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Saturday, September 23, 2023

NCT Universe: LASTART - Episode 7

 

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Welcome to my episode seven review of NCT Universe: LASTART.
If you have not read my introduction post yet to this competition reality show, please go back and read it to get a great idea of what to expect from this show. 

If you do not want spoilers, please do not continue reading because I will not hide anything in my review. Besides, these episodes already aired a while ago.

I am finally at the finale of this reality competition show. I hope the results are what I hope for in the new NCT team.

The 90's Love team is on stage for the rehearsal. The team looks anxious for their final performance. Vocal Trainer and Artist Director Jang Jin Young asks if the team is ready to start the rehearsal. After rehearsal starts, the intro part seems fine until Minjae misses the beat to step out in their hip-hop moves. Furthermore, he also misses it on several occasions. Surprisingly, Yushi loses his footing a bit when his shoe became lose and his foot step went sideways. Sakuya also had problems when his shoelaces became undone and trips a little bit while he was in front and center. While moving backwards, Anderson slightly bumps into Kassho. Kassho's voice sounded shaky during his part. At the climax when Daeyoung and Minjae were suppose to match dissonance notes, Minjae sounded a bit flat. Director Jang scrunched his face.

After rehearsal, Director Jang immediately goes to Minjae and Daeyoung and tells them to immediately practice their parts separately, but specifically pointing at Daeyoung. I thought Minjae sounded flat, but it seems Daeyoung needs the practice. Director Jang tells Kassho that his pitch was a little bit high. Director Jang went to Ryo and tells him that he can't hear him sing during his part and his ending notes were off. Director Jang made his way to Minjae to tell him the harmony was off in his high note for the climax of "90's Love." Director Jang went back to Daeyoung to tell him that he stopped singing mid-part when there were more melodies in his phrase. 

After rehearsal was done, Daeyoung quietly squatted at the front end of the stage, deep in thought. Minjae, who was also squatting next to Daeyoung, noticed and asked him what was wrong. Daeyoung admitted that his throat was not in good condition that day. Minjae kept focused and told Daeyoung to relax more and they should go over their climax part. Minjae tells Daeyoung as they walk off the stage that Daeyoung can make mistakes, but they should show them their potential during their actual performance. 

Backstage, the entire team looked visibly nervous. Daeyoung held his chest while Ryo tried to shake off his nervousness. Yushi also admitted that he was nervous. I think there are two things at stake here:
The IP TF (management) team and special artist directors are sitting in the audience and also, this final mission will decide who will be in the new debut group. 

The 90's Love team eventually moves to the stage while the "Boss" team is in the waiting room with nervous smiles. At least, they can smile for now, but their turn will be next. 

90's Love Team: Sion, Yushi, Minjae, Daeyoung, Anderson, Kassho, Ryo, and Sakuya performing "90's Love" by NCT U.


After this performance, I wanted to give them a huge congratulations for making it this far. I can't believe it's over. There were no major incidents that were seen during rehearsal. Team Boss realized that they were next to perform as the first team is done and Riku started to have mental panic. 

Artist Director Eunhyuk asked if the group was satisfied with their performance that day. Sion answered that when he made eye contacts with other members during their performance, Sion could see that they were all having fun. This was true as I saw Ryo and Sakuya having the most fun with their bright facial expressions.

Special Artist Director NCT Johnny cut to the chase to ask Yushi what he wanted to show in this performance. Surprisingly, Yushi answered that he wanted to showcase his singing ability. I always thought Yushi wanted a dancer position, but he has high ambitions, which is inspiring to me. However, Yushi continued and said, however, that the choreography was 빡세다 Bbakseda (tough/difficult), using a Korean slang term (or my husband thinks this is no longer a slang, but standard vocabulary due to its widespread use). Johnny continued that Sion and Yushi definitely stood out in the performance and were bringing everyone together. Johnny thought Sakuya can quickly change the mood of the song and that made Sakuya look refreshing. Out of everyone on the team, Anderson had the best energy. However, Anderson looked like he was too focused on himself and his feelings, so he could work on going beyond and make the audience feel it too. Johnny said that Minjae only shined during the high notes and that was a bit disappointing because Minjae looked like he was confused where his spot was on stage.

Special Artist Director NCT's Haechan thought Sion was powerfully leading the team. Haechan really loved Yushi's voice. Haechan will remember Yushi's voice after the show. Eunhyuk egged Haechan on whether it was because Yushi had a similar vibe as Haechan and Yushi both had unique voices. Haechan laughed and expressed that Yushi had a unique voice that does not get in the way of enjoying the song. Yushi's unique voice made the song more interesting so Haechan really liked it. I can't wait for Haechan and Yushi to collaborate in the future. Haechan saw that Daeyoung only trained for three months, but can hit the high notes very well, which impressed Haechan. However, Haechan confidently said that Daeyoung needs more training in dance. Haechan had the feeling that Ryo was the cute member of the group. Ryo showed a different charm from his members, which was nice to see. In this personal interview, Ryo explained that he practiced his smile a lot for this performance and he interpreted the judges comments to mean that he had the most fun in his performance. Haechan did not check how the vocal parts were assigned, but he said he wouldn't remember Minjae very well. Minjae would have to think about how to resolve it as he continues to perform on stage. Minjae should focus on improving his vocal abilities, but he should not overlook the choreography.

Artist Director BoA thought that Yushi and Daeyoung's voice complimented each other very well. Their vocal tones matched well together. Ryo looked a lot taller to BoA from the last time she saw him. BoA thought Ryo hard-carried his team during this performance. Ryo's stage etiquette and energy was great. BoA especially liked the part when Ryo was dancing in front of Sion and owned the performance with that particular vibe. Unfortunately, Kassho did not stand out to BoA as much as she would like him to stand out.

Special Director Leeteuk thought after observing Daeyoung that if Daeyoung practiced his singing and dancing more, he would make a lot of improvements. To ease the tension, Leeteuk immediately went into a story about how their main vocalist, Yesung, was backstage still practicing high notes when his microphone was on. This story made Leeteuk realize how much pressure main vocalists are under to hit their high notes. When Daeyoung was moving to the side of the stage to prepare for the climax high notes, Leeteuk saw Daeyoung's determination to do well. Leeteuk asked that if Daeyoung would be able to let go of his determination a little bit and relax more, he would be a better singer and dancer. Leeteuk will root for Daeyoung. Because so much is at stake, I don't think any trainee can relax in this situation, but at least they need to hide that during the performance. During Daeyoung's personal interview, he said that he was nervous ,but decided to only focus on the performance. He was sad that the performance was over, but he didn't feel any regrets. Leeteuk honestly thought that it was not easy to smile in front of all the senior members in the agency, but it looked like Sakuya is enjoying it.

Artist Director Eunhyuk thought that in past missions, Ryo looked too youthful and didn't fit the image of the group that he had in mind. However, in this performance, Ryo completed the overall style of the team. Ryo led his team well. Eunhyuk also mentioned that in previous missions, he gave feedback that Sakuya's facial expressions were plain. However, in today's performance, Sakuya had the best facial expressions. Eunhyuk kept watching Sakuya, who showed him great smiles and facial expressions that matched the style of the song well. Eunhyuk recognized Sakuya's hard work. Eunhyuk liked how Ryo and Sakuya both improved. Eunhyuk thought Anderson enjoyed performing by nature and had a talent. Despite having a short training period and experience on stage, Anderson does not look like an amateur on stage. He looked like he was born to be on stage. Kassho looked like he was a good singer and dancer, but he kept blending into the group. Kassho should think about how to fix this problem on his own. Lee Sung Soo, the CAO of the new IP TF team thought that since Kassho had a short training period, he can continue improving himself and reveal more of his talents on stage and leave an impression on the audience.

Anderson left an impression on Special Artist Director Kangta. Thee choreography has a flow and Anderson did a great job at utilizing the overall vibe and rhythm of the song. Kangta explained to Minjae that the burden of a vocalist is to present the song from start to finish. The audience should not see the artist's burden on stage. Minjae should keep this in mind as he continues to practice.

Artist Director Kang Jin Young knew that the trainees on this team wanted desperately to be an NCT member, so they must have felt more pressure in this mission. The team finished the performance without any mistakes. He wanted to thank them and tell them that they did an amazing job. While performing on this show, all members have improved. He hopes that all members continue to improve whether or not they make it into the debut team. If they can manage it, continuous improvement will help their careers a lot.

I will also give my feedback on the final performance. Sion led the beginning of the song well in the center as he tends to have exaggerated dance movements and that was the perfect time to do his special moves. Everybody seemed happy to do their "high touches" and I was happy to see that enthusiasm. Having Sakuya lead the hip-hop dance was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't think Sion's voice fit this song well. He was more rapping than singing the lyrics. Sion's voice seemed weak in general for this song. Once Yushi came in with his part in verse 2, the song because more easier to listen to because of his clear voice. I wish Yushi smiled a bit more in this fun song. Unfortunately, Kassho seems to have 80% energy as the back-up rapper dancing in the back. I will admit that even the original singer, Winwin didn't have much presence either as a lead rapper. When Ryo sang the pre-chorus, he was really in his groove, which I appreciated very much. I finally notice Ryo as a worthy member. Ryo was living in the song and very immersed into his role. Daeyoung gave a smile and a heart while he was in the front, which was a good touch. Sakuya commanded in his rap role and took it to a new height for his performance. I missed his mission two fierceness that he brought out once again. I thought his facial expressions was not as good as when he practiced in front of Ten, but he still gave me the happy and playful vibes. Anderson came in strong, but his rap was more like a speaking rap than a rhythmic rap. I like his ending touch where he flipped his jacket open and moved his hands down the sides of his chest. That was creative and he acted like he has done it all his life (which I will not think about since that would mean he did it as a minor.) I am trying to say that he did his part very naturally. When Yushi danced in the front, the rest of the members beautifully supported him in the back triangle formation with Sakuya doing it strongly. Sakuya really brought his talent to the forefront in this performance. Unfortunately, Kassho did his part with a bland expression, which I didn't understand as he still hasn't got out of that too-cool-for-you character. His voice was great and his dance is decent, but that facial expression seems worse than Jungmin's robot look. I can't feel the song through Kassho. It's hard to detect that Daeyoung has a throat problem as he did a good job singing his part while Yushi flew by Daeyoung in the back with his own vocals. I only noticed Minjae during the climax part as he did his dissonant high notes with Daeyoung. While Daeyoung was looking and facing Minjae while singing, Minjae seems to be facing towards the back stage as he sang, which was strange to me. Facing the back of the stage is almost taboo when in the performing spotlight. Even Taeyong changed his original choreography with the "7th sense" instead of turning around and singing his part, he faced the audience instead. Daeyoung and Minjae should be facing each other when they sing this part just like Haechan and Ten would face each other as they sing together. Later on, Daeyoung also nailed singing an octave higher in his part with seemingly no effort. He looked like a wolf in howling position. There is no doubt that this team is strong despite having a rehearsal disaster. My only thought as I view this performance as a whole is that I didn't get the 90's feel from this group, but it feel more like a fresh group in the current era.

