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boysplanetrecaps · 9 months ago

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Build Up Episode 2: 숨 (Breath)

Welcome back to another recap of MNET’s Build Up. In the last one, we covered Something Like That, and I got myself a new bias! In this one, we’ll be taking a look at The Hardest Song on the Show (along with all the other songs), 숨/ Sum / Breath. Let’s do it!

(photo: Choi Haram’s Insta Update, via Reddit)

As has become traditional on the show, the judges talk about how this is the hardest song. They say that about literally all the songs, though. Vocal Coach Guy (VCG) wonders aloud if the guys chose the song voluntarily, or if they were forced to do it because no other songs were available. No, that was mostly Every Moment of You.

Breath was originally performed by Park Hyo Shin, who, per Wikipedia, “is a South Korean ballad singer and musical theatre actor known for his emotional vocals.” His songs have reached number one on k-pop hot 100 charts, beating established acts like A*pink. Breath came out in 2016 and hit number 1 in Korea. Here’s a cover of it by Chen from Exo, and here’s a cover of it by Jungkook from BTS, and here’s Bang Chan and Lee Know reacting to the original version. I just like covering my bases.

It’s a sad song, but it’s a bit hard to say what it’s actually about. It seems to be about being depressed and lost and not really wanting to face reality. I’ll let you read the lyrics and decide for yourself.

The guys come up to the sound of athletic guitar music, like they’re ready to wrestle or box or something. It’s…

LTR: Lim Junhyeok, Choi Haram, Jeong Inseong from KNK, Lee Hwanhee from Up10tion

Lim Junhyeok, the one who was a member of Day6 for about six months, introduces himself as a singer-songwriter. He was V5.

Choi Haram introduces himself as the “icon of challenge”. He’s a musical actor and was V8.

Jeong Inseong is from KNK and seems to have a certain fanbase out there. He was V6. He introduces himself as the main vocal of KNK with a “soft charisma.”

Lee Hwanhee is from Up10tion, but you might remember him better from Boys Planet. He introduces himself as the cutie of team Breath. He smiles big, and then just a tiny bit looks like he wants to evaporate.

“Why do I keep going on these shows omg when will people just like my voice it’s a good voice I hate dancing I just want to sing oh god…” --Hwanhee, probably

The show makes a lot of their “prince-like visuals.” Are they handsome? You guys know by now that I have no idea who is or isn’t considered handsome by other people.

Eunkwang gets right to the point and says it’s an extremely difficult song, so did anyone there choose it voluntarily? Haram, looking dapper in his pinstripes, says it was his first choice. The judges ask why.

Time for a flashback!

I’ll tell you now the order that the guys join. Inseong was in 11th place and chose it first, then Haram in 21st place chose it. Hwanhee came right after Haram, while all other options were still open, so it’s fair to say that at least those three consciously chose the song as their best option. Junhyuk was tied for 38th and had a choice of either Every Moment or Breath, and chose Breath, so it wasn’t really much of a choice for him.

We see the guys talking about how Breath is hard and wondering who would want to tackle it. But we also see the other guys asking Haram what he wants to do, and he always answers “Sum” (Breath).

Side note: Kpop songs where you can hear the word “sum”! It’s in the first line of Sugar Rush Ride by TXT (saenggageun got sumeul meomchweosseo), it’s at the beginning of the chorus of Mmmh by Kai (Mmmh mmmh, sumeul naeshwigo baeteo like…), and of course it’s in the first line of Breathe, performed by Lee Hi and written by Jonghyun (sumeul keuge swieobwayo). Those were just the first few songs I thought of. If you open your ears, you’ll hear “sum” a lot.

We learn that Haram is a pianist as well as a musical actor.

Huh huh. Pianist.

Haram explains that he hasn’t engaged much in Korean music as he pursued classical music, but Park Hyoshin’s songs were his first exposure to singing. “I know it’s a really dangerous choice,” he interviews, “but I really wanted to sing the song that raised my dream on stage.”

Hwanhee takes the wrong route up to Breath and ends up going all the way around. Isn’t that just how things go for Hwanhee? He needs General Gunwook to boss him around.

As Junhyuk arrives on the team, we get to see a little of his life. (I found a nice video on Youtube of this part, if you want to watch it. )

He says that he writes and sings his own songs, confirming my suspicion that songwriting is his true love, not singing exactly. He says that he has been releasing singles, and even teaching students at an academy.

Pianist, Idol Main vocals, Singer-songwriter

Haram and Junhyuk take the lead on dividing harmonies almost immediately.

Inseong asks Hwanhee, what she would do now? And Hwanhee says, “I guess… take a breath?”

