queendom 2 (2022), opening + round one
Apr. 9th, 2022 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yestodayHere it is, the obligatory and the inevitable: my roundly Queendom 2 (2022) personal rankings, updated in live time as I catch up every week. And, hopefully, none of Twitter will ever discover these.
Opening
Round One
2. Kep1er. Oh, the stage design is insane. This remix hits. And Hikaru! Hikaru, my beloved. They impressed me a lot with this. I saw their outfits on Twitter before watching, and the similarity in palette to LOONA's made me a bit weary... and it didn't make it better that they looked like LOONA's outfits but more... boring. So that didn't raise any levels of expectations. But this surpassed everything. I was so blown away, and both my mom and sister agreed this was in their top two and first place favorite respectively. It was so energetic and, once again, well-choreographed. I will figure out who Mnet got them for their choreographies after this. (And I know Exy was fuming after this, seeing what vroom vroom vroom skrrt could have been like if CRAVITY slayed it. [/JOKE. FOR LEGAL REASONS, I AM LUVITY. I LOVE CRAVITY. TAEYOUNG IS MY FRIEND.])
3. VIVIZ. Emotional impact. Oh, emotional impact. One of my favorite aspects of this stage is actually the assisting performers: the backup dancers and the instrumentalists. The dancers holding lights was innovative and evocative, and on the second watch, my sister pointed out them forming a moon at Umji's part during Time For The Moon Night. When the orchestra switched to the oh-so-familiar Rough melody, I started bawling. The thing is, I knew as a fact I would cry during this, because even before it started, as I was watching the episode, I was tearing the fuck up at their commentary and reflections and the montage shown. (I saw Hyuna crying at this too, and if she sobbed, there's no way my mere mortal soul is surviving this. I was damn well aware of the certain doom ahead of me.) At the end, Eunseo expressing how proud she was of Eunbi hurt a very raw spot in my heart, too. And when she explained the numbers in the back of the stage, I cried harder. And, ah, yes, here it is—this must be the ex-GFRIEND ult in me speaking. (If I tell you where the height of my emotionality peaked was when they called Sowon, when they said she would often rewatch their concert videos.)
4. Brave Girls. I like the colors. This was fun. The concept kind of confused me (note: I'm watching this without having seen episode 2 yet, so if they explain it in there, I do not have knowledge of it as of yet), but overall they had the energy and knew how to convey it. Though, I assume it has something to do with their military men fans. Overall, it didn't feel that united of a stage—theme-wise—but they were having fun, and so was I! How much of that happiness was contributed from Yujeong's big 眯眯 smile has currently not been calculated.
5. LOONA. I know, this is so sad. I hate putting them this low, and it's shocking to me too, considering I had almost full bets that the moon girls—and Wuju—would be serving the most objectively good stages of this season, the moment they were confirmed for it. Now, there's decisively nothing bad about this performance, but every Queendom/Kingdom season has had a historical concept stage; I'm getting a bit bored. Even Yves's fighting scene has been overused, and well beyond just historical concepts, as well. Hyejoo's hair untying part was its redemption, though. Also, I give bonus points for being sexy, because I'm just a wee little whorish lad, and they got a solid amount of those. However cliché this stage may be, they're amazing in skill as always. (Random: my sister asked if the song was about mass murder LMAO? I guess they never did specify that they weren't painting the town with blood.)
6. WJSN. Yes, It hurts me seeing them down at ground bottom, too. It was too reminiscent of their intro stage, yet they had an extra three minutes to add onto it and somehow managed to make it lamer. I don't know, maybe my standards have become too high. Saying this in the gentlest manner possible, it was simply dull... There was nothing new, nothing we haven't seen before from them or from the previous seasons. Maybe the it's the outfits, too, that are boring me—maybe that was a reason for my preliminary LOONA verdict, as well. I'm blaming the clothes. Bland ass plain white clothes... I know there's lighter, more intricate designs on them, but no one's seeing all that when they're throwing it back and blasting high notes everywhere! At least make the fabric, I don't know, more wispy or iridescent! Integrate some contrasting hues! Anyway, the dance break was nice. I liked both of them. Yeoreum, my beloved. And I do like this remix of the song.
That it's for today, I'll update this every time I get the chance—hopefully roundly—until the end of the show. I pray there aren't typos everywhere. I have not slept in over 24 hours. I spent all night and all day writing a song on BandLab. Goodnight, nonexistent comrades reading this. Let me CSS some colored highlights into this for my newly-enforced strict journal formatting rules, and then I am clocking out.
