Damn Idol Episode 147
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Viewers of
- Dude, Masked Singer only has admission and expulsion!
- For real, hahaha
- The production crew bastards go crazy when someone challenges for honorable graduation, haha
- Looking forward to this week's lineup.
There was a story that if someone challenged for honorable graduation, the production crew would line up the contestants with fire in their eyes to defend it at all costs.
In truth, this story was only half right.
At first, there had been no such intention whatsoever.
It had been a coincidence that the lineup grew stronger when an honorable graduation challenger appeared.
But because of viewers' expectations, it had now truly become a rule of the program.
- Who do you think Maze of My Heart is?
- At first I thought it was Jeong Suseong, but isn't he too tall? Jeong Suseong's profile says 170.
- He could be wearing insoles.
- Looking at singing skill and style, it's one of Jeong Suseong, PS, or I Hyeonuk.
- The names being mentioned are insane, dang
- Anyway, today they'll get hit with the production crew's serious punch and the identity will be revealed, lol
- They could reveal it through honorable graduation, lol
- Nope. Don't you know Masked Ad-Exp?
- Masked Singer only has admission and expulsion.
- Oh, it's starting.
Eight masked singers appeared on the screen.
In Season 1, the quarterfinals through the finals were structured as two weeks of 60-minute broadcasts, but when ratings dropped, from Season 2 it changed to a 110-minute, single-week format.
Among the production crew, there was talk of changing it back to two weeks because casting was too difficult, but for now, the current format remained.
Shortly after, four eliminated contestants emerged from the quarterfinals.
The eliminated contestants' roster was splendid.
- OMG?! Cola Cider was PS?
- WTF, PS got eliminated in the first round?
- Wow, seriously, I used to listen to PS-hyung's songs like crazy in high school, sob sob sob
- Back then, us guys would go to karaoke rooms, sing all of PS's 1st and 2nd albums, and leave, sob sob sob
- Then who the hell was PS's opponent?
- I don't know about that, but you can see the production crew's determination to never allow an honorable graduation, hahaha
- Masked Ad-Exp!
- Masked Ad-Exp!
The semifinal eliminated contestants who followed were also splendid.
- OMG!!! Sujin noona!!!
- Crazy, Jang Sujin?
- This is insane, the semifinal eliminated contestants are Jang Sujin and Freya;
- They're people who should've taken the Masked King crown a few times;
- Wow, this is really shocking. I'm someone who thinks Jang Sujin sings the best among Korean singers.
The singer who lost in the following finals and took off his mask was Jeong Suseong, whom viewers had guessed was 'Maze of My Heart.'
- OMG? Jeong Suseong?
- WTF, I bet with my friend. That Maze of My Heart was Jeong Suseong.
- So Maze wasn't Jeong Suseong?
- Then PS and Jeong Suseong, who were both guessed as Maze of My Heart, both got eliminated?
- Wow, then it was I Hyeonuk.
- But doesn't Kkotpaenoreum, who just advanced to the finals, look like I Hyeonuk?
- Yep, I thought so too.
- Could it be a mirror match?
- What mirror match, you crazy bastard, lol
And so the stage of challenger
The one to sing first was Kkotpaenoreum.
- Woah, dang dang dang
- He sings insanely well, seriously;
- It really is I Hyeonuk, lolololol
- Right, lolol. Seeing how he handles the ultra-high notes, it's 100% I Hyeonuk.
- Honorable graduation has failed.
- This guy's low notes are totally OP, his mid notes are OP, and his high notes are OP too.
- Just totally OP?
- Yep, correct.
- It won't be easy for Maze this time either.
- Fun fact) Maze of My Heart has been listening to this sound for four weeks now.
- Lol, that's true, but this time it's really too strong.
And so Kkotpaenoreum's near-perfect stage came to an end.
* * *
12 days ago.
Onsaemiro, sitting on the Masked King's throne wearing a mask, gulped.
The moment he heard the first verse of the song starting with a long high note, he knew.
It was Senior I Hyeonuk.
Most aspiring idols had two types of role models.
The first was senior idol groups.
The second was solo vocalists.
I Hyeonuk was Onsaemiro's role model.
It was fortunate that he could cover his face with the mask.
If not, a sense of defeat would have already crept up on him.
'Can I win?'
Onsaemiro truly thought that him making it this far was 30% skill and 70% luck.
In week 1, the bracket matchup had been favorable, and his opponent made a mistake.
In week 2, his opponent made a mistake, and in week 3, his opponent made a mistake too.
He had been a bit flustered to learn that his week 3 opponent was Juyeon of Take Scene.
Because he had never beaten Juyeon once while doing Coming Up Next.
Which meant, after all, it was because of a mistake.
Because Juyeon was someone who had never once made a mistake in Coming Up Next.
But Onsaemiro simply couldn't imagine I Hyeonuk making a mistake on stage.
So this time, he would lose.
In Masked Singer history, the only honorable graduate was Do Jaeuk, called the God of Vocals.
So he had wanted to achieve honorable graduation and contribute positive buzz for his team, but….
As expected, it seemed it had been just a dream.
Lost in such thoughts, Onsaemiro listened blankly to Kkotpaenoreum's song, convinced he was 100% I Hyeonuk.
It was good.
It was an extremely good song.
But….
'Why is he making little mistakes……?'
Something felt a bit strange.
There was a subtle scraping sound in the vibrato, and the temperature of his breath was different.
He had learned this from Han Sion; Han Sion said that to truly become first-class, you had to be able to control even the sections where you weren't singing.
Han Sion often expressed it as 'the temperature of breathing.'
Precisely, he said 'Temperature,' and upon looking it up, it meant temperature.
But I Hyeonuk's temperature was not consistent.
Moreover, in the process of connecting notes, the pitch twisted very subtly.
