#Jo Hwanji

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up Episode 0: Getting to Know the Boys Part 3: Team Power

Hey, friends! Welcome back to this crazy project I set out for myself -- writing up a bit about each of the 40 contestants on MNET’s Build Up before I dive into the recaps. Last post, I covered Team Soul. This post will be about Team Power. Let’s do it!

Same caveats apply: 1) I’m pressed for time, so proofreading will suffer; please be kind! 2) screencaps will be awkward due to technological issues and 3) All of these guys are amazing vocalists; my critique is splitting hairs and just my opinion at the end of the day. 

Choi Haram

I also have almost no information about Haram, except that he’s a musical actor. In his teaser, V08, I Want to Fall in Love  by Johan Kim, he sings in that classical “musical actor” way, which is just not my favorite style of singing. That doesn’t make it bad! He also is singing a ballad. Which does mean it’s bad! Ha ha, jk.

I'll do my best to evaluate him even though the song is a ballad. I'm a hero, right? His soft tone he uses in the verses is just too breathy and nasal for my taste. But I do like the belt on the chorus part -- nice work. This guy definitely knows how to sing. I wonder what he’ll sound like singing more of a pop song. 

Kim Minseo

This is Kim Minseo, 21, who also appeared on a show I’d never heard of called “The Origin - A, B, or What?” It “was a new type of survival program that combines balance games along with K-pop,” whatever THAT means, and it created the group ATBO. On the Wikipedia page for that show, it says that he was born in January of 2003, making him 21 now, and it also says that he lived in China for ten years and can speak Chinese. I wonder if he and Wumuti will ever speak some Chinese together? 

I really, really liked his teaser performance of Rolling in the Deep by Adele (V39), slight pronunciation issues aside. It was actually kind of cute how he sort of just gave up on pronouncing ‘underestimate’ halfway. He has a distinct, real voice that shows some training but also some rough edges. For me, he’s one to watch. Watch? Listen to? Whatever. 

Yoon Inhwan

Yoon In-Hwan, V23, is one of the enigmas of the show -- I have no information about him. For me, his mini audition showed an unpleasantly throaty, nasal, thick vocal color that I didn’t exactly love. He sounded like he had just drunk a whole gallon of milk or something. I don’t know if that’s how he always sings, or if he just was feeling unwell that day or what. As promised, he did have a lot of power, and he also had a good sense of pitch. Hopefully he’ll do better going forward!

Jo Hwanji

I haven’t been able to get a decent screengrab thus far, but Hwanji is the guy in the uniform in episode 1. He’s only 24 -- isn’t that surprising? Before this, he went on other shows called Phantom Singer 3 and Fantastic Duo 2.

He’s another musical actor, but in his teaser song V26 he breaks the musical actor mold by singing an upbeat retro swing song by JYP -- yes, that JYP -- called Swing Baby. I like the song, and I also like the way he sings it. Clean but full, with fun little growls to brighten things up, varied dynamics, impeccable pitch, and the power he promised. Good stuff! He’s also so hilariously square. I mean it literally. He looks like a Pixar character. It’s cute. I'm looking forward to hearing more from him.

Lim Junhyeok

Junhyeok, age 30, debuted as part of the JYP-based k-band Day6 in September 2015, singing and playing keyboards. In late 2015, it was revealed that he’d been chatting with a female fan online, and that they might have been dating. The controversy built, and he felt obligated to leave the group in February 2016, getting to enjoy less than six months with the group. God, that must have been just heart wrenching for him. I can’t imagine.

Afterward, he joined another band called Be Blossom, but stayed only about a year. Since then, he was on a survival show called The Unit, which was about rebooting debuted idols’ careers. (A few other contestants of Build Up also went on The Unit, too.) He also continues to compose music, which I think is actually his first love. 

His teaser song performance, V05,  was I Love You by Shin Hyo Bum, and you can see in the silhouette that he’s playing the keyboards as he sings. I didn’t love his performance, unfortunately. It felt a little shrieky to me at times, and his softer notes were a little too breathy for my taste. He definitely belongs in the Power group, though. He can sure belt when he wants to -- it’s the softer segments that challenge him. Maybe it’s just my bias against ballads acting up, as well. 

It’s kind of a bummer, because for whatever reason, I like him. I can’t help but cheer for a guy who (a) was kicked out of his group after six months for dating, like, omg, how dare a young person want to date! (b) is a bit on the older side (c) composes music and plays instruments and most importantly (d) shows up to a survival show in a goddamn hoodie. Like, yes, king. So I hope that I grow to like his vocals better as I hear more from him. 

Side note: The Korean family name “Lim” is often transliterated as “Im” since that’s actually closer to how it’s pronounced. So if you see his family name written as “Im,” that’s why. (Nayeon from Twice has the family name of Lim/Im -- hence her album name.)

Park Jeup

Park Jeup makes himself known by wearing an enormous bow on the first day. It’s just such a choice, when he’s so masculine looking. Own it! Yes!

Anyway, he’s 30, and is a member of IMFACT. He’s been on a bunch of singing shows, as well as The Unit, which would have put him in company with Lim Junhyuk (former Day6) and Hyukjin from Fave1.

His group IMFACT debuted in January 2016 and put out several albums and singles, but none of their songs have even one million views on Youtube. Most of them don’t even break 500,000 views. In 2022, all the members of IMFACT left their agency (Star Empire). The group hasn’t officially disbanded, but the members are listing themselves as soloists. They really weren’t a bad group, and it’s a shame that they never caught on, but it’s just such a crowded landscape. Their song Only You spent some time on my playlist a few years back, and Jeup’s voice in that song is really sweet. 

I tried my best to give his teaser song a try -- he was V34 --  but I just dislike ballads so much that I can’t judge him fairly. Vocally, though, he sounds well trained. He has a surprisingly high pitched timbre considering his appearance. 

Here is a performance he did in 2018, in which he made the MNET reaction editors play the instant replay buttons like a xylophone. I think there was some sort of gas leak in the studio that day, because, yeah, his voice is nice but people are having spasms in their excitement and it’s a bit much. Also, he's singing another ballad so it's kind of a no from me.

A song that’s a bit more palatable for me is this cover of Exo’s Monster on The Unit. 

Jeup doesn’t seem to be the main vocal, but he is the one who sings “I’m sorry…. You make me… so crazy, you know you do.” He also does the higher harmony line/descant/whatever it is over the “Come here girl, you… call… me… monster” line. And he pulls it off!

I recognize Jeup’s skill, technique, and passion for the art. I’m not as sure that I love his timbre for whatever reason. I hope his voice grows on me, in part because I always have a soft spot for hard working nugu idols, and in part because I always gravitate toward the older, more broad shouldered idol types, like Baekho from NU’EST and Wyatt from ONF. Jeup, fighting!

Hyukjin

Hyukjin is 30 and is from a group called Fave1, where he’s lead vocal and lead dancer. He also appeared on The Unit, so he may also know Park Jeup and Lim Junhyuk.

Ok, so his background is kind of sad, fam.

His first group, 100%, debuted in 2012, so he’s been at this a while. There were originally seven members, but two quit, and then one member, the leader Minwoo, passed away in 2018. That had to be so hard on Hyukjin and the rest of the team, to lose not just their friend and teammate but also their leader. The group disbanded in 2021, and three of the four remaining members formed Fave1 at a new agency. So they’re kind of like Loosemble or Vivez that way. 

100% started off doing ok -- their older songs had 1 or 2 million views, good for the time period -- but their more recent songs max out at around 400,000 views. Fave1, unfortunately, is really not doing nearly as well as even 100%. Their songs usually have views measured in the thousands, and their videos look like they were shot on someone’s iPhone. Really, the whole thing is kind of heartbreaking. 

In his teaser, Hyukjin was V22 , and sang a quasi-heavy metal song -- think Dreamcatcher style -- called Lazenca, Save Us. It was a unique choice, that’s for sure! I think he was hoping that it might make a splash for being the guy who did THIS song. I’m not sure how I feel about his performance. I think I need to hear more of him to make up my mind. But I mean, gotta respect someone who comes out of the gate with that! I think his natural voice is not quite as deep and rich as it should be to successfully pull off this kind of thing, but he displays strong sense of pitch and a lot of power. It does gets a bit shrieky and it sounds like he’s hurting his throat. I’m looking forward to seeing what else he can do because I just want to see him succeed.

Ok, that's about it for this post! Sorry if it was a bit of a bummer. So many sad stories in this industry. In the next post, we'll be visiting with Team Unique, and then we'll finally get into the recaps! See you soon.

xoxo

BPR Noona

[lyrics365]

나는 아직 어려 (I'm still young)

chagaun sesange namgyeojin deuthae modu da nae pyeoneun anin geot gata gyeote isseo dalla malhamyeon an doelkka apeumeul samkigien mani beokcha wirobatgo sipeun saenggagi deul ttaen geujeo hayeomeopsi na chinggu pume anggyeoseo mani himdeureotdago malhago pa naneun ajik neomu eoryeo oneul haruga godalpa mwoga munjeinji naege allyeojwo tto peongpeong ureodo begaereul kkyeoanggo ureodo ijen naega…

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo - OST

I guess we'll have a soundtrack for our wonderful week of waiting.

