#rkmga4skill

“I’ll go with Amazing Kiss”, he says with a nod. His teammates flash by in a quick editing move before it stops at Kim Junmyeon from the second-ranked group. “Wah!” he laughs and throws a fist in the air. “I don’t have to dance this week! Thank goodness!” Just like so, it also shows Kim Yongsun and Lee Luda choosing the same song as the two boys, meaning the first vocal team was filled by the time the second team started picking.

They appear sitting together inside of KT Entertainment’s building and their high rankings are highlighted above their heads. They’re all singers as well, and it’s clear they’re thankful for this week’s challenge. The two girls are put in charge of distributing the lines while the boys sit by themselves. Junmyeon decides that, not only are their vocal abilities important, but they also need to practice their facial expressions. He turns to Daniel before biting at his lips, which receives a loud laugh from the younger who eventually covers his own face when the expressions keep getting more intense.

Soon enough, the girls return with the lyrics and what each person was going to sing, but the camera zooms into Daniel’s face and its lack of joy. He stays quiet until the group disperses and he gets the chance to speak to Yongsun by himself. “Yong noona. I know all of you are better singers than me but I was wondering… if there are any other lines you think might suit me?” She looked surprised at his request but was kind enough to give the boy a couple more.

Between the four of them, Daniel lacks in skill the most, and he seems to know so as well. They are each shown practicing their lines by themselves, as well as Luda and Junmyeon spending some of their time rehearsing expressions in front of the mirror individually whenever they have the time. This time, the competition is purely solo, and it couldn’t be clearer than by the way they acted. The show is slowly coming to an end, and only the best will get to survive.

The crowd cheers as they walk to the stage and stand in a line. “Hello we are Shooting,” there’s a pause as they lift their hands, making finger guns, “Star!” As they say the last word they fire their finger guns. They each say their individual introduction before it’s time for their performance to start. The stage is dark and the sound of the piano comes from the silence. Yongsun starts the song, showcasing only a bit of the vocals she was known for.

Each member gets their turn to sing, though the key points are mostly sung by Yongsun and Luda. The grand moment of expectation is the joint high note, and Luda swiftly joins Yongsun to make a great delivery and to highlight who were the main vocalists of the group. Daniel says the last line, and the crowd erupts in applause at the powerful performance.

For the next scene, the white room is shown once again, but this time with Kim Jinhee, Minatozaki Sana, Hwang Hyunjin, Jeon Somi, Kim Chungha and Jeon Wonwoo. They all chose the dance-focused song “Instruction.” They meet on the following day, seeing familiar and unfamiliar faces waiting for them - even at this point in the competition, some still have to learn how to work with each other for the first time.

The week already starts a bit tense. Everyone shows their interest in a more powerful, slightly dark performance, or, well, everyone except for Sana. The girl constantly disagrees with their vision but the rest of the team chooses to ignore her opinions. It’s a tough start and, unlike the vocal groups, they actually relied on each other to deliver a full, beautiful performance.

Somi is shown visually upset, but this time her team actually notices something isn’t right. “What’s wrong?” Jinhee asks her, and one by one the rest of the teammates gather around the younger girl. She tries to say she’s fine, but her eyes eventually betray her and give in. Somi is still very young, and a lot of her classmates seem to have taken a liking for making fun of her and her current status on the competition. Their comforting moment slowly turns into a conversation about each of their own stories and how, unfortunately, they were all bullied at one point in life. Chungha offers walking Somi to school and the members decide on each taking her on a different day. They choose to use their stories as their team name “The Revengers”, and even if the subject started somber, with the help of each other, the team managed to turn it into a good memory.

It doesn’t last for long, however. Later on, Sana suggests them to change their concept a bit since it was a bit too dark for her taste, and Chungha quickly snaps at her. “We can’t just do everything you want. We all have ideas, but we decide with group majority. You’re not the leader.” The japanese girl blinks in surprise before her face shows clear anger. “I know I’m not the leader. And so far, we haven’t done anything I want. I’m trying to make sure the performance doesn’t suck so that we don’t end up eliminated.” Wonwoo, who had been sitting next to Chungha at the time, nervously stares at the two of them, unsure of what to do, before Chungha throws back her reply. “Just because you don’t like the choreography doesn’t mean it sucks.”

Sana takes a deep breath and runs a hand through her hair. “Sorry. I think I’m getting hungry.” There’s a chuckle, but Chungha obviously isn’t buying it. “What a fake personality that is”, she says, shaking her head. The other leaves the room, and their sudden argument comes to an end. However, Sana isn’t ready to give up. She shares her idea of mouthing the high note as part of the choreography while also stating she wanted to do it and the team finally agrees with one of her ideas. The girl is finally satisfied, and soon it was time for their stage.

“Show ‘em who’s boss.” Hyunjin introduces them, “Hello, we are Revengers!” When they move over to their position, they each put a mask on to cover their face. The song starts with the loud sound of drums and the team sways along to the rhythm. Their moves are constantly powerful and following every beat. When the correct one comes, they throw away their masks, and then a few moments later they turn around to show their jackets spelling “BOSS.” Sana mouths her high note as she had requested, and the song eventually comes to an end.

Back to the white room, Lai Guanlin, Kim Taehyung and Lee Minhyung are shown choosing their song “Born Hater.” They’re one of the smallest groups with only three members, and they already seem to be getting along better than the previous teams. Taehyung suggests the team name “Baby Skull” while poking at the youngers’ cheeks and Guanlin boldly replies with his own line: “So is hyung… the skull?”

They all help Guanlin with his Korean while Taehyung uses his experience to give good lyrics writing advice to the boys. It’s a strong song, and both Guanlin and Minhyung are still children. The eldest of the group tries to encourage them, telling them they should be angry, “like grrr.” He growls and the boys show their own angry faces, which people would probably agree aren’t as ferocious as they’d thought it was. What truly matters is what kind of face they’ll show on the stage, and the scene changes to them standing on top of it.

“Hello, we are Baby Skull!” They introduce themselves before moving to their places. Guanlin goes first and performs with the lyrics written by himself with the help of his teammates, mentioning all of his struggles so far, as well as some misconceptions the public has of him. Minhyung follows up, and his lyrics are a different kind of shocking when he says “I’m the only talented minor in my team.” The camera focuses on Guanlin’s face before the song continues on until it comes to an end.

It’s time to go back to the vocalists, and the song ‘Love In The Ice’ receives its special focus on top of the table. The contestants who choose it are: Lee Sungyeol, Koo Junhoe, Moon Bin, Park Kyungri, Seo Soojin and Kim Hyunjung. They divide the lines quickly, and just as expected, each moves to their own space to practice their parts. Unlike the first group, however, one of this song’s most important parts is the harmonies.

One by one, the members starts talking with each other and discussing how they would sing together. Sungyeol approaches Hyunjung for help, and the girl gives him an important reminder. “It’s not always about technique, it’s also about emoting, engaging with the audience. They have to feel what the song wants them to feel. Otherwise, they’ll get bored, they won’t feel connected with you as a performer.” ‘Love In The Ice’ is a song worthy of tears, and if they’d like to make their performance memorable, they’d have to make an emotional show out of it.

The day of the performance comes, and the group makes quick work of introducing themselves. “Hello, we are Crystalline!” Once they’re in positions, the performance already starts with a highlight of their harmonies. Soojin is the first one to sing a line by herself and uses that chance to show her powerful abilities. When it’s time to harmonize, the members make sure to not only look at each other, but also take the time to enchant the crowd. Unlike the other groups, the crowd stays in silence until the very end when they break in applause for the beautiful performance.

With the end of all vocal-focused songs, the edit pushes the audience to the future. All teams are found standing on stage and Katie Lee does the honors of sharing the first announcement. “Today we had two groups under the singers category, and ten total contestants fighting for a safe spot under such title. However, simply surviving is not enough. Right now, I’ll announce who ranked first among all the vocalists.”