“They talked about music stuff a lot,” Hwanhee interviews. “To be honest, I don't know much about that. They were using difficult musical words so I couldn’t say anything. It was scary/” See? He needs someone to boss him around. Luckily, he has Haram and Junhyuk!

Hwanhee tries singing his part, using a lot of vibrato, and Junhyuk confirms my good opinion of him by suggesting that Hwanhee dial back the vibrato a lot. It’ll give it a more casual, conversational feel.

Haram is so glad to have Junhyuk on his side to help, and we see a little montage of Haram working really hard. Does this mean Haram will be top tier?

Here’s the link to the version without reactions.

My thoughts:

This was a great performance. All four of them had voices I found myself liking a lot. Listening with my eyes closed, I was still able to pick out Hwanhee (I mean it’s pretty obvious) but I was listening to the others blindly and I found I had a positive opinion of all four voices. I don’t even want to nitpick them too much since I really thought this was all very good. I didn’t even mind the song -- I put this on my playlist.

Haram’s voice is so full and mature, it’s almost incongruous with his youthful looks. I really like how he sings, though I’d prefer if he used a little less vibrato. There may have been moments when he was very slightly off pitch, but I couldn’t swear to it because the song’s melody isn’t super clear to me. I also would have preferred if he sang with his eyes open. But those are nitpicks. His voice is lovely.

Side note: He and Hwanhee are both wearing suits that are way too big on them. What’s up with that, stylist unnies? Did you ask them to wear sweaters and they said no so you punished them with giant suits?

Inseong’s voice is rich like Haram’s, but not quite as deep, and a bit smoother. I have no criticism. He also does a great job harmonizing with Hwanhee, singing in a sweet falsetto. I know I’m not saying a lot about Inseong, but it’s just because I have no notes! He did great.

If you read my Boys Planet recaps, you know that I really like Hwanhee’s voice and always have. I think he sounds a lot like Baekhyun from Exo, and that is fully a compliment to both of them. He uses more vibrato than I would have liked here, but that’s a preference thing. I think he did great here, and I hope he won a few fans, since I feel like not many people supported him on Boys Planet. But isn’t it satisfying when it’s his turn to sing? I love his full belts.

I wasn’t thrilled with Junhyuk in his teaser performance, but I find his story so sad and affecting that I was really rooting for him. So I was so glad to find out that the full, bright, satisfying belts I heard with my eyes closed belonged to Junhyuk. He also proved himself singing low as a counterpoint to Haram later in the song. Ok, his vocal color is a tiny bit sharp in tone (not pitch), but not unpleasantly so. He can get a tiny bit nasal, but it’s never anything “bad.”

The harmonies were great overall, and I credit those to Junhyuk and Haram.

I don’t know who I’d pick as my top tier, I really don’t. Every time I think I’ve decided on someone and type his name, I immediately change my mind to someone else. This was a strong team, in my opinion.

The MNET Edit is kind, as is usual on this show. It was funny for me to hear one of my biases (Baekho) compliment another one of my biases (Hwanhee). But it seems that the judges didn’t like Junhyuk -- they were squirming around uncomfortably during his high belts. Well, I liked it, you dumb dumbs.

Hong Seong Jun is enjoying the singing. I think. I guess?

When the song is over, everyone applauds and says they did a good job.

VCG says that the song is hard to sing well, then tells Haram that he enjoyed his singing, for not trying to imitate the original singer too closely, but instead singing it in his own style.

VCG goes on to say that Junhyeok was disappointing with “one thing” -- his voice was too “bare” in the chorus. He wanted to hear his “modal voice”, which I think meant his chest voice. I disagree, personally. I think having the contrast of Junhyeok’s voice was refreshing. But I guess that’s just a matter of taste. Also, since VCG said that Junhyeok was disappointing with “one thing”, the implication is that VCG must have had a lot of compliments for Junhyeok as well that we didn’t get to see.

We don’t hear them say anything about Hwanhee or Inseong.

The judges vote, and it’s unanimous -- they all vote for Choi Haram.

That seems fair -- his singing was impeccable, and he also helped devise the harmonies.

Haram pretty much can’t believe it.

He almost looks like he’s going to pass out for a second, then says thank you and promises to keep working hard to justify his win.

As the guys leave the stage, the judges say that they’re glad that the difficult song worked out so well. Then VCG adds, “It’s so nice to have an audition with just singing. I’m used to dancing too and this is much better.”

Ok, my friends, I’ll post this much so that I can keep going crazy with as many screen shots as I want. Just two more songs to go! I fear I’m going to fall further and further behind… Sigh. Well, thanks for sticking with me and being patient. I’ll see you in the next one, which is going to be Decalcomanie, originally by Solar’s group Mamamoo. That should be interesting! See you then.

Xoxo BPR Noona

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