Warning: This recap is not spoiler-free. Proceed at your own risk!
Past Recaps: Episode Two / Episode Three / Episode Four / Episode Five / Episode Six
This episode opened with Pentagon’s Hui recounting advice he heard from an elder — that you can tell if an idol group will be successful or not within three years of their debut. That got me wondering how true this is. There are notable exceptions (Nu’est, EXID), but by-and-large, if a group has not built a steady fan base by that point, the road is certainly difficult. K-pop is such a fast-moving industry, and military enlistment is a particularly difficult hurdle for male idol groups to overcome. I hope that every group on Road to Kingdom experiences a boost from this show. After suffering Mnet’s indignities, they certainly deserve it!
A couple of quick observations before we get into the rankings for this round:
* Golden Child’s Jangjun did a spot-on impersonation of host Lee Dahee on an episode of Video Star the other week. Now it’s all I can think about when I see her.
* The over-reactions by contestants during their competitors’ performances continue to get to me. I like ONF’s Wyatt, but his are particularly over the top and just come across as insincere.
‘YOUR SONG’ ROUND Pt. 2
Tonight, we saw the last three performances of this round. Below is my personal ranking, though I’m less certain about it than usual. It’s hard when the rounds are split between two weeks.
6. TOO – Hard Carry (original by GOT7)
(read last week’s thoughts here)
5. Pentagon – Follow (original by Monsta X)
Is it just me, or was their behind-the-scenes clip much longer than the other groups? Mnet certainly seems to be pushing the drama when it comes to Pentagon, treating them like failures in need of career resuscitation. I don’t think that’s the actual reality, and the sob story RTK is trying to paint around them feels especially disingenuous when you consider that they literally ranked at first place last round.
In 2017, I featured Hui on my top producers of the year list. I mention that because I’m probably going to get some flak for this next opinion.
I really think his skills as an arranger are suffering a slump. He’s probably overworked, and exhausted. But lately, all his arrangements seem to be doing is regurgitating trends. I’m not a huge fan of Follow in the first place, and I liked this remix even less. I mean, I was never going to like it. The focus on hard-hitting EDM and trap beats over melody is not a winning formula for me. I’ll give them extra props for the sets and… well… props. The performance aspect was on point, and puts them just above TOO. The dance break towards the end was also pretty cool.
4. ONF – It’s Raining (original by Rain)
Fourth place for the whole package, but this was the best song arrangement by far. It’s a total jam.
(read last week’s thoughts here)
3. The Boyz – Shangri-La (original by VIXX)
I think I’m the only one who doesn’t particularly care for Shangri-La. In fact, it’s probably my least favorite VIXX title track. Oddly, that kind of mirrors my thoughts about The Boyz. They’re immensely talented, but outside the confines of this series, they’re too often let down by the material they’re given.
These Boyz, though! They’re just always flipping and twirling and jumping on things. Look! He’s on a door! Over there! He’s walking a tightrope!
I don’t mean to be glib. The spectacle is highly entertaining to watch, and they always pull it off. They’re an incredible dance unit, and RTK really shows that off. The staging here was beautiful. Simple, clear and very effective. I also liked the symphonic arrangement. It greatly enhanced the original song, and the performance was a real stunner. Just perfect.
But what I hate about Korea’s idol industry is that its focus on perfection causes these performers to be unnecessarily harsh on themselves if they bungle even the slightest aspect of their stage. This not only seems dangerous from a mental health perspective, but it actually pulls me out of the performance. I like to hear a little strain in the voice, or a spontaneous bit of unexpected character. It’s almost as if, the more perfect an idol group is, the less personally engaged I become. I don’t know if that makes any sense, but that’s where I’m at, and that explains my low-ish ranking of The Boyz this week.
2. ONEUS – Be Mine (original by Infinite)
(read last week’s thoughts here)
1. VERIVERY – Gogobebe (original by Mamamoo)
I don’t know a lot about the insider world of K-pop choreography, but looking at the credits of that Young Joon guy was like a sampler platter of every iconic dance move of the past few years. VERIVERY were lucky to have him as a consultant.
I can take or leave Gogobebe, but I’m a fan of boy groups covering girl group songs, and vice versa. Aladdin seemed like a really odd and cheesy theme for this stage, but I think it paid off. This was so fun and lively and such a contrast from all of the other groups. It was just really creatively staged, and a blast to watch from start to finish. I thought it was odd that the other competitors were surprised that this was a “one-take.” I mean, aren’t all these stages one-takes? They’re supposed to be “live,” right? I mean, I know a lot of it is pre-recorded, but I’d like to think that what we’re seeing is the actual performance — not just separate cuts strung together.
