~ Episode 5: Re-Born (2) ~

Hello everyone and welcome to the debrief of Mnet's Kingdom Legendary War episode 5. This episode is the continuity of the second round: Re-Born, in which all the groups have to perform each other's songs while reviving them and giving them a second life. 

Last week we were able to see SF9, The Boyz and Ikon perform, and I explained that my favorite performance of last week was Ikon's. And in episode 5 we were able to see the three remaining performances: Ateez, BtoB and Stray Kids. 

This article will be split into three parts: The first one will be me giving my opinion about the performances of this episode, the second one will be me giving my own personal ranking as well as revealing the "temporary" ranking for round 2 (made of the group's self evaluation and the expert's evaluation, excluding the views on the videos and the global fans' vote), and the last one will be discussing the preview for the next episode. 

So, let's dive right into it!

I. Re-Born performances pt. 2

ATEEZ's "Rhythm Ta"

The first performance of this episode is Ateez performing Ikon's Rhythm Ta. To be honest with you, I was really skeptical since I saw the preview for episode 5, because Ikon had already performed Rhythm Ta during the meet & greet, and because I already love the original SO MUCH that I thought I wouldn't like the "rebirth" version of the song. Then, I got even more skeptical when they thought about implementing a "latin feeling" to the song because the preview of the episode showed a very "electronic" and "hardcore" version of the song. Adding to this the pirate concept, I thought this performance was going to be a mess.

Now, after watching the actual performance, my thoughts were confirmed, because the performance ended up being messy in my opinion. What I liked about the performance is the undeniably amazing stage presence and energy of the members, as well as the use of the stage and props. The choreography in itself was also pretty intense and fitting the amount of energy the members showcase every time they perform. However, the concept and the storyline are messy as hell, which left me not understanding and not liking the stage as I should have. This time, they went for a "bank thieves" concept, but I didn't know that until one of the other groups mentioned it. Then, the latin portion didn't fit at all with the electronic arrangement of the song. Finally, when Hongjoong broke the cube to get the hourglass, it confused me even more as I didn't understand what was the link between the hourglass and that performance. It's good if you want to link all the performances, but the link has to be clear. Here it definitely wasn't for me. 

Overall, Ateez didn't do a bad performance. I just think they could've done much better, either by choosing another song or by making the concept and the storyline more seamless.

BtoB's  "Back Door"

I could definitely feel the shock they had when Stray Kids chose to swap songs with them. Stray Kids' songs are indeed all pretty intense, but it's because both groups have such different concepts that this swap was going to be interesting. 

When BtoB met to brainstorm about which song they were going to choose, they mentioned TOP, Hellevator, Back Door, Slump, and some other songs. Then they were hesitating between TOP and Back Door, and ended up choosing Back Door. A small parenthesis: when asked "which song do you think BtoB's going to perform", Changbin replied "I am You" or "Hellevator". And when Changbin mentioned "I am You" (knowing that they would perform Back Door on my side), I thought that I wanted them to do a remake of I am You regardless of the competition, because I could totally picture BtoB singing that song. Closing the parenthesis now. 

For the actual performance, I liked how they got inspired from Mamamoo's "good luck stage" on queendom. If you didn't watch that stage, basically every member were individually on stage at first with different concept, before reuniting in the last part as a group on stage with a "common" concept. And that's what they did with back door. I also loved how they used the stage, they literally translated the song into the stage design. Plus, BtoB added their signature vocals, and we got Minhyuk's abs as a bonus ^^. I just wished they had implemented more parts from the actual choreography. Aside from the "knock knock", I think the choreography during the chorus is also an important part that characterizes the song. I noticed that they did an attempt, but it wasn't enough for me.

Overall, I liked BtoB's revival of Stay Kids' "Back Door". They really gave this song a second life, I just wished there were more hard choreography parts because that's what characterizes the song to me. 

Stray Kids' "I'll be your man"

I'm really frustrated about this performance because the performance in itself was amazing. However, it wasn't a revival of the original song since the concept is still the same, and I think that they should've precise the criteria for this round like the change of concept, the change of melody, the addition of a rap verse, etc. Because this performance is really amazing, it's just that the song wasn't "re-born" again and because of that, I'd put it off topic. 

For the performance in itself, like I said, it was amazing. First, they had the opportunity to showcase their vocal & rapping skills (although I.N made a slight mistake but it's okay, mistakes happen and sometimes the pressure is too high). Second, the storyline really works: the sacrifice to bring someone we love (portrayed by the kid) back to life. Third, the props & the use of the stage that play in favour of the storyline. Last but not least, the face expressions and the acting of the members was on point. 

