Episode 11 The Next Step Ultimate Vote Countdown

Previously on The Next Step...

So, since you guys are back together,

we want to give you your duet back.

This was always their duet.

I guess we're just not as in sync as we used to be.

Choreo is amazing.

I think we're going to do really good in Nationals.

Oh, I've been working on this move, the B-Twist.

Can you hear it talking to you? No, no.

Exactly! You're not ready. Oh...

It's as simple as this, folks. It's one off.

They go up against each other. The winner moves on.

The loser? They go home.

The Next Step! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

It's the momentum of the win -

and next thing you know, we're going to be taking all the rounds.

I can't wait to see the boys' Small Group.

It's going to be good!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

They go by "Life Of Dance",

but "LOD" also stands for something else.

"Ladies Of Destruction".

Why's that?

I think you're about to see why that really is.

The Small Group competition is incredible -

and it's actually pretty intimidating.

This is round two.

We're starting with 32 teams and after this round,

there'll only be 16 teams left.

Wow. They're really good. Yup.

Huh. They're so in sync. Yup.

They're doing a very, very good job.

It's just making me nervous. It's making me very nervous.

LOD'S dance is crazy good.

It's a little scary, obviously,

but at the same time, it's kind of motivating.

CHEERING

I feel like no-one wants to go up against LOD,

because as soon as you face them, you know you're going home.

'And the team moving on to the duet round is...

'Life Of Dance!'

There you have it. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, Tre, this is not a surprise,

but LOD did not come here to win Small Group.

'I have a feeling we're going to be talking about this group...

Are you OK? Hmm? You seem kind of...unclear.

No, I'm good, I'm good.

I'm feeling a little bit distracted, just because I'm contemplating

whether or not to do the B-Twist in the Small Group.

You sure? Just a lot on my mind right now.

OK... 'It would be so dope if I hit it,

'and it would make the dance that much better.'

The only thing is, I've never really landed it,

so it's kind of a risk, if I want to hit it.

MUSIC: Stand Up by Jessica Lee and Kit Knows

Right now, we are in the second round of Nationals,

which is Small Groups.

When The Next Step made it to Nationals ten years ago,

I competed in the Small Group competition and we lost.

That's why I brought Luther in to work with the boys,

because I know how tough the Small Group competition really is.

If we win the Small Group round,

then The Next Step will have gone further

than we ever have at Nationals before.

I mean, a hip-hop routine at such a high level...

It's really hard to execute.

So, no-one really does it.

I mean, these dancers are good,

but we're definitely going to stand out with our Luther Brown choreo.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

They look stellar!

West is waiting for you guys in the lobby. Oh, OK.

The boys' Small Group is coming up

and they need to start getting ready.

Good luck! 'Next up,

'we have the Small Group routine

'from Joanne Chapman's School of Dance.'

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Joanne Chapman's is a very established studio.

They always go to Nationals.

They've never beaten Life Of Dance, but they always do pretty well -

and that makes them a bit of a threat.

They have this prop,

which is incorporating the theme of their routine, which is struggling,

and it's all about getting to the top of this hill.

It's just a really good dance.

Joanne Chapman's was in the finals last year

with the Ladies Of Destruction

and I can tell by the way they are dancing right now

that they want that rematch.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

How nervous do you guys think the boys are?

Pretty nervous. So nervous!

And that's why I put on my socks backwards.

Makes sense. What?! It actually makes sense? What? Why would you ever...?

OK, yo, yo. I really want to put a B-Twist in this dance.

Dude, we need 100%.

Cos man, if you mess this up, we're going home.

I know, but I feel like with adrenaline he'll get it,

and if he does, it's like gravy.

'I know James.

'I know once he gets out on stage, he sees that audience...'

I know he's going to pull it. I know he can do it.'

Guys, what are you doing?

James wants to put the B-Twist in our group.

OK, no. You're on in 30 minutes, you need to get ready.

All right, all right...

Luther Brown thinks I shouldn't do the B-Twist,

because he said I have to wait for it to talk to me,

but that makes no sense, because dance moves don't talk.

So, how am I supposed to know when I can do the B-Twist?

Up now is the Small Group routine from Elite Dance Academy.

There are big expectations for this troop, Tre.

Elite isn't even supposed to be here.

I mean, we won Regionals.

But they somehow found a loophole,

where they ended up competing at another Regionals and won.

But I consider that cheating.

That's not fair.

Yo, right now, guys, we got to kill this for Luther, OK?

We got to get out there and just got to get buck with it.

Honestly, I'm so torn about between doing the B-Twist or not,

because it's such a risk.

We're cutting it kind of short.

I mean, we're about to get on stage right now.

OK, how about this?

Let's come up with like... some sort of signal on stage.

Why don't you come up with like a sound, like

"Chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi", you know what I'm saying?

Like, so we will all... Bro, I'm not...

I'm not saying "Chi-chi-chi". I'm not going to say that.

Listen, I'm going to nod, all right?

I'm going to nod at West if I'm going to do the flip, all right?

All right, cool. Yeah, for sure.

Excellent napkin use, girls!

The dancers are so together and their tricks are just perfect.

They've upped their props, they've upped their turns,

they've just improved on everything.

And we barely beat them at Regionals,

so it's going to be a stiff competition at Nationals.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Whoo! Yeah! Yeah, ha-ha!

Elite's Small Group is really good and it kind of makes me realise

that we're going to have to go up against them at some point,

cos they're going to keep advancing.

'The studio advancing to the duet round is...

'Elite!' CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I think James will do the B-Twist.

I mean, he's always had this competitive drive inside of him

and something tells me he's going to do it.

