It all starts with a drone shot of Seoul Arts High School, followed by the School of Performing Arts, and then Hanlim Multi Art High School. Unlike the previews seasons, these were the locations where the first round of auditions took place for the fifth season of the Mnet Global Auditions. Different news articles appear on top of the images talking about how this season is expected to be the biggest of them all and with a new format that’ll bring bag some highlights from the previews seasons as well. It’s right after that they show what appears to be an infinity of people confirming their presence inside the three different schools. Flashes of hopefuls auditioning go by the screen — singers, dancers, rappers — but it’s sped up, and when you can’t distinguish their faces any longer, the screen turns black.
There is color again when a new building is revealed. It is, actually, the old building home of the preview auditions, the CJ&M Building. The difference is that it is empty now with the lack of hopefuls standing right outside the door. Next is the image of an empty meeting room, and the public could already make their correct assumptions of who would be walking inside.
One by one, the CEOs of the Big 5 entertainment companies make their way inside the room. The image freezes when they walk inside so that they can be properly introduced with their name written below them in a pretty font. They’re Hyun Bin, who is in charge of Nova, So Jisub, who is in charge of Royal, Katie Lee, who is in charge of KT, Tiger JK, who is in charge of TRC, and Baek Jiyoung, who is in charge of Sphere. Each of them has their own seat at the table, and once the exciting song playing in the background fades away, the people are able to listen to the silence in the room.
“It’s a new season already.” Tiger JK comments, rotating his chair so he can look at all of the other CEOs. “That’s right.” Katie Lee replies with one of her sly smiles. “How many auditions will we have to watch today?” It’s Baek Jiyoung who asks, but all five of them are paying attention. One of the staff members notifies them there will be 100 contestants for them to get to know, and while some of them aren’t too obvious, the CEOs don’t appear too happy with this information. “Let’s get it over with then.” Hyun Bin hits the end of his pen against the table so that its end will pop off and then opens the file they were given.
Just as quickly, the scenes from the auditions return until they’re back to the schools, observing who will be the first one to appear. “Yo!” An excited man exclaims. It’s LEE HOHYEON giving the camera a grin. “My name is Lee Hohyeon,” as he spoke, he tapped the tag with his name on it. “It’s right here in case you forget it.” So Jisub slight shakes his head. “Did he just say ‘Yo’? Is this really how we’ll start this?” Followed by him, it’s KIM SEUNGMIN, who appears imitating different animals, including a pig, a cow, and a horse. “Oh my god, sorry, that was so embarrassing. I’ll just move onto the yo-yo.” While the boy prepares for his yo-yo tricks, Hyun Bin laughs a bit. “Does that mean the yo-yo isn’t supposed to be embarrassing?”
This is followed by a brief cut of their main skill performances, the first a rapper, and the second a singer. The CEOs who had commented before simply nod their head. They show a dancer next, LEE CHAERYEONG, who dances fiercely to her chosen song. After she’s done, the girl opens a smile. “She’s good,” Jiyoung says and the others nod in agreement. “Hello, I’m CHOI YOONA. I’m going to be performing a song I wrote.” So Jisub settles back on his chair. “She does look like a singer, doesn’t she?” Except, the girl starts to rap. Tiger JK chuckles in his seat. “I like her.” Hyun Bin looks at him for confirmation. “Do you?” And the other nods while his eyes keep focused on the screen.
“Hello, my name is JEON HEEJIN. Thank you for seeing me today.” She’s a singer, and her tone is clear. Katie Lee can’t hold herself but to exclaim. “The girls really are better this season, aren’t they?” A few other short clips are shown of HWANG YEJI, JO YURI, and ZHOU JIEQIONG. It’s the time to show a few of the more impressive boys. KIM HYOJIN is the selected singer between them, filling the small meeting room with his voice and the emotional song. PARK WOOJIN goes strong with his dance routine, showing a bit of a flip in the mood of the room. When his performance is cut, they show SEO CHANGBIN who raps along to his chosen song. “He modified the lyrics.” Hyun Bin points out, which then cuts to So Jisub saying something to Katie Lee. “Don’t you think the boys are doing pretty well, too?” The woman shakes her head slightly. “No.” And so the man nods without wanting to push on. “Okay.”
