A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN NO.MERCY.......
No.Mercy SUMMARY/Timeline:
•"Auditions" Mission: All trainees tested in front of judges; not fully aired.
Results: 1- Shownu 2- Jooheon 3- Kwangji 4- Wonho 5- Yooho 6- Minkyun 7- #Gun 8- Kihyun 9- Hyungwon 10- Minhyuk 11- Seokwon 12- Yoosu
Reason: Shownu, Wonho, Jooheon, and #Gun (already part of Nuboyz), are the 4 strongest trainees Starship has. Kihyun messed up by not showing off his vocals enough. Wonho is well-rounded but not strong enough to beat Shownu and Jooheon on stage. #Gun can't dance.
•1st Mission: Solo song. No elimination.
Results & Reason: 1- Jooheon = Monster rap. Monster everything. 2- Shownu = Great dance. Great vocal. Solid. 3- #Gun = Good rap. Great power and presence, emotion. In it for himself. 4- Kihyun = Best power vocal. Picked ballad that no one else could sing, even strong singers, didn't dance. Proved confidence, vocal range, emotion, stage presence, smart decisions, set himself apart from other vocalists. Proved that he knows what the judges want and what the group needs and gave them EXACTLY that. 5- Kwangji = Rap. Appealed to women. Solid but meh. 6- Yoonho = Rap. Dance. Solid but meh. 7- Hyungwon = Unexpectedly good dance. Ok vocal. English song choice (always prefered). Made them pay attention to him. More importantly, showed stage presence, A++ visuals, expressive face, good decisions, and charisma. 8- Yoosu = Better than before, saved by the song selection. Still meh. 9- Minkyun = Fail. Crap vocal. 10- Wonho = Played it safe and stuck to what he knows: charisma, A+ visuals, sexy body, confidence, stage presence. It was memorable but poorly planned, and he was nervious. Ok vocal. This makes judges question his reliability. In my opinion, they scored him lower than deserved, to give him a scare and for tv shock. They expected better from him. Notice that Wonho says before the results that he thinks he'll be #9; Wonho knows exactly how the game is played, knows he failed. 11- Minhyuk = Cute, made them laugh. Fail preformance even with meh vocal. 12- Seokwon = Fail. Boring. Seriously meh.
•2nd Mission: Duet performance. 1 rapper and 1 vocal to be eliminated. 1 rapper winner and 1 vocal winner to each release a song.
Pairings & Reason:
[RAP] Jooheon VS #Gun = Battle of the good rappers. A test to see what they sound like on stage together. Since they're already set to be the 2 debut rappers.
[RAP] Kwangji VS Yoonho = Throw-away group. There's only gonna be 2 rappers to debut anyway. Can't have 3 if Jooheon is so strong.
[VOCAL] Shownu VS Kihyun = Battle of the good vocals. To see how power-vocal Kihyun looks next to dance-king Shownu. Will Kihyun still shine next to the best performer?
[VOCAL] Wonho VS Hyungwon = Battle of the visuals. A test for Hyungwon to see how good he is compared to Wonho, who they know is strong and charismatic. A test for Wonho to see how he's going to pick himself back up off the ground and play with a partner.
[VOCAL] Yoosu VS Minkyun = Throw-away group.
[VOCAL] Seokwan VS Minhyuk = Throw-away group.
Results & Reason:
[RAP] WINNERS: Jooheon, Yoonho -----> RAP WINNER: Jooheon Obviously they want to release a song with Jooheon. Literally any song, any time, they're salivating. Obviously.
LOSERS: #Gun, Kwangji -----> ELIMINATED: Kwangji Can't eliminate #Gun. But Kwangji is not gonna make it to debut anyway, so byebye.
[VOCAL] WINNERS: Kihyun, Hyungwon, Minhyun, Seokwan -----> VOCAL WINNER: Kihyun Obviously they want to release a song with Kihyun because he's the best vocal, duh.
LOSERS: Shownu, Wonho, Yoosu, Minhyuk -----> ELIMINATED: Yoosu Can't eliminate Shownu or Wonho. So between Minhyuk and Yoosu, Minhyuk proved himself a capable contender. Byebye Yoosu.