It was a shame that Hoyoung dropped his staff at a critical moment, but it sucked to see them all so morose immediately after giving such a joyful performance. That’s the K-pop industry for you. And that’s RTK in a nutshell. You can’t even fully enjoy the good stuff without regrets.
Anyways, this stage lands on top for me just for its sheer ambition. There were better re-arrangements and more technically stunning performances, but this was the most “let’s put on a show!” enjoyable.
Actual Results (after all was said and done):
6. TOO
5. ONEUS
4. VERIVERY
3. Pentagon
2. The Boyz
1. ONF
So, that’s TOO eliminated, then. They had to see it coming, but it still stings. I’m kind of shocked that ONF ranked so high. I liked their performance (and loved their remix), but I didn’t think it stood out all that much. The other competing groups really seem to like them. Maybe it’s all those Wyatt over-reactions? Just kidding. They’re super talented, and I’ve been a big fan since debut.
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Idk man, I gotta be real – this week was kind of a bummer for me, and so were the collaboration stages last week.
The only stages I enjoyed from beginning to end this week were The Boyz and ONF. I admit it’s boring to watch The Boyz do so well every. single. week… but I also kind of live for it – I had zero interest in them as a group before this show despite several friend’s efforts to make me a fan, but now I “get it”. That moment of silence from the other teams after their stage really says it all.
Pentagon were predictably boring… and I say this as a stan! They’re painfully milquetoast on this show and seemingly have no understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. The bad ass, we’re-so-cool thing doesn’t work for them at all.
Verivery was fun and ambitious but overall the stage came out a bit sloppy and cheap for me (not to mention there were apparently issues with cultural appropriation like them using a mosque backdrop to dance in front of).
ONEUS bored me and TOO were painful because Hard Carry is such a horrible song and they didn’t really do anything to change or improve it,
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I don’t know what is more annoying, ‘stan’ MV analysis or Mnet reaction shots….
My rankings overall:
6. TOO
Their rising sun is my favorite performance of the show (BTW rising sun is my kpop song of all time) but the rest of their performances sucked. They did not know what they were doing.
5. Pentagon
When the show started, they were my group to go for. I still love them, but Hui needs a rest, I think he is over-worked. This follow was soooooo cringey.
4. Verivery
I mean they are getting better but their initial performances were awful.
3. ONF
Probably my 2nd-3rd favorite in the show. The ONF songs have been hit or miss for me.
2. The Boyz
THIS is the boyz’s show
1. Oneus
THE most consistent group this show, nothing lame but nothing amazing either.
ranking for this round
6. Pentagon
5. TOO
4. The Boyz
3.ONF
2. Verivery
1. Oneus
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For me, the over-reactions are becoming annoying not because they seem fake or interrupt to flow of the performance (which they do, by the way) but because MNET makes it seem like some of these guys are questioning their own abilities seeing others perform.
Going into the competition, Pentagon was the only group I knew as such, but I am slightly disappointed with them here. I know they are very talented and are trying to do something different from their usually cheery concepts but it’s just not working for them. I sincerely hope they receive good attention after this ends though.
ONF has been the underdog for me this season. I had only heard their name a couple of times but I’m genuinely impressed by the wonderful arrangements they are coming out with.
The thing about this show is that there is no fixed criteria to judge a group. ONF is good with rearranging songs, VRVR is good at synchronised dancing, TBZ have amazing stage presence etc
My rankings for this round :
1. ONF – the rearrangment and atmosphere was everything
2. The Boyz – Such a beautiful stage, they are at the top of their game. Too perfect to be true
3. Verivery – Loved the concept and execution but it seemed like they wanted to impress not enjoy the stage
4. ONEUS – Great execution of the story
5. Pentagon – did not work for me this week.
6. TOO – they had reached their peak with the rising sun, after that it went downward.
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Looking forward to your original songs’ reviews. My spoiler about that is “OK, I’m officially done with Oneus”.
And maybe I should give Verivery a 30th chance.
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Your songs rank:
6. TOO – Hard Carry
Inferior version of the original song, the drops are worse too. I like the “drumming” part but…..their punk style didn’t really do much to the performances.
