Hello everyone and welcome to this Kingdom Special! In this particular section I'll be debriefing the episodes of Mnet's competition show called "Kingdom Legendary War" which took place from April 1st, 2021 until June 3rd, 2021. The participants are: Stray Kids, Ateez, The Boyz, Ikon, BtoB, and SF9. 

Prologue: Preface of the competition, what it's all about, how it works, and who are the participants.

Episode 1: Meet & Greet, introduction performances by all the groups.

Episode 2: Round 1 "To the world", performances by The Boyz, Ikon and BtoB. 

Episode 3: Round 1 "To the world", performances by Stray Kids, Ateez and SF9. 

Episode 4: Round 2 "Re-Born", performances by SF9, The Boyz, and Ikon. 

Episode 5: Round 2 "Re-Born", performances by Ateez, BtoB and Stray Kids. 

As episode 6 didn't have any performances on it, I didn't debrief it. You can still watch it on Viki or Kshow123. 

Episode 7: Round 3 "No Limit" pt 1, Rap battle & Dancing battle (team mayfly vs. team it's one).

Episode 8: Round 3 "No Limit" pt 1, Singing battle (team mayfly vs. team it's one), & Round 3 "No Limit" pt 2, performances by Ikon and Stray Kids. 

Episode 9: Round 3 "No Limit" pt 2, performances by The Boyz, BtoB, Ateez, and SF9. 

Episode 10: Final performances by all teams + who's the king?

Epilogue: Conclusion of the whole competition, my opinion on the group's general performance, and general comments on the competition.

Hope you enjoy!

Love, Swan 

~ Epilogue ~

Hello everyone, and welcome to the wrap up of Mnet's Kingdom competition. After several months of intense competition, Stray Kids have been crowned as the new Kings. In this article, I'd like to give some comments on the format of the competition compared to the previous seasons (queendom & road to kingdom), and I'd also like to talk about the evolution of the groups throughout the weeks. I will be ranking the stages by groups (from my least favourite to my favourite performance of X group) because ranking all the stages will be impossible for me.   And just a friendly reminder that this ranking will be done according to my personal taste and that you don't have to take it personally. So, without any further due, let's start.

I. The format

I'll start with the things I find great in this format: First, there are no eliminations, which is great because all the groups have the same amount of attempts to show what they are capable of. In queendom if a group ranked last twice in a row they would get eliminated, and in road to kingdom the group that ranked last in round 2 and 3 would get eliminated which was unfair because if we gave one more chance to these groups they could've showed us more. So this was a really good point. Another great aspect was that every single stage was explained, like how the group came to decide on X song to perform, the thinking process they went through to come up with creative ideas, and how they practiced for the actual performance. This allows us as viewers to really understand how the process goes on.

However, there were more points which I didn't like at all: First of all, the guidelines for each round weren't clear at all. I need to know, as a viewer, what are going to be the exact criteria the groups will be judged on! For the first round "To the world", the only thing we were told is that the groups had to choose a song of theirs they wanted to show to the world, that's all. Nothing on any sort of constraint regarding the choreography, the song arrangement, the props, etc., and most importantly nothing on how the groups did their own evaluation (because remember, groups had to vote between themselves)! It really frustrated me a lot, and this lack of precision made the ranking even blurrier which gave more importance to "popular voting". As a fan, if I had to vote based on a certain number of criteria, I would have voted for the group who respected these criteria the most. But if there are no specific criteria, I would certainly vote for my favourite group. It might be the same group in both cases but it might also be a different group in which case there is a problem.

Second, we had literally no backstage interaction between the groups. There was the sports day episode, but this was all on-camera reactions. I would've loved to see the groups interact outside of the premises like when practicing (aside from phone calls...), but I can understand they didn't let them interact for sanitary reasons. 

