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Build Up Ep 1, Part 2

Hello! When we left off in my Build Up Recap adventure, we had just finished the first part of episode 1. In this post, we'll get through more of episode 1, and we'll learn why this man is making this face!

Let's do it!

A reminder on the color coding: blue is soul, orange is allround, green is unique, and purple is power.

We just saw Seongjeong the leaping lizard do his amazing intro.

Then of course it’s time for everyone to talk about who looks like who, as seems to happen at the beginning of every variety show like this, and as usual I don’t see most of them.

They say that Choi Suhwan looks like Onestar, and for this one, I guess maybe. (You may remember Onestar from his time as a vocal trainer on various Produce seasons.)

No one talks about how Hyukjin looks like Lee Yedam from Boys Planet/Onepact. (Or is it just me?)

Yedam, left, and Hyukjin, right.

Everyone says that Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T. looks exactly like Code Kunst. He doesn’t really, except that both of them have ears that stick out. Everyone seems to be talking about that, so he introduces himself as someone who wants to be as famous as Code Kunst.

Just then (at least in the edit), V36 starts to play -- it’s Rose Blossom by H1-Key, as performed by Bitsaeon. (I’d have to assume that the song played first, then he introduced himself by name afterward…?)

Seunghun from CIX starts dancing along as his new friend Hwanhee tries to place the song.

Everyone seems to like the performance, including me! He sounds great, and Sunghun from CIX interviews that their voices would harmonize well. Jay says, “aju nice!” when it’s done -- I wonder if he recognized it as Bitseon, since they probably know each other.

Bitseon gets 21 votes, and says he’ll prove himself to those who didn’t pick him.

Seongjeong the leaping musical actor says to his neighbor Joohee that there are a lot of idols here. That leads into a montage of performances from idol singers, all of whom are wondering, will anyone like my voice? (At least, the caption says they are.)

Seokhwa from WEi, V37

Hwanhee from Up10tion, V38 (Tomboy)

Geonu from Just B, V10

Donghun from ACE, V20 (Miracles in December)

Donghun interviews that he’s here as a main vocal, and he’s expecting to see many other main vocalists.

Every time I see Donghun in this episode, between his loosened tie and ill-fitting blazer and tired demeanor, all I can see is a beat cop in a police procedural who's ready to interrogate a subject.

Is it just me?

So, in honor of that, I'm going to call him "Detective Donghun" to remember him. As with all my nicknames, they're done to help us remember who is who and they're laced with love.

Kim Seoyhung says that he can’t sing stylish trendy songs, like the way idols sing. Yoon Inhwan interviews that all the idols sound the same, which is I think is unfair. Hwanhee, in particular, doesn’t sound like the others at all. Inhwan is mostly worried that their voices wouldn’t mix well, and I could say something like “I wonder if anyone’s voice would mix with yours, after you drank that gallon of milk before you sang?” But that would be mean. I try not to be mean, you guys.

All the idol main vocalists get relatively low scores.

Hwanhee gets 14, Seokhwa gets 15, Donghun gets 18, and Geonu gets 11. I wonder if Hwanhee’s low vote tally is as much to do with his sort of sharp vocal color? I love the way it comes through in Up10tion songs but I could imagine people worrying about his harmonizing. Or maybe they didn’t think he showed enough in his teaser, since he sang a pop song and had backup vocals.

Meanwhile, Seunghun from CIX is super nervous.

It seems like he and Hwanhee have struck up a bit of a friendship. Hwanhee asks him if he often gets nervous, and Seunghun is like, I really, really do. Even at the pre-tape meeting, he was shaking. Hwanhee is like, there’s nothing to be nervous about -- you already recorded your teaser, so you can relax, right? (“Plus, we don’t have to dance!” -- Hwanhee, probably) But Seunghun is just a bag of anxiety wearing a brown jacket.

When the voice says V1 will play, he reacts so strongly that it must be obvious that he is V1. As I said in my intro posts, I don’t think he was super successful in this performance, so I can understand why he’d be nervous. Like, you know you screwed up, and now everyone else is going to know, too. Aww, poor guy. When the song finishes playing, everyone applauds, but few had voted for him -- only 7. At the reveal of this low number, a bunch of the guys cover their mouth in shock.

Park Jeup, he of the powerful pussy bow, said he didn’t understand the low result -- in his opinion, this is a voice that would match with anyone’s. But Hong Seongjun from BDC, he of the white jacket with the mandarin collar, said it was “lacking.” Jay interviews that he didn’t vote for it or even really listen because it was in the ballad style, which wouldn’t match with his style.