Some other shorter clips are aired as well of CHWE HANSOL, TAKADA KENTA, and YOON JEONGHAN. They let go of the interesting performances back to the parts that could make people question their decisions. “Why would he do that?” Baek Jiyoung asks while KANG HYUNGGU is showing putting a piece of lemon inside his mouth. The boy chews it apparently without a bother, but anyone who attempted such thing before would remember their regret. A cute girl appears on the screen saying something in japanese as her special skill. “Isn’t she japanese?” Tiger JK questions it, looking down at the file with KATO KOKORO’s name on it. “Why would speaking in your mother language be a special skill?”
There are a few more cuts of people’s chosen skills. KIM SEUNGHUN says he can kick the jegi 30 times without dropping it as it shows on his form, but after two kicks the object falls on the floor followed by the boy, who falls along with an accidental leg split. “Tada!” YANG JEONGIN exclaims as he reveals his hands had tiny clothes in them and then proceeds to dance but only with his fingers. KIM YEWON pulls a pack of tarot cards from inside her sleeve and then takes out the first card. “The Hanged Man.” She says and when they show the CEOs once again, they appear to be at a loss.
What follows is RYU HWAYOUNG and LEE NAKYUNG, both playing the piano. KIM WOOJIN, LEE JENO, and HUANG GUANHENG decide to go with a guitar. When SHIN YUNA appears, Hyun Bin widens his eyes slightly with the change of pace. “It’s not just a guitar now. It’s also electric.”
“Is this the last one?” Baek Jiyoung asks and one of the staff members confirms it. All of the CEOs exclaim at the same time. After 99 hopefuls, it was finally time to bring this meeting to an end. “Please show us a good one.” Katie Lee requests and so a boy appears on the screen. “Good morning!” He says with a peppy voice. When the song starts playing, he looks up with a grin. During the choreography, the boy shoots a heart at the camera. The lyrics are fitting for a show like this, and when he sings ‘hey you, hey you, hey pick me’, Katie Lee turns to Jiyoung to ask for his name. “It’s LEE SUWOONG.” When the song ends, he kisses his fingers and throws out a final heart.
The staff members are the one who starts clapping in commemoration of the end of this recording. Slowly, the CEOs get the energy to clap as well. “But they don’t even know what’ll happen, right?” Jisub asks and Tiger JK nods in return before speaking. “We don’t even know what’ll happen.” And the start of his laughter is cut because while this is done, the episode still has a lot to show.
So the screen shows something else now. It’s a brand new set, prepared for this special season. Words announce that from all the people who signed up, only 100 will be able to take on this stage today, but not all of them will leave as MGA contestants. The seating is divided with 50 on each side of the stage, and as the hopefuls arrive, they start to choose where to seat. Some come and sit together, while others are taking on this new adventure by themselves.
One of the contestants is shown in his interview, one of the new features of the show. He tilts his head, mouthing a big and silent ‘woah’. “Am I really here?” It’s KIM SEUNGHUN who speaks, and they split the screen into two to compare his true expression when walking inside and his attempt at imitating it. “That’s what I asked myself.” It’s a girl next, MIYAWAKI SAKURA. “I just remember this feeling of delirium. It’s definitely exciting to be here.” The editing team makes sure to show her entering in the set as well to show off how people were impressed by it. Except for one person, it seems. “Ah, isn’t it a bit much?” JO YURI asks, clicking her tongue and shaking her head.
Two boys are shown walking in together, KIM YUGYEOM and KANG HYUNGGU. They part ways when they get to the stage, though, one heading to the right side and the other to the left. “We agreed to sit on the right side of the stage.” Hyunggu, the one who went to the right, says during his interview. “When I sat down he was nowhere to be found?” When Yugyeom realizes his mistakes, the boy runs over to the place he had agreed to go. “It was so dumb.”
The camera then shows more people arriving. This time, those who had watched the show before may recognize some of them. JANG MOONBOK, SOHN YOUNGJAE, and WANG JACKSON are shown as examples of previews contestants who were the show another shot. “I don’t really understand what all these previous contestants are doing here.” It’s only a voice-over for the time being before they show you a girl you’ve probably never seen before. “I think… there are other people who could be using this opportunity, you know?” LEE NAKYUNG shares her piece of mind before the scene shakes and changes.