5. Pentagon – Follow
Didn’t keep the energy of the original song. Also, minor nitpicks. They made this dramatic ending of wooseok sitting on the throne but like…..they already sat on that chair from the start? It feels like just them sitting back instead of “I’m claiming the throne!”
4. Verivery – Gogobebe
Just a fun chaos all around. Even the mistakes aren’t actually that noticable. It would be an even bigger spectacle if they could create genie on the stage tho
3. Oneus – Be mine
They kept the song’s quality with house beat, surprising. The flag cutting and poison ending is one of this round’s highlight tho.
2. ONF – It’s Raining
Man…..if it’s not because of that performance killing skits this would be the absolute best performance. All bets are off by the time we reach the last verses, way too fun. ONF should do more electro-funk.
1. The Boyz – Shangri La
I understand your points about the toxic pressure to be pitch-perfect at everything but, it’s not like it’s only something that affects the boyz. Everyone on the competition are pretty much doing the same, the boyz just happened to be much better fit with this show. The performance are perfect in storytelling and dances like usual, the symphonic remake makes it better than the original, and they’re still the prop master of the show.
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K-pop should do more electro-funk, period.
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Yep. It’s probably my favourite kind of sound for k-pop to tackles other than disco.
Nobody have stepped up and became the mj-lite group like shinee does sometimes so far
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I have the exact same ranking! I agree with many of the points you made especially with the onf skits. I hate that I had to wait to see one half of the performances though! I don’t know how I would’ve felt if I saw them all at the same time.
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Personally all I remember from the whole episode is that ONFxMonotree is a match made in heaven, The Boyz were standing on doors, and Cube Entertainment should hire more producers. As for the ranking I honestly don’t care too much as long as either The Boyz or ONF win. These too have proven too be exceptionally talanted putting out showstopper after showstopper. I also wouldn’t mind if VeriVery won BUT IF PENTAGON WIN I WILL FLIP A TABLE. Thought I have nothing against the guys themselves, I actually adore Pentagon and think their music is great. But sadly on RTK they’ve just treaded the lines of medioce and bad for seven episodes. I love the boys but I don’t think they were the best and I think there were better contenders.
So, for the finale. My vote is going for ONF. Why? Well they gave me an amazing Everybody performance and gave me the remix of the year for It’s Raining! Though The Boyz would fit the crown quite snugly as well!
My Ranking:
Bad: Follow and Hard Carry, never wan’t to watch these again
Meh: Gogobebe and Be Mine, not the best overall but still enjoyed the and would gladly watch them again
Great: Shangri-La, The Boyz are back and solid as always
Amazing: ONF, I’ve played this an unhealthy amount of times and I liked that they kept it simple. I also liked the pause in the middle and their eye-catching charisma “Showtime!”
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Also I’d like to add, that when I first heard follow I fell in LOVE. My favorite parts were the energetic instrumental and Kihyuns vocals. But Pentagon’s remix had an instrumental that was way too clunky and vocals that weren’t as effortless.Honeslty, no hate towards Hui, but seeing him remix both songs by himself, I just feel like Cube needs to do something before he ruins his health. With all the performances that guy does, he needs to be sleeping way more!
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My ranking – ONF > ONEUS > The Boyz > Verivery > Pentagon > TOO
ONF stood out not only because of having the best re-arrangement by far, but also the energy from the song carried over to their performance and elevated it. Not only that, they were the only group this round who looked like they were having lots of fun on stage, which was further complemented by the upbeat rendition of the song. I found myself smiling and moving with them unknowingly by the end of their performance, and I have never smiled when watching any of the previous RtK performances. Very infectious. Also, I tend to focus more on how the song is re-arranged than what they really do on the stage (unless the dance or theme is shockingly bad), so it was no mystery that ONF was the standout to me. Well-deserved first place.
As for Pentagon….Mnet is indeed strange for trying to portray them as the underdogs of the show, when they have been in the top 3 all along and ranked first for the collaboration for their surprisingly mediocre and generic performances for all 3 rounds. Other contestants have consistently rated them highly for their performances so I don’t see how they are struggling when it comes to ranking. If anything, they are struggling because Hui is visibly fatigued and uninspired. Even the audience (which are fans to begin with) are not impressed with what they have shown so far. I know it’s sad for the group to have put in so much effort, only to come in 5th this round, but the audience only see what is on the stage and whether they like the end product, they do not see or care for the effort that goes into the stage. They are not going to give Pentagon extra points just because one of the members is involved in re-arranging the song, Pentagon should have just let an external producer do it for them.