Third, I love Changmin, and I understand that no one could've predicted this incident with Yunho, but the performance of the previous hosts (Lee Da-Hee and Jand Sung-Kyu) was so good that this time I was really disappointed by the hosting. They could've found someone else to co-host with Changmin when Yunho had to quit, because it was obvious that Changmin was uncomfortable being the only host out there although I'm sure he tried his best. 

Fourth... MNET, CHANGE YOUR DAMN CAMERAMEN! Or at least, pay them a professional formation, because you're really not doing justice to all the performances. I think I mentioned the bad camerawork multiple times in the debrief of the finale so I won't detail every time they did a bad job, but this is truly frustrating. When the groups spend so much time designing a stage, learning a choreography and practicing their facial expressions, it's for every important detail to be highlighted and not ignored for god's sake! 

Last but not least: The voting. For every round, the rankings would be decided on the following criteria: Self-evaluation points (25%), Experts' voting (25%), Global voting (40%), and Performance video view count (10%). A lot of people criticised it saying that the public had too much power and that it would end up in a popularity contest. But guys, the whole industry is a popularity contest. When you perform on a music show, it's the fans who vote, when you do a concert, it's the fans who pay to come see you, when you release an album, it's the fans who pay to buy it! So the 40% for me are totally justified. However, what bothers me is the identity of the experts that was never revealed to us. Who were these experts? I really hope they were professional producers, choreographers and singers because otherwise I would get really mad! And when I saw members of Tri.Be and Mirae (groups who just freaking debuted!) being part of the "experts" panel for the third round, I got mad. 

II. Recap on all the groups' journey

Just a little disclaimer: I won't include the battles when ranking the groups' stages just because not all members of a group participated in every battle. 

SF9

I think SF9 was a group who entered the competition at a disadvantage. They come from a less-known company (Fantagio entertainment), and they have a less important fanbase from the start. I was really happy when I heard they would participate because I knew they would benefit a lot from the competition even though their chances of winning were lower than the others. I was familiar with their songs prior to the competition but I don't think I was a fan before that (I was just obsessed by Taeyang himself but that's another story). After having watched the competition, I think I can call myself a fan because I really grasped their artistic style. I think people don't realise how unique their style is. Their dancers dance in a very artistic way, their singers sing with a very powerful and emotional voice, and their rappers rap in a very suave way. I think they found themselves and defined themselves through the competition and I think this is what I call a good evolution. Now, if I had to rank all their stages, I would do the following (from least favourite to favourite): Jealous (round 1), Good Guy | The Glory| (introduction stage), The Stealer (round 2), Believer (finale), and finally, Move (round 3).  

IKON

I still think that to this day, Ikon is underrated in the sense that they do not get the recognition they deserve. They've been around for a couple of years now, they have a very modern hip-hop sound, they are very relaxed on stage and have proved themselves multiple times by going through several competitions. I really got mad at some rankings because they deserved a higher place. Inception was such an amazing rebirth, why the hell did they rank 4th? They should've at least ranked 3rd (from an objective point of view). Plus, there wasn't one stage that didn't feel like an ikon stage! They put their identity in all of their performances and that's a huge plus! To conclude I would just say that they have been themselves from start to end, and that you should at least try to listen to their songs if you still didn't do so. And if I had to rank all their stages, I would do the following (from least favourite to favourite): Love scenario + Killing me (round 1), Rhythm Ta (introduction stage), At Ease (finale), Classy Savage (round 3), and finally Inception (round 2). 

BTOB

BtoB definitely gained a new fan: Me. They stayed true to themselves while still trying new stuff out! I think they were the ones who had most fun performing in this competition, or at least that's the impression I got. They alway communicated good emotions, and that's not something all groups are capable of. Eunkwang was the person who made me laugh the most during the competition, from the moment he had that hilarious talk with Bang Chan in english during the first episode until the very last second of the last episode. I think they took out the best of every stage and were very humble in the sense that they considered themselves being at the same level of all the other groups and wanted to learn from them. If I had to rank all their performances, from least favourite to most favourite, I would rank them like the following: Back Door (round 2), Blue Moon Cinema Ver. (round 3), Missing you Theatre Ver. (round 1), Beautiful Pain Choir Ver. (Introduction Stage), and finally Show and Prove (Finale). 