An intense music starts to build up, and the camera pans over all the contestants from the two groups. “The best vocalist is…” The woman takes a single moment to grin before looking directly towards the winner. “Lee Luda. Congratulations.” She stops for a second to let people clap before she continues speaking. “I think this was the first week you actually got to shine and you did it incredibly well. You not only reach high notes without much problem, but you also manage to enchant the crowd during your verses. I think your image helped a bit as well; it compliments your voice perfectly. We hope to see more of you in the future.”

There’s cheering again, and a focus on Luda’s face as she’s crowned the current best singer of the competition. The result was, of course, chosen by our dear CEOS, but wouldn’t it be fun to know the opinions of a few other friends?

It’s a different white room this time, and Junmyeon is shown carefully walking inside. “Wah… you guys are full of surprises!” Somi appears already sitting on the chair by the table, pouting at the staff. “You’re not going to make me choose my favorites, are you?” And just like that, a big text appears on the center of the screen with ‘Who Is The Best ___?’ written on it. In the background, Somi’s voice could still be heard. “You’re mean.”

The first question arrives - ‘Who Is The Best Singer?’ - and the contestants start to think about their response. “I’m terribly indecisive - so please bear with me”, Hyunjin says while staring down at every photo in front of him. “He has great stage presence and he seems to be aware of his pitch vocally.” Chungha says about her pick before the scene cuts to Jinsoul. “His tone is really good, and his high notes are no joke.”

Daniel turns a picture towards the camera, and sparks comes out of it once the favorite pick is announced. “Ha Sungwoon hyung, no doubt! His style is very powerful, and suits a variety of styles.” A staff member asks Sungwoon why he didn’t pick himself and the man quickly blinks before bursting into laughter. “Oh man, no way. I don’t think I would put myself on that list in a million years.” Moon Bin leaves the final statement. “Your height might be lacking but you make up for it with your powerful voice~! Sungwoon-ah fighting!”

The second question appears on the screen: ‘Who Is The Best Dancer?’ Yoongi taps on the blurred picture twice. “She’s talented. I like her style.” The picture slowly wobbles, and the next person to receive the sparkles is... “Kim Bora - she’s something”, says Longguo. “I’ve worked with her before on the show - she’s an amazing dancer.”

“Bora is amazing,” Sana says before the scene cuts to Jinsoul next. “Bora has a lot of energy, and she makes every movement look really big and really sharp.” A quick scene of the girl dancing on previous challenges appears on screen, and soon it is time for the next question, ‘Who Is The Best Rapper?’

Sungyeol appears on the screen. “She’s got massive talent. Her rapping is the best I’ve ever seen and she can command the stage like it’s nobody’s business.” Jinhee shows up next. “I bet you thought I’d pick Hyuna, didn’t you?” But when she turns the picture to the camera it shows a very familiar face. “You’re right.”

Jaewon waves her picture as well. “Kim Hyuna. This one’s a no-brainer, huh?” Changmin continues speaking with his usual bright personality. “I remember seeing it on tv and thinking ‘Wow, this is really what it must be like to be a true artist.’”

The final question comes, and it’s probably the trickiest. ‘Who Will Win?’ Yoongi reaches for a picture on the table, and from a certain angle the camera manages to catch that it’s his own. The man then quickly snorts. “Jus’ kiddin’.” He tosses the picture away in a funny matter, and then we’re quickly back to seriousness.

“I pick Kim Junmyeon, of course,” Sungwoon says. “He’s charismatic and a fair singer.” The next one is Sana, but she seems to have a different opinion. “Honestly? I think Hyuna-ssi has a really good shot at winning.” Chungha expresses the exact feelings of the discussion, saying “Either Hyuna-ssi or Junmyeon-ssi will”, and the screen announces it was a fair tie.”

Junmyeon quickly appears on the screen, and his opinion seems relevant. “Me. Kim Junmyeon. I think I’m going to win.” He smiles softly. “I have been working very hard every week to improve myself so I have overcome my flaws. I’ve also made Katie Lee smile, so that is in my favor”, he laughs. “Also have a powerful wink, which is a powerful tool in this competition. I will use it in the upcoming battles to ensure success!” And so, the special session ends with a powerful wink. Did you opinion match the contestants’ picks? They already got one wrong from the judges, but will they manage to get something right?

The usual show returns, and right back into the white room. The next song is ‘Stay’ and its members consists of amazing dancers such as Bae Joohyun, Joo Haknyeon, Dong Sicheng, Kim Doyeon, Choi Yoojung, Kim Jonghyun and…

They’re all sitting together in the practice room but someone manages to stand out. Ha Sungwoon, the voted best vocalist, sat in between them. His team had ranked low on the previous week and the rules of this challenge were clear. There’s a different air around him, but it isn’t like his teammates also don’t show worry about his presence. Joohyun and Sicheng are quickly assigned to choreograph and the team slowly starts with their struggles.

Most seem to be stressed, especially Joohyun with the weight of her duties, while Sungwoon and Yoojung looked particularly sad. And there was someone else…

“Fresh Jeju tangerines!” Haknyeon announces as he takes the fruit out of his box. “Take as many as you want!” The scene cuts to the boy sitting by Sungwoon’s side and handing him one of his tangerines. “Hyung, here. I can see that you’re working very very hard hyung, and I’m sure that your hard work will never fail you.”

The show of support doesn’t stop there. Joohyun is monitoring her own movements on the mirror one day when Jonghyun pulls her aside. Her expression is of confusion, but the anticipation of something bad quickly comes to an end. “Noona, you’re doing great. The choreo is amazing and it suits us!” Her lips hint at a smile and the girl properly thanks him. “I’m… trying my best.”

Happiness, however, quickly comes to an end as it seems to be the theme of the week. They’re all practicing by themselves when a loud sound is heard all across the room. The source of it is nothing less than Doyeon fainting in the middle of practice. They all run to her side and Joohyun places a hand on her shoulder to check if she’s okay. Even if the girl says she’s fine, it’s obviously not true. Haknyeon, who so far had only shared positiveness, throws in his word of thought. “What’s the point of dancing so hard if you push your body to the point that it can’t move?!” He raises his voice like he had never done before, and Doyeon can only apologize. “That won’t happen again.” The boy, however, doesn’t miss the opportunity to offer her a tangerine which by now has healed every disease possible in the duration of the show.

They’re on top of the stage and the crowd cheers for the members. “Hello, we are team Forever Young!” And just like that, they move to their starting positions. The song is more on the chill side, but the beat keeps it interesting. Doyeon who wasn’t doing too well manages to deliver her part with grace, doing a spin and ending with perfect balance. They use the white choker as part of the choreography, amazing the public. However, whenever the camera shows a more complete cut, Sungwoon can be seen always a beat behind than everyone else. Even so, the male is awarded the final center spot and brings an end to the song.

The next one is another rap, and the first two members of the song are Kim Hyuna and Kim Mingyu. The third, and highly unexpected, is the Wild Card, Kim Donghyun. “This is a joke, right?” His choices were between the two rap songs and ‘Handclap’, but it was no joke, and the boy ends up picking ‘Who You’.

On the very first day, the boy is quick to let his teammates know he is far from a rapper, apologizing for the inconvenience, but they show him support. Although, they do have to write their own lyrics. The members are shown sitting by themselves, each working on their own piece and sometimes the camera gives a tease or two about which lines will be on the performance later on.

Mingyu looks up at the camera at whichever time he has. He only smiles at it most of the time, but sometimes he leaves comments for those who are watching. “I feel good about the performance I will be doing this week. I get to show my creativity again which I think is one of my advantages. Please pay attention to me this week! I think you will be surprised.”

At the end of the week, Donghyun gathers his teammates to say a few words of thanks and encouragement. “Thank you for being so patient with me,” he said with a proper smile on his face, “You both helped me a bunch and I hope you both make it through to the next round. You really deserve it!” They’re all soon found on the stage, and the instrumental starts playing in the background. All the lyrics were written and delivered by themselves, even if some stood out more than the other. The song comes to an end with them chanting the words together, and soon the screen turns to black.