Poor ONEUS, they got shafted yet again. I REALLY have no idea why they have been rated so low by the other contestants everytime, because I loved their stage and rendition of Be Mine. The theme was great, everyone sounded good, everyone looked good, their re-arrangement added some mystery to the original, RAVN’s rap was on point especially. It hurts to see them struggling just to survive in almost every episode, because I would have put them 2nd/3rd overall in the competition so far.
The Boyz is probably the opposite of ONEUS to me. Sure, everyone has been raving about how good they are, I see it, but the only truly outstanding/amazing stage of theirs was Reveal. Danger was good, Shangri La was okay, I just don’t get the overwhelming praise on their Shangri La stage, especially when they took away almost everything that made Shangri La stand out to me as a performance. Nice visuals, nice dance, yes. But it just did not wow me at all. It’s obviously appealing to the audience and contestants alike though, so good for them.
Looking ahead, if there is only one group that will go to Kingdom, it will be The Boyz. If there are two, it would probably be The Boyz and Pentagon.
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I think also pentagon & the boys will go to kingdom….but other group also good….this is their chance to gather new fan ..win or not still have benefit….
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Hi, it’s my first commenting! Haha, I’ve been following your posts for a while now, and it’s become a ritual for me to come here after watching RTK evey week. Fans will generally perceive any criticism or ranking as toxic, so your honest opinions are very appreciated! It feels relieving when your posts hit on a fleeting thought I had but put a stop to because “what if I really am just a hater right now???🤔”. So yeah. That’s a thing.
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Welcome! I’m glad you have you as a reader and a commenter!
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My rank for this round
6. TOO
5. Pentagon
4. Verivery
3. The Boyz
2. Oneus
1. ONF
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Have you read this post? It’s so mean but I couldn’t not laugh. https://kevinmoonfanpage666.home.blog/2020/06/11/roadtoretirement/
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I’m laughing so hard, I thought Kpopalypse was brutally honest but this….
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It may be harsh, but I do appreciate funny trolling. Obviously a TBZ fan, so I’m not taking her opinion seriously at all, but I admit the part on Pentagon was hilarious.
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Jesus Christ, this guy leaves Kpopalypse looking like some squeamish campus PC! Know any other blogs like that? I mean, that talks about whatever in Kpop like this 😂
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Yeah… I’m not into this style of writing. It feels like it’s trying to be clever but it’s really just needlessly mean. It’s easy to be mean and inflammatory, but I can’t take it seriously. Then again, that page clearly wasn’t made to be taken seriously, so I guess it’s a moot point.
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I just discovered the blog with this too, but the older posts about The Boyz seem more inspired and less downright profanity-ridden than these reviews. Oh well.
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Once again, to the producers, we have to remember what happened last week? I mean, we know none of our opinions matter and we can’t vote anyway, but jeez lets make it even harder to enjoy the show. I do’t know why show loudly declared that the one performance was a one take shot, and then =cut away= for reaction shots. Picture in picture, people!
Boyz on top for me Because they made an interesting stage while using the simplest props possible. Sure, I am also not a big fan of Shangri La either, but I was distracted enough to enjoy the package.
Compare and contrast to Pentagon who spent big bucks on that set, and then delivered a very conventional, ordinary performance. Also those were Greek columns in front of all the Egyptian mummy theme, just saying. Maybe they were the only ones available at the prop house, but they didn’t match. That bothered me the whole time.
Jasmines dancing hip hop also bothered me, and the performance seemed like high school assembly in the gym style. There was some high school dance crew that did Wizard of Oz hip hop style that was shared around my FB friends a few years back; it reminds me of that sort of thing. youtube.com/watch?v=y2horVdXz70
Apparently Rain is now cool again in Korea, something about an older cheesy song going viral during quarantine in the most cheestastic way possible, so I think ONF got lucky with song choice and did a good enough performance.