Detailed Reason:[RAP] Jooheon=WIN, #Gun=LOSE Great performance overall. Jooheon was good, but made worse by having #Gun beside him. #Gun shows he's only a hypeman next to him. This performance makes the judges afraid that they're not constructive together, that their friendship is actually distracting.[RAP] Kwangji=LOSE, Yoonho=WIN Kwangji saw his own elimination written on the wall. This was almost like self-sacrifice; he helped his younger bro win. This was painful.[VOCAL] Shownu=LOSE, Kihyun=WIN They compromised on a dance song (so Shownu could show dance) with strong vocals (so Kihyun could show vocals). Song chosen by Kihyun in order to "combine their strengths", but this sets up Shownu for failure. Because Kihyun isn't as strong a dancer as Shownu, this makes Shownu lower his performance to duet with him. On the flipside, even while dancing, Kihyun's vocals shine much more than Shownu's, and Shownu ends up sounding like his backup singer. It's not obvious how much Kihyun intended to "play" Shownu, but either way, Kihyun was ruthless. Knowing he can't beat Shownu as he is, he tore him down to beat him. But he did win, even with a crap performance, and this along with his power vocal from last round secured his debut. This was the most backstabbing move in all of No.Mercy, and only mitigated because Kihyun knew Shownu would debut anyway. Kihyun always says that his voice is his weapon.[VOCAL] Wonho=LOSE, Hyungwon=WIN This was a strange performance, where Wonho almost threw himself under the bus in order to get their unit noticed/praised *together* instead of alone--putting himself at a disadvantage because Hyungwon is the stronger visual and dancer. He must have been counting on having stronger vocals, which he did, and not being eliminated even if he loses next to Hyungwon. Hyungwon even says he feels uncomfortable winning like this. The performance was memorable, enjoyable, attention-grabbing, but it was cheesy and almost funny, with a "we can make fun of ourselves" quality. It was calculated and played to many strengths as visuals & dancers: English song, up-tempo choreo, sex-appeal, powerful, confidence, stage presence, facial expressions, good teamwork on stage, rising to the challenge of crazy song selection. Everything was made to grab attention. Hyungwon proved he's very capable of competing with strong Wonho, rising to the challenge of exuding the charisma English music requires. Wonho proved he's a diligent and selfless leader, and instead of showing an improved version of himself, as the judges probably would have wanted, he showed diversity, creativity, dedicationA DETAILED ACCOUNT OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN NO.MERCY....... (Prepare for a super long story that no one needs to read.)
No.Mercy SUMMARY/Timeline:
•"Auditions" Mission: All trainees tested in front of judges; not fully aired.
Results: 1- Shownu 2- Jooheon 3- Kwangji 4- Wonho 5- Yooho 6- Minkyun 7- #Gun 8- Kihyun 9- Hyungwon 10- Minhyuk 11- Seokwon 12- Yoosu
Reason: Shownu, Wonho, Jooheon, and #Gun (already part of Nuboyz), are the 4 strongest trainees Starship has. Kihyun messed up by not showing off his vocals enough. Wonho is well-rounded but not strong enough to beat Shownu and Jooheon on stage. #Gun can't dance.
•1st Mission: Solo song. No elimination.
Results & Reason: 1- Jooheon = Monster rap. Monster everything. 2- Shownu = Great dance. Great vocal. Solid. 3- #Gun = Good rap. Great power and presence, emotion. In it for himself. 4- Kihyun = Best power vocal. Picked ballad that no one else could sing, even strong singers, didn't dance. Proved confidence, vocal range, emotion, stage presence, smart decisions, set himself apart from other vocalists. Proved that he knows what the judges want and what the group needs and gave them EXACTLY that. 5- Kwangji = Rap. Appealed to women. Solid but meh. 6- Yoonho = Rap. Dance. Solid but meh. 7- Hyungwon = Unexpectedly good dance. Ok vocal. English song choice (always prefered). Made them pay attention to him. More importantly, showed stage presence, A++ visuals, expressive face, good decisions, and charisma. 8- Yoosu = Better than before, saved by the song selection. Still meh. 9- Minkyun = Fail. Crap vocal. 10- Wonho = Played it safe and stuck to what he knows: charisma, A+ visuals, sexy body, confidence, stage presence. It was memorable but poorly planned, and he was nervious. Ok vocal. This makes judges question his reliability. In my opinion, they scored him lower than deserved, to give him a scare and for tv shock. They expected better from him. Notice that Wonho says before the results that he thinks he'll be #9; Wonho knows exactly how the game is played, knows he failed. 11- Minhyuk = Cute, made them laugh. Fail preformance even with meh vocal. 12- Seokwon = Fail. Boring. Seriously meh.
