CH23

As the judges were hashing out the script for the second showdown, BLUE spoke up.

"But Mr. Choi, can we air all this in the first episode?"

Initially, the plan was to wrap up the Team B prelims in one episode.

Because the format itself was a competition between Take Scene and Team B, they thought that the part before the competition would not be very meaningful.

Of course, they needed to focus on the Team B members in the beginning stages, but that was something to do after Team B was confirmed.

When they were not confirmed as team members, their focus tended to be weak, and their attention was scattered.

However, BLUE thought that if they did well on the second mission, it would be too heavy to put it all in Episode 1.

The pre-mission was interesting, and the first mission was also full of things to watch.

As expected, Choi Dae-Ho shrugged his shoulders.

"PD Kang said something similar. I guess we should put it in our plan to divide it into Episodes 1 and 2."

"I think he smelled money from Han Si-On?"

"Yeah, he seems to think that <Under the Streetlight> will be a hit."

While the cameras weren't rolling and they were being honest, Lee Chang-Jun chimed in.

"But they did find a composer of <Flowers Bloom>?"

"The network is looking, but it seems like they're a foreigner. They're being tight-lipped."

"If they're a foreigner, there's a high chance that they're from Song Camp?"

Lee Chang-Jun, who said this, fidgeted with the script for no reason.

Among the judges, he was the only one who made a living as a composer.

Choi Dae-Ho had also written songs in the past, but now he was a full-fledged producer.

That was why Lee Chang-Jun knew that Han Si-On's first stage would be quite a hot topic among composers.

To be exact, 'Han Si-On's talent' would be a hot topic.

Lee Chang-Jun had also heard <Flowers Bloom>.

However, he had never thought that the original song would have been made for a male.

How on earth did Han Si-On come up with that idea?

Was his idea correct?

He had only praised him cheerfully when giving his critique, but when he thought back on it, he could not help but feel a strange feeling.

If what Han Si-On said was true, it meant the kid had a keener eye for production than him.

He could not be more talented than him at his age, but judgment was a weapon that transcended skill.

"Why's he even rapping, though?"

"Right? Is he the type to sacrifice himself when distributing parts?"

"That doesn't seem like his style."

"Well, PD Kang said he'd rather see the second stage fail completely. Better outright bad than mediocre."

The judges continued to talk about the second mission for a while before suddenly realizing something.

They were only talking about Han Si-On, not the second mission.

"Let's not zoom in too much on one guy."

The judges nodded at Choi Dae-Ho's words, which included a promise to himself.

A little while later, the filming began.

The order of the performances for <Winning Team> and <Losing Team> is tossed up to fate, and by the roll of the dice, the <Losing Team> takes the stage first.

Just a little FYI: the <Losing Team> thought about switching up their name, hoping to ditch the bad mojo, but I heard that the main writer didn't allow it.

They said that since it was a team that was created as a one-time thing anyway, why would they bother renaming?

Well, I think so too.

"The preemptive team will come up on stage."

Even so, BLUE, who is in charge of the proceedings, sensibly refers to them as the "preemptive team" instead of the 'Losing team.'

So the five of them went up onto the stage.

Go Tae-Hwan, Lee Ye-On, Kim Hae-Un, Nam Seong-Il, and Park Seong-Joo.

Go Tae-Hwan has built some connections from the first mission, and Lee Ye-On has a face that could charm connections out of thin air, so I keep an eye on him.

However, I don't know much about the other three.

I know that they are rappers, but their skills are just so-so.

I think Kim Hae-Un, who sang a song he wrote himself in the pre-mission, is the only one who is worth listening to?

The <Losing Team>'s stage starts with the song <Buster Call> by the hip-hop idol group called "Black Star."

It's a bit of an unexpected choice.

Black Star, a discovery through my K-pop deep dive, boasted five rappers and a single vocalist.

In other words, Lee Ye-On would be out as a vocalist, and the rest of the members would be in charge of all the rap parts…

'Go Tae-Hwan has a great sense of rhythm but doesn't quite fit the rapper bill.'