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For me it would probably be
1. ONF (Great, I mean brilliant mix! The performance was great too!)
2. ONEUS (You can’t go wrong with Be Mine and they upped the theatrics just enough)
3. TBZ (Really nice choreography and set pieces)
4. Verivery (Very fun performance! The stick moving scene was especially smart!)
5. TOO (Fell really flat for me and a massive downgrade from no. 4)
6. Pentagon (This was such a boring mix holy)
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The actual results for this round was: ONF > The Boyz > VeriVery > ONEUS > Pentagon > TOO but after they added the points, the rankings were as you posted. Personally, I would have gone with
ONF > ONEUS > The Boyz > VeriVery >>> Pentagon = TOO
It seems for the final that it’s going to be ONF, Pentagon, and The Boyz dueling it out. Before the show started, I thought it would have been Golcha instead of ONF but they really were the dark horse of this show. ONF are such good performers and they have a solid team of producers. They’re path is similar to Oh My Girl’s in Queendom (and they come from the same company). VeriVery and ONEUS never really stood a chance. I’m just surprised MNet hasn’t eliminated them yet since with the amount of screen time they give ONEUS, it seems like that was the plan.
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Can’t wait for Wyatt to overreact on Kingdom!
In all seriousness I’d put money on Onf and TBZ getting through to Kingdom.
I’m very happy all of these groups have gotten a boost and lucky us! A Golcha comeback right around the corner…I’ll take it.
Coming into this I never thought the true winner of this all would be Onf. I hope this growth in fandom puts them on the map. I always felt like I was yelling into an empty void when talking about them previously. Laun’s unexpected departure seemed like a nail in the coffin at the time of announcement. I guess Mnet can be worth something after all.
I’m still here on my Oneus deserve better train. Looking at the results it’s always funny how they’re last in votes from the other boy groups. What a confirmation that boy groups don’t have taste ;). But seriously I wonder why the scores are so different from the fan portion?
I have a theory that they’ll announce the Kingdom groups at the online Kcon thing but I assume all of the spotlight is going onto ILand and Kingdom is a bit of a ways off. Will you be covering ILand? Should be a mess as per usual.
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So yet again we have an episode full of tears and I think nearly every group had someone cry this episode. I said once before how damaging I think this show is to the idols themselves and I totally stand by that. Twice this episode we watched an idol break down over a tiny mistake in a performance that was literally invisible to me until they pointed it out. However, I also did think in a way we got to see a bit of the good that might come out of this for each group. They have gained experience, recognition, friends (that Verivery/Too group hug though), and fans or least they damn well should have. I still wish nobody had to go through this a second time, but I guess somebody’s gotta go to Kingdom part 2.
Here are my rankings/thoughts on the second half of round three:
1/2: Oneus/ONF- Oneus easily had one of the better performances (and my favorite) of this round and yet again they were underrated for it. Regardless they have still managed to save themselves from the edge of elimination twice and that on its own is an accomplishment in my book. It was also the most emotionally impactful stage of the six and I appreciate that (like seriously I felt the pain). On the other hand, ONF were just fantastic so I get why they came in first and I will not argue with it. They really are the arrangement kings of this show. Overall, they are my top two and I don’t really feel the need to pick between them.
3) The Boyz- In my opinion The Boyz got one of the better songs to cover this round. Covering any title track in Vixx’s career after maybe their first two singles basically hands you an amazing concept to work with. Yet I think this time that fact proved to be a double-edged sword. Vixx works their concepts into their music so well that it is really hard to rework the song with any originality, and I think The Boyz fell victim to that here. As soon as the group started discussing a classical mashup, I was like wait Vixx has already done that. Then they literally went and picked the same exact classical song (moonlight sonata) that Vixx themselves worked into their title track Fantasy (like seriously have they never heard it). This stage was beautiful and performed masterfully, but to me every piece of it felt like it was pulled straight out of Vixx’s playbook. There was nothing unique about this stage that said this cover belonged to The Boyz, that is why I placed them third. Overall, I feel like I am finally starting to get into The Boyz as a group and their heroin stage combined with this had a lot to do with it. Yet more than anything else this stage just made me miss Vixx.
4)Verivery- The Boyz and Verivery fell pretty close for me but The Boyz really grasped the grace of Shangri La so I gave them the upper hand. While I still think Photo remains their best stage so far, I did really like this one. I think it was the most fun stage of this round, along with ONF. I quite enjoyed the Aladdin concept and somehow, I really think it suited the song. Also, Kangmin really would make a great Aladdin. However, I preferred Oneus’s storytelling ability. I think overall a lot of people were impressed with the fact that it was a one shot and that is why they ranked a bit higher than I would put them.