Seunghun says, “I haven’t shown 20% of my voice. I will be the vocalist that could match anyone’s voice.” Everyone applauds. Fighting! Taehwan from Vanner says to Bitseon, “It’s a voice that could match with anything,” and Bitseon agrees. That’s sweet.

Kindly hyung Hwanhee reaches out to touch Seunghun’s shoulder. “Do you feel better now that it’s over?” Seunghun says, “I feel better, but it’s a bummer.” He says he knew that the competition would be tough, but he’s still ashamed of the result. I think he might be fighting back tears. Oh no! Poor guy. I think we’ve all been there -- it’s too late to fix it so you just have to ride it out.

After that, we jump straight to V07.

If you’re just reading the recaps and didn’t necessarily listen to all the teasers, be sure to check this one out. Just try to picture someone who’d be singing it.

The guys all react the moment it begins to play.

Inhwan likes it. I think. I guess? Not sure.

Seunghun likes it. I think. I guess? Not sure.

Ma Jaekyung (former Romeo) says, “oh, what a nice voice.” Bitsaeon (M.O.N.T.) says, “Wow, this is truly unique.” The vote tally immediately begins to climb. Basically, everyone loves it, even Dahee. Kim Seongjeong, our leaping lizard, says that this person has a monster talent. Jay says, “He was the one I wanted to work with the most out of all 40 people.” Sunyoul from Up10tion is like, just tell us who it is already!!

Park Jeup (former IMFACT), with his puissant pussy bow, leans over the red-suited Hyukjin (100%/Fave1) to point out Neon, wearing green. They think it’s him singing.

Side note: Google translate swears up and down that Park Jeup’s name is “Taxidermy”. Taxidermy is apparently 박제술, andJeup’s name is 박제업. So the first two syllables are the same. That’s unfortunate!

So, who could it be? Who could be the owner of this interesting voice that won 27 votes, taking over first place…? They expected someone with that voice to be kind of old, but it’s youthful, soft-voiced (when speaking) Kang Hayoon.

LTR: Lim Jun-hyuk, Woong, Sunyoul (in pink), Kang Hayoon in beige and light blue

He introduces himself with an anacrotic poem with the syllables of his name. “I’ll appeal strongly/ dear god, for me to debut/ please allow me.” Everyone says, “cyooo!”

Up next is V33, sung by Neon (the one wearing green). It’s Rush Hour. Did he get permission from Jay to sing this? And did he get permission to do what he does next, which is get out of his chair and say things like “make some fucking noise!” making it really clear that he’s the one singing...? It seems at least against the spirit of the rules, if not actually against the letter, but no one is stopping him, so he’s just going to do that.

A bunch of them get up to dance, including Woong and Sunyoul, both of whom seem ready to have fun here. I enjoy a joiner.

Choi Haram, in his houndstooth gray and white blazer thing, interviews, “I’m a big introvert, He looked so cool. I was jealous.” I’ll call him introverted Haram.

Neon introduces himself as an R&B/Soul singer-songwriter. He says he ran around to give them all energy. The running around thing was maybe a mistake, because a few of them say, “oh no, I was too busy dancing to vote!” He only gets 13 votes. Donghun from ACE would have voted for him, and I think Seokhwa would have too. Neon interviews, “Considering those who forgot to vote out of surprise, I guess I did ok.”

We find out that Woong from AB6IX has forgotten to vote more than once -- including during Pixar character Jo Hwanji’s audition with Swing My Baby. We see a bit of Woong’s pre-show taping interview, where he is wearing a denim jacket on top of another denim jacket on top of a hoodie. Do they not heat these studios at all or what?

He says, “It’s really hard to be the son of MNET. Right now, I’m the son of Rhymer from Brand New Music.” (AB6IX is under Brand New Music, and Rhymer is the founder.) “But I’m open to anything. I love you, boss MNET!”

So, how did Woong do with his singing? Let’s find out!

He’s V11. The on screen caption says “Unique and captivating voice,” and as you know if you read my episode 0 guides, I like his singing, though I’m not quite sure how trained he is. It just sounds good. Bitsaeon points out that V11 (Woong) does well with the rhythm, and that’s true, he definitely does. As Woong dances along to his own singing, everyone is voting for him. Lee Gwangseok says, “That was outstanding.” And getting a bit of Woong’s personality along with the voice definitely makes the performance… well… sing.

Even though everyone seemed to enjoy the performance, Woong only gets 14 votes, but he stays cheerful. Woong says, “the result is different form the response. I’m still happy with the result. I’ll seize my chance and become the son of MNET. Fighting!”

Woong center, in blue. In the foreground you can see the back of Hyukin’s head, Park Jeup’s head, and Kim Minseo’s head. In the suit to the left of Hyukjin, that’s Yoon Inhwan, then I think that’s Jo Hwanji the Pixar character, and Lim Junhyeok in white. Behind Woong is Sunyoul from Up10tion in Pink, Kang Hayoon in the cravat, Wumuti in the hat, and Lee Gwangseok/Kwangseok in the leather jacket.

