— NOW PLAYING: NEXT GEN EPISODE 2
the day of the evaluation… captions overlay the scene of six judges finding their way to their seats in a relatively plain set, a small stage before them obviously prepared for the contestants they’re here to judge today. YOON JIHUN is the first to enter with SEO RAN close behind, idly chatting with YOOJUNG who enters with her as they find their seats at the judges’ table. J-YOON is next to enter, greeting his ceo and the other judges before quietly taking his seat. is he the loner of the group…? the captions assume, though the thought is quickly discarded when YUNA and BOM enter together, arms interlocked as they whisper something between them before taking their seats as well.
“so,” jihun is the first to address the group as a whole, placing his attention in particular on the three judges who also helped train the idol wannabes during the last several days. “what should i be looking most forward to today? any surprises?” he clasps his hands together and leans forward against the table as if in anticipation.
a soft smile crosses yoojung’s face. “there’s a lot of talented dancers in this group. and a lot who are not, but made huge improvements in a very short time. i think some of them will manage to surprise you.”
bom, on the other hand, simply scowls. she says nothing and instead, the editors add in a few clips of a similar glare on her face when working with the contestants during their lessons.
“there wasn’t a big rap part in this song,” j-yoon admits with a shrug. “i think it’s something anyone with a basic understanding of music could pull off. but i’m interested to see what yoojung and bom made of the dancers and vocalists too.”
“shall we see our first contestant, then?” RHEE JIAN appears on stage, ready to introduce the contestants one by one to the judges. “they’re all waiting so nervously backstage. after working so hard these last several days, let’s call them in right away.” though her words are surely part of a script, the judges all nod their heads as if giving approval for judgment day to begin.
“those who ranked low during their auditions have the most potential for growth, so today we’ll go in order from who ranked last to first place. which means the first performance of the day will be… LEE NOEL,”
a short clip of noel entering the stage and bowing to the judges is shown before being replaced by scenes of a practice room and noel rehearsing with other contestants. it’s group dance practice and the editing makes it seem as if noel is making mistake after mistake and the doom and gloom of the editing is punctuated by tense sound effects and music. “i placed last,” noel’s voice cuts over the sounds before the scene of him in the interview room takes over the compilation of his mistakes. “while it doesn’t bother me, i do want to prove that i deserve more than last place.” clips of noel practicing with other participants show then; practicing vocals with hyejin and dohyun, and dance with seojun.
the scene changes again, now back to the stage in front of the judges, and noel performs my turn in front of the group. no comment is made by either the judges or the captions and silence follows the conclusion of his performance, the only sound heard the breathing of the contestant who just performed.
“lee noel,” it’s jihun who picks up his microphone first to give his evaluation of the performance after the tense quiet, “do you really want to be here?” his words are harsh and his expression not much kinder. the camera zooms in on noel’s face for his reaction to the criticism.
“your performance isn’t memorable at all. aren’t you nervous? don’t you want to do well? your attitude doesn’t seem to reflect that. we invited you to participate in this show despite hundreds— no, thousands of auditions. do you even care?”
“he’s angry,” the microphones catch ran whispering to yuna.
yoojung picks up his microphone next, his expression rather serious though softer than the last speaker’s. “noel, you auditioned with dance and you definitely improved with practice over these last several days. it’s good to know that you can learn and make adjustments when we give you critique. but there’s a lot of good dancers in this competition. i don’t know if you can surpass them if you want to rise above your current rank.”
“you should understand that your place on this show is in danger,” bom, as usual, does not mince her words as she speaks directly to the young man.
“as a not very good dancer and far from a good singer, it felt like i had to learn two things at once,” noel’s interview comes back to the screen, sad music playing as if to garner sympathy for the young man. “i guess that was the most difficult thing, everything at once.”
it’s jian’s face that takes up the screen next, smiling to the camera despite the harsh critique from the last performance. “our next contestant is HWANG BADA,” she announces as the camera zooms in on the girl entering the stage, looking a bit nervous as she does so. ran tries to send her an encouraging smile from the judges’ table.
“the cameras are a bit nerve-wracking, don’t you think?” bada’s voice plays over the scene of her very intentionally meeting the eyes of the judges. “before this, i just worked at my family’s store.” the scene shifts to bada in the practice rooms, rehearsing with hyejin, stevie, haein, and in the group lessons. “i’m going to give it my all. my performance may not be the best, but it’s definitely my best.”
unfortunately, no sooner does the music start does bada make a mistake. she misses the first beat and the camera focuses in on yoojung wincing at the error. the mistake is played again, though this time it shows she recovers and pushes through. she’s out of breath, her voice cracks, but she still continues on. the camera focuses on bom, whose expression is hard to read.
