This week's "K-Pop Star 3" featured a preview of next week's Battle Auditions which will ultimately decide the top 10 members who will advance to enter a three-month training period for the Top 10 battles.

The so-called 'preview' was actually an evaluation of three of the best singers from each company.

Earlier in this week's episode, the final 18 teams were chosen for training at each individual recording companies - Antenna Music, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment - with each company taking 6 teams. They then showed each company's representatives mentoring their trainees. As the episode came down to its last 20 minutes, talks of a 'simulation' battle began to surface. This led to Antenna Music and JYP members heading to the YG headquarters where they had a three-team showdown.

For the battle, YG was represented by Jjarimongttang (Yeo In Heh, Park Na Jin, and Ryu Tae Kyung). Bernard Park represented JYP. Hong Jung Hee represented Antenna Music.

When the three company heads came together for a meeting prior to the battle, the room had a tense atmosphere. Yoo Hee Yeol expressed his anxiety about his members falling short because of his mistaken leadership. He confessed of his nightmares of all six of his members losing the upcoming battle audition. Yoo Hee Yeol asked Yang Hyun Suk nervously, "Are your guys ready?" to which Yang Hyun Suk replied, "I heard you were the one who's working the hardest."

Jjarimongttang perfectly re-arranged Seo Taiji and the Boys' "I Know" into an R&B ballad. Their harmonies were so good that after their performance, Yoo Hee Yeol jokingly told his own members that they must go back and practice more.

The second performer, Hong Jung Hee, sang Lena Park's "Orenmane (Been a Long Time)". She was criticized by Park Jin Young for being too much of a perfectionist, to the point that she failed to draw out any emotional response from the audience.

Bernard Park sang Stevie Wonder's "Lately" with a soft tone and ringing vocals. The three judges compared his voice to a very expensive instrument.

The winner of the competition was Bernard Park, while Jjarimongttang placed second. Hong Jung Hee played third.

If this was a real battle audition, Bernard Park would have made it to the top 10, while Jjarimongttang would be relegated an elimination pool. Hong Jung Hee would have been eliminated on the spot. That's why this preview was so important - it helped the attendees realize just how much is at stake at this point. Yoo Hee Yeol walked away a loser this time, but vowed that "next time will be different".

The viewers expressed that the preview battle helped to pique their interest for the upcoming battles. They left comments such as "Bernard Park is definitely Top 10 material" and "I hope Yoo Hee Yeol's members make it."

The preview for next week's real battle auditions showed Yoo Hee Yeol crying. Whether those were tears of joy or sadness, the viewers will have to wait and see