Fighting! Also here is a picture of Inseok from KNK for my readers who love him. Also, why does Yeo One clap that way? That’s a weird way to clap. LTR: Yeo One, Inseok, and Ma Jaekyoung from Romeo.

Most of the guys laugh and clap for Woong’s enthusiasm, but Hong Seungjun is a bit more serious.

His group, BDC, was also from Brand New Music, but basically disbanded in August of 2023. BDC even went on Peak Time to try to stir up some interest first, but the group was eliminated in the first round. Basically, Seungjun has had a tough road and it makes sense that he might be a little, I don’t know... maybe "bitter" is too harsh a word, but I think you know what I mean. Like, he’s been through it. And it must be extra galling that AB6IX is doing comparatively well, being from the same agency and all that.

Seungjun voiceovers, “I thought it was odd. They’re still performing and doing pretty well. I’m wondering, what are they doing here? Especially Yeo One-sunbaenim from Pentagon.”

As if in response, Yeo One interviews, “I’ve been in this filed for a long time. I got 10 seconds, max 20 seconds in each song. I always had the third to sing for 10 years that can never be quenched. I’m here because I want to sing. I’m here to sing. I want people to watch me singing. That’s all I want.”

Then V40 plays -- it’s Yeo One. People seem to be enjoying it, and the vote tally creeps up. They like his expressiveness, which I can understand. Bitsaeon from MONT says, “I want to listen to that before I go to bed.” Personally, I put on a Jenny Nicholson video. Is that weird? Probably. Anyway, Yeo One gets 22 votes, which is pretty good. “I’m happy that people listened to me singing,” he interviews. Ok, Yeo One, we get it, sweetie.

Little Kang Hayoon is still in first place, and Seunghun from CIX is in last. Dahee asks Hayoon if he thinks he’ll stay in first place, and Hayoon is like, “Didn’t even cross my mind.”

But now it’s time for… V19. Will Hayoon be deposed? A rough, sweet, textured voice fills the studio. Everyone interviews things like “How can anyone even sing that well?” “It was such a deep voice. I was so surprised by it.” The vote tally is over the top -- it’s 32, leaving Hayoon in the dust. “It kind of poked my heart,” Hayoon says, of falling to second place. And whose voice is it? It’s Lee Gwangseok, the guy in the leather jacket.

It seems unfair to everyone that such a tall, good looking guy (his normal job is to be a model!) with no training at all can just sing like that.Well, that’s how it be, sometimes, I guess! Sunyoul from Up10tion interviews, “The world is messed up!” and laughs.

“I never majored in singing or learned it before,” Gwangseok says. I just was hoping I’d get more than 5 votes. I’m grateful they liked my voice. As someone who dreamed of becoming a singer, I’m glad.”

No one wants to follow that, but Jeup feels like it’s going to be him. We hear from a few of the contestants, including Hwanhee from Up10tion, that the “guy in red” (Hyukjin) and “the guy in the ribbon” (Jeup) are ones to watch. Sunyoul says that Jeup is a “monstrous vocalist”, that he’s so good that it’s like he’s cheating.

We get to hear some of V34, ie, Jeup. It is some serious technique on display. Everyone seems to respect what they heard, saying that it deserves a standing ovation and stuff like that. But the vote tally doesn’t quite reflect that. He gets only 28 votes, putting him in second place. Some of them find if very strange, including Jay and Hwang Inhyuk.

Geonu from Just B and Sunyoul from Up10tion both interview that they’re hesitant to team up with someone so good. “Because he’s so good, I want to work with him,” Sunyoul says, laughing, “but at the same time, because he’s so good, I don’t want to work with him.”

And that’s all we see of the Voice Check! Again, if you want to hear what I think of all 40 performances, be sure to check out my “episode zero” write ups for each grouping of voices.

Unique Power Allround Soul

Here’s the ranking, with the number of votes received, a brief phrase to hopefully help you remember them (what they were wearing, what they sang, their group, etc) and what category they were in (Unique, Power, Soul, Allround.) If their name is in italics, we didn’t see much of them so far, not even as reaction shots or interviews. Some of my notes to jog your memory may refer to my other write ups.

