CH8

<COMING UP NEXT> became quite the buzz among idol wannabes.

Even those who knew the hidden planning intention behind the program felt the excitement.

"Since we're gonna be on TV anyway, whether I stay with the agency or leave after getting cut, that's up to me."

While the world does not always march to the beat of order, it is not entirely out of tune either.

Amidst this melody, the number of 'Coming Up Next' applicants had steadily swelled.

Some were confident in their skills. Some were confident in their narration.

But Lion Entertainment's screening criteria were clear.

Team B was, after all, a supporting cast to launch Team A —Take Scene

Yet they still have to care about viewer ratings and consider that they could become Lion Entertainment's trainees later on.

So, there were a few things more important than skills.

First off, the good-lookers.

Face value is an idol's talent and narrative.

Of course, those who rely too much on their looks without any skills are bound to be criticized…

But Team B absolutely needed these flower vases.

Those who win viewers' support at once with their looks but are hard to compare with Take Scene in their profession as their missions overlap.

Through them, Take Scene could have an overcoming narrative through these people.

Something like Although their looks may be lacking, they seem to be overcoming that with passion for their profession.

Besides, it is easy to obtain a growth narrative if you debut these flower vases after a few years of training at Lion Entertainment.

– When they first joined <COMING UP NEXT>, they seemed to rely on their looks, but by debut, their skills had improved.

– It's satisfying to see how hard they've practiced.

– They seemed moved by memories of the old days during their debut stage.

They would have essentially secured their success once comments like these start coming out.

Secondly, quirky individuals.

It does not matter if Team B members individually are better than Take Scene.

In fact, that is preferable.

But Team A, Take Scene, must overwhelmingly beat them in teamwork.

To achieve this, Team B needs to be a collection of hard-to-blend, unique individuals.

Those who flare up brilliantly in individual missions at the beginning of the show but falter in team missions.

The more such individuals there are, the more Take Scene shines.

Lastly, the ones with a narrative.

Any story is good.

The more it can draw tears from the audience, the better.

These stories will drive ratings and buzz.

But at the same time, they bring about fatigue.

It grabs attention once, but by the second or third time, the audience unconsciously feels tired.

So what would happen with a bit of editing magic applied here?

The scenes where Team B members appear overly sensitive or uncompromising can be emphasized.

This creates a contrasting appeal to the seemingly flawless and well-raised members of Take Scene.

In short, Team B's stories are cards to be used and discarded – for the early buzz.

Lion Entertainment's rookie development team leader Choi Soo-Yeon was in charge of selecting personnel for the show.

She knew this point.

And then…

"Han Si-On. Not a bad name."

At first glance of his profile, Han Si-On seemed to meet all three criteria.

While you cannot completely trust profile photos, he is good-looking.

Besides, the person who recommended Han Si-On is Lee Hyun-Seok, CEO of LB Studio.

He had a good industry reputation for discovering and pushing indie musicians with potential out of goodwill, not greed.

Han Si-On was the talent he had praised with such excitement that he was frothing at the mouth.

It was thanks to Lee Hyun-Seok that Si-On skipped the 1st online application and 2nd interview phase to go straight to the final 3rd interview.

"He's good at instrumental performance and composing, right?"

If he received high praise from Lee Hyun-Seok, then his skills must truly be outstanding.

Someone with that level of skill cannot be lacking in personality and self-assertion.

He probably has the vibe of a hipster or an indie snob.

Lastly…

"There is quite an emotional family story."

His parents were recently in a traffic accident and ended up in a vegetative state.

It sounds unbelievable as some trainees fabricate family stories, so they confirmed it with the hospital, and it was true.

Although a final vegetative state verdict has not come out yet, a close attending doctor is deliberately delaying it but he says that it is highly likely.

It makes sense, the story of Han Si-On.

[A talented indie musician who originally had no interest in idols and has undergone some emotional change after his parents' accident.

Perhaps he wants to earn lots of money to fund his parents' treatment or become famous so his songs reach the heavens.

So, he hurriedly applied for Coming Up Next.]

"Should I pass him if he's not completely tone-deaf?"

The interviewers thought, 'If his composing gives him solid positioning, it's fine, even if his singing is somewhat lacking.

Those kids who compose have a good sense of rhythm, so just give them a bit of rap training, and they can get the basics down.

But why does his application say his position is a vocalist?'

"Ms. Choi, shall we let him in?"

"Yes. Let's get started."

Thus, the third final interview began with three members of Lion Entertainment's rookie development team.

There were a total of 8 people who were going to have an interview that day.

While they didn't need to select anyone, if they did choose, only one could pass.

"Good morning! I'm Cho Tae-Soo!"

With that, the first applicant's interview began, and after four had passed…

"Hello, everyone. I'm Han Si-On."

Han Si-On, whom they had been eyeing as the fifth applicant, entered the room.

I've seen too many auditions.

Now, when considering jumping into any field, I think about the future potential.

Could I sell 200 million albums as a rapper?

Could I consistently elevate my singer career after winning American Talent?

Where's the peak in this field?

Those were the considerations.

But in the early days of my regression, as a newbie, I didn't think that far.

I just went for whatever was the trendiest thing at the moment.

In my first life, I was a moderately popular solo singer. I participated in <Stage Number Zero> in my second life.

Looking back, it was a crappy program name, but I knew from my first life's memory.

Stage Number Zero, or SnZ, was going to set the highest viewership record in the history of public audition programs at 17%.

I finished second there.

Honestly, my skills at that time were good enough to be in the top ten but not really for second place.

Thanks to the sad family story of my parents being in a vegetative state, I won the nation's support.

Nevertheless, my career in the second life crumbled.