Tiger JK takes the microphone this time, the CEOs matching the building where each category practiced at during the week. “There weren’t a lot of rappers left in the competition, but I think that only makes this more of a challenge, doesn’t it?” The corner of his mouth goes up a little as he scans the face of each contestant on the stage below him. “You all got to showcase your skills, but only one can have the title of the best rapper, and that person is…” There’s a pause for dramatic effect. The camera once again shows the faces of each contestant under the category until it lands back on Tiger JK. “Kim Taehyung.”

There’s a short time for claps before the CEO quickly wins back the attention. “You were the oldest by far in your group so it should be a relief it wasn’t one of them winning over you. It feels like you have experience in the area, and your flow is very good as well. We will get to see more of you. Congratulations.”

The screen returns to the white room. Kim Bora walks inside and picks ‘Handclap’ without complaints. Her teammates, however, seem to share mixed feelings. Jin Longguo walks in next, a vocalist. “Vocal position, vocal position, vocal position” Jung Jinsoul chants as she walks into the room only to find that all vocal positions were already taken. The next one in line is already a Wild Card, and Min Yoongi chooses the song as the last option between the dance options. Jung Jaewon and Ji Changmin, however, have no choice at all as it is the only song left between all the rest.

When Bora meets her team, it is possible to see a slight twitch of her lips before she tries to cover her surprise with a smile. They all introduce themselves, and the obvious fact is quickly made known by all of them. On their dance-focused group, there were only two main dancers, half of the group consisted of Wild Cards, and their song was the last one to fill up. They were, basically, the leftovers.

Instead of focusing on their worst qualities, they all decide to help with what they had. Jinsoul quickly throws in her own creative ideas, even if she wasn’t a dancer. “I think it’s important that we all get to shine, so we should all have a few center parts.” She stops for a second to look at the ground before returning her eyes to her teammates. “And I know we’re not all dancers but I think if we all take what we’re good at and put it into this performance, we can look good and um… Let’s all work hard!”

Bora does most of the choreographing as their main dancer while Jinsoul and Longguo help with designing formations to make their performance look good. They’d all have at least one moment to shine, and so everyone worked hard on their own part. Most of them were at risk of leaving the show but they all had the strength to keep working for their spot.

The creative couple, Jinsoul and Longguo, had a bit of a high-risk type of performance in plans. The girl was to throw her entire body towards the floor in a beautifully planned drop, but the boy would need to be there to not actually let her hit the floor. The first try is painful, and a loud thud of a body against wood is followed by Jinsoul exclaiming in pain. But she keeps herself strong and gets up again, ready to try it one more time. “It’s fine! Let’s try it again.” Jaewon is good at spotting mistakes, Changmin is good at keeping up the mood, and Yoongi uses his dancing skills to help the others with anything they need. As a well-oiled machine, they all make their way to the stage.

They introduce themselves as team Boom Boom, and the energetic song that plays proves it is a good name. Jaewon starts in the center and they’re all positioned in a line towards the audience. The man crouches down, and each member pops out with a different pose until they reach Longguo who makes a big heart. The performance continues smoothly. Yoongi does the splits, Changmin does an acrobatic flip and Jinsoul shows a bit of wacking. During the toughest parts, Bora takes the center stage to show their best talent. When it’s time for the drop, Jinsoul and Longguo move to the side and deliver a perfect version of it, the girl standing back up without any injuries. It ends up with Changmin showing his b-boying skills, and the crowd cheers until the screen goes dark again.

It’s time for the final winner, and Hyun Bin is to deliver the announcement. “This was the biggest group of contestants with three different performances so it took us a while to decide on the winner, but we believe they are very deserving.” The camera goes a bit faster this time, having to show the face of each dancer. “The best dancer today is… Jeon Wonwoo.” The cheering begins once again and the man lets it go for a bit before continuing.

“You often got space to dance in the previous performances, but we believe you shone the most today. It was a very powerful performance with strong moves, and there were pieces that most dancers wouldn’t feel comfortable doing, but you did them anyway. Dance requires a lot of comfort and you have that, and the talent that goes with it. Congratulations.”

People seem to be excited about the winners announcements, but there’s still one thing left. Baek Jiyoung is the one in charge now, and she quickly brings silence to the room. “We already let everyone stay last week, so we must make up for it this time around. Today, we’ll have another big elimination, and ten people in total will be going home.”

The intense music starts playing again, and Jiyoung looks down at her notes before continuing. “Firstly, we’ll announce the departures from between the vocalists.” The camera focuses on the two groups standing side by side. “All of you were mainly singers who got lucky getting their main skill but, still, a few of you will have to go home. And the first elimination is… Koo Junhoe.” The scene zooms into his face for a reaction before returning to the judge. “While you have a good voice, we believe it is still lacking comparing to the others. You have a very specific color to your tone and sometimes that may come as a disadvantage. Hopefully, you’ll work on it and continue to develop your talent in the future.”

So Jisub catches the attention, ready to announce the next departure. “The second eliminated today is… Kang Daniel.” The camera focuses on the boy’s face and also some other reactions across the room. “You’re a very good contestant, but when it comes to singing, there’s no way to compare you to the others. The chosen winner today was in your group, as well as other talented singers. You have the base to continue growing, but right now you aren’t ready to continue on the competition. We wish you well.”

The next one is Katie Lee, looking as marvelous as ever. “The third, and the final vocalist to leave the competition today is… Park Kyungri.” Her face appears on the screen before the judge can continue speaking. “You’re a good singer, though your ranking thus far has been constantly low. You continue your journey based on what we believed was your personal talent when compared to the others, but once you were actually among other singers, we decided it was your time to go. Hopefully you’ll continue practicing, but you’ll be leaving the competition today.”

And so, the eliminations for vocalists are done. “Right now, we’ll move on to the dancers, meaning that anyone else under the singers category is safe for another week.” Katie Lee smiles at their particular section before allowing Tiger JK to proceed. “The fourth contestant, and first dancer to leave us today is… Jung Jaewon.” The man who had only recently returned was about to leave once again. “We all know you’re a good rapper, but, as a dancer, there’s no way to keep you in this competition. You’re still very stiff, but at least we could notice you had some enthusiasm in you. If you start to practice the skill, then maybe we’ll be able to hear from each other again. Right now, however, you’ll be leaving the show.”

“The fifth person to go home today is…” Hyun Bin stops for the intense music to pick up again. “Ha Sungwoon.” The camera pans over the chosen best vocalist by the contestants, but who today was, sadly, a dancer. “Much like Jaewon, you’re a great vocalist instead. You have a great voice and a great skill to entertain as well, but your dancing still needs a lot of polishing. There isn’t, really, a raw skill, and it can only be learned from a lot of hard work. So, you’ll be leaving us today.”

Baek Jiyoung goes once again, this time with one of her smiles on to give the contestants hope. “The sixth elimination today is… Jin Longguo.” The scene focuses on the male’s face and reactions before returning to the judge. “You and your team were very good as a unit and probably the most exciting performance, though not necessarily the best one. You have a good voice, and your dancing isn’t actually as bad as some of the other vocalists in the competition. Although, of course, it isn’t better than the actual dancers amongst us. If you continue working on it, we believe you may actually have a shot in the near future. Therefore, you’ll be leaving today, but good luck in the future.”

The three eliminations are over, but Jisub continues with the announcements. “Since the group of dancers is the biggest one, it’ll have one more elimination than the others. So, the seventh and final dancer to leave us today is… Min Yoongi. You’re a very talented dancer but, as you’ve been eliminated before, there’s still a bit for you to grow that you didn’t manage to do in that week you weren’t in a practice room. The performance today was well separated to highlight each person’s skill, but even if you were one of the best dancers on the team, you still managed to fade. You’ll be leaving us today.”

The final category comes, and it’s time to announce the eliminations for the rappers. Katie Lee starts it off by saying the dreaded phrase. “The eight elimination of today is… Kim Donghyun. You only recently returned, as well, and your choice to go with rapping was very intriguing. Sadly, your rapping skills aren’t good. You had two better rappers around you and no stage presence is able to cover up your skills. I won’t really tell you to keep working on it while you’re gone since I’m sure it’s not exactly the area you’re interested in, but, in case it is, you have a lot of practice to do.”

