7 Performances From Girls Planet 999 That We Just Can’t Seem to Stop Replaying!!!
Yes, I watched nearly four hours' worth of Girls Planet 999 just to give you my top seven picks.
First impressions are important. Especially in survival how shows like that of Girls Planet 999. The first two episodes of this show focussed on each trainee's initial ability by having them put up a performance in front of their mentors (the Kpop Masters) and their fellow contestants.
Trainees who can make themselves stand out in this stage often go on to become part of the debut lineup, or at least end off as trainees with extremely high rankings but unfortunately fall short of the final nine.
So what are some of the trainee performances that I can't stop watching? Read on to find out my top seven!
(P.S. Number seven's pretty controversial, but watch it and you'll understand why I chose it)
Hot Sauce
Does this name perhaps remind you of NCT DREAM's newest song? Well, you'll be happy to find out that this is the name of the 18-year-old duo consisting of trainees Seo Youngeun and Yoon Jia who chose to cover NCT 127's Kick It.
When the girls introduced themselves, they seemed like any bubbly 18-year-old — especially Seo Youngeun, who was a lot more outgoing than her partner. But once the girls got into position and the music started, their demeanor immediately changed. The once outgoing Seo Youngeun was now serious and focussed, and the shy Yoon Jia was now fierce and confident.
Hands down one of my favourite performances from the first episode. You can catch the unedited version here.
Monster Baby
K-GROUP's adorable maknaes entered the stage mimicking a train, truly embracing their roles as the youngest in the whole of K-GROUP. This group consists of four trainees Kim Sein, Kang Yeseo, Lee Chaeyun, and Guinn Myah, who chose to cover 4 Minute's Crazy.
While they may be the youngest, they proved that age does not matter when it comes to talent. The girls put together such an amazing performance, perfectly conveying the strong, boss-lady vibes of the song. Kang Yeseo also showed exceptional professionalism when her mic pack fell off mid-performance. Instead of being distracted, the trainee continued on as if nothing had happened, and discreetly slipped the pack into her pocket after her part.
Kang Yeseo really impressed me with her stage presence and professionalism here. I'm rooting for them all! You can catch the unedited version here.
Crystal Girls
We've talked about two K-GROUPs, so let's move on to J-GROUP! Crystal Girls were one of the first few to perform, and consisted of five members, Murakami Yume, Hayase Hana, Kitajima Yuna, Kishida Ririka, and Kawaguchi Yurina who chose to cover TWICE's Fancy.
Although this performance had quite a few errors, with many trainees singing off-key, the one who stood out to me the most was Kawaguchi Yurina. The moment she appeared and started singing, I was blown away by her stable vocals and her stage presence. In fact, I've noticed her since their title track O.O.O but couldn't put a name to her face! In fact, don't you think she looks a little like TWICE's Momo?
All in all, Crystal Girls put in good effort for their cover of Fancy. You can catch the unedited version here.
Su Ruiqi
I've talked about how Su Ruiqi caught my attention in the title track O.O.O here, and she's definitely not just some one-hit wonder that got lucky in O.O.O's MV. She proved herself to be an all rounded performer when she chose to perform Chungha's Snapping in her first performance.
The moment she came on stage, my friends said that she radiated itzy's Ryujin vibes — and I must agree! Personally, I really love itzy's Ryujin, so this could be one of the reasons why I'm so drawn to Su Ruiqi at first glance. But c'mon, take a look at her performance and tell me that she isn't ready to debut!
Truly the ace that she wants to be, I'm certainly rooting for Su Ruiqi in Girls Planet 999! You can catch the unedited version here.
P.S. There seems to be an error with the profiles for some C-GROUP trainees. Let's hope it gets rectified soon!
Fireworks
This team caught the attention of the Kpop Masters and trainees alike for consisting of members that have already debuted or had long trainee periods. Kim Doah is a member of FANATICS and former Produce 48 contestant, Kim Hyerim is a former member of Lime Soda and AQUA, You Dayeon is a former member of LIPBUBBLE and currently with 1MILLION Dance Studio, and Lee Sunwoo is a pre-debut member of EVERMORE MUSE.
Naturally, the standards were higher for these girls since they already had a wealth of experience in the industry and they definitely lived up to it with their rendition of Seulgi, SinB, Chungha, and Jeon Soyeon's Wow Thing!
They truly showed the difference of being a trainee and an experienced idol. In fact, I joked that the four of them and just go ahead and debut as a group! You can catch the unedited version here.
Special mention
Check out Sim Seungeun, a member of BVNDIT's spectacular cover of Gain's Paradise Lost
Bbo Yoon
In a Kpop survival show, most trainees will choose to perform covers of well-know Kpop bands. However, the duo Bbo Yoon, consisting of Kim Bora, a member of Cherry Bullet, and Jeong Jiyoon chose to cover Little Mix's Bounce Back instead.
They completely wowed the audience not just with their powerful vocals, but also their equally powerful dance! Everyone was amazed with their vocal stability despite the demanding choreography. The girls were able to show just how good their technique was in challenging such a difficult song, and their efforts did not betray them!
Mnet did not upload the broadcast version of their performance, so the video above is the unedited clip.
Twins
Wait!!! Put down that pitchfork and hear me out! Yes, the twins, Liang Jiao and Liang Qiao may not have had the best performance out of all the trainees but for some reason, I can't seem to stop myself from watching their performance over and over again!
Believe it or not, they were the ones who inspired this article because despite their lackluster performance, I found myself constantly going back to these girls, wanting to see their adorable interactions with each other and their rendition of WJSN Chocome's Hmph.
Apparently, some people are saying that these girls are top-notch performers and may have put up such a stage for publicity. Either way, I'm excited to see what they have to offer in the episodes to com! You can find the unedited version here.
Are you surprised that I didn't include Burn Crush's cover of BLACKPINK's Boombayah? They were definitely great, but I wanted to introduce some other performances that you might not have seen if you're not an avid water of Girls Planet 999. Let me know what other performances I might've missed out in the comments or over at ABC KOREA's Facebook and Instagram!
You can catch Girls Planet 999 on iQiyi every Friday at 7:20pm Singapore time.