My initial ranking are as follows:
1. Sakuya - He led the team in many parts.
2. Ryo - He has his own groove, which fits the song well.
3. Daeyoung - Amazing vocal power and decent lead rapper. His rap parts weren't highlighted, but he did a great job. If he isn't feeling 100%, I'm sure his 100% would be very powerful.
4. Anderson - He fits well with the vibe of the song and he did a great job overall with creativity.

For the final lineup, I am sacrificing Kassho and Minjae as they did not meet my standards for debut.

After stepping off stage, the 90's Love team got into a semi-group huddle where Anderson explained that they have learned a lot from this experience, which improved all of their skill sets overall. Ryo explains that he had the most fun in this performance. Sion thinks that this is the time where they put in the most work to improve as trainees. He hopes that they remember their hard work and use it as their foundation. The group does their last cheer as a team to a good job and good work.

The Artist Director team is ready for the next song, "Boss" By NCT U. Eunhyuk asked Haechan if he though the song was difficult. Haechan explains that while he was not part of the performance of the song, he knows that the rap in this song is melody-focused with a singing rap. There are a lot of singing parts with trendy rhythm and blues lines. Executing these parts will be the key point in the song. Eunhyuk thought that the song has a lot of rollercoaster parts and a different range of styles. 

In the practice room of the Boss team, at Day -7, the team members were stretching. Sion asked the team if they did not yet learn how to count the beats of the song and the group answered, yes, to confirm. Sion said that they will go slow. During his personal interview, when Sion heard that they would be performing "Boss," he thought that it would be a good opportunity for everyone to show their different talents. Yushi suggested to Riku that they do a high-touch (handshake-hug) at the beginning of the song and they practice it.

At D-5 and D-4, they work on their angles and range of different charms during their performance. While they were practicing, the final guest mentor walked to the practice room and spied through the window: NCT's leader, Taeyong. At a certain point, he promptly opens the door to make his presence known. Riku thought he was really cool and Haruta thought that Taeyong had an intense aura, which was cool beyond words. Taeyong went to shake everybody's hands and repeat each members name at the same time. Taeyong playfully explained to them, though with a straight face, that he came to play.

Taeyong proceeded to call out names from his clipboard like taking attendance in a school classroom. When Taeyong called out Jungmin's name, he noticed that Jungmin has a talent of drawing the Spongebob character, which Taeyong can do as well. When Taeyong called Riku's name, he notices Riku's specialty is popping. When Heitetsu was called, Taeyong incredulously read his specialty as flexible, interesting poses. 

Next, Taeyong asked to see their performance so far. He asks the team if they are confident. The "Boss" team confirms with smiles. Taeyong told them that they should be confident and that they can do it. Yushi looked nervous to start, but Taeyong commanded them not to be nervous. Once the music started, Yushi was in performance mode and Yushi's nervousness vanished instantly. While they performed, Riku rapped live. Heitetsu followed up with his rap live. Taeyong looked adorably cute as his round eyes rolled around and focused on different parts of the performance. After the performance, Taeyong asked everyone to drink some water.

Taeyong expressed that he can tell everybody worked really hard. The team sat in front of him while he spoke. Taeyong mentioned that he rather not compare them to his present self as he had his own trainee days in the past. When he thought about his past, he thought it was okay to be more stressed than the present. He then proceeded to tell the trainees that they worked really hard, but that was it. Taeyong has big expectations. Taeyong wanted them to push themselves to the limit. This advice is totally opposite from the past mentors on the show, who showed a lot of encouragement. Taeyong gives his advice with tough love. Taeyong explained that there is a very thin line of difference where the audience can see them differently. Taeyong would like the team to treat this performance like it is a matter of life or death (wow). He wanted to see more teamwork and exude a vibe where they are working together. 

For example, during practice, Taeyong would like them to discuss what types of gestures they want to make for the performance and get approval. They could also talk about what they want to do with their positions. They will have to resolve the discussions among themselves. Once they do that, their performance will look more comfortable to watch. 

Taeyong expressed that the "Boss" song is a hip-hop song that has not existed before its release as there were not many groups that did hip-hop dancing as far as he could remember. He would like them to remember that it is not an ordinary choreography, but a whole new genre. The original Boss team also had a hard time with the choreography. The new Boss team can discuss how they can bring the hip-hop vibe to the song.

Taeyong tried to ask the team if they ate already, in which the team confirmed. Feeling awkward, Taeyong bought them fried chicken, but he said he will take it all and eat it himself. A staff member promptly dropped off all the bags of food and drinks next to Taeyong. The team could only laugh in this situation. 

Because there will be a new NCT unit, the topic is more special to Taeyong. He thought that this is a new way to let the world know more about NCT. Despite his harsh comments, he told the group that he was proud of them and he hopes that they become a group that shines. 

During their group photo, Taeyong asks the team to smile. Jungmin does not disappoint. 

Personally, it didn't look like Taeyong's session with the team helped that much. He gave such general advice. I normally enjoyed the guest mentors, but in this case, I am not sure if this advice would help them change their current strategy.

The team continues to monitor their performance. Sion asks Riku to put more weight into his performance. Sion also reviews Haruta's part. They talked about the choreography, but it was Sion who mostly talked to the members. Sion mentioned that they did not talk much about teamwork since they were engrossed into their practice. They tried to practice in a different way for several days and they did not bump into each other during the dance. Sion thought the overall formations looked neater.

For the next three days, the members practiced. Jungmin also practiced singing in his individual training room. Jungmin wanted to show that he was not only a good singer but a good dancer as well. Riku also practiced his individual rap. However, he has mixed feelings about debuting, but he knows that everybody is nervous so he wanted them to show what they practiced so far.

The Boss team were now in rehearsal. Vocal trainer and Artist Director Jang Jin Young looked on. At the beginning of the choreography, Haruta's leg slipped while bending over and walking. He continues to miss the beat while walking and bending over. During the chorus, the tones of the members did not sound good. During Jungmin's high note part, he did not secure his high note in time and froze in place. The team looked stressed after the rehearsal was over. Director Jang looked like he did not know what to do. The final mission seemed to have gotten to every contestant's nerves. 

Director Jang addresses the team and tells them to practice the "player" part of the chorus. Their tones keep going up as they were singing and dancing at the same time. Director Jang tells Jungmin that his overall tune is ridiculously off. He demonstrates the "yeah" parts. Jungmin is stunned and started shedding quiet tears. Jungmin explained in his personal interview that his throat hurt. This reminded me of what Daeyoung mentioned during his rehearsal. Jungmin stated that he couldn't control his voice so that was starting to make me nervous as I do not want him eliminated because of this problem. He looked so vulnerable on stage, but unlike Daeyoung, I thought Jungmin couldn't snap out of it. Director Jang stayed by Jungmin's side as Jungmin silently shed tears. Director Jang tells Jungmin that after the audition, they will take some time to fix his tone and it should be okay to work on the basics first. Even though Jungmin may make a mistake, he still has to do it. Jungmin nods and continued to silently cry. Director Jang wiped Jungmin's tears. Director Jang is such a caring mentor. He really wanted everybody to succeed. At this point, I am really worried about Jungmin. I can't have a team without him.

Eunhyuk and the rest of the audience were ready to see the next performance. The Boss team, led by Sion, is ready to perform with no regrets. However, Jungmin walks on stage with his eyes widened, unfazed by the camera, and looking stunned. I am really worried as that is not the correct mentality to go on stage. The 90's Love team is now very relaxed in the waiting room, but nervous to see the Boss team perform. 

The Boss Team: Sion, Yushi, Heitetsu, Riku, Ryu, Jungmin, and Haruta performing NCT U's "Boss"


After the performance, the audience was in awe. Eunhyuk thought this was a difficult song and Kangta said this song would make them stand out. The Boss team introduced themselves to the judges.

Kangta started the praise that the team understood the flow of the song well despite needing to sing and dance. Kangta gave encouraging words to Heitetsu that if Heitetsu practices enough, Heitetsu will beat even talented trainees. When Kangta looked at Riku's performance, Kangta can see the flow of the music. Riku did a good job of interpreting the concept of the song. As a joke, Kangta explained to Jungmin that there is an otolaryngologist or ENT who can help Jungmin with his voice. Their company knows a person (referring to BoA). Kangta advised that Jungmin learn how to produce sound without straining his throat. 

Johnny thought Yushi and Sion were cool. Jungmin caught Johnny's attention a lot. When Johnny looked at the screen which showed Jungmin from the chest upward, Johnny fell in love with Jungmin's face. Jungmin looked like he didn't know how to interpret Johnny's comment. Jungmin had a talent of capturing Johnny's attention. However, when Jungmin dances, his dance looked a little heavy. Johnny can relate as he tried hard to improve his heavy dance look himself. I interpret that to mean heavy steps when dancing. Johnny has faith that if Jungmin worked hard on it, he can improve. 

Eunhyuk compared Sion to a chameleon who knew how to express his himself through different songs and Yushi who knew how to keep the pace of every song to lead the performance. Ryu looked like he was doing his best, but his moves were a little bit rushed for the song. Ryu should relax more and express himself better. Eunhyuk could see confidence in Haruta's face. Eunhyuk praised Jungmin and Riku for leading every performance and are great at it. Jungmin had difficult parts in his songs.

Production Center 4 Chief, Chae Jung Hee thought Ryu's past energy and confidence in past missions could serve as his strength, but in this song, Ryu needed to show good control. 