“bada,” it’s ran who speaks first this time her voice gentle and words mostly kind, “you know, right? it wasn’t a perfect performance. but what we’re looking for more than perfection is your potential. how much did you improve from the last time we saw you? were you able to take critique, to ask for help when you needed it? this is a program to discover talent we want to sign to our companies and continue to nurture. no one is expecting you to be ready to debut tomorrow.”
“your voice was better in practice,” it’s bom who speaks next, the editing of the scene alluding to tension as if bom will rip the girl’s performance to shreds. “but that’s to be expected. you have a lot to learn still. what i liked about your performance is that despite your mistakes, you did not give up. tenacity is an important trait to have as a trainee and an idol.”
“did you just say something nice to someone?” yuna picks up her microphone to tease bom, who just smiles and laughs a bit in return. “you worked hard bada,” yuna congratulates the girl despite the flaws in her performance. “like the others said, there’s still a lot to learn. but you seem eager to learn it, and that’s all we can ask for. great job.”
warm music plays as bada takes her leave from the stage before showing a short compilation of her last several days of training. most notably, a clip of her in tears contrasts a clip of a smiling, laughing face. keep working hard, bada! the captions cheer her on.
“up next, a mysterious man who tends to keep to himself, GEUN WONJAE,” rian announces. the scene changes to a series clips of wonjae sitting by himself during breaks in practice and rehearsing alone.
“he looks tired,” j-yoon murmurs to no one in particular as wonjae takes the stage.
“was he up all night practicing?” yoojung wonders aloud, the other idols among the judges frowning seemingly in sympathy as they watch the young man ready himself for his performance.
wonjae makes the same mistake bada did, missing the first beat. his whole performance seems slightly off, as if his body is too tired and sluggish to respond the way he wants it to. he’s clearly frustrated by the end of his performance, the cameras catching the way his hands ball into tight fists by his sides.
“before we talk about your performance,” ran’s brow knits together as she speaks, seemingly genuinely concerned for the young man, “did you get any sleep at all last night? we know that everyone is working hard for this show but it’s important to get your rest when you can. when you’re tired, you can make a mistake and injure yourself.”
“i don’t think we can say much about this performance, to be honest,” jihun speaks next. “wonjae, we know that you did not show us your best side today. it’s not really fair to judge you based on this. i don’t think we can give you a very high score for this but i hope that you take better care of yourself going forward. we want to see the performer we recognized from your audition, not this.”
wonjae is dismissed from the stage and bom lets out a large sigh. “i wish we hadn’t started from the bottom ranks, actually. i think i’m wasting my time hoping for a big surprise.”
“next we’d like to welcome to the stage… SEO JUNHO!” jian is shown giving a small round of applause as the next contestant takes the stage. the cameras show him settling into position briefly before changing the scene, now showing his time preparing for this moment. he glares at himself in the mirror while he tries to perfect the routine. shots of the camera crews packing up and leaving while junho continues to practice late into the night are played with the caption he worked so hard for this moment… is displayed on the screen. a shot of his notes and annotations of the lyrics is shared with the audience. it’s clear that seo junho is one contestant who is taking this show very seriously. maybe bom will finally get the surprise that she’s hoping for.
junho’s performance begins without any long preamble. it’s immediately clear that his hard work has paid off; compared to the last contestants, his moves are much sharper, his voice much more stable. it’s not a perfect performance, but the editors show off his best moves multiple times, cut with the subtle impressed eyebrow raise from jihun himself.
“i want to be the first to speak,” j-yoon hardly lets the music fade away before he’s picking up his microphone, “i feel like i need to apologize. i might have been to harsh on your during the last episode. you’ve absolutely made me eat my words since then,” j-yoon looks absolutely delighted to be proven wrong by the contestant, a smile lighting up his features despite his apology.
“i have to agree,” yuna speaks next. “i think your performance is the largest improvement we’ve seen in a contestant so far. it’s amazing, to be honest. you shone brighter here, with one chance to get it right, than you did in your audition tape with however many takes you put into that. great job, junho. we can’t wait to see what you do next.”
“LEE SEOJUN,” it’s not rian who calls his name but rather an unnamed staff member. the cameras are sure to pick up the way he jumps to attention, ready to take the stage in front of the judges. jian’s formal announcement is seen next, and after one more quick moment of seojun looking anticipatory for his turn on stage, finally he’s seen walking out in front of the judges.
