Kingdom: Legendary War () is a television program that aired on Mnet beginning on April 1, 2021, and ending on June 3, 2021. It is known as the male counterpart of Queendom, and the sequel of Road to Kingdom. During the finale on June 3, 2021, Stray Kids won the program, finishing in 1st place.
Overview The program is a battle between six trending K-pop boy groups: BtoB, iKON, SF9, Ateez, The Boyz, Stray Kids.The program features four rounds of performances, with the final round being broadcast live.
The winner of the show, Stray Kids, was rewarded with a reality show specially for the winning boy group, plus a "Kingdom Week" special show.
Promotion and broadcast A preliminary competition, titled Road to Kingdom, aired from April 30 to June 18, 2020. The Boyz won the competition, securing a spot in Kingdom. On December 6, through the 2020 Mnet Asian Music Awards, the first lineup for Kingdom was announced, and it consisted of Road to Kingdoms winner The Boyz, alongside Stray Kids and Ateez.
On January 22, 2021, Mnet confirmed that the hosts of the show would be TVXQ. Six days after, the network confirmed that iKON, SF9, and BtoB would join the lineup.
On February 17, 2021, Mnet released the first trailer and announced a global live broadcast of the 100-second group introduction performances which is to be aired on February 23, 2021, via Mnet's YouTube channel.
On March 16, 2021, Mnet released performance posters and announced a special stage featuring members from each group that was shown during the March 18 episode of M Countdown.
The show was aired simulcast on Mnet Japan, AbemaTV in Japan and tvN Asia a day after the domestic broadcast.
The final episode aired live and was live streamed on Mnet's YouTube channel.
Cast Host Max Changmin (TVXQ)
Contestants BtoB IKon SF9 The Boyz Stray Kids Ateez
Rules
The overall final ranking of the show is based on the following criteria: Self-evaluation points (25%) Experts' voting (25%) Global voting (40%) Performance video view count (10%)
Introduction Stage - 100 Second Performances The six boy groups will each perform one of their hit songs (that have won 1st place in a music show) for a 100-second performance that will best express themselves.
Except for the final performing boy group, which is decided by prior voting by the groups themselves of who they expect will win first place in this introductory stage. The first performing boy group is decided by the latter boy group who will themselves be performing last. After the first boy group has performed, they will decide on the second performing boy group, and the second boy group that has performed will then decide on the third performing boy group. The process goes on until the final boy group and all performances have been completed. The introduction performances will be streamed live through Mnet's YouTube channel on February 23, 2021. Voting via the Whosfan app for the round started after the live stream (from 20:15 (KST)) and closed on February 27, 2021, at 23:59 (KST). Viewers will vote for their top 3 performances. The winning boy group for this round will get 1,000 points, plus the benefit of arranging the cue sheet for the next round of performances.
Round 1 - To The World The six boy groups each perform one (or two) of their representative hit songs, which are rearranged and different from their usual stages of the song.
Voting via the Whosfan app for the round started from April 15 at 22:00 (KST) and closed on April 18 at 23:59 (KST). Viewers will vote for their top 3 performances. Experts' votes come from 30 professional judges, and each judge will have 3 votes to cast. For self-evaluation, each boy group will hold 3 votes, and will vote for other boy groups other than their own group. The winning boy group for this round will get 20,000 points.
Round 2 - Re-born The six boy groups will exchange songs, perform and rearrange them into different styles.
Voting via the Whosfan app for the round started from April 29 at 22:00 (KST) and closes on May 2 at 23:59 (KST). Viewers will vote for their top 3 performances. Views will only be counted for the first three days after the full versions of performances are released on Mnet's official YouTube channel.
Round 3 - No Limit The premise of "No Limit" is that there are no restrictions for the performances in this round. A total of 40,000 points will be awarded in this round.
This round will be divided into two parts. The first parts involves the six individual groups being sorted into two larger teams (selected by Ateez, the highest scoring team in the previous round in terms of the total points in experts' votes plus self-evaluation). Each large team then divides its members into three smaller units - a dance unit, a vocal unit, and a rap unit, based on each individual idol's specialty. The corresponding units in each group will go against each other over three rounds - dance, vocal, and rap. The winning group in each of the three rounds will earn 5,000 points, which will be evenly distributed. The awarding of points is solely based on which group won each round. A total of 15,000 points are up for grabs.