Haechan thought Ryu's tone was cool and he can polish up his tone on stage and relax more, which would make him look better on stage. Haechan honestly told Jungmin that when he was a trainee, he did not dare to sing high notes, but Haechan thought it was cool that Jungmin still attempted high notes even if he possibly executed it the wrong way or made a mistake. If Jungmin can learn to use his voice better, he can become an unmatched vocalist. In his personal interview, Jungmin confessed that he used to be a cheerful person, but there was a period of time where he became timid. Other trainees helped Jungmin a lot. During the time they were standing side stage, Riku mentioned that not only is Jungmin's singing good, but Jungmin has charm. Jungmin promised to work hard and polish his skills so he can become a great vocalist. This confession made me think about what happened in his life to make him become so timid. Was it something he personally experienced like being bullied or was it the pressures of being a SM trainee where he felt he was not good enough?

Leeteuk gave Heitetsu feedback that his performance is too bland. There was a specific praying move with his hands and palms together in which he had to move it up and down along with the group during the chorus, but the way Heitetsu did it was dull and seemed slower than the other members. Leeteuk thought that Heitetsu knew he did not have confidence so Heitetsu danced father away from the group. Later on, Leeteuk explained that a person's average attention span is eight seconds. This is enough time for a person to skip over a music video. How long the trainee period only matters internally and the public will not care about that fact. Leeteuk looks forward to seeing all the trainees as professionals when they debut. Eunhyuk joked that he could only concentrate on Leeuteuk's words for the first eight seconds. Leeteuk joked back that his comments can be split into two episodes. 

BoA explained to Heitetsu that he was the tallest in the group, but he was floundering too much. Therefore, she recommended that he practice dance more seriously. Haruta caught BoA's eye a lot during the performance. She loved his performance and thought that Haruta finally expressed himself on stage. Riku's performance was great. Riku matched the song so well that BoA felt that Riku was a boss himself. Riku had the charisma. BoA saw that Jungmin had throat problems and asked how his throat is after the performance. Jungmin replied that he had a hard time vocalizing. BoA explained that she warned him that if he kept singing the way he sang in the first mission, he would eventually hurt his throat. 

Eunhyuk told the Boss team that they can relax now and wait for the final results. This is it!

Once the trainees are off the stage, Jungmin confessed that he didn't want to cry, but he actually cried twice that day with the first cry being at rehearsal and the second cry after Haechan's compliment. The subtitle mentions Jungmin as the crybaby of LASTART. Heitetsu soon began to cry himself. After seeing Heitetsu cry, Riku turned around in attempt to stop himself from crying. Heitetsu wanted to thank everyone and they huddled together to do a cheer with their hands in the middle. In his personal interview, Yushi had mixed feelings as well as he had many practices with the trainees. He will do his best to work hard. Sion mentioned that although their missions are completed, this is a start and not an end. He will also work hard and show improvement.

I will also give my thoughts on the performance. I didn't like Sion's voice too much in 90's Love, but Sion's voice was definitely better in Boss where I can clearly hear his melody. His flexibility in his dance is great as usual. I see Ryu improved in this performance. While the judges see him as rushed and not relaxed, I see Ryu's best performance yet. It would have been nicer if he held his melody until the end of the musical phrase instead of cutting it off short. I felt Jungmin wasn't mentally invested into the song, which was a shame. I can tell throughout the performance that he was thinking about something and not really being in the moment or in character. His dance also looked really heavy and he wasn't moving like how he moved in "Electric Kiss" where his mentality was do or die. Yushi's vocals are stable as always. I notice that I no longer see vocal problems of him cutting his melody short or out of breath anymore like I see in Mission two. Yushi must have increased his stamina. Riku is the main boss in this performance. He was very in character. I was trying to find the Taeyong and Mark of the group and it is looking to be Riku and Yushi who had the most charisma. Heitetsu's rap was really his best performance. He still has a long way to go in terms of improvement, but I feel like he has improved since mission one and his quick rap wasn't bad at all. I think if Heitetsu continues to practice, he will debut one day. Unfortunately, Jungmin came in again singing way ahead of the beat. I knew Jungmin's mind wasn't in the moment, but Jungmin kept his power in his vocals. He didn't put power into his arms and made it a fling instead, which was disappointing. He also took many glances at the floor during his performance. If I have to be harsh, this is Jungmin's worst performance and I will be nervous if he doesn't debut because of this performance. In a way, I felt like he was on autopilot mode. Yushi singing the bridge part was heavenly. He could have more dramatic moves since he had the spotlight, but I guess he needed to control his movements for a better quality sound. I think I need more of Yushi's voice in my life. When it was Jungmin's turn to finish the bridge, he had less movement than Yushi and was basically standing there. It reminded me of Minjae and how he stood in place in preparation for his high notes. I am relieved that Jungmin was able to hit his high note even if it was a bit shaky. Riku quickly made up for it by capturing me with his boss rap and high jump. Having Haruta do the low rap in combination with Riku's higher tone rap sounded really good. I didn't pay attention to Haruta until this point, but Haruta brought his chaotic energy with him as he strongly head bopped to his rap. That was an excellent climax to the song. I wanted to cheer for him as this was his personal best performance and very memorable. Just like Riku, Haruta brought his own boss energy to the song. I wanted to comment on how it was a bit unfair that Yushi, Sion, and maybe Riku had the best outfits while everybody else had mediocre styled outfits. Jungmin's outfit wasn't that attractive on him. Haruta and Ryu's outfit looked a bit plain. Overall, I am proud of the team's efforts in this performance and the disasters that we saw during the rehearsal were not evident in the actual performance.

The new IP TF team provides 50% of the scores and the artist directors will provide the other 50% of the scores. Only four out of the eleven trainees can debut with Sion and Yushi. The aptitude, talent, and growth potential of all the trainees along with their mission evaluations will be considered and included in the scores.    

Johnny was worried about what to say to the trainees who didn't make it. Haechan was just as nervous as the trainees. He wanted to give a warm welcome to the new members of NCT. With a smile on his face, Eunhyuk was curious to know whether the NCT members would be territorial with the new NCT members. Johnny gave his witty response to answer that it would be a given. Haechan cackled at Johnny's response. BoA then asked if the other NCT members were mean to Johnny when he joined. Johnny then replied that he was the one who was territorial. 

It's time for the SM Rookies and trainees to take the stage. Eunhyuk thanked all the trainees for their hard work and asked the SM Rookies for feedback on their experience. Sion wanted to thank all his friends and juniors for trusting him and following his lead. They went through a lot of tough experiences together, but they also made fun memories. He would like this experience to be a good memory for all. Yushi was very worried, but explained that the trainees followed his lead very well. He was very proud (of their efforts, probably).

Eunhyuk then turned to Haechan for an announcement. Haechan announced that NCT has a group concert in August and September (NCT Nation: To the World). Those trainees who debut will be a part of the pre-stage performance for the concerts. Haechan thought it would be a good opportunity for them to perform in front of the NCTzens who love NCT. 

This moment is where the title of "NCT New Team" is displayed in the video. I was hoping that SM would reveal the new name of the debut group, but I was disappointed to know that this does not happen on the show.

The ranking results of mission four and the final results are as follows:
1. Riku (Ranked 1st in the first mission, 2nd in the second mission, 2nd in the third mission)
2. Sakuya (Ranked 5th in the first mission, 3rd in the second mission, 5th in the third mission)
3. Daeyoung (Ranked fourth in the third mission)
4. Jungmin (Ranked 3rd in the first mission, 1st in the second mission, 1st in the third mission)
Surprise! The new IP TF team and artist directors had an emergency meeting and made a necessary decision for the structure of the group. Therefore, one more trainee will debut.
5. Ryo (Ranked fourth in the first mission, 7th in the second mission, and 7th in the third mission)

Unfortunately, this means the following trainees are eliminated from the NCT New Team:
6. Anderson (Ranked 2nd in the first mission, 5th in the second mission, 3rd in the third mission)
7. Ryu (Ranked 8th in the first mission, 6th in the second mission, and 6th in the third mission)
8. Minjae (Ranked 6th in the first mission, 4th in the second mission, and 10th in the third mission)
9. Haruta (Ranked 6th in the first mission, 9th in the second mission, and 8th in the third mission)
10. Kassho (Ranked 9th in the first mission, 8th in the second mission, and 9th in the third mission)
11. Heitetsu (Ranked 10th in the first mission, 10th in the second mission, and 11th in the third mission)

We have our final debut team. I will share my personal rankings:

1) Riku: He killed it with his performance. Just as BoA said, Riku looked like he already debut. Behind Sion and Yushi, I have faith that Riku looks ready for debut and he will deliver his part well.
2) Sakuya: He has captured my attention in every single mission. I am not sure how else to explain it other than that he has charm and he is not afraid to try new things. Perhaps it is because of his young age that he tries to take a lot of risks and the risks are paying off. Mentality plays a huge part in success. His youth is also his charm.
3) Daeyoung: Daegu man has made it! Since mission three, I know he is not perfect, but I can see his potential. He can sing, he can rap, and I can see him improving his dance skills in the future. He is the type of trainee that will get things done and focus on the matter at hand.
4) Jungmin: He was somebody I always thought was a necessity to the team. I was very disappointed in his mission four results, but not enough to kick him off my debut list. I have faith that he had one bad performance, but he will also have many better performances in the future. I have to keep the faith to believe that he will solidify the group with his quirky behaviors, main vocal talent, and his vulnerability. I am a bit worried that mentally, he could be unstable, but I am willing to give him some time to adjust and to pick up his confidence.
So far, I noticed that my choices matched the outcome of the competition show, which normally never happens in a reality competition survival show. If I have to look at all my review posts, my thoughts are mostly similar to the outcome, which I am proud of, which means I also have the "Pink Blood" (SM's Fan Club name) within me.

However, my fifth choice would have been possibly different.
5) Anderson: I was really rooting for Anderson to be in the lineup. He has consistently ranked in the top five of all missions. There is no reason to not include him in the group. Personally, I think Anderson would have a lot more to contribute than Ryo would and I like Ryo, but he was never a necessity in my mind, though Ryo had given a very good performance in mission four. The combination of Ryo and Sakuya also makes a good pair and it would be a shame not to debut them together. Anderson is good with words, has good dance skills, but I can see how the judges think he needs more training. I would also think the Japanese audience would like Anderson based on his looks and talent. I really wish that they decided to debut eight members instead. Then, I think I all is well with a perfect group created from a small pool of contestants. Since Ryo is picked, I will also accept the outcome as Ryo has great vocals and a great personality on stage. Like Sakuya, he is young and he is willing to take risks to reach success.

