World of Dance season 3

Production

Season three of World of Dance raised the bar for the duels, requiring a qualifier score of 85 instead of the previous 80. A new redemption round was added: the two highest-scoring eliminated acts from each division perform back-to-back to the same music, and the judges vote on which one gets a second chance to move on to The Cuts. During the Divisional Final, the judges also select one additional act as a wild card to advance to the World Final, where each act now performs only once instead of twice.

The guest judge role was dropped this season. Competitors, skilled in any dance style, were chosen from national qualifying events and thousands of online submissions. They were split into four divisions: Junior (1–4 dancers, under 18), Upper (1–4 dancers, 18 and older), Junior Team (5 or more dancers, under 18), and Upper Team (5 or more dancers, 18 and older). Some dancers who never applied were directly contacted by producers or agents.

Scoring was based on five categories, each worth 20 points for a perfect total of 100: Performance (covering Effort and Personality), Technique (Transitions, Cleanness, and Execution), Choreography (Difficulty, Musicality, and Tricks), and Creativity (Originality and Artistic Choices).

Judges, host, and mentors

Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo, and Derek Hough returned as judges for their third consecutive season. Scott Evans, co-host of Access Live, replaced Jenna Dewan as host, becoming the first male host of the show and the first host or judge with no prior dancing experience. Jenna Dewan returned as a mentor for Junior teams during The Cut, and Stephen 'tWitch' Boss served as a mentor for the Divisional Final round.

The Duels

Season 3 introduced a new twist to The Duels. Two acts from the same division battled for a place in The Cut. The highest-scoring acts got to pick their opponents. Both acts danced back-to-back and heard the judges’ feedback. The one with the higher score advanced; the other was eliminated. After each division’s duels, the two eliminated acts with the best scores competed in a Redemption round. They performed the same song one after the other. The judges then voted to decide which one earned the final spot in The Cut.

The Cut

In The Cut, the 24 remaining acts (six in each division) competed for three spots in their division. As each act performed, its final score appeared on a leaderboard for its division; once a score fell out of the top three, the act faced immediate elimination. Each judge and special guest Jenna Dewan acted as a mentor for one division: Jenna worked with Junior Teams, Derek with Upper acts, Ne-Yo with Upper Teams, and Jennifer with Junior acts.