“My skz you slayed!”: Fans proudly react to Stray Kids’ MANIAC performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Stray Kids’ debut on the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! became the talk of the town on the internet on March 30, 2023. The group performed MANIAC on the show, the title track of their multi-million selling album ODDINARY, sending fans into a collective frenzy.

Fans gushed over the eight-member group’s stage presence while they performed MANIAC. Since American talk shows usually have a small stage compared to the bigger ones at Korean shows, the MANIAC singers continued to give their best on Kimmel's late-night talk show.

Reaction to the group’s stage, especially their dark green and black outfits, was majorly positive. The audience at Jimmy Kimmel Live! was also filled with STAYs (the group’s fandom). It was apparent because some held the group’s lightstick in their hands, while others had SKZOO accessories. SKZOO are official adorable animal cartoon characters created for each member.

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Stray Kids make a thrilling Jimmy Kimmel Live! debut with a MANIAC performance

Eight-member K-pop boy group Stray Kids showed incredible growth last year. After closing in over 1.6 million sales with NOEASY in 2021, their next release, ODDINARY, raked in 1.8 million sales. The group ended the year with a bang, with MAXIDENT doubling the sales from their previous album by achieving record-breaking 3 million in sales.

With their growing popularity, Stray Kids made their debut on the late-night American talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 30, 2023. As is with the format of the show, the group did not appear for an interview but performed their hit track MANIAC. The thrilling debut had fans gushing over the eight members as they praised the group for their incredible performances.

Fans trended "Stray Kids on Jimmy Kimmel" on Twitter and celebrated almost every aspect of the performance. From the members’ outfits and hairstyles, especially Hyunjin’s where a fan called him “Aphrodite’s son,” to calling the MANIAC stage “iconic,” fans’ reactions to their Jimmy Kimmel Live! debut was positively chaotic.

Take a look at how fans reacted to the group’s performance below:

Not just STAYs, but even non K-pop fans commented on the performance video, praising the group. One fan compiled screenshots of the compliments on Twitter for fellow fans to see.

Meanwhile, the performance video was released around eight hours ago (at the time of writing this article) on YouTube and has already garnered over 264k views.

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Recent updates on Stray Kids: Kevin Jonas duets with a STAY’s video

Among the many unexpected things that happened in the STAY fandom recently, Kevin Jonas dueting with a Stray Kids’ fan video took everyone by surprise.

The eldest Jonas brother took the opportunity to promote their latest single, Waffle House, using Bang Chan and Felix’s reaction to fans recommending Waffle House (a restaurant).

It was during the Atlanta concert when the MANIAC singers asked for restaurant recommendations and were bombarded with many, out of which Waffle House stood out to them. Fans commented on how the two different worlds collided and expressed their sheer surprise at it.

Meanwhile, on March 6, JYP Entertainment confirmed reports of Stray Kids’ comeback. It stated that the group has completed filming their new music video.