Even Better Than the Real Thing The Next Step

Previously on The Next Step.

First round will be solos. Michelle, that's where you come in.

I'm good to go. I have been training nonstop for this solo.

This dance will determine our road to the semifinals.

This is one of the strongest dances I have ever choreographed and

it's going to be an amazing video.

Sloane's killing it.

I can tell this video is going to be huge.

Let's do something reckless.

-About what?

-About this chemistry.

See, I think you wanted to hang out with Sloane more than you wanted to

hang out with Amy. You should probably keep an eye on that

because it could turn into a little bit of a problem.

Can you believe it? We're actually here!

Regionals! This is so cool!

-Look at the trophy! That's our trophy!

-That's our trophy.

So, how are you feeling?

I'm feeling the most prepared.

-I'm so excited.

-Yeah? Good to hear.

I picked Michelle as our soloist because winning the

first round is very important.

We can't leave anything to chance.

OK, everyone listen up.

Bring it in.

Now, we know we are in great shape for the first round with Michelle's

brilliant solo. But we've got to be prepared for anything.

-OK? Are we ready?

-ALL:

-Yeah!

-Yeah, we are.

So the first thing we need to do is sign Michelle in

-for the solo round.

-Totally.

-Cool.

-Excuse me.

-Yes.

Hi, we're The Next Step, we're here to sign in our soloist.

Oh, perfect, The Next Step,

we're ready to draw the name for your soloist.

-Excuse me?

-What do you mean draw the name?

-We have our soloist ready.

-Yeah, I have a solo prepared.

Oh, sorry, you guys must not have read the rules properly,

this is the freestyle round.

We choose the music,

choreography is strictly prohibited and your soloist will be determined

by whoever's name you pull out of this envelope.

A freestyle solo?

All of my choreography is useless and I might not even be dancing.

This isn't fair.

I can't believe I messed this up,

I might have just cost The Next Step...

everything.

# We

# We're gonna show the world

# Everything we're made of

# We're gonna tear the roof off this place...

# Stand up! #

I can't believe this.

Now we're totally unprepared for the first round.

And The Next Step soloist will be...

Sloane.

SLOANE: What? Me?

No, no, no.

We should be starting in about an hour so stay close.

You're going to do great, Sloane,

don't worry.

-She's going to do great.

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

SLOANE: This is my first competition on A-Troupe.

I don't know if I'm ready for this.

# Oh, the same day same routine

# All I need is just a little bit of oxygen. #

Well, SNR for 18 years running has been very proud

to bring you the very best in dance.

And each and every year,

they manage to find for me a fantastic partner in crime.

Tanisha Scott who's worked with Drake, who's worked with Rihanna,

who's worked with Beyonce, now she is working with Chuck Anderson and

us here at SNR Network. Great to see you.

Thank you so much for having me here,

I'm extremely excited about seeing all this dancing.

You know what, we are about to get underway here at the

Absolute Dance Regionals competition.

Let's not waste any more time,

let's get straight into it with an intense freestyle solo round.

Freestyle is the extreme opposite of choreography,

where the dancers have to spontaneously figure out what to do

but most important, they have to connect to the music,

so it's critical for our dancer to have a great repertoire underneath

their belt and to please the crowd.

Well, it sounds kind of torturous

but you are going to be in for a treat, at home.

Why'd you stop?

I don't know. I'm nervous.

I woke up this morning expecting to just watch Michelle do an amazing

solo for the whole team.

Now I have to do the solo.

A freestyle solo.

Sloane, I don't understand why you're nervous,

you're one of the best freestylers on A-Troupe.

Yeah, well, it's one thing to do it in front of your team

and it's another thing to do it on stage in front

of hundreds of people.

Hundreds of people. You're sweating hundreds of...

Sloane, take a look at this.

Do you know how many people have seen this video?

Thousands. Thousands of people have viewed this video.

You're sweating 100?

SLOANE: That music video I shot with Jude is one

of the things I'm the most proud of this year.

When LaTroy brings it up, it's a huge confidence boost.

You're right.

-Of course I'm right.

-A couple of hundred's no big deal.

OK, what are you standing around for?

-You've got a competition to win, let's go!

-OK.

SLOANE: LaTroy is the best friend I could ever ask for.

With him in my corner, I know I can do this.

Why are you so jumpy?

I decided that today would be the perfect day to tell LaTroy

# I love him! #

The excitement of the competition. The magic of the stage.

Don't you think it's the perfect day for it?

Yeah. When are you going to tell him?

That's the problem.

I'm way too scared to tell him.

I'm terrified. Terror! Terror!

Amy, relax, you just have to trust in your destiny.

And stop wiggling so much.

-TANNOY:

-Will the first competitor please take the stage?

All right, let's see how intense this competition's

going to get right off the hop.

So, you warmed up?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, she is.

-RILEY:

-A lot is riding on Sloane now.

