Damn Idol Episode 184
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Many issues arose while Episodes 2 and 3 of Self Made Season 2 aired.
The most run-of-the-mill issue among them was the program's success.
'It's a bit funny that I'm thinking of this as run-of-the-mill.'
The reason PD Gang Seok-u and M-Show thought this way was simple.
It was because Sedalbaegil's buzz was greater than Self Made's.
Usually, when cast members create issues through a variety program, those issues are distributed through that program.
Onsaemiro's The Masked Singer had been like that too.
Onsaemiro had held the Masked King title for four weeks and succeeded in an honorable graduation, only the second in the program's history.
Sedalbaegil's fandom had known, but the general public had not.
To be precise, it was the moment when Onsaemiro's vocal skills, obscured by Han Sion, were revealed to the entire world.
This issue was like distributing the content called Onsaemiro through the platform called The Masked Singer.
Because even now, when people talked about Onsaemiro's skills, the story of The Masked Singer was never left out.
But Sedalbaegil and Self Made were a bit different.
From the start, M-Show's plan had been to distribute the content called Sedalbaegil through the platform called Self Made....
'Going by how things are turning out, it's the opposite.'
It had become the exact opposite.
It felt like the giant platform called Sedalbaegil was distributing the content called Self Made.
If you only looked at the factual relationship, this was absurd.
The fact that Sedalbaegil had become unknown singers, made OSTs for webtoons, produced commercial music for the game M.O.L, and were active as Masked Bandit was all because of Self Made.
These were things they wouldn't have done if Self Made hadn't existed.
Was that all?
They made music for an Apple commercial (still unbelievable), encountered Chris Edward in America and directed a band called BOTY, and were offered an English-language album release by HR Corporation—all of these had happened within Self Made.
Therefore, if you looked at the factual relationship, all of these were achievements that the platform called Self Made had accomplished with Sedalbaegil.
But not a single member of the general public thought of it that way.
—Self Made is just sucking up all the honey after one good casting, hahaha
—They even get paid for using all that stuff as stock footage. If Sedalbaegil makes it big in America, M-Show will probably get a sweet pension, huh?
—Why a pension; Sedalbaegil fans are always so over-the-top.
—Stop talking nonsense. Do you even know how much you have to pay to use Michael Jackson interview videos as stock footage?
—Are you comparing Sedalbaegil to Michael Jackson?
—So fucking stupid. If that's how you heard it, go relearn language.
—You don't hear comments, though? You see them?
—Ugh, hahaha
Everyone thought Self Made had benefited from Sedalbaegil.
From the perspective of a broadcasting producer, it was the first time the initiative between platform and content had been flipped like this.
But it wasn't hard to understand.
Because what Sedalbaegil had accomplished was simply massive.
Moreover, they had accomplished it without receiving any help from the Self Made production crew.
To confess now, PD Gang Seok-u and the rest of the Self Made production crew had thought "An Unknown Singer's Challenge" would end as a minor episode.
It wasn't that they doubted Sedalbaegil's skills, but three months was too short to achieve something.
How many amazing things could they do in three months?
So the production team had prepared their own pocket-money missions and behind-the-scenes work to help the unknown singers' activities.
The reason it was expressed as behind-the-scenes work was that they had prepared it so that even Sedalbaegil wouldn't know the broadcasting station was involved in their achievements.
But none of that had been necessary.
Sedalbaegil had easily reached things that M-Show couldn't touch even with full effort, and as a result, the very nature of the broadcast had changed.
This was all the more true after the Bureau Chief and Han Sion had spoken a few times.
And so, Episode 4 of Self Made Season 2 aired.
Episode 4 was the one that signaled the show's character had definitely changed.
The contract with Apple, the street performance, the training of band BOTY, Sedalbaegil recording their tracks, and the meeting with the CEO of HR Corporation.
It was in front of viewers curious about what grand stories lay behind all these things that Sedalbaegil opened their mouths.
["I want to prepare our second full-length album."]
["Second album? A full-length second album?"]
["Yes."]
["Why, all of a sudden?"]
["The CEO of HR Corporation is like that, and so are the people. It feels like everyone is only looking at the music we released in the past. We're in our prime right now. Right?"]
Truthfully, this was a scene produced for the broadcast.
The conversation in which Sedalbaegil discussed wanting to prepare their second album was said to have taken place on the very day they directed BOTY.
At the time, the Sedalbaegil members had been given time off without cameras (except for Han Sion, who had received Chris Edward's request to direct), and they said they talked in their hotel room.
And Han Sion conveyed that they had told this to PD Gang Seok-u the next day.
Here, the Bureau Chief, evaluating Sedalbaegil's potential even more highly, made one proposal.
He said M-Show would become a billboard for Sedalbaegil's second full-length album.
Therefore, all the scenes appearing now were staged.
But it wasn't awkward.
'Han Sion is good at acting, after all.'
Han Sion, who possessed an almost incomprehensible amount of talent, was also quite good at acting.
Not to say he was as good as professional actors, but there was no sense of awkwardness.
If they shot the cut where such a Han Sion took the lead in speaking while the Sedalbaegil members reacted in a style close to a documentary feel....
[Sedalbaegil Prepares Second Full-Length Album, Revealed Through Self Made.]
[2018, the Year of Sedalbaegil? English Version of First Full-Length Album Release and Second Full-Length Album Announcement.]
Journalists spread the articles.
