PREVIOUS RECAPS: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight

This week, we continue with the Class Switch Position Battle on a performance-stuffed, three-hour marathon episode. We’ve got nine performances this week! Whew…

VOCAL STAGE: Run To You (original: Seventeen)

This vocal stage is accompanied by a live band, which is a nice touch and helps distinguish it from the other stages. It’s especially welcome on a song like this, which is essentially a rock song. This performance was a mixed bag, with some rough spots and some highlights. It got better as it went on and I’m really impressed by Yoon Min. He’s the kind of confident vocalist you can fully enjoy because you know he’s going to hit the notes. Vocals are the most important factor for me, so he instantly shot to the top of my list.

VOTING: The voters agreed with me, as Min scored the highest.

RAP STAGE: Smoke (original: Dynamic Duo & Lee Youngji)

There was lots of bickering on this team and their behind-the-scenes video was relatively short, which makes me believe the producers don’t really care about them. And weirdly, there are only two guys on the team? I probably missed how this was decided because I’m only half-watching the preparation parts of these episodes, but it feels strange.

Anyway, this stage was fine. I don’t think I’m really qualified to decide whether it was good or not. I didn’t enjoy it, but they seem talented. Neither performer stuck out to me in any meaningful way. “Ye Chan and Yi Chen” would make a cool duo name, though.

VOTING: When it comes to voting, Ye Chan eked it out.

DANCE STAGE: Bad (original: Christopher)

Christopher is one of those random Western artists Korea seems to be obsessed with. It reminds me of when the country was inexplicably addicted to Anne-Marie’s 2002 a few years ago. This is another small team, but they were given more behind-the-scenes love from the producers. They’re trying on a “sexier” concept for this stage. Given that this performance is meant to focus on dance and choreo, I found it pretty underwhelming. The moves seemed to be cut and paste from so many other boy group stages and weren’t very interesting or dynamic to watch. Lots of cheesy tie-grabbing and vest-swinging and floor-humping. It’s a pass for me. Also, the song’s annoying (not that that’s their fault!).

VOTING: Jun Seo won the vote by a slim ten (!) points.

DANCE STAGE: Tambourine (original: Eve)

This is the group with Yumeki on it (ie: the guy they’ve been spotlighting so much for his dancing/choreo). This lends their performance a certain expectation and I did enjoy the choreo to an extent. However, it felt a bit repetitive. Maybe that’s just down the song, which lends itself to repetitive moves. The audience sure was going crazy. Give them a body roll and they’ll self-immolate. I kind of lost interest halfway through.

VOTING: Kai Wen won. Yumeki surprisingly came last. I honestly don’t see him making the final group at this point.

VOCAL STAGE: Rose Blossom (original: H1-KEY)

This is a fun song choice. It’s well-known in Korea but not yet completely overdone on these kind of shows. DRIPPIN’s Dong Yun is on this team, which is interesting because he’s usually known more as a rapper. This performance was pleasant and sweet and there were a few nice vocal tones that stood out (Han Eum, for me), but it definitely lacked impact compared with Run To You earlier in the night. There were a few missteps, too.

VOTING: The voters agreed with me, as Han Eum took the win.

RAP STAGE: Famous (original: ALLDAY PROJECT)

This is the most current song choice during this round, which is usually an asset for the team performing it. However, it can also be jarring to hear new rap verses over a song that’s become inescapable in its original version. I thought the verses were just fine here (MNET, why didn’t you subtitle them?) and the guys sold them well enough. Taejo was especially impactful. Former NINE.i member Seowon was also in this group, though I’m not sure the song was the best match for him.

VOTING: All-star Jaehyun won.

VOCAL STAGE: Breathe (original: Lee Hi)

VERIVERY’s Kangmin and Gyehyeon are in this team, making this trio a VERIVERY sandwich. That must be a bit awkward for member An Xin. They were also voted the worst team during preparations, which is kind of cruel. For the performance, they’re standing on the light-up boxes MNET loves to pull out for ballads, which made me chuckle at the start of a song that’s not at all chuckle-worthy. Gyehyeon kicked off with a bit of piano before the guys launched into a perfectly fine version of Breathe. Gyehyeon even got a bit choked up toward the climax. This is a really beautiful song and they pulled it off well enough, though I’ve seen it performed much better.

VOTING: Leader Gyehyeon pulled it off, which makes sense since he had the most memorable moments.

VOCAL STAGE: Queencard (original: i-dle)

I’m sorry… this song is a “vocal” stage? I guess it doesn’t matter because it’s got some of the most popular trainees in the team, including Leo. I feel like this stage got a lot more production than others, including guitars that were never actually played and instead used as posing props (lol) and then smashed (major eye roll from me). Honestly, it’s hard to get past my distaste for this song and enjoy the performance. I guess they did a good job, but the more serious band arrangement just made the lyrics and chorus stand out in a bad way and this wasn’t really a vocal showcase the way the other vocal stages were. I found it all pretty cheesy and try-hard.

VOTING: Sang Hyeon won and Leo placed last (?)

DANCE STAGE: LALALALA (original: Stray Kids)

Ugh. Another song that I hate. This group went with a very overused werewolf concept (no one will do it better than EXO!) and delivered a solid performance. Given that this stage was meant to focus on choreo, I found it a bit lacking. They had the charismatic posing down, but much of the performance didn’t feel quite in sync to me. Also, I didn’t find the choreo particularly memorable or original. The audience seemed to love it, though. But at this point in the show they’d been whipped into a fine lather of excitement.

VOTING: Xinlong took the crown.

Top Teams For Each Position

According to votes, here were the winners:

VOCAL: Team Rose Blossom (Surprising, but I’m happy Queencard ranked last. It simply wasn’t a vocal stage.)
RAP: Team Famous (I would have voted for “Hot”)
DANCE: Team LALALALA (Not my choice at all. I would have picked “like JENNIE”)