5)TOO- For me no matter how you order them there is a significant gap between the stages I ranked 1-4 and those I ranked 5th and 6th. To TOO’s credit 50% of my dislike for this stage can be attributed to the fact that they had to cover Hard Carry. Hard Carry is not a good song to cover (Verivery why?). No one can hold this song choice against TOO though because they literally had no choice in the matter. However, I still think it was their worst stage and I get why they were last. I would probably say the other 50% comes from the awful styling and the fact that for whatever reason everything just felt way too slow. The song felt oddly slow and the choreo felt even slower than that, it was just weird. Overall though I would say TOO’s time on the show was majorly successful considering they are baby rookies. I really think people are going to remember them after this.
6) Pentagon- Originally, I was completely prepared to rank this 5th but the more I watched it and the more I thought about it, the more I disliked it. First off, this stage basically consisted of useless posturing and needless aggression, only to be topped off with intense stares for some reason, which I already disliked. Yet what I really take issue with here is Pentagons attempt at a concept. To me, sticking hieroglyphs and sarcophagi into the background and calling it Egyptian is not a concept (not to mention that some of those “props” were not even Egyptian). No matter how expensive or pretty it might have looked this whole stage felt like a bad Halloween costume. This stage lacked any kind of understandable storyline, meanwhile ancient Egyptian culture which spanned literally thousands of years is rich with stories to tell. This stage tried to use it as no more than a sparkly add on. In my mind they could have utilized at least a bit of actual Egyptian mythology or history. As someone who has always loved mythology Imagining just how epic it might have been if they had done even a little research just makes me sad. Maybe they even could have worked it into a modern movie reference instead, but they didn’t even do that. To me this stage is just disappointing and while I think You could argue similar things about TOO’s stage, Hard Carry already came preset with many of those unfortunate choices. Pentagon added this butchery of a so-called Egyptian concept on their own. So, with only one episode left I am pretty sure this stage will go down as my least favorite of the entire show.
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Hard Carry definitely doesn’t give anyone much to work with anyway. Verivery our friends my rear end, that choice was meant to trip up somebody. The styling was just the final nail in the coffin.
However, I think TOO deserves some attention for that performance of Rising Sun alone. I think they were pre-debut rookies when they had to film that. For one, it seems to be the only full song cover out there, and it’s definitely the only one to improve on the original song somewhat (the energetic beginning was better than the original instrumental, IMO, although I could do without the trap.
Anyway, I hope all three rookies get some attention from this (although the show seems to be flopping somewhat) and Verivery can do more upbeat songs like their first ones and this cover of gogobebe.
We’re gonna need those now that even Golcha are going full dark moody…
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My friend, you cannot improve upon perfection!
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This round’s performances seemed fairly bifurcated to me. There was a clear top 2 (ONF, The Boyz) and then everything else was mixed and any combo of actual rankings wouldn’t have been surprising.
Oneus’ stages on this show seem to have detailed concepts, but they tend to miss a bit on the execution. They get drowned out by their backup dancers and props, to the detriment of highlighting the individual members of their 6 person group. Unlike the other teams, they haven’t figured out how to use this no-audience stage, so when they transition from one element to the next, I always find myself trying to find the member I should be looking at, which stifles the momentum. The fix might be something as simple as more distinctive costuming to stand out from their backup dancers, dance formations that place the members front and center, and transition moves (TOO even skateboarded to the next element in theirs…).
Verivery’s stage was so messy and the concept was hard carried by the props and costuming. I’m not sure why they chose to do a one-shot format. It was a bit disappointing because Photo was my favorite performance of round 2.
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Based on how the groups have performed so far rightfully it should be ONF and The Boyz going to Kingdom, but most likely it will be either The Boyz alone or The Boyz and Pentagon. With all due respect to Pentagon, I don’t think Pentagon’s performances have shown that they are worthy of Kingdom at all.
The pleasant surprise from the show is how ONF has emerged as a dark horse. At the beginning, the show was pretty much setting up the two-horse narrative for The Boyz and Pentagon (since they both ranked first and second in the 90 sec performance and the first round), but ONF wowed everyone with each successive performance and proved themselves as worthy (or even superior at times) competitors, even if they do not end up going to Kingdom. I hope South Korea stops sleeping on them after the show and give them more support in their future comebacks.
