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boysplanetrecaps · 7 months

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Build Up, Ep 4 Recap: River vs A Letter

Welcome back to the project everyone loves waiting two weeks for -- my MNET Build Up Recaps! In the previous one, we saw WEi’s Seokhwa and AB6IX’s Woong take on two trainees. In this one, a bunch of my favorites face off -- Kim Minseo, Bain, Lee Gwangsuk, and Kim Sungjung. Oh no! Who will win? Let’s find out!

The guys come out, and as they stand there on stage, everyone notices how nicely dressed most of them are, and how tall.

Bain and Minseo introduce themselves as Blackfire.

The colors in Blackfire refer to their hair colors, they explain. Looks like Minseo has trimmed his hair a bit, and it makes him look a little older. Bain’s is also restyled in a way that’s a bit more flattering to his head shape, which is good. This is all good.

Wait, what is Bain wearing?

Ok, I think he’s wearing a translucent white turtleneck, a white… vest? Cumberbund? … and a white blazer, with white trousers that also appear to be maybe a bit too translucent for me.

Anyway, they explain that Bain even dyed his hair dark red (it had been orange before) as a step in becoming “ferocious” to beat the hyungs in the other team.

Gwangseok and Sungjung introduce themselves as Black Haired.

Ok, obviously something is going on here -- a mysterious hair battle. What’s going on? Baekho reads the file and finds out that Sungjung said something surprising, so much so that VCG is like, “What is this, the Joseon Dynasty?” (That’s like asking, “What’s going on, are we in Renaissance times?”)

We flashback to the rival matching moment, as Bain and Minseo make their way up to the RCPA (Rival Choosing Platform Area). A lot of teams step forward to challenge them, including Geonu’s team, which is extra painful because Geonu and Bain are both on Just B together! Hey man, that’s gotta be a Survival-Show No-Go. An SSNG.

Left to right: Team Geonu x Soomin; Team Lim Junhyeok x Yeo One; Team Lee Gwangsuk, and Kim Sungjung; Team Yoon Inhwan x Ma Jaekyung.

I guess later on I’ll try to reconstruct the order that the matching took place, because obviously this was pretty early on.

Bain takes it in stride. He’s like -- “four teams thought they could beat us. It was fun!” And he gins. I really like Bain, guys. I wish he had a better stylist because he’s really charming in a Joohoney from Monsta X kind of way.

So, Bain and Minseo start to think they’ll probably try to tackle one of the two teams on the left, and Sungjung notices the direction their eyes keeps going. He interviews, “Just by looking at them, I thought they’re someone we could beat with just emotion.” He decides to make a strong provocation to get them to pick his team and he says, “I don’t like men dying their hair red.”

Bain, being iconic, is like, “well, first of all, it’s ORANGE, you dumb dumb!”

At first, everyone is laughing, but then Bain is like, oh no you better don’t, and he picks Sungjung’s team. “They fell for our provocation. I’ve already made a plan. There’s no way we can lose -- I’m riding a wild horse. I have the fastest strongest horse. I’ve brought The Red Hare. I have… Lee Gwangseok.”

Sungjung and Gwangseok meet up some time later to prepare for the challenge. MNET blurs out the brand name on their keyboard, which is important. Also, Gwangseok looks to be wearing a big, thick turtleneck s w e a t e r. Keep that throat warm, Gwangseok-ah!

Sungjung explains that his plan was to pick a really great partner and ride on his coattails, which seems weird given that Sungjung is also pretty highly regarded on this show.

Sungjung explains that he really loved Gwangseok’s voice in both performances, even in Tomboy when Gwangseok was chosen as Low Tier. Sungjung says that he thinks they should do an emotional song, and again says that Gwangseok has a “wild horse” feeling, and every time he says that, the show plays a horse sound effect and it’s just like…

FYI, please don’t be too concerned. This isn’t a real photo, as realistic as it looks. I did this in Microsoft Paint! I know, I know. You didn’t know your BPR-unnie could work magic like this.

I think Gwangseok starts to get a bit uncomfortable with Sungjung constantly saying he’s like a wild horse, but that’s just my feeling.