I wanted to give honorable mention to Haruta, who really sneaked into potential debut possibility. I saw his super fast growth from mission three onwards and if he keeps it up, I think he has debut potential. He would have been a formidable trainee contestant as I see him going up in rank.

This also gives me another thought that the trainees who did not make it can form another group in the future. We don't want to lose potential talent here as I see something special in each trainee and I have faith in them. I only worry about Kassho and Heitetsu, both whom I was unable to see clear growth in their abilities during this show. For sure, Anderson, Ryu,  Minjae, and Haruta can become a potential debut group. 

In this industry, we have to keep in mind that there are more rejections than there are acceptances. I am not directly in the music industry, but even I could not find a job in the music industry after college with three internships under my belt and many rejections. I'm sure Yushi and Sion went through rejections in order to get to this point in their debut. The trainees should not feel too bad and keep powering on until they get the results that they want. This is not an easy journey, but if they want it bad enough, I see opportunities in their future.

Confetti is shot in the air and Sion is visibly shocked by it.

In their closing comments. Haechan told the new members to cheer up and work hard. He wants to be close to them very quickly, but I'm sure it won't be long before he starts joking around with his new members. Johnny promised to drop by to check on their practice for the NCT concert and to chat with them in more depth at that time. He then congratulated the new team. Leeteuk had to interject and jokingly ask if Johnny will give the new team a tough time. Johnny smiled and said he will once he is alone with the new team.

BoA explained to the new team that they have entered into the world of professionals. They will have to make twice and thrice the effort to try harder from now onwards. She thinks they will feel it themselves once they take the stage. They will realize what they have done so far is child's play. She wishes that they grow into a team that befits the NCT brand. 

Leeteuk mentioned that this is not the end for the trainees who did not debut. They need to hone their skills to debut as another cool group in the K-pop industry. Leeteuk encourages the trainees not to give up and that this is only the beginning. 

Kangta mentioned that this is a rare opportunity before debut. The trainees should think of it as a good memory and remember their lessons and feedback that they received to become cooler artists. Kangta thinks many people will watch this show (Yes. Me included.). Therefore, they could have more opportunities because of it. This is true as now SM trainees, who are famously hidden from the public, are now public with the public knowing who Anderson, Ryu, Minjae, Haruta, Kassho, and Heitetsu are at SM Entertainment. 

Eunhyuk concludes the show by reviewing again the show's title "Last Start: LASTART." The show is over, but the member's dreams begin from this point. Eunhyuk asks for the viewer's unwavering support until the group receives love from all over the world.

I am already emotionally invested in this group, so I will be closely observing their career. A huge congratulations to the NEW NCT TEAM and I will go through major withdrawal until I get to see them on the screen again. It has been an interesting experience so far to note down all my thoughts and experiences throughout the show and I am proud of myself for being able to write this much about the show. I hope my readers also learned something and are entertained by it as well.

Seven episodes were not that long and yet I cannot believe it it is over. I am eagerly awaiting to see what types of NCT combinations we will get. A lot of netizens already mentioned the following twin-like pairs or great duo combinations:
Sion and Jaehyun
Riku and Mark
Ryo and Renjun
Haechan and Yushi

I can see how the netizens may not like the age gap that Sakuya and Ryo have with the rest of the NCT members, especially with Taeil, the eldest member, but for me, music and art have no limitations and bounds. I mainly appreciate the performance art and music by itself and not think too much of what should be morally right. NCT is the wrong group to support if we want to stay with the status quo. I can see NCT continuing to push the boundaries and to show us what is really cool in this world.

It is also true that Japanese NCT member Yuta did not attend the final mission. That is a shame and also too bad that he couldn't be there to cheer on the Japanese team and support them in some way during the show. Hopefully, we will get more interactions between them in the future.

I will take a little break to personally travel to Korea (No, not to see NCT, although that is nice.), but I will be back to review the final episode eight. I see that episode eight is not the last episode as the show continues to Japan, but I will not have access to watching the Japan shows, so I will review up to episode eight.

Please leave a comment if you would like about this finale episode and we shall continue to episode eight for the final episode review of NCT Universe: LASTART.

Sunday, September 17, 2023

NCT Universe: LASTART - Episode 6

 

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Welcome to my episode six review of NCT Universe: LASTART.
If you have not read my introduction post yet to this competition reality show, please go back and read it to get a great idea of what to expect from this show. 

If you do not want spoilers, please do not continue reading because I will not hide anything in my review. Besides, these episodes already aired a while ago.

We begin episode six with the "Why" team in a rehearsal. Daeyoung is especially stiff and nervous as this is his first performance in the show. Riku is still struggling with the timing of his shouting part in the beginning. Sion makes sure everybody is fine before the rehearsal starts.

Vocal trainer and artist director Jang Jin Young watches from the audience. Riku was moving a bit early after his shouting part. Daeyoung seems to have lost his voice in the second half of the dance. Minjae moving slower to the beat was also highlighted. He also couldn't quite stay in tune before he went for a shaky high note. 

After the rehearsal, director Jang went to ask if the (in-ear) monitors are fine for everyone. He mentions to Haruta that he missed a note while rapping. He tells Minjae that he missed a beat. He heads to Riku to tell him his beginning part tempo was too fast. He couldn't hear Daeyoung's microphone well and Daeyoung starts to check his microphone to test it. Director Jang asked the staff to turn up Daeyoung's microphone volume. In general, Director Jang tells the group that he could not feel their energy. He wants to hear some exasperation in the lyrics.

During the pre-show, Artist Director Eunhyuk asked his fellow queen and goddess of the original K-wave, Artist Director BoA, to introduce the song. BoA happily demonstrated the "keep your head down" choreography with her hand and arm, smiling the whole time. Eunhyuk proceeds to joke "why" was the "Why?" song selected as it is a difficult song. BoA chimes in that even dancers avoid dancing to this song. Eunhyuk states that the new trainee is joining this performance. BoA then commented that despite having only trained at SM for three months, he must be talented. That is exactly my thought and I hope Daeyoung delivers his performance to my expectations. BoA wonders how the vocal lines will be reinforced with the addition of Daeyoung.

Backstage, Daeyoung is nervous and Sion commented that Daeyoung was stiff and started massaging his shoulders and arms. Riku is non-stop practicing his "yuko zo" (does it mean, "that's right"?) shouting part. The staff spray the bottom of the member's shoes and I am guessing it is to prevent them from slipping and falling on stage. 

Why team: Sion, Yushi, Riku, Haruta, Heitetsu, Minjae, and Daeyoung


After their performance ended, the Artist Directors spent time to react. BoA thought their performance was solid. The Why team had good energy introducing their team.

Eunhyuk mentioned that this team were given a difficult and advance song that must have been difficult for the Korean team members. Minjae replied that the Japanese members helped the Korean members a lot with the lyrics. 

BoA laughed while explaining that Sion had a lot of lyrics with the "tsu" word and he was not pronouncing it right. According to BoA, Korean people in general have a hard time pronouncing the "tsu" sound. In his personal interview, Sion admitted that he had a hard time differentiating the 츠 (chü) or 추 (chu) pronunciation. Yushi pronounces it like 츠 (chü) while Riku pronounces it like 추 (chu). This is why Sion was confused. However, my thought is why he didn't consult with other professionals like his Japanese teacher or resolve this problem before his performance? Sion concludes that he will study the Japanese pronunciation further, which he will have to as he is debuting in the Japanese unit of NCT. Because of this topic, Eunhyuk started pronouncing the word, tsukemen. The Electric Kiss team in the waiting room shows Sakuya helping Jungmin pronounce the differences of the tsu sounds as well. Jungmin announces that he will practice pronunciation and Anderson says he will do the same.

Eunhyuk asked, "what happened?" to Sion and Sion admitted that he cannot pronounce that character properly (with Yushi making a rare bubble face in the background). In Sion's defense, Vocal Coach Jang says that Sion has been diligently practicing the pronunciation and even though Vocal Coach Jang tried to demonstrate the pronunciation, Vocal Coach Jang had a hard time pronouncing it himself. Special Artist director Hyoyeon mentioned that BoA caught such a detail and BoA claimed her title as Ear Goddess again.

BoA continued her thoughts on the performance and confirms that Yushi is her favorite performer. Yushi knew how to show certain sides of him to fit each performance. That was a mega compliment. Since Sion and Yushi had to perform twice each week for the second and third missions, BoA wanted to recognize their hard work. In his personal interview, Sion admitted that it was physically exhausting to perform twice a week, but if he didn't work hard, he might lower the quality of the performance. I can see so many ways how the performances could be messed up due to lack of practice or preparation. Sion thought that the performance would look cooler if he put in more effort. In his personal interview, Yushi also wanted to help the other trainees as much as possible. He then named BoA as his number one too. A part of me feels jealous. 

BoA thought Riku's rap performance was solid and has charms. Daeyoung's rap was also powerful and BoA liked Daeyoung better when he rapped. However, Daeyoung looked like an amateur when he danced. When he becomes a professional, having bad dance skills is not cute, but he will become a bad performer. BoA advised Daeyoung to spend more time practicing his dance skills.

For Haruta and Heitetsu, BoA would like them to have more confidence while dancing, which could help improve their performance. 

Eunhyuk said that Hartua looked physically strong and that should be an advantage for Haruta. Haruta controlled his arms and legs well for this performance. In mission two, Riku had full control of his performance, but in this mission where the song was strong and powerful, Eunhyuk thought Riku might have tried too hard. Riku seemed to barely manage his parts. Eunhyuk advised Riku to think about how he can appeal to the audience with a powerful song such as "Why." Minjae's performance was solid during the live performance. On the other hand, since Minjae had difficult singing parts, he barely made any gestures during his performance. His vocal performance was great, but dance performance was not outstanding. Eunhyuk asked Daeyoung how his performance went and Daeyoung replied that he joined the program suddenly and he was flustered, having had a hard time adjusting to the show. He relied a lot on his team for help. Eunhyuk thought the addition of Daeyoung strengthened the team. Daeyoung's rapping had the abilities to smack Eunhyuk's ears. Daeyoung responded that Chang Min helped him with his rap, which surprised BoA as Chang Min is a vocalist. In my opinion, Chang Min also raps because, well, there are only two members of TVXQ left so being an all-rounder is necessary. 

