World of Dance

.

male announcer: For the last three weeks...

announcer: The best dancers in the world...

announcer: Have lit up the "World of Dance" stage.

But tonight...

It gets serious.

It's the Duels.

The acts go head-to-head for a place

in the next round...

The Cut. - It's a dance battle, baby.

announcer: It's the biggest...

announcer: Toughest...

most intense round of the competition yet.

Whoa!

That's what I'm talking about!

When we said the "World of Dance"

was the biggest dance competition in the world,

we told you we were not playing.

announcer: The acts will be awarded points

from 0 to 20 in each of the 5 categories--

Performance...

Technique...

Choreography...

Creativity...

and Presentation--

for a maximum possible score of 100.

The act with the highest score in each Duel

wins a place in the next round, the Cut.

The loser is eliminated.

The stakes have never been higher.

You're going into the lion's den right now...

And you have to go for blood.

announcer: Pressure is on.

I wouldn't want to follow that.

announcer: Two acts enter...

Let's see who made it to the next round.

announcer: Only one survives.

You're through to the next round!

Congratulations!

announcer: Please welcome your host,

Jenna Dewan Tatum.

Your judges,

Derek Hough...

NE-YO...

and Jennifer Lopez.

Tonight, we are turning up the heat.

The top-scoring acts from the Qualifiers

have chosen who they want to face in the Duels.

The Duels start now.

Okay, guys, congrats for getting through the Qualifiers.

Good job!

Fik-Shun, as the second-highest scorer,

it's time to make your decision.

Who do you pick?

As a soloist, I picked another soloist.

Nick Daniels. - Awesome!

Whoo!

announcer: For the first Duel of the competition,

former "So You Think You Can Dance?" winner Fik-Shun,

chose contemporary dancer, Nick Daniels.

What we loved about Fik-Shun's first performance

was the surprise of it, actually.

You don't normally see hip-hop soloists

doing something so vulnerable.

My parents have always been separated.

I just always tried to be the one in the middle

to bring them together.

Now, Nick, he also blew us away.

Here's a kid out of nowhere.

Crazy flexibility, ridiculous strength.

Your range of movement is endless.

Parts that I connected to the most, you just lost control.

He doesn't just match Fik-Shun in raw emotion,

he might outshine him.

What was the thought behind that dance?

About three years ago, my dad passed away.

This dance was releasing

all the negativity it's brought to me.

Are you nervous about anything?

I'm, like, taking a risk because the meat of it

is gonna be more freestyle.

That's just, like, who you are.

No one can freestyle like you can.

Fik-Shun picked a song that has a breakdown in the middle,

which will allow him to show off his faster work,

his precision, and really bring that "wow" factor.

That's a smart move.

Nick is pushing himself and his amazingly flexible body

to the limit.

Whoo! Ay-yi-yi!

And he's trying to cram in as many power moves as he can

to rack up points.

Did you have to change your dance around?

- Absolutely. - Did you do any--you did?

I added a lot of more "wow" moments,

more emotion, and everything.

Nick is an amazing dancer.

I'm really thinking like, "Man, like,

I could have just picked my doom."

Fik-Shun has such a big name in the dance world,

so I have to rise up to the occasion.

It cannot end here.

They couldn't be more different competitors.

announcer: First up, Fik-Shun.

Whoo!

Fik-Shun, the control that you have over your body

is unprecedented.

I'm like, "What?"

That little backbend head thing?

That was awesome.

The most awesome part about that

is that you knew how sick it was

and you just stayed down there for a minute.

You know what I mean?

And I love the way you play with the music.

Your musicality might be the best in the competition.

How much of what you do is freestyle versus choreographed?

Uh...80%.

Um-- - Jeez!

Would you say that this routine

was more freestyle than your last routine?

- Yes. - See, I felt that.

And I don't necessarily want to feel that

all the time, you know what I mean?

But you brought the energy, definitely.

Great job. - All right.

Time to lock in the score.

Nick, go show us what you got.

Nick, you got your work cut out.

Yes!