There's only four head-to-head rounds.

The winners of those solo rounds go to the quartet

and the losers go to the trios.

How are you feeling?

I worked so hard on that solo.

I know, Michelle, but it's not your fault.

I know that but I don't think I worked hard enough on the trio.

I feel like I'm going to let the whole team down.

Listen, you could never let the team down.

We're going to be OK.

Shall we go rehearse?

If we leave now, Sloane will think we have no confidence in her.

All right.

That, that was a great solo.

The question is, was it great enough to defeat the Geminis?

What do you think, Tanisha?

Well, the Geminis have a lot of buzz coming into this competition.

Let's see how he fares.

-RILEY:

-The Geminis dominated qualifiers

and they are one of the strongest teams at regionals.

Their solo is amazing.

SLOANE: I'm relieved to see another hip-hop solo

but why did it have to come from the Geminis?

They're so good.

You know what he's doing, look at his feet and his points right there.

-Wow.

-Perfect.

Wow.

-TANNOY:

-Can both dancers please take the stage?

The winner of this round is...

Gemini Dance Studio.

All right, the solo aspect of the competition is underway and

the Geminis, my goodness, they look like a team to beat, as we said.

Hey, is there any advice you can give me?

I really want to do the best I can.

-RILEY:

-The competition is intense.

And honestly, Sloane isn't the dancer I would have chosen.

You'll do great, Sloane, OK?

Are you ready?

Totally.

SLOANE: It's obvious that Riley is not feeling confident right now and

if Riley is not feeling confident, then how can I?

How's it going?

Really nervous, yeah. Really nervous.

-Are you nervous?

-Not at all.

I'm really excited, actually.

The stage here is so beautiful, isn't it?

And the lights, they're so pretty.

It's the perfect atmosphere.

One could say it's romantic.

You feeling all right, Cassie?

Of course. It's just so...

Romantic!

Amy and I were just saying.

All right. What's this about?

CASSIE: Don't say "Amy loves you", don't say it!

Amy loves you.

Good one, Cassie, good one.

And she's going to tell you. She's so nervous to say it.

And you love her, right?

What? Yeah, of course I do.

Perfect. I can't wait.

This is going to be the most romantic moment of my life.

While you aren't knocked out of the competition if you lose this round,

you will most certainly be out if you lose another.

-AMY:

-Cassie is talking to LaTroy and

Cassie knows that I secretly love LaTroy

and Cassie's terrible at keeping secrets. I don't like this.

You didn't say anything to LaTroy about what we were

-talking about, right?

-What?

Got to go.

-AMY:

-Yeah, she definitely told him.

So, erm, what were you just talking to Cassie about?

Erm...

-AMY:

-I have so many butterflies in my stomach,

I feel like they're going to carry me away on their little wings.

Amy...

I think this is the best day to do this.

-LATROY:

-Amy's expecting something big from me and

I can't disappoint her.

Here goes nothing.

I can't help myself. LaTroy, I love you.

I love you, too.

-LATROY:

-I thought saying I love you would feel amazing.

But I don't feel anything.

-Yeah.

-TANNOY:

-The winning team is...

Steps.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's time

for the final head-to-head battle.

SLOANE: This is it. All I have to do

is beat this girl from Dance Extreme

and then we move on.

Up first, Dance Extreme.

SLOANE: Maybe everything will be fine.

Maybe she won't be that good.

What's the worst that can happen?

Beautiful start to the routine.

Very fluid.

Very fluid.

Wow, look at that line.

-MICHELLE:

-I feel so powerless watching the solos from the sidelines.

That should be me out there.

SLOANE: I thought I was calm but this is making me nervous.

This dancer could do contemporary in her sleep.

I can't do contemporary at all.

I'm starting to think I'm outmatched here.

Oh, look at that move. Fantastic.

SLOANE: This girl is the exact opposite of me.

She is so technical, she has so many tricks and she is great at acro.

I have no idea how I'm going to beat her.

If there is one word to describe what you're seeing so far,

-what would it be?

-I love her effortless poise,

the way she's holding her leg up there

and those turns that she's making.

-LATROY:

-Everyone's nervous for Sloane except me.

I know that she's about to kill it.

-TANNOY:

-And now, ladies and gentlemen,

The Next Step will take the stage.

SLOANE: This is the moment of truth.

The whole studio is depending on me to deliver.

And I don't know if I can.

And here's The Next Step dancer.

She looks extremely nervous.

Is that just me, Tanisha, or are you picking up on that vibe as well?

No, I definitely can pick up on that,

the way she is shaking her hands,

something that you don't want to see at the very start of your routine.

SLOANE: I'm having trouble feeling this music.

The lights, the crowd, this pressure, it's all getting to me.

-RILEY:

-Sloane is not off to a good start.

She is so nervous,

you can obviously see how terrified she is on that stage.

I just hope she can pull it together.

SLOANE: I was panicked and nervous and then...