[livinglifeonpause]

Build Up - Narrowing The Field

- so the winning team picks one of the losing members and who ever is left goes home? I like that. But no i dont, cause then the same 2 ppl are with each other and thats fucking dumb - OH NO WAIT SHIZ, they’re getting rid of 10 RN? brutal. wait wait wait. ahhhh, the judges pick. inneresting. V20: Lee Donghun (30) (A.C.E.) 6 > 10 > 8 MINE V4: Sunyoul (27) (UPT10TION) 2 > 2 > 6 V1: Seunghun (24) (CIX) 4 > X > 7.5 MINE V33: Neon (23) (nothing) 1 > 10 > 9 MINE V2: Jay Chang (22) (ONEPACT) - 8.5 > 8 > 10 MINE V36: Bitsaeon (28) (M.O.N.T) 5.5 > 3 > 10 MINE V37: Kang Seokhwa (23) (Wei) 7 > 4> 3 V11: Jeon Woong (26) (AB6IX) 3 > 4 >4 V19: Lee Gwangseok (25) (solo) 1 > 4 > 4 V16: Kim Seong jeong (24) (nothing) 1 > 3 > 5 V27: Hong Seongjun (24) (BDC) > 5 V18: Kim Seohyung (22) (musicals) 2 > 3 > 5 V21: Hong Sungwon (25) (solo?) 7 >5.5 > 5 V13: Taehwan (30) (Vanner) 9 > 7 > 6 MINE V15: Park Juhee (17) (trainee) 1 > 6 > 6 MINE V35: Kwon Euibin (24) (Idol Band) 4 > 5 > 4 V22: Hyukjin (30) (100%) 7 > 9 > 6 MINE V6: Jeong Inseong (29) (KNK) 5 > 6 > 8 MINE V38: Lee Hwanhee (25) (UP10TION) 3 > 5 > 7 V26: Jo Hwanji (28) (Musicals) 3 > 5 > 5

NOPE. they made the wrong choices.

okay so V12: Wumuti (24) (Solo?) 8 > 6 > 7 V7: Kang Hayoon (20) (Loud) 7 > 5 > 5 pick V2: Jay Chang (22) (ONEPACT) - 8.5 > 8 > 10 V39: Kim Minseo (21) (nothing) 4 > 4 > 5 (black hair) V3: Bain (22) (JUST B) 9 > 6 > 6 (orange hair) pick V36: Bitsaeon (28) (M.O.N.T) 5.5 > 3 > 10 V23: Yun Inhwan (32) (solo - ENAN) 4 > 2 > 6 (pink sweater) V25: Ma Jaekyung (27) (Romeo) 3 > 4 > 4 (white shirt) pick V20: Lee Donghun (30) (A.C.E.) 6 > 10 > 8 V34: Park Jeup (30) (Imfact) 8 > 10 > 8 V17: Choi Suhwan (22) (X101) 3 > 4 > 7 pick V1: Seunghun (24) (CIX) 4 > X > 7.5 V14: Lim Sanghyun (26) (solo?) 5 > 6 > 6 V28: Taewoo (26) (solo) 5 > 1 > 1 (smooshed face) pick V33: Neon (23) (nothing) 1 > 10 > 9 V10: Lee Geonwoo (22) (JustB) - 2 >2 > 3 (pinky hair) V30: Jung Soomin (19) (Solo) 4 > 7 > 4 (english sleepy one) pick V18: Kim Seohyung (22) (musicals) 2 > 3 > 5 V24: Ji Yeonwoo (??) (nothing) 7.5 > 4> 3 (blue w/ hat) V32: Jeong Yunseo (??) (nothing) 2 > 3> 4 pick V15: Park Juhee (17) (trainee) 1 > 6 > 6 V31: Jang Intae (26) (nothing) 1 > 5 > 3 V9: Lee Minwook (23) (NewKidd) 4 > 5 > 6 pick V11: Jeon Woong (26) (AB6IX) 3 > 4 >4 V5: Lim Junhyeok (30) (Ex-Day6) 1 > 2 > 3 (Day 6 kid) V40: Yeo One (27) (Pentagon) 2 > 2 > 3 (pentagon kid) pick V19: Lee Gwangseok (25) (solo) 1 > 4 > 4 (((wait how the fuck am i missing one??))) V29: Hwang Inhyeock (25) (Nada) 3 > 6 > 4 (sweater vest) V8: Choi Haram (22) (Musicals) 2 > 6 > 5 pick V4: Sunyoul (27) (UPT10TION) 2 > 2 > 6 - poor Jay Chang and poor Neon to a lesser extent - omg, Jeup looooooves Donghun. I’m real bummed they’re not on the same team!! - but OH MY GOD Jeup and Seunghun are giving me LIFE! and omg, Jeups so tiny! I always forget!! - that Wumuti is SUCH a bitch. i dont like him at all.

[mbkupdates]

Shannon Instagram Update 191204

⚓️ #wewillrockyou

[chltlssbtm4793]

Cho Hwan-ji's first solo concert was a perfect success

Musical actor Jo Hwan-ji's first solo concert splendidly decorated the end of spring with a special stage.

Cho Hwan-ji successfully completed the solo concert 'Tell me spring, love' held at the Grand Theater of Sogang University in Seoul on the 5th with many fans. As news of the military enlistment in July was known and this concert was considered the last official activity, the enthusiasm of fans visiting the concert site was hotter than ever.

On this day's performance, the novel and fruitful composition stood out as much as Cho Hwan-ji's meticulous hand was touched. The set list drew attention as it included numbers such as ‘The Devil’, ‘Blue Rain’, ‘Mary Shelley’, and ‘Midnight: Actor Musician’ in various musicals that Hwan-Ji Cho participated in. In addition, Cho Hwan-ji invited a number of guests to splendidly decorate the performance and enhance the level of perfection.

Those who lit up for Cho Hwan-ji's first solo concert shared their special relationship with Cho Hwan-ji sincerely during the talk time, adding to the interest, and even performed a solo stage where you can glimpse each of their charms, enriching the performance. In addition, Cho Hwan-ji, along with 13 guests, gave excitement to the original cast of an actual musical performance and a unique stage created by distributing different roles.

The stage composition that shoots the hearts of fans also drew attention. Cho Hwan-ji gave a great impression by stimulating the memories of fans with his debut performances, such as the number 'Sonata' of the musical 'Seopyeonje' and 'When I died' from the musical 'Fan Letter'. He also had time to directly answer questions from fans in the middle of the stage, and left a deep impression with tears that he had been holding back when singing the song ‘Sangsahwa’ at the end of the performance.

Hwanji Jo led her stage by communicating with her fans with tireless energy despite the running time of over 2 hours each for the day and evening performances. He left unforgettable memories with his fans with his performances that showed his musical ability and warm fan love.

Meanwhile, Jo Hwan-ji, who successfully completed his first solo concert 'Tell Me Spring, Love', will hold a surprise fan signing event at the Daehangno small theater today (8th) and will have time with fans.

먹튀,먹튀검증,먹튀검증사이트,먹튀검증업체,먹튀검증커뮤니티,먹튀제보,먹튀사이트제보,먹튀제보사이트,먹튀신고,먹튀신고사이트,먹튀사이트신고,토토사이트,토토사이트먹튀검증,토토먹튀검증,토토먹튀사이트,토토사이트먹튀제보,토토사이트먹튀신고,카지노사이트,온라인카지노,카지노먹튀검증,카지노먹튀제보,카지노먹튀신고,카지노사이트먹튀검증,카지노사이트먹튀,카지노사이트먹튀신고,카지노사이트먹튀제보,파워볼사이트,파워볼사이트먹튀,파워볼,파워볼사이트먹튀검증,파워볼사이트먹튀제보,파워볼사이트먹튀신고,먹튀보증,먹튀보험,먹튀보증사이트,먹튀보험사이트,먹튀폴리스,먹튀중개소,먹튀검증소,스포츠토토,스포츠토토사이트,프로토,사설토토사이트,안전놀이터,메이저토토사이트,안전한토토사이트,토토정보,토토사이트정보,토토정보사이트,

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up, Episode 5: First Eliminations

Welcome back to the recap series that’s never early: BPR Recaps MNET’s Build Up! In the previous one, we covered the four performances that MNET chose not to cover. In this one, we’ll cover the elimination that took place in the middle of episode 5 and give some love to the ten eliminated contestants. Let's do it!

Here we see all our candidates for elimination. 

Top row: Donghyun, Sunyoul; Neon, Seunghwan from CIX; Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T., Jay; Seokhwa from WEi, Woong from AB6IX; Kim Sungjung the musical actor and Lee Gwangseok the freelance model.

Bottom row: Hong Sungjeong, Kim Seohyung; Taehwan from Vanner and Hong Sungwon; Trainee Park Joohee and Kwon Euibin; KNK’s Jeong Inseong and FAVE1’s Hyukjin; and Hwanhee from Up10tion and soldier Jo Hwanji.

The other 20 are safe. 

Of those twenty, if I could keep 10, I’d keep:

Jay

Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T.