1. Lee Gwangseok 32 leather jacket U 2. Park Jeup 28 pussy bow P 3. Kang Hayoon 27 cravat cutie U 4. Lim Sanghyun 25 purple cardigan S Kim Seongjeong 25 leaping lizard S Taewoo 25 black shirt U Jung Soomin 25 Chicago S 8. Sunyoul 24 Up10tion U 9. Kwon Euibin 24 beige cardigan U 10. Jay Chang 23 Boys Planet S 11. Jeong Inseong 22 from KNK A Hwang Inhyuk 22 light red sweater A Yeo One 22 Pentagon A 14. Hong Sungwon 21 Desperado U Bitsaeon 21 M.O.N.T A 16. Kim Seohyung 18 light blue shirt U Donghun 18 A.C.E. (Detective) S Jo Hwan-ji 18 uniform/Pixar P 19. Ji Yeon-woo 17 suspenders A 20. Seokhwa 15 WEi S 21. Choi Haram 14 introverted Haram P Jeon Woong 14 AB6IX U Lee Hwanhee 14 Boys Planet/UP10tion U 24. Jeong Yunseo 13 red and black leather A Wumuti 13 Boys Planet U Park Joohee 13 white jacket S Yoon Inhwan 13 drank all that milk P Hong Seongjun 13 white jacket / BDC A Neon 13 green sweater U Kim Minseo 13 Rolling in the Deep P 31. Taehwan 12 Vanner A Ma Jaekyung 12 Romeo S 33. Lee Minwook 11 Newkidd/ vest lover S Geonu 11 Just B /pink hair A Choi Suhwan 11 Energetic A 36. Hyukjin 10 red suit P 37. Bain 9 orange-red hair S 38. Seunghun 7 anxious from CIX A Lim Junhyuk 7 former Day 6 P 40. Jang Intae 5 Missing You A

I can’t understand how on earth Kim Minseo was rated so low. I also think that Lee Minwook and Bain were much lower than they should have been. The fact that Yoon Inhwan ranked as high as he did is surprising to me -- for me, it was one of the worst performances of the teasers. I guess the guys and I have different taste in singers.

After the reveal of the rankings, we hear from a few of the guys about how they felt. We hear from Lim Junhyuk and Seunghun about how they feel about being ranked so low, but we don't hear from Intae, despite him coming in last. Ah, MNET. I didn't even have time to miss you.

Dahee announces the next mission: The “Prefour” mission. Bain says, in English, “What’s that?” (He’s sitting next to Jay and using it as an opportunity to practice his English.) It’s where they make groups of four and perform one of these songs.

And you’re sitting there saying to yourself “TOMBOY AGAIN?!” but no, it’s a different Tomboy.

The songs are:

Breath by Park Hyo Shin

Something Like That by Park Hwayobi

Beautiful by Crush

Delcalcomanie by Mamamoo

다시 사랑한다 말할까 (Shall I Love You Again?) by Kim Dong Ryul

Ditto by New Jeans

Don't Go, Don't Go by Brown Eyes

If You by Big Bang

Tomboy by Hyukoh, a huge hit from 2017

Every Moment of You by Sung Sikyung

It’s is a good reminder that for Koreans living in Korea, kpop is just part of their musical sphere of influence, along with ballads, trot, and other genres. Often enough on Korean top 40s you’ll see very popular ballads, mixed in with the kpop. I think some Western listeners also like some ballads, but I think most of us aren't as interested in them, so we can easily forget how important they are in Korea.

To be clear, I differentiate between a song that is slow and an actual k-ballad. I just don't like 99% of k-ballads. The arrangements are usually straightforward and they’re played on vibraphones with cheesy percussion. Also, the style of singing is just not my favorite. and are always delivered in the most overwrought singing style ever, with way too much vibrato. It can border on operettic but a lot more nasal. I am not saying, for example, that the singing in the original of “Shall I Love You Again?” linked above is bad. I just saying that it’s really not to my taste. But meanwhile, if you watch the clip, the audience is so into it. They’re like, in tears. So who am I to say that it's bad? This is a genre of music that just isn't for me. I will have to do my best going through this show.

Anyway, everyone’s a bit intimidated by the songs, many of which seme to be well respected classics. Detective Donghun from A.C.E. wonders out loud who would be able to sing Ditto because it has so much English in it. That must be a real issue for idols these days. Ditto is at least 50%, maybe 60%, English.

Speaking of English, my love Bain is speaking it still. When the guys find out that they get to pick the songs they want to do based on the ranking they got in the first round, Bain says, in English: “I wanna go home!”.

Dahee explains that though the song is a group challenge, they’ll be evaluated individually. A “top tier” contestant will be chosen from each group and will get a benefit. The lower ranked trainees are spurred to promise to try even harder.

We see a super brief clip of the guys running in all directions to choose the song they want -- I’m assuming we’ll see more of this later -- before we jump to… some time later.

And we'll pick up there in the next post, when we'll actually cover some of the performances! Thanks for your patience and I'll see you soon.

XOXO BPR Noona