THE REPLAY BUTTON FEELS ABUSED BY ME.

       Hello, everyone! It’s been a while since you last saw me on your blog feed, eh? Hahaha. Anyway, it’s Seul, here again with a really late review of the concept evaluation performances for Produce 101 Season 2. My reviews are getting later and later every time /cries in the corner/ But anyway, I won’t hold you here with useless babble so let’s get on with it!

      The criteria for this one will be similar to the criteria I used during the Group Battles (refer to episodes 3 and 4). The only difference will be a slight switch in the percentages. Since it’s the concept evaluations, I’ll be putting more weight on the concept portrayal than the impact, but the rest will remain the same.

CRITERIA:

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

Dance (choreography, team work, overall dancing performance) – 30%

Concept (how they portrayed the concept given, visual suitability) – 20%

Impact (how memorable the performance is, overall impact) – 10%

TOTAL: 100%

      Also, because I’m lazy and this is really late, I have decided to just put overall comments instead of nitpicking on each part of my criteria (my nitpicking is boring, I know hahaha).

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional in this field and some technical term usage may be wrong, so please forgive the errrors! 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 :)

SHOWTIME

      This song’s chorus is incredibly high-pitched which makes it really challenging. This group has a lot of good vocals and they’ve showcased that well with the variety in their tones (from mature to young). Park Woodam was a beautiful main vocal – he really shines with his notes, though I would appreciate it if he plays with his facial expressions more. Lee Woojin, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air to me. He sounds so young and different from his hyungs, which really added a “fresh” factor to their overall sound. The rap part wasn’t really what I would say Sanggyun’s style, but I can see that he owned it by adding is own flare to it which was really good. Also, Jisung and Taehyun barely had lines, and I actually wanted to hear them singing more so it’s a shame.

      Their dance was good but I was looking for more, especially in the dance break – the killing part. Their “killing” part wasn’t much of a “killing part” for me, and I think a little more impact there would have done the trick.

     Overall, the whole performance looks so hyper, that even though I don’t really quite grasp the concept of the song, I can sum it up in one word: “youthful”. Samuel is a perfect center in this performance. He really captured the youthful vibe that the song was giving (and it suit really well with his age). I also like how Ha Sungwoon was a good balance of cute and appeal – the song was so youthful and everyone was appealing with eye-smiles and all, but he went for a little y but not too much which gave it variation.

[SCORE]

Vocal – 39

Dance – 27.5

Concept – 19

Impact – 8

TOTAL: 93.5

I KNOW YOU KNOW

      Seo Seonghyuk as main vocal was unexpected but he was well-supported as soon as he started singing, so applause for that. His voice sounds stronger in this live performance than in the album version and that’s actually a good thing, although I would have loved it if it were toned down a little to go with the smooth vibe of the song. Nonetheless, he did a great job! Kim Yehyun’s stability in singing is really commendable as he maintained it until the end. Kim Donghyun’s smooth voices fits the song so well and his falsetto notes sound really good! Kwon Hyunbin rapping – he improved so much and he did a great job. And also, Jang Moonbok rocked his parts!

      The jumping choreography for this song looks so hard to execute, and I really commend them for singing while doing it (like how to you even do that--). I especially liked the ALL part (the “girl I know you know”), when Kim Taedong stands in the center and they move by his hand gestures. It really caught my attention and it was a good part to focus on them as a whole. And Kim Taedong’s execution of the dance looks so good and precise, I was awed.

      The song gave me a little of disco feels (idk why) and I like how jumpy it was and all. It’s concept was not really specific or defined, which is an advantage for them because they gave it their own vibe and it was fun.

[SCORE]

Vocal – 37

Dance – 27.5

Concept – 18.5

Impact – 8

TOTAL: 91.0

OPEN IT

     Let me begin by saying that I’m a er for manly themes (a reiteration of what I probably said before), so I’m really digging this concept which also translates to “my expectations are high”, so idk where this will lead to but nvm.

