~ Episode 4: Re-Born (1) ~

Hello everyone and welcome to the debrief of Kingdom Legendary War episode 4! This week, we are starting the second round entitled "Re-Born". The participants will have to cover each other's songs and to twist them to make it their own. Sf9, The Boyz and Ikon performed this week, while Ateez, Stray Kids and BtoB will perform next week.  I'll start by giving my thoughts on the performances that got released this week and I'll try to determine my favorite of this week (you'll have to wait until next week for my final personal ranking and for the actual final ranking), and then we'll wrap things up with the preview for next week's episode.

So, without any further due, let's start!

I. Re-Born performances pt.1 

After the first round, Ateez were announced as the first place according to the other teams' votes and the experts ranking. They were therefore allowed to choose which team they wanted to swap songs with and they chose Ikon. Then, Stray Kids (who ended up in second place) chose to swap songs with BtoB. Finally, Sf9 and The Boyz were left for the last swap. 

SF9

SF9 was the first group to perform. I'm glad all the teams got to read the feedback from the experts, because they know how it works and they pay attention to every single detail, so all the participants could improve their performances based on this feedback. Now, I was a bit disappointed that they chose "The Stealer". I was hoping to see another side of SF9, a more energetic and boy-ish side that they showed with "Mama Mia" and that they could've portrayed with "Giddy Up" or even "D.D.D". But anyways, they performed "The Stealer" with a very clear idea in mind, to make it seem like a movie. Having the performance clear in your head is essential for the performance to actually be smooth, and that's something I really liked. The storyline was there compared to their first performance and that's definitely a plus.

However, I think there was too much acting and not enough emotions. I really felt the energy they were putting in those fighting scenes, but the whole performance was based on that. I like to see authenticity on stage, some things that are natural and that are not overworked. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be prepared for a performance, you definitely should. But there was something spontaneous missing here, something that comes naturally, like genuine face expressions. Also, the lip-syncing was a bit off, especially during Zuho's part, which killed the mood a little bit. I have nothing against lip-syncing especially when you try to pull off such powerful performances, but let your lips at least be in sync with the track. 

Overall I think SF9 is getting better, they were more in sync and they really thought hard for putting a storyline in place. However I think they should work even more on being natural on stage, I think the pressure is playing a big role here, and that they're just getting used to this type of competition and this type of staging. 

The Boyz

Next we have The Boyz. I get how they felt disappointed falling off on the 3rd place of the podium. Third place in itself isn't bad, but because they were used to winning in RTK and because they really showed everything they could during that competition, I understand they're feeling this bittersweet. But here again, the feedback of the experts came in handy, and they decided to go for "O Sole Mio" in a Tango version.

I wasn't really familiar with the original song and the original choreography, but they definitely transformed this performance into theirs. They really slayed the Tango genre which is a really hard genre to master, plus the dance was super creative and super in sync. They used the stage to their advantage as they always do (and this time they even used a different "floor"), and the acting was also on point without it being too much. I also love the rearrangement of the song, and we heard some really good vocals in the last portion of the song.

However, there are two things that are bothering me at this stage: First, I'm getting mad for not seeing all the members on camera and that's not the first time it happens. I'm like "where the hell is Kevin? Haknyeon? New?" I never thought that on Road to Kingdom because I thought we'd see them all a fair amount of time, but here there are some members I don't even remember seeing on camera and that frustrates me. Second, the rap. Sunwoo did an amazing job, but the rap part felt a bit odd and didn't blend really well into the performance. And, going back to the first point, where was Eric? He's a rapper too right? 

Overall, I liked this performance better than "No Air" for its theatrical and majestic aspect brought forward by the Tango genre. I just wish we could see all the members equally during the performance for the next episodes. 

IKON

You guys, I'm not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed by their previous performance. But this one? They really took Inception and turned it into an Ikon song. Ikon had the best performance of this episode in my opinion.

First, the song choice. Inception is really a good song to start with, and its concept left the door open to many possibilities. I didn't watch the movie, but I understood that they inspired themselves to incorporate some elements from the movie on stage, and that's clever. And then, the song arrangement, especially the chorus, made the song turn into an Ikon song. The chorus has that badass vibe that Ikon masters so well, and then there's the last bit of the song, when they speed up after the slow-motion moment, with the chants and the hyped energy, that's a very Ikon and YG thing. I really got up of my chair and started dancing with them, because of the energy they put on this stage.

Second, the use of the stage. The way they played with the decor, it really seemed like the stage was multidimensional and huge. The moving parts were really cool and the road that tilted was impressive. I believe they got inspired from the "tilted" aspect of the movie, where everything's distorted. And speaking of distortion, Bobby's part with the weird camera effect was really cool, I really enjoyed that (and he was smiling like he didn't care, that's our Bobby after all). 

Lastly, the members. I feel like all the members unleashed themselves on stage (I was maybe expecting to see a bit more of Junhoe), especially Jinhwan. His confidence impressed me so much, and Donghyuk and Chanwoo also impressed me during their parts. 

This stage was really perfect from A to Z, I was blown away by how they turned the original song into their own, without denaturing it and without transforming it into a completely other song and concept. 

II. Next week's episode preview

In the preview for episode 5, we get snippets from the second bunch of performances for the "Re-Born" round. Ateez is going to perform Ikon's "Rhythm Ta" (I was hoping they would choose another song since Ikon already performed this song, but it's fine), Stray Kids is going to perform BtoB's "I'll be your man" (the vocals in this song are very challenging, I'm curious to see how they'll pull this off), and finally BtoB is going to perform Stray Kid's "Back Door" (I cannot wait to see them get out of their comfort zone, and that ab reveal from Minhyuk is a really good appetiser). And then, we got a mini teaser for the self-evaluation rankings, with The Boyz's Sunwoo saying "let's keep this feeling in mind" after Changmin reveals the 6th place. I honestly don't want any group to place last, but someone has to be in 6th place, and if it's The Boyz, I would really be shocked.

Lastly, before we conclude this article, I asked you on my social media to tell me what was your favorite performance of episode 4, and the winner is, with 53 votes out of 92, IKON!

That's it for the debrief of Kingdom legendary war episode 4! I'm really excited to see the rest of the performances and more interactions between the participants. 

Take care and I'll see you next week for the debrief of episode 5.

Love, Swan