Ateez

I think that overall, Ateez could've done better. I don't know if it's because Mingi wasn't there, but their overall performance felt incomplete to me. And trust me I wouldn't even bother saying this if I wasn't a fan, but I am and this is why it frustrates me so much. An indicator of this is that when I think of their performances on kingdom, there's not one that comes spontaneously to my mind, whereas for other groups I immediately think about a stage like Move for SF9, Show and Prove for BtoB, and Inception for Ikon. But I do want to applaud them for their stages that were still powerful and full of ideas. Ranking their performances from my least favourite to most favourite would give the following: Answer: Ode to joy (round 3), Symphony No.9 From the wonderland (round 1), Rhythm ta (the awakening of summer) (round 2), Wave - Ouverture (introduction stage), and finally The Real (finale). 

The Boyz

I felt the same way about The Boyz than I did about Ateez, but in a more complex way. I became a fan of The Boyz while watching them on Road To Kingdom, and they really did show all they could on that competition. If you haven't watched their RTK stages do it right now, you'll understand how talented these boys are. However, none of their Kingdom stages gave me that same "wow effect". And I feel like sometimes the pressure was maybe too high to handle. I do want to praise them for one thing: the way they use the stage. They are very good at using the stage in its entirety and they are very comfortable with the camera movement. That's something other groups like SF9 had trouble with, but The Boyz definitely had the advantage of knowing how to use the stage and how the camera will be filming them. From least favourite to most favourite, here is how I would rank their stages: O sole mio (the red wedding) (round 2), No air (a song of ice and fire) (round 1), The stealer epic ver. (introduction stage), Monster (storm born) (round 3), and finally, Kingdom Come (finale). 

Stray Kids

 

Last but not least, the winners of the whole thing, Stray Kids. I think stray kids was the most consistent throughout all their performances. Some groups did performances that were okay and others that were really good, but all stray kids stages were more or less at the same level, and this is why I think they won the competition. Although Hyunjin wasn't a part of the competition, I think they still managed to show who Stray Kids are, and what they are capable of. I think they gained a lot of confidence throughout the competition, especially for the younger members (I.N and Seungmin). Ranking their performances from my least favourite to most favourite would give the following: Side effects & God's menu mashup (round 1), Miroh (introduction stage), I'll be your man (round 2), Wolfgang (finale) and finally, Ddu du ddu du & God's menu mashup (round 3). 

One last thing I wanted to say is that there is ONE STAGE that will remain legendary, and that's the "Love Poem" stage by team Mayfly (Stray Kids, Ateez and BtoB) during the singing battle in the third round. That stage gave me CHILLS, and it still makes me cry every single time I listen to it. It's just legendary.

All of that being said, the "Kingdom Special" is now over! I really enjoyed debriefing the competition (although it was sometimes hard to keep up with the pace). I will surely do the same for the next season of the show (I don't think it will happen any time soon but I do hope that there will be a queendom season 2 next year). I would also really appreciate it if you could leave a comment saying if you liked the way I commented each episode, the things you liked and the things you think I should improve for next time. 

Thank you very much for reading this article and I'll see you soon!

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Mnet's official YouTube channel. 

~ Episode 10: Who's the King ~

Hello everyone! So, here we are, debriefing the finale of Kingdom Legendary War... Time flies! I remember waiting impatiently for the first episode to air, and now it's already over. Well, everything has to come to an end, and it's time to put a final stop to this beautiful story (and to the pain of multi stans as well). 

I will first comment on the final performances of every group (if you want to know my opinion on the songs themselves, go check out the debrief of episode 9), then I will comment the final ranking (and the winner), and will give my own personal winner. I will make a separate article to wrap up this whole Kingdom Special series, giving my overall thoughts about the participants, the format, and more. 