It shows KANG DANIEL walking inside, this time together with four other men. When the scene changes again, it’s to a previous setting. “I’m Kang Daniel. SNU student, former MGA contestant, and much more.” He smiles to the camera back on the first round of auditions. “What brought you back to the MGAs?” They ask him. “Can I say unfinished business?” The boy laughs. “Last time, it was just me and Sungwoon, but this year we’re bringing along some friends: the rest of our band, Empty Enigma.” The editing team shows scenes of the boy in the previews season, followed by the intense sound of what people usually associate with a metal band.
“We all performed under stage names and didn’t tell a soul who the people behind the band were. We still haven’t, really, until now. This is our grand reveal. This is our grand reveal. Surprise!” He throws his hands up for a moment. The one who appears next is the one in the same situation as him. “My major is crop science and biotechnology.” HA SUNGWOON says the words with easy and it doesn’t take too long for it to be compared to his speech from the previous season which was weirdly close to what the said. “What bring you back to the show?” They ask him as well. “I was eliminated?” He replies and tries to hold back a laugh. The screen continues split, and when the past shows his height being crossed out from 170cm to 167, this year he decided to go with 167.5cm instead.
The five men are sat down now all next to each other on their chairs. TAKADA KENTA, the one sitting in the middle, is the one to speak. “Oh my god, it’s Joohyun!” The camera zooms in on another previews contestant, BAE JOOHYUN. Kenta places a hand over his chest. “Ah, I’m starstruck!” And the editing team makes sure to place two arrows over the heads of the people sitting beside him, the two previous MGA contestants just like the girl herself. Unlike the other two, it’s already her third time on the show. She takes a seat close to them.
While the people keep arriving, Joohyun leans forward to talk to Daniel. “It’s going to be MGA8 by the time this is over.” He laughs. “MGA10. You gonna be on that one too?” And she pushes him. As it seems, previous contestants are not where the line stops. The next person to arrive is none other than CHOI MINHO, previously known as ROMEO, the ex-member of Sphere’s latest boy group, CONVEX. Scenes of their debut music video appear on the screen, followed by the news of the member’s departure. While rumors said it was because of a dating scandal, the official news only said it was due to personal reasons.
The camera shows some of the other people’s surprised expressions as he walks in, but, during his interview, the man doesn’t appear to be too worried or too serious. “I gotta say it feels a lot different from the last time I was doing this.” For those who forgot, and for those who didn’t watch, they show a few scenes of the man on the second season. “I gotta ask though… with all these chairs… any chance of playing musical chairs later?”
Finally, all of the hopefuls have arrived, and it’s time for the only 5 remaining seats to be taken. Instead, we return to the initial room, the small one with five people in it. “But they don’t even know what’ll happen, right?” So Jisub asks, except now Katie Lee who speaks right after. “So they don’t know we’ll be the judges?”
There’s an exciting song playing and, slowly, one by one the CEOs make their way onto their seats, the 100 hopefuls cheering for their entrance. The camera zooms in on KIM MYUNGSOO who has his jaw dropped, followed by NAM JOOHYUK who sports a similar expression. “I thought I was nervous before they walked in?” CHONG TINGYAN comments during her interview. “It got so much more intense! I noticed Hyun Bin-ssi looked really handsome.”
It’s CHOI YEWON who’s on the screen now. “Can I say my heart stopped? They were all so impressive, especially Hyun Bin oppa. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.” Suddenly, it’s a relay of compliments. “Hyun Bin is as handsome as ever? How is that even possible?” HWANG YEJI says before it changes to someone else. “Hyun Bin is so handsome!” It’s KIM SEUNGHUN, the male representative in this Hyun Bin fan club. “This is not nice to say, but I hope they never film me next to him.” The popular CEO is shown seated, hearts floating around his head after all this show of affection.
The crowd is calmed again, and the camera focuses on Katie Lee this time, the one sitting in the center of the five. “Welcome, all, to the first episode of the Mnet Global Audition Season 5.” She pauses briefly for applause before continuing. “You’ll each have the chance to perform once on the stage in order to impress us, the judges, and secure your spot on the show. I wish you the best of luck and let us start.”