Hyoyeon mentioned that Heitetsu had the same tall and strong physique as Haruta, but unlike Haruta, when Heitetsu danced, he looked stiff while he was standing. In dancing, there are times when the body moves up and down, but Heitetsu was mostly standing upright. It makes Hyoyeon wonder if he was a bad dancer and had a hard time dancing. Hyoyeon recommended to Heitetsu to dance while looking at the mirror. In his personal interview, Heitetsu says that he looks into the mirror while dancing, but he still has a long way to go so he thinks he let himself down. For Haruta, in his interview, he said that having no feedback in mission two motivated him to work harder to improve himself for mission three. He will continue to work on improving himself. Hyoyeon thought Daeyoung's performance was good considering it was his first stage. Daeyoung's powerful vocals got Hyoyeon's attention. Hyoyeon found Daeyoung's facial expressions, vocals, and dancing cute.

Artist Director Jang mentioned that when Riku first received the rap part, he had to rap in a high-pitched voice, which he did to Artist Director Jang's surprise. Because this was a live performance, Riku might have struggled a bit. Just like the last and current performance, Riku showed his talent as a rapper and is finding his place as the rapper on the team. In his personal interview, Riku mentioned that he took TVXQ's Chang Min's advice and practice his rhythm while rapping his part. He seems to have remembered this point during his performance. Riku will work on his overall performance based on the feedback. Artist Director Jang stated that without Minjae, they could not have pulled off this performance, but unfortunately, Minjae did not stand out in any other parts. Minjae should challenge himself to take on dance and not only settle for exceptional singing skills. In Minjae's personal interview, he admits that he didn't know how to dance and his goal was not to stand out in the crowd. 

Eunhyuk mentioned to Daeyoung that he would like to hear him sing some more. Daeyoung performed "Wild Flower" by Park Hyo Shin.


Daeyoung also stood in place while singing so I wonder why the judges were so harsh on Jungmin and Minjae during mission one. However, this song was not made to rile up the crowd. Daeyoung must have been so nervous, but I have to give him props for having the courage to proceed with the program. When the camera pans out and we see most of his body, I realized that his stage outfit didn't look appealing at all. It made him look heavy in the middle. Daeyoung is a good looking man so he has charm. Cheers erupt from all places: waiting room, side stage, and in the audience.

BoA thinks Daeyoung is in the process of making his own sound, but it is definite that he is a good vocalist. Eunhyuk thought his medium-low voice was good, but he can also hit the high notes as well. BoA recognized that Daeyoung can switch his voice between different notes. Next time, BoA, while looking at Artist Director Jang, would like Daeyoung to sing a trendier song. Director Jang thought that BoA's Ear Goddess talent has re-activated again and he now has a mission to teach Daeyoung more trendier songs. Daeyoung held his chest as he went side stage and even though he didn't show it, I knew he was nervous. He mentioned to Minjae that his legs went weak.

During his personal interview, Daeyoung thought that his mind went blank during his performance. He will try to meet the expectations of the artist directors to show a better performance and vocal skills. Even if he fails to debut, he wants to do his absolute best to give an excellent performance.

In the end, BoA mentioned how good Daeyoung was and awesome Yushi is again. Director Jang says that Yushi improved a lot and whenever he tries to do something, he nails it based on what he has learned.

I will also give my thoughts on the "Why" performance. I thought Riku was originally trying to shout something like "Yuko zo," but all I heard was "Zeeehhh!" and well, if "Yuko zo" was the original lyric, then he sort of failed to me to convey the right words. (Note: Somehow, looking at the Youtube video shows Riku clearly shouting "Yuko zo" so I wonder if the Youtube clip is different than the show version or whether there something wrong with my TV/) However, I am glad that he got his rhythm right for the performance. I am amazed at how Riku can make his voice sound so similar to Yunho of TVXQ. I feel like this is also a big reason why the group pulled off the performance so well. I didn't think Riku did too badly. There was only one part in the earlier verses where he looked weaker than usual, but his parts are still fine. Just like BoA, I am amazed by Yushi and his performances. He catches my eyes every single performance. Sion catches my eye too, but Yushi always end up holding my attention. Yushi belongs in SM Entertainment as he has all the star qualities of an SM artist. I thought Sion's dance was too fluid for this type of song. I wanted more knife-like movement that are rigid and powerful and danced by someone in strife. I know Chang Min told them to have a balance between dancing smoothly and strongly, but I didn't feel intimidated by Sion at all. Why is Sion the only team member to wear white? It gives me flashbacks to Sakuya and I focus on Sion because of that outfit while everybody else has a black theme in outfits. Furthermore, I didn't like his webby outfit and it looks out of place for this theme. Haruta is the trainee who has shown me tremendous growth. I feel like he really worked on his stage performance and I could feel some fire from him. His facial expressions alone are already much better than his past performances. He has got my attention. His voice was not bad in this performance too as it matched well with the song. Unfortunately, Minjae looked stiff when he sang. I think the point of his song is to act rebellious and he didn't have that type of quality in this performance. I was really happy to hear Minjae his his high note and he was overall stable in vocals. The first time I saw Daeyoung on screen, his dance seems a bit sloppy and he didn't dance powerful to me. Otherwise, he looked okay until he started his rap part. I didn't know he was going to rap too. He is going for all rounder status. Daeyoung's ability to rap makes him multi-talented and will be a great contribution to the overall final team. He didn't spit fire like Sungchan did when Sungchan joined NCT, but it was still impressive with a different type of fire. Heitetsu's voice still sounds underdeveloped and when he made a knife pose at the end of his first part, it gave me memories of all his knife poses and that is not a good thing. At least, he should have a fierce expression if he is going to do a knife pose. Overall, this can go down in history as a group who can actually cover TVXQ's legendary "Why" song. They came and they conquered. Despite all my criticisms, this performance deserves multiple views from each person. The power of SM is here.

We now move on to the IP TF team to give their conclusions and their half of the points.
Below are some of their comments:
Jungmin has been in charge of high notes and kept the live performance steady. He proved why his presence is important to the team. He did a good job supporting the team. He is the member closest to completion. 
Anderson pulled off his overall performance. He doesn't know how to rap at all. But, because he did a fine job, we couldn't really see it (notice the bad rapping).
Sakuya and Ryo have their own distinctive colors, which are different from the vibe of this song.
Kassho lacks strength. He needs to show his confidence. He has to demonstrate his ability to pause and hold a pose. (This comment is deja vu from mission two where the IP TF team mentioned the same thing.)
Ryo has a distinctive vocal tone, but he is good at tailoring it to different songs. It's a double-edged sword. (I am not sure why that is a weakness.) His lack of skill is becoming noticeable in areas which require basic skills.
Riku's dance and rap are steady. He's a member you can count on. He made it his own and expressed himself in a way that suits him.
Daeyoung demonstrated his potential as soon as he sang the first note. He sounded stable when rapping. He can be a member who can nail different positions.
Minjae nailed his singing but his ability to express himself seems limited. He seems to have a lot going on in his mind while dancing (thinking what is the next step).
Haruta and Heitetsu do their parts, but they don't stand out well. Their heights are helpful and come in handy when it comes to choreography with big movements.

I feel so torn. The problem with these survival reality shows is that I really end up not wanting to see good potential talent eliminated, but that is the fact of life that only the chosen ones move forward in this path while the others have to find their own path.

By mission three, we can already see trends with each trainee. Having a trend is a good predictor of the final outcome for each trainee after mission four. There is still room for miracles, but by now, it could be that my thoughts are already almost solidified.

The ranking results of mission three are as follows:
1. Jungmin (Mission one ranked 3rd, Mission two ranked 1st)
2. Riku (Mission one ranked 1st, Mission two ranked 2nd)
3. Anderson (Mission one ranked 2nd, Mission two ranked 5th)
4. Daeyoung
5. Sakuya (Mission one rank 5th, Mission two rank 3rd)
6. Ryu (No change in rank. Mission one ranked 8th, Mission two ranked 6th)
7. Ryo (No change in rank. Mission one ranked 4th, Mission two ranked 7th)
8. Haruta (Mission one rank 6th, Mission two ranked 9th)
9. Kassho (Mission one rank 9th, Mission two ranked 8th)
10. Minjae (Mission one rank 6th, Mission two ranked 4th)
11. Heitetsu (Mission one and two rank 10th)

My personal top four ranking results are:
1) Jungmin
2)  Riku
3) Daeyoung
4) Anderson

As I previously stated, Jungmin must be on the team. Mission three confirms that he needs to be on the team because I can already visualize him on the team. I have the same feelings for Riku, who is the main rapper. I can't see it any other way. Daeyoung creeped in during mission three and showed me that he can sing and rap and well, with that kind of combo, I see him on the team as well. He just needs more experience, but the potential is there. I have not seen any major weakness and I am confident that based on what I see in this mission that he can improve on his dance skills. I trust that Anderson will do well as I can see he has debut potential. I still see Anderson on the team. All the rankings makes me conflicted because there are only four spots left and I am still thinking about Sakuya and Ryo. I think mission four will make a huge difference in the outcome. Unfortunately, other trainees are not on my debut radar, but it doesn't mean that I don't want them to debut. I am especially impressed with Haruta's growth and I can see him rising up in the ranks.

BoA explained that mission four will determine the next ten years of the trainee's lives. She wants the trainees to put in their best effort so that they do not have any regrets.

Hyoyeon stated that there are people who can only sing and dance. She doesn't want them to be like any other trainee and show their charms. To me, being an all-rounder is the definition of SM. With all these trainees with such a short training time, it makes me wonder where all the senior trainees went. If this is the best SM has, that would mean SM doesn't have a lot of debut-ready talent hidden in the basement. My initial thought was that there would be a desperate fight for debut and I would have a hard time deciding who is the best trainee, but the rankings are more or less clear from mission one who are the better trainees and who still need major improvements.