Woong from AB6IX

Taehwan from Vanner

Neon

Hong Sungwon

Kwon Euibin

Jeong Inseong from KNK

Lee Hwanhee from Up10tion

Kim Seohyung

I don’t like having to choose though, and my heart would want to keep all of them. But those are the ten I’d pick if push came to shove. I’d especially feel sad about losing Donghun, Sunyoul, Seokhwa, and Hyukjin, because I’m worried about Donghun’s mental health, because Sunyoul and Seokhwa are super lovable dudes, and because Hyukjin’s path as an idol is extremely heartbreaking. But I just chose based on whose singing I want to hear again the most. 

So, this whole time, I’ve been wondering, how will the surviving 10 be chosen from those 20? I assumed that the fan voting would matter in some way, but nope, apparently, it’s the judges. Yeesh. Why is voting happening again, then? 

VCG, who is apparently the head judge, says that they’ve taken the situation seriously and discussed it carefully amongst themselves before they made a decision. Well, I should hope so.

The first survivor is someone who the judges say has an unfairly good voice, a different vibe, and a nice physique. That’s obviously Jay.

Everyone is just like, well, yeah, obviously. It would be pretty unfair if Jay was sent home after that performance, especially when his team outscored every other team except for the team they went up against.

Jay interviews, “I showed that I can sing pop music well, but next time I want to show them proper Korean style singing.” I mean, if you must.

Correctly, the judges also save Neon and Bitsaeon, both of whom did really well. And I’m not that mad that they also save Seunghun from CIX, especially since the fan vote for him is strong. But I'd have saved someone else when there are limited spots.

Bitsaeon interviews, “It wasn’t just Jay – I thought I also showed something in that performance.” You did, Bit, don't worry. Jay interviews that Bitsaeon also being chosen to survive lifted a weight off his shoulders. 

The next person they’re going to save is someone who made a mistake, but Solar says that the judges wanted to hear his voice again anyway. They tease us that it might be Seokhwa...

... but of course it isn't. Who else could it be but wild horse Lee Gwangseok? I just knew the judges would save him. They also save Park Joohee, despite his crying moment. 

Musical actor and Best Sweater winner Hong Sungwon interviews that as the names are being called (and his isn’t,) he feels like he’s being shot. “One person, bang. Second person, bang.”

The next two people the judges are saving are (1) someone with a unique voice and (2) someone else with a pretty low-pitched voice: Sunyoul and Kim Seohyung. I can’t be mad at them saving Sunyoul, as he also has a great voice and I find him particularly lovable. And I had Seohyung on my list too, so again, decent choice. 

Neither of them can believe it.

Sunyoul interviews that it’s hard to be happy since Donghun’s name hasn’t been called. (No loyalty to Hwanhee? I don't notice the two of them interacting much.)  But then the ninth name is called, and it’s Donghun! Again, I’m not mad at it – Donghun also has a great voice.

As for the tenth survivor, they say it’s someone who hasn’t shown his talent yet, so they’ve decided to give him another chance. We see the judges discussing it, and Solar says, “Regardless of the skill level, there are people who attract the audience.” Oh, so we’re picking an idol, I guess? VCG wonders what would happen if this person teamed up with a different guy? (Throughout, the translation says “friend” because they’re saying “chingoo”, but a better translation would be “guy” instead of "friend".)

And I mean, it’s obviously Woong. For one thing, the previews have shown him in the next portion of the show, and for another, the description fits really well – a popular idol who has more talent than what he’s shown and should be teamed up with different people. And sure enough, they call Woong. 

I'm glad, because I actually really like Woong's singing voice a lot and agree with the judges that he hasn't really shown it yet. He bows to everyone and vows to do his best.

So, here are the ten survivors.

So, the ten eliminated guys are still great vocalists and took the time to be on your show and do their best, so obviously the least MNET could do is give them a chance to give a brief goodbye speech.

Oh, wait, sorry, I'm getting word that... no. No, MNET is not doing that. No, instead they've decided to... what's that? oh yes, I understand now. They're just going to NEVER SHOW THE OTHER TEN GUYS EVER AGAIN.

So we lost Seokhwa, our leaping lizard Kim Seongjeong, Hong Seongjun from BDC, smiley Taehwan from Vanner, Hong Sungwon of the ombre blue sweater, Kwon Euibin, Jeong Inseong from KNK, Hyukjin from Fave1, Lee Hwanhee from Up10tion, and Jo Hwanji the soldier.

Ok, let’s talk some math for a bit. A few “ifs” to explore…

If...

they had just chosen the top fifteen teams based on scores, rather than having this rivalry thing, then the ten eliminated candidates would have been (and I’ll put the ones who didn’t really get eliminated in bold):

Lim Junhyeok and Yeo One

Taehwan from Vanner and Sungwon of the blue sweater

Hyukjin and Inseong

Hwanhee and Hwanji

Seokhwa and Woong 

This would have meant keeping the following guys who we didn’t actually get to keep:

Kim Seongjung, the leaping lizard

Hong Seongjun from BDC

Kwon Euibin

I would have been sad to lose Woong, but it would have been worth it to keep Kwon Euibin, and I think both Kim Seongjung and Hong Seongjun are stronger singers than either Lim Junhyeok or Yeo One. 

If...

they had decided the rounds based on average score, throwing out one high score and one low score, then Taehwan and Sungwon would have won their round. (All other results would have been the same.) 

If....

Team Hwan-hee-ji had challenged Seokhwa and Woong, and the maknae had gone up against Sanghyun and Taewoo, then team Hwanheeji would have won and the maknae would have lost. 

Ok, that's enough "ifs" for now.

It’s a bummer that any of them have to go home. It’s especially galling that Inseong, Hyukjin, Hwanhee, and Jo Hwanji not only get sent home like this, but also didn’t get to have their performance really shown. I hope that the experience of being on the show was ok for all of them, and that every one of them finds a nice soft place to land. And let’s all try to support them in whatever they do next, ok?

I’m really going to miss Taehwan’s smile, but luckily I can watch Vanner MVs any time I want. Here is Vanner performing Adore U (my favorite song by Seventeen) live in Busan. Their mics are ON. 

If you’d like to give Hyukjin a stream, his group’s latest single has only 4,733 views at time of writing. The video was shot on (I assume) an Iphone 5, at a warehouse near a train station (I assume). Let’s all give him a stream or two, ok? If everyone who reads my recaps watches their video, we could get that total up to maybe 4,740 or something. That’d be awesome! And here's Hyukjin's Instagram.

If you want to check out KNK to support Inseong, here's the song of theirs I remember hearing a few times in the past -- Sunset. It's full on house music, if you like that kind of thing. I do.

If you want to check out BDC to support Hong Seongjun -- I mean, the group is basically disbanded (I think they might still perform in Japan?) but he might get residuals -- my favorite song of theirs is Moon Rider.

If you want to check out WEi to support Seokhwa, my favorite song of theirs is Spray.

If you want to check out Up10tion, I will again say that I really like their song Spin Off. And here is Hwanhee's instagram -- at least, I think it's his. It has a blue check.

Here's a performance of Kwon Euibin on a previous show. He talks 10x more on this show than he does on Build Up. Turns out he used to be a baseball player, but he kept getting injured and got interested in music while he was rehabbing.  Then he sings Tomboy by Hyukoh, the same song that was done in the Pre-4 mission round of Build Up. He sounds great! And here's his Instagram, teasing an upcoming single.

Here's a performance of Jo Hwanji singing a year ago or so. He's wearing a military outfit here too, and singing to a group of soldiers. His MyDrama List page has this photo of him with longer hair, which blows my mind for some reason.

I found what I think is his Spotify page if you want to check it out.

Kim Sungjung and Hong Sungwon are both musical actors, meaning that they perform in live theater in Korea, and I couldn't find any social media or anything for them. If you find some, let me know!

So, that's it for now. In the next one, I'm going to award some BRAPPIES! Something to look forward to. See you soon!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up Ep 6 Recap Part 1: Bad News

Welcome back to the only recap series about MNET’s Build Up that is being written by me! In the previous post, we finished episode 5 (almost) and covered the first performance of round one of the 3x3 death match, Pray (I’ll Be Your Man). In this one, we’ll cover the ranking from the end of episode 5 and then dive in to the second performance, Bad News. There will also definitely be some actual bad news, no matter which team you prefer. Let’s face the music. 

First things first I’m the realest: Let’s cover the ranking from the end of episode 5, which I forgot to mention in the previous recap. I am not clear what these rankings are for, as a lot of the people on the list have already been eliminated, but here we are. Those who have been eliminated already have a strike through in their name. I also will note how much they rose/fell since the previous ranking. Here we go:

Jay ⊖ 

Donghun ⊖

Wumuti ⊖

Seokhwa  ▲1

Seunghun ⛛ 1

Park Jeup ▲2

Bitsaeon ▲3

Yeo One  ⛛ 1

Hwanhee ⛛ 3

Jeon Woong  ⛛ 1

Taehwan ⊖

Jeong Inseong ▲1

Geonu ▲1

Sunyoul ⊖

Kang Hayoon ⊖

Neon ⊖

Bain  ▲2

Hong Seongjun  ⛛ 1

Lee Gwangseok ⛛ 1

Jung Soomin ⊖

Kim Minseo  ▲3

Yoon Inhwan ▲1

Park Joohee  ⛛ 1

Hyukjin  ⛛ 3

Kim Seohyung ▲1

Hong Sungwon ⛛ 1

Choi Suhwan  ⊖

Lim Sang Hyun ⊖

Taewoo ▲10

Ma Jaekyung ▲2

Kim Sungjung ⊖

Hwang Inhyuk ⛛ 2

Kwon Euibin ⊖

Choi Haram ▲2

Jo Hwanji ⊖

Jeong Yunseo ▲2

Lee Minwook ⛛ 8

Lim Jun Hyeok ⛛ 1

Ji Yeonwoo  ▲1

Jang Intae ⛛ 6

Ok, let’s get to episode 6! 

