Damn Idol Episode 20
It’s a confident face.
Well, he has every reason to be.
As long as he has ears, he must have been satisfied while practicing.
It’s definitely not a song suited for this idol survival show, but Gu Taehwan is about to do something interesting.
Specifically, raising the song’s tempo by 1.8 times.
Yeah, that was my idea.
When I actually had him sing the songs he’d picked, they were a bit boring.
But I liked the way he dragged the beat, so I recommended he pick a slow song and try speeding it up, and he chose this one.
The result was…….
“Wow, that was really cool. It’s completely different from what you showed in the pre-mission.”
“At first the sped-up version felt awkward, but before I knew it, I was hopelessly drawn in.”
“Apart from the disappointing overall note control, it was full of charm.”
“Was the choreography in the chorus an original piece? It suited the song well.”
He received 33 points: 9, 8, 8, 8.
Personally, I wish Gu Taehwan would join Team B and take the intro.
The intro needs to hook you the moment you hear it, and Gu Taehwan has a talent for that.
His voice is clear, but if you listen closely, it has a savory umami edge, a slight metallic rasp.
Hmm, I’ll raise his evaluation a little.
As I was thinking that, my name started coming from Gu Taehwan’s mouth.
“Then was it fellow contestant Han Sion who recommended the song selection?”
“Yes, I received a lot of help.”
“How did you end up getting help? You’re fellow contestants.”
Seeing the camera turn toward me, the next interview will probably be quite long.
I’ll have to talk about my stage, the Flowers Bloom song selection, and Gu Taehwan too.
Well, it’s not bad.
After all, the reason I came on Coming Up Next in the first place was to get my name known in the entertainment industry.
* * *
The protagonist of the final tenth stage was none other than On Saemiro, possessor of unquestionable singing ability.
“The first was Han Sion, and the last is On Saemiro.”
“Bookending?”
“Looks like it.”
The judges inwardly thought that On Saemiro had the spotlight stolen by Han Sion.
He was a talent who would have received far greater praise if only Han Sion hadn’t been here.
His singing skills were real, and his looks were flawless.
If forced to find a flaw, perhaps his skin was somewhat tanned, as if he’d done a lot of outdoor activities?
“Honestly, On Saemiro is the one who suits being a boy group main vocal more.”
“That’s true. We don’t know his personality yet, but he doesn’t seem difficult.”
In contrast, Han Sion somehow gave off an uncomfortable feeling.
He didn’t seem like he’d listen well, yet they didn’t have the confidence to rein him in with authority either.
It wasn’t that he gave off a thuggish vibe or showed defiance, but….
‘He has this feeling of subtly looking down on people. Though he himself doesn’t seem aware of it.’
That was the impression of Blue, who, thanks to being his mentor, had spoken with Han Sion the most.
Nevertheless, all the judges knew.
If they were running an entertainment company and had the chance to recruit Han Sion?
They would definitely do it.
Even if it were a poisoned chalice, they’d want to take at least one sip of what was inside.
That was how much Han Sion’s music pulled people in.
“But do we need a rivalry within Team B too?”
At Yu Seonhwa’s question, Choe Daeho shook his head.
“Let’s not directly compare On Saemiro and Han Sion for now. The competition is against Take Scene, after all.”
“They’ll be conscious of it even if we don’t say anything. They might already be.”
“Okay. Then we just won’t mention it.”
Around the time the judges set the direction for their commentary, On Saemiro came up on stage.
“Hm?”
His song choice was a bit unexpected.
A representative Korean rock ballad that swept the early 2000s, even taking the grand prize at the music awards.
The hit song of I Hyeonseok, who now runs LB Studio, had been transmitted to the judges’ tablets.
“He did this?”
It was a good song, steadily remade and loved by junior singers.
On Saemiro would probably sing it well too.
But….
‘Is it a good song choice?’
Absolutely not.
Because Han Sion’s
This wasn’t to say that Han Sion was unconditionally better than On Saemiro.
Perhaps On Saemiro’s
But for On Saemiro’s
Because Han Sion had only sung the first verse.
Humans are animals who imagine blank spaces in the most ideal form they can conceive.
This is also why people look better wearing masks than without them.
Because they imagine the hidden parts in the most ideal form.
In other words, On Saemiro wasn’t fighting the actual Han Sion’s Under the Streetlight.
He had to fight the vague feeling of “the rest must be like this,” imagined after hearing Han Sion’s first verse.
How good that vague feeling was could be seen from the fact that PD Gang Seogu immediately planned a music release right after the pre-mission ended.
‘I do like the attitude of wanting to beat Han Sion, but…….’
He didn’t seem to have realized this much yet.
“Contestant On Saemiro. Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Shall we hear it?”
The ensuing stage by On Saemiro was good.
He brought out the charm of the song
But that was it.
He did well enough, but nothing outstandingly distinctive.
He had almost no choreography, as if trying to show proper vocal skill.
“His excellent vocals weren’t disappointing, but I feel some regret regarding the song choice.”
“This is the time when he needs to think about what charm he possesses and how he can properly show it.”
