Chapter 4

"No matter how you look at it, this feels like a bluff.…"

"He's definitely top-tier in his looks, but I'm not sure about his skills."

"I don't know.…"

The other judges continued to mumble until the music started.

Min didn't get swept up in the excitement, but calmly stuck his earphones in his ears and grabbed his pen.

He was a world-class idol who reigned at the top of the Korean music industry for over a decade. His experience on stage and the number of people he's connected with are hard to match with.

Min Si-hyun's instincts were telling him, however faintly.

'I feel like I know him for some reason.'

The way he nodded towards the staff to give him the music and had a very relaxed expression.

Until the large agency trainees came out, most of the participants couldn't even start to sing their own songs.

But this individual didn't show any signs of nervousness.

It was as if he was familiar with the situation on hand, including the stage he was standing on.

Yu Si-hwan grabbed the microphone and waited for a moment for the accompaniment (1).

The melody began to flow through the speakers.

"Oh?"

"I've heard that song a lot."

A prelude with a calm beat at first, then an EDM bass drop with the introduction.

Some of the dance judges seemed to have recognized the song.

Min Si-hyun, still holding his pen and staring at the stage, experienced a moment when his feeling of doubt turned into certainty as soon as he saw Yu Si-hwan.

「 I knew it from the first time we met,

oh the moment our eyes met,

yeah your gestures hidden in the lights,

hand signals.

All of them drive me crazy 」

'Spotlights' is a song from FL4ME, a male idol group that represents the first generation of idols.

FL4ME's agency, TVX Entertainment, started typing into the stream at a time when no one else was.

Whereas mainstream idol songs had been mostly focused on repeating hooks based on the same melody, TVX Enter. actively introduced melodic transitions into their songs.

For example, in a poppy EDM sound, you might put in a reverse cymbal around the sambi, and then switch back to EDM for the climax, but also change the range or key.

In this way, it was the kind of entertainment that laid the foundation for recent K-pop. And the representative idol of that agency is FL4ME.

Despite the title track, 'Mirror', which was a hit in Korea at the time, there was another reason why the songs on this album were familiar.

It's because it's a song that most entertainment agency trainees had to perform with at least once during their end-of-month evaluation.

It's not just because it's from an album that marked the beginning of an era, otherwise 'Mirror' would've been more popular.

'Spotlights' is one of those rare songs that doesn't have a lot of actual stage footage.

And for a good reason, because it's one of those songs that you really have to get right if you're going to do it live.

It's an intensely choreographed, non-stop rapping/high note collaboration that requires running all over the stage for three and a half minutes.

In short, it's the best song to imprint "this is what hell is like" on new trainees, which is why many agencies use 'Spotlights' frequently.

A song that's a student's textbook.

It's a song that teaches you the basics and gives you a clear idea of what an idol is supposed to do, so the lineage would be continued to this day.

Min Si-hyun watched Yu Si-hwan's knife-like choreography with an unknown feeling.

Spotlights spread out in splendor

Highlights you and I made

Don't think about anything right now

Only look at me 」

It's a pretty high-pitched scream for an idol song.

Two octaves were pretty common in ballads. These songs have to go up to the third octave minimum to be considered a high note.

However, singing in an idol group isn't just about standing and singing, it's about the choreography from start to finish. Breathing management is more important than anything else, and when you would get to the second octave, which is where the slurs are repeated at least three times, it's hell.

But right now, Yu Si-hwan's clear voice.

"Hey, who is he?"

"Why are you climbing up so easily."

"The dancer looks alive and well, too."

"Si-hyun, is his breathing not faltering at all?"

After receiving the question from the veteran choreographer sitting next to him, Min Si-hyun answered quietly while jotting down a few notes.

"Yeah, I wouldn't say it's a ridiculously high note to be honest, but you have to take into account that the choreography he's doing right now, and judging by his lung capacity alone, he's in the top tier of the contestants I've seen today."

"I can't believe he's a individual trainee, hehe...."

Min has gained global recognition not just as an idol, but also as a solo artist.

His ears have never been wrong.

To his ears, the voice of someone who had been singing on stage for decades rang out with richness.

A clean voice that was rarely found in the main vocalists of idols these days.

The kind of singing that can be charming enough without adding any finesse.

There are no unnecessary habits, and he doesn't break the flow by breathing in through strange places.

These subtle differences are inaudible to the average human ear. Only someone who has been studying vocals for a long time will notice these tiny details.

For Min Si-hyun, who loves to check such details as a vocalist, it was one of the best performances he'd ever seen.

There was something else worth noting there.

FL4ME is a five-member group, so they were able to share parts with each other to ease the physical strain of such a demanding song.

But Yu is definitely on his own.

He participated in "Idol Stardig Season 2" as an individual trainee, so he doesn't have any agency colleagues with him.

Nevertheless, even under such harsh conditions, he was able to do his job perfectly.