“so many people have made this a lot of fun to be a part of,” seojun’s voice plays over clips of him practicing with wonjae, stevie, noel. it shifts to show several scenes with one person in particular, haneul. “my best friend, haneul, helped, since we practiced together as much as possible.” a soft filter and equally soft music plays as one last clip of the best friends practicing together is shown. a clip of seojun smiling softly in the interview room finishes off the segment.
with the week’s recap completed, it’s time to see the young man’s performance. it’s clear that he’s a confident performer on stage, his movements sharp and voice clear despite the choreography. even bom is seen nodding her head as she jots notes down about the performance. “i think we’re finally just getting to the better contestants,” she murmurs to her neighbor.
seojun’s performance comes to a close and a short round of applause is held for him. jihun picks up his microphone first. “to be honest, i think that this is the most complete performance that we’ve seen so far. you’re a strong dancer and while your vocals could use some work, they didn’t suffer terribly despite the dance. you did a good job.”
“i agree,” yuna nods along with jihun before chiming in, “there were a couple little pitch and support issues but nothing that some practice couldn’t fix. i think we judged you too harshly in the auditions. you definitely shine on stage, lee seojun. great job.” more happy music plays as seojun takes his leave from the stage and the judges look pleased with what they’ve been seeing so far.
the show must move along and jian is already announcing the next contestant to the stage: MOON CAMERON. he smiles as he greets the judges again and the camera focuses in on ran, who can’t help but smile back. “you think he’s cute, don’t you?” jihun teases her despite her pushing him away playfully and denying all accusations. “it’s interesting to have siblings on the show, that’s all,” ran insists.
scenes of a practice room where both siblings rehearse is shown before cameron’s performance can start. “i can’t let myself be too shown up by my little sister,” he says as the screen shows him playfully scolding his sister. “why did i find out you auditioned by seeing you on actual television?”
“seeing her throw her all into this has really pushed me to do the same,” a shot of cameron in the interview room is shown next, camera zooming in on that soft, brotherly smile he has on his face whenever he talks about his little sister.
cameron’s performance begins next, displaying excellent command over the stage that clearly comes from a place of experience. most notably, he sends a wink in the direction of the judges. yuna, ran, and yoojung all exclaim out loud at the gesture. “that was cute!” ran gushes and jihun only nudges her again to tease her lightly. the performance wraps up and all of the judges seem to have enjoyed it thoroughly despite it being the fifth time they’ve heard the same song.
“you have much more experience than most of the other contestants in this show,” j-yoon speaks first, struggling to be serious despite the lingering smile from enjoying the performance so much. “to be honest, i think we’re holding you to a higher standard than the others. i’m not sure if that’s fair but we do want to see your max potential. you still have room to grow.”
“i think i speak for everyone when i say that we thoroughly enjoyed your performance,” yuna speaks next. “it’s fun to watch a performer who looks so at home on stage. there’s some issues with your singing that i’m sure bom will want to address,” the camera shows bom nodding briefly before returning to yuna, “but overall, a good show.”
as cameron is dismissed, the judges check their cue cards for who comes next despite jian’s announcements. “YEOM SARANG,” the emcee announces and the judges begin murmuring among themselves.
“i think he’s the best looking of the male contestants,” yuna comments.
“yes, but a pretty face does not an idol make,” bom’s stern manner never takes a break.
that said, it’s clear that sarang is popular among his fellow contestants. clips of him practicing with others rather closely are played and the captions and editing seem to be jokingly implying that even his fellow male participants have a crush on him. they show him winking at matthew, working closely with jinyoung. “i really enjoyed learning not only from the coaches, but from the friends i’ve made here as well,” sarang’s voice carries over the compilation of clips.
more important than friendship is his turn to perform, however. he captivates the judges, even jihun neglecting to write too many notes as he watches and listens to the young man give his all into his performance of my name. “i’m confident in what i showed,” sarang’s voice can he heard again as he holds the finishing pose.
“let me be the first to speak,” yoojung is the first to pipe up once the spell has worn off. “sarang, you clearly have a lot of untapped potential and i think this particular song was a great opportunity for you. it suits you well. however,” the camera zooms in on sarang’s face for a reaction, the sound effects tense as if yoojung is about to drop a bomb on the situation. “you dance style did not suit the choreography at all. if you’re going to debut in a group someday, you need to be able to mold yourself to the concept. i didn’t always feel that i suited all of a.maze’s concepts, but they needed me to, so i did. you need to learn the same,”
“while i agree with yoojung,” yuna adds to the conversation, “i do want to make sure we commend you for your stage presence and performance overall. a great job, truly.”
if sarang was popular, then PARK STEVEN is basically a celebrity among the trainees. jian’s voice can be heard announcing his turn to perform as the camera shows him going around and greeting all of his friends backstage still waiting for their turns. next gen’s social butterfly, reads the captions. various scenes of steven working with other trainees, comforting them, crying with them can be seen.