     I’m not sure whether it’s in their delivery or it’s a technical problem, but this group is suffering from volume problems which is a shame because it’s really noticeable and makes it their overall vocal performance sound inconsistent, which is a shame. Kang Dongho’s vocals were really stable all throughout the performance and I absolutely liked the volume/power he gives in it. However, this just made the volume problem stark clear. As compared to the studio ver where Dongho’s parts were lesser in volume (because he sings the chorus), what happened to their live performance was the opposite, and it would be a lot better if the vocal volumes were equalized. The rap parts were lit tho.

     I like the execution of their choreo here probably because of the feel they give in it, but the ‘yeah yeah yeah yeah’ choreo just looked awkward (the move was just generally awkward, so I don’t really blame their execution hahaha).

     They did well in delivery the y concept (Kang Dongho and Daniel basically screamed it), but I would’ve appreciated it more if it were a little more consistent. They were going for the cold city guy appeal, however two (Seonho and Haknyeon) weren’t as consistent as the others which make them look a little awkward in that department. Personally, I think the two don’t really fit the concept, but they tried so props to them.

[SCORE]

Vocal – 37

Dance – 27

Concept – 18

Impact – 9

TOTAL: 91.0

OH LITTLE GIRL

     They have this overall sound, which suits the song really well and they have this equally smooth-sounding all parts. I like the mixture of their voices, and I like how the variation in them comes with Lee Euiwoong’s rap and Bae Jinyoung’s vocal parts. These two have voices that are relatively thicker and deeper than the rest which give this smooth song a pinch of a raspy feel. Sewoon is a really great vocal and I can see why he became main vocal for this because his falsetto notes were so clean, though sometimes he lacks in the facial expressions department and I wish he could improve in that.

     This song is probably the most laid-back so far but really it’s a great mix of cute in a laid-back manner and outright cute in their movements, and it looks really good. I especially like the beginning snappy movement in the chorus because it really catches your attention.

     The first time I watched the video, the first thought that came into mind was “they look like kids” and they all visually suit that category. I can say that this concept suits the group so well and I really like it.

    EXTRA: that “deoneun eobseo loneliness” during the bridge sounded like “darling I’m so loneliness” to me and I was like what do you mean until I read the lyrics hahaha

[SCORE]

Vocal – 38.5

Dance – 28

Concept – 19.25

Impact – 8

TOTAL: 93.75

NEVER

     I like how they delivery their parts in a way that it starts soft and calm and then Ong Seungwoo’s part gives the force and the variation is great. Kim Jaehwan is too good of a vocal not to get noticed, he stands out. Although similar to Kang Dongho’s situation in Open It, Kim Jaehwan’s voice here is relatively louder than most of the other voices and sometimes it comes off intimidating in volume (especially the oh wee ohh), which is the exact opposite of the studio ver. However, what’s better here is that the volume difference between him and the other members was not as great as in the Open It group. That aside, I like the contrast in Jaehwan’s and Minhyun’s voices (since they basically sing one after the other in most of the song) – smooth soft and strong thick is a good combination. Also, I’m loving Daehwi’s parts here because he gives a different vocal tone and it stands out to me.

      This group has an abundance of rappers, which is good because there was variation in their raps, but the part division became weirdly skewed because of this. It was a little weak, but then it isn’t too far behind – maybe a little more into the clarity.

      The beginning choreo is an attention-grabber – it was so good! Lastly, the dance during the “Ooohh~” is what I call a killing part. The dance was just flawlessly executed.

[SCORE]

Vocal – 38.5

Dance – 29

Concept – 19

Impact – 9.5

TOTAL: 96.0

RECAP: The five groups received a total score of the following:

Showtime – 93.5

I Know You Know – 91

Open It – 91

Oh Little Girl – 93.75

NEVER – 96

Seul’s CONCEPT EVALUATION WINNER: NEVER group with 96 points!

     The concept evaluation is probably my favorite part of both seasons, because them performing songs produced especially for them is so great to look at and the different concepts are just amazing! Also, kudos to the awesome producers for the good songs this year!

     Produce 101 Season 2 is nearing its end, which also means I’m gonna run out of things to review (lol), but it’s been an awesome ride so far and I’m looking forward to the next few episodes (a.k.a. the last few).

    Anyway, this has been Seul, signing out for now (waiting for comments, too).