Tiger JK continues on, only two eliminations left. “The ninth person to be eliminated today is… Lai Guanlin. You’re still not completely familiarized with the Korean language, and your abilities are still in a very early, raw stage. I suggest you to keep writing lyrics to practice both your writing and your Korean. You must continue to practice your base skill as well, of course. There’s still a lot in front of you, but, today, you’ll be leaving us.”

Finally, Hyun Bin takes his microphone, and it’s time to take the eliminations to an end. “The tenth and last person to leave us today is…” The music is as intense as it’s ever been. There are only three rappers left eligible to leave, and when the camera stops at the last eliminated, “Kim Hyuna” everyone gasps at the news. “You were probably, by far, the person people were looking forward to the most at the start of this competition, and they had every right to feel like that. Your first two or three performances were incredible, but ever since you’ve been lowering your quality episode by episode. You had a very high bar to keep and you kept hovering below for too long. You are a talented woman, and hopefully, you’ll be able to find yourself soon enough. Today, you’ll be leaving the competition.”

To see all of this season’s current contestants, click here!

And now, let’s see what’s in store for our eight episode!

After surviving a challenge of pure skill, only the best have remained to run for the spot of the winner. Next week will be the official semi-finals, meaning it’s the only elimination left before the grand finale. If you make it there, it means you’ll go down in MGAs history. As for the next challenge, the contestants will be separated into five different groups and perform one of the latest hits by each of the five companies’ seniors.

However, getting a spot in your desired song won’t be too simple to most. Contestants will get to pick which song they’ll partake in order of ranking. The three contestants who ranked first in each of their skill will get to go first in order of their contestant number, followed by their teammates. The remaining group with the most eliminations will go last, meaning the official order is: Lee Luda, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Wonwoo, Instruction, Amazing Kiss, Born Hater, Stay, Love In The Ice, Who You, Handclap. Choices will be, once again, a secret, and made the same way as the previous episode, but this time it’s riskier than ever.

The song choices for this week are as seen below:

KT ENTERTAINMENT All Night - ChiChi 1 - Lee Luda 2 - Kim Yongsun 3 - Jeon Somi 4 - Minatozaki Sana 5 - Kim Doyeon

TRC ENTERTAINMENT FXXK IT - BIGSTAR 1 - Kim Taehyung 2 - Kim Junmyeon 3 - Lee Minhyung 4 - Seo Soojin 5 - Kim Mingyu

ROYAL ENTERTAINMENT Why So Lonely - H.A.M 1 - Kim Chungha 2 - Bae Joohyun 3 - Kim Bora 4 - Jung Jinsoul 5 - Ji Changmin

SPHERE ENTERTAINMENT Can Be Better - ChAOS 1 - Lee Sungyeol 2 - Choi Yoojnung 3 - Joo Haknyeon 4 - Dong Sicheng 5 - Kim Jonghyun

NOVA ENTERTAINMENT Tell Me - MYNAME 1 - Jeon Wonwoo 2 - Kim Jinhee 3 - Hwang Hyunjin 4 - Kim Hyunjung 5 - Moon Bin

This time around, there will be no ranking in between teams, but between the contestants under the same song instead. The weakest member of each group will be eliminated at the end of the episode. However, the live audience this time around will be much bigger than ever before. The semi-finalists will perform their songs live in Hongdae in a show open for the public to watch. A special area was closed-off in front of the stage where 200 lucky people who signed up via the website will get to stay. They’ll all return to the usual set afterward for elimination announcements.

There will be no leader system for this episode. Together, all members should come up with a team name that will represent them during this week.

                          Tune in next Sunday, the 19th, for our eight episode!

MGA Season 4 episode eight preview: It’s the semi-finals and only 25 contestants remain. The sun is hot out in Hongdae, but a huge crowd is still expected to form around the stage to watch this special performance. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated because the MGAs contestants will be coming in hot!

On Friday, after the performances are done, all of the contestants are to line up on stage and go through a high-touch event with the 200 people who signed up via the website. They’ll only have a split moment with each fan, but it’s their only real chance to interact with fans face-to-face. No gifts will be given and only palms should touch as to not create a hog on the line (no interlocking fingers). Fans are also free to skip the contestants they don’t like.

[ All teams had their introduction and performance aired. Any other part only made it to the final cut if it was mentioned in this post.

Muns will be approached one by one in order of ranking based on what’s written on this post by Mod Mira to choose their song choice for this week, but if you'd like to speed up the process please dm her with your muse's top 3 song picks. The members of each song will only be revealed once everyone has chosen their song as to not influence their choices. Please, don’t share your choice beforehand to avoid this.

Contestants have until 5PM EST of Sunday, the 19th, to post their 200+ words solos about their performance of their senior challenge stage. That’s at 5PM, not midnight. Please tag all related posts with #rkmga4 and #rkmga4senior.

To win +1 CHARISMA, contestants may write a 200+ words solo describing their time during the high touch event. Posts should be up until 9PM EST of Wednesday, the 15th, at the same time as the activity check. That’s at 9PM, not midnight. This is bonus content and won’t impact in any way the results of the episode. Please tag all related posts with #rkmga4 and #rkmga4touch. After the post is up, feel free to ads the point to your points sheet! Please link this post as verification.

When at their designated company’s building, contestants should not interact with any trainees and should mostly keep themselves inside the practice room except for meals or bathroom breaks. This time around, muses not part of the MGAs may be part of the live audience. More information about this will come in a future post.

Any group chat made as a way for the muns of the contestants to interact with each other for this mission should have Mod Bianca and Mod Mira (@luvseungjoon and @allevicte on twitter) added to it. They will be there to monitor everything, but any questions should be sent to the rkevent inbox in case someone else had the same question and so it won’t be seen as an advantage to your group.

the staff reminds him to get back on track, asking the question “who do you think is the best singer?” daniel nods in acknowledgement, and starts picking out pictures of contestants that stand out to him, and putting them in a separate group as he narrows his decision down. “this is hard,” he whines, but he finally makes up his mind.

“i just want to say that yongsun noona, luda, yongguk and sungyeol hyung are really good too, but-- i have a top three, and they didn’t make it,” he laughs. he looks over the pictures in his hand again, as if second guessing himself, and truly, for one contestant in particular,he isn’t sure if he wants to put her in the best vocalists category, or save her for someone he thinks could win. in the end, he supposes he can mention the same person twice.

“third, moon bin! i haven’t been in a group with him, but just from watching performances, he has a voice that’s really moving? you can tell her really enjoys singing, and i admire that.” he puts his picture down, then lifts another, smile immediately spreading across his face. “second, is jung jinsoul! her voice is really nice. she can hit high notes, but it also has a really gentle, soothing quality, in my opinion. i could listen to her sing forever,” he admits with a bashful laugh.

“the best singer in the competition, though,” he begins, and he lifts sungwoon’s picture proudly. “ha sungwoon hyung, no doubt! his voice is really powerful, and suits a variety of styles. he hits notes i didn’t know were possible for humans to hit. maybe he’s part dolphin or something,” he laughs. “i look up to hyung a lot, so even if i’m biased, i really think he’s the best, and i’m glad so many other people get to hear him sing now, too.”

“i’m excited for sungwoon hyung and jinsoulie especially to get to show off more of their singing this week,” he remarks, and he’s met with confused looks from the staff members.

“they’re on dancing teams this week though,” one of them says, and daniel’s expression darkens in realization.

“oh no,” he laughs a moment later, and he buries his face in his hands in dismay.

“dancers next,” the staff urges him, and daniel nods. he goes through the same process, gathering up pictures of the contenders as he tries to narrow down the list. “there are so many dancers,” he laments, scratching his head. finally, he comes to his decision.

