It’s a new week, and we finally get to see the very much anticipated performances of Stray Kids, ATEEZ and SF9 for the concept ‘To The World’. Last week in Episode 2, we saw the performances by The Boyz, iKON and BTOB. You can read about that here. Let’s dive into ‘KINGDOM: Legendary War’ episode 3!
Stray Kids
Starting off we get footage of Stray Kids at JYP Ent. headquarters discussing which song they will perform next with their team. They went for a remix of their two well-known songs ‘Side Effects’ and ‘God’s Menu’.
Next, we see Banchang working non-stop on the production of the tracks and the wholesome relationship of Stray kids in the practice room, and their interaction with 2PM’s Wooyoung.
For this round Stray Kids went for “Evil/Live” as a concept, with white outfits and very dope makeup. The performance started with Lee Know, Jisung and Seungmin doing individual dance routines that were extremely cool.
Bangchan came next with the intro verse for ‘Side Effect’, from this moment the stage became a masterpiece filled with incredible props. There was the gigantic sheet with dancers under it performing a ghostly act. Stray Kids controlled the dancers with the black masks with red ties around their hands. It was awesome.
One of the highlights of this performance is the performer dancing upside down during Bangchan’s verse imitating his shadow which fits right in with the duality concept.
The mix of both songs was well balanced, and the performance incredible and also very high budget. There was a lot of energy and a lot of power in the entire thing. There was a lot happening at once.
ATEEZ
ATEEZ is next, and we see Hongjoong getting ready to produce a new version of their hit song ‘Wonderland’. In the practice room they interact with their producer and label senior Eden who we spoke about in our segment DisKovery With A K.
For the remix they chose to blend the classical piece ‘Symphony No.9‘ with ‘Wonderland’, and a masterpiece came out of it.
ATEEZ went back to their “Pirate” concept for this performance, with a ship and the Kraken included. The stage was incredible and really well balanced, every single part of the performance was well choreographed and they used the stage amazingly.
That entire scene with the Kraken was insane and so much fun. It brought the story to life of the brave adventurers with heaps of courage, combatting evils to discover the world. We loved it.
Jongho killed it with the high note, he is truly a gifted vocalist. This stage ended with a smooth transition perfect for the dance break. That dance break really had us shook. We think there was a kazoo involved in the audio but we aren’t 100% sure. Just the power and energy they brought in that EDM-style moment was awesome.
Big props to ATEEZ’ vocals during that hardcore dance.
SF9
The finale for ‘KINGDOM: Legendary War’ episode 3 was given to SF9. During the preparation for the big day these guys were busy with many other activities. We see them individually interacting with actors and idols they work with. They chose ‘Jealous (Now or Never)’ for this performance.
The concept for their stage was super dark but classy at the same time. The claw-like jewelry in the beginning of the performance was so pretty! We need like five. The concept of stealing beauty in the form of a scarf was honestly really cool and we love how they brought that concept to life with all the red and the mirrors involved. Even at the very end, they sat on a throne that looked like a mirror.
The classical arrangement for this song was smooth and really well done. The female performers did an amazing job. We were so thrilled with the use of the ‘interrogation’ style mirrors. It was such an awesome idea and really interacted well with the entire camera team. The guys from SF9 really know how to use their charisma on stage.
Ranking
For this round the ranking was based on the teams’ votes and the panel of professionals who scored the performances as they aired. MNET is still counting the fan votes and streaming. The rank ended up like this:
- Ateez
- Stray Kids
- The Boyz
- BTOB
- iKON
- SF9
For the next round the concept is ‘REBORN’, and we are already excited just with the trailer, the teams will have to cover each other’s song. We will see you next week with a brand new ‘KINGDOM: Legendary War’ recap. Check the full episode on Viki.
Watch the trailer for next week’s episode of ‘KINGDOM’.