[dramatic music]
The only thing I care about in the world right now is my solo.
[dramatic music]
And next to the Intensity stage is act number 20.
This is "It's a Perfect Day for Fun."
[cheering]
[applause]
[upbeat music]
(SINGING) It's a perfect day to run and play.
It's a perfect day for fun.
The sky is blue, and all I gotta do
is hitch a ride with the sun.
I'm gonna head out West and do my best to smile
and laugh a ton 'cause it's a perfect day.
Mackenzie steps on stage and goes blank.
Please.
Keep going, keep going.
[upbeat music]
(SINGING) It's a perfect day to laugh and play.
It's a perfect day for fun.
It's a perfect day to run and play.
It's perfect day for fun.
The sky is blue, and all I got to do
is hitch a ride with the sun.
[cheering]
[applause]
That was act number 20, "It's a Perfect Day for Fun."
Mackenzie did a routine.
Could it have been better?
Yes, absolutely.
[applause]
In my solo, I forgot a split second,
and then I kept going on.
But I was worried because Abby is gonna be really mad at me.
[cheering]
Kenz, you were fabulous.
You did great.
Honey, I'm so proud.
Look, you did great.
Listen, your turns, your legs.
Well, we're off to a good start, wouldn't you say?
Yes.
[dramatic music]
I'm outside that door, and I'm hearing
the word "perfect, perfect."
You know that was not perfect, right?
You went out there and did down, straddle jump, down, stood up,
and everybody in that whole place
knew you forgot what to do.
I knew.
You know you forgot what to do.
And so did every judge and everybody
in the whole building.
Come on, Mackenzie.
You had that in the bag.
Your highest scoring elite mini soloist is
Miss Mackenzie with act number 20,
"It's a Perfect Day for Fun."
[cheering]
Congratulations to all of our elite mini soloists.
I got first place, and I'm really excited.
[applause]
I know that Abby brought me on this team to be a winner,
and she's not here.
But I still have to do my best.
Please welcome to the stage entry number 25-A. This is
Kalani performing "Unbeauty."
[applause]
[dramatic music]
(SINGING) Do you miss me at all?
Do you turn off the light when you go to sleep?
I always leave the light on.
Do you crawl on the ground?
Do you fly when you're far from above?
I always fall for someone.
When the rain comes down, are you there in your room
listening out for the thunder?
When the rain comes down, are you
where you need to be to appreciate the great unbeauty?
[applause]
I don't think anybody noticed I
forgot my dance, because I think I covered it up pretty well.
Oh, it's-- duh.
Oh, yeah.
Dang it.
And in first place, entry number 25-A, Kalani,
who performed "Unbeauty."
[applause]
Luckily, the dance gods have saved me,
and I won first place.
[upbeat music]
ABBY LEE: Everybody up here quickly!
The last time we had a hip-hop number for the ALDC,
we walked out the next week.
This group is a big deal to us.
I mean, to have five winning weeks would be phenomenal.
But this week was extremely chaotic.
Abby's looking for this eight.
Every week, someone new comes on the team,
and I just don't see us winning with a hip-hop dance.
This might be the end of our winning streak.
All right, come on, everybody.
Let's show them the notorious ALDC!
All right!
[cheering]
[upbeat music]
[applause]
--junior advanced competition with a hip-hop performance.
Please help me welcome entry number 51, Notorious ALDC.
[cheering]
[applause]
[dramatic music]
[upbeat music]
(SINGING) People come from far and wide
to move and shake and jump and slide.
If you've got soul, then jump inside.
Take your feet for a funky ride.
Flowing free without a care.
It's the hippest dance crew anywhere.
North and south and east and west, ALDC is the best.
Forget the rest.
We ain't impressed.
Hit the floor, release your stress.
If you've got flavor, step up next
and put your rhythm to the test.
Who's the best?
You know it's us.
The studio's notorious.
No need to fight, no need to fuss.
We'll always be victorious.
Who's the best?
Step up and see.
Notorious ALDC.
Who's the best?
Step up and see.
Notorious ALDC.