The second part will be back in individual groups, with a total of 25,000 points to be distributed, in the same way as the other rounds. However, for the idol group's self-evaluations, each group can only vote for two teams, instead of three in previous rounds.
For Part 1 of this round, 33 special judges are invited to judge the performances and each will have 1 vote. The special judges include Super Junior members Shindong & Donghae, producer and CEO of Brand New Music Rhymer, idol hitmaker Shinsadong Tiger, music critic Kim Young-dae, song production team MonoTree, choreographer Lia Kim and idol group members of BDC, Weeekly, Tri.be and Mirae.
Final Round - Who Is The King The six boy groups will each perform a newly produced song live on the final episode. The new songs will be released digitally on May 28, 2021, at 12:00 (KST).
Voting for this round includes live text votes for voters living in South Korea, and through Whosfan app for overseas fans. Digitals rankings will be determined via Gaon Music Chart for South Korea, and via Apple Music for overseas, from the time of release to June 1, 2021.
Rounds Introduction Stage - 100 Seconds Performance (Episode 1) Order Artist Performance name Global Votes Ranking Points Note(s) 1 Ateez Wave: Overture 504,215 5th 0.000 The performances were aired via live stream on February 23, 2021, through Mnet's YouTube channel. Voting period was from February 23 to 27, and the results were announced during the first episode on April 1, 2021, for groups ranked 3 to 5. The groups ranked 1, 2, and 6 were revealed during the second episode on April 8, 2021. 2 BtoB Beautiful Pain (Choir ver.) 540,621 3rd 0.000 3 SF9 Good Guy (The Glory) 533,458 4th 0.000 4 Stray Kids Miroh 690,971 1st 1,000.000 5 The Boyz The Stealer (Epic ver.) 573,026 2nd 0.000 6 iKON Rhythm Ta (Kingdom ver.) 489,971 6th 0.000
Round 1 - To The World (Episode 2 & 3) Order Artist Performance name Experts' vote Self-evaluation YouTube views Global voting Total points 1 The Boyz No Air (A Song of Ice and Fire) 3 1,000.000 4 833.333 5 Not Announced 6 Not Announced 3rd 3,142.066 2 iKON Love Scenario & Killing Me (Kingdom ver.) 5 333.333 5 555.556 2 Not Announced 3 Not Announced 5th 2,747.719 3 BtoB Missing You (Theatre ver.) 5 333.333 2 1,111.111 4 Not Announced 4 Not Announced 4th 2,969.431 4 Stray Kids Jasin (Self's 'Character', Ghost 'God') 2 1,333.333 2 1,111.111 1 Not Announced 1 Not Announced 1st 4,679.776 5 Ateez Symphony No.9 (From the Wonderland) 1 1,555.556 1 1,388.889 3 Not Announced 5 Not Announced 2nd 4,418.537 6 SF9 Jealous 4 444.444 6 0.000 6 Not Announced 2 Not Announced 6th 2,042.471
Round 2 - RE-BORN (Episodes 4 & 5) Order Artist Performance name Original Artist Experts' vote Self-evaluation YouTube views Global voting Total points 1 SF9 The Stealer (The Scene) The Boyz 4 747.126 1 1,388.889 6 144.425 5 1,213.682 3rd 3494.122 2 The Boyz O Sole Mio (The Red Wedding) SF9 2 919.540 4 0.000 4 291.483 2 1,323.199 6th 2,534.222 3 iKON Inception (iKON ver.)Ateez 3 862.069 2 833.333 2 403.639 4 1,280.600 5th 3379.641 4 Ateez Rhythm Ta (The Awakening of Summer) iKON 1 1,321.839 2 833.333 3 305.001 6 1,146.890 1st 3607.063 5 BtoB Back Door Stray Kids 5 632.184 1 1,388.889 5 284.497 3 1,293.133 2nd 3598.704 6 Stray Kids Pray (I'll Be Your Man) (Stray Kids ver.) BtoB 6 517.241 3 555.556 1 570.954 1 1,742.497 4th 3386.248