“i should add a disclaimer that i don’t know much about dancing, as i’m sure you’ve seen, so this is all just based on who i’ve liked watching the most this season. honorable mentions to rosie noona, chungha noona, and somi-- it was really close! --but my pick for third best dancer in the competition is doyeon. i feel like her dancing is just...really graceful? but she can be powerful too! it’s hard to look away from her, even though i was never on a team with her.” he nods, as if in approval of his own choice. “my pick for second best dance is sua noona. her dancing just stands out, right? she could make it through the entire competition just based on dancing alone, as far as i’m concerned, but my pick for best dancer is jei noona. “

“she’s not just good at dancing, she also has a certain creativity, it makes me feel like she’s really an artist. her choreography for the first round was really cool, and her dancing throughout the entire competition has been, too. aside from that, she’s really helpful, and good at teaching those of us bad at dancing how to,” and he laughs once again.

“all that’s left are the rappers,” he observes-- and his final picks to win, of course. he once again begins gathering pictures to make his decisions, though this one comes more quickly than the others.

“shoutout to yoongi hyung and guanlinie for this category. i feel bad about not including them in my top three,” he admits, unable to meet the lens of the camera with his eyes until he lifts the picture of his third pick, kim taehyung. “i pick taehyung for my #3 rapper. he’s really good, and aside from that, an interesting character. even though i don’t know much about rap, i feel like that’s just as important as being able to rap well, right?”

he lifts up the second photo now, this time, kim mingyu. “mingyu is my second best rapper in the competition. i feel like his talent probably goes without saying, right? it’s funny, because he’s really nice and kind of quiet off-stage, but on stage he’s like-- fierce!” he chuckles to himself, then lifts up the final photo. “the best rapper in the competition is kim hyuna-ssi. i think her talent is obvious even to me and my lack of experience. she’s just leagues better than everyone else, isn’t she? her experience in the industry is obvious, not just in her rapping, but also her stage presence. didn’t she already win one season of the mgas, too? aish...her ability is seriously scary.”

next comes his final picks to win the competition, and thankfully, he’s put thought into this while narrowing down all of his other picks, and already has their photos at the ready-- two this time. “i picked two winners. aren’t there usually multiple?” he asks, but he receives no answer. “my first pick to win is seola noona! she’s really just good at everything. it’s hard to tell if she’s a better singer or dancer, because she’s so skilled in both areas-- definitely better than me at both,” he admits with a laugh. “you would think because of that, she’d be lacking in some other area, but she’s really not! her stage presence is crazy too. she could already be an idol. i think that any company would want her, for sure.”

“my final pick, and the contestant i really really think is going to win for sure, is joo haknyeon!” he announces proudly, and he beams as he holds up his friend’s photo. “haknyeon-ah is really good, i considered picking him for both the best dancers category and the best rappers category, that’s just how good he is. he’s also really charming, and looks after his friends and teammates well. i’m sad i wasn’t on a team with him yet. is there still a chance?” he asks, once again, to be left hanging.

each week never fails to surprise kyungri, she’s never really been one for surprises though. she, like every other contestant, depart from the stage one by one only to then have themselves pick and choose from a selection of songs, separated into three categories: singing, dancing and rapping. kyungri inhales momentarily; pursing her lips as she is forced to make a rather sudden decision. no opportunity to sleep on this one, sadly. while a part of her wants to go ahead and do a dance number, those categories seem pretty full up so that leaves kyungri with only one other choice. she is a strong vocalist after all, so she hasn’t too much to worry about. or so she hopes. but somewhere in the fine print, it’s revealed that this week isn’t so much about teamwork and being a team player, but showing your capabilities in the position you’ve chosen. the strongest will thrive while the weak perish and kyungri knows too well that now isn’t the time to give up.

it was another week of being amongst new faces, but thankfully, some faces kyungri was already acquainted with. it made things a little easier. the group come together and decide on a name, crystalline, which is fitting considering they’re taking on a classic; love in the ice. it’s a ballad and it’s emotional, and it is certainly within kyungri’s ball park; she knows that much. whenever and if ever she finds herself doubting her abilities, she thinks back to her audition and the fact that she got through, onto this show by showcasing her ability to sing. maybe this is the week to be a bit down about everything, but it isn’t the week to accept defeat by any means. kyungri finds herself mainly practising with sungyeol and soojin, but she does her best to check in with the others when it’s appropriate to do so. she’s somewhat in denial about not having to learn a dance along with learning the song; it almost seems as though that is the ongoing pattern, now seemingly broken. kyungri isn’t going to complain though, the change of routine is actually nice.

this week does take a little more work than one might expect, there is a lot of teamwork involved with singing a song such as love in the ice; harmonising and looking, sounding emotive. giving off the correct emotions while singing a song such as this one is crucial. kyungri touches base with those she has to actually sing with, that being seola and bin. she works with them closely to ensure that their voices will work well together, given the fact that the team had devised a line distribution. kyungri was impressed with the lines given to her, and while it felt as though she had some amount of responsibility, she felt grateful that her teammates had trust in her to deliver.

showtime miraculously comes quicker than kyungri would of liked. the week really does flow by when you’ve got your head down, working your shit out, together. kyungri felt confident though, as she always did. she always went into these things feeling somewhat apprehensive and uneasy, coming out feeling a wave of relief, and hope, that everything would be okay in the end. they had worked together and done what they could as a group with what they had and the time they had been given, now all they had to do was put on a good show and convince everyone that they were worthy. well, not exactly that. kyungri is still on edge over the fact that while they are going head to head against the other vocal team, that they’re also going for each-others necks. they have to out-do eachother in the end, and that is the sad reality of the competition.

it dwells on kyungri that she has never gone first before, or second for that matter. one of the only perks of placing in last place is the fact that you have the advantage to see what you’re up against. kyungri and team crystalline are up second, following the team performing amazing kiss, although then it also dwells on her that this week; rappers and dancers aren’t her competition. so maybe she and the others are still in luck. after having had opportunity to sit and watch the other team perform, the group gather backstage to give eachother their compliments, telling one another to break a leg and do their best. together, they gather on stage to introduce themselves in unison, as team and then individually. as kyungri takes her place on stage, she holds her microphone in her hands, taking in deep breaths, closing her eyes for a moment as she always did before each and every performance. to live in the moment is the most important skill she had learnt as an idol, to be present while performing and enjoy every second of what you do.

soojin kindly opens the song, only then does kyungri come through and follow up with her own lines. she sings clearly, her voice is stable and doesn’t stray from what is expected. kyungri’s hand gently falls to her side as she sings her last word, falling from her stomach. although the expression on her face doesn’t stray; it’s hard to describe, it’s emotive and fitting. she really does enjoy being present on stage without the commotion of doing a dance routine. it truly is nice to be able to stand there and listen to people sing, it takes her back to better days. bin sings, and then soojin and junhoe together; give it a bit of time and then kyungri finds herself harmonising with sungyeol, she looks down the line towards him, her eyes looking into his. 

kyungri takes this as an opportunity to connect with her teammates, perhaps this will be the only chance she, or they get. maybe she had been a little absent in the midst of their training but for a while now, perhaps she feels a little bit guilty. all kyungri knows is that she is here in the moment with them and that she is thankful she’s had opportunity to stand here and sing with them. it’s then her and bin’s turn to sing together, and she too looks down the line at him, still upholding the fitting look for an emotional song like such. her stray hand moves from her stomach to grip the microphone, rings and the many diamante’s on her nails twinkling beneath the stage lights; their voices melt together well, this part of the song is hard-hitting and emotional, but together they get through it and deliver what they had to.

the song is beginning to draw to a close, and the final verse is sung by not one of them but as a whole, the entire team come together as one to finish the song. no one tries to over power or outshine anyone else, and in the moment, they truly sound good together; it was as they had practised, as they had hoped their performance would turn out. kyungri looks out into the crowd before closing her eyes, challenging every bit of emotion and energy that she had into perfecting what could be her last performance. what if the judges perceived her as a weak singer? would she be going home? maybe they would give her a reason as to why she isn’t ready, despite the fact that she’s been telling herself repeatedly each and every week that she has never been more ready in her entire life. the song closes with the entire group harmonising together, the ah’s solidifying their performances end and their time on the stage being over.