Well, let's see if The Next Step can join Elite.

Here they are, performing in Small Group.

A-TROUPE CHEER

James, you OK?

As I walk out onto stage, I can't wait to hit the number.

I'm a bit nervous, but I'm excited to kill it.

I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

As I head on stage, I'm pretty nervous.

I'm just really hoping I don't mess this up.

I'm getting goose bumps just listening to the audience cheer.

I definitely think Luther's choreo makes a difference.

It just gives us that much more to dance for, you know?

It's not just for the team, but it's also for Luther.

Is it automatic that these dancers right now

are feeding off the energy of the music?

Absolutely, that bass -

and their dance alone will get them like that.

The boys are doing amazing.

They are so together and they're killing it, they're so in it.

Oh! Oh, boy, here comes some attitude!

He went to the Dougie!

Oh - and now he's giving a bit of crunk! OK!

So, I get to the part in the dance

where I was thinking about putting the B- Twist in

and I don't "hear it" or whatever,

but honestly, it just doesn't feel right.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So many tricks, so many flips...

I mean, this is a professional calibre routine

that you would see in any commercial today, or any video, and guess what?

That's what Luther Brown does. Well done!

We just share the love,

because I feel like we've come really close

and this number was just amazing, so I'm really happy.

Oh, my goodness, you guys!

That was amazing!

You killed it! Oh, you're so great!

Whoo!

Yo, guys, guys, I'm sorry I didn't hit uh...that B-Twist.

Don't even worry about it, it was so good. It was great.

I was so pumped about doing it,

I felt like they were kind of getting pumped

that I was going to do it and I just bailed. I didn't do it -

and I think it would've added to the dance if I did it.

James, seriously, it's fine, OK? Don't worry about it.

I mean, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, but...

I was sure he was going to do it.

If we don't win, I'll probably feel super guilty.

'And the team moving on to the Duet round is...

'The Next Step!' CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Definitely feels so good to win. We're moving on, again!

We get to move on to the next round!

Only 16 studios are moving on and we're one of them!

It is also a little bit nerve-racking,

because me and James's duet is next.

Male Solo?

Check.

Small Group?

Check.

Life Of Dance now focusing on Duets

and this duo really does

a fine job of incorporating acro into their routine.

Right now, we are in the third round of Nationals -

the Duet round.

We have 16 teams in total.

By the end of the third round, there'll be eight.

The Duet competition is fierce.

I mean, we're getting up to the rounds of Nationals

where it's only the best competitors.

After James and I got back together,

we decided to start off with a whole new routine

and that makes me extremely nervous,

because we haven't had a lot of time to rehearse it

and if our competition is as good as LOD is, we're in trouble.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm scared to eventually go against LOD,

cos it's going to happen, unless one of us gets cut.

'And the winner, moving on to Female Solos is...

'Life Of Dance!' CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I don't even think the word "lose" is in their vocabulary.

Yo, what's up? How you doing?

I'm fine.

You seem nervous, what's up?

I've just been thinking.

There's something on my mind,

ever since watching the boys do their Small Group

and I just need to tell James about it.

I think you should do the B-Twist in our duet.

The B-Twist? Yeah.

I'm kind of shocked that she wants me to do the B-Twist.

I thought we were kind of past the B-Twist.

The competition here is fierce.

If James can do the B-Twist, it'll put our routine over the top.

I don't even know if I can do the move 100%!

OK, but I know you can do the move.

Really? Yes. You've worked so hard on it. I believe in you.

OK, when?

Um... After we do the lift, stage left.

OK.

If Riley's sure I can do it, I'm doing it.

I'm a little nervous, but I'm so confident in this

and I feel so comfortable with Riley,

I just want to kill this dance.

Well, Tre Armstrong, the Absolute Dance National Championships

just went a little Van Gogh on us.

Check out this set.

Well, the set up is magnificent.

Let's see what happens,

as The Next Step looks to move on to Female Solo.

The whole story of our piece is that I am a piece of artwork

and James is all about business and I somehow come to life.

So, she dances and basically, she shows me her world

and convinces me to come into her world with her.

It's a pretty cool concept.

Our first duet... It kind of was based a lot on Riley's style,

and it was for her and I was trying to make her happy -

and it didn't work. And neither did we.

After we got back together,

I thought it would be a good idea to fuse ballet -

which is my style - and hip-hop, which is his style.

And it just works so much better,

because we're not trying to be something that we're not.

'When I come out, I see Riley,

'and I know that with her, I can do anything.'

Riley, Riley, I'm going to do it.

What was that?!

I'll tell you what that was. That was an incredible B-Twist!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Seeing James do the B-Twist

just puts a huge smile on my face.

I'm just so unbelievably proud of him.

Luther said I shouldn't do the B-Twist until I hear it.

But once Riley told me to do the B-Twist,

I kind of realised that

maybe that's the voice telling me to do it.

When it comes down to it,

the only voice I ever need to hear is Riley's.

You did it!

I know, that was unreal. I'm so proud of you.

I love you, you know that?

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

There's an audience here. Yeah...

I didn't mean to say that I love James, but I do.

I mean, this is the first time I'm ever realising it, but...

I love him.

'And the studio moving on to compete in the Female Solo round is...

'..The Next Step!' CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We won! Yo!

Wooo!

Next Step has been quite good.

Oh, yeah, they've been the dark horse in this whole competition,

so it's going to be interesting to see where they go from here.

And now, they get ready for Female Solo.

The Next Step is going to the fourth round!

This is insane!

Now that we've won Duets, we are on to Michelle's solo.

I can't wait to compete with my solo - and I'm fired up!