I also wonder why ONEUS has consistently been mistreated when it comes to the contestants votes – their Lit stage was fabulous and even so, they only ranked 4th for the contestants votes which was absolutely ridiculous (don’t even get me started on the last stage…). It was the audience’s votes that saved ONEUS from elimination BOTH rounds. If i were to offer an explanation, it could be that 1. ONEUS isn’t as close to other contestants as the other groups and 2. the contestants tend to vote for other groups out of respect (case in point – Pentagon only because of their seniority, it ain’t a coincidence when Pentagon scored very well in all three rounds of contestants votes but did very poorly when it came to the audience’s votes).
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The one take thing suggests that, verivery only used one camera for the whole thing. Whereas other groups use multiple cameras and multiple angles even if it’s live. I hope you get what I meant.
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Makes total sense, and I never thought about it this way. Thanks!
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I just want to say I am 100% not hating on VeriVery at all. They are super talented and I think they deserve all the best. That being said, am I the only person who disliked the Gogobebe stage? I honestly thought the Aladdin concept was a little bit cheesy and I couldn’t stop laughing. The boys did a great job tho, I just thought the execution of the stage was funny. Same with TOO. Great and talented boys, but the whole spray paint/punk kids concept was too much for me lol. These two songs didn’t match with the songs concepts imo.
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Last for me will be ONEUS, I think this was their worst stage yet. It was a snooze fest, the arrangement uninspiring, and Ravn bad acting just make it a no for me.
As an Ahgase, Hard Carry was my fav Got7 until Look came along. It has been my alarm song since the song was released, so I’m pretty biased about it.
The arrangement was okay i mean, if you never heard the original before, the arrangement sounds like an okay B-side, but it wasn’t something I would listen to again. But what bothers me the most is they totally changed the choreo. Didn’t even keep some element of it. It’s a difficult choreo, I get it, but that’s what make Hard Carry so awesome to watch. It’s a pity especially I really like what TOO did to Rising Sun. I do think that was better than the original.
It was a hard toss between Oneus and TOO for last place this round for me, but they get fifth simply because Kyungho’s dancing is really great. For rookies, their stage presence is amazing.
Fourth for me is Verivery. I applaud them going for a one-take, but it was very overcrowded and hectic, it was a bit like a come spot the members while watching. I didn’t like the original song (I’m a bg stan in general but i really love Mamamoo) and this arrangement still does nothing for me.
Third. The Boyz. After stantwt went viral with a post from a supposed online voter of the show overt gushing about this stage, I had expectations. I mean, i enjoyed their first two stages and that has set the bar. But this for me is meh. Probably because of my expectations. I don’t like the arrangement either, probably because I still can’t associate Beethoven’s Quasi Una Fantasia with Shangri La. I’m also an avid classical music listener and I don’t think they understand or intepreted it well with this. It’s an unncessary inclusion. I was struggling between them being fourth or third here but at least I don’t have to do spot where the members are in this.
Second. Pentagon. Unpopular opinion on this article, but I actually enjoyed this. I agree that the concept is a bit all over the place for a “Pharoah/Egyptian” concept. I feel it wasn’t very Egyptian. I like Egyptology and growing up, I have fascination reading about Egyptian history and the pyramids. But after watching a livestream after the episode where Kino said that while Pharoah concept sounds cool to do, it’s not their culture, and he tried his hardest to research about it and was trying to strive a balance between inspired and appropriating. I think that is really admirable. But I think they could have done with more Egyptian elements instead of it being more of a Arabianesque. They could have gone with wearing the nemes to set Wooseok’s character apart, to show that he’s the Pharoah. I wouldn’t have think that as appropriation. I also think they could have gone with more Kohl-ish eye makeup that’s distinct of the Egyptians and have the female dancers with the Egyptian wigs.
I agree with what you said about Hui being tired and uninspired. There’s a lot of recycled samples in the various tracks so far. But regardless, from this show, he made me like 2 songs that I absolutely detest the original-Very Good and KTL. I think that’s an achievement. What I like about this arrangement is that, in the end, when it comes down to it, this is a song I can listen to again and again without watching the performance. It’s such an earworm. Even the dance break music is seamless here. It didn’t stood out. The other tracks were obviously arranged with performance in mind where the dance break caused a dissonance in the music flow.
Because it’s a ranking, someone got to be first. ONF managed to take an iconic song and made it sounds brand new. I love monotree’s arrangements, he always uses such nice chord progressions and harmony changes. It’s first because it was the most memorable stage for me. Yuto gets so little screentime in this show, many people forget he’s exist in ONF or is the main dancer and also choreograph their dances.
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