"World of Dance" Finale Recap: Five-to-One Odds

Last night’s “World of Dance” Season 3 Finale was WAY too much—and we mean that in the best way possible. There was a rousing, million-dollar-worthy opening number to Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes.” Then, Derek Hough snuck out from behind the judges’ table to perform with Season 2 rockstars Michael Dameski and Charity and Andres. And Derek wasn’t the only judge on his feet: Ne-Yo sang a couple of his most recognizable tunes as DS faves (and illustrious “WOD” alums, dzuh) Ian Eastwood and Sean and Kaycee slayed absolutely everything. Even last season’s champs The Lab got back on the “WOD” floor, performing a tribute to J.Lo that radiated perfection well beyond their years. And all FIVE finalists got their last chance to leave it all on the dance floor before the newest world champions were crowned—pun intended. 🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾🤴🏾

Briar Nolet—92.7

After announcing to J.Lo in her mentoring session that her goal was to prove that “one woman can win this thing” (YAS), Nolet showed why she’s the Upper Division champ with this haunting solo. The second half of her performance couldn’t quite live up to the dramatically acrobatic opener (just watch the video and you’ll understand), but don’t cry for Briar—she’ll be a special guest on J.Lo’s imminent 25-city “It’s My Party” tour of North America, along with The Lab and Swing Latino. Casual.

VPeepz—93.7

Next up were the very cute VPeepz from the Philippines, delivering so. Much. Energy! It broke our hearts when these “so dope” (Derek Hough’s words) pint-size peeps were eliminated despite their high score and even higher level of precision, but we have a feeling that the world hasn’t seen the last of this tiny-but-fierce crew.

Ellie and Ava—95.0

In case it somehow slipped your mind, let us just remind you that these two are 13 and 15 years old. As Hough said, their incredible showing on “WOD” (last night included) is just “the first chapter in Ellie & Ava’s story.” Both are incredible dancers in their own right, but there’s just something about the insane synchronicity you achieve when you’re as close as sisters—or literally are sisters, like these two. As Ne-Yo said, “The grace and the elegance—you guys are the most beautiful dancers we’ve seen on this stage.”

Unity LA—95.7

Unity LA came into this final round as underdogs—and yet not. As the judges’ Wild Card pick from last week, they weren’t divisional champs like the other four finalists. But J.Lo emphasized that Unity LA actually had the second-highest score overall from last week, reminding us that they absolutely deserved to take the stage on the last night of Season 3. And as Derek said, “The innovation and the choreography are just sensational.”

The Kings—100.0

Okay, so this one came out of NOWHERE. The Kings had come into their joint mentoring session with just 30 seconds of choreography prepared, which perplexed the judges. Turns out there was zero reason to fear, though—a couple of days later, their routine had magically morphed into a blockbuster-worthy spectacular of unbelievable stunts and heart-stopping synchronicity. J.Lo even said they brought a whole new level of excitement to the competition. So it wasn’t really a surprise when The Kings took home the million dollars. Congrats, gentlemen!