•2nd Mission: Duet performance. 1 rapper and 1 vocal to be eliminated. 1 rapper winner and 1 vocal winner to each release a song.
Pairings & Reason:
[RAP] Jooheon VS #Gun = Battle of the good rappers. A test to see what they sound like on stage together. Since they're already set to be the 2 debut rappers.
[RAP] Kwangji VS Yoonho = Throw-away group. There's only gonna be 2 rappers to debut anyway. Can't have 3 if Jooheon is so strong.
[VOCAL] Shownu VS Kihyun = Battle of the good vocals. To see how power-vocal Kihyun looks next to dance-king Shownu. Will Kihyun still shine next to the best performer?
[VOCAL] Wonho VS Hyungwon = Battle of the visuals. A test for Hyungwon to see how good he is compared to Wonho, who they know is strong and charismatic. A test for Wonho to see how he's going to pick himself back up off the ground and play with a partner.
[VOCAL] Yoosu VS Minkyun = Throw-away group.
[VOCAL] Seokwan VS Minhyuk = Throw-away group.
Results & Reason:
[RAP] WINNERS: Jooheon, Yoonho -----> RAP WINNER: Jooheon Obviously they want to release a song with Jooheon. Literally any song, any time, they're salivating. Obviously.
LOSERS: #Gun, Kwangji -----> ELIMINATED: Kwangji Can't eliminate #Gun. But Kwangji is not gonna make it to debut anyway, so byebye.
[VOCAL] WINNERS: Kihyun, Hyungwon, Minhyun, Seokwan -----> VOCAL WINNER: Kihyun Obviously they want to release a song with Kihyun because he's the best vocal, duh.
LOSERS: Shownu, Wonho, Yoosu, Minhyuk -----> ELIMINATED: Yoosu Can't eliminate Shownu or Wonho. So between Minhyuk and Yoosu, Minhyuk proved himself a capable contender. Byebye Yoosu.
Detailed Reason:
[RAP] Jooheon=WIN, #Gun=LOSE Great performance overall. Jooheon was good, but made worse by having #Gun beside him. #Gun shows he's only a hypeman next to him. This performance makes the judges afraid that they're not constructive together, that their friendship is actually distracting.
[RAP] Kwangji=LOSE, Yoonho=WIN Kwangji saw his own elimination written on the wall. This was almost like self-sacrifice; he helped his younger bro win. This was painful.
[VOCAL] Shownu=LOSE, Kihyun=WIN They compromised on a dance song (so Shownu could show dance) with strong vocals (so Kihyun could show vocals). Song chosen by Kihyun in order to "combine their strengths", but this sets up Shownu for failure. Because Kihyun isn't as strong a dancer as Shownu, this makes Shownu lower his performance to duet with him. On the flipside, even while dancing, Kihyun's vocals shine much more than Shownu's, and Shownu ends up sounding like his backup singer. It's not obvious how much Kihyun intended to "play" Shownu, but either way, Kihyun was ruthless. Knowing he can't beat Shownu as he is, he tore him down to beat him. But he did win, even with a crap performance, and this along with his power vocal from last round secured his debut. This was the most backstabbing move in all of No.Mercy, and only mitigated because Kihyun knew Shownu would debut anyway. Kihyun always says that his voice is his weapon.