It seems like Go Tae-Hwan's performance in the first mission has him tagged as a rapper.

But just because someone can hold a 2/4 beat doesn't mean they can rap.

What about jazz, hip-hop, or R&B grooves?

As expected, Go Tae-Hwan, who is in charge of the first verse of the intro, looked awkward.

Not only that, the <Losing Team> repeated the same mistake that the <Winning Team> would make if I didn't intervene.

Their overemphasis on synchronizing the choreography only made things worse.

Trying too hard to match makes them unable to properly showcase their own skills.

But, oddly enough, this situation causes Lee Ye-On to go wild.

Lee Ye-On's vocal tone would typically complicate team integration, but that wasn't the case with this song.

He was the only vocalist, and because he was in charge of the vocal bridge, his uncomfortable vocal tone seemed unique instead.

This way, Lee Ye-On would 100% get 4 nakjeoms.

As expected, the critique that followed was almost a mirror to my thoughts.

"It just seems like you severely underestimated the choreography. Out-of-sync choreography is worse than no choreography at all."

"The song choice is also regrettable. It's supposed to be an exciting song, but the tension from your team made it not exciting at all."

"I think Lee Ye-On's vocals were better than I thought. However, I think he's aware of the fact he was running out of breath and the pitching was unstable in the middle, right?"

The score given was 72 points.

Hmm, that's higher than I thought.

If it were me, I'd have given them 27 points.

Besides, I don't know why they keep giving out scores when they're going to decide whether to pass or fail based on nakjeoms anyway.

"Next team, get ready for the stage."

With that, I cross paths with the losing team trudging off as I head towards the stage.

As the Winning Team, dressed in Boy Scout uniforms, went up on stage, vocal trainer Yoo Seon-Hwa was the first to grab the microphone.

"Before we begin, I am curious about the part allocation. Who handled that?"

"It happened naturally. No one was greedy."

"Really? So Han Si-On's rap part was also decided naturally?"

"Yes. We all took what we're best at."

Han Si-On's extra sassiness threw Yoo Seon-Hwa off a bit.

To Yoo Seon-Hwa, Han Si-On was already a complete vocalist.

Even if she had received a training request right now, technically, she would not have much to tell him.

She had not heard many of his songs yet, so she did not know about his expressive side. But for such a vocalist to be rapping, Yoo Seon-Hwa was a bit dissatisfied.

Not that she had anything against the rap genre itself, but she fretted that Han Si-On might be thinking, 'I'm already in, so I'll step back.'

Such gestures might win viewers, but this is showbiz.

Where boldness beats hesitance every time.

A soft touch would not fly in a survival program.

"Then let me ask one more thing. How many points out of 100 would Han Si-On give himself for singing and rapping?"

"Hmm…"

After a moment of contemplation, Han Si-On said something outrageous.

"I'd give my singing a solid 70 and my rap an 80."

"Not the other way around?"

"No, ma'am."

While others might not know, Han Si-On was being sincere.

He knew the extent to which his singing skills could reach.

If he trained his vocal cords for about 2 years and tuned his vocal color, he could easily reach 100 points.

So, for now, he was still lacking at 70 points.

Now, rap was a different story.

Han Si-On had given up on reaching 100 points in rap.

Of course, he had still achieved a record of 3 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quadruple platinum (4 million copies sold) with a rap album.

However, he judged that he could never become a 100-point rapper.

Even if he worked hard, maybe 90 points at best?

But rapping does not require special training.

High-pitched voice? High-pitched rap. Rough tone? Rough rap.

Didn't 50 Cent, who rapped with a slurred voice after taking a bullet to the jaw, dominate an era with that style of rapping?

So, in his current state, if he just captured the right vibe, he could deliver an 80-point rap.

That was Han Si-On's unfiltered take, something he could not spill to just anyone.