( maybe for jeongguk to be here, too. but yoongi deems that to be more of his own selfish desire than anything else. )

there’s not a soul on this team he really recognizes, but he finds that after working with team after team it begins to become easier speaking up and reaching out. and it’s easier to become more relaxed in front of the cameras that are always there, always watching.

they focus on figuring out the choreography first. jinsoul gives out a bunch of creative and helpful ideas with longguo; ideas and formations that begin to sketch out the dance -- and changmin tests them out. sua and yoongi focus on refining the ideas into smooth flowing choreography, and jaewon is there to observe with a critical eye and figure out parts they need to clean up on. it’s a team effort, and each contribute in their own way. they’re like a well-oiled machine, and yoongi thinks he’s been blessed with the best people to do a dance focused performance together.

maybe it’s because yoongi enjoys dancing more than anything else-- but he finds himself gravitating to the rest of his teammates. he helps point out things for the struggling ones-- gives encouragements to everyone else with quirked lips. he tries to be more easy-going and approachable this time around-- tries to look at everything from a more positive perspective.

sua’s birthday is tossed into the equation as they reach recording day. it’s whispered upon them that they’ll do a surprise of sorts; it leads up to a tense moment of changmin leaving abruptly, and jaewon following after. yoongi’s on edge until the two of them return-- and he, jinsoul and longguo all break out into singing birthday wishes towards sua. it’s something fun, light-hearted in the midst of training, and yoongi’s happy he was able to be apart of it.

the day comes up faster than he’d expect, and soon enough-- they’re on stage once more. placed into formations-- they introduce themselves as team boom boom! and start off the show. 

jaewon starts it off, the turn it up, pushing them all into motion. it’s movement made quick, smiles on their faces that match the beat. yoongi, sua and changmin slide forward with changmin in center. it’s quick hands, swaying bodies and synchronization.

cause you don’t even know.

at the second i can make your hands clap part he’s staring at bora as they clap their hands together quickly, before moving back into the focus choreography. then it moves into yoongi, longguo, bora and jaewon as they whip their bodies around to the beat. changmin moves up shortly after to do an impressive flip and jinsoul focuses her solo on waacking. 

yoongi comes forward for the next you don’t even know part, and they move into it. they step to the side to leave jaewon singled-out, and he performs his centric enthusiastic clapping afterwards. the rest of them excluding jinsoul and longguo move center-- and at the final bout of clapping they all turn their heads to the two to witness their drop.

everynight when the starts come out,

yoongi slides forward-- front and center, and when everyone drops, he does too-- but instead, he does a split instead, pulling up his body slowly and languidly back into a standing position, a crooked grin on his face as he steps to the side. after him is jinsoul’s focus-- then sua and then jaewon. after, while everyone moves to the side yoongi’s solo move comes up-- and his body moves to the beat.

so can i get a hand clap?

from their longguo does a cute, aegyo centric move as the song moves to end. and all of them create a half circle around changmin, who ends the song with his b-boying solo before they all pose.

but the announcement of the two teams in contention for last place crush any of the hopes he might have been nursing. they’re not dead last, which is some consolation, but sungwoon can barely breathe as the ceos give them feedback and move onto eliminations. the dancing was lacking, the dancing was a problem. surely that means sungwoon is the one who fucked up? everyone else on his team are fair dancers; he’s the only one who can’t—he should be the one going home, shouldn’t he? he’s holding his breath and trying to calm his racing nerves when the ceos state that there will be no eliminations this week.

sungwoon almost swears on national tv in shock, relief, and anger, but his emotions are short lived as the next challenge is announced. he’s cautiously optimistic; a skill challenge means he should be alright if he can sing, but since mnet is not that generous, they’ll be choosing their songs based on their ranking. the singing groups have ten spots in total, and sungwoon prays that at least one is free by the time he has to choose. please, just let me have this. just let me sing. just once.

maybe it’s fate playing a cruel joke on him, or maybe—and this is more likely—he’s just run out of whatever luck has brought him this far in the competition. when sungwoon looks at the list, he finds both singing groups completely full. the two (0)s mock him, burn into his brain like they’re spelling his doom. sungwoon’s breathing becomes shallow as he looks at the available songs, panic setting in. dancing or rap—neither are his skills. he can’t showcase anything in either of these groups except his own ineptitude.

he swallows and finally picks stay. the song isn’t his kind of thing, but that hardly matters. it seems like the kind of song jei would do well with, and sungwoon hopes he’ll see her on the team. the only time he felt somewhat confident in his dancing abilities was with team dynamiq, and that was in large part because of jei and her support. with her, he thinks he can perhaps survive this. the staff members tell him to keep his pick a secret until the episode airs. sungwoon complies and heads home after that, hoping he didn’t make a poor decision, hoping that this week won’t be as bad as he thinks it will.

all he can do now is wait.

he’s no longer excited to visit the nova building, each step filled with trepidation as he makes his way to the practice room. sungwoon’s heart sinks further as he meets the rest of his teammates: rose, doyeon, yoojung, sicheng, and haknyeon. aside from rose, he hasn’t worked with any of them before, but he knows they’re all skilled dancers. for the most part, they seem to be okay with being here, probably because they’re looking forward to showcase their dancing skills. even if this wasn’t the song they perhaps wanted, he believes they’ll do fine. this is their area of expertise.

sungwoon, on the other hand, feels like a fish out of water. it’s one thing to know you’re going to be forced to do something you have no confidence in. it’s another to realize you are the only person in a group of six others who—can’t do it. the weak link, the one who could potentially screw up the entire performance. he takes in the looks of surprise and shock thrown his way with a stoic expression, refusing to betray his own distaste for this nightmare situation. truthfully, his regrets run deeper than just for himself; he’s sorry towards the rest of the team too. sungwoon doubts they want someone like him to be bringing the whole performance down, especially not so close to the end of the show.

when introductions roll around, all he can offer is his name, contestant number, and an apologetic smile. no promises of “i’ll work hard” or “i’ll do my best” or, god forbid, “i won’t let you down.” words are just words. he doesn’t want to make promises he can’t keep. sungwoon doesn’t know how much hard work or his best will matter in the end, anyway, and he seems to have gotten in the habit of letting people down.

it’s decided that rose and sicheng are going to work on the choreography for this round. sungwoon can’t offer any input or suggestions, so he mostly stays out of their way while they’re figuring things out. as a group, they pre-record the vocals for their stage pretty early on as well, and here sungwoon finally feels like he’s in his element. here, he finally feels free; his spirits sour as he pours every ounce of frustration, desperation, and longing he can into his voice. this recording won’t count for anything in the end, just a background piece to their actual choreography, but to sungwoon, it means everything.

at least in some small way, his voice will be heard.

practices kick off in earnest not long after. the choreography is unlike anything sungwoon’s had to do before; it’s elegant and graceful and smooth, so many things he’s just not sure he can overcome. despite his best efforts not to let his mood sink, with every mistake, every wrong move, every moment off beat, he finds himself growing increasingly angry at himself. he’s gone over the choreography so many times in his head, with rose and the others, by himself, and he just can’t seem to nail it down.

he feels like everyone is looking at him with pity and disgust in their eyes. why do we have to be with him? sungwoon wouldn’t blame them if they resented him for being here. he resents himself for not doing enough to avoid this, for not being better. it gets too much; the feeling bubbling up his chest threatens to choke him. the practice room feels too cramped, too small, too hot for sungwoon to handle and he slips out the minute practice is over, seeking fresh air. seeking some kind of escape from his own failures.

