The starting players have truly shown their passion for their debut.

The second episode of the SBS global boy group audition program ‘Universe League’ that aired on the 29th heightened the tension with the bench test of the contestants who were in danger of elimination and the first round mission of the league match for the starting players.

The 21 independent contestants who did not survive the previous missions were given one last chance for salvation. They had to take on the so-called bench test. The contestants put their lives on the line for the bench test, calling it their “last chance”.

In particular, Nam Do-yoon became the Team Beat bench player after three tests, and Kwon Hee-jun cried when he was recruited as the Team Rhythm bench player. Hiroto, who was not selected until the end, shed tears of relief as he was embraced by Team Groove. As they visited the team up to Hiroto, all 21 independent players succeeded in becoming bench players.

Next, the full-fledged league 1st round mission unfolded. The starters competed against each other, and the benches competed against each other, and the players had to select the representative songs of each team‘s manager and perform on stage. In particular, the team that ranked lower in the 1st round mission would receive a yellow card, which would lead to the elimination of a bench player. Thus, a war to avoid the yellow card began.

The starters faced off first. Team Rhythm performed WayV’s ‘Give Me That’. In Team Rhythm, JL and Park Joo-won, who had received ‘duplicate picks’ in the previous mission, were chosen as the aces. Among them, JL was recognized by the team rhythm directors for his flawless skills and won the killing part and main vocal.

The ‘Give Me That’ stage that was revealed afterwards received favorable reviews. It was a top-notch stage based on perfect teamwork. Park Joo-won was named the MVP of team rhythm according to the audience vote.

Team Beat ambitiously selected Triple S‘s ‘Girls Never Die’ and prepared a male version of ‘Boys Never Die’ stage. However, Team Beat experienced conflict because of Park Ji-hoon. This was because Park Ji-hoon, who lacked skills, did not practice diligently. Cha Woong-ki also showed a reaction that he did not understand Park Ji-hoon’s behavior.


Team Beat, which failed to keep its teamwork together until the end, showed a disappointing stage. Team Beat director Yoo Gyeom sighed when Park Ji Hoon, Geum Jin Ho, and others made mistakes. Amidst the outpouring of regretful reactions, Cha Woong Ki, who has been active as a career idol, became Team Beat‘s MVP.

Team Groove chose BTOB’s ‘Missing You’. As expected from a team with strong vocalists, the main vocal selection process was fierce from the start. However, Jang Kyung Ho, who was aiming for the main vocal, did not receive good reviews due to a pitch error. He tried again because he was greedy for the part, but he also mispelled it again. Jang Kyung Ho said, “I‘m mad at myself.” Seo Jung Woo, who trained for only three weeks, also received harsh criticism from director Lee Chang Sub due to his disappointing skills.

Jang Kyung Ho also made a mistake in both the lyrics and the beat during the actual performance of ‘Missing You’, which was disappointing. On the other hand, Seo Jung-woo successfully completed the ending part with a stable performance, and was selected as the MVP, creating a surprising result.

As a result of the first half starting match, Team Rhythm scored 1,234 points, Team Beat 996 points, and Team Groove 1,172 points, placing Team Rhythm in first place in the intermediate rankings. However, the results can easily be overturned through the bench match. Attention is being paid to which team will take first place in the final first round.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com