My Road to Kingdom First Performance Rankings - (I try to stay unbiased, I stan most of these groups. I have studied music production and dance, but remember it comes down to opinion - no hate is intended...)
1.) The Boyz - They really killed it. The concept/story was the best executed imo. Stunts were memorable, but not overbearing. I barely noticed any inconsistencies in choreo. Every move and transition felt purposeful.
2.) Golden Child - Popular opinion: they were robbed. I thought contemporary was a great place to go to make them stand out. The visuals were wonderful. There wasnât unecessary acrobatics and camera tricks. It felt very raw which went well with the rock ballad arrangement.
3.) Pentagon - Pentagon and TOOâs are so close for me. Hereâs why Pentagon managed to just get above them: first, out of all the groups this was the one that could convince me that Very Good was their own song. The feel from the vocals were the best imo. They could have done more with their concept, but they did a bit more than TOO. The arrangement is fire. Iâm also a sucker for people who look like theyâre having fun on stage.
4.) TOO - Honestly, these 2, 3, & 4 places could all be switched depending on my mood. TOO was the only group I didnât know during episode 1 and I wasnât super impressed, but mannnnn did they deliver. The song was a great fit for them. The choreo looked so much cleaner and well put together than the 90 sec. Iâm also a sucker for groups that can put on a killer performance without major props. The fact that they are rookies seems fake.
5.) ONF - I really liked the idea and it really felt like they were trying to create a new song which I appreciate. But for me I think there were a few awkward points in the arrangement that didnât feel right. I also thought the krumping, although really good, didnât go well with the performance. That being said, Hyojinâs vocals were stellar and although Everybody is one of the hardest kpop choreographies EVER, the choreo was really well done.
6.) Oneus - Unpopular Opinions (please donât hate me): Oneus âdeservedâ to be ranked low. But first, the concept was amazing. I appreciate the story they told and Iâm impressed they picked such a deep topic to convey. It was a ballsy song to pick and I think it had good feel. Iâm a little sad because I think Oneus has great vocals that they didnât really showcase. They also felt so dependent on backup dancers (which I get because theyâre only 6) but, I think partly costume/lighting design wise, it was hard for me to find which ones were the members (and Iâve stanned them since debut). The other thing that really disappointed me was the transitions. It felt a bit all over the place like sing now dance break now fight scene now act now sing. Oneus has some of my favorite performances outside the show, so Iâm hoping the best for them next week.
7.) VeriVery - I tried to wait to watch all the performances in the episode instead of looking on YouTube, but when I heard VeriVery covered Mansae, I had to watched it before any other performances. It was a great performance (they all are - thatâs why theyâre idols), but in comparison, I had to place them last. Iâm not a huge fan of the arrangement and the concept seemed a little confused. The âę°ě´ ę°ěęš/Wanna walk with me?â was an adorable killing point. Theyâre synchronization is really a strong point, and I was really excited for the dance break, but I hate that they did it in a straight line and the camera work didnât help. It lost all impact for me. They were really cute and shouldâve just stuck to a cute concept.
Bonus: After watching Pentagonâs âMy Songâ performance, I literally bawled. Also Hui straight up singing live while crying made me emo. Itâll feel weird to rank that performance because itâs purpose so wasnât to compete on a show. Excited to see next week. Really sad someone will get eliminated.
Feel free to comment or dm if you have similar or different opinions.