Once we get the recappy stuff out of the way, we get back to the second team to perform, the team consisting of Bain, Bitsaeon, and Kim Minseo. In the previous round, Bain and Minseo sang River and came in second place; new recruit Bitsaeon had been partnered with Jay for their excellent (but losing) performance of Dangerously. 

The team is really nervous because the stakes are high and the previous team, Jeup’s team, did really well with Pray (I’ll Be Your Man). 

Dahee asks Team Bitbain if they’re nervous. The English captions punk out a bit, but it’s the same clip that we saw at the end of episode 5. Basically Bitsaeon just says that the other team did well, but they themselves practiced hard too and believe in themselves. 

VCG encourages them, saying “You were my top three in the last round.” That doesn’t quite make sense, since they weren’t a team of three in the last round, but I get what he means. They’re good! They’re really good. We’re reminded of how well Bitsaeon did with Dangerously and how well the other two did with River. 

Then we’re also reminded of the Rival Choosing ceremony, when Jay’s team went to the Moodboard of Doom and set it so that Team Bitbain would have to face the team they most wanted to avoid -- Jeup’s team. Guys, I don’t feel well. Why did these two teams have to get matched up? Sigh. 

Bitsaeon says he’s been thinking about song selection.

When he thinks about Jeup’s team and their harmonies, it makes him feel dizzy. He kind of wants to avoid going straight up against Jeup’s team by also doing insane high pitched harmonies. Instead, he wants to come up with a song that will be unexpected. Bain and Minseo feel like Bitsaeon knows what he’s doing and are happy to let him strategize. 

On a day that we’re told is the next day but clearly isn’t based on how much everyone’s hair has grown…

Check out Bitsaeon's s w e a t e r !

Bitsaeon says he wants something kind of like River or Dangerously, but “upgraded” -- something new. Bain seems to be the one who suggests Kiss of Life’s song Bad News. I knew I liked Bain. You guys, I’m a Bain fan for life. 

You guys, I don’t even talk about how much I love, love, love, LOVE Kiss of Life because I feel like they’re invisible somehow. I just don’t see people talking about them. But omg, I love them. They’re so talented, and they’re all adults. They’re like a supergroup but they’re rookies. I love them so much. Let me just tell you about them for a moment.

Natty was the ultra talented li’l baby on Sixteen, the show that created Twice. She’s Thai and is a fantastic and charismatic dancer, and also a singer of unusual range

Belle is an S+ tier singer with whistle tone ability. She’s like Ariana Grande or something, but she also writes songs, and in fact co-wrote Unforgiven by Le Sserafim.

Julie is from Hawaii and has a velvety vocal color and the best smile and the most swag and can also pirouette on one foot like what what are you

Haneul is the only fully Korean member and is a cute maknae who attracts a lot of stans, and is also a very good vocalist

They do a thing where their videos are like mini movies with intersecting storylines. So, if you want to watch the video for Bad News, be sure to watch the video for Nobody Knows right after it to get the rest of the story. Also, then you should watch a live performance of Nobody Knows because their live singing is unbelievable and also the choreography is EVERYTHING. 

I’ve been thinking about how a team should have done Nobody Knows as their song for the second round, because it’s so sexy and interesting, but then I thought, yeah, but Kiss of Life are rookies -- would anyone even know these songs? And they do! And my favorite team is going to do one! I’m so happy!! Even if they lose, this is going to be a great performance.

Ok anyway back to it. The on screen captions describe Bad News as a mix of rock and hip-hop, which is fair, and Bitsaeon says that it’s different from anything they’ve done so far, which is also true. They’re having a little trouble deciding how to handle Belle’s really cute squeak on the word “moves” in the chorus. Bain is a little stressed out about it but it sounds good. He says he’s going to practice it to death. 

Oh no, Bain, please don’t overpractice and destroy your voice. 

The performance begins.

Here’s an in-studio audio version for you to add to your Youtube playlist. Omg, I love it. I love it so much. The arrangement works so well. I actually like the song slightly better in this key, and they made it more Western-y and less hip-hoppy and I love it, which surprises me because I don’t listen to country music or anything. But this WORKS. Ok, let’s see the live version. Please, oh please, may Bain’s voice hold out. 

Full version without reactions 

Sorry, I just thought this freeze frame was so funny

My thoughts:

Well, this was obviously fantastic. Amazing, great, loved it, perfect, wouldn’t change a thing about the performance itself. I have to assume, without seeing any of the others, that this performance would have/could have/should have beaten almost any other performance.

And just as obviously, it will lose this round.

They spent too much time rapping and not enough time showcasing their fantastic vocals, and the song is just not emotional enough to overcome the juggernaut of Jeup’s team.

I mean, maybe I’m wrong and they win but I feel pretty sure that they lost. I’m just glad they went down swinging and hopefully they won some new fans.

Minseo was possibly the weakest of the three, and he was still fantastic. I think some of the notes were slightly too deep for him, and others were a tiny bit too high, and it made him occasionally a bit pitchy. But I still love, love, love his vocal color, his absence of nasality, and his swagger and confidence on stage. Minseo, fighting! I hope you debut soon! 

I also love Bitsaeon’s voice. He shines so much better with this team than he did with Jay’s. Like, ok, maybe he didn’t wear a fuzzy sweater this time, but he sounded like a real rapper when he rapped and his power notes were powerful. No nasality, no pitchiness, just all good technique and plenty of stage presence. Bitsaeon, fighting! I’ll keep up with M.O.N.T. to keep up with you!

Bain has my favorite voice of the three. Ok, is he Park Jeup? No. He doesn’t have Jeup’s insane range. But Bain’s natural vocal color is nicer than Jeup’s (to me) and he can still hit fairly high notes without straining or using falsetto. I can feel the proper technique just oozing out of him. He’s so good. Also, he raps just as well as he sings. He hits every consonant and vowel and brings interest and *blam* to it as he goes.

I don’t know, fam -- for me he’s got that RM / Joohoney energy that I love so much in an idol. Like, ok, maybe he doesn’t meet Kpop beauty standards but he doesn’t have to because he has an “it” factor on stage. Like his “to the left to right back and forth…” part in the bridge, I mean, it was kind of sexy, wasn’t it?  Also, I’m predicting now that his “on & on & on” toward the beginning will get an instant replay and reaction. Let’s see if I’m right. 

So many awkward screenshots 

In the MNET edit, we hear a judge call out “Oh, cowboy!” in English at the start. And overall, everyone seems to be having a great time watching. The other contestants look amazed and the judges are bopping. And yes, of course, Bain’s  “on & on & on” did get an instant reply. 

VCG cheers for Bain’s high pitched squeals.

Jaehwan jumps to his feet. 

I feel like this is the most we’ve seen Wendy enjoy a performance on the show.

Backstage, balladeer Yoon Inhwan turns to Donghun and says, “It’s as if he’s possessed!” (I think he’s talking about Bain.)

Dahee is also having a great time. 

When they’re done, everyone cheers. 

Sorichir-ra! (MAKE SOME NOISE!!)

Geonu points like, “that’s my teammate!” 

Everyone loved it. Someone -- I think Wendy? -- says “I was completely slain by Bain.” Yes, Bain was undoubtedly the MVP here. VCG and Jaehwan, still talking about Bain, say “He’s at his peak. He totally knows what’s going on. He totally knows what he’s good at.” Wendy agrees, saying, “IT all comes out on stage.”

It’s time for the judges to evaluate, and they don’t really want to, you can tell. They’re like, “how do you judge something like this?” It’s like choosing between a pair of shoes and a bowl of ice cream. Like, what do you want to do with it? What do you need right now? 

Baekho says, “I have nothing to say. It was just so good. I forgot that it was a survival program -- it felt like I was just watching a concert.”

Dahee is grinning, looking over at the guys to see how this praise is affected them, but you can see that it’s not quite enough. They won’t feel at peace until they know the actual outcome.   

But Dahee is still the best. What is she wearing? What is that? She’s still the best. 

Baekho goes on, “There was a part that was particularly impressive. Bain-shi, the performance really showed how well you use your voice.” And we get the “on&on&on” part again. Fair. 

EVERYONE, I TOLD YOU ABOUT BAIN. I TOLD YOU. 

Baekho continues, “Bain gets possessed on stage! If there were someone like him on my team, I’d feel so thankful.” 

Wendy says, “I really enjoyed watching it. I felt like I was watching a concert, too.” She likes how they walked in at the beginning, like cowboys, and how they kept the energy up. 

VCG asks Minseo how long he has been a trainee, and he says 4 years. VCG says that if Minseo is this good after only a few actual performances, what more is he capable of in the future? Both VCG and Solar are excited to see where he goes next. Solar is like, “You’re obviously with an agency, right?” And Minseo says, “um, actually… no…” And Solar is like WTF? VCG says that if he were CEO of an agency, he’d take Minseo immediately. I think that’s on the horizon….

