Damn Idol Episode 50
* * *
Average viewership rating: 1.1%.
Average viewership rating in the metropolitan area: 1.3%.
Peak minute-by-minute viewership rating: 1.9%.
The results for episode 1 of
Some might tilt their heads at figures in the 1% range, but in truth, these were extremely encouraging numbers.
M Show had never achieved major results with its self-produced variety programs, and Coming Up Next had the weakness of being an in-house survival show for a specific entertainment company.
That was why M Show’s variety director had set Coming Up Next’s target viewership rating at 1.9%.
Of course, he had firmly told Producer Kang Seok-u to hit at least 2.5%, but in his heart, he had thought anything above 1.5% would be worthy of a pat on the shoulder.
And yet, 1.3% had come out in the metropolitan area.
It was a thoroughly satisfying start.
Of course, there were those who spewed ill wishes, saying the first broadcast would be the peak and that it would only decline from there.
Representative examples were MBS, KBN, and SBN.
But would the terrestrial networks, the old guard of the broadcasting world, bother hurling curses at things that weren’t even on their level?
The fact that Coming Up Next was being criticized meant it was being kept in check.
Being kept in check meant it had potential.
Because.
‘The direction of the buzz is unusual, isn’t it?’
‘Why are the clip views this high?’
The buzz related to Coming Up Next did not feel like it had flared up all at once only to fizzle out.
Rather, it had the feeling of a virtuous cycle.
People who enjoyed the program were creating related content, and those who saw that content were seeking out the program.
The program and the content.
The fact that interest was continuing to circulate, when it would have ended if even one of the two were weak, was proof that this was not an issue that would cool off quickly.
And at the center of it was……
“Wow, this actually works?”
“What year is this song even from?”
* * *
On the first day of its release, Han Sion’s
It was a more than excellent result.
It was not as though Han Sion had gained a substantial fandom, and Coming Up Next was not an audition show receiving nationwide attention.
The fact that it had entered the top 100 meant it had been chosen by the countless shops that set the
This was extremely important.
After all, there was a reason the difference in copyright revenue between 100th and 101st place on a music chart was enormous.
Even so, Producer Kang Seok-u felt some regret, and decided to wait and see for now.
But the next day.
“Hm?”
The song’s rank had risen to 51st.
Since it had suddenly climbed 38 places, Producer Kang Seok-u assumed there must have been some trigger.
Maybe a famous singer had mentioned it on their SNS, or a famous creator had filmed a reaction video.
If not that, then perhaps a clip video had been chosen by YouTube’s algorithm.
But it was none of those.
SNS buzz, search volume, and video clip views were steadily trending upward, but there had been no special trigger.
Then what was going on?
‘Could the music chart right now be a cake?’
That could be it.
There might be inflated numbers mixed into the performance of the competing songs forming the middle of the Top 100 chart.
Just as a fork sinks easily into cake, the digital power of Under the Streetlamp might have been stronger.
But that sort of thing only worked up to around 50th place.
The public treated the phrase “No. 1 on the music chart” as though it were nothing special, but in truth, it was an incredible thing.
It meant that at a certain point in time, it was the song people in South Korea had listened to the most.
‘Please, I hope it breaks into the 50s.’
Thinking that, Kang Seok-u waited for the third day.
And then something astonishing happened.
22. Under the Streetlamp (new)(hot)
The song’s ranking rose another 29 places and settled at 22nd.
On top of that, its momentum had caught fire.
-Wow, it’s been a while since I heard this song.
-I thought someone remade it and laughed at it lol but it’s crazy good;;
-Brings back old memories lol I sang this so much in college.
-Jo Gijeong was group sound itself back in our day.
-I was born in 2002... people my age like this song too....
-Wtf lol if you were born in 2002, aren’t you sixteen?
-What variety show was this sung on?
-There’s one called Coming Up Next. It’s on M Show.
As the ranking rose, people gathered, and as people gathered, the ranking rose.
Now Kang Seok-u was confused.
‘There really wasn’t any trigger.’
Wondering if perhaps he had failed to catch it, he instructed the writers to look into it, but they came back with the same result.
They, too, did not know why this song had started flying so high.
Kang Seok-u found the answer while interviewing new producers taking the company entrance exam in March.
“I’d like to hear your prediction on what the future trends in broadcasting will be.”
During the final question that was practically an iron rule at broadcasting stations, the name
“Trends move toward the future and memories head toward the past, but if they ride on trends, memories too have the power to move toward the future……”
After that, the interviewee mixed together thoughts on the popularity of Under the Streetlamp and recent trends to finish the answer.
The answer itself was trash, but Kang Seok-u had no choice but to slap his knee.
The reason for its high-flying march was simple.
The power of the song choice.
And the power of Han Sion’s singing.
A long intro, calm and lyrical instrumentation, a verse that seemed dull but moved forward little by little, and a chorus that burst open.
Old bands influenced by progressive rock or art rock all had one or two songs like that.
Nevertheless, the Jo Gijeong Band’s Under the Streetlamp had been loved for an especially long time.
That meant it was a good song, and that it was a song many members of the public had memories with.