Half of a semitone? Or about half of half a semitone?
It might be thought of as nothing, but I Ion was working hard to match even that.
He had thought I Hyeonuk's singing was perfect until now, but this wasn't what perfection looked like.
Perfection was…….
"Onsaemiro. You asked if you could beat me, right?"
"Right."
"Impossible. That will never happen. Do you know why?"
"……Because your talent is greater?"
"That's not wrong, but it's not the right answer."
"Then?"
"You're not the only one who can't beat me."
"Who else can't beat you?"
"Right now, anyone in this world making music."
It was Han Sion.
He didn't know how many times he had exclaimed in admiration while listening to Han Sion sing.
At first, that admiration had been jealousy and inferiority that gnawed at him, but now it wasn't.
Because they were friends.
Onsaemiro no longer thought of defeating Han Sion.
He just thought he wanted to express only as much as Han Sion wanted.
So they had devoted a week to recording Résumé, and received a score of 70 from Han Sion.
Then, another thought flashed through Onsaemiro's mind.
It was something Gu Taehwan had said.
"We're like that. Because we're next to Sion, we've just become squids."
Gu Taehwan had said that they were failing to set a cold, objective standard because they kept comparing themselves with Han Sion.
They were very, very good, but they ended up looking pathetic because they were always compared to Han Sion.
Onsaemiro had believed this only about halfway.
It was true that he felt relatively inferior because of comparing himself to Han Sion, but he didn't think he was absolutely inferior.
But perhaps…….
Had the mistakes he felt from his opponents so far not been mistakes at all?
Was it skill that he couldn't feel because he'd never met a director like Han Sion?
If I Hyeonuk sang, would Sion give him 70 points or less?
If so…….
Shouldn't I be the one to win?
Although Han Sion always teased Onsaemiro by calling him pathetic, Onsaemiro was the type who was excessively cautious rather than pathetic.
This was because he had not had his self respected during childhood, and because he had not received love from his parents.
But as he watched his role model, the caution bordering on a self-defense mechanism crumbled.
And so I Hyeonuk's song came to an end.
The audience cheered wildly, and the panelists also sprang from their seats and clapped.
The reaction was so heated that the main PD approached and cautiously asked.
"Shall we take a short break before proceeding?"
He was asking because if the heat of the previous stage was too intense, it would hinder a cool-headed judgement.
If it were the usual Onsaemiro, he would have trembled and nodded.
But today was different.
"I'll just go."
"Just like that?"
"What I'm challenging isn't just a normal graduation, is it?"
"Then?"
"Honorable graduation. Right?"
Having said that, Onsaemiro stood up from his seat.
It was a silent signal to the PD to step back quickly, and pressure to continue filming.
Watching that appearance…….
'What was with that cringey wannabe-cool line?'
The PD thought this.
Anyway, since the cast member wanted it, there was no helping it.
The PD stepped back, and filming began.
The panelists and the studio audience all thought that honorable graduation was impossible this time too.
The song Onsaemiro would sing was…….
Onsaemiro had sung this song on Coming Up Next before.
He had challenged it immediately after receiving a huge shock from hearing Han Sion's
Back then, he had ruined the stage while being directly compared to Han Sion.
But this time…….
Onsaemiro opened his mouth.
* * *
['The Masked Singer,' the identity of the second honorable graduate is Onsaemiro of Sedalbaegil!]
[The 'Maze of My Heart' who defeated O Jehyeong, Kito, Juyeon, and I Hyeonuk to seize the Masked King title four times was Onsaemiro.]
The reason MBN cherished The Masked Singer was that this program had a very broad viewership demographic.
From teens to seventies.
A rare program with almost no difference in preference by age group.
So the news that Maze of My Heart was Onsaemiro spread widely.
It was even news that would surprise Titi, the fandom of Sedalbaegil.
- OMG anyone who saw this is insane!
- I seriously flipped out while eating dinner and watching this!
- It's my first time having a family member ask about my bias....
- Was it thrilling?
- No, I wish they'd stop showing their dirty interest.
- Hahahahahaha
- Wow, I love it so much. Onsaemiro is seriously the best main vocalist material in idol history, sob sob sob
- I was pissed because Han Sion steals all the good parts, but I feel so good right now.
Still, Titi was less surprised than others.
Because they diligently dug through Sedalbaegil's content, they knew how well Onsaemiro could sing.
But the general public flipped out.
Though Juyeon was slightly lower in class and recognition, who were O Jehyeong, Kito, and I Hyeonuk?
If you interviewed people on the streets of the Republic of Korea asking, "Who sings the best?" they were names that would invariably be mentioned.
Moreover, I Hyeonuk was even beyond that, and in the final week's lineup, Jeong Suseong, PS, and Jang Sujin had been included.
- What the hell, Sedalbaegil, lolol. So it wasn't just Hip-Sion???
- Honestly, I only knew Hip-Sion and I Ion, lololol
- You know that guy who looks like a thug. I know his face too.
- Yep, same. Wow, but Onsaemiro is insane. He sings so well that I thought he was 100% a veteran singer who'd been around forever.
This issue was so powerful that the view count of Onsaemiro's State Of Mind fancam video on MBN's Gayo Taste skyrocketed.
Until now, the order had been Han Sion > I Ion > Gu Taehwan > Choe Jaeseong > Onsaemiro, but Onsaemiro's fancam view count beat I Ion.
Just like that, while Han Sion stayed still, articles about Sedalbaegil poured out.
A journalist's job was to write what the public was curious about, and people were now curious about Onsaemiro and the group he belonged to.
But Sedalbaegil's buzz didn't end here.
['Stage Number Zero! The highly anticipated beginning!']
SBN's Stage Number Zero, which would record the highest viewership ratings in the history of public network audition programs, announced its first start.