The band began to play, music filling everyone's ears. The idols held their breaths as they stared at the vocalists in the centre, all looking nervous as the singing began.
Seungmin started them off well, the male's vocals being stable. He didn't look nervous at all, naturally singing as if he had plenty of time to practice. Most of the others sang well too, eyes fixated on the prompter as they were worried about forgetting their lyrics.
During Jaein's part, her voice came out extremely soft compared to the others, so her microphone was adjusted. Unfortunately, by the time the technicians reacted to that, her part was already over.
Haechan's voice came out like honey to the ears, making idols gasp. He sounded well rehearsed, his experience giving him a leg up in terms of professionalism. Yua, who sung after him, also did well, but the difference in stage experience was visible, proving to be a disadvantage to the girl.
"Haechan's voice is really no joke." Mark whispers to Renjun, who nodded in agreement.
"He's doing well." Renjun says before adding. "Don't tell him I said that though, he'll never let it go."
As the song went on, it mostly went well, some of them mumbling lyrics when it got faster and their lack of rehearsals showed. Woobin's voice cracked in the last chorus when hitting a high note, Cravity members stiffening as a reaction. The judges also noticed, their faces being shown as they tried to hold in their reaction.
Once the song ended, they all applauded, complimenting their members for a job well done. The judges clapped as well, but looking stiff as they soon realised that they had to come to a decision soon.
"That was a great performance of Beautiful by Crush." Seungkwan says. "Let's pass it on to our judges."
"This is going to be hard." Chaeri mumbles to her members. "They all sung well, it's going to be hard to choose a winner."
"It's a shame Woobin's voice cracked." Han sighs, leaning back. "He has a really nice voice. At least Seungmin did well."
"He did. Sucks that it's a competition." I.N. adds, a pout forming on his lips.
"Very well done." Yumi starts, speaking first. "Everyone did a great job, congratulations."
"I agree, that challenge was definitely difficult but you all performed well. Give yourself a pat on the back." Seokhoon continued before his face grew serious. "Now for the evaluations."
"Jaein, I want to start with you." Yumi says, eyes landing on the girl. Jaein looked nervous, blinking back tears as the attention was on her. "I wish this wasn't a competition because I would have stopped the performance and asked for a microphone check before continuing. Unfortunately, it is what it is, which means we could only give you one chance."
[Jaein's interview.]
Jaein sighs as she sits in her stool, looking down. She's playing with her fingers, her voice coming out weak and frail.
"It honestly feels unfair." Jaein confesses, her emotions beginning to come out as she blinks back tears. "I do have a softer voice compared to the others, but I wish that wasn't the problem. If my microphone was set higher earlier, then we wouldn't have found out in the middle of the performance.
[Ayla's interview.]
"I don't want to come out rude but this is a competition." Ayla says bluntly. "Mistakes happen. What happened sucks but we can't go back and we should take it well."
"Do you think that you won the challenge?" The producers ask, changing the topic. Ayla shifts uncomfortably from the question, visibly not liking it.
"I mean I want to win and I worked hard on the song so I can win." Ayla told them. "This is a competition though. Who wouldn't want to win?"
[Back to the stage.]
"I want to compliment Seungmin, since he started and ended the song well." Seokhoon said, tapping his pen against his leg.
"Thank you." Seungmin said, slightly bowing his head. Seokhoon didn't look finished though, the judge shaking his head.
"My problem though, is the fact that even though you did well, you didn't stand out to me. To me, I feel like New, Haechan, and even Woobin who had a voice crack, all seemed to be able to show their skills more. You weren't able to show your abilities, just the fact that you were stable at the beginning and end." Seokhoon told him, making Seungmin gulp.
"That was harsh." Tia muttered, loud enough for the other members to hear. She quickly covered her mouth once she realized that others had heard her.
"It was." Byeol agreed, the young girl oblivious to the reactions around her. "I wasn't expecting them to be like this."
[Seungmin's interview.]
Seungmin looks down, trying hard to hide it behind a small smile. It was obvious that the male was hurt and upset, his face becoming serious.
"This is a competition, so I need to take their criticism with a positive attitude." Seungmin says, choking the words out. "I should do better."
[Return to stage.]
"Yua?" Yesung asks, glancing down at the sheets in front of him before looking at the idols. Yua raises her hand, helping identify herself. "You did really well. You have very good control of your voice and balance as well. Keep up the great work."
"Thank you." Yua says, a proud smile on her face.
"Aw, Yua looks so happy." Kexing comments, giggling.
"It was a good compliment." Hyera adds, the leader of FaeZe looking proud.
Yumi lets out a deep sigh, shaking her head. "Ah, Woobin. It's such a shame. You were doing so well until the voice crack."
"He responded to it well though." Yesung pointed out, giving him a thumbs up. "Not letting mistakes get to you is important."
Woobin bit his lip, holding in his emotions as he thanked the judges for their comments.
"Let's give the judges a few moments to deliberate." Mina says, the judges putting down their microphones to discuss.
"Who do you think will win?" Q asks the other The Boyz members, sitting with his chin in his hand as the camera panned over the various contestants.
"I hope New hyung wins but I really don't know." Sunwoo says, looking over at the judges.
"They didn't really comment on him." Kevin noted.
"That could be a good thing or a bad thing though." Eric adds, giving the members mixed feelings.
On the other side of the room, Cappuccino was having a similar conversation, the members wondering who the winner would be.
"To be honest, I think they'll choose someone we won't expect to win." Krysta says. "They'll surprise us."
"Are you just saying that because Ja:Ne won the rap competition and no one expected that?" Yeona asks, looking at the older girl.
"Well... Maybe." Krysta says, not wanting to admit it out loud.
"We've come to our decision." Yesung announces, bringing everyone's attention back. The room quickly quiets down, eager to hear the results.
"We had a lot of really good singers but also those that could have done better. Many of you were good overall, making it difficult to choose one person, but in the end, we did come to a decision." Yumi tells them.
"This person stood out to us because of their unique vocal colour. Skill wise, they definitely have it, much like the other candidates, however, what made him stand out was his performance. Although there wasn't much time to practice, they still acted comfortably on stage, barely looking at the prompter. Instead, they engaged the audience, showing how natural it was for them to be on stage." Seokhoon told them.
"Therefore, the winner of the Vocal Challenge is NCT Dream's Haechan. Congratulations on winning 10,000 points."
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:D