This season of the Queendom/Kingdom saga did not draw me in like that to begin with—I don't ult any of these groups (or, well... further clarification on VIVIZ's position as we go on)—but, as a good, loyal, and FOMO-plagued K-Pop stan, I am of course keeping up. I am using 'keeping up' loosely; I'm already two episodes behind :yeshoney:. It's just a little grueling because Mnet's editing has been palpably getting more and more 啰嗦, whatever the English word is. The episode lengths are an exhausting timespan, but it's fine. I'll get through it eventually. Mnet-show-watching certainly does contribute to my goal of preventing any thought from occurring in my head, anyway.
I didn't have any strong feelings on the lineup when it was announced, even though my prediction was utterly wrong. (No Apink? No Weeekly? Seriously?) Everyone here was still pretty expected and not unreasonable. Except for Kep1er. They were unreasonable. Yet, they were the most expected, from my eyes. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were one of the only ones I had predicted correctly—after seeing Mnet shove TO1 onto Road To Kingdom, I was absolutely sure the planet girls were going to show up here. This will be of a great benefit to their publicity and, overall, their career, of course, but I can't help but feel a twinge of heartache for the girls having to go through the stress of two survival shows back to back... my poor Kepies. :( Sorry, off topic.
Ahem. I have a strong foresight that either LOONA or WJSN will be in the top 2, perhaps even both of them. I know their performance prowess. I know their synchronization and formation techniques and thematic stage familiarity! They're basically trained for everything Queendom is about; they have the utmost potential to do well on this show. They're built for this! I was excited to see it! Which is why some of my reactions to their performances on these first two (one and a half?) rounds kind of confounded me.
With that said, I stan all of these groups (and their former groups, in some cases), I love all of these women, I hold no acrimony to any of these people, and the opinions listed here are likely recovered from my first or second impression; they are viable to change at any time. Let's begin!
I didn't have any strong feelings on the lineup when it was announced, even though my prediction was utterly wrong. (No Apink? No Weeekly? Seriously?) Everyone here was still pretty expected and not unreasonable. Except for Kep1er. They were unreasonable. Yet, they were the most expected, from my eyes. In fact, I'm pretty sure they were one of the only ones I had predicted correctly—after seeing Mnet shove TO1 onto Road To Kingdom, I was absolutely sure the planet girls were going to show up here. This will be of a great benefit to their publicity and, overall, their career, of course, but I can't help but feel a twinge of heartache for the girls having to go through the stress of two survival shows back to back... my poor Kepies. :( Sorry, off topic.
Ahem. I have a strong foresight that either LOONA or WJSN will be in the top 2, perhaps even both of them. I know their performance prowess. I know their synchronization and formation techniques and thematic stage familiarity! They're basically trained for everything Queendom is about; they have the utmost potential to do well on this show. They're built for this! I was excited to see it! Which is why some of my reactions to their performances on these first two (one and a half?) rounds kind of confounded me.
With that said, I stan all of these groups (and their former groups, in some cases), I love all of these women, I hold no acrimony to any of these people, and the opinions listed here are likely recovered from my first or second impression; they are viable to change at any time. Let's begin!
Opening
1. VIVIZ. Alright, I have to admit I love their choreographies (as VIVIZ) more than their music (as VIVIZ). And exactly that reason alone is how they took the crown for my ordering of the preliminaries. This sounds a little unfair saying it like this, but clearly live singing isn't a factor that is contended in this round. (How many of them were singing, save Hyolyn belting the best part of 9LIVES for the first ten seconds of hers?) VIVIZ's preliminary stage had clear elements of Bop Bop in it, presenting themselves strong as a newfound trio instead of their staple mystical, dreamy concepts of the past. While I, uh, do not listen to Bop Bop regularly, I appreciate it for the artistry and their new take on the then-current retro trend (now undergoing the shift into a new wave of a punk rock trend). Avoiding the high, scintillating synths most other recent retro songs offered, they took a more lighthearted and groovy route. I will say, it is not exactly my thing, but I have respect for it. Once again, I love the choreography; it's so satisfying to watching. I am so sorry; this was not meant to turn into a Bop Bop song review. Back to the point: the electric themes and lighting effects were eye-catching to me, and the smart and fluid camerawork sealed the deal. This stage passed my vibe check easily! And please ignore my whole half paragraph that was not about it at all.