A girl makes her way to the center of the stage. She’s about to become the first performance to be aired on this season. “Hello, lovely CEOs,” she greets. “I’m JO YURI, and I’m… very excited to get to perform in front of all of you today. I hope you enjoy.” Heavy drums and brass come through the sound system, starting off the season with a big impact. It’s a song straight from a musical, declaring that anything the people were going to show after her, she could do better. She holds a long note and the CEOs look content. As one of the examples shown before between the talented girls of the season, Yuri puts what she’s worth to be judged.
“Hello, I’m SHIN RYUJIN. I will dance and rap for you today.” It’s another girl next, and if the song she’s chosen isn’t known to most, it is most certainly known by one of the judges. Choosing one of Tiger JK’s songs to perform in front of him is risky, but it’s not like she could have known. She’s followed by LEE JAEYOON, who shows off his vocals, followed by KIM WOOJIN, who sings and plays his electric guitar at the same time. MYOUI MINA also chooses to sing, as well as CHOU TZUYU.
JUNG EUNJI makes her way to the stage. “I did debut, but it didn’t go well.” She says during her first interview and lets out a laugh. “You probably haven’t even heard of the group’s name, it was so bad. We never made it to music shows. I thought it was over after that, but a friend convinced me to give it another shot. So here I am.” She shrugs, and suddenly we’ve returned to the stage. Now, she only keeps her head down for a moment before her chin raises high, a powerful walk to kickstart her powerful performance.
It’s a tough act to follow, and the next performances pass by quickly. There’s HUANG GUANHENG, KIM SEOKJIN, and the tarot card reader, KIM YEWON. Soon, comes LEE CHAERYEONG, one of the people the CEOs had their eye on previously. She dances excitedly to one of the more complex girl group songs. There isn’t too much time for the performance to get boring because, out of nowhere, the song changes into a new one by a boy group, giving her a new and intense concept.
“Hello!” A new hopeful wiggles her fingers in a greeting smile youthful and bright. “My name is HEO YOORIM.” Baek Jiyoung turns to the man beside her, Tiger JK, to comment something while the girl gets ready. “She’s tall, isn’t she?” And the other can’t help but agree. Written on her profile is 174cm, the tallest girl in the competition. She performs a mashup of two powerful songs, showing what she got. YOON JEONGHAN takes on the stage next. He chose a powerful ballad, and while it contrasts with the other performances so far, it’s a good change of pace between some of the kids who tried to appear cool.
Next is a man who introduces himself as KANG YEOSANG. “I prepared a song written about a good friend of mine. Thank you.” He starts by singing the emotional song done by himself, but, once the first few verses are over, he shows that he can rap as well. There’s a serious expression on his face when he’s done which quickly shifts into a grin a few seconds later. The rest of the contestants clap, and the camera zooms on KIM SIHYEON while she wipes her eyes and cheers for the boy she had been sitting beside.
A few other performances go by. “Why does it feel like the last five people couldn’t do anything right?” Hyun Bin asks while there’s a collage of dancers tripping and singer forgetting their lyrics or missing a note. There’s a tired look on the CEO faces, as anyone should be feeling having to sit there for so long. “Please, send us some help.” Baek Jiyoung exclaims just in time for the next performance.
“Hello! I’m SONG YUQI,” she says with a smile. “I hope I can make you smile today!” And she does so. Her song choice is an old american hip hop hit but it’s exactly what was needed to bring the mood back up. If that wasn’t enough, the one who comes next will certainly cheer you up. CHOI YEWON decided to prepare a cheer routine for her performance. While she does her neat gestures and tricks, the lyrics are dedicated to her dream company, Nova. “Who’s gonna make Yewon a star? Nova!” It’s enough to make the CEO of the company grin. A small flashback reminds the public of Yewon being one of the people who complimented Hyun Bin at the start of the show, so she should be happy with such achievement.
