Because of MBC’s unprecedented decision to air their Gayo Daejejeon over two nights this year, my recap and ranking will also be divided into two parts. Make sure to check out part one for my general thoughts on the festival as well as a personal ranking of the best performances of night one.
Now, it’s time to look at the acts that performed on night two! On the whole, there were a lot of very solid performances tonight but nothing that really knocked me out.
Thoughts on notable stages that didn’t make my ranking:
ATEEZ – Ice On My Teeth
Awesome opening but the song remains very underwhelming for me – even more so when it’s preceded by such a cool set piece.
BOYNEXTDOOR – Dangerous + Nice Guy
They get an “A” for the props. The moving bus was pretty cool.
NCT Dream – Flying Kiss + When I’m With You
Most of this was business as usual and didn’t really keep my attention, but then they slid into that brief part of My First And Last and I remembered what incredible music they used to make.
RIIZE – Impossible + Boom Boom Bass
Two of the best songs of 2024 almost earned a spot on my list, but you know I always give preference to performances that reinvent the tracks. This was just straightforward, as SM year-end performances often are.
Yoon & J (STAYC), Rei & Liz (IVE) – Rock You
I feel like this is kind of a forgotten Kara hit – at least when stacked against their biggest songs. It’s quite kitschy and sounded surprisingly modern given this more subdued mix.
9. (G)I-DLE – Super Lady + Neverland
I don’t care for Super Lady as a song, but they really give it their all and a rock arrangement works well for its bombastic delivery. Neverland didn’t do much for me, though.
8. Doyoung – The Story Begins
Ballads rarely make my list, but throw a choir and strings section behind a great voice and you have my attention.
7. ENHYPEN – Brought The Heat Back + No Doubt
These guys have been consistently good at the year-end shows. The staging for Brought The Heat Back was really fun and the new mix of No Doubt solved so many problems I have with the original by giving it more pulse and texture.
6. Ni-Ki (ENHYPEN) & Taemin – Guilty
It’s always fun to watch a big fan get to perform with his idol. Ni-Ki must have been over the moon!
5. ZEROBASEONE – Yura Yura + Good So Bad
Good So Bad has had an insanely long life on my playlist to the point where I’m now convinced it’s ZB1’s best song. I really enjoyed this slightly funked up mix of the track.
4. Yezi (ITZY), Giselle (aespa), Julie (Kiss Of Life) – Toxic
I’m not always a fan of covers of Western pop songs, but Toxic is an inspired choice. Ah, if K-pop’s current girl groups would release music that sounded like this! Lots of charisma on this stage.
3. TXT – Deja Vu + Growing Pain
It’s still so weird to see them perform as a quartet. This performance makes my list because I love Growing Pain and I’ve never seen them perform it on one of these kind of shows. They really fit rock music.
2. IVE – Accendio + HEYA
I love the costumes and the dramatic stage mixes. The ending of Accendio was insane. IVE need to deliver more concepts like this.
1. Taemin – Sexy In The Air
He really is on another level. I don’t even care for this song all that much, but the hyper-dramatic remix gave it the oomph it needed – and more importantly, the oomph it takes to keep up with Taemin’s performance!
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
the dance break for accendio was so good, even the gda ive dance break was good, im glad starship is finally letting them dance 😭😭
LikeLike
I really do adore Taemin, in fact I am attending his concert in a month (CRYING HAPPY TEARS) but this performance was kinda meh for me?? SITA doesn’t leave room for much singing flourishes, and the lighting with the dark clothes and the dark stage at the end kinda obscured the fantastic dancing he did there. I wouldn’t have given it top 1. Taemin delivered as always, but imo neither the song nor the stage matched him. Although I do love the new rock-er version of SITA a lot more than the original, I am glad it’s the one he is doing in the tour! Can’t wait to see it live!
LikeLike
Forgot to add that the Guilty stage was AMAZING, though. Both of them delivered and a good old-fashioned Taemin entry never gets old!
LikeLike
Definitely like the rock version of SITA though still could do without the “monster” voice. And love the jacket. However, my favorite Taemin end of the year performance was on the KGMA awards show where he did a trio of songs that might actually beat out some of his MAMA performances in years past as my favorite. However, what really gets me is his performance from late ’23 wherein he performed Move for the 500000 time on a KBS show with the AKMU sibs hosting. It was as if it was his first performance and he had the whole audience involved….dude isn’t phoning it in and no way he doesn’t have Move Fatigue.
Anyway, I’m gonna go check out the Toxic performance.
LikeLike
Omg the live band arrangement of Move in that show still lives in my mind rent free.
LikeLike
no mention of stray kids anywhere is a joke right?? not even in the “notable performances that didn’t make my ranking” 💀💀 not sure if they performed on day 1 or day 2, but either way they’re not mentioned in either post. i know you don’t like them but that kind of snub is insane and immature
LikeLike