“He sacrificed visual appeal for the song. But he couldn’t overwhelm with singing alone, either.”
31 points: 8, 8, 8, 7.
He tied for 3rd place, following 2nd place Gu Taehwan who had received 33 points.
* * *
After the first stage of this competition ended, Representative Choe Daeho nagged a bit off the record.
That they didn’t show desperation, how they could properly compete with Team A like this, and so on.
But from my broadcasting experience, this was an on-the-record pretending to be off-the-record.
The lights were off on most cameras, but the full cam capturing the contestants’ reactions was on.
Besides, looking at the words Choe Daeho used, they didn’t feel like disparagement.
If it were for disparagement, Fuck and Suck would be the basics, with occasional Mother…….
Ah, maybe not. Is this too American a sensibility?
Anyway, I understand Representative Choe Daeho’s feelings.
I don’t know much about idols, but overall the contestants had a floating, detached feeling.
Gu Taehwan was the only contestant who had properly displayed his potential.
This atmosphere was probably formed 50% because of me and 50% due to the program’s deformed structure.
Coming Up Next is a bit different from existing idol survival programs.
Originally, idol survival evaluates contestants according to the clear frame of “idol.”
It’s not “Alright, show me what you can do,” like now.
It’s closer to “This is the track idols run on; let’s see how well they run.”
But Coming Up Next is a program with a deformed structure.
Take Scene has to debut, yet talent-wise, Team B has to stand out more.
Therefore, when selecting Team B members, the focus is on how well they do music rather than their role as idols.
I was the one who placed the emphasis on that.
Like On Saemiro, everyone seems to have mistaken my style for the correct answer.
If I hadn’t been here, the overall stages probably would have felt different.
Closer to the feel of a typical idol survival.
But.
“…….”
I feel a bit wronged.
I joined Coming Up Next to quickly learn about idols, yet the stages changed because of my influence.
Will things change a bit once Team B is confirmed?
While thinking that, filming returned to an on-the-record atmosphere.
Blue came up on stage to host and opened his mouth.
“Does everyone happen to know the origin of the word ‘nakjeom,’ from the phrase ‘receiving a nakjeom’?”
I know how the word is used, but not its origin.
Despite appearances, I’m quite an old-school American.
“It originates from the Joseon Dynasty, when the king would place a dot above the name of a candidate being selected for a high-ranking government position.”
So it means the judges have also been placing dots above the contestants’ names.
Then does receiving four dots mean you pass?
Or since there are two stages, eight?
Blue’s following explanation was the former.
“In other words, receiving marks from four people across two stages means you pass.”
It’s quite a generous system.
It means a contestant who received marks only from Blue and Yu Seonhwa in the first stage can pass if they receive marks only from Choe Daeho and I Changjun in the second stage.
The point of this mark rule is to tell them not to lose motivation yet.
If it were a system adding up scores from the first and second stages, messing up the first stage would mean elimination.
But the mark method is different.
In extreme cases, even if you receive no marks in the first stage, receiving all marks in the second stage means you pass.
But I don’t know why they had to use the word nakjeom.
Wouldn’t “all-pass” sound better?
Besides, this feels like a hastily made rule.
If it were an official rule, they wouldn’t have needed to grade the stage scores so diligently, would they?
As soon as Blue finished explaining, questions poured out.
“Can one judge place two dots? Since there are two stages.”
“No. You can only give one mark to each contestant.”
“What happens if more than five people receive four marks?”
“The judges will discuss. They may request additional stages during that process. However, if you received four marks in the first stage, you pass unconditionally.”
An all-pass in the first stage means unconditional passage.
I’m unconditional, and Gu Taehwan has a chance too.
Ah, if appearance scores are factored in, I Ion has a chance too.
His stage wasn’t bad.
It’s just that his tone is hard to fit into a team, but his individual stage was decent enough.
“Now then, let’s talk about the team formation for the second mission, which will confirm the final members.”
The team composition was simple.
1st–2nd place, 3rd–4th place, 5th–6th place, 7th–8th place, and 9th–10th place would play rock-paper-scissors and be split into winning and losing teams.
I thought they’d run a mini-game to draw out broadcast footage, but it was simple.
Because of this, I, in 1st place with 39 points, and Gu Taehwan, in 2nd place with 33 points, had to play rock-paper-scissors.
The result…….
-Winning Team.
Han Sion, On Saemiro, Choe Jaeseong, Gim Seongu, Sim Juwan.
-Losing Team.
Gu Taehwan, I Ion, Gim Haeun, Nam Seongil, Bak Seongju.
It became a very ambiguous lineup.
“Is there no trade? There are too many rappers…….”
As someone said, the
Of the ten contestants, the rappers were Gim Haeun, Nam Seongil, and Bak Seongju.
All of them were on the Losing Team.
Even the vocalist Gu Taehwan had sung a song close to rap tempo in the first stage.
The judges briefly exchanged opinions and firmly stated there would be no trade.
While unexpected, they seemed to think it would make for a decent test stage.
“In the second mission, you must cover a song by a senior boy group. However, this time choreography will be scored separately, so be mindful of your song selection.”
The theme of the second mission was a cover song.