Rich or poor, young or old, all you need is heart and soul.
Move and shake it till you lose control.
From the shy wallflower to the dance floor pro.
Where they come from, no one knows.
At least that's how the story goes.
Moving and shaking until you lose control.
From the shy wallflower to the dance floor pro.
Get down.
You better get down.
Dance.
Get down.
[turntable scratching]
Bring it loud and let it ring.
Go ahead, girl, and do your thing.
Take the floor, lose control.
Hip-hop-hop or rock 'n roll.
We don't care.
We came to dance, to make you sing and clap your hands.
The time has come.
This is your chance.
If you're not ready, change your plans.
Who's the best?
Step up and see.
Notorious ALDC.
Who's the best?
Step up and see.
Notorious ALDC.
[applause]
Yay!
She, like, started to do it, and then
she just started improving.
Good.
Yeah, at the end.
It's fine.
Yeah.
Oh.
Wow, Maesi front and center, boom, forgets it,
doesn't know the choreography, and she is right there.
I can even sense Abby just squirming in her seat
because Abby knows exactly what just happened with Maesi
forgetting the piece.
I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, Jaime, if I were you.
In third place--
[dramatic music]
--number 51, Notorious ALDC.
[applause]
Maesi definitely destroyed our winning streak.
She might as well just hauled off
and shot it dead in the foot.
She was standing in front of girls
who are better than her doing the choreography
that nobody gave her.
When you looked at the group on stage, all you could see
was her doing Lord knows what.
This was a big loss for us.
I don't know if that means that someone isn't going home.
It was entertaining.
It was fun.
It proved that beautiful, lyrical,
contemporary dancers could get out there and do hip-hop.
So you were completely happy with it?
No, I wasn't completely happy with it.
Am I disappointed they didn't win?
Yes.
Regardless, for the majority of them, I'm proud of them.
What majority aren't you proud of?
Like, who's gonna take the blame?
Is there someone to take the fall or what?
I mean--
I want to see the kids.
I knew that Maesi messed up a little bit on that dance.
She owned up to it. She got right back on.
She didn't run offstage.
She didn't cry.
But she got right back out there, and she finished.
She's got big visions and big dreams.
But yet, Abby could crush her dreams in a heartbeat.
Like, it's scary.
[dramatic music]
Yay!
[applause]
Congratulations on an outstanding performance.
I thought some of your performing skills
were over the top.
Maesi, you messed up the hip-hop dance
right in front of everybody.
You forgot the steps in front of people who have worked hard
and long, who I've worked hard and long
with to get them to this level.
We've worked too hard to let some kid, who's nobody,
come in here and screw them up.
She is not a nobody.
My plan is to come in here and do what I think
is right as a dance teacher.
And I know what's right is for you, Maesi, to go home.
You are cut from this team.
She looked confident.
After the week that you put her through--
She's gone through a lot.
--she got up there and looked confident.
And she's standing there, and she is not boo-hooing at all.
That, to me, is remarkable.
She covered it up.
I didn't even hardly notice it at all.
Well, you're used to looking at dead people all day.
They don't do anything wrong.
But, Abby, you've had other kids mess up that you kept,
and she--
Who messed up that I kept?
Elliana forgot her whole solo the first time she did a solo,
and you kept her.
She did not forget her whole solo!
What are you talking about?
Yolanda, I'm not criticizing Elliana.
The first solo she had, she was first overall.
And, actually, she had a higher score than Brynn and Kalani.
That's a bunch of bull.
Why do you guys say all this?
You're saying my child screwed up everything.
You're like, she does this wrong, and she does that wrong.
It was pointing out that people get treated differently.
I'm really upset.
I really, really am because I can't
win with these elite moms.
I came in here really wanting to feel welcomed.
I'm getting to the point where it's really frustrating.
I'm sick of being the center of everyone's negativity.
You don't like me, then fine.
Abby, honestly, at this point, give her Elliana's spot.
[dramatic music]
What would you say that for?
Why would you say that?
Yolanda, why do you do that?