2. WJSN. Sorry, the Secret nostalgia hit instantaneously. I had to give a couple bonus points for the intro PV...? (or was it just a filter effect? It might have been an effect, now that I think about it.) It's elegant and ethereal. It encapsulates Save Me, Save You's mystical essence just the way it was meant to. The dance was like clockwork, graceful and controlled with smooth transitions; it all was very well put together. The outfit change was the icing on the cake for me, though. I also noticed they lifted the moon at the end, albeit not in sync with the background, but I thought that was a fun touch lmao. I'm always for using the backdrop as props if it ends up looking good. And so, the space girls, declared the official start of the Star Wars.
3. Brave Girls. The suits look good! I don't care if your mother thinks thinks it looks like "trot fashion"! I think they look great; the sparkly blazers are speaking to me. They devoured this choreography. This style is not something they typically do, so it was a fresh and charming sight to behold. All eyes on Eunji!
4. Kep1er. Amazing choreography, truly. Who did Mnet hire for them; I need to find out. I was This was an expected song choice, and a excellent decision for the introductory round. It's a clever outfit choice that alludes to them graduating their first survival show... and immediately onto the second one. The grind never stops for them, for real. They're really powerful performers! I don't have much else to say.
5. Hyolyn. A fantastic performance in every aspect, but that was expected, wasn't it? This is miss SISTAR Hyorin herself, after all. For this starter round, she was able to show all of herself off in the most characteristic way she could, and it was fantastic on its own. But there wasn't any pizzaz? It was great, but nothing gave 'Queendom'; nothing gave competition. Anyway, I highly respect her talent for being able to dance in those stilted, thin ass heels.
6. LOONA. Hmm. No, look, I'm surprised they're this low, as well. You saw the anticipation I had for them! It was just plain? Unbearably so, for LOONA. I was expecting more from them, given all that they're (deservingly) hyped up to be, and you know I must have been bored if even favorite-song-bias for Satellite wasn't able to help bump them higher. I guess it was just underwhelming for a Queendom performance; that's all. Nonetheless, they still showcase their stellar synchronization across all members and ever-stunning stage presence. Yeojin is so cute, by the way.
2. WJSN. Sorry, the Secret nostalgia hit instantaneously. I had to give a couple bonus points for the intro PV...? (or was it just a filter effect? It might have been an effect, now that I think about it.) It's elegant and ethereal. It encapsulates Save Me, Save You's mystical essence just the way it was meant to. The dance was like clockwork, graceful and controlled with smooth transitions; it all was very well put together. The outfit change was the icing on the cake for me, though. I also noticed they lifted the moon at the end, albeit not in sync with the background, but I thought that was a fun touch lmao. I'm always for using the backdrop as props if it ends up looking good. And so, the space girls, declared the official start of the Star Wars.
3. Brave Girls. The suits look good! I don't care if your mother thinks thinks it looks like "trot fashion"! I think they look great; the sparkly blazers are speaking to me. They devoured this choreography. This style is not something they typically do, so it was a fresh and charming sight to behold. All eyes on Eunji!
4. Kep1er. Amazing choreography, truly. Who did Mnet hire for them; I need to find out. I was This was an expected song choice, and a excellent decision for the introductory round. It's a clever outfit choice that alludes to them graduating their first survival show... and immediately onto the second one. The grind never stops for them, for real. They're really powerful performers! I don't have much else to say.
5. Hyolyn. A fantastic performance in every aspect, but that was expected, wasn't it? This is miss SISTAR Hyorin herself, after all. For this starter round, she was able to show all of herself off in the most characteristic way she could, and it was fantastic on its own. But there wasn't any pizzaz? It was great, but nothing gave 'Queendom'; nothing gave competition. Anyway, I highly respect her talent for being able to dance in those stilted, thin ass heels.
6. LOONA. Hmm. No, look, I'm surprised they're this low, as well. You saw the anticipation I had for them! It was just plain? Unbearably so, for LOONA. I was expecting more from them, given all that they're (deservingly) hyped up to be, and you know I must have been bored if even favorite-song-bias for Satellite wasn't able to help bump them higher. I guess it was just underwhelming for a Queendom performance; that's all. Nonetheless, they still showcase their stellar synchronization across all members and ever-stunning stage presence. Yeojin is so cute, by the way.
Round One
1. Hyolyn. Colors, concept, stage arrangement, props—everything was well-planned to the core. She is so hot. Summer queen indeed, I can't imagine anyone else pulling off a stage like this as well as the SISTAR token all-rounder. And the smirk... she is so hot. I'm not going to lie, I love her so much, but I would not have pegged her to be frontrunner of this show. I know she's not winning—Mnet is not letting her win—but this first round has succeeded in impressing me to the fullest. Of course, this doesn't mean I ever underestimated her. God, never; I know what she can do. I hope she takes maximum advantage of all facets of her ability every chance she gets on this show.