[VOCAL] Wonho=LOSE, Hyungwon=WIN This was a strange performance, where Wonho almost threw himself under the bus in order to get their unit noticed/praised *together* instead of alone--putting himself at a disadvantage because Hyungwon is the stronger visual and dancer. He must have been counting on having stronger vocals, which he did, and not being eliminated even if he loses next to Hyungwon. Hyungwon even says he feels uncomfortable winning like this. The performance was memorable, enjoyable, attention-grabbing, but it was cheesy and almost funny, with a "we can make fun of ourselves" quality. It was calculated and played to many strengths as visuals & dancers: English song, up-tempo choreo, sex-appeal, powerful, confidence, stage presence, facial expressions, good teamwork on stage, rising to the challenge of crazy song selection. Everything was made to grab attention. Hyungwon proved he's very capable of competing with strong Wonho, rising to the challenge of exuding the charisma English music requires. Wonho proved he's a diligent and selfless leader, and instead of showing an improved version of himself, as the judges probably would have wanted, he showed diversity, creativity, dedication
[VOCAL] Yoosu=LOSE, Minkyun=WIN Two meh vocalists that have totally different voices, and meh stage presence. They were supposed to rise to the challenge but it was meh. They tried to show good vocals so they didn't dance. It wasn't horrible, but everything about this performance was meh and forgettable. Minkyun won because he has a slightly more charming personality.
[VOCAL] Seokwan=WIN, Minhyuk=LOSE This performance was a tie, but they said Seokwan sang better. Good performance, especially from the extreme underdogs. Though Minhyuk lost, he's the winner overall because he proved to the judges that he's a pick-me-up, the driver behind their good performance and good attitude. He knows how to work as a team, and bring people up, not down. From the deepest dispare, Minkyuk proved he can stand back up. He showed solid vocals, thoughtful performance, hard work, and worked to the only strengths underdogs can have: charming personality. Minhyuk showed charisma; was captivating, funny, friendly, honest, made judges love him. Also due to a "mistake" proved that he's a graceful loser and winner. Minhyuk thought he was getting eliminated for good. This sunshine/vitamin quality is what makes judges notice him and sets him apart from now on. No one else is cute and funny like he is.
•Summary so far: "SAFE" trainees are: Jooheon, #Gun, Shownu, Wonho, Kihyun. "MAYBE" trainees are: Hyungwon, Minhyuk. "NO" trainees are: Seokwan, Minkyun, Yoonho.
Jooheon is the main rapper. Shownu is the main dancer. Kihyun is the main vocal. And #Gun is about to fall from grace. This puts Wonho in a difficult position: he's not the best at anything. His only weapons are his leadership and his body. Wonho says clearly that his body is all he's got left, and that remains true to this day. As for all the trainees with "meh" performances, that are just ok or good but fail to grab attention, they're all on the chopping block.
•3rd Mission: Group performance. 2 groups of 5 trainees. 1 vocal-performance & 1 dance-performance each. 1 trainee from losing team to be eliminated.
Groups:
RED TEAM: Shownu - SAFE, but needs to show leadership, not just good performance. Jooheon - SAFE, because he's perfect. Hyungwon - MAYBE YES. Probably yes, but they need to see how stable he is. Minhyuk - MAYBE NO. New rising star? Minkyun - NO. Might as well eliminate him now, but let's see how the others work in a team with him.
BLACK TEAM: Wonho - SAFE, but on shaky ground. Needs to prove himself as a leader and use his strengths. Kihyun - SAFE. Let's see what he's made of. #Gun - MAYBE YES. The more judges think about him, the lower he sinks. How will the team deal with such a weak dancer? Yoonho - MAYBE NO. Losing hope with him. 7 years of training and he's so meh. Seokwan - NO. Meh. At least he won't cause problems, but it doesn't matter cuz we're not debuting him anyway.
Reason: Wonho VS Shownu as leaders in each team. Kihyun VS Shownu as vocals & centers. Jooheon VS #Gun as rappers and centers. Minkyun VS Seokwan as throw-aways. Each team has 2 SAFE, 1/2 MAYBE, 1 NO.
Results:
Vocal Performance = BLACK/Wonho team WIN Dance Performance = RED/Shownu team WIN Overall ---> RED/Shownu team LOSE ---> Minkyun eliminated!
