Damn Idol Episode 52
* * *
"shit. It was the worst schedule."
"Stop whining, Eddie. The results were good, right? It's a big shot."
"You seem like the embodiment of low-class capitalism that only sees music as money."
"Where is the person who said he would sell his soul to the devil if he could sell his music for money?"
"It was a time when my mind and body were exhausted."
Alex, who was sitting in first class, laughed at Chris Edward's grumbling.
They had been delaying their flight to Korea for two weeks already, but the company had no choice.
If we could pull off such a big shot with HBO, a major English-speaking broadcasting station, we would have to spend two months, not just two weeks.
"So you're going straight from England to Korea now? Just wait a few hours."
"What if a boy named Sion lost his brilliant genius in two weeks?"
"Don't worry. Because that genius is very well maintained."
"How do you know?"
"I got the video."
"video?"
"Video of our genius boy still active in reality show."
After saying that, Alex handed out the laptop to Chris Edward.
Inside was a video of Han Si-on's stage performance so far.
Because it was received from the production team of Coming Up Next, there were quite a few scenes meant to be slanderous, and Alex also enjoyed it with interest.
In particular, the band's impromptu performance at a place called LB Studio was very impressive.
'It doesn't seem like improvisation, though.'
Alex was originally not sure whether the boy named Han Sion was such a genius.
I just believed in Chris Edwards just like that.
But after seeing the videos that came this time, my mind completely changed.
It is true that Han Si-on is a genius.
The music he creates clearly has an aura.
I'm not sure if that would work in the English-speaking world, but it seems certain at least in Korea.
The song <Under The Streetlight> has already reached #1 on the Billboard charts in Korea.
"If there was something like this, you should have shown it to me a long time ago!"
"If that were the case, would you have been able to concentrate on the meeting?"
"what... ... . That's right."
"There is currently only one episode of the reality show, and the remaining videos are temporary edits received from the production team. Oh, there's also a soundtrack. Currently ranked #1 on the Korean charts."
"There were a lot of videos."
"What are you going to watch first?"
"Of course, I should watch the first episode of the reality show first. Are there subtitles?"
"of course."
Then the plane they were on began to take off.
Alex was quite tired as he had been conducting marathon negotiations for the past two weeks.
So, after takeoff was completed, I had no memory of the moment Chris Edwards played the first episode of the reality show.
'what time is it?'
It was some time later that Alex, who had fallen asleep as if fainting, opened his eyes.
I glance at my watch and see that 8 hours have passed.
It takes 13 hours to fly from London to Incheon, so there is still a long time left.
Alex, who was thinking about that, looked at the seat next to him without thinking.
Chris Edwards is staring at his laptop screen with wide eyes.
It seemed like he couldn't overcome his fatigue and fell asleep, but now he woke up and watched the video.
"When did you wake up?"
"I haven't slept yet."
"what? What have you been doing? It's been eight hours."
"Watching this."
"Continuously?"
"Continuously."
How much is the total running time of all the videos on the laptop?
"Are you sure you've been watching the video of that boy's performance?"
"Alex."
"why."
"Sion is a genius."
"I know. How many times have you said this?"
"no. It's a little different than back then."
After saying that, Eddie closes his mouth and watches the video again.
However, the way to watch the video was a bit strange.
He's breaking it down into 1-second increments by hitting the space bar repeatedly.
I took a quick look and saw a video of a remixed version of the song "Under the Streetlights," which was about a performance with an audience invited.
Alex patiently waited for Eddie to finish watching the video and then asked.
"What's different?"
"Huh?"
"That boy, who I praised as a genius last time, is different now."
"ah. right."
Chris Edward, who was contemplating his thoughts for a moment, opened his mouth.
"Last time, it was an evaluation. Like when the judges discover a prodigy at a competition."
"now?"
"I was impressed. Thinking that I can't evaluate it. Sion is clearly a genius above me."
"hmm... ... ."
The evaluation is excessive.
In reality, there is no way Han Si-on can be better than Eddie.
Probably because Han Sion's music perfectly suited Eddie's taste.
Alex had that experience too.
There was a genius who looked like a monster in their own eyes, but everyone judged their music to be pretty good.
Taste often clouds objectivity.
But Alex didn't necessarily refute Eddie's words.
"If that's you, then that's probably it."
"Alex. If I go to Korea, can I meet Sion right away?"
"Would that be troublesome?"
"why?"
"By the time we get to Seoul, the genius boy will be filming a reality show."
"Then let's go see it."
"huh?"
"I'm not going to sing on stage. Let's go see it."
"That show is a team fight. Han Sion is not singing his personal song."
"I don't care."
Alex, who looked into Eddie's eyes, nodded without hesitation.
When an artist makes eyes like that, we should follow suit unless it is a serious crime.
"okay. First, close your eyes. If you want to perform in Korea, you have to maintain your sanity."
"Oh yeah. I should do that."
"But Eddie, you did that last time. I don't plan on doing anything special when I meet that boy. Are you still like that?"
Chris Edwards shook his head.
It was because I had something I wanted to do.
"I want to entrust him with a remix of my song."
"Remixes of released songs?"
"I don't care. Whether it is a released song or an unreleased song. I just wonder what Sion will save and what he will kill in my songs."
It's a pity.
There is a limit to the amount of money you can make with a remix version.