Sungjung says he wants to do a song with so much emotion that it smells. “I’d say a song that almost stinks!” Sungjung, are you ok? (This is probably a Korean figure of speech.)

They decide on A Letter by Bumjin. This is the gist of the lyrics:

“As I saw you turning around, I couldn’t say anything, and my short-lived year of being sad came to an end. When the harsh memories that pass by are scattered by the wind, I try to let them go as if nothing happened so that no painful feelings remain. Goodbye, my day is fading away, my stars that failed to shine, the words I have been saving, finally, I will send you my goodbyes.”

At Gwangseok’s suggestion, they decide to just let their rugged vocals and the emotions of the song carry the piece. Sungjung literally says he’ll do whatever Gwangseok wants to do, and Gwangseok again is made a bit uncomfortable, like, “this is too much pressure!” Still, he really loves the song and thinks the performance could be really great.

They gather to rehearse by singing into iced tea bottles in a… department store changing room? IDK, fam. Gwangseok says that neither of them majored in music, so he’s worried. It surprises me to hear that Sungjung didn’t major in music, since he seems to have some training under his belt, but I guess you never know. They practice a lot to make sure they have a good stage with their “unpolished” voices.

And the performance begins!

Full version without reactions

Overall, very nice, if a bit… boring? I think that’s because of the song as much as anything. It’s just so slow and plodding, with a beat that you simply cannot tap your feet to no matter how hard you try.

Both guys have lovely vocal tones, and I really didn’t hear anything “off” or “wrong” about the performance when I just listened to it without watching.

Gwangseok sounds husky, on the verge of him losing his voice, but that’s kind of his thing, isn’t it?

Sungjung’s voice is so clean, almost featureless that it could blend with almost anyone’s, from Jay to Hayoon. I feel like I couldn’t really hear him in this performance, partly because he sang a bit too softly, and partly because Gwangseok sang a bit too loudly.

Something obviously went wrong part way, as Gwangseok seemed to have some sort of problem with his in-ear piece, and I think his inexperience on stage hurt the team a lot. In-ear piece giving you trouble? Subtly take it out and just move on. But he did the opposite -- he made a big deal out of his ear piece not working, shaking his head, getting his partner’s attention to point it out, just basically having no chill.

And then, without the in-ear piece to help him judge volume levels, Gwangseok seems to lose control of his dynamics, and he suddenly and randomly gets really loud and even a bit shouty. It hurts the blend of the harmonies. It’s a shame, because I think that Sungjung’s voice is really interesting and wanted to get to hear him more. I feel like Gwangseok kind of dominated the show. It never sounds bad, but both of them look kind of miserable on stage and the vibe is off.

And that’s the worst thing about it, since the whole point was supposed to be to portray this sad break up song in a way that makes the listener cry. The listener is too busy wondering “what’s wrong with Gwangseok’s earpiece?” to connect emotionally with the song.

I’m not sure what happened here. Maybe they practiced too much and Gwangseok wore his throat a little raw and he just sort of lost confidence. Maybe it was just singing with the in-ear piece. I don’t know. But I think that Sunjung maybe shouldn’t have been so weird about the whole thing, because it put a lot of pressure on Gwangseok.

Also, I think they should have planned what they would do between verses besides stand there and bop. Maybe they could have had the lights dim on them a little, or have something projected on the back screen, something to take the focus off of them while they weren’t actively singing.

In the MNET edit, everything seems to start right. Right when Gwangseok starts singing, everyone seems to love his singing. Sungjung gets a lot of happy nods, too.

Eunkwang is enjoying it. I think. I guess?

But then it starts to go wrong. Gwangseok lets everything show on his face and totally forgets about portraying the emotions of the song, which was supposed to be the whole point. The judges start to look kind of bored, kind of concerned.

(next to Baekho’s face, it says “complicated”)

It's a bummer, because they sound ok, despite the lack of blend in their voices and the problems with Gwangseok’s dynamics.

When the guys are done singing, the judges applaud a little, and VCG is smiling, but it’s a bit muted. Sungjung asks Gwankseok about his in ear monitors, and Gwangseok says they were “unstable.”