“i’ll give it everything i got. no regrets from me!” stevie’s voice plays as he takes his place on stage. he begins his performance when prompted, the camera occasionally cutting to yoojung who nods, j-yoon who scribbles something down, and yuna who seems fixated on the performance with rapt attention. he finishes with a large smile and ran can be seen smiling back.
someone who is not smiling, however, is bom. “steven,” she speaks first among the judges, “i said it before and i’ll say it again. you need to take this competition more seriously.” she fixes him with a rather stern look and doesn’t stop there, “this is not daycare. we’re not here for you to have a playdate with your friends. when we scold you, it’s because we know you can do better. you should be doing better than this.”
a clip plays of stevie in the practice room, trying to lift his leg behind his head when he should’ve been rehearsing. suddenly his social butterfly tendencies don’t seem to be as much of an asset as they are a distraction.
“i have to agree with bom. you’re a good dancer. if you want to be a backup dancer and support our idols on stage, that’s fine. but that’s not what this competition is for. i hope to see more improvement from you moving forward,” yuna explains to the young contestant.
after so many male contestants, finally another female contestant is ready for her turn in front of the judges. “up next,” jian announces, “we’ll see RYU EUNKYUNG,” a shot of the girl raising her fist and mouthing a silent cheer is shown as she takes the stage.
“over and over we’ve worked on this and you’re still getting it wrong,” the scene changes to eunkyung getting scolded by one of the coaches. in the next series of clips, it’s shown how many times she’s forgotten the lyrics or made a major mistake. “somehow it all goes out of my brain when i start to dance,” eunkyung’s own voice is heard as she makes yet another mistake on screen. will she be able to pull it off? the captions question her abilities, drawing tension as once again she’s shown on stage in front of the judges.
her performance begins. it seems that the whole world is watching with their breath held as they wait to see if she’ll make a mistake again or not. what she does instead is make little modifications to the choreography. she cups her hands against her face to send a heart instead of the “v” pose and a shot of ran cooing at the modification is shown before returning to eunkyung’s performance. the line she struggled the most with is coming, though. j-yoon leans forward in his seat, eyes narrowed as he waits. not only does she not flub it, she nails it. a sigh of relief seems to fall and j-yoon sits back, nodding his approval.
“you had me worried, eunkyung,” he speaks after her performance is finished, smiling now that it’s all over. “i’m glad you were able to work out your issues with the lyrics. overcoming obstacles is an important part of breaking into this industry. you’re going to have much more difficult challenges than this going forward.”
“to be honest, i think you’re center material,” ran speaks up, “i know, i haven’t said that to anyone else yet. you’re confident and while your skills could use some work, you’re doing an excellent job all things considered. keep up the good work.”
“so many cameras,” the translation of SATO KOU’s statement is shown in subtitles on the screen. the scene changes this time to kou in the interview room, where he once again says the same thing: “this is a lot of cameras.” is he camera shy? the captions question.
“we’re looking forward to kou’s performance,” jian announces. earlier that week… the captions interrupt the performance with a scene of the boy in a practice room, clearly frustrated even before he exclaims “i can’t do it!” clips of kou’s mistakes in dance practice play one after the other, highlighting all of his many errors. “i just wasn’t born with the ability to dance, you see. see? my arms just won’t listen to my head.”
“i’ve been practicing like crazy,” kou’s voice is heard while the camera returns to the scene in front of the judges. “i think i’ve improved a lot. at least i won’t look like an idiot on stage… i hope.”
the boy’s face lights up as he begins his performance and the judgest watch, paying careful attention to him. yoojung in particular seems anxious, having seen the boy in practice not all that long ago. “please don’t mess up,” he murmurs, barely loud enough that the microphones can pick it up. thankfully, kou doesn’t make a mistake and completes the performance without any major catastrophe.
“you had me so worried,” yoojung laughs the tension away as he addresses the contestant. “i’m glad that you were able to pull it off in the end and i hope that this is the end of your dancing woes. it’s a skill that you absolutely need if you want to be an idol. please, keep practicing.”
