Chapter 113: 4-Minute Self-PR
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113: 4-Minute Self-PR
The Self-PR stages for Idol Dynasty Annals proceeded in order of debut.
Parte took the stage first, clad in magnificent outfits encrusted with jewels. Their performance was so grand it felt like a finale right from the start.
They say if you’re going to be a servant, you should do it in a nobleman’s house for a reason. Even if the performance itself was somewhat crude—keeping the original choreography and only slightly tweaking the arrangement—the exterior was undeniably dazzling.
The performances that followed were generally mediocre.
Since nothing particularly caught my eye, I just watched, while cheers and applause erupted from both sides of me.
I expected the Spark kids to react enthusiastically, if only because they were conscious of the production staff, but they didn't. Instead, they watched the stages with their mouths shut even tighter than mine.
Well, considering they had torn down their own song to the bassline and completely reworked the choreography, the other teams probably looked like they were out on a picnic.
Since they weren't being rude or ignoring the other performances, I didn't say anything.
There was, however, one team that stood out.
It was Berion, the group that would have been the maknaes of Awangsil if not for us, performing right before our turn.
Compared to the intense choreography, rugged visuals, and flamboyant acrobatic shows of the others, Berion’s stage evoked the image of bright, cheerful boys blowing bubbles.
When I monitored them beforehand, they seemed to be in the same vein as the other groups. It looked like they were trying something new for the first stage of this new program.
While people who only do what they’ve always done are scary in their own way, you have to be careful of those full of a challenging spirit. It means they can awaken something latent at any moment.
In that sense, Berion’s stage was good. The physical color palette was different from the previous stages, which had been blasted with deep dark blue lights incessantly. Whatever Berion’s goal was, they had succeeded in standing out to some extent.
As Berion finished their stage and lined up, I smiled and applauded. Kang Gi-yeon, who was also clapping hard, leaned toward me and whispered softly.
“The Berion seniors are cool.”
“Right? Let’s watch and learn.”
It seemed he was thinking along the same lines as me.
“I really enjoyed Berion’s stage. It was an impressive performance that reminded me of Hellas’s debut days.”
I looked at Yur, who was emceeing from the podium.
“Before that.”
Yur held up a cue card, his palm facing us.
“It’s time for the final act. Spark, the maknae group of Idol Dynasty Annals, please come out!”
“Let’s finish our stage well, too.”
The lyrics of Flowering contain specific keywords.
Dreams, strength, wishes, momentum, cheers, and so on.
And depending on how you cook it, it can become the story of a dream-filled idol’s challenge.
Spark, idols who still held onto the traces of their pre-debut daily lives, sat in a circle with their heads resting on each other's shoulders. Then, they opened their eyes as if waking from a dream.
『There are times when
A single dream feels so vivid』
The intro was originally my part, but for this stage, Choi Je-ho took it.
He was the member who looked better in glasses—a perfect prop to show the "daily life" part—than anyone else, and he was the center who held Spark’s identity.
Choi Je-ho perfectly acted the part of someone who had overslept before passing the part to the next member.
『The strength that keeps my heart racing
Preventing me from falling asleep
Until the long dawn passes』
Besides swapping parts, the lyrics were also modified.
Words that evoked the night were replaced with "dawn" or "blue sky" as needed. I removed every single element that could be perceived as a narrative of hardship for an idol who was just starting to take flight.
Thanks to that, the current Spark was perfectly synchronized with the image of pure, passionate idols running toward their dreams—wearing snow-white t-shirts, jeans as refreshing as a summer sky, and visuals more transparent than the sea of Jeju Island.
Though, when the camera caught them from a distance, they might look like unemployed young men from next door who had accidentally wandered into a group of flashy, luxury-clad male idols.
But what if the broadcast cameras caught their faces in a close-up?
Then it immediately turned into a commercial shoot for a summer vacation booking app. Don't underestimate visuals that have never been criticized, even when the group was being pelted with every other kind of insult.
Choi Je-ho and Lee Cheong-hyeon launched a visual assault that created the illusion of a giant fan blowing a cool breeze.
Kang Gi-yeon acted the part of a trainee moving forward with a bright smile despite occasional stumbles.
And while Park Ju-woo and Jeong Seong-bin proved their live vocals with the changed lyrics, the second verse passed by.
‘Since it’s not the main performance, there won't be many stage effects, so it might feel empty. I’m worried it’ll look hollow if the costumes and makeup are too simple.’
Jeong Seong-bin had said that during our meeting.
His point was rational. It was so accurate that I wondered if he had come back from the future after watching Awangsil.
To prepare for this, I had brought that photo of the flamboyant Polo next to the photo of the handsome actor.
Kang Gi-yeon and I walked out from either side of Choi Je-ho. As he finished his dance break, we unfolded flight jackets covered in various large and small patches behind his back.
These were the outer garments we had stashed in a corner before the stage began.
How many times had I circled the Dongdaemun market to find the right patches that matched the keywords associated with each member?