It's really frustrating that this performance was off topic because otherwise it would surely be in my top 3. 

II. Personal & Temporary ranking

For the first round I was a bit confused on how the ranking works, but now I understood that the first ranking is temporary (only 50% of the votes are announced, and the global votes are opened once the round is over so the final results are announced on the next episode). So, the results of the self-evaluation + the experts evaluation are as follows:

1. ATEEZ

2. SF9

3. BtoB

4. Ikon

5. Stray Kids

6. The Boyz

As for my own personal ranking, here it is:

1. Ikon

2. BtoB

3. The Boyz

4. Ateez

5. SF9

6. Stray Kids

I cannot place Stray Kids higher because the concept of their version of "I'll be your man" is the same as the original concept, and I placed SF9 a bit lower than their actual rank because I know they can do much better. I also don't know why The Boyz placed so low, because although the Tango vibe is not that far from the Spanish original timber of the song, their performance was so well executed. And for this round, I think Ikon deserves the 1st place because they really understood the theme and they really turned an Ateez song into THEIR song. 

III. Episode 6 preview

Next week, it seems like the groups will take a "break" from the competition and will participate in a "sports" competition. It seems like it will be a good opportunity for the groups to relax a bit, to have fun, and to bond between each other. I really cannot wait to see this episode, because I know we'll laugh a lot, and we'll get to know each group and its members more, as well as get attached to them. I don't think I'll make a debrief on this episode since no new performances will be shown (and at the same time it will be an occasion for me to take a small break).

That's it for the debrief of episode 5! Take care, and I'll see you all soon.

Love, Swan

~ 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

~Episode 3: To the World (2)~

Hello everyone and welcome to the debrief of Kingdom Legendary War episode 3! This week we continue the first round of the competition "To the world" with three other performances: Stray Kids, Ateez and SF9! But, before we start, I want to give a little disclaimer: I won't take into consideration the "unfair treatment" Mnet is being accused of, although a lot of details have been pointed out and fans have been expressing their anger. I just don't want to base myself on speculation, I don't want to get on anyone's bad side, and I don't want to cause harm to any of the participants. I also won't talk about Hyunjin being taken out of the episodes for the same reasons. Now without any further due let's start! 

I. Round 1: To the world pt. 2 

Last week The Boyz had performed No Air (a song of ice and fire), Ikon had performed a mashup with Love Scenario and Killing me, and BtoB had performed Missing you (theatre ver.). My favorite of last week was BtoB. 

Stray Kids

Stray Kids also choose to perform a mashup with "Side effects" from their "Clé 2: Yellow Wood" album and the legendary "God's menu" from their "Go Live" album. When they were debriefing on what song to perform, one of the staff member had suggested they mix god's menu with Hellevator. I was really afraid they'd go for these two songs because like our maknae I.N said, Hellevator is a really good song on its own already, and mashing it up with god's menu would've been a mess. Thankfully, the staff trusted the member enough to let them work with Side effects and God's menu. I really want to praise Bang Chan for the arrangement because the transition between one song to another was seamless. 

Now moving on to the performance. There are a few points that made this performance look incredible:

1. The storytelling.Side effects was all about being in a parallel world where they were controlled, which was perfectly portrayed in the first part of the performance with the members dancing while being controlled by the dancers. And then we transition to god's menu where the tendency is reversed, and the members are now controlling the dancers when they're under the giant white cloth and when they're tied with the read strings. Also, the "Evil" becomes "Live". 
2. The use of the stage. At some point I really thought there were multiple stages because the decor kept changing and made this performance look real. They also really played with the props and the backup dancers, using them at their biggest advantage. 
3. The acting. Stray Kids are known for being beasts on stage. They always use all of their energy to put out the best performance, and here they really added good acting skills to make it look credible. I really wanted to highlight Felix's portion with the bell. In one second the performance could've looked ridiculous if he made the slightest mistake in his part, but he pulled it off and I was really happy. And god knows that it wasn't easy to achieve this result (they were all laughing while rehearsing in the JYP premises). 

However, there are also some points that didn't act in their favour. First, they relied too much on the back up dancers, to an extent where they were outshining them. When the members were in the back controlling the backup dancers who were under the white thing, I wasn't paying attention to the members in the back. Second, too much was happening. I'm sure there are details I didn't catch just like for their meet&greet performance, and the lighting at some point was really dark, making it hard to see every single detail they had prepared for the performance. Lastly, I wish we heard more live vocals. I've known Stray Kids since their debut, and I know they can sing. They just seem to privilege performance and heavy stunts every time, and that's their choice. I know some live vocals peaked at the end of the performance, especially during Changbin's rap, which I really enjoyed. I just want to hear more as I am an addict for live vocals. 