 Backstage, Woong looks right into the camera and says “Brand New Music! Call him right now!!!” (At least, I think that’s what he says. They bleep out part of the company name.)

I guess there’s no time to compliment Bitsaeon, which is a bummer; I think he also did really well. But now it’s time to make BPR Unnie unhappy. 

The judges have to vote for which team did better, and they joke about going on strike, saying that they just can’t choose. But they do choose, of course. 

Who are we losing of my two favorites, Jeup or Bain? 

COMMERCIAL BREAK! 

I repeat, who are we losing of my two favorites, Jeup or Bain? 

The blue votes are for Team Bit-Bain, and the red votes are for Jeup’s team. So guest judge, Wendy, and Jaehwan went with team Bit-Bain, while Baekho, Solar, VCG, and Eunkwang went for Jeup’s team.

We’re losing Bain, Bitsaeon, and Minseo.  

They hold it together with dignity. Bain even has it in him to give the other team the thumbs up. Class act.

Jeup is sort of pacing around with his hand on his ribcage, as if he’s trying to calm his heart. He’s crying a little. Oh, no, MY heart! And your heart! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT ALL OUR HEARTS? 

Suhwan steps forward to speak on behalf of his team, and says things like they worked hard and think both teams did well and thank you everyone and yadda yadda. 

Dahee talks to Jeup, saying, “You must have been very nervous.” 

Baekho picks up his mic and says, “Careful now, you’ll lose your muscles if you don’t stop crying.” If anyone would know, it’d be Baekho!

Jeup clears his throat and says, “I normally don’t cry. Actually, this performance was a bit scary. The other team was so good, and I’m the oldest member of my team. I thought I shouldn’t let my teammates know about my anxiety. I think it was very difficult in many ways. Before the performance, I told my teammates to be calm, but I think I was talking to myself. Thank you, everyone.” 

Dahee says that Bain, Bitsaeon, and Minseo have been eliminated. 

Bain says, “I had a lot of fun on stage. Bitsaeon and Minseo worked so hard.”

He’s fighting back tears, but he goes on. “Of course, I do feel sad. But it was great to show you myself through Build Up.

The judges reassure them that they really did a really good job too. They’re sad that they have to send away a team that did so well.

But backstage, Bain’s team seems to be relatively at peace. They know they did well and they’re still proud of the job they did, even if they’re sad that they lost. At least they went out on a high note. 

If you’re sad about losing Bain, watch this video of him singing Unholy by Sam Smith. 

And I think I'll end this post here, because this is almost 30 pictures already. So I'll see you in the next one, when Team Gruff N'Smooth takes on Team sweeties. Take care until then!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up, Episode 3: Sherlock and End of the Day

Welcome back to another recap of MNET’s Build Up! In the previous post, we introduced the next mission, the 2 vs 2 rival mission. In this post, we’ll cover the first two performances, both performing excellent songs. We’ll also see a member of A.C.E. and a member of Up10tion. So let’s go!

We start with Dahee reviewing the rules.

Each judge will give a score between 0 and 100 (practically speaking, most if not all scores will be between 70 and 100), and since there are 7 judges (Seungkwan from Seventeen; Solar from Mamamoo; Wendy from Red Velvet; Eunkwang from BtoB; Jaehwan from Wanna One; Baekho from Nu’est; and Vocal Coach Guy from Every MNET Show Ever) the total score is out of 700.

Jaehwan says, “it’s starting to feel like a MNET show because it’s cruel!” Jaehwan is a lot of fun.

Dahee asks how the judges will evaluate everyone, and Wendy says that she’ll evaluate them based on how they care about your partner and how they show their charms.

Seungkwan says he’ll evaluated based on how they perform under pressure.  

The guys are getting nervous, but so are the judges. It’s nice to see that they’re taking it seriously -- they know people are going to be eliminated. It’s especially tough to evaluate the first stage, since they don’t want to grade too high out of the gate in case someone else comes along who’s better. 

The first group really challenges that notion, though, since there are some very strong singers here. It’s Park Jeup and Choi Suhwan as the first duo, and Detective Donghun from A.C.E. and sweet Sunyoul from Up10tion. Seungkwan says he knows Sunyoul and Donghun, since they’ve all performed at the same M-Countdown style shows together for years. You can tell that Seungkwan feels terrible. His group, Seventeen, is from a relatively small agency compared to SM or JYP, so their massive success is almost a miracle. He must be able to empathize with how Sunyoul and Donghun must feel. 

In the first round, Park Jeup from Team One and Donghun from Team Two performed together in Kajima, Kajima (Don’t Go), and Choi Suhwan from Team One and Sunyoul from Team Two performed together in Decalcomanie, so there’s a bit of criss-cross rearranging going on here. 

Jeup and Suhwan do a cheesy opening where they combine their names into “Je-Su” -- ie, Jesus.

Everyone laughs.

The other team can barely do theirs because they’re laughing and cringing so hard, but they introduce themselves as Hunyoul. They explain a bit of bantering and trash talk back and forth, and their lightness of tone barely hides how nervous and anxious they actually all are. 

Backstage, Jo Hwanji asks teammate Hwanhee if Hwanhee is nervous for Sunyoul, since they’re on Up10tion together. Hwanhee says he’s not nervous at all. Is it because he has faith in Sunyoul? Is it because they secretly hate each other? You be the judge! 

We hop back to a brief flashback of the two teams matching up as rivals. We never officially learn how the matching up process took place, as far as I know. At time of writing this post, I’ve watched this whole episode and half of episode 4 and I still don’t know. However, my best guess is that a particular team is either chosen at random (perhaps by pulling a name out of a hat?) or volunteers to go to the rival choosing platform area -- let’s call them Team A. At that point, any teams who want to call them out as rivals could come down and challenge them. If more than one team wants to challenge them,Team A can choose among them. But if no one challenges them, Team A can choose their rival from all the teams. Then, the next team is chosen (or volunteers) to go to the platform and the process starts over. If I got any part of that wrong, please let me know.

So, the show doesn’t really explain this, but looks like Jeup and Suhwan have gone to the rival-making platform and no one has come to challenge them, so they get to choose who they want to go against. Sunyoul unwisely yells out to them telling them not to not pick his own team -- so of course, Jeup and Suhwan do in fact challenge Sunyoul’s team. Everyone’s like, oh no, these are two strong teams. 

Jeup and Suhwan meet in a conference room to talk strategy. They think the other team will do a ballad, so they think that going energetic might be a good balance. If we arrange a non band song into a band song, it could have a new feeling. Jeup looks especially good in his pale pink, tight fitting cable knit s-w-e-a-t-e-r.

Ultimately, they decide on Sherlock by SHINee. Sherlock is about a mysterious stranger who draws the singer in. There’s this suggestion that the mysterious stranger is a thief -- did they steal the singer’s heart????

Ok, so Sherlock was one of the first Kpop songs I ever liked. It was like, Electric Shock by f(x), I Am the Best by 2NE1, Fantastic Baby by Big Bang, Russian Roulette by Spica, and Sherlock by SHINee. All of those songs are amazing and I stand by them to this day, but Sherlock especially is one of those songs that I can’t imagine not liking. It’s just timeless. It’s not any obvious genre or style; it just sort of is itself. Fun fact: at the time of the song’s release -- March of 2012 -- the choreography for the song was the most expensive choreography ever seen in Kpop! 

Side note: did you ever wonder why the song is called Sherlock (Clue + Note) -- like, what’s the “Clue + Note” part about? Well, Sherlock is actually a mashup of two other songs -- Clue and Note. Listening to Clue and Note is so weird, because both songs are Sherlock, and yet, neither song is Sherlock. It’s really wild. 

Anyway, you know that I’m going to be biased about this performance -- one of my favorite Kpop songs ever, sung by this lovely man we see above in his soft sweater. 

Back to performance night. Park Jeup is warming up, and even his warmups are intimidating. “He’s got an electric guitar in his voice,” Kim Seohyung says about him. (Seohyung was one of the ones who performed “Shall I Love You Again” with Yeo One.) The judges notice Jeup too. Jaehwan wonders, “If I had muscles like that, would I have a vocal range like that?”

So, let’s see their performance!

Full version without reactions. 

My thoughts:

Damn, this was great. I l loved it. 10/10. I loved the arrangement and I loved the performance. I had issues with Suhwan in other performances of his, but not here. He wasn’t pitchy or nasal or close throated, at least not that I noticed. He had lovely vocal texture, just right for the song (though I do think he got slightly ahead of the beat at one point). And while in the past I’ve not always loved Jeup’s vocal color, I loved it here. Also, their two voices blended well. They laid out some really gorgeous harmonies and executed them well. Like, I have no real criticism. This was so good. I could talk about vocal specifics but I really don’t have anything to say except they did it all correctly.

It’s going to be tough for me to like any performance this much. Between the song choice, my personal bias toward Jeup, and their vocal skills on display, I mean. Chef’s kiss.  

One question, though. Does this count as a sweater?

I mean, my eyes say no, but my heart says yes.

In the MNET edit, we can see everyone reacting with delight. Everyone seems to love this song, and this performance, just as much as I do.