(he doesn’t find whatever he’s searching for).  

sungwoon returns to practice. avoiding the issue isn’t going to solve anything, things are the same as before.it’s still hard to shake off the sense of hopeless sungwoon feels; it settles into his bones and makes his movements unnecessarily heavy and clumsy when he tries to keep up with the rest of his team. this isn’t choreography he can overcome with the force of his vocals or his charisma, it’s just—it’s just, and that’s the main problem. he’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and it’s not working. he doesn’t even know why the fuck he’s trying so hard.

no matter how much he wants to just give up and stop, he can’t. jonghyun is there to support him during the week, sticking next to sungwoon from day one whenever he takes extended breaks to try and clear his head. jonghyun is determined not to let sungwoon avoid the practice and the reality of their performance. he appreciates the kick in the ass and jonghyun’s support, though he can’t help but think that the boy would be better off just focusing on himself. they’re not really functioning as a team this week—no leaders, no reason to be helpful, no reason to care—but everyone else still seems determined to get through this together, sharing friendship and smiles in between the tense moments in practice.

and sungwoon wishes he could join in. he wishes he could just get out of his own head and enjoy this instead of drowning in stress. he wishes that he could accept his team’s—his friends’—help when it’s offered. he wishes he could believe people when they say he’s doing well, or that he’s improving, or that he can do this, but it all rings false in his ears.

even haknyeon’s gift of a tangerine and some encouraging words barely cheer him up, though he does crack a smile and say, “thanks for the orange,” before he leaves (and accidentally squirts some fucking citrus juice in his eye when he tries to eat it). everyone is too nice, too caring, and that’s the main reason sungwoon doesn’t walk out. he doesn’t want to let them down—isn’t it bad enough that they have to work around him? he’s not going to half-ass this and make them suffer more (though maybe they’d benefit more from his absence; who knows?)

when he’s feeling his lowest, his grandfather talks some sense into him. his words give sungwoon… not a renewed sense of purpose or even confidence, but it helps him put things into perspective. all he can do is see this week through and… well, when he’s done here, he can rest. but first: he has to get to the end.

sungwoon shows up to practice early the next day and focuses on nailing the moves down the best he can. when he falls, he gets right back up with gritted teeth. sungwoon doesn’t have lofty goals this time around; he just wants… he just wants to complete this. he doesn’t want anyone to watch him this week and say he deserves to go home because didn’t do all that he could. sungwoon isn’t a quitter, a coward, or someone who doesn’t give his all for everything he does. the fact is, at the end of the day, no one is going to care what he did and didn’t want. no one is going to give a shit about whether it was difficult for him or what he had to overcome this week.

all they’ll care about is what they see on stage.

so he’ll give them something to look at.

the staff pulls them aside for interviews and once they all return, rose suggests they talk about their feelings. sungwoon isn’t the only one who’s been… for the lack of a better word, down all week. other people are struggling too, and the whole mood of the group is somber for the most part. yoojung, notably, is a little quieter than the rest, and then there’s doyeon who struggled and fell during practice the other day. maybe it would be good for them to air out their concerns and grievances—objectively, of course.

truthfully, sungwoon doesn’t want to participate himself; he has a hard enough time trying to open up to people he knows, let alone complete strangers. he intends to just sit and listen to everyone’s concerns, sure they’re going to be far, far different from his own.

and sure enough, jonghyun starts with uplifting words for him, and sungwoon even manages a smile back at the younger man, but he thinks that jonghyun just doesn’t get it. doyeon is next with haknyeon following later, and while sungwoon genuinely feels for them, there’s a hollow space in his chest that says, they don’t get it either. rose and sicheng have different worries, and this sungwoon can relate to—the weight of responsibility is hard to carry, especially for a performance like this. he can only offer platitudes though, assurances that their choreography is good. it’s not the dance. the dance is great.

sungwoon doesn’t intend to speak, but he feels like it would dumb of him not to say anything. and looking at the relief on everyone’s faces after saying their pieces, he feels like he ought to contribute. maybe just take this moment to be honest for once. “i guess i’ll go next,” he says awkwardly, raising a hand. “uh, as many of you probably guessed, this group wasn’t my first choice. i only picked this song because all the positions for the singing group were taken and, uh, i guess the title just resonated with me. stay.” chuckling, he runs a hand through his hair and sighs.

“i’ve… struggled all week because i feel like this will be my final performance.” putting what he’s come to terms with into words is surprisingly difficult. the act of saying it out loud makes it more real somehow, and sungwoon feels himself choking up. “i’m not a dancer and i don’t think i ever will be. this past week, i’ve spent way too much time feeling sorry for myself and not enough time trying to adapt to the situation. i’ve probably been a bummer to be around, huh?” sungwoon is self aware enough to realize that he hasn’t been his usual mood-maker self.

“but i… i mean, every time i try to convince myself that i can do this or i’ll be okay, i realize that i’m light years behind where i should be to even take the stage. i’m scared that me being up there will backfire, not just on me on the rest of you guys too.” swallowing, he looks down and sighs. “so i’ve been trying, but the past few weeks have taught me that it’s not enough to just try. but i’m still foolishly running full speed ahead, and i don’t know what that makes me: stupid, or optimistic? i don’t have to have expectations because i don’t want to be disappointed, but i don’t want to… give up either.” this is as much as he wants to say. there’s more—so much more—but sungwoon feels shitty enough just admitting this much.

shaking his head, he tries to end on a more positive note. “i truly appreciate all the help and support you guys have given me this week,” he says, looking at each and every one of them. “and if there’s one good thing that came out of all this, it was the opportunity to work with you guys.”

“so: thank you.” standing up, sungwoon bows at the waist and holds the pose for a few seconds before sitting back down. “i hope all of you go through this week, and i will support you till the end of the competition.”

yoojung rounds off their honesty circle, and her words hit sungwoon like a ton of bricks. the things he’s been holding inside—she articulates them perfectly. it’s almost a relief to hear that someone else has the same worries and insecurities as him, even though he wishes she didn’t have to feel that way. still, he does feel a little lighter with things out in the open. everyone on their team had too much bottled up. with some release, he hopes they find peace.

the rest of the week is less heavy, less morose, though the practices are as intense as ever. sungwoon even brings in stolen pastries from work one day, and though they only last like one bite per person, they have haknyeon’s tangerines and rose’s cookies to round things off (sungwoon does claim a dramatic “death by tangerines” when haknyeon offers him another one, and his laugh after that is the first genuine one of the week. and—he’s missed this. laughing, having fun, not worrying about impending doom).

the final night, he doesn’t have much to say, except, “i hope we stay.” sungwoon hopes his teammates stay. he believes—no, he knows—that they have the skills to.

himself? he’s less sure he’ll make it through. he’s definitely not sure if he deserves (wants) to.

performance day comes too soon.

he’s jittery and it’s not just because of the caffeine. the nausea isn’t entirely his americano’s fault either. sungwoon was never going to be calm going into this, but this is a little extreme even for him. his hands shake as he waits backstage with the rest of his team. they look like a solid, cohesive unit, dressed in black and white for this performance to keep things classy. they also have a choker around their neck, what sungwoon playfully called a ‘leash’ backstage; it’s part of the choreography and he tries not to fiddle with it while they wait. “hey haknyeon, i could really use a tangerine now,” sungwoon jokes, nudging the younger boy to diffuse some of the tension.

it’s… painful to watch the other performances, especially the singing groups. some of these contestants would’ve done fine in dancing groups too, and maybe that is what hurts the most. he’s shocked to see that jinsoul isn’t in either of the vocal groups and prays that her week was a lot easier than his own. she’s someone who really deserved the chance to showcase her talent.

before long, it’s their turn to take the stage as team forever young. sungwoon shouts out the greeting with the rest of them, his expression full of confidence he doesn’t actually possess. it’s bravado, plain and simple, mixed in with a little bit of bullshit, but people tell you to fake it till you make it for a reason. once the introductions are over, he wipes his clammy palms on his pants and gets into formation with the rest of the team.

the choreography is beautiful. rose and sicheng should be commended for it. sungwoon may know nothing about dance, but he can recognize a good stage when he sees it. their outfits give the illusion of more grace, of lighter movements, and of smoother transitions. on people like rose, doyeon, yoojung, jonghyun, haknyeon, and sicheng, the effect is breathtaking. sungwoon is… clumsier, his movements lacking the easy flow of the others. he’s a lot more stiff despite his best efforts, and his inexperience and discomfort with the style of dance shows.

still, sungwoon powers through, putting more emphasis on his expressions and working with the camera. when it’s his turn to take centre, he lipsyncs along with the song, channeling a sort of sensual arrogance as he dances, tossing a smirk at the camera before moving into position with rose. he’s sweating, his heart beating fast, but sungwoon doesn’t stop, doesn’t let himself relax for a second as he dances.