「 That's why they call us like this,

it doesn't matter if it doesn't seem like it's going to happen,

there's no need to think about destiny,

so I'm just going to cherish this moment.

Just the two of us. 」

The added wrap at the end of section 1 was also handled well.

Idol rap can be cringe-worthy if you consume it with too much emotion and pronounce it in a fake way.

However, Yu Si-hwan's tone and timbre were almost the same as when he hit the high notes in the sabby part.

He didn't intentionally change his voice, but sang it just right without trying too hard.

When Min Si-hyun glanced to the side, the judge in charge of rap training nodded his head and continued to ride with the rhythm.

What a turnaround for someone who was openly yawning and bored not even a few minutes ago.

'You're definitely talented. No, you're not.'

Just as the other judges were wondering if they were thinking the same thing, Yu's performance was over.

"...Thank you."

Standing up straight and taking in a deep breath, Yu Si-hwan bowed to the judges.

Even during the spontaneous applause, Min's eyes were fixed on the contestant's face.

It's strange, surely he should've been out of breath after such intense dancing and singing.

Why does he look so unharmed?

"Could I speak first?"

"Go ahead."

Lee Jin-hak in the center picked up the microphone with a given look of intense interest on his face.

"I was thoroughly impressed with your performance. It's actually one of the hardest things to do, to be able to dance and perform live and not make the audience uncomfortable. Usually you're so focused on dancing that you can't keep your voice from falling off, or you're so out of breath that you can't vocalize properly, but Yu Si-hwan didn't have or show any of that."

"Thank you so much for the kind words."

Following Lee Jin-hak, the judge in charge of the dance trainer gave his impressions.

"I don't know much about singing, as you all know, so I just watched the dance as much as I could, expecting the other judges to talk about it."

Min Si-hyun was most curious about what he'd would say.

The judge, who also appeared on "Asri 1," used to work as a choreographer for K-pop, but is now a professional dancer.

As a result, he has a reputation for being very outspoken, as he has clearly higher judging standards than others.

What kind of evaluation will the dance that was good in the eyes of Min Si-hyun, a former idol, receive?

"To hell with all the other stuff, I liked the basics. I definitely feel like I've been dancing for a long time, and most of the moves are pretty, so the lines themselves are pretty."

"Thank you."

"But of course, there were some things that were a little disappointing, like, um, my personal desire to see it last a bit longer since I saw that the basics were that solid? I say that because I was so engrossed into it that I felt like it was over pretty quickly, and as you know, FL4ME's songs are a little bit old, so I'm wondering if you can still choreograph something that's relevant to today's trends, and if you can keep the slightly dated feel that's inadvertently emanating from some of the moves out of your next performance."

This is a mixed review, with some good and some bad.

Min nodded at the dance trainer's words and thought to himself.

"What does it feel like to be old? Is it because I'm old that I can't feel it?

"Then we should listen more deeply to the vocal part, not just the dance. Si-hyeon, do you want to talk about it?"

"Oh, yeah!"

Grabbing the microphone, Min Si-hyun wondered how much she'd say.

It might look a little weird if she praised them a bit too early on, but it would also nearly be impossible for her to take away from a performance she was extremely impressed with.

"Like what Lee Jin-hak said earlier, I really liked the breathing aspect of your performance. I could tell from the beginning that you had a very good lung capacity. I don't know where you learned your vocalization, but it was easy to listen to because you took to consideration on how to use your excellent lung capacity well. I tend to also prefer clean tones, and this one came out clean without unnecessary finesse, so it was easy to listen to."

"Thank you."

"Ah, and one other thing."

As I listened to the dance trainer, this had resonated.

Min smiled slightly.

"I think I heard it so well that I felt the stage was short, so next time I'd like to see a proper vocal performance. I'm curious to see if I could do another song and would still be able to showcase my strengths."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you develop even further, thank you."

At this point, all of the reviews are in, and we're left with deciding on Yu's rating and ranking.

The judges huddled together and exchanged their opinions.

"What did you think?"

"Well, overall, of course. Like I said, the fundamentals are so solid, and if he's gotten this far on his own, he's got to be a absolute genius."

"I liked it, too, but it was a little too bland."

"That's what I had thought, too. I think he was trying to show who he is and what he's capable of, which is a little bit of a hexagonal stage."

"Well, at least his skills are impeccable, right? I mean, I really liked it."

"It was good, but I felt like it was just okay."

It was a bit complicated, but it worked out in the end. Lee Jin-hak announced the grades and scores directly.

"Participant Yu Si-hwan is in 4th place in the final ranking with an A grade for vocals and an A grade for dance. We're looking forward to a better performance next time."

"Thank you, I'll do my very best!"

Min had to swallow his disappointment as their score was slightly lower than he'd hoped for.

Apparently, the details he saw didn't quite reach towards everyone else's eyes.

But he thought about it this way.

'Maybe I'll prove it again on the next Survival Stage, and then everyone will notice.'

I wonder.

I wondered how far this contestant can take his skills.