Eunkwang enjoying the singing. I think. I guess? Maybe he’s just trying not to sneeze. 

When they’re done, the judges give them a standing ovation. Jaehwan shouts “rock and roll, baby!” Backstage, the guys applaud too. Wumuti says it was perfect, and Neon calls it a “high pitch party.” 

It was so good, but the judges don’t know what to do in terms of grading -- should they leave room in their scoring in case someone is even better? But this was really good!

Then we see Dahee sneaking over to the guys to tell them something… 

She softly tells them she liked it better than the original version. She may not be a judge, but she’s a beautiful movie star and they’re pretty stunned by the compliment. 

The scoring is ready. 

We find out that the highest score was 96, coming from Solar, and the lowest score was 88, coming from Eunkwang. 

Solar says she loves how they sang “shine and disappear” then disappeared in the dark stage. Ok, noted, Solar likes lighting tricks!  

Eunkwang said since the expectations were high, he was more picky in terms of grading, but adds that he thinks Suhwan was a “discovery.” Eunkwang also compliments Jeup’s breath control and how he varied his dynamics (volume).

Seungkwan from Seventeen says something that is definitely lost in translation. He says “this is perverted.” He means it as a complement, and it must make sense in Korean, but the other judges tease him, “Are you saying Jesus is a pervert??”

After the judges speak their peace, and the MNET editors let us see 5% of what they said, It’s time for the second team to perform. Detective Donghun and Sweet Sunyoul come out, and everyone says that they have a tough act to follow. Donghun manages to still look like a haggard NYC detective ready to say “I’m too old for this shit” at any moment despite his change in outfit.

Dahee asks them if they’re nervous, and Sunyoul replies, “The most valuable moment in a song is the moment it resonates, so I will make you resonate with this song and concentrate on the stage.” The judges like that answer.

Seungkwan points out that this group is also singing SHINee, which they kind of are; they’re singing End of a Day, written by and originally performed by Jonghyun, former member of SHINee. I say former member because he passed away in 2017. 

So, let me pause for a moment and say that if you know about Jonghyun, and you know how and why he died, and what this song is about, the performance that Sunyoul and Donghun are about to do is so impossibly sad that it might be difficult to watch. If you don’t know about it, you might want to stay not knowing…? I mean, how hard do you feel like crying today? 

I really don’t want to bum all of you out, so I decided to post my sad thoughts about this song and performance (and industry? And blog?) in a separate post that I’ll link to at the end of this one.

We head into a flashback. The guys are at one of their agencies, and Sunyoul is wearing an enormous, fur lined leather coat. Do they not heat these places?

Donghun says, “you know Suhwan and I know Jeup, so this will be an advantage for us!” Sunyoul says that if the other team is going to have a high pitch party, they themselves should go toward consolation and empathy. So Donghyun suggests Jonghyun’s song. 

Some time later, Sunyoul has put on a lovely cream colored cable knit s w e a t e r.

Sunyoul asks Donghyun who he imagines himself singing to, and Donghyun says simply, “I sing to myself.” Sunyoul says, after a brief pause, “I do, too.” He seems kind of stunned by the revelation that they have that in common, but Donghyun takes it in stride. “You did a good job,” he says. “Good job. Something like that.” Sunyoul says he hopes he can be able to comfort himself. 

We have a flashback to a pre-production meeting, where Sunyoul has shown up in another s w e a t e r and looks great, but he isn’t feeling great. He talks about how this is his fifth (!!!!) survival show, and though his motto is “he who endures, wins,” he’s not so sure anymore. “I think this program is my own judgment on whether or not I will be able to sing in the future,” he says, through tears. Oh no! Sweet Sunyoul! “Thinking it’s my last chance, I need to fill this stage with desperation,” he says, as they head in to the performance. 

Donghyun has shown up in what looks like a collared button down shirt made of frayed sweater material, with a blazer over it. He’s just taking the Build Up fashion trends and combining them in new ways, and I’m here for it. 

Original version, sung live by Jonghyun with English subtitles 

Full version without reactions. 

My thoughts:

It’s hard to evaluate this, because they’re both so emotional. Sunyoul in particular sounds like he might be actually crying. Donghyun is occasionally a little ahead of the beat and doesn’t support some of his longer notes, but I think that might be a stylistic choice on his part. Donghyun’s gruff, textured vocals blend nicely with Sunyoul’s lighter, sweeter tones, and their harmonies work well as a result. There aren’t any pitch problems that I noticed, and no one sounds particularly nasal. Overall, it’s a simple, lovely, heartfelt performance. If I were a judge, I don’t know what I’d do in terms of ranking it with the other performance.

In the MNET edit, we can see that everyone finds the performance pretty touching. Backstage, Hwang Inhyuk tells partner Choi Haram, “I heard two lines and I already want to cry.” 

Seungkwan is enjoying the singing. I think. I guess?

Vocal Coach Guy is enjoying the singing. I think. I guess?

When they’re done, there’s quiet, thoughtful applause from the judges.

Teary Wendy says, “I loved it.” 

Backstage, the guys all say that they were touched by it. Even Park Jeup says, “That was good. We’re going to lose.”

Teammate Suhwan says, “Why would you say that? Don’t say that!” But you can tell that Jeup was sincerely touched by the performance. 

The judges have to grade it, and it’s so hard after such a touching performance. Finally, we find out the high and low scores -- 97 and 75. As a reminder, Jeup and Suhwan’s high and low scores were 96 and 88, so Sunyoul and Donghun scored both higher and lower than their rivals. That lower score, though, is much lower. 

Seungkwan from Seventeen is the judge who gave the score of 97, and explains that they did an excellent job of putting the emotions of the song on stage. Then he says to both of them, “We have been around together since 2015. I always thought, ‘These guys are such great singers.’ Today, I think you’ve really proven your potential and that really touched my heart.” 

Aww, that’s nice feedback from a colleague, and you can tell it really touches Sunyoul. 

VCG says, “It’s really difficult to put into words, but when I listened to the song, I felt a bit overwhelmed and emotional. I felt like I would burst into tears as soon as someone next to me asked ‘are you ok?’? The message the two of you conveyed was delivered to me wholly. Just like the lyrics, I got a feeling of warm comfort and I felt very good. As I was watching the stage, I thought you two were the one the final debut teams no matter what. I thought that no matter which team you go to, you can sing one part convincingly.”  He had assumed he’d give the highest score, so he must have graded them pretty high too, maybe a 95. 

Jaehwan is the judge who gave them their low score.  He explains himself by saying, “Honestly, Sunyoul’s vocal was very persuasive. I felt like I was listening to it with my heart. But Donghun’s performance was disappointing. It was a bit too much, as if you had a lot of thoughts while singing. It felt a bit unstable because of that. That was how I personally felt.” 

VCG is like, “that’s soooo different from what I thought.” 

Meanwhile, Donghyun is gutted. That low score is looking bad for them, and now he knows it’s because of him. 

I get what Jaehwan is saying, in that yes, their performance was emotional, and there were times that Donghyun was a bit off rhythm, and some notes felt short that probably should have been longer, but I never noticed him off pitch. To me that all felt like a stylistic choice that worked. 

The judges lament that these two teams had to go against each other when they’re both so strong. Poor Donghyun looks like he’s already crying. 

It’s revealed that overall, Jeup and Suhwan got a 645 overall, meaning that in addition to the 96 and 88. the average score given by the other five judges was 92. Meanwhile, Donghyun and Sunyoul got a 624 overall, which means that in addition to the 97 and 75, the average score given by the other five judges was about 90. So it wasn’t just Jaehwan dragging them down. But still, these are all some very high scores. 

Sunyoul and Donghyun learn that they are up for elimination, and the judges are bummed too, wishing that the final four could just be these four. 

Sunyoul says, in a voice thick with emotion, “Thank you for saying so many nice things today. I was really hungry for those words. Thank you so much for your sympathy.” Wendy wipes her eyes. 

Jeup says, “Since they were on the same team with us, I feel really bad. I just want to keep supporting each other. You did a great job today -- it was so cool.” 

Dahee tells Jeup and Suhwan that they won, but they don’t look too happy. And as Donghyun and Sunyoul walk off stage, arm in arm, we can hear Sunyoul say, “Why are you crying? You did a great job.”

But there’s basically no consoling Donghyun. 

And uh, that’s where we leave it for now. I’m sorry, gang, I think this show is going to be kind of sad. :( 

And I have some more things to say that are even sadder, but I’m going to leave them for another post because there’s some trigger warnings and stuff for that post, and you’re not obligated to read it. I’ll see you in the next post, when we see Neon and Seunghun take on Yoon Inhwan and Ma Jaekyung. Take care and be well, my loves!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up, Episode 2: Tomboy (Hyukoh)

Welcome back to my extremely timely recaps of Build Up, the MNET vocal survival show thing! In the previous post, we covered Shall I...? and Ditto. In this one, we'll continue with the Pre-4 mission by covering the performance of Tomboy, originally by Hyukoh. Let's go!

Hyukoh is a Korean band fronted by their lead singer and songwriter, Oh Hyuk. They do sort of alt-rock stuff, and they’re pretty popular. Tomboy was a pretty big hit for them in 2017. 

