Visual Killer had four members who ranked 1, 24, 26 and 33. All of them were visually striking. Tall and pretty was the description for them. So it made sense their group name was Visual Killer. Chen Hsin Wei was dead last in the group, while Shen Xiao Ting was ranked 1.
They performed a beloved song among Produce 48/IZ*ONE fans, Rumor. And they did it very badly except for Shen Xiao Ting, who proved why she was the number one among all the girls in the C Group.
Chen Hsin Wei was given minus marks for her vocals but was praised for her stage presence. The candidate for the top nine from this group was Shen Xiao Ting.
The following performers were the first J Group Crystal Girls, who had five members ranking 4, 9, 14, 24 and 28. Kawaguchi Yurina gave the strongest impression among the members of this group. She was catching the attention of not only the Planet Master but her fellow competitors as well.
A familiar name to NiziU fans was also part of Crystal Girls. Kishida Ririka. When asked why she entered another survival program, she said she couldn’t give up on her dream of becoming an idol.
Crystal Girls performed TWICE’s Fancy. They were much better than Visual Killer vocally for the most part. They did make the masters cringe a bit with some off notes, though. Nevertheless, they had bright energy throughout their performance, making it easy to watch despite vocal hiccups.
Kishida Ririka was advised to use her lower body properly when dancing. Kawaguchi Yurina was praised for her stable singing. The top nine candidate from Crystal Girls is, of course, Kawaguchi Yurina.
The first K Group Soft Bean Rice Cake had three members ranked 7, 23 and 30. There were high expectations for them to do well being from the homeland of K-Pop since they sacrificed their teenage years to pursue their dreams of being an idol.
They performed aespa’s Black Mamba, a song that requires a lot of charisma and precision. Soft Bean Rice Cake surprised everyone for having such low ranks.
An Jeong Min was praised for her vocal that left the masters wanting more. Kim Chae Hyun was called out on her missed high note, but otherwise, she did well. An Jeong Min ended up being the top nine candidate out of this group.
The second K group Hot Sauce had two members ranked 10 and 22. This cheerful group performed NCT127’s Kick it. However, their eyes changed as soon as they started to perform, making everyone scream.
Both members became candidates for the top nine embracing in tears after.
The second J Group came in holding hands cutely. They were ranked 17 and 2. The focus of this group was Sakamoto Mashiro, a former JYP trainee who trained with ITZY but failed to debut. Dejected, she returned to Japan but came back to Korea for her last chance on this show.
The group with no name performed (G) I-DLE’s DUMDi DUMDi, which is known to have intricate choreography. They impressed immediately with their stable vocals while nailing the choreo.
Following that performance, a montage of random J Group performances shows they are more than just small and cute. In between, each one was comments from other competitors who underestimated their Japanese counterparts and praise from the masters.
The third J group that got a whole feature is Burn Crush. They have four members ranking 1, 6, 10 and 16. Ezaki Hikaru had all eyes on her as the top member of J Group. They performed BLACKPINK’s Boombayah. Flashbacks to Produce 48 immediately came to mind.
This group is way more charismatic and skilled than Produce 48’s Snack by miles. They broke the stereotype of Japanese idols not being able to do anything beyond cute stuff.
Ezaki got a lot of praise from the masters for her efforts. Shana also got some love for her vocal abilities. The top nine candidates from this group are Nonaka Shana and Ezaki Hikaru.
This streak of J Groups doing well lit a fire under the asses of some of the K Group girls, with more shade being thrown.
The third K Group Shooting Star is a three-member one with rankings of 1, 2 and 19. Anticipation was high for this group to represent the home team. Their song choice was K/DA’s POP/STARS, which is a hard song according to the masters.
Shooting Star started fiercely and never let up through their performance. Some of that Korean pride was restored after they were done with all the members impressing the masters. The top nine candidate from this group is Kim Su Yeon, who was shocked at the announcement. Surprisingly the first and second place girls in the K Group did not get selected.
K Group number four Monster Babies happened to be the youngest in the competition for the K Group. So they had all the other girls screaming for the cute babies on stage. This four-member group had rankings of 13, 24, 17 and 27.
The featured member of Monster Babies is Kang Ye Seo, a former member of the child group CutieL and idol group Busters. Their song choice is 4Minute’s Crazy, which seems unsuitable for a group whose majority age is probably too young to remember this song.
Funnily enough, they pulled off this song, getting a standing ovation from the masters afterwards. All four members made it as candidates for the top nine.