It’s a boy’s turn now, his name announced once, but after no response, they say it again. “WATANABE HARUTO.” Someone raises a hand from the seats, exclaiming “Ah, over here.” The screen takes you back in time to when people are still arriving at their seats and the camera pays attention to the boy when he says “I can do it” in japanese. He leans forward, doing something to his feet, but the camera isn’t able to capture it until it’s his time to perform. The boy struggles to get down the stairs because he’s wearing skates on his feet. “This is one of my old routines.” When the song starts to play, he shows impressive skills as he controls the skates almost perfectly. It’s truly not until he’s done that things go downhill.
Haruto kept bowing and waving while he returned to his seat, but the boy wasn’t nearly paying enough attention to where he was going. So, the boy falls off the stage, and all the eyes on the move in his direction to see what’s going on. “Is he ok?!” JANG MOONBOK asks from his seat before the screen shows some other people laughing at the situation, such as KIM SEOKJIN and LEE HOHYEON. “Didn’t he fall on his first audition, too?” So Jisub points out and it was true. The editing team makes sure to show the public as the boy trips simply by walking before. “I’m okay!” He says in the present, and successfully makes his way to his seat.
This leads to a new montage, highlighting some of the trips and other situations of the day. They show IM YOONA as she falls on her way to the stage instead of after she was done. HA SUNGWOON appears to struggle as he takes a keyboard he brought from home all the way to his chosen seat. It’s CHOI YENA who wins the prize, however. She does trip, but once her arms are moving forward to catch herself, the girl turns it into a somersault and lands safely on the stage. “Good day, y’all! My name is Choi Yena and I’m here to entertain!” The girl came prepared with a dance routine, all while she sang along to the English lyrics. It’s a toll on her voice at some points, but her role there was to entertain.
KIM HYOJIN walks over to the center of the stage, this time without anyone falling. “Ah, hello, I’m 21 years old Kim Hyojin,” and he holds up two fingers on one hand and one finger on the other with a soft smile. He appears next seated so he can play more properly play the guitar and his girl group song mixed with the american song lives up to the expectations. Who comes next is JEON HEEJIN who, just like Hyojin, had been used as an example before. “I’ll be singing for you today. I hope you enjoy.” She chooses to play the guitar as well, singing along to a sweet song.
A few more performances pass by briefly, including the ones by LEE KIKWANG, KIM SEUNGMIN, LEE JENO, and LEE COCO. One of the people who were already shown comes next, KIM SIHYEON. “Hi, do you see me? I’m Sia Kim!” She tries to make a play in words. “Hopefully today, I’ll be able to show you something different than what you’ve seen of me.” The chosen song is strong and energetic, and the girl sings in confidently. “I wanted to show a different part of myself,” Sihyeon says during her interview. “I hope the CEOs can see that.” LEE SEOYEON appears after, singing a song herself. She puts a lot of effort in her singing, and overall delivers a solid performance.
Coming next, it’s a foreigner with a cute appearance. “MIYAWAKI SAKURA. From Australia!” She says excitedly. While she starts her song by singing, the girl surprising delivers the rap portion which is most of it. She takes a bow when she’s down and waves at the CEOs and other contestants before leaving. It’s a good wake-up call not to judge a book by its cover, something they had already done before. “Hello, I’m CHOI YOONA.” Says the, now, known rapper. “The piece I’m going to perform for you today is a little something I wrote and produced. I hope you enjoy.” The lyrics are what is expected for a show like this, and the beat keeps you moving while you listen to it. “Thank you, again.” The girl says before leaving, her role there asserted.
The one who stands on stage now is another rapper, this time one you’ve actually seen before. “Hello, I am JANG MOONBOK! I hope I’ll leave a better impression on everyone this year.” The scene changes back to the first round of auditions during the boy’s interview. “It was very embarrassing to be eliminated when I was. I want to showcase how much I have improved since then.” He performs a song made by himself, moving across the stage as he does so. SOHN YOUNGJAE goes next, nodding to each CEO before introducing himself. He shows off a dance performance, trying to renew the image of him
“Hi, I’m KANG DANIEL.” Says the next contestant with a smile. “You may remember me. If not, hopefully, you will from now on,” and he leans away from the mic to adjust it, quickly returning once he realizes something. “For good reasons, I hope.” He laughs before introducing his original song. Daniel plays his guitar while he sings meaningful lyrics. The performance order goes on with the rest of the band, this time showing the other famous member. “Hello, my name is HA SUNGWOON. I didn’t think we would meet again so soon.” The same keyboard he had struggled to bring is assembled in front of him, and the boy uses it to assist his performance.
