At seven episodes in, Mnet’s Queendom Puzzle has produced many impressive stages. The show recently focused on the “all-rounder battle”: a five-round mission separated into three rounds of vocal/rap performances and two rounds of dance stages. The show’s 26 contestants split into two teams of 13 — Queendom and Puzzle — for the all-rounder battle. Though the vocal/rap rounds featured song covers, Mnet selected original songs for the dance portion. Each team delivered diverse performances through “BAD BLOOD,” “Overwater,” “WEB,” and “Glow-up.”   

“BAD BLOOD” 

Puzzle Team performed first for the all-rounder battle’s dance sections. The first unit coincidentally joined senior-junior artist pairings — Lovelyz’ Kei with Rocket Punch’s Suyun, and Yeeun with LIGHTSUM’s Sangah —  with woo!ah! members Nana and Wooyeon. “BAD BLOOD” heated up the competition with its high difficulty level and usage of lighters for a fiery performance. 

In Episode six, dance crew LACHICA noted this particular choreography ranks within their personal top five creations. Despite a few mistakes, the performance still appeared amazing. Part of the chorus says “set me on fire” and Yeeun demonstrates this during the first verse: after lighters turn on at the flick of her wrist, she uses the last lighter to turn a piece of paper into a small fireball. The performance also contained additional surprises outside of its strong choreography. Sangah, known primarily as a dancer and rapper, sings powerfully in the song. It’s a shame that “BAD BLOOD” is the only one of the bunch that runs less than three minutes.

“Overwater” 

“Overwater” made a splash with a calming presence. Performed by the Queendom unit of Fye, Miru, AOA’s Dohwa, Weeekly’s Soojin, and tripleS members Seoyeon and Jiwoo, “Overwater” draws inspiration from Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The song portrays the strength of Ariel when she returns to the sea, embracing her voice under the water.  

“Overwater” starts with an opening pose resembling a mermaid sitting on a rock. Soojin appears in the center, with the other team members supporting her with their legs. Other ocean-themed movements include the wavy hand gestures during the chorus, and the diving actions when they “dive into the water.” Choreographer Ryu.D updated the choreography per the team’s request, adding a lift and a split to the bridge. The “Overwater” movements use a graceful fluidity that impresses in this gentler track.

“WEB” 

“WEB” focuses on capturing the audience’s attention with a ribbon-riddled seductive choreography. Puzzle Team members WJSN’s Yeoreum, Cherry Bullet’s Bora and Jiwon, Weeekly’s Jihan and Zoa, PURPLE K!SS’ Yuki, and H1-KEY’s Riina performed a hypnotizing stage surrounded by fog and dim lighting. Elements of trap appear in the song’s composition and its theme. Choi Youngjun created the choreography around the theme of an alluring woman drawing someone in, like how a spider captures its prey. 

The team members completed the choreography with ribbons secured at their ankles. This amped up the complexity of the dance, which requires precise usage of the ribbons to create web-like imagery. Queendom Puzzle viewers first saw ribbon choreography in Episode three and four “remix battle.” Dohwa, Nana, Suyun, and Jihan previously used ribbons to express being trapped by expectations in (G)I-DLE’s “Nxde.” While practicing “WEB” in Episode six, Jihan commented on the greater difficulty level of the choreography compared to the “Nxde” remix.

“Glow-up” 

“Glow-up” finished the round with a hip-hop performance with jumps, throws, and cool gestures. The stage started with a rebellious entrance by Puzzle team members JooE, Weki Meki’s Elly, Rocket Punch’s Juri and Yeonhee, Cherry Bullet’s Chaerin, Weeekly’s Soeun, and H1-KEY’s Hwiseo. The idols pretended to spray graffiti on the wall before transitioning to the song. This connected to the song’s meaning of idols letting loose after work. 

Like “Overwater,” Ryu.D created the “Glow-up” choreography. “Glow-up” uses energetic and confident dance motions. It requires moves on the floor and in the air. Elly in particular takes many of the stand-out moves, such as a well-timed leap and salute, and a successful landing after a lift. Overall, the more carefree style of “Glow-up” wrapped up the all-rounder battle on a fun note. It finished the round on what would normally be a tense and stressful moment. 

Queendom Puzzle’s all-rounder battle prepared original dance songs that showed creativity within many different concepts. “BAD BLOOD,” “Overwater,” “WEB,” and “Glow-up” add to the growing list of the show’s original songs, following “Charismatic,” “Snap,” and “ RISE UP.” As the contestants start preparing the semi-final songs, the anticipation builds for more spectacular stages.

Edited by Omani