An Unimaginable Result?
Of course, the moment the winners and losers were decided, the candidates for loser revival were essentially set in stone too.
Lee Hye-na and Joo Jinwoo. Everyone figured those two—the strongest contenders with the thickest fanbases—would advance to the next round.
That's what everyone thought, and I was convinced of it myself.
I'd even watched the remaining performances with Lee Hye-na in the waiting room, chatting amiably, because I was so sure of it.
'I figured Lee Hye-na would come back through loser revival for sure...'
Lee Hye-na — 90,893 votes
Joo Jinwoo — 189,875 votes
So Yujin — 56,098 votes
Baek Yuyeon — 97,893 votes
Baek Yuyeon edged out Lee Hye-na by a razor-thin margin in the viewer vote.
My first thought upon seeing it was simple.
'This has to be rigged, right?'
Of course, Baek Yuyeon was a talented singer with a unique tone no one else could match, and she had a bright future ahead. But...
'Her vote count actually went up from last time?'
The previous round's tallies weren't public, but participants had seen their own numbers. Baek Yuyeon had told me hers over a meal—it was about 20,000 votes less than this round.
Those extra 20,000 votes had just dropped out of nowhere.
Naturally, rigging was my first suspicion.
But I soon learned the truth.
"Whoa. Reverse voting? To this extent?"
Starlight, the idol group with the biggest fandom domestically and abroad.
Their rabid fans, full of spite, had piled all their votes onto Baek Yuyeon to knock out Lee Hye-na.
Starlight's official fan Twitter account—the one that rallied the troops for the reverse vote—had about 60,000 followers, and that tweet had racked up over 200,000 views.
"Those guys are insane. In every sense."
* * *
Singer Star Season 5's TOP6 had been decided.
There was some major backlash in the process, but... whatever. It's not like you could legally punish them for it, and you couldn't just bump Lee Hye-na up and drop Baek Yuyeon either.
Once her elimination was confirmed, Lee Hye-na shed tears of regret.
Her life had been one big string of bad luck, so I totally got it.
"People can be so mean."
"Yeah. I thought they'd reverse-vote you, Siyeon... Never imagined they'd target Yuyeon unnie expecting her to take the revival spot."
I'd walked Lee Hye-na to the parking lot—twenty minutes from the dorms—to see her off as she checked out.
We'd taken a morning stroll together, and it didn't feel half bad.
Despite dropping out, she seemed a bit relieved, even.
Maybe because she'd nailed the performance she wanted? Or had she just burned out on the industry and gone numb?
If it were me, I'd probably feel the latter.
Failed idol auditions as an indie due to rigging, then a year later, unjustly booted from Singer Star Season 5 by antis' reverse voting.
Her entertainment career so far had been nothing but raw deals.
'Trials like this do build a solid fandom, though...'
This incident would make her even more famous, draw more personal fans.
But if the endless setbacks killed her passion for idols, that growing fandom would mean nothing.
So I asked her, my voice tinged with worry.
"Unnie, you're not giving up, right?"
"...What kind of question is that? Come on."
She paused for a second, but her answer showed she wasn't broken yet.
Though her smile looked a little fragile, like a third round of bad luck might shatter her for real.
'No way that'll happen, right?'
Honestly, any company would welcome her with open arms.
Debut her in a rookie group, and they'd start miles ahead of the pack—thanks to her ability to pull a third-tier idol-level fandom solo.
That's Lee Hye-na's value.
If she plays it smart from here, no more raw deals.
With that lingering unease, I saw her off from the dorms.
* * *
Two weeks passed, and another 1-on-1 round whittled us down to TOP5.
No surprises—Choi Seongi, who'd lucked into favorable matchups till now, was out.
I sang a song I'd prepped as a backup but hadn't used, beating her handily to advance.
From here on, stages ran weekly—two per week.
One elimination a week until the three finalists for the finale were set, then a week's break before the endgame.
Tight schedule meant tight prep time.
So no time to help Blooming this round—I decided to lock in my song choices fast.
"Finale song's in the works... That leaves two stages, so I'll have to pull from my past life."
Last round, I'd given Child of the Waves to Blooming, but their version still couldn't top glassy sky.
Starlight's comeback had snagged first, but it held strong at number two.
Watching that anomaly hit me.
'Damn, current Seo Siyeon writes better songs than past-life me—or even other composers from back then.'
Ideally, I'd make all my competition songs originals, but time was short.
Finale track had a clear vision already in production.
No one meddling in my picks now, no genre limits.
Just whatever I want, whatever suits my voice.
"Still, I kinda wanna do something weird."
Truth be told, my last couple stages? Kinda boring.
Safe, industrial picks just to advance.
Chin in hand, slurping chocolate milk, I scrolled the USB tracks slowly.
Everything from my past-life hits to restored famous pop tunes.
"Wait, how many carols are there?"
What jumped out were the Christmas carols—stuff you'd only sing in the holiday season.
Past life had tons of carols, famous ones beyond counting.
I'd restored a few I considered masterpieces, but... there were more than I thought.
"Carols... in summer?"
It sounded ridiculous even coming from my own mouth.
Outside, cicadas screamed, heat haze shimmered off the asphalt—it was peak summer.
Announce a Rudolph or Santa song now, and the production team would call me crazy.
'Was tempted to try a summer concept, but...'
Still, I couldn't look away from the USB playlist.
A few restored carols from memory.
One in particular made my finger pause.
A solo track from a male idol I'd known in my past life.
'Not as flashy as Mariah Carey's carol (she exists in this world too), but...'
This one had a certain charm.
Just the intro made your heart go all fuzzy; even on a summer night without snow, it cooled a corner of your chest with its crisp pop vibe.
Less a true carol, more standard pop progression—but released in winter with Christmas-themed lyrics shoehorned in.
The whole concept nostalgic for past Christmases, which actually made it feel less wintry.
"Wait, what if I flip it?"
Chewing my chocolate milk straw, I sketched it out in my head.
Singer Star so far had stuck to the textbook audition path.
Explosive vocals, raw emotion, flashy performances.
But maybe what heat-exhausted audiences needed wasn't more fire.
'Christmas in summer... Southern Hemisphere actually has Christmas in summer, right?'
Seemed legit.
Full of surprise factor, great for clicks and aggro.
The melody suited rainy summer nights more than winter anyway.
And screw justification—I just wanted to.
Craving carols, summer or not.
Humans have always gotta do what they wanna do.
With that, I fired up the internet, hunting kids' Santa costumes for mid-summer cosplay.