There are three others to still truly reveal themselves. They show TAKADA KENTA first, and as most aspiring dancers think like, he chooses to perform a Jun song. HWANG MINHYUN is the fourth, singing and dancing to a popular song, and even sparing some time to shoot a heart at the female judges. It’s the fifth one that may ring a new bell from the showcased hopefuls at the start. “Hello, I’m PARK WOOJIN,” he bows. “Please enjoy my performance.” He gets to not only show off his dancing skills but that he can sing as well. They clap as he leaves, completing the band pack.
Some more hopefuls get their brief spotlight such as RYU HWAYOUNG, KATO KOKORO, and CHONG TINGYAN, followed by KIM HYUNJUNG, YANG JEONGIN, and MOON TAEIL. A girl takes the center stage, a coat covering the outfit she’s wearing below it. “Hello! My name is LEE NAKYUNG! Thank you for having me here.” She bows down to the judges and before she signalizes that she’s ready, she takes off her coat, throwing it to the side. Beneath it is a red sequin dress, one that matches the theme of her song. She dances energetically throughout the song, sings along to the lyrics and only stopping for the dance break. The ending pose is the same as the start and the girl needs to shamely walk over to pick up her coat before returning to her seat.
“Hello, I’m KIM YUGYEOM.” The next performer introduces himself. He’s a dancer and shows an exciting and upbeat routine. His friend goes next, KANG HYUNGGU, and he’s a dancer as well. It’s a different vibe, but still exciting and upbeat following his chosen popular song. After him comes SHIN YUNA, this time with something rather unique. “I’ll be performing ‘Baby Shark’. Are you ready to be dazzled?” And that is exactly what she does, albeit a trap remix of the original children song. She’s a dancer like the two before her, and, after she’s done, Hyunggu appears again during his interview. “Can I be frank?” He starts. “I wouldn’t say it was terrible, but I hated it. And… it was terrible.” It’s the girl’s turn now, about to receive the news of the comment. “So we got a quote from your cousin, Kang Hyunggu, and he said that he hated your performance.” Yuna automatically looks annoyed. “Hyunggu oppa said that? He says that I was terrible. He should recheck his prescription because his performance wasn’t all that either.”
DO KYUNGSOO takes over the stage now, violin in hand. “I hope you enjoy the song.” The first portion of the song is played on the instrument, and then, for the rest, he settles his violin aside and sings to the lyrics of the song. “Thank you,” he said after his performance was finished. “For being my audience.” Then, with another bow, he leaves the stage. Another few performances pass by starring BANG CHAN, LEE JINKYUNG, and HAN JISUNG. The next one up is a girl, the one most commonly known on the show.
It’s BAE JOOHYUN, who uses her bass like she did the previous season to perform her song of choice. If she’s the one known, then the one who comes next could be considered a celebrity and, well, once he was. “I’m gonna bring you with me on a journey I took a few years ago. Since we’re gonna dive right into my personal life, I’m gonna make myself at home.” CHOI MINHO opens an antique chest, clothes spilling off of it. He moves along to the song, simple things that go along with the song. After he’s done, the man sits in front of the camera for his interview. “I just wanna let the people know it’s a song about my past. I promise I’m not lonely anymore.” He laughs.
“I’m LEE SUWOONG.” The boy greets, both of his hands clasping at the microphone. “It’s the ‘ei ei’ kid.” Tiger JK makes sure to comment while the boy bows to the judges. At first, his performance appears normal, but in only a few second his chosen song turns into a trot version of itself, gaining a few surprised looks from the audience as well as some more grins from the CEOs. “Hope everyone enjoyed it!” He says excitedly before leaving the stage. “He’s something else.” Baek Jiyoung comments as he leaves.
PARK JINYOUNG goes next. He chooses to perform a song originally performed by a girl, but he still makes it work. He’s not the only one to do so. JUNG HOSEOK decides to go with the debut song Royal’s latest girl group instead of a soloist. On the opposite side of the same coin, YU SUA decides to perform a song by a boy group. NA JAEMIN introduces himself before his performance, a cover of one of the many hit songs by Brave Girls, but rearrange on his own style.