These moves, they just start coming to me.

There we go.

Now, I just happened to pick up on a real switch

in her feel and flow, did you?

SLOANE: I don't know how to explain it but it's like

my brain is disconnecting

from my body and my nerves are just fading away.

-LATROY:

-Wait, I recognise those moves.

SLOANE: I just decided to go with what felt good and

suddenly, I realised...

I'm doing my choreo from Jude's music video.

-LATROY:

-Sloane's doing choreo during a freestyle round.

That's cheating.

-Here we go, she is building up with the crowd.

-Yeah.

-Nice.

-And...

That's a wonderful finish.

SLOANE: I know I stole those moves but the audience loved it.

If nobody knows, is it really that bad?

-TANNOY:

-Will the two dancers take to the stage, please?

There we have The Next Step and now it's all up to the judges as to

which team is moving on to quartets.

-TANNOY:

-And moving forward...

-The Next Step.

-ALL: Yes!

Yes! That was amazing.

-LATROY:

-I'm happy for the team that Sloane won.

But I'm disappointed in my friend.

There you go, yeah.

Tanisha Scott, by the skin of their teeth, you have to figure.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

But there seems to be a bit of commotion here.

We've got two members of the Geminis making their way to the judges'

table, which doesn't happen all too often at these compositions.

Definitely something going on and

they are pointing over at The Next Step.

-RILEY:

-I don't understand what's going on.

I mean they're pointing to us like we did something wrong.

What's the problem?

They look pretty self-assured.

Yeah, looking at the judges now and they are conferring.

-TANNOY:

-Would The Next Step dancer please take to the stage?

OK, they've just called the dancer to the stage.

SLOANE: I have no idea what's going on.

There's no way the judges can know about the choreography...

Could they?

-LATROY:

-I support Sloane no matter what.

But I've got a bad feeling about this.

-TANNOY:

-Until further notice, The Next Step dancer

is disqualified.

Well, how about that, Tanisha?

A disqualification for a member of The Next Step.

SLOANE: I can't believe I did this.

I feel humiliated.

What if I get the whole team disqualified from regionals?

Welcome to the SNR's coverage of the

Absolute Dance Regionals competition.

More than a bit of a shock to all of us here.

I have no idea what could be happening with Sloane.

She won... Didn't she?

-RILEY:

-Sloane was disqualified because of

something to do with the video?

Whatever it is, I'm going to fight it.

You see? The video you're watching proves

that she was performing choreo.

You performed a choreographed piece?

-It just happened, it wasn't planned, I'm sorry...

-So, yes?

Yes.

Every dancer has some element of choreo in their freestyle.

Yeah, elements, but she used a whole routine.

It's move-for-move, it's cheating.

Please, please, OK, she didn't mean to do this,

if you just let us redo our dance...

No, I'm sorry, that's not an option.

The Next Step loses this round.

-But then we...

-And furthermore, young lady,

you're out of the competition.

Riley, I'm so sorry.

I know you are, that just doesn't help us right now.

I didn't mean it. It was an accident.

And now I ruined everything.

What could they possibly be talking to her about?

-How could she be disqualified?

-Right now, we're just waiting to see

what's happening with Sloane.

No-one has any idea what's going on and we're all on edge.

-ALL:

-Riley, what's going on? Is everything OK?

-Calm down. Sloane did choreo in the freestyle round.

-What?

-What...

Does that mean that The Next Step

is disqualified from regionals?

No, but Sloane is. She won't be dancing with us

for the rest of regionals.

I can't believe she did this.

The judge also said that because of Sloane's actions,

-The Next Step automatically loses this round.

-Oh, man.

Which means that we're moving on to the trio round so...

Amanda, Michelle and Amy, looks like we're going to need you three.

Don't worry, it's ready.

MICHELLE: I put all of my rehearsal time into the solo because I didn't

think we would have to perform the trio.

Now, it's our most important dance.

There you are.

-LATROY:

-I've been looking everywhere for Sloane.

She really needs me right now.

Riley's really mad at me.

And I don't blame her.

I don't know what I was thinking, I panicked.

I know you think I'm a horrible person.

Sloane, look at me.

I think you messed up.

But I don't think that makes you a horrible person.

All right? All this means,

all this means is that you're going to have to work ten times as hard to

dust yourself off.

It's OK. It's OK.

-LATROY:

-I hate seeing Sloane sad.

If it was up to me,

she would never be sad.

I love you, Sloane.

I love you, too.

-LATROY:

-The feeling that was missing when I said I loved Amy...

I'm feeling that right now.

SLOANE: I've always loved LaTroy.

Hearing that he loves me too makes

everything that happened today worth it.

The only problem is, he's still dating Amy.

# We

# We're gonna show the world

# Everything we're made of

# We're gonna tear the roof off this place

# You

# You can never fade us out

# Don't even ask the DJ

# Everybody knows we own this sound. #