Damned Idol Episode 23
* * *
While the judges were preparing for the second round and skimming through the script, Blue opened his mouth.
“But CEO-nim. Can we broadcast all of this in episode one?”
According to the original plan, the Team B qualifiers were scheduled to end in a single episode. Since the format itself consisted of Take Scenes and Team B’s competition, they had figured the runtime before the competition button was pressed held little significance.
Of course, they would have to focus the broadcast on the Team B members in the early stages, but that was something to do after Team B was confirmed. Because when they weren’t confirmed as team members, concentration would drop and attention would scatter.
But Blue thought that if they scored big even up to the second mission, cramming it all into episode one would be too heavy. The pre-mission had been worth watching, and the first mission had been plenty entertaining too.
Sure enough, Choi Daeho shrugged his shoulders.
“PD Kang said something similar. He suggested we put splitting it into episodes one and two into the plan.”
“It seems like he smelled money on Han Sion, right?”
“Yeah. He seemed to think ‘Under the Streetlight’ would be a hit.”
With the cameras not yet rolling, Lee Changjun interjected frankly.
“But did they find the composer? Flowers Bloom.”
“The broadcasting station is looking, but they seem to be a foreigner. They were being tight-lipped.”
“If they’re a foreigner, there’s a high chance they’re from Song Camp?”
Having said that, Lee Changjun fiddled with the script for no reason.
Among the judges, he was the only one who made his living composing.
Choi Daeho had written songs once too, but now he had turned into a full-fledged producer.
That was why Lee Changjun knew Han Sion’s first stage would be quite a hot topic among composers.
To be precise, it would be “Han Sion’s talent” that became the topic.
He too had listened to Flowers Bloom.
But he had never thought, listening to it, that the original might have been a male version.
How on earth had Han Sion come up with such an idea?
Was that thought even correct?
He had only praised generously during the evaluation, but looking back, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation.
If what Han Sion said was really true, then Han Sion was a producer with better discernment than himself.
At that age, his skill couldn’t possibly surpass his own, but discernment was a weapon that transcended skill.
“But I don’t know why he’s rapping.”
“Right. Is he the type to volunteer as a sacrifice in part distribution?”
“He’s not that kind of style, is he?”
“Well, PD Kang said he’d rather the second stage fail spectacularly. Better than being ambiguously bad.”
The judges chatted about the second mission for a while longer before suddenly realizing.
That they weren’t talking about the second mission, but only about Han Sion.
“Still, let’s not focus too much on one person.”
At Choi Daeho’s words, which included a promise to himself, the judges nodded.
Shortly after, filming began.
* * *
The performance order for
For reference, I heard the Losing Team had tried to change their name because it was inauspicious, but the main writer hadn’t allowed it.
Asking what was the point of naming a team made for a single occasion.
Well, I thought the same.
“First-attacking team, please come up to the stage.”
At least Blue, who was in charge of hosting, showed tact by calling them the “First-attacking Team” instead of the “Losing Team.”
And so five people climbed onto the stage.
Gu Taehwan, Lee Ieon, Kim Haeun, Nam Seongil, Park Seongju.
I had built a connection with Gu Taehwan in the first mission, and I had kept an eye on Lee Ieon because his face practically manufactured connections by force.
But I didn’t really know the other three.
I knew they were rappers, but their skills were just so-so.
At best, Kim Haeun, who had performed a self-composed song in the pre-mission, was somewhat listenable?
The stage of
It was a rather unexpected choice.
I had learned of this team while monitoring K-pop this time; Black Star is a team composed of five rappers and one vocalist.
In other words, Lee Ieon dropped onto vocals and the remaining members took all the rap parts, but…
‘Gu Taehwan has exceptional rhythm sense, but that doesn’t mean he suits rapping.’
It seemed Gu Taehwan had ended up rapping too because of what he’d shown in the first mission.
But just because one suits a two-four rhythm doesn’t mean they automatically suit rap rhythm.
Then why would jazz hip-hop exist, and why would there be R&B grooves?
Sure enough, Gu Taehwan, who took the first verse of the intro, looked awkward.
Not only that,
They focused enormously on matching the group choreography, but the angles didn’t align.
Rather, in trying awkwardly to match, they felt like they couldn’t even display the skills they possessed.
But the funny thing was, with the situation being like this, Lee Ieon went crazy and ran wild.
Ordinarily, Lee Ieon’s tone should have been an awkward fit for a team, but for this song, there was no such issue.
Since he was the sole vocalist and took the vocal bridge, his uncomfortable tone actually looked unique.
At this rate, Lee Ieon was guaranteed to get all four pass votes.
Sure enough, the following judges’ comments were almost identical to my thoughts.
“I can’t help but think you took the group choreography too lightly. Badly matched choreography is worse than not matching at all.”
“The song choice is regrettable too. It should be exciting, but because of the tension I felt from you, it wasn’t exciting at all.”
“Participant Lee Ieon’s vocals were better than I thought. However, you ran out of breath in the middle and your bending was shaky—you are aware of that, right?”
The score given was 72 points.
Hmm, more generous than I thought.
If it were me, I would have given 27.
Besides, I didn’t know why they kept giving scores when they decide pass or fail by pass votes anyway.
“Next team, please prepare for the stage.”
Like that, I crossed with the Losing Team coming down with heads deeply bowed and headed for the stage.
* * *
When
“Before I see the stage, I’m curious about the part distribution. Who distributed the parts?”
“It happened naturally. Without anyone being greedy.”
“Really? Then was participant Han Sion’s rap part decided naturally too?”
