UPeepz has won its Duels round at the World of Dance, earning the Filipino dance crew a spot in the semis of the Hollywood competition.
UPeepz social media confirmed that the group is moving on to the next round of The Duels at the NBC World of Dance Season 4 after its creative “Bellboys” performance on Tuesday morning (Philippine Time).
“We’re going to the semis! Definitely enjoyed The Duels,” announced UPeepz on Facebook.
“Thank you and have a safe flight home. We’re staying for the next round!” UPeepz tweeted using a screengrab of their dance routine that sent their competition the message.
UPeepz went up against another hip-hop dance crew, The Rise, in Episode 6 aired today, July 1, 2020, at 10 AM PH time. The group danced to “Hotel Room Service” by Pitbull with a hotel bellboy visual concept, utilizing dance moves like tutting, lifting, impressive dance poses, and storytelling detail at the end which included the “hotel staff” giving their competition “The Rise” a plane ticket home.
The group received praise from globally known top-celebrity Jennifer Lopez.
“I love this concept,” says Lopez about the routine. “The tricks you used weren’t tricks for maximum ‘oh my god, danger’, but they were tricks that worked with the musicality. They really accented the story, it was such a well-choreographed, well put together routine.”
Even more, the star tweeted that UPeepz “just brought IT to the stage”, making it very difficult for her to judge who the winner was. The praises coming from JLo are especially valuable because, at the Qualifiers, she was initially the most hesitant to let UPeepz advance to the Duels.
https://twitter.com/JLo/status/1278156174102351878
World of Dance also commended the group tweeting that their “moves are on point”.
Ne-Yo said the routine was still excellent despite some parts that needed and he acknowledges that The Rise was still “going to have to work for it”.
Things got complicated or you could say, ‘spicy’, when guest judge and “So You Think You Can Dance” alumnus Stephen “Twitch” Boss got into a disagreement with Jennifer Lopez. He mentions that the visuals are “dope”, but they needed more formations. JLo steps up and explains why Twitch was wrong, shouting with passion, “Twitch, I disagree!”
The 6-time Dancing with the Stars champion, Derek Hough, joined the discussion by praising UPeepz’ great concept, synchronicity, and tightness of the moves.
Ultimately, UPeepz made the Philippines proud by taking the win and will come back on the next round to deliver another entertaining and fantastic dance performance.
This venture is not UPeepz’ first, already known for making a statement in the dance community. They originated as a dance team out of the University of the Philippines (UP) and went on to blaze a trail of championships across the globe.
UPeepz won the 15th World Hiphop Dance Championship held in Las Vegas, returned to become two-time World Champions, and garnered the 1st runner up title in the 2019 Body Rock Dance Competition in San Diego, California.
Their Peepz branding is recognized in the “World of Dance”, since their junior crew, VPeepz, was crowned the division champs in Season 3 under the direction of UPeepz team captain and choreographer Chips Beltran.
UPeepz is eyeing to continue this legacy by also winning as champions in this 2020 season of the World of Dance.
WATCH the performance here and SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to UPeepz for yet another captivating performance that gave them a pass to the next round in the World of Dance!
Want to know how to be a Proud Pinoy? Like, Follow, Subscribe to GoodNewsPilipinas.com, and our socials Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Good News Pilipinas! TV on YouTube, for new story notifications, and e-mail newsletters for updates on more Filipino Pride stories.