What would happen if a song like that came floating out onto the street?
Someone might search up a song they had completely forgotten about at least once.
Even he himself had felt glad to hear this song during filming, hadn’t he?
That was the power of the song choice.
The second was the power of Han Sion’s singing.
No further explanation was needed here.
Simply put, Han Sion’s singing was excellent.
In truth, because Kang Seok-u had listened to the fully arranged
But that was only a relative impression, and it was more than good enough.
Thanks to that, it appealed even to young consumers who had no memories of the original song.
And that was not all.
‘Kids these days call this kind of thing hip, huh.’
Since there had not been many songs with this kind of feel lately, it had instead created a point of differentiation.
This song’s good, huh?
When I searched it up, it was rock that swept through the ’90s?
It’s got a vibe.
That was the impression they had received.
Having learned the truth, Kang Seok-u could only marvel.
Until now, he had thought Coming Up Next was pushing Under the Streetlamp.
But it was the opposite.
Under the Streetlamp was pushing Coming Up Next.
As a result, the program’s rerun ratings and IPTV payment rates were coming out unusually high.
And at last, on the fourth day after release.
7. Under the Streetlamp (new)(hot)
Han Sion’s Under the Streetlamp entered the Top 10.
It was hard to believe this was the result achieved by a song that had appeared in the first episode of an in-house survival audition program.
* * *
-I’m seriously so mad. Can’t they stop music chart sajaegi?
-Wow, my faith in humanity is shattered. This garbage is at 4th place.
-So who the hell is Han Sion lol am I the only one who doesn’t know?
-Yeah, I don’t know either.
-What company is he from?
-Lol this is hilarious. Under the Streetlamp is sajaegi? Go look at the No. 1 trending video first lol
-So what. It shot up because of sajaegi, so of course people are flowing into Coming Up Next too.
-It’s not C.U.N, the reaction video by the top three vocalists is No. 1 though~
-Your way of talking is fucking annoying.
-Lololol look at them having a fit because their oppa couldn’t line up the charts.
-I guarantee Han Sion takes No. 1 within this week. Burp.
-Day 3 of praying the sajaegi guy’s vocal cords get broken in a car accident. If you didn’t do sajaegi, this isn’t about you.
* * *
So Korean communities were like this.
As I looked through the community sites Choe Jae-seong had told me about, I could clearly tell what was different from communities in the English-speaking world.
Over there, the comments were direct.
I won’t say it’s 100%, but there are more people who pour out their intentions directly.
In contrast, Korean communities had a feeling of twisting things around and being sarcastic.
Probably because Korea has insult laws, right?
At that moment, someone snatched my phone away.
Wondering what was going on, I looked up and saw On Saemiro.
“Don’t look at stuff like this.”
“Why?”
“They’re hate comments.”
These are?
By my standards, to be called hate comments, shouldn’t they be at least on the level of “fashion orphan” or “suspect in attempted familicide”?
Well, I stopped feeling anything about even those later on.
In truth, because I had lived as a famous person for too long, I had become detached from hate comments.
It was not that I felt fine because I ignored them, nor that I became okay after enduring and enduring.
I simply did not think much of them.
It was probably because I was capable of objectifying myself.
Being hurt by other people’s slander meant being unable to withstand an attack on the unchangeable existence called “me.”
But I could completely change “me.”
I could live as a prickly, sensitive perfectionist vocalist, then go on living as a delinquent rapper who spat out raw words exactly as they came.
Of course, because of that, I had needed to be prescribed medication for depression, and had almost developed schizophrenia too.
Hm, still, On Saemiro was probably saying it because he was worried about me.
Should I try being a little gentler?
“Thanks for worrying, but this much doesn’t bother me at all.”
“How?”
“Hm?”
“How does it not bother you? Other people’s criticism.”
“Try accepting it as interesting. In a way, I’m manipulating people, aren’t I? I made people who wouldn’t have acted like this if I hadn’t existed turn out this way.”
“……”
It was sincere advice, but On Saemiro tossed my phone back at me and disappeared.
Was puberty going to hit him late?
He was strangely crooked.
After that, I used internet searching to grasp the overall mood of the public.
The current music chart ranking was 4th, and the weekly search term ranking was 8th.
Considering that 1st to 3rd place were stories related to politics, it seemed to be around 5th in the content field.
What I liked most of all was that my song was being reproduced.
Music-related YouTubers were covering or analyzing the song, and famous singers were also uploading cover videos.
Also, though the view counts did not seem all that high, the reaction from creators who produced composition-related content was heated.
Usually, what they said about me fell into three categories. The first was “amazing,” the second was “suspicious,” and the third was “luck.”
The people calling it amazing were purely admiring it, and the people calling it suspicious were genuinely doubting whether I had really made this.
The last group, the ones calling it luck, said this.
[This is theoretically possible, but it’s not something you can intentionally create by fixing each part one by one.]
[I think luck probably played a role. Like, he was making another song, took the vocal line that came out of it, and then went, huh? This fits well? Something like that.]
[Even so, the ability to express it precisely is impressive in itself.]
They were the group who believed I had not adjusted the vocal line with intent.