Sample lyrics:  Sad adults always only walk backwards / You, who just passed your Terrible Twenty, look bored / Because we don’t want to be set on fire and burn quickly / We’re cheering for love… The young us / We can’t see our tree rings / Our eyes are getting blind from the bright lights

I know Oh Hyuk mainly from a song I really love by Code Kunst called Parachute, which features him. (If a song by Code Kunst “features” someone, it means that person sings the whole song.)  It’s a really great song, kind of special in my opinion, so do check it out if you have a few minutes. Oh Hyuk has a gruff, textured kind of voice, quite distinctive, and very much in the vein of the voice of our leather jacket king, Lee Gwangsuk. 

The judges are excited, because they like this song, as do the boys backstage, who think that the team who chose this song are well suited to it. And who is that team? 

It’s Lee Gwangsuk, Park Joohee, Hwang Inhyuk, and Jo Hwanji.

The judges notice right away that Jo Hwanji is wearing a uniform. He salutes, saying “Victory!” and Eunkwang, who already did his military service, immediately returns the salute. Hwanji introduces himself as Sgt Jo Hwanji, currently serving in the Air Force Military Music Honor Battalion. I tried to look up info on this, like, does he have to appear in uniform? What the heck is a Military Music Honor Battalion? What is going on? No clue, my friends. My google skills only take me so far. If you have info to share, I’d be happy to take a look at it. 

Inhyuk is wearing a sweater that appears to say “Sensitive People Fragile Club,” and honestly, same. I mean, I’m not wearing the sweater, but it’s implied. 

He has a pleasant speaking voice, and says he’s looking to be the “main vocalist of Build Up” 

Park Joohee says he’s the maknae (youngest) of the whole show, and everyone cooes over him a bit. He says he already got into college, and he gets some congratulations from the judges. 

This part was a little confusing, so I watched it a few times before I figured it out. Some of the contestants backstage say he’s the same age as them, including Detective Donghun from A.C.E., who I know was born in 1993 and is definitely not 18! Then someone else says Year of the Rooster, and I figured it out -- if you’re born in 1993 or 2005, you’re born in the Year of the Rooster, and that makes you akin from a certain perspective. It might be like in Western culture when people say something like “oh, yeah, fellow August baby here…” It’s been my experience that people who live in cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year tend to just know what year was what animal. The owner of a little B&B I stayed at in Cambodia guessed the year I was born using a combination of my basic appearance and my Chinese zodiac sign. So yeah, the moment they knew Joohee’s age, they knew his zodiac sign and then knew if they were the same as him. I don’t claim that this kind of thing is universal amongst all people in Asian cultures, but I’ve encountered it enough times to think that it must not be unusual. Again, if you have info to share or if I got that wrong somehow, please let me know, but be nice! Thanks, friends! Thriends. 

Joohee jokes a bit with the judges, and it turns out that he’s going to be going to the same college as the one that Jaehwan went to (I think). He’ll be class of ‘27, while Jaehwan is class of ‘19. The other judges call him an ammonite (fossil). 

Gwangseok says hello, and everyone is surprised at how deep his speaking voice is. He introduces himself as a freelance model who wants to make people fall in love with his voice. 

The judges say, “ohhhh!”

(Model?)

We get to see his modeling profile and it turns out he’s 188 cm tall, making him 6’2. The judging panel jokes that it’s not fair that he can sing when he’s that tall. 

We’re reminded of his unique voice from the vocal check in, and how he got to pick first. Everyone applauded when Gwangseok chose Tomboy, as it suits his vocals. Inhyuk in 11th place was next to join, then Hwanji in 16th place, and then Joohee in 24th place, making this song one of the first songs to fill up completely. 

We find out that Joohee idolizes Inhyuk from the time that Inhyuk went on I Can See Your Voice. Joohee approaches Inhyuk and tells him as much, which of course absolutely warms Inhyuk’s heart. 

“REALLY?” Joohee (back to us) approaches Inhyuk as pink haired Geonu looks on. 

Inhyuk interviews that there are people here who are a lot more famous than he is, so he was really touched and he wants to take care of Joohee. Inhyuk chooses Tomboy partly to be with Inhyuk, but also because that was the song he really wanted. 

So how should this team with all four vocal colors distribute the parts?

Nobody wants part D, which is just “ah ah ah ah” for 25 seconds. It’s like when you do Me and Bobby McGee for karaoke and have to do two minutes of “ladedada.” But on further reflections, Gwakseong decides that the “ah” part is the core of the song, and that it might sound cool if he sings it with a scratchy voice.

A few days later, they meet up somewhere. 

Left to right: Inhyuk, Joohee, Gwakseong , a pile of leaves and twigs

Aside from Hwanji, they’re all rocking sweaters. You guys, this is the show of sweaters. Inhyuk spent some time on his own to create some layered harmonies and even recorded them so they could all hear them. They practice singing together, with Inhyuk providing advice and encouragement to maknae Joohee. Throughout we do not hear Hwanji speak even once. 

The performance begins.

Link for the version without reactions

LTR: Lee Gwangsuk, Park Joohee, Hwang Inhyuk, Jo Hwanji

My thoughts: 

Overall, this was an excellent performance and I could imagine it being a lot of people’s absolute favorite. For whatever reason, it’s not perfectly ringing my bells and I think it comes down to taste and the song itself. This song probably relies a lot on the meaning of the lyrics and since I don’t understand them intuitively it’s not as fascinating to me. Also, it feels like it should be in a faster tempo and like someone just set it on slow. Just my take; sorry if it’s your favorite!

All four vocalists were really good and all of them sing better than I do, so please forgive me as I nitpick a bit, ok? They all did great but I have opinions. Okay! 

LTR: Lee Gwangsuk, Hwang Inhyuk

In my initial write up, I wrote that Gwangseok has a unique, smokey, extremely thick kind of voice that some people might like and others might not. I like it, though I wondered if it would work well in a vocal group that required blending of voices. In this performance, I was able to see how he could fit in as a member of a group, as his voice really could blend in quite nicely. I felt a little like he was trying a tiny bit too hard on the “ahhs”, but maybe I’d feel different if I understood the lyrics and was really jiving with the emotion of the song. His belts toward the end felt a bit strained, and I think that’s his lack of training showing. He still has a really interesting, distinct voice and I could see him going far.

In my initial write up, I noted that Inhyuk had a really unique voice and thought he shouldn't have classified himself as an Allround. I liked his soft, almost gruff voice, but noticed some problems with his belts. I felt like somehow this wasn’t the best he could do and decided to reserve judgment. In this performance, his belts sounded a lot better and I think I was right, that he was capable of doing better than he did in his teaser. I also loved how he sounded in the bridge. A voice like that could go either way but I ended up really liking it, especially in that part in the bridge when he had the spotlight on him. He has a slight sharp edge to his voice that makes him not my absolute favorite among these four, but I still liked what he did a lot, and I find him personally appealing for some reason. Also I like his delivery where he seems to be almost talking, and I really like the beautiful harmonies that he arranged. Nice work, Inhyuk! 

LTR: Park Joohee, Jo Hwanji

In my initial write up, I noted that Joohee had a pleasant voice with good agility, though he lacked breath support. In this performance, I really loved his full, open sound, and he ended up being easily my favorite of the four. His voice is a bit similar to Inhyuk’s but without the sharpness, so it just makes it all the more easy to listen to. I still think he needs to work on his breath support, though. Some notes of his should have been held for another half a second. He was still my favorite, though. I just love his vocal color.

In my initial write up, I said that Hwanji broke the musical actor mold by singing in a clean, full voice. I noted his varied dynamics, impeccable pitch, and power. In this performance, I didn’t love how he sounded in the opening lines. Maybe the trembling, half-voiced effect was what he was going for, but for me it sounded like a mistake, like he needed to clear his throat but didn’t have time. He seemed to be running out of breath, too. Maybe he’s not great at singing softly, since “power” is his strength. Despite that not-great opening, he was better in the rest of the song, and his harmony with the others was gorgeous throughout. It’s not easy to harmonize well, and he really did. 

In fact, the harmonies overall were really lovely. At times, they didn’t quite blend dynamics as well as they could have -- I think it was Gwangseok’s fault, though I might be wrong --  but the actual notes they were singing were amazing. 

If I had to pick a top tier, it’d be Joohee, and I think my bottom tier would be Hwanji, but I’m sad about it because I really loved his teaser performance. Maybe it was an off day for him or maybe he just should have picked a different song. Also, it’s not like he did badly. This would just be my least favorite of the four, not my least favorite singer of all time. I’m still looking forward to hearing what he sings next time!

In the MNET edit, the judges are shown loving everything, even Hwanji’s opening and Gwangseok’s too emphatic “ahhs”. They even show Dahee grinning. Everyone loves the performance.

When they’re done, the judges lavish praise on them. Eunkwang says that they have different vocal colors, but “the emotional line that the four of had together was aligned, so it was different but harmonious.” Baekho says that each time they changed from singer to singer, it was cathartic, hearing a different voice coming in. I know what he means -- I love how I know all of Exo’s voices and being able to say, oh, that’s Xiumin, oh, that’s Chanyeol, oh, here comes Chen, aw, it’s Kai… like that. It almost makes it boring in comparison to listen to a song that only one person sings. 

