Damn Idol Chapter 71
It was a subject he’d been thinking about continuously, so Kang Seokwoo nodded at once.
“It’d be a waste. A real waste.”
It was simple.
M Show didn’t want to let Han Sion go as a free agent after
The Han Sion of now was a goose that laid golden eggs.
Even if they couldn’t cut that goose’s belly open, they couldn’t exactly send it off nicely to someone else’s barn.
“Should we try forcing the issue and recruit him? As a channel-affiliated celebrity?”
“Lion put up too much of the production cost for that. If we make one wrong move, we’ll get marked.”
“Hmm……”
Lion Entertainment’s sales ranking might have fallen, but its name recognition was still top three.
By contrast, M Show fought for third or fourth even among cable channels excluding the major networks, and if OTT platforms like Netflix were included, it fell even lower.
In other words, there was too much risk in antagonizing Lion and bringing Han Sion over.
After all, it had already been agreed that Lion Entertainment would have the first right to negotiate with the cast of Coming Up Next.
“We also have to share Take Scene’s profits for several years…… It’d be uncomfortable if we fought.”
“Then? You called me because you had something in mind, didn’t you?”
“I do have something in mind. But I haven’t decided. Which of the two is the better idea.”
“Tell me. I’ll think it over with you.”
The director, who had been tapping the table, opened his mouth.
“Seokwoo. The worst-case scenario for us is Han Sion becoming a Lion trainee, right?”
“That’s right.”
What if Han Sion trained at Lion Entertainment for about two years and then debuted?
They would miss the timing to say, “We made him popular, so give us a cut.”
Because after just six months, Coming Up Next’s influence would have long since vanished.
“First of all, NT contacted us. They’ve got a boy group they’re raising ambitiously. LMC.”
“Yes.”
“Looks like they want to recruit Han Sion into it. They say they’ll give us a share of Han Sion’s profits for five years, so push them.”
“Five years?”
Kang Seokwoo’s eyes widened.
Considering that ordinary profit-sharing ended within one or two years, it was an enormous period of time.
Naturally, the amount they would receive would be enormous too.
“They must be asking for something big.”
“They are. They want us to bury Han Sion a little.”
“……
Ah.”
Kang Seokwoo quickly understood what the director meant.
“Isn’t this a program meant to push Take Scene anyway? Put Take Scene at the forefront and turn Han Sion into a suitable background prop. You’ve already squeezed everything out of him—that’s what they’re saying.”
“And if Han Sion’s value drops like that, NT will negotiate with Lion?”
“Correct. And they’ll compensate us for the program’s ratings collapsing with that five-year share.”
“What do you think?”
“What about you?”
“I’m not thrilled. To be blunt, it’s not as if that money’s going to me, is it?”
“They mentioned 2% as your share. You know that’s huge, right?”
“……
I’m still not thrilled. If we continue like this, we can record the highest ratings in M Show history.”
The highest rating M Show had recorded so far was 5.6%.
There was no law saying Coming Up Next couldn’t surpass it.
“Right? Honestly, I’m not thrilled either. I’m the Variety Department Director, after all. But the higher-ups are fixated on this. They say both the justification and the practical gain are clean.”
The justification that Coming Up Next was meant to push Take Scene.
The practical gain of being able to receive a share of both Take Scene’s and Han Sion’s portions.
It was enough to tempt the executives.
A brief silence passed, and Kang Seokwoo opened his mouth again.
“Then what’s the other idea?”
“This is something I thought of. From now on, we push Han Sion. Very blatantly.”
“More than Take Scene?”
“Not just more. Much more. In a hundred-minute broadcast, we make Han Sion’s story take up an hour. Push him like mad.”
The director’s eyes gleamed.
“In exchange, we turn Sedalbaegil into background props.”
“……”
“Anyone can see that Han Sion is the face of the program. But Sedalbaegil barely shows up. Around then, we shape public opinion. In the end, we create sympathy for the idea that Take Scene has no choice but to debut.”
Only then did Kang Seokwoo understand the picture the director was drawing.
“People will feel disappointed, right? The greater Han Sion’s charm is. And then……”
“Han Sion debuts? By joining Take Scene.”
“Bingo. Maybe CEO Choi Daeho might even like it.”
It wasn’t bad.
It broke the program’s purpose of pushing Take Scene, but it would become a matter of pushing “Han Sion of Take Scene.”
On top of that, if things turned out this way, they could naturally receive a share of the revenue generated by Han Sion too.
“What do you think?”
“I think it’s good, but didn’t you say something similar last time?”
“Me?”
The director tilted his head, and Kang Seokwoo tilted his head as well.
“If there really are plausible results, I might be able to negotiate with CEO Choi Daeho myself.”
The director had definitely said that.
At that moment, the director burst into a hearty laugh.
“Seokwoo.”
“Yes?”
“The negotiation I talked about back then wasn’t something like this. I just meant I’d ask for his understanding about selling Han Sion instead of Take Scene.”
“Ah, is that what you meant?”
“Don’t tell me that’s how you took it? That I’d debut Han Sion as Take Scene?”
“Yes. I did.”
“Hmm……”
The director and Kang Seokwoo realized why their perspectives had differed like this.
At the time of that conversation, the feelings they had toward the contestant named “Han Sion” had been different.
To the director, he was something like a useful moneymaker.
To Kang Seokwoo, he was an element capable of changing the program’s color.
In the end, Kang Seokwoo had been right.
Because now the director had come to think the same way.
“Director—no, sunbae. Isn’t this something you should discuss with CEO Choi Daeho before me? The choice is on their side.”
“There’s one thing I need to confirm.”
“Go ahead.”
“Say we push Han Sion. Say we push him like lunatics. But what if Han Sion collapses? What if the issue cools down completely?”