“i would’ve liked to see more improvement from you, though,” jihun remarks, a slight frown on his face. “you’re a decent singer, kou. but i feel like you just got lucky with your dancing here, based on what yoojung was telling us earlier. i hope that you can prove me wrong and show that it truly was skill.”
a scary contestant is next, the captions, in cold, shivery effect, appear on screen. “if i’m making you cry, you should quit now,” LEE NAYOUNG’s voice can be heard. “have you been practicing outside of lessons at all? do you even have your sheet of the lyrics? what are you doing here?” clips of nayoung confronting various contestants are played on screen. she’s scarier than bom, the captions claim, showing a side-by-side shot of bom’s glare compared to nayoung’s.
“please welcome lee nayoung to the stage,” jian announces the contestant dutifully. unlike the scary clips from earlier, nayoung is all smiles to the judges as she greets everyone politely. it turns out that she has a reason to scold the other trainees, her performance goes off not quite flawlessly but clearly more skilled than many of the contestants before her.
“did you know that people are saying you’re scarier than i am?” bom addresses the girl with the slightest hint of a smile on her face. “i was worried that you would be all bark and no bite. i’m pleased that you have the skill to back your words up. you could practice your stability more. but overall, good job.”
“i would caution you to try to get along better with the other contestants,” ran frowns into her microphone, “we understand this is a competition. but if you’re going to join one of our companies, we need to know that you’ll be a good fit with our current trainees. if you can’t get along with anyone, we’ll have reason to be concerned.”
LEE JINAE’s performance is next. it seems to breeze by with no context at all. “it was entirely unmemorable,” jihun points out to his fellow judges, who seem to agree. no one can even remember what she practiced all week.
completely on the opposite side of the spectrum is MIN HYEJIN. as jian announces her name, clips of her practicing with several different contestants play across the screen. matthew, noel, haein, bada, nayoung, saea, kou, and of course stevie are all seen practicing with the girl at different times. if stevie was the social butterfly of the boys, hyejin takes the title for the girls. “there were so many helpful participants and so many i made sure to lend a helping hand to as well,” her voice is heard over the clips.
her performance starts. there’s hiccups, like every contestant so far, but the cameras seem to focus on them much more than the others. the judges faces don’t look as excited about hyejin’s performance as they had about others.
“hyejin,” yuna sighs before continuing, “i understand that you worked with a lot of different people and spent a lot of time helping them. that’s great, and we love to see that sort of teamwork, but i think your performance suffered for it. you should have spent a little more time on yourself.”
“i want to remind you to mind your expressions too,” j-yoon adds. “you had moments where you were really good. but then you’d lose that and it was such a shame. i agree with yuna, i think you overextended yourself helping others. you should be more mindful of your time in the future.”
the scene cuts away from hyejin, indicating her segment is over, and instead focuses on jian again as she announces the next performance. “our next contestant ready to show you his skills is CHO HANEUL,” the young man is seen taking the stage and giving a polite bow to the judges. jihun smiles and nods approvingly; it seems he cares very much about the manners and attitude of all of the participants.
“if i’m really honest, i almost didn’t audition,” haneul’s voice is heard as he waits for the music to start. “i keep thinking if i should have done this or not,” clips of his practice sessions, including a sweet hug with stevie, play across the screen, highlighting all of the highs and lows of the last several days. “but might as well do my best while i’m here, right?”
the music starts and haneul’s performance begins. he’s an adept performer, singing and dancing solidly until the short rap part of the song comes up. when his pronunciation is slightly off on one word, the cameras zoom in on j-yoon scribbling something down in his notes.
“haneul,” j-yoon is the first to give his critique once the music ends and the contestant relaxes from his ending pose, “first of all, i want to praise you for trying something outside of your comfort zone. it’s clear you know how to sing and dance but rap was something new for you. that said, to be completely honest, i don’t think it’s something you should do anymore.”
ran’s eyebrows raise at the unexpected harsh critique from j-yoon, who ignores the looks he’s getting and continues. “let me be clear. you’re a good singer and dancer. i don’t think you need to rap. i understand it was part of this evaluation but i think going forward it would be better for you to focus on the things you’re already good at.”
“i get what j-yoon means,” jihun nods along as he speaks, “instead of wasting your time and energy trying to perfect something that honestly doesn’t really matter, focus on your other skills instead. i think that will take you farther in this competition. good job, haneul.”
the young man bows politely as he’s dismissed. “i like him,” jihun says aloud.
