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| Members of Stray Kids pose for photos after winning Mnet's "Kingdom: Legendary War." Courtesy of JYP Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
Stray Kids have been crowned the winner of Mnet's "Kingdom: Legendary War," a competition show featuring six prominent K-pop boy bands.
In the program's last episode aired Thursday, the JYP Entertainment group won first place after earning 38,373 points in total. The Boyz (23,963) and ATEEZ (21,298) ranked second and third respectively, followed by BTOB (20,277), iKON (13,875) and SF9 (12,712). They were assessed based on experts' evaluations and a fan vote, among other criteria.
From the premiere of "Kingdom" in April, Stray Kids had generated buzz with their jaw-dropping performances. In particular, their take on "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" has racked up more than 17 million views on YouTube as of Friday. The song was originally sung by K-pop girl band BLACKPINK.
As a reward, Stray Kids will launch their own reality show, "Kingdom Week," on Mnet.
"We learned a lot of things and tackled different challenges on Kingdom," Stray Kids' Bangchan said. "We also made pleasant memories."
Other members added, "We went through some tough times while preparing for the competition, but this enabled us to come up with performances that we can be proud of. Thanks to Kingdom, we have taken a leap forward and become more confident about ourselves. It will be unforgettable."
The singers also showed their appreciation for the crew members of the program and their followers, who enthusiastically supported them through voting. According to Mnet, millions of fans around the world voted for their favorite stars.
TVXQ's Max Changmin, a host of "Kingdom," praised all six acts for doing a brilliant job.
"All contenders pushed their limits during every round of the competition," he said. "Their performances truly resonated with me. It is so sad that the program has wrapped up, but I am thrilled to see the future of these groups."
"Kingdom" is a sequel to popular survival shows, "Road to Kingdom" (2020) and "Queendom" (2019).
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