i still have to watch ep 3 (although i did watch a pretty detailed recap) but let me update my votes & picks for the final group!
let me just say that there were some valuable face cards eliminated in ep2 and they will be missed. i swear ryou kaito had so much potential!!! i really hope he gets picked up by some company 🙏
^ still my big three, not much else to say. i watched hangyul's fancam and he did great, as usual. we love a REAL IDOL. junhyuk also did super well, im really happy with his performance!! the vocalists on his team were kinda...rough though....(haven't seen the episode so i dont know why minjae didnt take a singing part....). disappointed that [spoiler redacted] but it seems like he'll be okay. i need to see the full hylt stage but it seemed a little rough tbh. but part of my judgement is because they boygroup-ified it. i thought we were past that honestly. he xilong did alright but he seemed a bit uncomfortable onstage? looking forward to his performance next round
^ i added zai to my voting list on a whim but this singular photo has made me decide that he must debut. look at that face card. that's a future exo 2.0 member you heard it here first folks
^ i don't remember when or why i started voting for pentor but i like him and i want him to stay top 9. we love diversity and we love former idols getting second chances
^ shao ziheng is still my ideal center candidate but the stylists need to sit down and figure his face out. hes a good looking guy but some of this styling does him no justice and he can't get to polaris under these conditions!!
^ voting for syo until the end idgaffff
^ han jeongwoo would be a good addition to this group probably but i think he has a bright future in kpop. he gives kq, although he's probably too old by kpop standards to join their next bg project which probably wont be for awhile. im just voting for his talent, although he hasn't really gripped me yet
^ i enjoyed sun jiayang's improvement arc. sue me
> semi-realistic final group
so this is the group i feel we're being directed to want and i have no problems with it honestly because this is pretty much a gag. i would cry tears of joy, like welcome back exo & welcome to the survival show hall of fame! HOWEVER. it remains to be seen how yang dongwha's past will impact his rank. the production clearly wants him and it makes definitely makes sense as to why - he fits the heavy hitters on the show perfectly. but it looks like they may need to find another trainee to build a narrative around if it seems like ydw will be more of a risk than an asset. personally i cant assess the situation because everyone i've seen is just super opinionated one way or another and the facts are confusing & twisted. because of that i can't vote for him (i voted for him for a little while before i knew) but im also not gonna bash him bc like. i just dont know. it does also say something to me that the production even allowed him on the show and is treating him as kindly as they are. is it deserved? that, i can't really know, but it is a factor in how im reading the situation
^ he xilong is still one of my top picks but i ended up not putting him in my lineup because i think he has potential to be scouted for a boy group. he's 24 but he looks so young, sings well, and will have popularity from this show. he should have no problem debuting after this. that said, i do think he could work in this group though, he has a different vibe but not so different that it couldnt be reconciled. also his rank has shifted between 9 & 10 thus far, so just in-just out of the debut seats.
^ lee daeul is rank 8 and has been pretty consistent, but i really do believe that this isnt the group for him. i couldn't see how it was shaping up at first but now that i have i think he'll be way more successful with his fanbase in korea. im a little surprised that he went for a survival show again almost immediately after boys planet. i dont think he fits here and i cant predict how is rank will unfold throughout the show. it wouldn't be so bad if he made it, but i think he would have a brighter future if he didnt make it honestly
^ minjae is rank 9 right now, replacing he xilong. i think minjae is one of the more talented trainees on this show. but once again, not the group for him. it's about the image and the market and i dont fully see it. that said, contradicting myself a bit, i think he could have a lot of potential in china, just looking at liu guanyou and liuyu (chuang 2021 center).
^ xinche is ranked a bit lower than the others here, but the production is directing him like they want him to debut really really badly. i must have softened to visual picks over the years or something because i dont even hate him lmfao. i actually think that he could make for an interesting dynamic in the final group above, even if it's hard to imagine him dancing next to hangyul (or dancing at all tbh). do i think he *should* debut?? no, probably not. but figuring that this group would be mostly active in china, i feel like they mostly end up as brand ambassadors more than musicians anyways so it wouldnt be the worst thing in the world. if he can break out of the doll characterization and show a little growth, why not honestly (unless i get a new pick thats in danger of elimination, then all bets are off). xinche is such that if he doesnt debut here i cant imagine him trying again or debuting elsewhere. but who knows honestly
pixelskylines
discoholicmusic
andulkaphoto