“don’t go picking favorites this early,” yuna warns playfully, “i might like him too.”
a shot of the waiting room takes over the scene. after a slow pan of the remaining contestants waiting for their turn, the camera zooms in on the next one up: PARK DOHYUN. he seems to be staring off into space. is he awake? the captions question as a sped-up shot of his fellow contestants and staff zipping around the waiting room plays while dohyun himself simply sits still. “learning the lyrics and dance… it was kinda like a bootcamp,” dohyun’s voice speaks over the scene. the editing makes it seem as if he’s a bit dazed and confused, as if the hard work of the past week has completely robbed him of any remaining branpower.
in the next moment, jian is welcoming him to the stage in front of the judges. as the music starts, it seems that he hasn’t fully snapped out of his trance and misses his cue. he’s flushed in the face when he does get back on track. “is he alright?” ran whispers to yuna, who frowns in concern at dohyun’s performance.
when he finally reaches the end of his performance, he’s out of breath. a few silent moments pass before yoojung speaks. “dohyun, you’ve learned a lot in a short time,” he praises the contestant first, smiling encouragingly, “but to be honest, i’m concerned about you. are you feeling alright? are you ill?”
the camera zooms in on dohyun’s face as if looking for any ailment.
“this is a competition but you can’t be reckless with your body. i understand desperation to be signed and to debut. but certain injuries can’t quite be recovered from. you’re just starting to learn dance. don’t make it harder for yourself by getting hurt.”
“yoojung is right,” yuna speaks next. “we see your improvement, dohyun. i can’t say you’re a good dancer yet, to be honest. but if you can stay healthy, i think you can become one.”
with dohyun’s performance complete, the scene goes back to the waiting room. the crowd is getting smaller and smaller as more and more contestants take their turn in front of the judges. finally, it focuses in on the next performer: MOON JINYOUNG. he looks nervous or at the very least restless as he gets to his feet to pace, to practice the song and dance one more time, humming the melody as he runs through the movements.
he’s seen walking on stage as jian announces his name. “i’m fine. it just hit me, you know? this is real.” his voice is heard as he looks at the judges with his chin held high, masking any fear that he might have had going into this. jinyoung tests his voice once, twice, before assuming the starting position and waiting for the music to start. unlike the last performer, he doesn’t miss his start. but the problems start when he sings. the camera cuts to bom who can barely disguise a rather repulsed expression as she scribbles notes down in font of her.
jinyoung is red in the face much like dohyun had been by the time his performance comes to an end.
“i heard that you’re a big fan of yoojung,” it’s ran who speaks first, not yet critiquing jinyoung’s performance but holding a conversation instead. a clip plays of jinyoung and sarang in a practice room together. “i want to be yoojung when i grow up,” jinyoung had said then. the scene returns to ran, who’s smiling at her fellow judge as she speaks to jinyoung. “it’s clear that you’re a talented dancer. maybe the best we’ve seen today. but dancing alone isn’t enough to be like your idol. yoojung is a talented singer too. to be honest, you have a long way to go in that area.”
“i’m disappointed, to be honest,” bom speaks up, barely looking up from her notes at the young man she’s addressing. “you did better in practice. there’s no excuse for what you showed us on stage today. if you want to continue in this competition, you need to be much better.”
the humiliated contestant bows as he says his farewell to the judges, bright red in the face. even he doesn’t look satisfied with his performance.
“up next,” jian is the center of the screen again, smiling as she reads the name off her cue card, “MOON SAEA, our little sister.” the scene changes to saea in the practice room, first bickering with her actual brother cameron, then hanging out with stevie, calling hyejin ‘unnie’, and even pouting in the interview room rather cutely. children’s music plays in the background, painting the girl with a cute, childish image.
however, that childish image changes abruptly when she’s shown standing in front of the judges, seemingly more cool and collected than the playful girl they had already shown in practice. as soon as the music starts, the performer takes over. yoojung can be seen nodding approvingly at her performance and even jihun seems to be impressed, brows raised as he scribbles a note down in front of him.
“first of all, i want to say that you put on an excellent performance,” jihun’s praise has been increasingly rare for the duration of this show, so the other judges are shown with rather surprised expressions as he compliments saea. “i think you already know and bom will likely say more than me on it but your singing still needs work. still, you held your own. learning these things in such a short time is difficult but you proved today it’s far from impossible.”
“you’re doing well at rap,” j-yoon adds as well. “is this your first time practicing and performing it? i think with practice and training, you might have a future in it. i’m excited to see what you’re capable of in the future.”
“we’re getting closer to last week’s number one,” jian takes over again as the show transitions to the next contestant. “next to perform for our judges is MATTHEW LUONG.”
