SEUL REVIEWS 2.0

          Hello everyone! It’s Seul here again with another review of Produce 101 performances, and this time it's the performances for Call Me Baby by EXO! Be prepared for another lengthy and wordy review (I'm so sorry I can't help it!) since episode 4 was released yesterday but there are no subs yet so I cri T.T

          Like the first one, this review follows the following criteria:

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%

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional in this field and this review is purely my objective preference and opinion, and I'd like to hear other's opinion, too! So don't be shy to comment down below what you think :)

EXO's Call Me Baby Performances by Produce 101 trainees

TEAM A (Pick Me Baby)

VOCALS

       The person who started the song had a good, deep voice that suited the beginning, but it lacked a bit of an “umf” factor. Being an EXO song, the main vocal (as well as the lead) had a huge role to play, and they pulled it off really well. The vocals were on point and their harmonies were so good – stable and had enough power. I would really like to commend the main vocal’s powerful falsettos and he was stable, looking effortless in hitting those notes. I especially like the “baby girl~” part, it was just so smooth! Moving on, the rap’s change in lyrics made it more interesting. Moonbok’s rap was good, but personally, I don’t think the delivery suited the song so well. However, this was balanced well by the second rapper (Hyunwoo) who had this good quality rapper voice – raspy, deep, strong – and his rap was lit!

SCORE: Vocal – 38.5

CHOREOGRAPHY

       At the beginning, they utilized their moves really well to build a great impact as soon as the rapper started. Throughout the song, the dance lacked a little power and synchronization, which was hardly noticeable because of their good facial expressions. They looked very much like a real group as they matched each other well with their positions and dancing.

SCORE: Choreo – 26.5

CONCEPT

       To be really honest, I can’t exactly pinpoint their concept but I guess they were going for playful and cool. Some looked serious while others looked playful and were smiling, and it was fine because they balanced it well.

SCORE: Concept – 8.5

IMPACT

       The highlight of the whole performance was the bridge where the high note and the raps came in. The main vocalist slayed that high note smoothly, and for the raps, despite my review on how it suits, I think it was really memorable especially when they ended it with that “arm-over-other’s-shoulder-wink-together”.

SCORE: Impact – 18.5

TEAM A’s TOTAL: 92.0

TEAM B (무한리필)

VOCALS

       The starting vocals were so good and it started out strong, giving more vocal impact. The rapper who delivered the first few lines gave off a bad boy feel and his deep voice really suit the introductory part, which was enough to give that much needed impact, added with the smooth transition to the first verse. As for the vocal members, there were some who were stable but one was notably unstable because of his breathing technique, which was quite a disadvantage for them. Their vocal position members had almost equal vocal qualities and colors which was nice to listen to when they sing in together. Rapper wise, their raps were certainly cleaner and smoother than Team A’s, beat on point and everything else. The way they changed the high note to a rapper part instead of the main vocal cut the of the song abruptly and it was weird at first. But as I listened to it again, it was a cool twist especially utilizing the deep voice of the rapper who started the song, too. I could feel like they would have suited another stronger, harsher song that needed more rapping to further showcase their skills. Nonetheless, they were good!

SCORE: Vocal - 35.5

CHOREOGRAPHY

       In terms of dancing, their moves were sharper and cleaner in comparison to the first group. From the very beginning, the way they changed up their choreography was so cool and smooth. Their synchronization was on point and it was noticeable in the most crucial parts of the song. I would say that the highlight for me was at the bridge – the main dancer’s snappy popping was just beautiful!

SCORE: Choreo – 28

CONCEPT

       The whole performance gave off a manly, a little bit bad boy, strong and harsh feel which suit their visuals and they pulled it off effortlessly!

SCORE: Concept – 9

IMPACT

       The way they started out so good got me into the performance really fast, but the impact they left in the beginning slowly diminished as the song progressed. However, they recovered it by the or the bridge with the popping and that rapper twist.

SCORE: Impact – 17.5

TEAM B’s TOTAL: 90.0

RECAP ON THE POINTS: Team A garnered a total of 92 points while Team B got 90 points. 

SEUL'S JUDGMENT:  TEAM A WINS!

       The scores are so close to each other again! Call Me Baby performances were good~

       Since official Mnet versions of the other performances are available now, I will be reviewing them too following this (while I wait for the full subbed episodes sigh-). Again, thank you for reading!

What do you think of the Call Me Baby performances?

Let me know your thoughts down below~