2. Kep1er. Oh, the stage design is insane. This remix hits. And Hikaru! Hikaru, my beloved. They impressed me a lot with this. I saw their outfits on Twitter before watching, and the similarity in palette to LOONA's made me a bit weary... and it didn't make it better that they looked like LOONA's outfits but more... boring. So that didn't raise any levels of expectations. But this surpassed everything. I was so blown away, and both my mom and sister agreed this was in their top two and first place favorite respectively. It was so energetic and, once again, well-choreographed. I will figure out who Mnet got them for their choreographies after this. (And I know Exy was fuming after this, seeing what vroom vroom vroom skrrt could have been like if CRAVITY slayed it. [/JOKE. FOR LEGAL REASONS, I AM LUVITY. I LOVE CRAVITY. TAEYOUNG IS MY FRIEND.])
3. VIVIZ. Emotional impact. Oh, emotional impact. One of my favorite aspects of this stage is actually the assisting performers: the backup dancers and the instrumentalists. The dancers holding lights was innovative and evocative, and on the second watch, my sister pointed out them forming a moon at Umji's part during Time For The Moon Night. When the orchestra switched to the oh-so-familiar Rough melody, I started bawling. The thing is, I knew as a fact I would cry during this, because even before it started, as I was watching the episode, I was tearing the fuck up at their commentary and reflections and the montage shown. (I saw Hyuna crying at this too, and if she sobbed, there's no way my mere mortal soul is surviving this. I was damn well aware of the certain doom ahead of me.) At the end, Eunseo expressing how proud she was of Eunbi hurt a very raw spot in my heart, too. And when she explained the numbers in the back of the stage, I cried harder. And, ah, yes, here it is—this must be the ex-GFRIEND ult in me speaking. (If I tell you where the height of my emotionality peaked was when they called Sowon, when they said she would often rewatch their concert videos.)
4. Brave Girls. I like the colors. This was fun. The concept kind of confused me (note: I'm watching this without having seen episode 2 yet, so if they explain it in there, I do not have knowledge of it as of yet), but overall they had the energy and knew how to convey it. Though, I assume it has something to do with their military men fans. Overall, it didn't feel that united of a stage—theme-wise—but they were having fun, and so was I! How much of that happiness was contributed from Yujeong's big 眯眯 smile has currently not been calculated.
5. LOONA. I know, this is so sad. I hate putting them this low, and it's shocking to me too, considering I had almost full bets that the moon girls—and Wuju—would be serving the most objectively good stages of this season, the moment they were confirmed for it. Now, there's decisively nothing bad about this performance, but every Queendom/Kingdom season has had a historical concept stage; I'm getting a bit bored. Even Yves's fighting scene has been overused, and well beyond just historical concepts, as well. Hyejoo's hair untying part was its redemption, though. Also, I give bonus points for being sexy, because I'm just a wee little whorish lad, and they got a solid amount of those. However cliché this stage may be, they're amazing in skill as always. (Random: my sister asked if the song was about mass murder LMAO? I guess they never did specify that they weren't painting the town with blood.)
6. WJSN. Yes, It hurts me seeing them down at ground bottom, too. It was too reminiscent of their intro stage, yet they had an extra three minutes to add onto it and somehow managed to make it lamer. I don't know, maybe my standards have become too high. Saying this in the gentlest manner possible, it was simply dull... There was nothing new, nothing we haven't seen before from them or from the previous seasons. Maybe the it's the outfits, too, that are boring me—maybe that was a reason for my preliminary LOONA verdict, as well. I'm blaming the clothes. Bland ass plain white clothes... I know there's lighter, more intricate designs on them, but no one's seeing all that when they're throwing it back and blasting high notes everywhere! At least make the fabric, I don't know, more wispy or iridescent! Integrate some contrasting hues! Anyway, the dance break was nice. I liked both of them. Yeoreum, my beloved. And I do like this remix of the song.
That it's for today, I'll update this every time I get the chance—hopefully roundly—until the end of the show. I pray there aren't typos everywhere. I have not slept in over 24 hours. I spent all night and all day writing a song on BandLab. Goodnight, nonexistent comrades reading this. Let me CSS some colored highlights into this for my newly-enforced strict journal formatting rules, and then I am clocking out.