Ballet dancer extraordinaire Misty Copeland, the first African-American principal ballerina in the history of American Ballet Theatre, will be a guest judge on the July 18 and July 25 episodes of NBCโs new high-rated competition series โWorld of Dance.โย Copeland will be joining for round three of the competition, โThe Cut,โ where the competitors face the deepest and most intense cut of the season.ย More than half of the acts will be sent home, and only the top two acts from each division will move on to the Division Final.
โWhen judging the best of the best, we knew we needed an all-star guest judge with passion and credibility to mentor these incredible dancers,โ said judge/executive producer Jennifer Lopez. โMisty Copeland is at the top of her game and we are so honored that she was able to lend her expertise and experience to the โWorld of Danceโ stage.โ
In its first three weeks, โWorld of Danceโ has averaged a 2.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 8.7 million viewers overall in โlive plus same dayโ results from Nielsen Media Research, making it the #2 entertainment series of the summer to date in 18-49 and total viewers, behind only NBCโs โAmericaโs Got Talent.โย In 18-49, itโs the highest-rated first-year summer series through its first three weeks since 2013 and CBSโ โUnder the Dome,โ and in total viewers, itโs the most-watched first-year summer alternative series at this point in nine years. The May 30 โWorld of Danceโ premiere grew to a 3.0 rating in โlive plus three dayโ Nielsenโs, with the increase of 0.64 of a rating point being the biggest L+3 lift ever reported by Nielsen for an alternative series premiere.
ABOUT WORLD OF DANCEย
โWorld of Danceโ gives dancers the platform to showcase their talents and compete for a life-altering grand prize of $1 million, led by a judging team of extraordinary dance superstars โ Lopez, Derek Hough, NE-YO and host/mentor Jenna Dewan Tatum. In partnership with preeminent global dance brand World of Dance, the series brings the worldโs elite dancers together to compete in epic battles of artistry, precision and athleticism. Solo dancers will compete against duos and crews in an unlimited range of dance, including hip-hop, popping, locking, tap, ballet, break dancing, ballroom, stomping and more.