I wasn’t going to recap Boys Planet (and technically, I’m still not doing it), but I’m watching the series and thought others might appreciate a spot to discuss it. So, each week I plan on dumping a few of my random thoughts about the show. Again, this will not be a full, detailed recap. But, if you have something you want to mention make sure to include it in the comments!

Artist Battle

This week is the much-anticipated “Artist Battle.” Thankfully, the producers shoved all the part-choosing and mini-game segments up front, making it easier to fast forward to the first performance, which was…. (checks watch)… an hour and thirty-two minutes into the episode. 😳

(Though I will say, having the guys do a showcase performance in front of their family and friends was a cute idea)

Team “SuperCharger”

The majority of these guys were thrown into the team at the last minute, giving them little practice time compared to their rivals. It’s definitely not fair, but that’s the way the program is structured.

It’s hard to get a sense of the song through the performance, though right from the start I could tell SuperCharger wasn’t what I thought (and hoped) it would be from the preview last week. The percussion during the chorus is cool, but the verses were typical boy group bravado and the hook sounded waaay too simple and repetitive.

The performance was stronger than the behind-the-scenes feature led me to believe. That’s always the case with MNET’s editing, isn’t it? Nothing stood out as bad or particularly good, and I doubt I’ll remember any of this in a day’s time. That’s too bad, because I’ve been rooting for some of the members of this team for awhile.

Team “En Garde”

This was the “stronger” group of the two, filled with leading contenders. The song was also stronger, but just by a hair. For a track under the “funk pop” genre (MNET’s words), En Garde felt too constricted. I know K-pop is supposed to be hyper-polished, but songs like these miss the spontaneity, life and personality that make funk music so amazing.

I appreciated this performance’s focus on vocals, even if they were in service to a melody that didn’t really stick out. The stage was definitely skilled, but not “legendary” as MNET’s effusive subtitles would have you believe. This stage would fit right into a line-up on Music Bank or Inkigayo, but it wouldn’t stand out.

And… that’s it!

A two-hours-and-seven-minutes episode delivered two performances. I guess we’ll get the rest of them next week. I hope there’s something that stands out, because I wasn’t feeling either of these songs even if the boys did reasonably well.

9 thoughts on “Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Nine”

MNET really has been watching too many telenovelas, constantly trying to eek drama and extend the storyline.

LikeLike

It’s interesting to read your take on “En Garde” since I really do think that as a song, it is that good and is significantly better than “Supercharger”. Hell, I’ve been rewatching the performance everyday since it came out because of the song’s grandiose nature and sound which I’m generally biased towards when done right

LikeLike

Hi Nick, are you watching Peak Time by any chance?

LikeLike

Purpurr says:

April 3, 2023 at 2:54 am

That show is fun to watch lol. I was never stressed. I wonder how you thought of their new songs as compared to Boys Planet.

LikeLike

Reply
Nick says:

April 3, 2023 at 7:34 am

I watched the first episode but haven’t followed through. Any performances I should check out?

LikeLike

Reply

I’m not even bothering to watch the whole episodes anymore. They’re too long.

I wished that ‘En Garde’ hit harder but overall it was a pretty good performance.
I’m warming up to the song but I think that the performance climax wasn’t that impactful enough.

Seunghwan’s high note was satisfying to be fair though.
Junhyeon is good at performing and Hiroto surprised me.

Those 3 were the standouts for me. Gunwook, Hui and Gyuvin, I’ve seen perform well already so nothing new.

I don’t really like ‘Supercharger’ as a song and the performance didn’t really do anything for me but learning from this post that they had to learn ‘Supercharger’ last minute makes me impressed that they were that good.

Haruto was the standout in this performance for me and I really like Seo Won’s voice in this performance. That’s it though.

LikeLike

blahbane says:

April 3, 2023 at 3:31 am

I can hear strings or a violin at 2:00 during Hui’s part but then when Seunghwan hits the high note, it disappear. WHYY???? Increasing it would have made it so much more impactful.

I hope during the audio release, the strings are more prominent

LikeLike

Reply

I preferred Supercharger as a performance over En Garde. Songwise, I couldn’t tell if the range was too low sometimes for the vocalists? I thought Seowon and Woonggi showed different sides of themselves, Ollie and Takuto did well considering their limitations (hand cast and inexperience), and Zihao slayed as always. Haruto was the MVP though. I really felt for him when he broke down in relief after it was over. He’s been in all my favorite performances so far.

En Garde was more predictable to me: Gunwook Gunwooking, Gyuvin looking and sounding a bit awkward but somehow managing to get the most points, Hui and his ad libs. Seunghwan impressed with his belt and I felt like I was seeing a different Hiroto. I hardly remember Junhyeon. Overall it felt like a generic boy group song in sound and execution, well done but nothing special. I could see The Boyz doing this.

Looking forward to the others this week…Say My Name is really growing on me.

LikeLike

Not that the majority of (supposedly) “pro” idols are actually doing that better in Peak Time, but it sounds like the contestants of Boys Planet are probably the least vocally talented – or indeed stable – of all male survival shows so far.
I’m definitely onboard when it comes to evaluate the performance as a whole and not the “bel canto” itself, but if that means to normalize that you wanna be a “singer” and you could barely hit three notes since the beginning of the contest, well: I welcome the lipsync.

LikeLike