But before Yoo Seon-Hwa could chime in, Lee Chang-Jun gave her a tap on the hand.

It was a signal not to dwell too much on Han Si-On.

Once Yoo Seon-Hwa got back on track, she wrapped up with a, "Looking forward to it."

After that, following some brief questions from the judges, the stage began.

NOP's <BOY SCOUT> was a refreshing summer song that blatantly targeted the summer season.

In the original music video, boys wearing beige tops and BLUE jeans are stranded on a deserted island where the video begins.

Their adventures and friendships on the deserted island formed the overall narrative of the song.

The <Winning Team> directly followed the formula of this concept.

As the five members plopped down on stage looking bewildered, glancing around, the sound of waves from the intro began playing.

Choi Jae-Seong was the first to get up from his spot.

While the others looked flustered, Choi Jae-Seong had an unnecessarily bright expression.

At that moment, the thumping kick drum came in, and without any buildup, the melody poured out as Choi Jae-Seong's singing started.

Emm, Emm,

오늘은 Summer day

태양이 눈부셔

(Emm, Emm,

Today is a Summer day

The sun is blinding)

Seemingly infected by Choi Jae-Seong's casual brightness, Kim Seong-Woo stood up to continue the song.

Emm, Emm

오늘은 Shining day

파도가 들리네

(Emm, Emm

Today is a Shining day

I can hear the waves)

After a few lines were sung this way, the boys' faces broke into smiles, and their adventure-like dance soon began.

Originally, this was supposed to be a fairly dense choreography section.

Because the dynamic adventures of the Boy Scouts exploring the island needed to be expressed through dance.

But the <Winning Team> did not do that.

Instead of syncing up perfectly, they danced like they all wanted to go in different directions.

The choreography was the same, but the directions their bodies were facing differed.

Originally, they were supposed to focus on one spot and dance, but each looking elsewhere made them look like mischief-makers.

When Sim Ju-Wan stopped as if he did not want to go, Han Si-On even pulled him along to join the choreography line.

It was an entertaining performance to watch.

After the first chorus, the part everyone had been waiting for finally arrived.

Han Si-On's rap.

Normally, this may not have been a highly anticipated part.

NOP was not a group that put a lot of emphasis on rap parts to begin with.

Sure, they had rap-heavy tracks, but they leaned toward easy-listening rap.

Especially for <BOY SCOUT>, with its heavy use of brass instruments in the beat, aggressive accenting was necessary for the rap to be highlighted.

However, it was difficult to rap with that style due to the mellow concept of the song. So, in the original, the rap was sung with a melodic, softened delivery by blending it with the melody.

This made it a difficult part for Han Si-On to showcase his rapping skills, no matter how talented he truly was.

However…

Han Si-On did something wild.

"Is he nuts?"

Even Choi Dae-Ho, who was well-versed in black music, was shocked.

Party Tonight

오늘 밤 동안

우리 같이,

설렜어 막

(Party Tonight

All night long

Together,

I'm so excited)

Grime.

A genre of U.K. hip-hop that developed differently from U.S. one.

Sure, Han Si-On did not rap aggressively like UK garage or UK drill styles.

That would not fit the vibe of the song.

But the grime genre has a distinctive accent.

Unlike the punching rhythm of American rap, it has more of a bouncing feel in between beats.

Combined with a British accent to chop up the word textures.

It was an unexpected combination, yet it fit incredibly well.

Plus, sections originally sung melodically were rapped with appropriate accenting, making it even more enjoyable to listen to.

Si-On did not know how it would sound to other people, but Choi Dae-Ho was blown away.

Any thought that it strayed slightly from the song's concept was outweighed by how it sounded like the boys were just having fun among themselves.

Like they snuck out some hidden booze one night to throw a party?

It was astounding how much he could change the vibe and feeling through accenting alone without altering the original lyrics at all.

And as the stage rolled on after Han Si-On's verse, it wrapped up with On Sae-Miro's highlight part.

TL/n - 

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