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, Continued

I offered my thoughts on this year’s original songs earlier in the week, so I’m not sure there will be much more to add beyond some comments on the performances themselves.

But… here we go! After two performances last week, we get the rest this time.

(Also, this week’s “filler” segment involved the boys dividing into pairs and performing a scene from a musical. Because… you know… they don’t already have enough to be doing!)

Team “Switch”

The styling on this was… interesting. I don’t know about the hair extensions or the cat ears. As I mentioned earlier this week, this song is probably the worst of a severely underwhelming batch. But given that limitation, this group performed pretty well. They had plenty of energy and that’s what a track like this needs.

With that said, there wasn’t a moment that felt truly standout. The dance breakdown tried to deliver that much-needed highlight, but despite confetti and streamers it didn’t elicit any real fireworks. The cheesy aegyo at the end didn’t help.

Team “Say My Name”

This is my favorite song of the bunch, though that’s only because it’s dull instead of overtly obnoxious. And, I tend to prefer a more innocent, melodic pop track than K-pop’s much-loved posing-and-posturing “bad guy” schtick.

This team has some of the series’ heaviest hitters on it, so it’s no wonder this performance has proven popular online. The concept also suits these members, making me hope the final group will debut with a brighter sound. The guys performed well, bringing as much personality as they could to this milquetoast track. Their vocals sounded good and I liked the energy.

Nothing amazing, but it’s probably the only performance so far I’d willingly replay.

Team “Over Me”

This performance had the longest intro ever. They were really building anticipation!

I’m not a fan of this song (shocker, right?), but it’s probably the best one for showcasing skill — especially when it comes to vocals. The group sounded good and the staging was pretty slick. But, I feel like we already saw this done in a more compelling way during the Kill This Love and Love Killa stages earlier in the series. For how much they were billing this as being “sexy,” it felt pretty reserved.

The highlight for me was the dance break. It was probably the most compelling dance break in this round. I’d put this stage up with Say My Name as my favorite from the “Artist Battles.”

The Ranking

Here’s what the voters decided. I honestly don’t know how they were able to rank these stages at all. They were all so unmemorable.

5. Switch
4. SuperCharger
3. En Garde
2. Say My Name
1. Over Me

I guess I can take solace that my two “favorite” performances were ranked at the top?

(On a related note, I want to know who was shrieking during the announcement of En Garde’s points. I need that shriek on a loop for meme purposes!)

3 thoughts on “Thoughts on BOYS PLANET Episode Ten”

the scream was chen kuan jui lmaoo

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Not a fan of the hair extensions at all because they just seemed so unnecessarily out of place, though I will admit to being slightly more positive about the cat ears lol. But all of it was anyway eclipsed by those ridiculously blinding highlighter-esque outfits, so overall that styling was a Choice for sure.

For me the ranking of the performances is similar to my ranking of the songs: Say My Name > En Garde > Switch > Over Me > Super Charger (though I felt for these guys, because of how little time they all had to prep and the fact that only a couple of them wanted to pick this song in the first place lol. Anyway I just hope the final group stays far away from this kind of concept!)

Switch is actually quite fun for me and the energy saves the performance – at least I found it much more enjoyable to watch and listen to than Over Me, which just seemed more plodding throughout because it just stays in the same groove. Maybe I’m just Over this very particular kind of sexy concept – I probably am not the target audience for it. The live audience at these shows tends to love a sexy concept though (at least in the male Produce versions) so I was expecting the eventual win.

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My ranking for performance:

1. Supercharger (I’m a sucker for pyrotechnics.)

2. Over Me (Impressively cohesive given that if you watch the fancams, everyone is giving wildly different energies…only Ricky and Zhang Hao have the right blend of masculine/feminine energy, I think.)

3. Say My Name (Super cute, even though Jiwoong looks like a fifth-year senior.)

4. Switch (Park Hanbin owns this concept.)

5. En Garde (Apparently this was inspired by a fencing musical set during Nazi Germany?? Only in Kpop…)

Also, since Mnet already has individual fancams, dance practices, 1.5x speed, and animal-onesies-set-in-a-forest versions, would it kill them to upload full performance fancams?

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