Backstage, the guys say they’re not sure what the judges will say. They think it started off well, but was disappointing toward the end. They also aren’t sure the two singers' voices blended well, which I actually think I disagree with. I think they didn’t practice matching their dynamics properly, and if they had, their voices might have sounded really nice together. I think their lack of training ended up biting them in the hinder.

The judges seem to take a long time voting. Finally, we learn that their high is 90 and their low is 75, from -- who else -- Jaehwan.

Jaehwan says that the song suited Gwangseok’s voice well, but it became too strong. Solar chimes in to say that Gwangseok sang a bit too loudly at points and it wasn’t balanced enough. Eunkwang scolds Gwangseok a little, saying that he really has to watch his dynamics because otherwise he won’t be a good member of a team. “You guys are really good,” Eunkwang says, even if they haven’t had training, “but there are parts that are disappointing.” Sungjung lacks energy, Eunkwang says -- and Baekho agrees. I think they’re all pretty correct.

As the guys walk off stage, Baekho and Seungkwan compare Gwangseok’s voice to a gemstone that just needs some polishing.

Next it’s Bain and Minseo’s turn. Backstage, they’re nervous -- scared, even.

We flashback to the rival choosing day. Bain feels bad, partly because so many guys thought they could challenge his team, and partly because he was baited into choosing Sungjung’s team. But no more regrets! He is determined to find a song that fits his voice well.

Minseo is frustrated, because he was low tier. “I expected no one to come my way and no one did,” he says. They were basically the team of leftovers, we see. Minseo says that he feels grateful to Bain and determined to do better.

Some time later, Bain’s hair is now pale orange, and they’re meeting in an office space of some kind. Neither is wearing a sweater! What kind of bullshit is this?

But at least Minseo has a nice coffee. Good, keep that up.

They’ve already decided to sing a pop song. But which one?

We see a pre-production meeting with Different-Hair Bain. I like this look better than the weird helmet cut he has going in episodes 1-2. He says that he thinks he must have been a foreigner in his previous life, because he feels so at home in the United States. Oh, come to visit, Bain! I have a spare bedroom. My fella and I will show you around. We can go do karaoke!

He just really likes pop music, by which I think they mean specifically Western pop music. They decide to do River by Bishop Briggs. I mean, yeah. That’s a great song to sing. Powerful, driving, oddly emotional despite the fact that the lyrics don’t really make sense no matter what language(s) you speak. Yep.

People thought these two would be pushovers, easy to beat. It’s just made them want to try harder.

And then it’s time for their performance. Solar is worried that the song would be too powerful for them, but I know my Bain and I think this will be good.

Full version without reactions

My thoughts:

FUCK YEAH.

THAT’S THE STUFF.

Ok, guys, I would like to point out that I TOLD YOU ABOUT BAIN. I told you! I told you that he’s fucking great and I know that the show has up until now edited him to look like a schmuck but YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT YOUR BPR UNNIE TOLD YOU ABOUT BAIN. I also called Minseo “one to watch.” Listen to your unnie!

One of my favorite parts is when, even in the Youtube version with no reactions, you can actually hear the judges screaming right toward the end. Amazing. Love it.

Their voices are actually really similar, so I can mostly describe them together. Both of them have a fantastically well developed upper mix, meaning they can hit higher notes with a full voice rather than a falsetto. They both have a perfect vibrato that provides texture and interest without making it sound wobbly or fussy.

In terms of performance in general, they seemed confident, striding around the stage like they knew they were hot fucking shit, which they are. Bain’s little grin as he whispers “like a river” toward the end is so good.

Nitpicks? Just three. (1) At once point, Minseo got a tiny tiny bit shrieky as the note got away from him, right toward the end. (2) Bain’s falsetto was a little thin and underdeveloped. (3) Minseo in particular could improve his English pronunciation. But who cares, this rocked. I forgive it all. At this point, I prefer this to the original version by a decent amount. If only they’d worn sweaters it would have been completely perfect.

Ok, for once I’m excited to see the MNET version.

It’s so fun to watch the judging panel go apeshit, even if it was filmed on a potato.

VCG likes it so much he gives his Super Dorky Smile of approval.

There are so many instant replays but I don’t even mind. I suspected Bain’s whispered “like a river” would get replayed and it did, but a bunch of other things too.