Yolanda.
Yolanda, why would you say that?
Yolanda.
What just-- what?
Professional victim.
Did you really just do that to your kid?
Honestly, none of you guys can say anything nice.
Did you not ever hear-- do you not, like, see all of this?
She's crazy.
Get over here and console your daughter.
No, I've consoled her a lot.
All right, pack your bags, Yolanda.
You're out.
Don't make an impulsive decision.
You're not making an impulsive decision at the end of the day.
I just made this flippant comment
to the junior elite moms hoping that people would just kind
of take a step back and be like, wow, you know,
maybe we are actually not being very
nice to Yolanda and Elliana.
Nope, nothing at all.
Well, that's messed up.
I don't want to go, Mom.
OK, let's go. Let's get out of here.
I don't want to go.
Why are you doing this to me?
I want to stay.
I tried my very hardest.
You're right, and you did.
Why are you giving up my spot?
I did perfectly fine.
Because it's hard for me every day.
Those women in there, they insult me.
They tell me that I'm a sick woman
because I'm defending you.
- What was she honoring-- - I don't know.
--by doing that?
She was honoring her victim role is what she was honoring.
The martyr.
It's gonna be OK, OK?
No matter what happens, it's gonna be OK.
Mackenzie, I made some changes in your solo, and you're up.
So I think you need to get those socks off,
and we need to warm up and go through those changes.
And what happens if you forget?
You cannot be a national titleholder
and run off the stage because you forgot your dance.
There will be none of that this season.
Melissa, if she runs off that stage,
she can keep on running right back to Pittsburgh.
OK.
I can't forget the solo.
I want to win like Maddie won at my age.
Kenz, you know it.
Let's go from the top.
Here, I'll get the song.
And she's gonna do great.
Before Mackenzie went on stage, we all
prayed so that Mackenzie wouldn't forget her dance
and she would run off and cry, because I don't want
Mackenzie to forget her dance, and I
don't want Abby to yell at her.
ANNOUNCER: All right, next up on stage in our elite mini
acro solos, please welcome to the stage Mackenzie
with "Goody Goody."
[cheering]
[applause]
[upbeat music]
(SINGING) Goody, goody.
Goody, goody.
I want goodies.
Goody, goody.
Give me plenty.
Woo!
[applause]
(SINGING) You keep me coming back for more, all your lovin'.
Goody, goody.
I want plenty.
Coming back for more.
Mackenzie comes out on stage.
Her turns were good.
Her tricks were great.
And then, all of a sudden, her bow flies out of her hair.
[upbeat music]
(SINGING) I want plenty.
Coming back for more.
Keep going, keep going.
(SINGING) Goody, goody.
Give me plenty.
Yum-yum, give me some.
[cheering]
You were great.
Don't cry.
Kenz, you did it.
Yes, she is, Mackenzie.
Melissa, you should have learned
from the very first competition we did,
the head piece gets sewed in the head.
That bow fell on the floor, and everybody in the audience
watched the bow instead of watching Mackenzie.
Mackenzie was even watching the bow.
That's why she forgot her dance.
Thanks, Melissa.
Well, Melissa, I still thought that Mackenzie's dance was
great-- the caliber, the types of moves that she did,
and her performance was strong.
It was.
I hear little feet.
Pitter-patter of little feet.
You were great.
Honey, your bow fell out.
You fixed it, and you know what?
Don't cry when Miss Abby yells.
It's OK.
She's gonna yell at me.
OK.
It's OK.
Mackenzie, what's going on?
I thought we talked about no crying.
She didn't.
You were crying off stage in the wings.
Yes, you were.
All right, are we ready for awards?
[cheering]
ANNOUNCER: Starting off in the elite mini solo division
of competition from the jazz category, ladies and gentlemen,
your highest scoring in the acro category,
act number three, "Goody Goody."
[cheering]
[applause]
So you, my fair lady, you get actually $100
and a full scholarship to the Intensive.
Congratulations.
Take a bow.
[cheering]
Ha, ha, Abby.
I won anyways.
[laughs]