Details:
RED TEAM: Shownu has fantastic performance as always, but a weak leader. Jooheon is killer on stage but has too big a role. Hyungwon proves he can play with the big boys; good dance. Minhyuk secures himself a very solid MAYBE; good vocal, great personality on stage and off; plays fair, and is a very effective motivator and team cheerleader behind the scenes where Shownu is weak. When their team loses, it's not fun because Shownu knows he has poor leadership, and it gets poor little Minkyun eliminated.
BLACK TEAM: During this round Wonho proves he's the superior leader by creatively working with and around obstacles, like the fact that #Gun can't dance. Shows a creative and colorful dance performance to make up for the fact that the better dancers are on the other team. Wonho takes on far too much work *behind the scenes*, but makes sure they all show their best sides and shine as a group. He is humble and calculated. He also proves himself an asset in valuable behind the scenes technical skills: song arrangment, choreo, long hours, etc. This secures Wonho's spot for debut, but he's a bit of an underdog leader with a big head. He didn't put enough attention on his own performance. #Gun's performance is good, on the surface, but looks like a weaker copy of Jooheon. He is proven to be such a weak link when it comes to dance that Starship is now scrambling to replace him. They can't give him special treatment for every performance if he were to debut in the group! They never counted on him being such a weak dancer. Not only that, but it's become obvious that he hogs the spotlight and clashes badly with Jooheon on stage in a way that makes things worse, not better. He has blinders on and takes no corrective action. If Starship hadn't already started searching for his replacement last week, they're doing so NOW!!! And no, Yoonho is not a debut candidate because his rap looks ridiculously weak next to Jooheon.
Results: 1- Jooheon 2- Wonho 3- Shownu 4- Kihyun 5- #Gun 6- Yoonho 7- Hyungwon 8- Seokwan 9- Minhyuk
Riiiight. Those are the official results, but the truth is pretty different, which is where I.M comes in........
•Requirements for #Gun's replacement: Rapper that can hold his own on stage and in the recording booth next to Jooheon; that can work together, sound good together, but still be individual. Preferably young (because all the other SAFE members are bloody old!) Preferably speaks another language (English preferred). He must be at least an ok or better dancer. Vocals/visual/personality doesn't matter.
.....Let's go make every phonecall known to mankind to find such a trainee somewhere in Seoul!!! We need him ASAP!! .....Lo and behold, they found EXACTLY what they needed (everything #Gun lacks) with Im Changkyun, isn't that funny? that someone like I.M mysteriously joins the cast?... Yeah... Poor #Gun.
•Summary (REAL RANKING, not the TV version) after I.M joins the show: SAFE: 1. Jooheon, 2. Shownu, 3. Kihyun, 4. Wonho, 5. Hyungwon. PROBABLY YES: 6. I.M, 7. Minhyuk TO BE ELIMINATED: Seokwan, Yoonho, #Gun
If Hyungwon, Minhyuk, Wonho are chosen, then Yoonho is completely redundant. He's just there as a solid 7-year trainee in case someone else fucks up royally last minute. I.M replaces #Gun easily and necessarily. Why is Seokwan still here? for an even body count? He's not painfully bad, but he's been on the chopping block since day 1.
•4th Mission: 2 teams of 5 trainees each. Both groups record 1 song each.
WHITE/Shownu TEAM: Shownu, Hyungwon, Minhyuk, #Gun, Yoonho.
RED/Wonho TEAM: Wonho, Kihyun, Jooheon, I.M, Seokwan.
Reason: These teams are supposed to test the members of the WHITE/Shownu team: Shownu for leadership, and Hyungwon and Minhyuk to prove they should debut and can hold their own against Kihyun and Jooheon on the other team. Yoonho, Hyunwon and Minhyuk are on the same team just in case Starship wants to switch their ranking last minute. Yoonho could safely take over for Hyungwon as visual, or take over for Minhyuk as charisma if necessary. It's likely that Hyungwon will do well, but if Minhyuk also does well, then Yoonho and Seokwan are on the chopping block, no matter which team wins/loses. Jooheon and I.M are teamed together because they're now the rap duo set to debut, and the solid pairing of leader Wonho and Kihyun will balance the team and help I.M get adjusted.