ATEEZ

Ah, Ateez... I'm starting to miss Mingi, especially in that song where he really brings his own colours. But they definitely did a good job. 

First, the song choice. I really like Wonderland, it's my favorite title track of their Pirate series. It's energetic borderline majestic, and the concept was crystal clear. Everything matched the concept, from the arrangement to the decor, passing by the outfits and the props. And the song arrangement was really good, until... until the last part. Did they really have to include those electronic sounds? I HATE IT when they do that. The performance was so epic and the tension was building so much, and then these sounds came in, ruining the climax. 

Second, the performance, and this is where I have really mixed feelings:

1. The performance in itself was complete, but it felt a bit too chaotic 2 reasons: First, the Kraken. Although it fits the concept, I found it too imposing and the stage felt really unbalanced. Second, the unfair screen time. I barely saw Yeosang (that's nothing new but still), and what frustrates me is that the Kraken's time could've been given to him. But no, they absolutely had to include that tentacle... 
2. There were live vocals, and I really appreciated it. That high note Jongho did? Mind-blowing. However, he was definitely forcing a bit, because you can hear it transforming into a little scream at the end, and that's when I started worrying about his vocal cords. 
3. The pirate concept... again. Pirate King, Treasure, Hala Hala, Say My Name, Wave, Illusion, Wonderland, and Answer, all these songs had a Pirate concept. They could've at least tried to do it a bit differently, not that it's easy to do but I guess I was expecting something different. Let's hope they get out of their comfort zone for the next round. 

SF9

Lastly, let's talk about SF9 who performed "Now Or Never" (yes, that's the English title of the song, it's not "Jealous" although the Korean title is pronounced "Jilleosseo" which translates into "Yelled"). 

I'm really frustrated about this performance and I know the members are too. I really love SF9 and I know they're capable of a lot more. I saw that they were trying really hard to pull out the best performance possible out there, but a lot of things didn't work, making the whole performance look a bit too messy:

1. Technical problems happened when they tried doing the acrobatic movements which is why Inseong was limping at the end of the performance.
2. The facial expressions could've also used some work, apart from Taeyang and his gorgeous acting, I could feel the other members were not at ease with the stage, nor with the backup dancers.
3. The storyline wasn't really clear to me, and if you don't understand the message behind the performance it means that it wasn't well constructed. 
4. Not all the members had the opportunity to shine. Apart from Taeyang who showed us his dancing and acting skills, the other members whom I know can dance and sing really well didn't shine as much as they could and I really don't want the public to think that this is only what they can do. I think this was mainly due the members lacking confidence in themselves, and passing last didn't help because all the other performances were really good. 

I really hope that for the next round SF9 members will be more prepared and more confident in themselves, because that's what I felt lacked on this stage: confidence. 

II. Round 1 final rankings & my personal one

It was announced that the contestants would be "graded" as follows:

• Votes by the six competing groups (25%)
• Votes by a panel of 30 experts (25%)
• Domestic and global fans vote (40%)
• Video view count (10%)

I personally find this pretty fair, and I'm glad we have a mix of experts and fans voting. And you have to understand that the fans are basically the fuel of the artists, so it's normal (to me at least) that they have a bigger voting power than the experts.

Now, without getting into the details, the final ranking for this round is as follows (from 1st to 6th):

• Ateez
• Stray Kids
• The Boyz
• BtoB
• Ikon 
• SF9

Apparently these are the rankings based only on the 6 groups votes and the experts votes, it didn’t take into account the votes of the fans and the views on the full performances videos.

Now here’s my personal ranking:

• BtoB
• Ateez
• Stray Kids
• The Boyz
• Ikon
• SF9

III. Episode 4 preview

Next week it's the start of Round 2: "Reborn". For this round, the contestants will have to cover each other's songs, and I'm here for it! I tried as much as I could to guess who will perform what song, but it is really hard to tell (I guess I'll have to wait for the actual episode to be released ^^'). But what we do see is that Ateez will have the privilege to choose who they want to switch songs with, Minhyuk of BtoB will rip his shirt off, and Rowoon of Sf9 will be back on stage! 

That's it for Kingdom Legendary war episode 3! I'll see you next week for episode 4 :) Take care until then. 

Love, Swan