“i’m very grateful for being ranked in the top ten, let alone the top five,” matthew’s voice is played over a scene of him in the waiting room, anxiously anticipating his turn. “i just was worried that i was going to let people down.” a shot of him approaching the stage is cut off by a practice room scene, matthew attempting to sing the song perhaps for the first time. it’s clear that he’s not yet a vocalist, making many mistakes during his attempt. “i don’t know if i want to go for the first place spot,” his voice is heard again, “i’m so nervous that i’m just going to disappoint everyone.”
the scene cuts back to matthew on stage, the judges staring at him expectantly. as the music begins, so does his performance. while his voice doesn’t compare to some of the stronger vocalists in the competition, he’s not all that bad and his top five spot isn’t undeserved. he seems to lose a bit of strength as the performance wraps up, and yoojung’s sharp eye is sure to catch that. the camera focuses on the judge after the music ends.
“how long have you been practicing singing?” yuna is the first to speak up despite the initial focus on yoojung. “was this your first time performing it seriously? you did a good job,” she smiles as she praises the contestant. “it was fun to watch you. it looked like you were genuinely enjoying your time on stage and as an audience member, that makes such a difference. i hope you continue to love performing. that will take you farther in this industry than anything.”
“your voice needs work,” bom can never seem to just give a compliment. “but you improved a lot in a short time. you need to work on your control and pitch. keep this in mind.” her words are short but at least they don’t seem as harsh as she’s been on others.
matthew is dismissed and the next contestant is called to the stage, announced by jian with another glowing smile. ZHOU AREN RENYI is looking rather pale in the face as he stands before the judges. “i know that people expect a lot because i was ranked so high. but truthfully, i don’t know why i’m ranked so high,” ren’s voice is played over a zoomed-in clip of his trembling hands.
“are you nervous, renyi?” jihun speaks before the performance begins. the camera just zooms in on the boy’s nervous face as an answer.
renyi’s performance begins. there’s obvious mistakes, he stops singing at one point entirely, and bom is seen scowling and writing notes down. ran leans forward in her seat, brows creased in concern. the judges all saw potential in this contestant; they just hope that he can live up to it. and in parts, he does. his expressions are good despite the obvious nerves, even biting down on his lip as the camera catches his face just right. but perhaps most surprising is when he stops dancing entirely near the end, instead singing the high note with full strength. bom’s brows raise in a way that’s hard to tell if it’s a good or bad thing. he continues the dance for the last bit and all the judges scribble something in front of them.
“you made an… interesting choice,” ran puts it more nicely than some of the other judges might have as they begin their verbal evaluation of renyi. “i understand that you’re not very experienced as a performer yet. but halting your dance so you could sing… it’s something that we incorporate into choreography for main vocalists at times, though it wasn’t part of this routine.”
“others were able to sing and dance during that part just fine,” bom’s harsh critique doesn’t soften for the clearly nervous boy, though perhaps she’s not as mean as she could be. “if you want to keep up in this competition, you should try to mimic the good parts of your peers and be better than their flaws. i’m not sure we saw a top three performance from you today.”
when renyi bows, he lurches forward, falling to a knee as he loses strength. immediately, all six of the judges spring to their feet. “are you alright?” yuna calls out to the boy as yoojung tries to escape the judges’ table to help the contestant to his feet. however, ren excuses himself and skitters away before anyone can reach him. “can someone go check on him?” yuna asks the staff. someone follows renyi out to make sure that he’s unhurt.
the judges still look somewhat unnerved by the nearly collapsed contestant when jian is announcing the next one up to perform, JUNG JOOMI. “his skillset is similar to renyi’s,” jihun points out, a small frown still on his face. unspoken worry seems to mingle through the group of judges.
it seems that the boys also have similarities in temperament as well and the scene changes to a practice room, captions explaining that this is the first day of practice for the mission. joomi is crying, stevie comforting him as best as he can. “i honestly… i didn’t know i could sing before coming on here,” his voice is played over the shot before it transitions to him in the interview room looking at anything but the eye of the camera. “i’m not confident but i’m glad i made it through.”
joomi’s performance is… well, it’s hard to say it’s anything close to good. his dance is a mess, his voice falters for the energy put into dancing, and overall it’s rather a disappointing performance from the second place winner. there’s a long silence between when the music ends and the judges start to verbalize their evaluation of the contestant.
finally, bom is the first to speak. and despite her harsh reputation, her words seem to be a bit softer. “i feel like we should apologize to you, joomi,” she holds the microphone with both hands as she looks directly at the contestant. “you’re a very talented singer but second place put a lot of pressure on you. i don’t think you were ready for that pressure. and we didn’t see the singer we all fell in love with today. i’m sorry for that, too.”