From this point on, the order of debut is pretty much set. #Gun will be eliminated at the end, Starship just needs to prove their own reasoning that I.M is better, and because they have to keep #Gun around until the surprise at the very end. Also because until then, he's good on camera. 4th Mission tests leadership again, and though Wonho proves again he's the better leader, he drops one rank lower in debut ranking when he unexpectedly fails at being ready to record one day, reason unknown. It's a fluke and he makes up for it with hard work behind the scenes. He knows exactly where he is in the ranking, knows he's in danger even if his rank is high; knows he's "#2" just for the TV because he did well last mission. Remember he's very surprised to get #2? He knows it's not real. So he falls back into his only on-stage weapon: uses his body to make himself stand out. But this makes Wonho a strange leader: not the best, but with solid skills and confidence, with good decision-making; unreliable when he fails to show his own skills and always puts the team before himself; potential for ego because he can control so much behind the scenes. Starship likely fears they may lose control of Wonho and therefore the whole group in the long run, due to Wonho, if they give him too much power. Shownu is better in front of cameras and easier to control.
Results: It was basically a tie, but WHITE/Shownu team = LOSE ----> Yoonho eliminated! Yoonho knew he was about to get cut, because 7years of training teaches you a few things. He knew it was coming from 2nd Mission, when Kwangji sacrificed himself for him. "Is there any way I can not be eliminated?" he says.
This officially cements the debut rankings now that Yoonho, who was a redundancy, is gone... REAL rankings (not whatever the they showed on TV): 1- Jooheon 2- Shownu 3,4,5- Kihyun, Hyungwon, Wonho 6- I.M 7- Minhyuk 8- Seokwan 9- #Gun
•5th/Final Mission: "3-3-3 Unit Battle". 3 teams of 3 trainees each. Each team prepares 1 performance. Lastly, all 9 come together to dance final song. 2 will be eliminated. 7 will debut.
TEAM #1: Wonho, Kihyun, Seokwan ----> Wonho and Kihyun work very well together, they're both strong, and it's supposed to test them again, to see how good they really are. They're supposed to balance out the weak link, which is Seokwan. Seokwan has one last chance to steal Minhyuk's spot, otherwise byebye.
TEAM #2: Shownu, #Gun, Minhyuk ----> Minhyuk is supposedly the weakest in this team; he's supposed to really prove his skills next to Shownu, because he's in 7th place. #Gun is there because he's a strong performer, even if he can't dance and is about to be eliminated, Minhyuk should be the balance and glue for this team. This also tests how good Minhyuk's vitaMIN quality is at helping Shownu to lead better, since #Gun can be limiting to work with.
TEAM #3: Jooheon, I.M, Hyungwon ----> Jooheon and I.M are supposed to have time to work together now. Hyungwon is there to test his skills as the only vocal between the 2 rappers, since vocal is Hyungwon's weakness. But this also gives the rappers plenty of airtime for the judges to see the new rap duo together in action.
Reason: The debut ranking is already set before this mission even starts, and this is proven but how they split the teams. There's one former NuBoyz trainee in each one. And the whole mission is mostly just to make sure I.M gets a bit more screentime before debut. The final song where all 9 are together, gives #Gun a nice going-away present by giving him center position. He's good and fun on stage, but there's no way that after debut, dozens of songs are going to be choreographed specially to accomodate his lacking skills. Also, I bet Starship wants to break up his friendship with Jooheon because for them 2 it takes precedence over group dynamics, and that's not good in a group of 7 people. Heartbreak makes for good TV.
FINAL DEBUT RESULTS: 1- Jooheon 2- Shownu 3- Kihyun
4- Hyungwon 5- Wonho 6- I.M 7- Minhyuk ELIMINATED--> Seokwan ELIMINATED--> #Gun
The debut results are exactly what my theory predicts, and it's funny that the show chose to call out their names in order of the real rankings. It's a shame that Minhyuk thinks his own spot will go to #Gun instead. He's thought that he'll be eliminated literally the whole competition and doesn't realize he's been getting better. Seokwan has known for at least a while that he's about to get cut, that he was just getting lucky.
------------------------------ THE END.