“Yes. I think everyone took the parts they could do best.”
Since Han Sion came across as overly brazen, Yoo Seonhwa was rather flustered.
In Yoo Seonhwa’s eyes, Han Sion was already a completed vocalist.
If a training request came to her right now, technically she would have nothing in particular to tell him.
She hadn’t heard many songs yet, so she didn’t know about his expressive side, though.
Yoo Seonhwa was somewhat dissatisfied to see such a vocalist rapping.
It wasn’t that she had a problem with the rap genre itself, but she feared Han Sion was thinking, “I’ve already passed, so I’ll yield.”
Of course, such consideration itself could look good to viewers.
But this is show business.
It’s those who show themselves fiercely who succeed, not nice guys who hesitate to put on a show.
A soft attitude isn’t tolerated in a survival program.
“Then let me ask one more thing. Participant Han Sion, what score would you give your singing, and what score your rap?”
“Hmm…”
Han Sion’s mouth opened after a moment of thought, and an absurd remark came out.
“I think I’d give my singing around 70 points, and my rap around 80 points.”
“…Not the other way around?”
“No.”
Unbeknownst to the people, Han Sion was serious.
He knew how far his singing skills could reach.
If he trained his vocal cords and tuned his tone for about two years, he could sufficiently reach 100 points.
So for now, it was a severely lacking 70 points.
In contrast, rap was a genre Han Sion had given up on scoring 100.
Of course, he had still recorded three consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and had achieved quadruple platinum (4 million copies) with a rap album.
But by his own judgment, he could never become a 100-point rapper.
Even if he tried really hard, maybe about 90 points?
However, rap didn’t require special training.
If your voice is thin, do it thin; if it’s rough, do it rough.
Hadn’t 50 Cent, who got shot in the jaw and slurred his pronunciation, dominated an era with slurred rap?
So even in his current state, if he captured the feel well, he could deliver 80-point rap.
This was Han Sion’s omitted true feelings that he couldn’t tell anyone.
However, just as Yoo Seonhwa, who had no way of knowing this, was about to say something, Lee Changjun tapped the back of her hand.
A signal not to focus too much on Han Sion alone.
Regaining her composure, Yoo Seonhwa eventually ended her comment with, “I look forward to it.”
After the judges’ brief questions, the stage began.
* * *
NOP’s was an overtly summer-targeted summer song with a refreshing, cool concept.
In the original, the music video began with boys in beige tops and blue jeans drifting on a deserted island.
The adventure and friendship they experienced on the deserted island was the narrative throughout the song.
As the five who had sat down haphazardly on stage looked around as if bewildered, the sound of waves in the intro began to flow.
Choi Jaeseong was the first among them to get up from his spot.
While the others looked visibly flustered, Choi Jaeseong wore a carelessly bright expression.
At that moment, booming kick drums entered, and without warning, melody poured out abruptly, and Choi Jaeseong’s song began.
Emm, Emm,
Today’s a Summer day,
The sun is dazzling.
As if infected by Choi Jaeseong’s carefree brightness, Kim Seongu got up and took the song.
Emm, Emm,
Today’s a Shining day,
I hear the waves.
After several exchanges passed that way, smiles bloomed on the boys’ faces, and soon the adventure began.
Originally, this section had been packed with group choreography.
Because the dynamic adventure of Boy Scout members traversing the island had to be expressed through dance.
But
Rather than moving in unison toward one place, they expressed it as if each wanted to go somewhere different.
The choreography was the same, but the lines of their bodies faced different directions.
Originally all the boys had to look at one place while dancing, but because each looked somewhere different, they looked more mischievous.
Even when Sim Juwan stopped as if he didn’t want to go, Han Sion grabbed him and pulled him into the group choreography line.
It was a stage that was fun to watch.
Like that, after the first chorus, the part people had been waiting for finally arrived.
It was Han Sion’s rap.
Normally, it was a part no one would have expected much from.
NOP wasn’t a group that particularly emphasized rap parts from the start.
They did have songs where rap stood at the center, but they usually preferred easy-listening rap.
Especially in Boy Scout, brass instruments were used heavily in the beat; in such cases, unless you put in strong accents, the rap had a hard time surviving.
But because it was hard to do hard-accented rap due to the song’s concept, the original had mixed melody into the rap and sung it with a soft feel.
So even if Han Sion was truly good at rapping, it was a part where proving his skill was difficult.
But…….
Han Sion did something very interesting.
‘Is he crazy?’
To the point that Choi Daeho, who was well-versed in Black music, was bewildered.
Party Tonight,
For tonight,
Together, we
were excited, just
Grime.
A genre of UK hip-hop that had developed in a different direction from the US.
Of course, Han Sion wasn’t rapping as intensely as UK garage or UK drill.
That wouldn’t suit this song.
But the grime genre has a unique accent.
Unlike American rap that feels like it’s hammering in, it feels like bouncing between rhythms.
Using a British accent there, breaking words apart.
It was a combination no one could have imagined, but it suited very well.
Moreover, because he split the sections originally sung as melody with appropriate accents, it was even better to listen to.
I don’t know how it sounded to others’ ears, but at least to Choi Daeho’s ears, it was shockingly good.
He wondered if it felt slightly removed from the song’s concept, but it was good because they seemed to be having fun among themselves.
As if the boys had taken out hidden alcohol one night and thrown a party?
It was to the point of amazement that he could give off this much feeling with only nuance and accent without touching the original lyrics at all.
In the meantime, the stage continued after Han Sion’s verse, and with Onsaemiro’s highlight part, the stage concluded.