their great reputation and catalog of previous performances.

Ian and his lions couldn't believe they beat a group whom they've admired and looked up to for so long. 






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski