Stray Kids Shares Thoughts On "Kingdom" Win, Most-Improved Member, What They Learned From BTOB, And More

Stray Kids has shared their thoughts on their incredible run and win on “Kingdom: Legendary War,” memorable performances, and more!

“Kingdom,” the male version of Mnet’s original competition program “Queendom,” featured THE BOYZ (who won the preliminary show “Road to Kingdom), Stray Kids, ATEEZ, BTOB, iKON, and SF9.

On top of winning the benefit points from the first introductory round of performances, Stray Kids placed first in various categories throughout the following rounds, including the expert evaluations, self-evaluations, performance video view count, and global fan votes. In the final episode, they placed first with the highest combined total of digital performance, global fan votes, and scores from previous rounds.

Their new song “WOLFGANG” ranked in the top 10 of Apple Music song charts in 28 countries around the world and top 10 on iTunes charts in 13 countries. On the latest Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart, “WOLFGANG” debuted at No. 4 and ranked No. 109 on Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart, which ranks songs based on streaming and sales data from hundreds of territories excluding the United States.

Regarding their win, leader Bang Chan shared, “We worked hard to show good performances on ‘Kingdom’ but we want to thank many people, especially STAY [Stray Kids’ official fan club], after receiving such a positive result in our win. We believe this is a trophy given to us so that we work harder. In the future, we will stay humble and show a good image.”

Out of all their performances, Lee Know, Felix, and Seungmin all chose their very first introduction performance of “MIROH” as the most memorable. As their most innovative performance, Lee Know, Felix, and I.N all picked their mashup of “God’s Menu” and BLACKPINK‘s “DDU-DU DDU-DU.”

At the beginning of the mashup performance, the group paid homage to “Deadpool,” which caught the attention of original actor Ryan Reynolds. Bang Chan commented, “To be honest, I still can’t believe it! Not just Ryan Reynolds but Hugh Jackman also mentioned Stray Kids, so it still feels like we’re dreaming. We’re patiently awaiting the ‘Deadpool’ mask that Ryan Reynolds promised he would send. After we receive it, I plan to upload a photo with it!”

At the “Kingdom” press conference, Stray Kids shared that the the senior they most wanted to learn from was BTOB. Regarding what they learned, Changbin explained, “I felt a lot while personally watching the senior group that I like the most and have always thought were really cool. Not just their performances, but I want to emulate their consistent passion for music and performing, as well as the proficiency they have as singers in their 10th year of promotions.”

Felix added, “I’m the type to pay a lot of attention to the performance aspect on stage. After watching BTOB’s performances, I thought, ‘Performance isn’t everything’ and was able to broaden my thoughts.”

Although the group has clearly grown as a whole, Lee Know and Changbin both chose Seungmin as the member who matured the most throughout the course of the program and who garnered lots of attention for his vocal talent.

When asked what “Kingdom” means to Stray Kids, Seungmin answered, “‘Kingdom’ is a program that allowed us to look back on ourselves with a wider point of view and think again about our future. I’m so glad that it was an opportunity to show the public what kind of group we are. I’m also happy that after working so hard, our members were able to show how much we’ve grown.”

I.N continued, “Since we were able to place first thanks to our STAY more than anything, I believe this was an opportunity for us to once again realize how precious STAY is. I also think it was an opportunity for our members to grow so I think it’ll remain as a really good memory.”

To their fans all around the globe, Bang Chan commented, “I believe this is all thanks to STAY. I think this is a result that could never have been achieved on our own. Since this is such a valuable result that we’ve achieved with our STAY, we will do everything we can in the future to show a good image and give STAY many more presents.”

Han shared, “Thank you so much. Honestly, I was a little afraid thinking about what would happen if we disappointed our fans or left regretful performances, but our STAY got together and comforted us instead. I believe that the support, energy, and love that you’ve sent to us over the past 100 days has created this great result. Thank you so much. In the future, we will work harder and become an ever-evolving Stray Kids!”

Lastly, regarding their plans moving forward, Lee Know commented, “Just because we’ve won, doesn’t mean much will change. Just like now, we will communicate with STAY and continue doing the music and performances that we want to do.”

Start watching “Kingdom” with subtitles here!

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