SEUL REVIEWS OUT OF BOREDOM

            While waiting patiently-impatiently for English subs to be up (the struggle is real, I SWEAR), I got so bored that I practically the replay button, re-watching the performances over and over again that I have probably memorized their choreography by now hahahaha. Then a (brilliant) idea came into my mind: why not make reviews of the performances? And that thought gave birth to this blogpost (and more to come soon-)

               Hello, everyone! It’s Seul here~

          Since I’m making a review, I wanted to make it official, legit and fair, so I came up with my own criteria based on what I think matters in a performance.

CRITERIA:

Vocals (includes singing and rapping, volume, stability and quality) – 40%

Choreography (team work, creativity, overall dancing performance) – 30%

Concept (how they portrayed the song, visual suitability, center) – 10%

Impact (how memorable the performance is, overall impact) – 20%

TOTAL: 100%

          Before the official review, I would just like to stress that I am not a professional in this field and this is purely my objective preference and opinion. I tried my best to be as objective and fair as possible, focusing on the performance and not on the members. Also, I am not familiar with all Produce 101 contestants so please do correct me if I get names wrong xD

          Buckle up your seatbelts! The review will be taking off~

2PM's 10/10 Performances by Produce 101 Trainees

TEAM A (Red Team)

VOCALS

          STRONG POINT: They have powerful and stable vocals. You cannot even tell directly who their main vocalist is, because everyone was vocally strong, and their choruses sounded really full and alive. However, the rapper parts lacked a bit in terms of enunciation. The rap was on beat, but some of the words cannot be heard clearly. I'm not really familiar with all of the members in this group, but based on listening to the way they sing/rap, I feel like this is an all-vocal group (and I give them high marks for that). No one gave off the rapper type of sound and feel, which was totally fine because the raps weren't really fast raps (plus it's JYP style rap). All in all, the vocals in this group is really good.

SCORE: Vocals - 38

CHOREOGRAPHY

          First off, they may not be the best dancers, but their energy while dancing was excellent. They went for the bubbly and playful choreo, which 2PM did before in their 10/10 performances, and it was great because it fit them well. But at some point of the performance, they overdid the "bubbly and playful" and made the stage look a little messy -- the energy was still there but the synergy between the members was lost. Nonetheless, I highly commend the group for their effort in doing little stunts even though from the very beginning no one was really good at doing stunts (esp that starting stunt when MMO's Jisung went below) and their choreo add-ons such as when the two tall guys clung to each other at "geuron yeojaran malya".

SCORE: Choreo - 25.5

CONCEPT

          They leaned on the playful side of the song, which seriously reminded me of 2PM's younger days (my hottest heart--), and as I said before, it suit their visuals really well. Their center was really good at leading the "playful" theme, and overall the concept fit them well.

SCORE: Concept - 9

IMPACT

       Since they went with a playful and definitely younger vibe, you could really see their effort in moving noona's hearts (i'm not saying i'm one, okay? hahaha). They utilized a variety of facial expressions and add-on movements, and tbh I could see their future in variety. Them being quirky and funny throughout the whole performance helped me enjoy it a lot, and that is a whole LOT.

SCORE: Impact - 18

TEAM A'S TOTAL: 90.5

TEAM B (White Team)

VOCALS

       The one who started the song with the “talking intro” part got me into the performance real quick, it was a good technique to fill those empty spaces in the beginning. However, their vocals throughout the whole song were a bit weak, in terms of quality and volume, especially in comparison to the first group who performed. Though individually, the vocals may sound a bit weak, their choruses were full and energetic, and to mention: very clean. I especially like the raspy rapper (I think it’s Park Woojin?) because he really gave off the 2PM vibes when he started and I like the raspy-ness and power in his rap.

SCORE: Vocals – 35

CHOREOGRAPHY

        GREATEST ADVANTAGE: They had someone (Hyunmin?) who could do all the amazing stunts for them. The original 2PM choreo of the song incorporated a lot of acrobatic movements that require mastery. Using their advantage wisely, they changed up the choreo to fit the skills of their ace: martial arts, and added it to the most crucial moments where it could be boring. It ultimately added points for them. Overall, their dancing was neat and clean, and formations were nicely maintained.

SCORE: Choreo – 29

CONCEPT

       Team B went for a “cool” concept with a tinge of playfulness in it. The cool concept was well modulated especially with the martial arts, balanced with the quirkiness and playfulness of the rest of the choreo. Their center (Hong Eunki?) was a visual you would notice immediately and he played the role well.

SCORE: Concept 9.5

IMPACT

       I’m gonna say this again, but the martial arts did the trick. The moment he made the first stunt, it immediately added points to the team.

SCORE: Impact - 19.5

TEAM B'S TOTAL: 93

RECAP: Team A has 90.5 points and Team B has 93 points.

SEUL'S JUDGMENT: TEAM B (white) WINS!

       It was really quite hard to decide on this, I actually had their scores tied up when I first tallied. Personally, I enjoyed Team A’s performance more, but Team B gave me a clean performance. Both teams did great!

EXTRA: I am very disappointed in the unfair scoring system, especially when the two teams didn’t have the same number of members. Regardless of whether the other team scored higher and what-not, the disadvantage still lies in the team with lesser members. I just hope Produce 101’s system improves in the next episodes. All of them deserve a chance!

If you’re reading until this part, thank you so much for taking your time to actually read this blogpost! I appreciate it a lot~

So what do you guys think of the performances?

Comment down below and let me know your thoughts~