Choi Je-ho slipped his arms into the jacket and took off his glasses. Then, he casually swept back his bangs.
Along with the accompaniment Lee Cheong-hyeon had painstakingly arranged, the atmosphere shifted from a gentle breeze to a heat-laden summer wind.
『Until my heart boils over
And overflows!』
With the sound of waves Lee Cheong-hyeon and I had recorded at the Busan sea, the six blue jackets fluttered one last time before settling.
The room was silent. Until someone broke the silence with a "Wow..." and a small round of applause.
Leaving the courtesy applause behind, I looked at the production staff beyond the cameras.
Faces that couldn't take their eyes off Spark, camera angles still pointed toward them.
This was enough. I was very satisfied.
After everyone’s performances ended, the evaluations followed.
For over ten minutes, only warm words were exchanged among the cast. There wasn't the slightest hint of anyone expressing disappointment in a stage or showing wariness toward a talented team.
In a way, it was natural. No celebrity wants to receive malicious comments or criticism.
“How was Spark?”
Yur threw a barb at us as we were beaming and listening intently to our seniors.
All sorts of praise and wonderful encouragement had already been given. Since people had even said it was an honor to see such stages right in front of them, everyone probably expected the maknaes to also praise their seniors and share the warmth of our society.
A mutual praise society—it’s nice.
It’s nice, but...
‘What do you think is the most important thing in a vote?’
The Spark kids had given various answers to the question I posed during our meeting.
My opinion was this:
‘I think a vote that has lost its fairness is meaningless. The same goes for a survival program that has lost its credibility. The moment people say the contestants are all in cahoots, the competition is over.’
If a stage was overwhelmingly good, the evaluation should be clean and honest.
However, I couldn't drag the kids into the possibility of being victims of "evil editing" because of my personal stance.
So, in situations like this, I always take the microphone.
“Berion seniors’ stage was really great. We will also work hard so as not to lose when it comes to the 'youth' concept!”
And I only say what needs to be said.
What if there’s nothing to praise in other groups? Then I just don't.
The expressions on the faces of Parte—especially Song Min-il and a few others who had received soulful praise from every group so far—were quite a sight.
In the subsequent stage evaluation, I drew a massive amount of aggro.
In a vague evaluation system where you just had to give +5 points to a team that did well compared to your own and -5 to a team that didn't, I slapped a -5 on every group except Berion.
It got to the point where even Berion, despite receiving the bonus points, was walking on eggshells around us.
I wonder how my image—firmly pushing for "No, let's do it this way" among the worried members—will come across on broadcast. I’m already looking forward to it.
Spark, who only received a penalty from Parte, tied for first place with Parte, who had similarly only received a penalty from Spark.
Yur seemed delighted, saying the results were intense from the very start.
“There’s no need to worry. The results of the Self-PR stage are not reflected in the final outcome.”
Sighs of relief could be heard from all over at Yur’s explanation.
“However, there would be no reason to rank you if there were no use for it, right?”
With Yur’s comment, the names of the six groups appeared on the electronic display in the order of their Self-PR rankings.
“In the first competition, you will each be matched with a rival group and perform using that rival group’s song.”
“Gasp!”
“The team with the most votes will be awarded additional votes as a reward. We will have the groups choose their rivals starting from the 1st place of the Self-PR stage!”
It was a setup that sparked competition right from the beginning. While the cast was "soft tofu" flavored, the production staff seemed to be "mala" flavored.
“However, since we have a tie for first place, we need a brief discussion on how to handle this.”
With that, Yur called Spark and Parte to the front.
“First, I’ll ask if both teams have a rival group they wish to pick. If the groups you want to swap songs with don't overlap, we’ll have you compete with your respective choices.”
Since Spark didn't care which group we faced, I was about to pick a team other than the one Parte had pre-selected to avoid dragging out the shoot unnecessarily. But then...
“If Spark is okay with it, we would like to designate Spark as our rival group!”
Parte beat us to the punch.
I could roughly see what kind of picture they were imagining when they picked us.
They probably wanted to face off properly against some slightly rude juniors, show the gap between them, and then appeal to their "senior beauty" by embracing those juniors anyway.
‘That’s only possible if there’s actually a gap to begin with...’
Seeing how they were already having arrogant thoughts before even properly assessing themselves, I figured the MYTH employees must have a pretty hard time managing them.
I asked Yur and Parte for their understanding and then asked the members what they wanted to do.
And these kids gave a very clean "okay." Although they had said let's win everything with skill, it was clear that they were also fearless, albeit in a different way than Parte.
Once the clash between Spark and Parte was decided, someone offered me a handshake.
It was Song Min-il.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Yes, we look forward to it, senior!”
How could anyone like a person who says "let's do our best" with a face that clearly shows they don't want to?
Feeling Song Min-il grip my hand firmly, I started to imagine what kind of gratifying future he was painting in his head, then stopped.
The grander the dream, the more it reveals a person’s true nature when it shatters.
I resolved to do my best so that I could see Song Min-il’s true heart.
However, as always, it was I who was broken.