In Love with "Rising Sun" cover by TOO

Studied some but nothing too strenuous today. Went over the last 3 lessons for maybe 20 mins. Got it. I'll be able to study at work the next two days since they're holidays.

Who the Hell Is TOO?

Okay, so I just finished watching the first round of Road to Kingdom. As mentioned previously (The Boyz & R2K), I started watching the show for The Boyz with a bit of Verivery on the side. I didn't know Pentagon was on the show until I started it, but they were the only group already in my playlist.

So... I expected these groups to kill it. Color me shocked when TOO, the (at the time of air) brand new rookies, blew everyone else out of the water with their cover of "Rising Sun".

Their choreo was complicated, and they nailed it. But they also had more personality on stage than most of the other groups. Strangely, the other groups often seemed that they were trying way too hard. You'd think rookies would be the ones trying too hard, no?

Anyway, I'm super impressed. Of course, this wasn't their song, and I have no idea if their other songs are worth listening to... but man, they really can dance incredibly well.

WTF Pentagon?

As mentioned, I was semi-familiar with Pentagon already. I have one or two songs in my playlist that I caught on Spotify. I had never watched them perform, and to be honest, I wasn't in love with the songs in my playlist... just decent background tracks.

Still though, the introduction dance on R2K was decent. And they were together for quite some time by this point, having lost an integral member or not. So I was totally shocked that their stage just seemed... goofy? The facial expressions seemed so over-acted that it was a little cringe to be honest. The choreo seemed sloppy too.

Gimmicky as The Boyz performance was, at least it was nicely done. The difficulty level was high, but the effectiveness was not crazy impressive. Verivery's was a bit dull compared to everyone else too... but they had a clean choreo. Over all though, I was way more impressed by TOO.

My Ranking

    1. TOO - This was amazing in every way. Period.

    2. Golden Child - Beautifully done. The fans didn't feel gimmicky.

    3. The Boyz - Super gimmicky but technically competent.

    4. ONEUS - Good message, good acting, nice choreo with the desks.

    5. ONF - The new arrangement was nice & it kept me entertained.

    6. Verivery - Just a bit boring. Slick dancing... but just a bit dull.

    7. Pentagon - Sort of embarrassing I thought. Trying way too hard.

So, my ranking is pretty different from the official results. I feel like some of it is that popularity contest syndrome. If the better known groups didn't rank high, people would think it's rigged.

But objectively, since I don't care much about any of the groups, this is where they fall for me. Verivery/Pentagon are really tied for last for opposite reasons. Verivery was boring, and Pentagon was so extra that it was foolish. Both are clearly competent performing groups but just didn't nail it.

I did really enjoy watching Hui work on the arrangement for Pentagon's cover. That was more enjoyable than the stage itself. I don't think my expectations were too high either.

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