The top four trainees and the SM rookies have their third photoshoot, which is a semi-formal black and white concept. This line-up is not bad, but I am missing Sakuya. Not having Sakuya on the team makes me nervous. I really want a seven-member team.

The trainees and SM Rookies are treated to a Korean BBQ restaurant as a reward. They are basically separated into three groups from left to right:

Table 1:
Anderson
Haruta
Kassho
Riku
Sion

Table 2:
Yushi
Jungmin
Sakuya

Table 3:
Ryo
Daeyoung
Heitetsu
Minjae

Table two is already looking like my favorite and it is the middle table. Jungmin offers to grill the meat. Yushi looks thankful and Sakuya looks like the baby.

In table three, Ryo does not appear to know what is going on. Daeyoung asks Ryo if he has ever had pork belly before and Ryo never had it in Korea. That is sad that these trainees train so hard, but never get to have Korean meat/beef. This is why in variety shows why K-pop idols get so excited over hanwoo (Korean beef). If I wanted to have Korean beef, I just go out to a restaurant nearby, but K-pop idols seem like they do not have this luxury. I guess they spend their time eating ramyeon and triangle kimbaps. At least in table three, we have Daeyoung and Minjae who can host and grill the meat.

In table one, full of foreign trainees, everyone looked lost. Sion could have been in table two, but he decides to help his friends at table one instead. The problem is that he should have sat in the middle of table one so that he didn't have to over-extend his arm to grill the meat. Or maybe he did not want to leave Yushi's side. The two SM Rookies are like two peas in a pod. Wherever Yushi is, Sion will be around him. I feel the same between Jungmin and Sakuya. I originally thought Sakuya and Ryo are best buddies as they are similar in age, but I find so many interactions between Sakuya and Jungmin. Many netizens call this couple the Tom and Jerry couple as Sakuya tried to intimidate Jungmin in a special video in which they did the rock, paper, and scissors game, representing their respective groups, to see who will perform first in mission one.

Back at table one, Ryo is lost and Daeyoung tries to demonstrate how to eat samgyeopsal, three-layered pork. He shows Ryo how to dip it in ssamjang sauce and wrap it in geoteori kimchi lettuce. Minjae keeps the grill running with more meat and fried kimchi. As a first timer, Ryo is enjoying the food a lot. I hope he gets to eat a lot of it in Korea. I appears that he can handle spicy food as he ate a wrapped kimchi with no problems.

In table two, Sakuya looks worried as he probably also does not know what to do. Yushi gives Sakuya the signal to eat. Sakuya bites into his first piece of meat for the first time and is pleased. From that point on, he munches like there is no tomorrow. Jungmin notices that Sakuya doesn't like beef with fat parts on it. Jungmin takes care of Sakuya by setting aside any meats without fat parts to the side of the grill. Yushi gets worried and eventually tells Jungmin that he does not like fat pieces either. Jungmin sheepishly accommodates both tablemates and share the meat among them fairly.

In table three, Daeyoung demonstrates dipping the pork belly piece into the "감칠맛 높이는 멜젓" (delicious fermented soybean paste), encouraging Ryo to try and Ryo loved it. Daeyoung raises his hand to ask for more kimchi and jaeraegi. Unfortunately, the staff did not understand what jaeraegi means. Daeyoung asks Heitetsu if jaeraegi is a satoori, a dialect, word. Heitetsu gave Daeyoung a confused expression as he is Japanese in descent. However, Daeyoung really was talking to the other side of the table where Minjae and Heitetsu sat, so Minjae casually replied that he is never heard of that word. Ryo looked on in amusement. Daeyoung ended up ordering 파절이 (pachuli) seasoned green onion stripes, which his order is the equivalent of 걸절이 (gulcholi, non-fermented kimchi) and 파절이 (pachuli, seasoned scallion side dish). Minjae casually asked where Daeyoung is from and Daeyoung replied that he is from Daegu. Interesting that we get a Daegu dialect lesson, which can be useful for me, who has family in Daegu. I am already envisioning Daeyoung to be on a variety show where he goes on a trip back to Daegu to introduce his hometown. As a person who grew up with different languages, it is also hard for me to know if I am speaking the right language sometimes, but in today's world where we are more and more connected universally, having a distinct language or slang words are getting rarer. Just today, I learned what is IJBOL (I just burst out laughing) instead of LOL (laughing out loud).

In table one, Haruta is shown as a food fighter of rice, eating rice as if there is no tomorrow. As he finished his bowl of rice in a flash, Haruta asked Riku if he knew how to say rice in Korean. Sion understood Haruta's Japanese question and ordered another bowl of rice for him. It is interesting how foreign trainees didn't know basic words like rice. I guess they concentrated more on translating music  lyrics more than survival words in Korean. I would think the word, rice, is important enough to know like the word, bathroom, in Korean. Haruta trained for eight months so if he likes rice so much, it would make sense that he learns this Korean word, bap, quickly.

I am not sure when the staff gave the trainees flat, tin boxes, but Yushi picks one up in table two and passes it to Sakuya without any explanation, which I thought was funny. So far, there are barely any words exchanged on screen between Yushi and Sakuya. Sakuya opens it with curiosity, showing a sunny-side-up egg, mushrooms, kimchi, and black beans with rice. They are supposed to shake the box before eating it. Jungmin guides Sakuya to shake it more and Sakuya wildly shakes his box like a crazy teenager. The outcome looks yummy as the rice turned an orange color due to the sauce. This scene makes me hungry. They didn't really show Haruta eating it, which is too bad as I wonder what he thinks of this type of bibimbap versus his white rice. Again, there doesn't seem to be anybody who cannot eat spicy food.

Now, we are ready for the final mission. I am nervous. 

In mission four, debut members will be determined. Eunhyuk introduces the high-profile directors and special artist directors for this day. For special artist directors, we have H.O.T.'s Kangta, Super Junior's Leeteuk, who hilarious gave a long introduction, NCT's Haechan, and NCT's Johnny. 

BoA was curious to know whether Haechan and Johnny were very good as trainees from the start or if they had to work hard to become professionals. Haechan undoubtedly responds that he was not good from the start and needed help and guidance to make his debut. BoA praises Haechan that she loves his voice and that there is also another trainee who has a similar type of unique voice like Haechan's voice. Haechan is surprised, but he will find out soon. Johnny replies that he is lacking skills and he lacked even more skills back then as a trainee. He was a trainee for many years so he is looking forward to seeing the trainees perform. I would think that both NCT members are being very humble. I have seen Johnny in SM trainee dance videos, which are no joke, but then again, we are looking at a finished or final version of the performance.

Leeteuk mentioned that Haechan's team, NCT Dream, covered H.O.T.'s "Candy" song earlier in the year as a remake song. One of the original singers, Kangta, is present on the panel. Kangta thought the remake was refreshing. Kangta mentioned that he also hosted NCT Dream's fan meeting and got to see NCT Dream perform up close, which motivated him not to lose his energy. Leeteuk and BoA mentioned that SM's multi-generations are present and Kangta is very proud of  SM's 30 years of history and he is proud of their past.

Sitting in the lower level section of panelists, Eunhyuk introduces the new IP TF team. Their names are not mentioned, since episode two, but I will list them here again:
CEO - Tak Young-Jun
CAO (Chief A&R Officer) - Lee Sung-Soo
Production Center 4 Chief - Chae Jung Hee
Artist Development Center Chief - Yoon Hee Joon (I am not sure of the official spelling)
Training Unit (Lead?)- Lee Seung Hwan
Production Center 4 Responsible - Yoo Jae Yong

Haechan introduces the first song for the NCT mission four: 90's Love

The trainees chosen for this song are:
Minjae
Daeyoung
Anderson
Kassho
Ryo
Sakuya

Johnny introduces the second song for the NCT mission four: Boss

The trainees chosen for this song are:
Heitetsu
Riku
Ryu
Jungmin
Haruta

This time, there is no explanation why the trainees were selected for their respective song, but I feel it's self-explanatory. Ryo and Sakuya need to be in the upbeat songs. Anderson has the flavor of 90's Love. We need our high note vocalists Dayoung and Minjae to perform the climax of 90's Love. Kassho doesn't look like a boss, but maybe he could have been. Kassho seems have a nostalgic image.

As for Boss, tall guys like Heitetsu and Haruta match. After all, Haruta did take on gang-like style in a previous mission. A rapper like Riku is necessary to do the main rap parts. Jungmin looks like a boss and he needs to take care of the main vocals. Ryu is better off in Boss than a happy song like 90's Love.

Back at the practice room for the 90's Love team, everyone is getting ready. Yushi mentioned that this is a type of song he has never done before so he will get to show a new side of him. The trainees sit around in a circle and cannot believe mission four is coming and that the competition is ending soon. NCT's Ten walks straight into the practice room and gives his greetings. Trainees are surprised (but should they be surprised as this is a pattern in mission two and three?) to see Ten in the flesh. Or maybe it is the idea of seeing a K-pop idol in front of them is overwhelming. I feel sad that Kassho cannot communicate that he is a NCT fan.

Ten immediately recognized Yushi from his younger days as a trainee when he was a short kid. Yushi said in his personal interview that he saw Ten when he was in elementary school (how old was Yushi?) I try to do the math. If he is 19 years old and started training when he was 14 years old, then that isn't elementary school. Or has Yushi been in SM Entertainment before? Or some schools have elementary and middle school combined and maybe that is why Yushi mentioned it was an elementary school. My thought process is the American style.

Ten mentioned that "90's Love" is a simple, yet hard dance to pull off. They begin by viewing a video of the dance on a tablet. This song has big movements and room to show individuality. Ten explains that when it is a certain trainee's part, that trainee needs to do a good job by showing facial expressions, gestures, and unique charms. Again, this is the highlight of SM Entertainment. If all of those are not shown, then they cannot pull off this song. Ten goes over more specific points at certain parts of the choreography. 

Ten faces the group and ask if they have any ideas for this song. Everybody is silent and avoiding eye contact. Ten decides to teach them a few moves. They go over the chorus part of the song. I love how they all do the chest side roll instead of moving their shoulders. Ten also recommends doing light bounces to get into the mood of the song.