So let's start!

Finale Performances

ATEEZ's "The Real"

Let's start with Ateez first. Ateez performed their new song "The Real" on which Mingi was actually featured even though he wasn't there to perform it with them. I'm quite saddened by the fact that Mingi has been on hiatus for so long, and I would've loved to see them perform as eight. 

For this performance, the vibe was quite different than the one in their previous performances, and for that I was really happy. What I think made this performance great is mainly the choreography and attitude of the members on stage. This choreography requires the perfect amount of energy and let me elaborate on this: I always thought that Ateez had amazing energy but that sometimes they are overdoing it and too much energy kills the vibe sometimes. But here, they showed the perfect amount of energy, with cool and relaxed expressions, which made me as a viewer enjoy the stage more and not feel like they were forcing themselves. I also loved the part when they dance with the kids towards the end of the performance, that was really cute. 

One point that I am more mitigated on is the ending: it might have been a bit too chaotic for me to understand the meaning behind the performance. I liked it when Hongjoong was with the other groups just vibin' to the song, but it made me lose track of the performance a little bit. 

Conclusion: The performance met my expectations despite the chaotic ending :)

Stray Kids' "Wolfgang"

As soon as the performance started I was like "WHY DIDN'T I THINK ABOUT THIS EARLIER?!" I never thought there was a link with Mozart, but that was complete genius. The performance started with my mind being already blown, and when the actual song started my mouth just opened. The beginning of the performance was just spectacular.

What I also really liked in this performance are the outfits and the staging. I liked how they used the stage and the props they used to make us feel like we were in a forest. It seemed pretty convincing and they played with the props really well. 

However, there was one thing that drove me crazy (in a negative way) and that is the CAMERAMAN. You guys, I'm not joking, it was a nightmare and I wanted to kill whoever had this camera in his hands: CENTER THE CAMERA BRO! THE CAMERA WAS NEVER CENTERED! It always took a couple of seconds to have the shot properly centered and that drove me crazy. 

So, the cameraman nightmare put aside, this performance was really intense and powerful, just like Stray Kids themselves :)

The Boyz's "Kingdom Come"

 

When I think about this performance, the words that come to my mind are "Slick Choreography", "Stunning outfits" and "creativity". The choreography was so detailed and synchronised, it's definitely one of their strengths. Then, the outfits (and hairstyles too) were stunning, I absolutely loved Hyunjae's outfit and Eric's red hairstyle, it suits him so well. Last but not least, creativity. I knew that VCRs (pre-filmed small clips) are commonly shown at the start of a performance (they also use them at concerts), but I never thought that they could be used as transitions from one part to another of the performance. That was pure genius, and it was done really well! There was no glitch, the performance was seamless. 

BUT, the really bad camerawork had to make a comeback, and this time it's even worse than for Stray Kids' performance. The camera was literally shaking at some points, and it was right into the last chorus, when the energy should be at the maximum, and it totally ruined the mood.

The camerawork put aside, I think this performance lacked rap parts, and lacked a bit of momentum. Usually the build up that leads to the last chorus should be the most hyped part, but I didn't feel hyped up, nor tickled. It was kind of predictable that it would happen like this, so I was slightly disappointed in this regard.  Nevertheless, they still did a good job looking back at everything they have achieved since road to kingdom.

BTOB's "Show and Prove"

I downloaded the finale songs prior to the performances to dissect them and to try to visualise the performances, and I pictured the "Show and Prove" performance exactly like this: Simple yet impactful. I almost teared up because I've discovered BTOB through this show and I truly felt moved by this performance. The message that this song holds is touching, they're literally showing us how they've grown and that even after 10 years they're still here, and they literally say "this is for the haters, get lost see you later" (that's Peniel's line). 

BTOB is from another generation of idols, and I think this is why their stages feel so special. They focus on what they are strong at: Singing and Rapping. They don't pretend to be good at everything, they just do what they know the best, and it only makes their performance even more powerful. 

