On March 20th, ONF and WM Entertainment decided to participate in Mnet’s idol reality show Road to Kingdom. Road to Kingdom is the male version of another popular show by Mnet, Queendom. During the competition, ONF showed their talent in singing, rapping, and dancing; they started slow but gathered pace and finished strong in Road to Kingdom. In this article, Channel-Korea will talk about ONF’s progress, performance, and ranks in each stage. So, stay tuned!
ONF’s Interview for Road to Kingdom
ONF prepared “New World” for their final stage performance. During their preparation, they saw the actual views of each contestant through YouTube. At first, they were excited when they saw their video of the third performance. “It’s Raining” gained around 170.000 views. ONF members were surprised upon realizing that The Boys got more than 1 million views on YouTube. Based on the overall view, ONF was positioned among the groups with the lowest views. ONF leader realized that he needs to step up and encourage his fellow members. For the next performance, he suggested the Pandora Box concept. He took out and asked each member to gather important items and put them in the box. He wanted all members to look at the Pandora Box as a sign of all the reasons why they competed in Road To Kingdom. Whenever they looked at the box, each member should gain more power and train harder to reach the best rank.
ONF’s Performances in Road to Kingdom
In the preliminary performance of Road to Kingdom, ONF titled their performance “Beginning.” After their performance, ONF collected a total of 15 points and ranked 5th overall. ONF prepared ‘The Song of King’ for their first performance. At this stage, ONF performed “Everybody,” a popular song by SHINee. They got a total of 2590 points and amassed 8633 of rounded points. After the first performance, ONF climbed to the third overall position. ONF received the honor of special performance by YooA of Oh My Girls. Together, they performed “We Must Love” and “Moscow Moscow.” ONG gained more than 2.2 million self-evaluation points and gathered a whopping more than 6 million online audience vote points. In total, ONF gathered 8.257 points and ranked second in overall standings. For the first and second performance, ONF gathered 16.890 points and ranked second on overall rank. Golden Child got eliminated and couldn’t continue their participation in Road to Kingdom. ONF collaborated with Pentagon, another strong candidate, to perform Blackpink’s “Kill This Love” in the first part of the third performance. Their strong collaboration earned a total of 5000 points. In the second part of the third performance, ONF performed Rain’s hit single “It’s Raining.” The Michael Jackson concept proved to be a huge success. Due to the concept and song selection, ONG gathered maximum points in every category and finally peaked at the No. 1 position. The combination of first, second, and third performance accumulated ONF points to a total of 31.890. They were followed by The Boyz with 30.765 points in the second position and Pentagon with 26.853 points in the third position.
Sadly, in the final live comeback stage, the last stage, ONF were outshined by The Boyz. ONF performed “New World” during the final stage. However, The Boyz earned more points and views from the audience. The strong final performance by The Boyz who performed “Checkmate” earned them top ranks and made them the winners of Road to Kingdom.
ONF’s Behind The Performances
ONF prepared their choreography for the third performance; they chose “It’s Raining” by Rain and used Michael Jackson’s concept. They looked to be enjoying all the training and practicing the choreography. Their performance was a combination of concept, from global pop icon Michael Jackson, and song, from Korean pop icon, Rain. Much of the choreography was taken from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video.
ONF’s Ranking Progress
During the preliminary performances, ONF achieved the 5th position. In the preliminary performances, each contestant was given a 90-second performance to show their talents to judges and impress the people in the studio and the fans. ONF titled their performance “Lights On” and earned a total of 155 points. Their ranks fluctuated on a daily basis. ONF’s rank improved in the ‘Song of King’ and ‘My Song’ segments. During the first elimination stage, ONF improved their position from third to second. The boys reached peak rank in the ‘Collaboration’ and ‘Your Song’ segment. At the second elimination, ONF maintained their highest rank. They reached the first rank and amassed 31.890 votes. However, based on total views and digital points, ONF lagged behind the eventual winner, The Boyz. The Boyz reached 30.000 points while ONF barely reached 20.000 points. In the final live votes, ONF gathered 27.359 votes and peaked at number 2 overall ranking. In the final performance, ONF entertained the audience with “New World.” Their choreography and collaboration drew the attention of the judges and viewers. It is too bad that they started too weak during the preliminary stage. At the time, the view for their live stage gathered just half views than the eventual winner. However, they worked hard and improved a lot during Road to Kingdom; ONF deserved to gain second overall position. That was all the information about ONF. Their participation in Road to Kingdom catapulted their popularity. They were among the best performers in Road to Kingdom. Let’s cheer up for ONF and their future activities!