Next, YOO TAEYANG appears, introducing himself briefly. “Hello, my name is Yoo Taeyang and I’ll dance for you today.” It’s about the third Bruno Mars song so far, but it never seems to be enough. “Hi I’m KIM SEUNGHUN and I’ll be singing a song I rearranged for you today, so please watch me well.” It’s one of the songs originally sung by Raehwan, and since the boy decided to only sing for his performance, he managed to show his skills well.
A man takes on the stage, KIM MYUNGSOO, and he chooses to use his guitar for the performance, tapping the instrument on the off-beats to create a steady rhythm. “Hello, I’m SEO CHANGBIN from Seoul. Usually… hm… I seem like a quiet person,” he pauses for a moment. “But if you open your ears wide I think you’ll be able to see past that.” Unlike the image he described, the boy puts on a good performance with an exciting song as his choice to rap.
PARK JUNHEE chooses a recent american song, charming people with his voice. “It’s true. I’m a sucker for you.” He ends his performance with a wink at the judges and a grunt can be captured from Katie Lee’s microphone. SON HYEJOO chooses to introduce herself in korean before doing it again in japanese, explaining that she was born in the foreign country. It doesn’t take too long for her bubbly personality to disappear and a new, stronger image taking over her as the young girl shows that her strongest skill is rapping. KIM MINKYUNG goes next, and this time the girl keeps up with the image. She puts on a tiara with little LED lights spelling ‘princess’ on her head.
“I’m NAM JOOHYUK, born in London and raised from around this neighborhood.” The man introduces himself with charm, and his song choice is a nice one to listen after all the ups and downs from the day. I'm CHWE HANSOL’s turn next. “The song I’ve prepared is a song that I wrote and composed. Please listen to it kindly.” It goes along well with the previous song, and people at home can enjoy it as it deserves. The next person to be called receives a couple of widened eyes. The boy, WONG YUKHEI, had decided to attend his audition with a crop top and fishnets that could be seen up to his waist above the ripped pants he was wearing.
The starting position is laying down on the floor. “Is this supposed to be a sexy performance?” Hyun Bin asks and the man beside him, So Jisub, replies to him as soon as the song starts. “Ah, I think it is.” The original song performed by the famous now-soloist makes everyone look at the boy performing, sirens playing across the set. Next up is a girl, KIM JUNGEUN, who dances with an attitude to the american song. At some point in the choreography, she lets her hair out of its bun which adds some next-level effect.
Leaning closer to the end of the episode, one of the last girls is ZHOU JIEQIONG. “I prepared something today that’s hopefully a little different, so hopefully you’ll like.” She had chosen to show a ballet performance, and most probably believe that would be the sole idea of her performance, but before long the girl starts to change into different styles, kicking her pointe shoes out of the way. By the time she’s done, more than one person was impressed. “Hey man, I’m Jooyong,” KIM JOOYONG starts casually, hand raising up to match his greeting. “I… want to take you on this musical journey.” It’s a smooth smashup that allows the man to keep up with his image as well as show off his skills.
WANG JACKSON decides to use his guitar for his performance, playing along to a pop song except with an acoustic version. LEE HOHYEON decides to go with the original song as it is, dancing to one of the more recent songs of the year. To finish it all off, there’s HWANG YEJI, one of the dancers mentioned previously. “Thank you for your time,” she says kindly before the start of her performance. It’s a song you wouldn’t normally expect from such a cute girl like her, but she has a charisma to herself that leaves some impressed.
There is text on the screen that notifies the public that, indeed, that was the last of them. The camera pans over some of the hopefuls faces to show the sight of nervousness before Tiger JK takes the microphone for the next announcement and exactly the one they were all dreading. “This may be only the first episode of the show, but we notified all of you that after the performances were done, there would be an elimination.” Some decide to shift in their seat, but the CEO doesn’t change much his expression.
“There are 100 total people here who performed today in hopes of continuing their journey on this season of the Mnet Global Auditions. Right now, it’ll be the first time we’ll reveal exactly how many of you will move on.” The man takes another break so that the heavy air may become even heavier, and whoever was nervous could possibly start feeling dizzy by now. “From the 100 constants here, only 50 of you will move on to the rest of the competition.”