The judges are just open mouthed while the guys backstage are like, “this is so dark and sexy! They’re like different people.” Even Minseo’s slightly shrieky high note toward the end gets love.

When they’re almost done the judges are already on their feet screaming, but then the singers have two more notes to sing and the judges hush their mouths to listen.

So. Satisfying.

Backstage, the guys are mostly gobsmacked. Most of them didn’t know that Bain was that good. On stage, VCG is wiping away tears and Jaehwan is comparing Bain to Rihanna.

Bain and Minseo are being so polite and reserved that VCG teases them that they should be more cocky about it after a performance that good.

Solar calls them “perverts,” which again refers to that thing Seunghwan said in the first episode, which is just a little bit beyond my ability to research. I assume it’s Korean slang. “You seemed to know what it means to put on a performance,” she adds, which, yeah.

Seungkwan asks if they’re both actually Korean, which is pretty funny.

“What? Hyung, what? Why are you laughing at me, hyung? I’m going to tell S. Coups on you." - Seungkwan, probably

Seungkwan says that the song River could come off as cheesy if you’re not careful, but Bain was so sexy and Minseo went nuts!

VCG says “Bain, that’s how one should sing -- with all the different tones. That’s the taste I’ve been wanting. That’s how you get the listeners to focus. And Minseo? You’re a trainee but you gave more taste than the pros.”

Eunwkwang says that even though they were powerful, their singing was clean and they never lost control.

Jaehwan says they’re in trouble… because now they have to do even better in the next round. Baekho is like, come on!

Time for the judges to vote! Backstage, poor Gwangseok and Sungjung -- remember them? -- know what’s up. Reveal the votes, but not really! Commercial break! Reveal the votes again! But not really! Ok, finally reveal them this time!

Seungkwan, VCG, and Wendy all give 100s. Baekho and Wendy give 97s, and Solar and Jaehwan must have given 98 or 99.

The continued look of astonishment on Minseo’s face is just about the cutest/dorkiest thing on earth. I love it.

And Bain low-key looks like he might cry:

Dahee calls out the first team, who walk up on stage kind of sadly. Since their high score was 90 and low score was 75, there’s just no way that they could have won, but we get the scores anyway: 690 to 587.

Doing the math, Solar and Jaehwan must both have given Bain and Minseo a 98. As for the Gwangseok and Sungjung, if you subtract out the high and low scores, it turns out the average of the other judges scores was 84.

Backstage, Inhwan and Jaekyung note that Bain and Minseo’s team would have beaten any of the teams who challenged them. As a reminder, they were challenged by: Geonu x Soomin and Junhyeok x Yeo One as well as Gwangsuk x Sungjungand Inhwan x Jaekyung. You might notice that two of those teams haven’t performed yet…. Hmmmm. I wonder if maybe these performances were shown a bit out of order? So now we’re spoilered that Team Geonu x Soomin and Team Junhyeok x Yeo One will both score below 690.

Dahee asks the losing team if they have any remarks, and our leaping lizard Sungjung says, “I just want to say one thing. Red hair suits you well.” Everyone laughs and the good feeling is restored.

Gwangseok says, “But seriously, we just wanted to be cool. We thought a loss would be acceptable if we did well, but the opponents did better.” The implication is that maybe he thinks they *didn’t* do well. The judges reassure him that he did, and Dahee adds her piece: “I don’t know if it’ll comfort you, but from where I stand, you guys still seem cool to me, even though you lost.” Aww, Dahee is pretty great, isn’t she? I was unsure about her in the beginning but she’s just the cutest.

Backstage, Gwangseok and Sungjung say they should just go get some soju. And Bain and Minseo are in a state of delighted disbelief.

Anyway, that was fun! I feel a bit sad for Sungjung and Gwangseok, but it also feels fair. I think Sungjung put all his hopes on Gwangseok instead of just sort of running his own (horse) race, and I think Gwangseok’s inexperience showed. I still think both of them are great singers and I hope they can continue to learn and grow from all this.

Thanks as always for reading! And if you’re enjoying my recaps, feel free to talk about them whenever/wherever/however! See you as always in the next one.

#bain #just b #bpr recaps build up #build up mnet #mnet build up #build up

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