After the lesson, Ten tells the group that individual expressions are important so he invites any trainee confident enough to dance for him. All team members look at each other shyly. Ten clarifies that it doesn't matter if they don't dance right, but the confidence, gestures and facial expressions are the most important. Yushi volunteers by default as I'm sure nobody has the confidence yet to dance in front of Ten.

Yushi appears shy until he quickly transforms himself into dance mode. Not only has Yushi danced with powerful moves to the chorus of 90's Love, he has also nailed down the facial expressions. In doing so, he appears confident so he met all of Ten's criteria. 

Anderson danced next and I knew he would as he has previously shown during the dance practice that he can learn the dance fairly quickly and enthusiastically. I love how Anderson flipped his hair while he was doing a side ways crab hop. However, Ten advised that Anderson focus on body control and keeping his hands to himself. If he swings his hands around, it looks a little floppy. 

Ryo is next and Ryo reminds Ten of NCT's Renjun, which I can totally see the similarity. Ten tells Ryo that he is good at rhythm. I think Ryo dances to 90's Love so happily. The brighter songs are definitely Ryo's specialty. 

Minjae and Daeyoung are especially worried. Ten tries to cheer them up by saying NCT should be the first to show that vocalists can also dance. Ten advises that when they can't do the choreography, cover it up with gestures and confidence and the audience will love them. (Isn't that the YG Entertainment style?)

Kassho is pressured by Sion to go up and dance and Kassho does a good job on the chorus part. I think Kassho has hidden talents that he is somehow not unleashing yet. I guess he will unleash them when he finally debuts. Ten thought Kassho is good at body rolls. He shows Kassho how to stop after his waves and look straight out before he continues the other wave. Kassho is having a mental fan moment.

Sakuya wanted to be special and asks the staff to play the rap part (Sungchan's original part) of the dance. Ten was hit with Sakuya's facial expressions and gestures. Ten mentioned that is is not easy to hold eye contact while dancing without getting embarrassed, but Sakuya looked at Ten with the perfect facial expression. 
 
As the lessons are over, Ten tells the group that he will order any food that they want to eat. Everyone looks around and ultimately to Sakuya. Sakuya mentions sushi, pizza, and cake. They take a picture with the signature NCT pose before Ten leaves. Ten is a kind instructor and mentor with a passion and patience to help others.

The 90's Love team ends up eating pizza and cake. Sakuya especially enjoys the sweet cake treat. 

They do some intense practice over the days with big movements and live singing. Sion carefully checks the formation and each member's individual parts to improve the dance. Yushi focuses on the vocalist parts for Daeyoung and Minjae. 

At night, the trainees surprised Sion with a birthday cake. Sion was embarrassed and I think he shed some tears as well. Sakuya prepared the cake. Sion had a lot of memories and fun from the beginning of this program, so he will give it his best at the final mission without regrets. The team is getting ready to give it their best.

As we end this episode, I am very nervous to see the final conclusion and whether it will meet my expectations. I will try my best to stay calm until then. This episode was so much fun as we get to see a performance, trainee down time, SM special directors, and a practice session.

Please leave a comment if you would like about this episode and we shall continue to episode seven for the epic conclusion of NCT Universe: LASTART.

Sunday, September 10, 2023

NCT Universe: LASTART - Episode 5

 

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Welcome to my episode five review of NCT Universe: LASTART.
If you have not read my introduction post yet to this competition reality show, please go back and read it to get a great idea of what to expect from this show. 

If you do not want spoilers, please do not continue reading because I will not hide anything in my review. Besides, these episodes already aired a while ago.

As the debut group will be focused on Japan, the trainee groups will sing SM's Japanese hits for mission three. This will be the last mission before we head into the final mission where the rankings will be finalized.

Vocal trainer and Artist Director Jang Jin Young mentioned that all Exo members can sing and dance well, being top-tier performers with skills on another level. He expects that a lot of practice must be done to pull off the "Electric Kiss" song.

Eunhyuk responded that the choreography is fast-paced and tight. Live vocals with dancing will be a challenge. 

Once again, on D-4, a special guest came to visit the trainees: Xiumin of Exo. He asks the trainees what they are practicing and Sion answered, "Electric Kiss." Xiumin then replied that that was a bad/wrong choice as if the trainees had a choice. As per Xiumin, even Exo members wanted to avoid this song. There were too many dance formations and the song is fast-paced. I think SM Entertainment really wants to challenge our trainees to their limits, though I know SM Entertainment will not give the trainees more than they can handle because their reputation is at stake. Xiumin describes the song as hectic. Xiumin didn't bring anything with him as a gift so he promised to buy the trainees a drink after he checks out their progress. In a true mentor fashion, Xiumin requests that the practice is recorded so that the trainees can monitor themselves afterwards. 

Xiumin intently watched the trainees perform and concluded that they did well with the choreography. He must have bought the trainees drinks at this point in time since they all had drinks when it was time for Xiumin to give out his tips. Xiumin explained that they need to work as a team and nobody should get in the way of somebody's solo part because that would look obvious and the choreography will look a bit off. The beginning part of the song is also very important. Yushi took the part of Kai from Exo so Yushi must make his part outstanding and attention grabbing. Sion was praised for maintaining eye contact with Xiumin the entire time he was dancing. Xiumin mentioned that somebody bumped into Sakuya during the performance. Kassho raised his hand. Xiumin simply told Kassho to fix that part. In general, Xiumin said that their formations were not smooth and fast enough. They view the performance again on a tablet together with the trainees watching their performance behind Xiumin. The entire part where they line up diagonally with a wave of hands landing on the shoulder of the trainee in front of each trainee needs to be more dynamic as per Xiumin. Afterwards, Xiumin complimented individual parts of Sakuya, Ryo, and Anderson. Overall, the team was in sync and the dance angles were good. Ryu had to step out of the formation more so that Xiumin can see him. Kassho needs to show more confidence in his dance. When it comes to Jungmin, Xiumin was concerned that his part before he goes into the diagonal line didn't look right. It looks like Jungmin left an empty space in the middle section of the stage. Xiumin recommended that Jungmin slide to the side before he goes into the formation. In later parts, Xiumin wants Jungmin to also make gestures while he is in the front center. 

Next, Xiumin wanted to check on vocals as he thought vocals was more important than dance because even if they danced well, but had poor vocals, the trainees will look untalented. Xiumin suggested that they dance again and sing live. After the team's live performance, Xiumin immediately focused on Jungmin again and asked why Jungmin had all the high note parts. Jungmin revealed in a personal interview that the parts were already assigned to him so he had to do his best and be responsible for it. Xiumin did not like that because it meant the group had a huge reliance on Jungmin to secure those high notes just like how Exo's Chen had to be responsible for Exo's high notes back then. Xiumin advised Jungmin to study how Chen managed to sing his high notes. In reality, I know Xiumin can hit higher notes than Chen and Baehyun of Exo so Xiumin understands the stuggle. Xiumin then told the group that their facial expressions were great as they sang live. He also advised the group to practice with headsets and in-ears on to get them used to those devices getting in the way of their dance. Xiumin told them again that they did well and Yushi was a great singer.

When Xiumin asked if the group had any questions, Sion volunteered himself to tell Xiumin that Yushi was a big Exo fan who has been going to Exo concerts since he was young. Yushi told Xiumin that he went to Exo's Tokyo Dome concert and Xiumin remembers being very nervous back then. Xiumin turns this experience into another lesson and advises the trainees not to show that they are nervous because their nervousness will make the audience also nervous. When they are performing, they should think of themselves as the coolest performers on stage and I wanted to chime in "NCT U: Boss."

After Xiumin left, Sion found Yushi crying a few minutes later before his personal interview. Yushi still had to complete his interview in front of cameras so he rolled back while sitting on the floor in embarrassment. Sion helps him back up and stayed with him a little bit as he begins his personal interview. Yushi was asked why he cried. Yushi was so happy to meet Xiumin of Exo so he cried. What does Exo mean to Yushi? Yushi thinks briefly and responds that Exo is his goal and Exo gives him courage.

Afterwards, the "Electric Kiss" team has some work to do to work out the problems that Xiumin mentioned. Jungmin is especially deep in thought on how to resolve the problem. They first have to work on the diagonal line part before Jungmin steps into it. The team practices the Jungmin slide into diagonal formation part many times until Jungmin is comfortable with it. They spent the next three days in deep practice with the last scene being them practicing with their headset microphones on. It's great to see that they are following Xiumin's advice. 

D-day has arrived and the "Electric Kiss" team was ready for their rehearsal in the Ilsan studio. Vocal Trainer and Artist Director Jang is present to check on their rehearsal performance, but does not like what he heard vocally. He advises them to focus on stabilizing their vocals and also keep their vocal power strong since dancing vigorously will tire them out. Director Jang needs to hear more energy from them. Director Jang immediate moves on to fix Anderson's pitchy sounds in his "tell me where you at" parts. Anderson proceeds to practice that part repeatedly. Director Jang asks Jungmin to sing his high note part standing in place before asking Jungmin takes a step back and continue the choreography. Doing so will make Jungmin stand out more. This was not the only change they made one hour before the actual performance. Sion asks Sakuya to move closer to the front near Yushi during the hook part of the song.

Electric Kiss Team: Sion, Yushi, Jungmin, Ryu, Anderson, Kassho, Ryo, and Sakuya performing "Electric Kiss" originally performed by Exo


After the performance and introductions, Eunhyuk started by asking if Sion was satisfied with his performance. Sion gave a wise answer such as needing to monitor his actual performance afterwards. Yes, this is serious business. However, Sion admitted that he had fun dancing in this performance.

The artist directors, Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon, BoA and Jang Jin Young began to provide their feedback.