living on my sofa, drinking rum and cola underneath the rising sun

then comes one of their killing points, the part that involves their chokers. a playful smile dances on sungwoon’s lips as he follows through, giving the illusion that he’s truly enjoying himself up there. and maybe if the circumstances were different, if the stakes weren’t so goddamn high, he would have. but all he can think about is the pressure. not only the pressure he put on himself, but the pressure he feels to not let his team down, to not let rose and sicheng’s choreography down.

the floorwork is the hardest part of the performance, in sungwoon’s opinion. he’s nowhere near the front, so his struggles are, for the most part, hidden from the audience. still, he’s a beat too late getting back inTo formation with the rest and it shows. he keeps his expression smooth and unperturbed by his mistake, but sungwoon knows it won’t be one easily forgiven. for a second there, they were out of sync as a group because he was slow. sungwoon wants to scream, but there’s no time for that. just as quickly, he’s in the center again while the others are on their knees.

all you have to do is stay

breathing hard, he fights to maintain his position and his expression as the song fades off. sweat drips down his back as he follows the rest of the team off the stage, unable to process what just happened. he fucked up. he fucked up. badly enough for it to be noticed, badly enough for it to matter. the only consolation sungwoon has is that they won’t be judged as a group, so the rest won’t be dragged down by his mistake. it’s… not much to hold onto, but sungwoon clings to it anyway. all you have to do is stay, he thinks, looking at all of them. please stay.

SINGING: Amazing Kiss (1), Love In The Ice (5) DANCING: Instruction (5), Handclap (6), Stay (5) RAPPING: Born Hater (2), Who You (2)

“I choose amazing kiss,” she said somewhat confidently. Love in the ice could have been a good choice too, though she knew amazing kiss better. Plus the latter had fewer spots, meaning she would possibly get more screen-time, which seemed like a good choice in her case. She knew that barely anything more than the performances of her were shown and that she wasn't really all that popular either. While she didn't mind others being more popular than her, she was worried that her lack of popularity could be a factor in her elimination. She would have to do her very best and choose the song that suited her the most.

As she walked to the practise room for this week, she felt a bit restless. Usually Luda was a very positive person, always expecting the best to happen, but the past weeks had taken their toll on the young girl. What if she wouldn't get along with her team? What if they all had opposing opinions and didn't work well together or would fight over parts? In contrast to before, she had no idea who her teammates would be and Luda took a deep breath before opening the door.

Once everyone had arrived, Luda could finally calm down. She'd worked with Junmyeon in the previous week and from what she knew of Daniel, she was looking forward to being on the same team. She was especially happy to work with Yongsun again and looked forward to practising lines together.

This week she wouldn't have to dance, which made her even happier and more confident as well. She wasn't too bad with expressions and knew the song. Luda was hopeful again and her positive attitude returned.

Singing was her favourite part as expected, but practising her expressions and body language was interesting as well. She felt that as a group they would do really, really well, but of course after eliminations were skipped last week and this was a skill challenge now, she had to do well by herself. At first she thought she'd go home to sleep more often – like she did on the first night – feeling like a lot of pressure was lifted from her shoulders this week, but the more she wondered if she could go on to the next round, the more nights she decided to stay. Next to the first, the last night was the only one she went home. Soon it became a habit to say good night to the cameras whenever no one from her team was around.

Wednesday was the most difficult day for her. Only two days left and they had to choose favourites for each skill. She wasn't even sure if her part would be aired – she could imagine they'd only show those who'd been named the most and those who voted for them. But either way she didn't feel happy with having to choose only one person each, when she couldn't objectively compare every single contestant. In the end she chose those she thought were best and quickly concentrated on practising afterwards.

Her favourite nights were those, where she wasn't alone, like that one night Yongsun stayed late to practise as well. They'd started to go over a few parts together but as both were tired, they ended up falling asleep, leaning against the wall and each other. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable position, she slept really well that night.

Practising went well, she probably made the best progress so far, compared to all other weeks and while she'd had fun on stage before, she really enjoyed practising as well. It was still exhausting, but she didn't feel quite as tired. Daniel often brought them drinks, especially tea for their throats and he even addressed that she didn't go home or rest much. She was touched that he noticed, but also felt bad that she made someone else worry. Luda was glad though, that he'd talked to her, because otherwise she might have overworked herself much more – she probably wouldn't have gone to sleep at home on Thursday and who knew, maybe she would've lost consciousness on stage. It really made her realise that she had to take better care of herself, so she was thankful to him.

On the last day before the performance, after getting ready to go home, the girl positioned herself in front of one of the cameras. While she felt somewhat more confident, she was also worried that this could be more of an individual challenge – and her last one. She'd wondered on previous days if she should do this or not, talk to the camera – the viewers – about how she felt and now she'd spontaneously decided to do so. Her expression was serious and suddenly she worried that this would be too negative, so she quickly smiled and cleared her throat.

“The performance is tomorrow already, time went by quickly again, didn't it?” the girl suppressed a yawn and after thinking for a moment, continued. “I learned a lot over the past weeks and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, even though I'm not completely confident. It's difficult to switch teams every week, but also nice to meet new people, so whatever happens, this was a really nice journey. Of course it isn't over just yet,” she grinned, “and I'll make sure to show you my best performance so far,” she winked at the camera and left the practise room. The girl didn't expect her words to be aired, but she wanted to try and convey her feelings either way.

The next day she was already backstage, waiting again and when it was their turn, she took a long breath, burying her worry of failure as deep as possible. The week had gone well.

I can do this!

To her, a vocal position was the only option. She could challenge herself with a dance position, sure, but if she messed up, she wouldn't only place low for that, but surely also for her lack of good decision making. She wasn't here to become the best dancer, she was here to show her vocal ability, even if her dancing had developed a lot over the past weeks.

They greeted the audience with their practised intro. “Hello, we are shooting,” they lifted their hands to make finger guns, “star!” and they ended their intro while “firing” their guns. It was a bit embarrassing, but the crowd was cheering – though surely not because of her, she thought – so it was fine.

They entered their starting positions and she took a last deep breath.

Vocal condition, expression, body language, she'd done her very best this week and when they went through the performance while practising, she'd done well. She might not have been the most charismatic of the four, but she did do well.

Yongsun was the first to sing, her soft voice filling the hall. Luda joined in on the last line to harmonise with her. She put emotion into the line as she sang softly and looked at the camera, holding her free hand over her heart.

The tip of the starlight, approach my heart Shine the love that is pointing at you

She waited patiently for her next line, her body language fitting to the song as she tried to convey emotion not just while singing, but also physically to the best of her ability. She began her next part while looking up and pretended to catch a star before turning back to the audience and camera. Her voice was still soft, but began to become a bit clearer as the part asked of her and they all harmonised as her line came to an end.

The song picked up a bit in speed and she was already immersed, not thinking about any worries, not even thinking about doing her best, just doing the best she could.

This is only shooting star I believe in our eternity In that sky where our happiness and love is melted Precious in my love which has become a star

She sang her next lines just as well as the previous, but showed more power and her vocals were as clear as usual. The lights always focused on those singing and whenever it shone on her, her heart started pumping faster, while the screens in the back showed a night sky filled with stars.

The song became more “dramatic” and she took a deep breath for the next lines she harmonised with Yongsun, turning towards her.

Finding the meaning of that light Illuminated by each others trust

Her voice sounding emotional, she looked at Yongsun, moving her free hand as though underlining the emotion, before looking up with a longing expression at the end.

Two more lines and she ad-libbed, turning towards Yongsun again, but with closed eyes this time. Their voices matched nicely and both sang powerfully. She quickly had to breathe as she had to continue with her next lines right after.

Amazing kiss Hidden in the darkness Where that light shines The view of two shadows gently leaning on each other Kept inside a star, I want to keep it So it cannot be seen

First Junmyeon ad-libbed as she sang, then she harmonised with Yongsun and Daniel repeated the last part, before Junmyeon ad-libbed once more. She looked at the audience again, excited as she sang and happy to be on stage once more.

The last part they sang together, she puts power into her ad-libs and they all harmonise well, before Yongsun ends the song.