I want to know more about the hosts and I'm curious about the quality of English translation on Netflix too, to see whether some of the comments sound equally demeaning in Japanese.
Sure. I predict Sunoo, Heeseung, Sunghoon, Jay, K, Jake and Niki, Niki being PD's pick. I would say Jungwon deserves a spot 100% but his votes were lower than Jake's. Also Daniel's improvement probably will not be enough. Let's see on the 18th!
Until ep10, the trainees that got the first place in a test during part 1 and part 2 tests are:
Jungwon (part 1, twice), K (part 1), Heeseung(highest), Jake(ep9), Sunoo (global vote 1, ep7). Also Taki got the mini mission 1st place. (+ Hanbin has the most views on youtube)
I think one of the reasons Jay did not get selected for producer's pick after second test in ep9, is that his ranking at the time was 11th in the global votes, so the pds did not want to save him because there could be another trainee who gets lots of attention from the public. I think Jay deserved some recognition after all he did for his team and I would prefer him to have the benefit. I would be sad if he gets eliminated but I also believe that pds may choose to give him a leader spot in the next boy group they will debut after this one.
Another new episode and another 'resentment, anger and shame' moment for Hanbin fans. I'm wondering why would they edit out the part where he got feedback, he must have gotten at least a word. Regardless, with Niki and Jay, Hanbin showed one of the best performances in ep 9 in my opinion. His constant eye-contact with the camera and confident expressions are completed with his distinct voice color, high voice range and sweet personality. He is definitely the trainee I'm hoping the best after this show, his whole journey from Vietnam to this show is inspiring, yet he proved himself even more in part 2. I hope he will get in the top 7 at least once during the show, even if they are not going to include him in the lineup.
At this point the 4 trainees that will be in debut lineup 90% are Heeseung, Jungwon, Sunoo and Sunghoon. The producers are now testing K, Jay and Jake but they are still in top 7 for now. As for the rest, they seem to think favorably of Niki, Hanbin and unfavorably of Daniel and Taki. Depending on what kind of group energy they want to create, they want to see how the viewers respond to these changes in the show. The votes are unstable except for 3 or 4 trainees so many walk on a slippery road this week. I actually do not believe how the units got the votes instead of members. Heeseung, Sunoo and Sunghoon are always the top three that's okay. But Taki got 4th and INY unit got 5-6-7, while the last spots are all DNA unit members. So weird. Jay and K had more votes before. Maybe the fans thought they vote to make a unit immune to elimination and DNA unit was strong in their eyes.
This episode(7) confirmed that youtube view stats indicate who will get the global vote but not exactly in order. Hanbin had the most views on his cams but he was the last one to join. This may have something to do with viewers who vote but do not stream that much and vote on multiple acccounts. Youtube does not show each country's dynamics that well.
In the next episode one trainee will be eliminated by the producers. Looking at the groups, DNA team seems like a good dance team, they have good expressions as well. I'm expecting Hanbin to get recognition in this performance and hope that he won't be the first one to go. But considering his votes are currently 12th maybe the pds will not give him more chance if he does not perfectly perform every detail. He is the reason I actually started voting for this show and following closely the updates so I hope to see him continue. Another unlucky contestant is Geonu, who has the best stable tenor vocal imo, but does not appeal to the viewer that much. I think he would be great in a band, so secretly wishing him to go down that road.
For me Jake and Sunghoon does not stand out that much, I don't recognize their voices and they are not the best dancers, but they have visual appeal. For me the top3 are K, Jungwon and Heesung. 4 and 5 would be Jay and Niki. Hanbin could be a good addition but they will probably leave him sooner or later, have to face this fact. I wish Hanbin could be in a group that suits him more, even if he gets in this lineup, he won't be as popular and will be treated as the token for SE Asia appeal. Taki needs some improvement but he is really good and cute. Geonu is a good vocal but may be dropped by both pds and public. And lastly Sunoo and Daniel, they have appeal and potential, could be 6 and 7. I think they both are good vocals and visuals, they have good expressions too. They were not my top picks but I think they are better suited than Jake and even Sunghoon. In that case, I think next episode the producers won't eliminate someone with a huge appeal to the public, if they did I would respect a lot the courage, so even if Sunoo, Daniel messes up, they will be somehow safe.
