2021 was a dazzling year for TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN. Although the pandemic once again made for few opportunities for the groups to see their fans in person, the albums they released during the year broke through the constraints and reached out to the world. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s album The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, and the music magazine selected its lead single, “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” featuring Seori, as the top pick on their list of the “25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021: Critics’ Picks” released on the 17th. In explaining their choice, Billboard framed TOMORROW X TOGETHER as “a group who openly speaks about representing Generation Z” and reflected their current position when they described “LOVESONG” as a track “with a raw and angsty delivery” that “speaks to the times we’re in.” The group stands as K-pop’s fourth-generation idols as well as the voice of Generation Z worldwide. ENHYPEN has likewise had unbelievable achievements. First-week sales of their mini album BORDER: CARNIVAL, released in April, exceeded 380,000 copies on the Hanteo Chart, outpacing figures for their debut album by more than 100,000 additional units, while their first full-length album, DIMENSION: DILEMMA, which came out in October, sold an astounding 810,000 copies in its first week alone. Sales of DILEMMA have since exceeded one million copies, leading ENHYPEN to become “platinum new artists” within a year of their debut. It only made sense, then, that they were awarded as the best new artist again and again.

The performances for the various end-of-year awards ceremonies and TV specials were especially important in 2021 for the two groups. The performances at these year-end shows are important to every artist but they necessarily meant something different for both of the two teams this year: an opportunity to show off, in no uncertain terms, where they stand among fourth-generation boy groups. “Those ceremonies are special, meaningful events to the artists, of course, but also to the staff, so we work on them for a very long time,” Son Sung Deuk, Senior Creative Director of the BIGHIT MUSIC performance directing team that orchestrated the groups’ year-end performances, said. “Both groups paid particular attention to their performances this time around. They both wanted to show without a doubt that their groups are good at performing.” In fact, the two groups took on the schedule for their performances at all the different year-end awards shows and TV specials as though they were promoting an album. While they were appearing at MMA (Melon Music Awards), MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards), SBS Gayo Daejeon and more, they also tried to put on performances that showed what makes each group special. And on KBS Song Festival, the two groups performed as one.

Given the distinct characteristics of each group, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN took different approaches to their end-of-year performances. Each performance focused on “following the narrative” of the group in question, Son explained. In TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s case, their MMA performance integrated every part of the story they had unfolded over the past year. The first formation in the performance for the dance break version of “0X1=LOVESONG” borrowed heavily from the last scene of the narrated video that played beforehand, and during the dance break itself, the members reenacted the much-talked-about concept trailer for The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE where they dodge ice while dancing. ENHYPEN, meanwhile, who had recently celebrated the first anniversary of their debut, used MAMA as an opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the public. “ENHYPEN seems to be appealing to audiences because their performances are energetic and raw,” Son said, so the performance centered around “leaving an indisputable impression centered around that idea.”

So TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN each had their own challenges and objectives to meet. The former used a mix of performance and various special effects and camerawork to reenact on stage the story in their videos. They had the dance break version of “0X1=LOVESONG,” another dance break and “LO$ER=LO♡ER” follow one after the other like one continuous stage play and made use of racing drones. “Unlike when we were filming the trailer, we had to convey the sense of urgency of being attacked by ice within the confines of a single stage, so we worked really hard to recreate that feeling through the different formations and movements” during the dance break, Son said. “It was a particularly difficult performance because of the combination of so many different techniques, like YEONJUN’s jump toward the end, and the precise group dancing, but all the members kept their energy up and had a good time practicing.”

ENHYPEN’s MAMA performance was focused on their dance moves above all else. The part of the performance where “the backup dancers have NI-KI trapped and controlled” with red ribbon and the other members act out setting him free, for example, was conceived to “demonstrate both NI-KI’s dance prowess and other skills,” according to Son. He explained how the performance was designed with NI-KI’s ability to dance in mind and that “it took a lot of practice because of the way the choreography calls for controlling the rope with his body, but he picked it up quickly because he took dance and acrobatics from when he was young.” The dance break in the sports-themed performance of “Tamed-Dashed,” which incorporated a rugby ball, was also meant as a way to show off how skilled the members are at performing at every turn, and Son emphasized the sheer amount of practice ENHYPEN required for the performance. “They were taking a risk with having so many variables in the performance, so the members were very focused and practiced a lot, making sure to keep in sync with one another.”

With performances that include bits like the seven members tossing a ball around with finesse, ENHYPEN is the kind of show stopping act that turns up the heat at awards ceremonies like MAMA. The old-school dance break started with JUNGWON kicking the ball off the stage at the sound of the whistle, after which the members danced together as a group, making everyone watching feel all the electric euphoria that comes from scoring a goal at a match. “We chose to go old school for the group dance in the dance break to make the whole thing exciting,” Son said. “It must’ve been really hard on the members physically, but they said they were thrilled to dance and kept practicing whenever they had the time, paying attention to the details and to each other.” Separately, TOMORROW X TOGETHER turned MMA into a world where their stories unfold through elaborate performances, as though blurring the line between reality and fantasy. The dancer no:ze strengthened this sense of immersion further by playing the part of MOA, the group’s fandom. “We wanted to tell a story that has an ending where it’s the princess rescuing the prince in the end,” Son said. “And her work in Street Woman Fighter fit the image of a strong female performer we were looking for.” Thanks to that invitation, no:ze played the princess who saves the prince represented by TOMORROW X TOGETHER in the end, inverting a trope so common to fairy tales. From there, the group had an easy segue into “LO$ER=LO♡ER,” bringing them out of the fairy tale and into the real world.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to process all at once the changing choreography styles ranging from the 1990s—before the TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN members were even born—through the 2000s and into the 2010s. “Because these guys grew up doing trendy, high-difficulty dance routines, it was different from what they’re used to doing with their bodies, and so they actually found it difficult to do the simpler choreography of the past,” Son said. The two groups made efforts to review the original artists a lot while practicing to understand the feelings of the different times. “There aren’t even many young choreographers or dancers these days who understand the artists of that era or their performances,” he added, and given the special requirements of the cover performances, he “brought in the actual choreographers who were working back then and had them give lessons to the members.” After the performance aired, lots of people were talking about ENHYPEN’s precise, energetic jumping during “The Way This Guy Lives,” and feedback was equally positive for the way TOMORROW X TOGETHER captured the vibe of “Bad Man” with their soft yet disciplined dance and movement. The overwhelming response was all thanks to both groups learning and fully understanding everything about the performances of each era, from the overall feeling to the finer details like facial expressions and gestures. “I could feel how everyone from both groups widened their breadth of understanding about performing and improved skill-wise while getting the joint performance ready,” Son said.

The ”Legend of K-POP” performance wrapped up with BTS’s “Fire.” Son said he felt something he never had before watching all 12 members from the two groups grace the stage together. “Having seen both TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN before they ever debuted, I was proud and even thankful to see them collaborating on a performance of a song by another artist who debuted before them.” “Legend of K-POP” was also an opportunity to show the live audience and viewers at home a performance from the two groups for the first time in ages—a show put on by two teams, who first tackled their own songs in their own ways, to demonstrate the power of the performances they inherited from the artists who came before their generation. And Son could sense that power while watching their collaborative performance. “With their performance, they were confidently putting the message out there that they’ll be representing their generation. I was touched how moving it was—the way they’ve grown so much like that.”