There’s a loud reaction from the people in front of him and Tiger JK settles down his microphone so that So Jisub may proceed. “We’ll reveal who will be continuing on the show right now.”
To see all the of this season’s contestants, click here!
The man announces each name in alphabetical order, so if your letter had already passed, you’d know you didn’t make it. Instead of having to hear the CEO say each of the names one by one, the show was edited so that an edit of all the confirmed contestant appeared on the screen while So Jisub’s voice was used as a voice-over, explaining what would be the first real challenge of the season.
And now, let’s see what’s in store for our second episode!
After the tiring first episode, the first challenge in store for the contestants will be one that’ll be sure to only leave those worthy of their spots in the competition. All 50 of them will be divided into three groups and fight in a battle of skill between singers, dancers, and rappers. They’ll each have a limit of 2 minutes to display a performance of their choice involving only their main skill. The groups were divided by what contestants wrote in their form, but this is the time to change if they’d like to.
Eliminations will be made appropriately. There are more singers than dancers, and more dancers than rappers, meaning eliminations will be balanced to fit this ratio. If a contestant believes they may have a better chance at a skill differently to the one they listed, they may ask to change categories. IC, they would have needed to make their decision until before they left the set for the recording of the first episode, but OOC you may have until midnight of tomorrow, June 30th, to submit your change request to rkevent. In case you’d like to stay in the same category, you do not need to notify us.
All contestants are supposed to make their own way to the recording studio prepared specially for this episode. The set will be the same as before and will look something close to this. On each side, 25 chairs will be prepared for the contestants to sit on and watch each other’s performances. Just because most eyes will be on the performance doesn’t mean no one will be paying attention to you. A set of cameras will have their lenses ready to capture any sort of interesting reaction from those watching (beware of the evil editing) while a couple more will allow different angles of the main performance to be captured.
Sitting on the higher ground, much more comfortable chairs are lined in front of the stage — five in total. This is where the CEOs of each big company will be sitting to make sure only the most captivating contestants will continue their journey to make this the best season yet.
The start couldn’t have been more exciting. Welcome, everyone, to the MGA Season 5!
Tune in next Saturday, the 6th, for our second episode!
MGA Season 5 episode two preview: From 100 to 50, the contestants must now prove they have the skill to make it to the end. They’ll be judged based solely on their main skill, and those who do not make it to the CEOs expectations will be eliminated from the show! Did your favorite make it through the first episode? Who will make it until the end? Keep watching to find out!
[ None of the performances were aired in their entirety. Cuts from the show itself were uploaded to Mnet's Official Youtube Channel, but the full performances cannot be found else. ]
If you made it this far, either if you were eliminated on this episode or you’re continuing on this journey, you may add +3 POINTS IN A PERFORMANCE SKILL to your points tally. Make sure to link back to this post for verification.
Contestants have until midnight EST at the end of Friday, the 5th, to post their 200+ words solos about the skills challenge in front of the CEOs. Please tag all related posts with #rkmga5 and #rkmga5skill. They’ll have two minutes to perform their chosen skill to capture the attention of the CEOs (as long as it doesn’t break any laws). Good luck!
After the last performance is done, the CEOs will leave to discuss their thoughts privately. While this happens, the contestants will be taken one by one into a small room to be interviewed on their thoughts of the current state of things. They will be asked a variety of questions and some may be included in the list found below! Feel free to come up with your own questions if you think they can be fitting.
What did you think of the results last week?
Who do you think is the best under each skill?
How do you think you did?
Were there any performances you liked?
Were there any performances you didn’t like?
What did you think of ___’s performance?
Is there anyone you are certain will move onto the next phase of the MGAs?
Is there anyone you are certain will be eliminated today?
Once they’re done, they’ll be taken back to their seat to wait, or may go to the bathroom if needed.
You may write an extra 200+ words solo about your muse’s interview, as explained above, to also be posted until midnight EST at the end of Friday, the 5th. For doing so, you may earn +2 CHARISMA OR CREATIVITY POINTS and these can be added to your points tally as soon as it is posted. Please tag all related posts with #rkmga5 and #rkmga5skill. Please link this post as verification.