And the more annoying aspect of this test is that the 12th contestant may be saved if he is in the top group. I have hopes that 1st will be DNA (K, Jay, Niki, Hanbin) but you never know. If Hanbin gets eliminated because the 12th was in the top group, could be Jake or Taki, I think that's really unfair. (It could be anyone actually. We should also not forget how K and Geonu got such low scores in I&Credible test, PDs can be quite brutal sometimes )
Hoping for a nice episode this friday! Hope my votes for Hanbin are not in vain right now and he is still at i-land. I also want to see some Hanbin X K, X Heesung, X Jay, X Jungwon X Geonu interaction. Actually, Hanbin did the same parts as Geonu in Fire and then gave his spot to him in I&Credible, in which he performed better, and he seemed very friendly towards him last episode during the BTS advise. Contrary to this, Geonu seems a bit uptight and he does not show that much care for him, or others.
Also, as a note, this show bringts out interesting social psychology conclusions, first one is how people are complaining all of Vietnam vote for Hanbin (where I'm not from), while Daniel gets the top vote from US and Niki from Japan, Jake from Australia. There are other trainees from US and Japan but still. Be like K guys, first in Ghana and Greece, an international star! Secondly, I find it a bit odd how i-landers take themselves as superior to grounders and to be more worthy than them. K's comments about 1st and 2nd places were partially correct but he must know that the public will support grounders more because they were at risk. He also does not understand how visuals work too, clear from this and how he said he did not find himself handsome.
Episode 6 was disappointing for the grounders. They could not show their talent in the redistributed short parts. Check out individual cams of trainees who never caught your attention before voting.
Amount of people who has not given any attention to Jimin, Taeyong, EJ and Seongcheol is saddening. Especially after the last stage in episode 6, some trainees deserves more support.
Jungwon (part 1, twice), K (part 1), Heeseung(highest), Jake(ep9), Sunoo (global vote 1, ep7). Also Taki got the mini mission 1st place. (+ Hanbin has the most views on youtube)
In the next episode one trainee will be eliminated by the producers. Looking at the groups, DNA team seems like a good dance team, they have good expressions as well. I'm expecting Hanbin to get recognition in this performance and hope that he won't be the first one to go. But considering his votes are currently 12th maybe the pds will not give him more chance if he does not perfectly perform every detail. He is the reason I actually started voting for this show and following closely the updates so I hope to see him continue. Another unlucky contestant is Geonu, who has the best stable tenor vocal imo, but does not appeal to the viewer that much. I think he would be great in a band, so secretly wishing him to go down that road.
For me Jake and Sunghoon does not stand out that much, I don't recognize their voices and they are not the best dancers, but they have visual appeal. For me the top3 are K, Jungwon and Heesung. 4 and 5 would be Jay and Niki. Hanbin could be a good addition but they will probably leave him sooner or later, have to face this fact. I wish Hanbin could be in a group that suits him more, even if he gets in this lineup, he won't be as popular and will be treated as the token for SE Asia appeal. Taki needs some improvement but he is really good and cute. Geonu is a good vocal but may be dropped by both pds and public. And lastly Sunoo and Daniel, they have appeal and potential, could be 6 and 7. I think they both are good vocals and visuals, they have good expressions too. They were not my top picks but I think they are better suited than Jake and even Sunghoon. In that case, I think next episode the producers won't eliminate someone with a huge appeal to the public, if they did I would respect a lot the courage, so even if Sunoo, Daniel messes up, they will be somehow safe.
And the more annoying aspect of this test is that the 12th contestant may be saved if he is in the top group. I have hopes that 1st will be DNA (K, Jay, Niki, Hanbin) but you never know. If Hanbin gets eliminated because the 12th was in the top group, could be Jake or Taki, I think that's really unfair. (It could be anyone actually. We should also not forget how K and Geonu got such low scores in I&Credible test, PDs can be quite brutal sometimes )
Hoping for a nice episode this friday! Hope my votes for Hanbin are not in vain right now and he is still at i-land. I also want to see some Hanbin X K, X Heesung, X Jay, X Jungwon X Geonu interaction. Actually, Hanbin did the same parts as Geonu in Fire and then gave his spot to him in I&Credible, in which he performed better, and he seemed very friendly towards him last episode during the BTS advise. Contrary to this, Geonu seems a bit uptight and he does not show that much care for him, or others.
Also, as a note, this show bringts out interesting social psychology conclusions, first one is how people are complaining all of Vietnam vote for Hanbin (where I'm not from), while Daniel gets the top vote from US and Niki from Japan, Jake from Australia. There are other trainees from US and Japan but still. Be like K guys, first in Ghana and Greece, an international star! Secondly, I find it a bit odd how i-landers take themselves as superior to grounders and to be more worthy than them. K's comments about 1st and 2nd places were partially correct but he must know that the public will support grounders more because they were at risk. He also does not understand how visuals work too, clear from this and how he said he did not find himself handsome.
Cheers!