Vocal Coach Guy (VCG) praises Gwangseok’s “tone that was never taught.” He was born with a tone that can express so much depth just by singing “ah.” 

Vocal Coach Guy likes Gwangseok’s tone. I think? I guess? Not sure. 

Solar says that Joohee sounds like a ���church oppa,” with his sweet, clean voice. She also loved his smile.

Joohee, looking divine.

Solar says that VCG is also a church-oppa type, and VCG says “shalom, shalom,” which if you don’t know is Hebrew, so more appropriate for Temple than for Church, so that’s pretty funny.  

Solar is so happy it’s made her cold!

Then Eunkwang points out that Inhyuk is the one who arranged all the harmonies, and everyone correctly praises him for working out such a lovely arrangement. 

The judges say it’ll be difficult to pick a Top Tier, and the guys back stage seem to think it’ll be any of Gwangseok, Inhyuk, or Joohee. VCG says that he wishes that Hwanji would just do a traditional ballad, and weirdly enough, I think I agree. 

Who wins top tier? 

COMMERCIAL!

BACK FROM COMMERCIAL!

The judges have voted!

Baekho voted for Jo Hwanji, VCG voted for Hwang Inhyuk, and everyone else voted for Park Joohee. Ouch for Gwangseok that no one voted for him, but he did come in first in the vocal check so he can’t feel that bad. 

Dahee prompts the older members to say something nice to Joohee, and they all tell him they love him. It’s cute. They leave the stage arm in arm.

Ok, so that I can keep putting in as many pictures as I want to, I’m going to just go ahead and post this now. In the next one, we’ll be covering “Something Like That.” Thanks as always for reading. You're my Valentine for sure! <3

See you in the next one!

[livinglifeonpause]

BUILD UP EP 1 - who are they even?

V1: Seunghun (24) (CIX) (All-Round) teaser - 4/10 votes - 7 **ohhhh, he is MUCH better than this teaser. It's too low. - ep1: brown jacket, white pants - I'm crying I love him so GD muchhhhh! - NO. you give this boy ALL the good things and only the good things. V2: Jay Chang (22) (ONEPACT) (Soul) teaser - 8.5/10 votes - 23/40 **he's got a Crush vibe with how he gets kinda whiny. here for it. -he goofy looking, but seems soft-spoken and I dig that -ep1: white shirt, tan pants

V3: Bain (22) (JUST B) (Soul) teaser - 9/10 vote: 9 **I NEED MORE OF THIS.

V4: Sunyoul (27) (UPT10TION) (Unique) teaser - 2/10 votes: 24 **this does nothing for me -

V5: Lim Junhyeok (30) (Ex-Day6) (Power) July 17, 1993 teaser - 1/10 vote: 7 **never have liked this kids voice. isn't it for me V6: Jeong Inseong (29) (KNK) (All-Round) teaser - 5/10 vote: 22 **biiiiitch for singing Day6, wonder if it was before or after that other kid, it's fine V7: Kang Hayoon (20) (Loud) (Unique) teaser - 7/10 votes - 27 **not here for the tone, but I 100% want to hear more! - look at Seunghun straight staring at this baby - ep1: blue shirt, pink vest, black pants V8: Choi Haram (22) (Musicals) (Power) teaser - 2/10 votes: 14 **meh V9: Lee Minwook (23) (NewKidd) (Soul) teaser - 4/10 votes: 11 **like fine, I dont really care V10: Lee Geonwoo (22) (JustB) (All Round) teaser - 2/10 votes - 11 **what a fucking weird ass song to do for a vocal show?? - ep1: orange hair, blue sweater V11: Jeon Woong (26) (AB6IX) (Unique) teaser - 3/10 votes - 14 **also a weird ass song for a vocal show - ep1: denim shirt - V12: Wumuti (24) (Solo?) (Unique) teaser - 8/10 ***6 once he started rapping, ??? votes: 13 ***okayyyyyy, here for this I think? oh wait, whys he rapping? V13: Taehwan (30) (Vanner) (all round) teaser - 9/10 votes: 12 ***i like his pic, i like his voice, im down V14: Lim Sanghyun (26) (solo?) (soul) teaser - 5/10 votes: 25 **ooh, okay deep ass voice. Tooooo low for me to enjoy, but I want to hear more, cause i like the tone V15: Park Juhee (17) (trainee) (soul) teaser - 1/10 votes: 13 ***look at this cute ass angel baby. Hard pass though love. V16: Kim Seong jeong (24) (nothing) (soul) teaser - 1/10 votes - 25 **WHAT? no. get that deep voice away. dislike - tan jacket, tie, leather pants (what??) V17: Choi Suhwan (22) (X101) (all round) teaser - 3/10 votes: 11 **too nasally i think. squeaky. like not here. V18: Kim Seohyung (22) (musicals) (unique) teaser - 2/10 votes: 18 **cool. stick with musicals. PASS. V19: Lee Gwangseok (25) (solo) (unique) teaser - 1/10 votes: 32 **wtf, why this sound muffled. He eating the mic? - leather jacket - omg the english kid that goes "whaaat" after homie said he works as a model V20: Lee Donghun (30) (A.C.E.) (soul) teaser - 6/10 votes - 18 (oh fuck them all) ***oh, we 100% here for him cause A.C.E, but objectively I think he did well. and YAS that power note! - ep1: khaki jacket, tie

V21: Hong Sungwon (25) (solo?) (unique) teaser - 7/10 votes: 21 **weird song to do bro. but I 100 get why you did! I WANT MORE. I need to know more about homie here. Is he a musical actor? Because he 100000% needs to be V22: Hyukjin (30) (100%) (Power) teaser - 7/10 votes: 10 **he screamed, I was out. He sang I was back in. V23: Yun Inhwan (32) (solo - ENAN) (Power Voice) teaser - 4/10 votes: 13 **mehhhhhhhhhhhhh, whiney V24: Ji Yeonwoo (??) (nothing) (All Round) teaser - 7.5/10 votes: 17 **not 100 sold, but I do want to hear more. V25: Ma Jaekyung (27) (Romeo) (Soul) teaser - 3/10 votes: 12 **not here for it. regretfully pass. V26: Jo Hwanji (28) (Musicals) (Power) teaser - 3/10 votes: 18 **okay, but he look dumb af at the beginning bopping around like a dick. Maybe with a different song choice, but not here V27: Hong Seongjun (24) (BDC) (All Round) teaser - 5/10 votes: 13 **like its not a BAD voice.... butttttt "All Rounder"?? No. V28: Taewoo (26) (solo) (Unique) teaser - 5/10 votes: 25 **Im not real sold. but not 100 turned off. the tone & rasp are kinda cool. V29: Hwang Inhyeock (25) (Nada) (All Round) teaser - 3/10 votes: 22 **meh. oh, he started singing and no. pass. WHINE central. V30: Jung Soomin (19) (Solo) (Soul) teaser - 4/10 votes: 25 **feels kinda average. I do like the tone, but I need a little more? V31: Jang Intae (26) (nothing) (AllRound) teaser 1/10 votes: 5 **i hate everything about this. I hate the generic back-track, I hate his whiney ass voice, I hate the lack of passion, I hate the odd gasping. dislike dislike. V32: Jeong Yunseo (??) (nothing) (all round) teaser - 2/10 votes: 13 **what? why? this is just boring V33: Neon (23) (nothing) (unique) teaser - 1/10 votes: 13 ** why is he like rapping? i hate that. fucking stupid. I feel like I love his voice, but this is bullshit. - ep1: green sweater, looks old af.

V34: Park Jeup (30) (Imfact) (Power) teaser - 8/10 votes: 28 **DADDY! If he isn't in the final, I'm fucking mad. - I'm glad they all recognize talent - HAHAHA, the kid in the beanie's Faaaaace! V35: Kwon Euibin (24) (Idol Band) (Unique) teaser - 4/10 votes: 24 **its pretty, but I am so fucking bored V36: Bitsaeon (28) (M.O.N.T) (All Rounder) teaser - 5.5/10 vote - 21 **okayyyy, okayyyy. Dumb ass song. - ep1: looks like Code Kunst, white fuzzy sweater V37: Kang Seokhwa (23) (Wei) (Soul Voice) teaser - 7/10 votes - 15 **he has a real pretty voice - ep1: blonde, pink sweater V38: Lee Hwanhee (25) (UP10TION) (Unique) teaser - 3/10 votes - 15 **WTF is this song? just sing bro. I cant hear your gd voice at all. - ep 1: denim shirt V39: Kim Minseo (21) (nothing) (Power) teaser - 4/10 votes: 13 **I hate when ppl cover this song, especially non-english speakers. It sounds awful. That said, his voice is okay. better than this song. V40: Yeo One (27) (Pentagon) (All Round) teaser - 2/10 votes - 22 (WHAT?) **hey, I know that kid. why is it so lowwwww. - blue shirt, black blazer So is the premise we're picking one from each?? Ep 1. - fuck yes Seunghun is too famous for this show! I was surprised! - Who said "I'm a small time player?" cause he is effing adorable! Jung Soomin) - *crying* how is Jeup so cute with his little bow?? - (((why did they drop subs while this beezy was explaining the ruleeees!))) - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me Jeup + Seunghun interactions. I am literally begging!

[mbkupdates]

Shannon Instagram Update 191120

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