—Oh godㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ when do our kids even rest
—I'm glad, but... I'm really glad, butㅠㅠ
—Wow, but if the first album's Billboard version gets released and the second album bombards K-pop too, hahahahahaha
—Won't future descendants call it Sedalbaegil instead of 2018?
—Then what about 2019?
—Can't you think about that when the time comes? Are you a T?
—Hahahahaha look at the legacy Taehwan left, hahaha
—No but seriously, MBTI is crazy among fans these days.
—Yeah. It's not necessarily about TT.
—Our kids set the trends. Not just in music, hahaha
The fandom reacts.
After that, the general public responds too.
—Isn't Sedalbaegil kind of cool? They keep challenging themselves even after achieving enough success. If it were me, I'd want to spend some money and have fun.
—Plus, it's not like they have a company breathing down their necks for revenue;
—Yeah. But if it were me, the first album was so successful that I'd feel pressured. Yet they're going straight for the second album.
—Completely ignoring the sophomore jinx is so fucking cool.
—But if they fail after this, they'll look like idiots, won't they? Not even a single thing about the album is out, why is everyone making such a fuss?
—What are you saying? Are you a Hip-Sion newbie?
—Hip-Sion doesn't fail. If Hip-Sion fails, it means the world isn't ready for his music yet.
—Can Hip-Sion even fail? He's a genius who can just say, "Should I try making some Apple commercial music?" and immediately sign a commercial contract.
—What Korean singer has the CEO of HR Corporation coming to them asking for an album;
—Ah, please, I wish they'd do the second album as band music. Han Sion should teach the members some instruments too.
—I saw the year-end stage last time, and Choi Jaeseong played piano pretty well?
—Then let's have Han Sion on guitar, Choi Jaeseong on keyboard, Onsaemiro on bass, and Gu Taehwan on drums.
—What about Lee Ion?
—Frontman.
—Agreed. His face is definitely a sure thing.
—Wait, who are you guys to be judging here?
—What's Ion lacking to be the frontman?
—What are you saying. Frontman means main vocalist.
—Did you mean that in a good way? No, you didn't;
There was some friction due to the disconnect between how TT saw Sedalbaegil and how the public saw them, but it was nothing new.
And so, in Episode 4, the Sedalbaegil members slowly began preparing the album.
It was absurd no matter how many times they thought about it, but they had genuinely started making the album.
They didn't just put in enough effort to show on broadcast and spend the rest on vacation.
While saying they had already had plenty of fun (though no one knew when), they devoted themselves to the album work.
Moreover, PD Gang Seok-u knew the answer to the riddle Sedalbaegil had put out: <2+2+1 = 2>.
No, he only knew the concept.
After M-Show and Sedalbaegil decided to collaborate, he had heard the meaning of the slogan through Han Sion, but....
'Because I don't get it.'
He couldn't understand it.
He knew how they were going to make the second album, but he didn't know if it would really work.
But anyway, the music was left to Han Sion, the recording to Sedalbaegil, and M-Show was the billboard.
They faithfully began showing Sedalbaegil working on their second album.
—At this rate, I guess it really was two albums?
—Yeah, I think the first 2 in 2+2+1 was two albums. The English version of TFD and the second full-length album.
—Then is the other 2 a single, and the 1 a mini album?
—Isn't that the most likely?
—No but seriously, Gu Taehwan sings fucking well; isn't he K-pop's top-tier at least for the intro?
—Right;
—Who knew Han Sion helping Gu Taehwan on Coming Up Next would come back as such a huge snowball.
—Speaking of Coming Up Next, what are Ryan and those guys doing? Take Scene.
—They're doing events, hahaha. I saw them at a festival last week. But surprisingly, they're good live? Juyeon sings really well.
—But their stages and songs were all good, hahaha. It's just that Sedalbaegil keeps sucking up all the buzz with simultaneous releases, hahaha
—Ah right, hahaha. When Take Scene's teaser came out, Color Show's teaser came out too, hahaha
—They're crazy bastards, hahaha. When the official music video came out, they put up Color Show's official, hahaha
—Anyway, Hip-Sion, that bastard, hahaha. He sure is thorough with his revenge.
The second album's tracks weren't shown in detail.
They were only shown faintly, just enough to be tantalizing, just enough to make viewers curious.
But even so, the effect was definite.
Because PD Gang Seok-u had accepted exactly the part where Han Sion said, "Let's show this, this, and this."
He had no pride as the main director.
After all, Gang Seok-u had seen everything there was to see with Han Sion, and they both knew each other's personalities.
Moreover, he had no doubt about Han Sion's musical talent.
If Han Sion said something would work, it would work.
—Wow, Gu Taehwan and Lee Ion match well.
—I told you Masked Bandit wasn't cast by GY for nothing, hahaha
—I succeeded in GY ticketing, by the way.
—So fucking jealous. When is it?
—Next Saturday.
As expected, people reacted and grew curious.
But people also clearly knew the limits of variety programs at the same time.
They would probably show just about this much and stop.
To hear more about the songs, the source audio had to be released, or the album had to come out.
Because that was the unwritten rule.
But....
["Shall we try it properly?"]
Sedalbaegil was a group that had always broken the rules.
Han Sion sat before the synthesizer and pressed the keys.
Gu Taehwan and Lee Ion started singing.
It wasn't that the two of them were in charge of the intro.
It was a song for exactly those two people.
Because the first 2 in 2 + 2 + 1 meant Gu Taehwan and Lee Ion.