prefacing with the usual disclaimer this is my opinion and subject to change week to week

ok after today's episode, i think my realistic top 8 (in no particular order) is sangwon, anxin, junseo, he xinlong, leo, kangmin, haneum and sanghyeon. i like leowon and i think theyre individually talented plus they have crazy lore and yaoi together... sangwon doing his lee seokhoon impression really cemented him as likeable in my head. anxin is cute, he xinlong is goated, kangmin and junseo are both guys i liked before b2p even aired. im a haneum glazer now! it was only a matter of time because well hes a cube boy and a hanlim guy... i think hes so talented though and really shone during rose blossom (yes reheating taerae nachos but he carried the entire performance imo) and his face card is genuinely untouchable. plus he has yaoi going on with junil... ill be writing neumnil very soon...

i think sanghyeon occupies that last spot because i think at least one of chuchuwooz needs to make the lineup or people will be very upset and sanghyeon has the most solid fanbase out of the three. woojin would clash with haneum as main vocal and liyu has been slipping in ranks... i dont love chuchuwooz in particular but i recognize their popularity. if not one of chuchuwooz, i would love if hengyu or jiahao makes it (but i dont think mnet wants more than 2 chinese ppl (excluding liyu) in the lineup)