Eunhyuk tried his best to not focus on Sion and Yushi as they were already part of the debut team, but Eunhyuk found it difficult to evaluate the other trainees without paying attention to Sion and Yushi, who constantly caught Eunhyuk's attention. Eunhyuk thought Sion and Yushi are amazing and wanted to thank them for leading and preparing for both performances. Eunhyuk asked Jungmin if his parts were difficult given that he had the high notes. Jungmin replied that he tried to practice out loud many times and also practiced singing while dancing to get used to it. BoA laughed at Jungmin since he talks in a monotone way like a machine. Eunhyuk then followed up with asking Jungmin if he speaks more comfortably with his team in which Jungmin confirms that is the case. Eunhyuk asked Sion for his opinion. Sion replied that Jungmin is very cheerful and makes a lot of jokes, which makes the rest of his team laugh. Eunhyuk wanted to see that side of Jungmin. Eunhyuk thought Jungmin was timid and lacked confidence in the last mission, which Jungmin probably also regretted, but in this performance, Eunhyuk told Jungmin he was great and he loved Jungmin's performance with such an intense gaze. Eunhyuk asked Anderson if learning Japanese for the performance was difficult. Anderson said that Japanese and Korean are both a foreign language to him. Therefore, he had to constantly listen to the song to pick up as much pronunciation as possible. He also had help from his Japanese friends on the team to learn the language. Eunhyuk recognized Anderson's talent this time around in this performance. Anderson mentioned in his personal interview that he would not have been able to do good gestures had he not understood the Japanese lyrics or the pronunciation. Eunhyuk told Sakuya that it wasn't because he was bad at singing or dancing, but he lacked strength in his body to pull off any powerful moves. Kassho's overall balence was not that bad, but Eunhyuk considers this an advantage and disadvantage. He had no expression on his face and he only opens his mouth slightly while singing. Eunhyuk's comments reminds me of my early impressions of Yushi. Therefore, Eunhyuk could not concentrate on Kassho's performance. In this personal interview, Kassho agrees that he is not confident about himself. Lastly, Eunhyuk thought Ryo looked too cute for the concept of this song. Ryo explained in his personal interview that he practiced a lot of facial expressions for "Chewing Gum" and found it difficult to look cool in a powerful song.

BoA thought Yushi could be a very good vocalist and was deeply touched by Yushi's vocals despite him not originally being a vocalist. BoA thought Jungmin hit all his high notes very well. Jungmin said in his personal interview that he did feel more confident than when he performed "Lucifer."  He mentally told himself while performing that he was going to nail the performance and performed as if his life depended on it. Anderson stood out with his gestures and facial expressions this time and BoA thought maybe it was because she gave him harsh feedback last time. Since this was a Japanese song, BoA expected the Japanese trainees to have an advantage over the non-Japanese trainees, but BoA thought the Japanese trainees did the worst job. They speak Japanese and know what the lyrics mean, so she expected more from them. Anderson, Jungmin and Sion had the most praise in this case. The Japanese trainees missed a big opportunity to show their potential. BoA apologized to Sakuya, but she didn't feel Sakuya's presence at all. BoA mentioned that Ryu needs to concentrate on his fingertips and that there was a proper way to finish each dance move. Ryu doesn't back-up the other dancers while dancing in the back because his dance moves were distracting. Ryo admitted in his personal interview that he couldn't concentrate on dancing and singing at the same time and that was a shame.

Hyoyeon saw determination in Sion's eyes, which told her that Sion was going to crush the performance that day. Anderson's powerful rapping and gestures was eye-catching and cool. Hyoyeon noticed weakness in Sakuya's posture and mentioned that she took lessons every day on posture. She asked Sakuya to show confidence in the way he stands and he will become more charming that way. Sakuya confessed in his personal interview that he is not good at dancing with more strength. As he was also nervous for today's performance, he couldn't bring himself to make more powerful moves. He will try to work harder for his next performance.

Once the critiques were over, Eunhyuk invited Ryu to show his specialty, which was waacking. Ryu self-taught himself to learn the waacking dance. In the introduction part of the song, Ryu did not appear too confident and did not have any straight postures where posing moves are a a highlight of the waacking dance, but once he started whirling his arms, it was impressive. I liked it, but he also can improve on it overall. If only he used this type of energy into his actual performance, he would be a better dancer. Hyoyeon said exactly what I thought that he should put that type of power into his choreography to become a perfect dancer. BoA exclaimed that was the correct way to use his fingertips. 

Artist Director Jang concluded that the time to prepare for the performance was short, the trainees manage to keep up with the pace and grow along with it for which he was proud of them. He hopes that the trainees will take that day's advice and use it for their growth.

I thought the Electric Kiss performance was electric. The beginning performance was very sharp with Yushi setting the tone for his powerful stand-up pose. I was super impressed by the group's initial choreography. I would have to disagree with BoA that I thought Sakuya was very powerful at the beginning of this song. He was also the only member dressed in a semi-white-patterned shirt so he drew my attention right away. Sion is extra special in that he was 200% invested in his role with crazy head angles and neck rolls. Anderson gave a clear vocal performance and special gestures in the beginning, but when it came to his rap part, I was less impressed with his rapping delivery as his voice was not very clear, but alluring at the same time. He's a great, expressive dancer, but if he wants to do rapping parts, he needs to have a cleaner rap delivery. It was true that Sakuya, Ryo, and Kassho started being passive during verse 1 of the song, but I didn't consider the performance as bad. However, Kassho has been weak throughout his performance whereas I see Ryo and Sakuya's effort attempts, which are not enough, but at least I can see that they tried to put in more effort. Ryo was stable in vocals, but again, he never seems to attract my attention. This performance is Jungmin's absolute best performance. I love this confident side of Jungmin. If he keeps this up, he is ready to debut. I noticed he changed his style of singing to fit the song. I became a definite Jungmin fan after this performance. As the judges mentioned, I see Ryu's hands also bothering me. His voice sounds nice though. When he did the three finger movement going down during his solo center stage part, it looked weird to me. Was that some type of sign? Yushi was also perfectly playing his part as the serious guy with really cool moves. He is really too cool in this performance and I'm sure he captured many fans with this performance. If he wanted to maintain this cool image, he needs to keep his hairstyle the way it looks with his forehead open. I was really looking forward to seeing the diagonal line part of the choreography, which happens two times. I am impressed with the first time and even more impressed when they did it the second time. Before that, Sion was darting around the stage like a rocket. Yushi was on fire with his crazy shoulder moves on the diagonal line despite him being third from last on the line. There wasn't much of a slide move anymore for Jungmin as he naturally stepped into formation into the diagonal line and overall the entire sequence was clean. Towards the end of the song, I saw Sakuya fire up again with his strong point finger movements so I see potential in Sakuya, but it wasn't consistent. My basic opinion for all the performances so far is that the SM Rookies have better outfits in general than the trainees, which also is a reason why the SM Rookies stand out. I didn't think Sakuya's outfit suited him, but he definitely stood out by wearing a semi-white-patterned shirt, so he grabbed my attention a lot.

My general opinion is that Jungmin stole the show to be my favorite trainee. I won't rule out Anderson to be a strong contender for high ranks.

My ranking conclusions so far for mission three:
1. Jungmin
2. Anderson
3. Sakuya
4. Ryo

Now, we start to concentrate on the "Why?" team.

BoA couldn't help but bring up the incident in which TVXQ!'s Yunho ripped his pants, which revealed his red underwear during his performance of the song, "Drop"  at an SMTOWN concert in Seoul back in 2017. I'm surprised that they would openly discuss this topic on this show. Eunhyuk added that there were rumors that this was staged, but I doubt it was staged when Yunho usually is a perfectionist and that is actually an embarrassing event.

The Why? team starts off day one with lots of stretching and basic run through of the choreography and knife hand moves. New trainee contestant Daeyoung seems to be following along well. On the second day, D-6, they begin formation practice, but have trouble with the beginning part where they all have to jump at the same time. Artist Director Jang was present to guide them to be on the beat. Amazingly, they eventually got it and moved on to practice other parts. At D-3, Yushi wanted them to sing live as they dance. As the beginning part of the dance was very important to set the tone, Riku was in the middle, but he had a hard time finding the rhythm to start his solo part.

A special guest came to visit them: Chang Min from TVXQ!

Daeyoung was taken aback and became super surprised to see a real life idol in front of him. Everyone seems to be trembling at the sight of Chang Min. Chang Min brought the trainees health supplements. I like how every special guest so far has brought the trainees something different as a gift. 

Chang Min mentioned that when he and fellow member Yunho received the "Why?" song for the first time, they thought it was difficult. Chang Min asked the members what they thought was the hardest about the song. Sion answered that it was the vibe of the song. Minjae added that they would need to keep the flow going in the entire song. Chang Min asked the trainees politely to show him their performance.

After their performance, Chang Min was a bit taken aback at Sion's glare and he was thankful that the trainees are sweating buckets after the performance. Chang Min explained that the energy should be felt by the audience. The team tried to show their energy, but Chang Min could not feel it. They should use their strength in some parts and relax their body in other parts to show contrast. To give an example, Chang Min shows them the difference in how he dances the main chorus part. The trainees can visually see the difference if they learn not to do strong moves entirely throughout the song. During the bounce part, which I really think is a seasickness dance move, Chang Min mentioned that they should be leaning their bodies forward during the bounce in a rolling motion. Changmin asked the trainees to show him the move and then guided them to also pay attention to how they walk as walking is also part of the choreography.

Next, Chang Min checked for the vocals and asked the trainees what they thought of the vocals. Daeyoung was the first to give his respects since the vocals are hard. I agree that this is possibly god-level stuff that only Chang Min can perfect. Daeyoung was brave to try singing in front of Chang Min. Chang Min liked Daeyoung's voice. Next was Minjae, who had even higher notes to secure. After hearing Minjae sing, Chang Min mentioned that Minjae knew which route to take to ensure his notes. Chang Min moved on to the three rappers: Heitetsu, Riku, and Haruta. Chang Min helps Heitetsu hit the key points to accents the key words. After hearing Riku's rap, Chang Min advises Riku to have a sense of rhythm when he is rapping acapella. With Haruta, Chang Min can hear the rhythm, but it sounded like he swallowed the sound. His rap delivery sounded weak. Haruta needs to find his piercing voice. 

Chang Min hopes that the Why? team will crush the other team. The camera focuses on Yushi, who is probably thinking that he is in both teams, so how can he do that?

Haruta is a big fan of Chang Min and he surprisingly broke into tears after their pictures together. I am reminded of how Yushi broke down earlier when seeing Xiumin. Yushi held it in well until after Xiumin left.

D-day arrives and the team is in the rehearsal. Our episode ends here.

Wow, I waited all episode, but only heard Daeyoung sing for a few seconds. I will need to painfully wait another week to hear him sing. The previews show so many negative comments so I am worried.

Please leave a comment if you would like about this episode and we shall continue to episode six of NCT Universe: LASTART.

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