The gloomy and desperate image formed in the program became a chain that bound me.

No matter what I did, I couldn't overcome the image of SnZ.

I tried to change my image with a gentle spring song, but the top comment on the official YouTube music video was…

– "Remember, our parents won't be here forever 🙁 This spring, go spend some time with them."

Damn. Even thinking about it now pisses me off.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I have a lot of experience with auditions.

So, I knew exactly what the judges wanted from me.

They wanted my story.

And at the same time, they had almost no expectations for my singing skills.

Story?

I don't mind selling it.

In the past, I hated mentioning my parents' story, but now, it doesn't matter.

When I'm barely good enough, the story swallows my music, but when I'm really good, music exists as music.

However, their not expecting much from my singing skills is a bit of a problem.

"Let's see your skills then. Shall we start with singing first?"

"Singing first? I thought it was only singing."

"I heard from the reference that your performance and composition skills are considerable."

"I didn't prepare anything for playing or composing, sorry."

"…Okay. If you say so."

Choi Soo-Yeon, the interviewer, seemed a bit upset.

Her tone trails off.

But what can I do?

If I do well, that's it.

"What would you like to sing first?"

Today I had prepared two songs to sing.

One was selected from the three songs specified by Lion Entertainment.

The other was a free-choice song.

"I'll start with the designated song, <Flower Language>, please."

To be honest, it is not a song I particularly like.

Early 2000s Korean ballads have this considerable charm in chord progressions and sound variations.

From my perspective of having lived past the 2030s, should I say that the song feels a bit boring?

It's not even a timeless classic.

Still, I chose this song because it's quite suitable for my current skill level.

I definitely need vocal training, and I am working on that presently.

If my singing skill was 100 when I was the main vocal of GOTM, now it's 50, maybe?

So, a song that I can sing cleanly rather than a difficult one is better.

I've got experience, so why would I be outdone by first-lifers just because I chose an easy song?

"Here we go."

At the host's cue, a quite long prelude characteristic of early 2000s songs flowed out.

Shortly after, the singing began.

Well, no special impressions.

I was immersed in the song, put in emotion, and sang with precise enunciation.

There was no off-pitch or out-of-beat moment.

Given the premise that my tone itself is not bad, singing properly like this means I sing well.

This applies not only to the realm of the general public but also that of professional singers.

Because properly laying down the fundamentals is the most difficult thing, after all.

But…

Once I finished singing, team leader Choi Soo-Yeon's expression was annoyingly off.

A face slightly frowning, giving off an ambiguous feeling.

"…Loud and clear."

Why?

There's no way my singing could be ambiguous.

This is a fact proven over a long time.

Of course, people's tastes vary widely, so I may only sound decent, but…

Shouldn't that level of decency easily overwhelm other applicants?

Could it be that I've lived in America for so long that I'm out of touch with K-Pop feels?

"You submitted MR for your free choice song. It's my first time hearing this. <Tony Bright>? Whose song is that?"

*TL/n -: Music Recorded (Version) or MD, is a type of audio file that contains only the instrumental backing track of a song, without the vocals. On the other hand, All Recorded (Version), or AR, is composed of a whole song with vocals played while the idol is performing.

"It's performed by Melisma, and released in the 1940s."

"R&B it is?"

"The original is Delta Blues, but I arranged it with a Chicago Blues feel."

"Ah, I see… Let's give it a listen then."

The MR plays, and funky drums with an electronic guitar pour out.

I bet not a single person will be left stiff as a stone upon hearing this song.

At the very least, people would be bobbing their heads or tapping their fingers.

Sure enough, the interviewers' expressions change completely.

They probably didn't expect the 'Blues' I mentioned to be so different.

Delta blues features strong rhythms, powerful vocals, and frequent use of slide guitars.

I arranged this in an electronic guitar Chicago blues style.

Although I called it Chicago blues, the sound itself is not very different from modern electronic pop.

While bobbing my head to the rhythm, I grabbed the mic.

The gypsy woman told my mother,

Before I was born!

Cutting through the electronic guitar sound on the offbeat, dropping the pitch by half a note.

But instead of quickening my breathing, it becomes more relaxed. Eventually, I come back to being perfectly on beat with the drums.

I got a boy child comin'

He's gonna be a son of a gun,

This time, I raised the dropped notes by half a note again.

The song that started on the onbeat ends on the offbeat.

The up-and-down scale provides auditory pleasure, and the melody fired on the drum's edge gives a thrilling sensation.

This is what I'm good at and what I enjoy.

It shouldn't feel unfamiliar.

Modern R&B, which everyone loves, originated from the Blues.

After all, the term R&B itself is short for Rhythm and Blues.

He gonna make pretty women's,

Jump and shout!

Suddenly raising the pitch to reach high notes quickly, then increasing the volume with a low-note vibrato.

In these 12 bars…

I showed what I could sing.

At this level, one can no longer feel ambiguous…

Or so I thought, but that Choi Soo-Yeon's expression…

Does not only contain admiration.

What emerges alongside that admiration is perplexity.

Why is she making that face?

Could it be that she does not agree with this musical direction?

But with my skills, shouldn't I be able to lightly brush direction aside?

Maybe I need to show more.

I gripped the microphone tighter and immersed myself further into the song.

"…"

"…"

"…"

The three members of the rookie development team tasked with today's interview remained silent.

It seemed that something displeased them…

The moment Han Si-On, looking somewhat disappointed, left the room.

The same question was circling in all three of their heads.

'That guy…'

'If we select him…'

'Would Take Scene be able to debut…?'

TL/n - 

You can read 5 chapters in advance on p@treon.com/inkbound