I'm really thankful for Kingdom to have introduced BTOB in my life. 

IKON's "At Ease"

 

I find it funny that the title of this song is "at ease" because I always felt like Ikon performed "at ease" on stage. They always have this cool attitude and always seem to have fun on stage (especially Bobby). This song is a song made for them, it has that Ikon vibe from start to end, and I absolutely loved how they sticked to their identity from the start till the end of the competition. I also love how they did this "mise-en-scène" with the cages on stage, as if they were trapped and broke free during the performance.

However, I felt like the chorus was a bit empty (in the song, and in the dancing portion of the chorus as well which is not what I'm used to from them). I was expecting something more explosive and powerful, and there's just that slow beat that comes in after the build up (although the build up is pretty awesome). And here as well the camera man did a really bad job (but it's borderline this time, the worse was during The Boyz's and Stray Kids' performance). 

This performance was definitely missing something though. As much as the song sounded like Ikon's signature sound, it didn't explode as I wished it would, leaving me wanting for more. 

SF9's "Believer"

When I listened to the track I was a bit afraid because it was a very much Kpop song that might not leave the space for a creative or extraordinary performance. And I was right, because that's what happened. Aside from the nice tunnel we had at the beginning, the human statues at mid-performance, and the gorgeous outfits, there wasn't much to this performance. I also have to say that it was hard to top the stage they pulled of last week with their version of "Move". At least this time the cameraman wasn't on steroids...  

Final Ranking

Before we tackle the final ranking of the whole competition, I would like to share with you my own ranking of the finale performances:

First place would go to BtoB, second place would go to Stray Kids, third place would go to ATEEZ, fourth place would go to The Boyz, fifth place would go to IKON and sixth place would go to SF9. 

Now, let's dive into the official final ranking: Combining the rankings of all rounds, as well as the fans' votes, the winner is... STRAY KIDS. Looking back at all the performances that have been done on this show, I think Stray Kids have been the most consistent. They have always kept the same amount of energy, they have proven their versatility with very different stages, they have proved also their sense of creativity with all the crazy ideas they've had. I didn't participate in the voting process because I was rooting for all the groups, but I do understand why Stray Kids was the winner of the competition.

Second place goes to... The Boyz. I was actually pleasantly surprised that they got second place. I hope this will help them gain confidence, because I think they are very harsh with themselves and always think that they could've done better stages when they give their all every single time. I think they've proven themselves enough, they gained a lot of fans on road to kingdom and now kingdom, because they are definitely really talented. I will keep a close eye on them after the show ends, because I haven't really had a comeback as a The B yet and I would love to see them release a new album anytime soon :)

Third place goes to... Ateez. I was really sad that Mingi didn't get to participate at all in the competition, but I do think that they did a good job and deserved the third place on the podium. 

Fourth place goes to... BTOB. I think that BTOB did a really good job at showing the world who they truly are and what BTOB stands for. They literally won a new fan: Me. I knew who they were before but never listened to any of their songs. Now you can be sure that I will download all of their albums. 

Finally, fifth place goes to Ikon and sixth place goes to SF9. I am sad for these two groups because I feel like they weren't given the same means to battle as the other groups. I really don't want to start a debate, but the gap between the performances was huge sometimes. I do hope that Ikon and SF9 won some exposure, because that's what they needed most at the end of the day. I hope people don't view SF9 just as a group of astonishing men but as talented artists, and I hope people identify Ikon by their signature sound and not by what happened years ago with B.I. 

If I had to make my own personal ranking of the whole competition, Stray Kids would be first, BTOB second, Ateez third, The Boyz fourth, Ikon fifth and SF9 sixth. 

That's it for the debrief of Kingdom's finale! As I mentioned it at the beginning of this article, I will do a sort of "epilogue" where I discuss the competition as a whole. Until then, take care!

Love, Swan

 

Sources: YouTube, the bias list, Kprofiles.