ran’s lips press tightly together as if she’s struggling to find the words as she raises her microphone as well. “today’s performance wasn’t good. but i’m sure you already know,” she has to be honest with him though it seems that the judges are treating him more gently than they’ve treated others. some contestants require tough love, some require gentle encouragement. “i hope you feel proud of what you’ve learned in the meantime. i think you have a lot to learn and a long way to go but i think you can get there eventually. we’re cheering for you, joomi!” she raises her fist in a silent fighting! and yoojung, j-yoon, yuna, and even jihun do the same to encourage the boy in front of them.
as joomi leaves the stage, jihun sighs. “that was a shame,” he sinks in his seat a bit. “i think you hit the nail on the head, bom. we put too much pressure on him before he was ready. part of developing talent is knowing when and where to apply the right amount of pressure.”
“our final contestant is our number one place,” jian takes over the screen and transforms the dull mood into something more anticipatory, more exciting. “please welcome to the stage our defending first-place, OH HAEIN!”
the girl’s smiling face is seen bright and cheery as she takes her place on the stage. jihun straightens up again and the rest of the judges shake off their dreary moods to watch with rapt attention. this is the defending champion, the most anticipated performance of the episode. next gen’s ace, the captions claim as clips of haein helping other contestants learn and perform their skills play across the screen. she seems adept in everything she does. the editing really hypes up her upcoming performance.
without making the audience wait too much longer, haein is shown again in front of the judges, the music starting. unlike some of the last contestants who didn’t live up to their placement, haein does. she smiles through her performance, she seems to shine on stage. the judges are thoroughly engrossed in the performance, watching closely and even forgetting to write down any notes as they simply enjoy the song and dance despite seeing it over twenty times already.
as the music comes to a close, the six judges give the contestant a small round of applause.
“as expected of our first-place,” yuna smiles into her microphone like a proud mother. “haein, you’re a very talented performer. any critique we have is relatively minor, which is a huge compliment to you and your abilities. i would just say to mind your expressions a little better. you were smiling but i’m not sure you were engaged the entire time. don’t forget the audience in front of you. they’re the ones you’re performing for.”
“we had a lot of talented performers today,” jihun cautions, “i’m not sure if you can maintain your number one position and be our female center but you’ve certainly made it a difficult decision for us. great work today. we’ll be excited to see your next performance.”
with that, the last contestant is dismissed and the judges are tasked with ranking all of the performers from first to last yet again. their discussion starts, clips of them moving photos around and commenting on various performances playing while tense music plays in the background.
finally, all of the contestants are called to the stage to reveal the rankings and centers for the mcountdown performance. “first, we want to congratulate all of you on completing the mission successfully and safely,” jian addresses all of the participants with a smile. “as much as we’d like to award all of you for a job well done, the judges do have to rank you accordingly and pick our centers. please turn your attention to the screen.”
on a large television screen at the back of the stage, the rankings are revealed one by one, starting by counting down from the top fifteen until they get to number five. then, ranks sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty are revealed. six contestants remain, five of them at the top, and the remaining in dead last. one by one, five, four, three, and two are revealed until just first and last place are left. both ranks are revealed at the same time.
“congratulations to SAEA and JUNHO, our official centers!” jian announces the rankings. time is given for the contestants to react to the news and congratulate the winners before the show continues. the contestants are told that the entire group will be performing on mcountdown next thursday, march 9th, and that some of their practice this week will be devoted to running the routine as a group and nailing down the blocking for the various parts. all contestants will record the male or female parts in full and the final song will be released for digital download on the same day as their performance.
“and of course, we have to introduce your next mission as well,” jian smiles at the contestants while the screen on stage changes from their rankings to a title card that reads teamwork evaluation. “you’ve shown us the talents you’re most confident in already but so far, all of our missions have been independent. we want to test how you work together in a team. our judges have split you into six groups based on what they feel your strongest skill is. this evaluation will be our first elimination round with two teams of the same skill going head to head. the winning team will be safe from elimination while the losing team will risk sending some of their members home.”
each team is announced and the songs they’re expected to perform introduced to them. jian explains that they’ll continue to have lessons with the coaches and that bom, j-yoon, and yoojung will be staying on the program as skill coaches for the remainder of the season.
“good luck to all of our contestants! remember, we’re looking at you to be the next generation of kpop. show us that you can shine!” the main theme of the show begins playing again as the episode ends.
