The tenth and eleventh episodes of the Successor are respectively called "I want to be a star" and "Shining brightly like a star".
Each team was given one week to come up with a routine that would showcase their talents and abilities.
A lot of mysterious and unexpected circumstances can occur while performing superhero duties, and this Challenge is meant to demonstrate the adaptability and teamwork of the contestants.
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Pre-performance, the Trainees room.
Sitting high above his team members, Keith peers down and commands, "let's do a concert."
"But I can't sing," whines Buckman.
"Me too," says Landon.
"I can't dance," says Leo.
"I don't care," Keith dismisses.
"Umm. Excuse me, sir," Ms. Good questions, "why a concert in particular?"
Keith sighs as he explains, "PYJ metrics show that music and dance are key elements to the human condition. We should give the audience something entertaining to watch.
"Don't forget that the purpose of this show is to build a fandom. And do you know what occupation has a lot of fans?" asks Keith rhetorically.
His question is met with silence.
"Popstars," Keith answers, rolling his eyes.
"We have a week to pick out outfits and prepare," Keith says encouragingly as he gives a singular clap with his hands, "so let's get to it."
And with that, the Trainees were forced to sing and dance, despite some members being tone-deaf and having two left feet.
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Pre-performance, the Sidekicks room.
"So... what do you kids want to do?" Asks Krystal in a sultry voice.
"I want to do a Kpop concert," Candy says while jumping up and down.
"Did someone say Kpop?" Snow Lily asks hopefully.
"Yay! Karaoke with dancing," replies Scales as she breaks into an improvised dance routine.
"Ok. Majority wins," Krystal exhales, "what songs do you kids want to sing?"
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Pre-performance, the Inscrutables room.
"We should do martial art demonstrations," S.Q. offers his opinion.
The room boos in unison.
"No one wants to see that," says Betty Boom- a raven-haired, voluptuous masked lady wearing a gold spandex costume with the picture of a cartoon bomb emblazoned on the chest.
"Let's do a concert", says Delilah- a masked lady with a devilish body, who many believe also has the face of an angel.
"Can you sing? Can you dance?" Robolox challenges.
"I can sing and dance," answers Delilah confidently.
"I can't sing", replies Robolox.
"Neither can I", says Tiff-for-Tat, a girl wearing a gorilla costume.
"Oh hmm," Delilah says, looking troubled.
"Don't worry," S.Q. says as he claps his hands, "one person sings, the rest are backup dancers."
"What if we can't dance?" Asks Infinite Blades- a young man wearing a green Sentai costume.
S.Q. replies, "just fake it".
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Pre-performance, the Rejects room
"Let's do concert," says Berig. "Very sexy."
Alex shakes his head. "Everyone else will be doing a concert. If you want to stand out, you should do something else."
"Ok ok ok," says Tony T.
"What can we do?" Asks Tyrone as the group brainstorms ideas.
The team begins spit-balling and tossing out ideas.
In the end, the Rejects decide to perform a comedy and (stage) magic show.
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Pre-performance T minus 3 days, the Trainees room.
"Good. Just remember, one two three four," Keith calls out cadence as the Trainees dance to his count .
In a testament to Keith's iron will and vision, the Trainees have transformed into a passable boy band.
None of the members Keith drafted are physically unattractive, and all of them will appeal to some segment of the population; even tall, buff Lacie has her own fan girls.
The thought process behind recruiting physically attractive trainees is quite simple. Given two otherwise equivalent heroes, would you rather support the more attractive or less attractive one? The vast majority of people prefer to support the more attractive hero; and more fans equals more power.
PYJ specializes in turning trainees into superheroes. And Keith, an old veteran, has decades of experience in that field.
Every year in New Amsterdam City, PYJ searches for new people who want to become superheroes. They sign contracts with them, and train them with the company's resources.
The trainee process lasts for an indefinite period of time, ranging from months to years. Once a trainee enters the system, they are regulated in multiple aspects: including personal life to body conditions and visual appearances. The survival, training, and regulation take precedence over natural talent. This system requires trainees to maintain a "wholesome image" while remaining "private about their lives and thoughts."
This leads to the dark side of the industry. Not only do the trainees have grueling routines, restrictive diets, and no dating; the trainees also can also fall victim to spycams, assaults, and prostitution- which had led to suicide.
Young kids often have to go through years and years of training before debuting. And PYJ is notorious for wringing as much as value as they can from their manufactured superheroes. Those who fail to "payback" PYJ can easily get suppressed and discredited.