But if you think conservatively, it's not that bad.
Doubts about Han Sion's musical ability are over, but there are still doubts about his commercial ability according to Billboard standards.
"Not bad."
"right?"
"Get some sleep first. We will take steps to ensure that you can see the performance when you arrive in Seoul."
* * *
The second competition of Coming Up Next was held at the Sangam Art Hall like the last time.
However, one thing that changed significantly was the awareness of the program.
Last time we recruited 500 audience members, the competition rate was 13:1.
However, this figure was calculated due to the counting method.
We conducted the recruitment in a relaxed manner, and received two-person and four-person interviews.
Based on strict internal indicators, it was reasonable to record a competition ratio of about 6:1.
But this time was different.
The competition rate to recruit 800 audience members was 52:1.
It wasn't even something falsified by the counting method, it was an accurate competition rate.
The reason for this interest was the success of the program itself, but the sound source was more powerful than that.
It's already been two days since Han Sion's Under the Streetlight reached the top of the music charts.
Quite a few people were excited when an authentic Korean rock ballad ranked first for the first time in a very long time.
As of 2017, idol music and hip-hop music are undeniable trends, but there are definitely people who don't like them.
However, there was something really ironic about this.
<Under the Streetlight> was successful because it felt different from idol music... ... .
-There are always popping, mass-produced idol songs coming out, and for the first time in a while, if something decent comes out, it's great.
-If you don't think the person above knows that the person who sang that is an Idol Survival contestant, then that's okay.
Actually, the person who sang that was a cast member of Coming Up Next.
In this situation, it was only natural that competition for hearing applications became fiercer.
If there is something that has become natural.
<Estimated viewer rating for episode 2: 2.3%>
It was an M Show with a festive atmosphere.
What's worse is that the president of M Show sneakily approached me and asked if there was anything that could become an issue after this.
PD Kang Seok-woo's answer to that was simple.
"The curtain has just risen. You can look forward to it."
The president, who was satisfied with Kang Seok-woo's answer, gave him a golden salary, and the money was scheduled to be used for today's company dinner.
In this situation, at 2 PM.
800 audience members entered.
* * *
Coming Up Next's previous contest was a position battle.
Take Scene and 3M &100D were paired up to perform a total of five stages.
But today's contest is a team mission.
There are only two stages to show to the audience.
Even when combining the two stages, the performance time is less than 20 minutes.
It was a frustrating experience for the audience who had been waiting for a long time.
Of course, there is no need to treat the audience of an entertainment program like the audience of a concert.
But when the water starts to come in, like now, you have to row hard.
Because topicality is not something that can be obtained for free.
So PD Kang Seok-woo put a lot of effort into producing the VCR.
Although we may not be able to take as much detail as the actual broadcast, we wanted to make the audience look forward to the upcoming stage.
"I hope you can watch this story as comfortably as you watch a musical."
When Blue, who was in charge of hosting the event, created the right atmosphere and went down, the VCR started.
The start of the VCR was a summary of the first episode of Coming Up Next, which had already aired.
The important thing here is that all editing points were removed and the stage was shown without a break.
In the case of Han Si-on, Lee Ion, and On Saemi-ro, the full version of the stage was broadcast, but not Choi Jae-seong or Koo Tae-hwan.
It hasn't even been released as a clip yet.
Their full video was released for the first time today.
The practice stage for the take scene was the same.
After episode 1 was summarized, the contents of episodes 2 and 3, which had not yet been aired, were shown without giving spoilers.
And finally the present moment.
-What you need to prepare for the next contest is... ... .a self-produced mission.
After Choi Dae-ho's declaration, the VCR began to focus on take scene.
Juyeon, Fade, Ready, iLevel, CU.
These five put their heads together and began to compose the stage.
Take Scene's self-produced mission felt like a group project of hope.
The five members work together to come up with ideas, exchange opinions, and move in a better direction.
There was a brief conflict, but it did not reach an emotional level, and soon a heartwarming scene was created.
Although it was not shown which song was selected, the audience could clearly hear familiar melodies between VCR sessions.
"What is this? Oh, it's a very famous song?"
"Isn't this a Maroon 5 song?"
"Move Like Jagger? That's not it. It's similar, though."
"I think that's right."
"No, it's not it."
If you think about it carefully, you might notice it, but the VCR moves so quickly that you don't have time to think.
So, the take scene on the screen was arranged, the choreography was prepared, and the stage props were prepared.
It suddenly stopped standing tall.
And then looks at the camera.
As if looking at the audience.
"... ... ?"
As the audience stares at the VCR wondering something, the main character on the screen asks:
-But let's see the stage start! Would fireworks be better to announce it? Or would a flame be better?
At first, the audience did not respond.
However, when Ready, who had his arm around Juyeon's shoulder, asked again, several audience members opened their mouths.
"Firecracker!"
"Flame!"
At first the answers were mixed.
However, opinions soon came to a consensus through crowd psychology.
"Flame!"
"Flame!"
"Flame!"
That moment.
Cheeeeeeeek!
As huge fireworks rose on the stage, take scene appeared out of nowhere.
Before anyone could even scream, a drum solo burst out, and the perfect group dance of take scene that appeared in the fireworks poured out.
The people cheered a beat later.
Take scene competition stage had begun.
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