“We’d look ridiculous?”
“Right. Then everyone becomes an idiot. M Show, Lion, Take Scene, Sedalbaegil. Not a single one comes out intact.”
That was why the director wanted Kang Seokwoo, the main producer, to confirm just how much talent Han Sion had.
No matter how much Chris Edward had vouched for him, that might simply be from a purely musical standpoint.
It was different from the perspective of issue-making as seen by a broadcasting station producer.
“How does he look to you?”
This time, Producer Kang Seokwoo burst into a hearty laugh.
“Sunbae. You seem to be mistaken about something. I don’t know music very well.”
“So? You don’t know?”
“No. That’s why I’m certain. Han Sion won’t collapse.”
“Give me just one reason.”
“Because I think the result would’ve been the same even if Coming Up Next had been a documentary.”
Meaning, there was nothing staged at all about Han Sion’s talent.
Because he didn’t know music, he had never interfered.
“Or, sunbae, let’s do this.”
“Do what?”
“Wait two days—no, three days—before deciding.”
“What are we waiting for?”
“I’m going to do something. If it reaches your ears too, then trust me and Han Sion once.”
It meant he would make the world buzz with an issue related to Han Sion.
“Okay. Got it.”
“Then I’ll get going. There isn’t much time.”
“But Seokwoo. Is what you’re about to do something that was originally planned?”
“Mm……”
Producer Kang Seokwoo grinned.
“I’ve wanted to do it all along, but I didn’t because I was afraid Take Scene would look like idiots.”
After saying that, Kang Seokwoo bowed and left the director’s office.
The conclusion had been reached.
From now on, the protagonist of Coming Up Next was Han Sion.
* * *
Choi Sehui, who had learned about Han Sion by chance after going to a Coming Up Next taping, now said it proudly.
Drop Out was her main fandom, and Han Sion was her second.
In truth, it wasn’t anything special.
These days, Han Sion was mentioned a lot in the idol scene, and many people had started stanning him as their second.
For starters, all the talent snobs seemed to have attached themselves to him.
Of course…….
‘That means there are more forced haters too.’
They were probably the Weppeul fandom.
They had lost their justification once Chris Edward appeared, but they still hated Han Sion.
“Ah, isn’t anything going to be uploaded?”
Thinking that, Choi Sehui habitually refreshed M Show’s YouTube channel.
She had done the same thing one minute ago, but there was nowhere else to get fandom crumbs.
Maybe they had cleaned things up before the broadcast, because all the members’ SNS accounts were deactivated, and Han Sion didn’t even show any trace of having made an SNS.
If she were an M Show producer, she would have made SNS accounts for Sedalbaegil and had them share daily photos or stories…….
‘Seriously, they have no sense.’
Of course, she knew that was absurd.
There was no way something like that would be allowed for contestants on a survival program.
It was then.
“Huh?”
When Choi Sehui hit refresh once more, fresh videos with 0 views appeared before her eyes.
‘They’re up!’
The reason Choi Sehui had been watching M Show’s YouTube channel was because she thought there was a high chance the full videos of the karaoke mission would be uploaded.
On the broadcast, it had been treated like a light mini-game, but it hadn’t been like that on-site.
The ten contestants had done their best to sing, and victory and defeat had been clearly decided.
They had even created the rare sight of the audience leaning their bodies toward the side where better music could be heard.
So there was no way clips wouldn’t be uploaded.
[C.U.N/Episode 3] At the End of Dawn
- Han Sion ┃ Karaoke Mission / VS Fade]
Choi Sehui hurried over to her SNS and shared the video along with a slightly over-the-top stan comment.
Then she immediately played the video.
It contained a song a little over three minutes long.
It was really good.
Indescribably good.
It wasn’t good because she liked Han Sion; she was certain it was a song everyone would like.
‘Ugh, I really do have tin ears.’
It was embarrassing to think about now, but Choi Sehui hadn’t properly grasped Han Sion’s skill.
She had only thought he sang songs that were nice to listen to.
That was why she had even posted something like this online.
-Skill: He sang a somewhat easy old song, so his skill didn’t stand out, but it was really nice to listen to. Ah, it’s hard to score. 8~8.5?
-But now she knew.
Even giving Han Sion’s singing ability 85 points out of 10 wouldn’t be enough.
As a way of reflecting on that day, she carefully left a comment.
-From now on, society has reached a consensus that all city pop shall be called Sion pop.
After leaving her comment, she saw that quite a few comments besides hers had been posted too.
It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had been waiting for the clip.
-Hey, this is insane! It’s freaking good lol
-Kang Seokwoo has no sense at all. He cut this up and aired it like that?
-What year is this song from?
-If I were a singer from the 70s or 80s, I’d bring a bag of money to Han Sion and ask him to remake my song. I’d get booked for events like crazy right away.
-Wow, look at him singing cleanly to fit city pop without getting greedy with technique.
-Yeah, when someone can do it but doesn’t, he smells like a master sniff sniff
-Is this not coming out as a digital track?
The comments were 100% favorable, so she felt good.
But the content of the very last comment was a little strange.
-Lol what is this? Is it Han Sion’s birthday today? How many videos are they uploading?
Wondering what it meant, Choi Sehui went to the video list and opened her eyes wide.
“……!”
A whopping five videos had been uploaded.
[C.U.N]
[C.U.N]
[C.U.N] Is This Really an Improvisation? Feat. Lee Hyeonseok, Jo Gijeong ┃ Unaired Footage]
[C.U.N]
[C.U.N] Chris Edward X Han Sion Piano Improvisation Duet ┃ Unaired Footage]
Every thumbnail was our boy.
Apparently, M Show had finally come to its senses.