PYJ keeps a massive database of their trainees' words and actions, and PYJ is also not above funding smear campaigns and manufacturing scandals. The former hero Paladin was one such victim. Paladin lost his powers when he was hit with accusations of bribery and impropriety. Although those accusations were later proven false, the damage was done, and Paladin was forced into permanent retirement.
"That's enough dance practice for today," continues Keith. "Now it's time for singing and vocal lessons."
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In this Challenge, the ranking of the individual contestants are decided by popular vote.
During the performance, as well during the recap at the end of the episode, a toll-free telephone number for each contestant will be displayed on the screen. For a two-hour period after the episode ends in each US time zone, viewers may call or send a text message to their preferred contestant's telephone number; each call or text message received will register as a vote for that contestant. Viewers were allowed to vote as many times as they wanted within the voting window.
The ranking of the teams are based on the summation of votes their members received.
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The Inscrutables' Performance.
On a dazzling, magnificent stage.
On top of the stage was Delilah who was wiggling her waist. Behind her were the other members of the Team Inscrutables who were acting as her backup dancers. To an external observer, the effect of the backup dancers can be somewhat comical, especially considering how the backup dancers include a gorilla, a knight, and a power ranger.
Under the stage, countless glow sticks flashed and danced along with the rhythm.
As the song comes to an end, Delilah skipped to the front of the stage, excitedly waving her hands to the fans below.
"Hello———everyone! Thanks for coming to my concert~~~! How was that? Was it great?!"
With Delilah's question, deafening cheers sounded from under the stage. Hearing their positive voices, Delilah revealed a charming smile, placed her hands on her hips, and raised her hands.
"Alright, the concert has just begun… Tonight, I won't let any of you sleep!"
" Mwah ~~," Delilah blows a kiss at the cheering crowd.
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The Sidekicks' Performance.
On a stage made up to resemble a gothic castle.
Wearing color-coordinated black leather outfits, the members of Team Sidekicks hop and dance across the stage while singing alone, in pairs, or as a chorus. Their voices harmonize and build off one another as they gyrate their hips.
Under the stage, countless glow sticks flashed and danced along with the rhythm.
As the song comes to an end, the team members move to the front of the stage, hold each other's hands, bow, and say in unison.
"Hello———everyone! We are the Sidekicks~".
Deafening cheers sounded from under the stage.
"Did you like our song?" Asks Candy.
More deafening cheers sounded from under the stage.
"Great! Have another one," Scales shouts as she leads her teammates in another song.
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The Rejects' Performance.
On a theatrical stage.
"...Show me a fifty-foot fence and I'll show you a fifty-one-foot ladder," Diego jokes.
The audience laughs in response.
"In another instance," Diego continues after the laughter dies down, "a group of smugglers tried to drive a Jeep right over the fence. 'Ramps! We could use ramps!' you can almost hear them saying that beforehand."
The audience roars with laughter.
"But anyway," Diego says after the laughter dies down. "In my home country of Mexico, we often have to deal with gang violence."
"Let's say Tony here is a member of a gang," Diego posits.
"Hi. I'm Tony and I'm a member of the 'Tards," jokes Tony as he makes a hand sign and repeatedly rams it against his chest.
Some members of the audience chuckle at his implied joke.
"So Tony is a tough member of the 'Tards, and I uh... how do you say it? I rub him the wrong way," narrates Diego.
"He whips out his gun," Diego continues his narration as Tony pulls a gun from seemingly out of nowhere.
"And fires." Upon stating that, the sound of a gun firing is heard.
*Bang*
Diego smiles, showing that he has seemingly caught the bullet with his teeth.
Spitting out the bullet, Diego says, "one of the tricks you have to learn in my home country of Mexico."
The roar of applause sounds from under the stage.
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The eleventh episode ends with Snow Lily leading the Sidekicks to sing the English song, "We are the champions."
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The Sidekicks took first place; there's something to be said about pretty girls in sexy outfits singing and dancing.
The Rejects placed second, showing the merits of Alex's idea.
None of the groups suffered however. Even the worst performing team and contestant picked up a ton of fans.
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The tenth and eleventh episodes of the Successor were the most popular episodes thus far. And after the eleventh episode aired, Alex cemented his status as an equal to the other mentors on the show.
Internet denizens will always have criticisms; the major one for these two episodes being that the Producers should have held the "star challenge" immediately after the Selection phase or after the debate competitions. That way, the show would have maximized the number of fans for the contestants.