Round 3 "No Limit" (Part 1) - Unit Round (Episodes 7 & 8) Order Unit Artist Performance name Special Judges' votes Total points Ranking Note(s)Rap Units The unit performances were evaluated by a total of 33 special judges who voted on-site to decide which unit won each round (rap, dance and vocal). The special judges include the Super Junior members Shindong & Donghae, producer and CEO of BNM Rhymer, idol hitmaker Shinsadong Tiger, music critic Kim Youngdae, production team MonoTree, choreographer Lia Kim and idol group members of BDC, Weeekly, Tri.be and Mirae.1It's OneBobby (iKON)Sunwoo (The Boyz)Hwiyoung (SF9)Full DaSH100.0002nd2MayflyHongjoong (Ateez)Bang Chan, Changbin, Han (Stray Kids)Minhyuk (BtoB)Colours235,000.0001stDance Units3It's OneDonghyuk (iKON)Juyeon (The Boyz)Taeyang (SF9)King and Queen110.0002nd4MayflyLee Know, Felix, I.N (Stray Kids)Wooyoung, San, Yunho, Yeosang, Seonghwa (Ateez)Peniel (BtoB)Wolf225,000.0001stVocal Units5It's OneSangyeon, New (The Boyz)Inseong, Jaeyoon (SF9)Ju-ne, Jinhwan (iKON)Spark00.0002nd6MayflyJongho (Ateez)Eunkwang (BtoB)Seungmin (Stray Kids)Love Poem335,000.0001st
Round 3 "No Limit" (Part 2) (Episodes 8 & 9)OrderArtistSongExperts' voteSelf-evaluationYouTube views (Est.) Global voting (Est.) Total pointsNote(s) 1 iKON "Classy Savage" 5 462.963 5 1504.630 2 946.292 2 1,627.792 3rd 4,078.717 Featuring Lisa of Blackpink 2 Stray Kids "God's Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" 1 2083.333 2 3125.000 1 1,020.614 1 2,853.615 1st 6,999.229 — 3 BtoB "Blue Moon (Cinema Ver)" 4 578.704 3 2141.204 5 115.286 6 1,057.817 5th 3,314.303 Special Guest: Miyeon of (G)I-DLE 4 Ateez "Answer: Ode To Joy" 5 462.963 6 462.963 3 187.738 4 1,520.762 6th 2,171.463 Featuring La Poem 5 SF9 "Move" 2 1851.852 1 3414.352 6 84.995 3 1,555.675 2nd 5,055.020 — 6 The Boyz "Monster (Stormborn)" 3 810.185 4 1851.852 4 145.075 5 1,384.333 4th 3,381.268 —
Finale Live Comeback Stages "Who Is The King" (Episode 10) Order Artist Song Digitals (40%) Live Voting (60%) Total Points 1 Ateez "The Real" 4 2,029.845 3 4,071.198 3rd 6,101.043 2 Stray Kids "Wolfgang" 2 4,509.424 1 13,298.363 1st 17,807.787 3 The Boyz "Kingdom Come" 1 8,345.829 2 6,560.112 2nd 14,905.941 4 BtoB "Finale (Show and Prove)" 3 2,724.731 4 2,669.953 4th 5,394.683 5 iKON "At Ease" 5 1,716.103 5 1,953.708 5th 3,669.811 6 SF9 "Believer" 6 674.068 6 1,446.667 6th 2,120.735 Special Performance King's Voice"A Boy's Diary" colspan=6
Points Summary Rank Artist Introduction Stage (1,000 points) Round 1 (20,000 points) Round 2 (20,000 points) Round 3 (40,000 points) Final Round (50,000 points) Overall Points Part 1 (15,000) Part 2 (25,000)1stStray Kids11,000.00014,679.77643,386.24815,000.00016,999.229117,807.78738,873.0402ndThe Boyz20.00033,142.06662,534.22240.00043,381.268214,905.94123,963.4973rdAteez50.00024,418.53713,607.06315,000.00062,171.46336,101.04321,298.1064thBtoB30.00042,969.43123,598.70415,000.00053,314.30345,394.68320,277.1215thiKON60.00052,747.71953,379.64140.00034,078.71753,669.81113,875.8886thSF940.00062,042.47133,494.12240.00025,055.02062,120.73512,712.348