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boysplanetrecaps · 3 months

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Build Up Episode 0: Getting to Know the Boys Part 4: Team Unique

Hey, friends! This is the fourth and final post in my “episode zero” series of my MNET’s Build Up recaps. I’m giving you some basic background info on each of the boys, including where you may have seen them before, the group they’re in normally if applicable, and my opinion/analysis of their teaser performance. In the previous post, I covered Team Power. This will wrap things up with Team Unique. Woot!

Kang Hayoon

Hayoon is 20, and before this, he went on LOUD and Kookmin Singer. He may have met Jung Soomin (the kid from Chicago) on the show Loud, and he may have met Kwon Euibin on Kookmin Singer.

He was V07, and his teaser song is One and Only by Adele. He has a genuinely unique singing style that doesn’t at all match the way he dresses and looks. It’s a very specific vocal color that might not appeal to everyone -- deliberately somewhat nasal, but in a controlled way. It sounds retro-modern, the way that a lot of Western artists sing these days. He’s obviously a genuine talent, but I can almost feel his throat closing up as he sings. He needs a bit of training to really use that amazing instrument he has. I hope he gets it, and that it doesn’t destroy his natural color.

Jeon Woong

Hair-stylist Unnies, what the fuck? Seriously.

Much better, thank you.

Woong is 26 years old, and was V11, performing Bad by Christopher. He sings the song almost exactly the way the original performer does, even down to the little purposeful vocal kicks. I would have liked to hear a bit more of his interpretation of the song instead of karaoke version. He uses falsetto to hit some of the high notes, but that’s ok, they’re very high notes and he sounds good. I like his singing in an instinctive way, but I’m not sure how well trained he is.

Woong is in AB6IX, a four member group (used to be five) from Brandnew music. Like CIX, this is post-Wanna One group; Daehwi, a former member of Wanna One, is the center and face of AB6IX. Woong, meanwhile, is the main vocal. AB6IX started off doing pretty well, but one of their members, Youngmin, had a DUI arrest and had to leave the group in disgrace. It hurt the group pretty badly, and they haven’t really bounced back. Hopefully, going on this show will draw some good attention to the group, who I’ve always liked but thus far haven’t stanned. The song of theirs that I like best (of the ones I’ve heard -- there are lot of kpop songs, you guys, I don’t always keep up) is Close.

And if you want to hear more of Woong’s voice, here’s his solo song, Moondance.

Sunyoul

Sunyoul is 27 and a member of Up10tion.

He has been on a few shows before this, including two reality shows devoted to trot, a uniquely Korean style of music, and a stint on King of Mask Singer in 2016 where he managed to convince everyone that he was a female trot singer. People were pretty surprised when they found out who he was! Seriously, check out his performance -- I don’t think I’d guess in a million years that this was a man.

For his teaser performance, he was V04, and did a song called Twenty Five Twenty One. He had some shaky moments, but showed his strong lower register and some serious vocal agility, moving from low to high notes almost effortlessly. I think he’s one to watch.

Let me talk briefly about Up10tion. They debuted as a 10 member group in 2015, and didn’t really catch the world on fire. Several members went on ProduceX101 and two members did well enough that they basically started solo careers afterward instead of really bringing the fame home to the group. (I’m not criticizing them -- that was mismanagement on the agency’s part, not their fault.) Three members have left the group, and two members went on Boys Planet (Hwanhee and Xiao). Several members have left the agency, including Hwanhee and Sunyoul, and the future of Up10tion is really dubious at this point.

Meanwhile, I’ve liked a few songs of Up10tion over the years, so it’s a bummer that they never really worked out. I think the first song of theirs that I liked was Blue Rose. Also, What if Love is great, especially the chorus, even if it sounds like they’re saying “ready for love” instead of “what if love”. In my opinion, a lot of Up10tion songs have weird intros and kind of mid verses and then awesome choruses held down by Hwanhee’s marquee vocals and Sunyoul’s sweet higher register. So if you listen to the first 30 seconds and you’re like “meh?” give the whole song a listen. Also, their song Spin Off was one of the best songs of 2021 and lives forever on my playlists. It’s one of those full-on kpop songs that isn’t really any genre, just sort of pop that makes you feel happy.

Wumuti

Wumuti is 24 and is from China, though he’s actually an ethnic Uyghur, a Turkic ethnic group that is an officially recognized ethnic minority in China. If you read my Boys Planet recaps, you know that I have a soft spot for him. He just wants this so bad. Plus, and I don’t want to bum you out too much, but the Uyghurs are facing some pretty serious problems, including forced sterilization and labor camps and it’s really really bad. So I can’t help but always cheer for Wumuti, you know?

He also seems like a really sweet, genuine, and hard working person. He seems pretty fluent in Korean and has been on all the Korean reality shows: Road to Star, The Dance & The Voice, Super Idol, Under Nineteen and Boys Planet. So this makes the third survival show in a row that Wumuti and Jay will be on together! (The other two were Under 19 and Boys Planet.)

Here’s one of my favorite Wumuti performances, gross lollipop aside. (He’s the one in the white hat.) Oh, now I miss Boys Planet!

Then there’s his cover of Antifragile, which he released shortly after getting kicked off Boys Planet.

Ok, as for his teaser song, he was V12, performing Seven by Jungkook. He sounds fine, though I wouldn’t say at all his voice belongs in Unique. I think I’d call it Allround -- I couldn’t promise that I’d know his voice just from hearing it the way I would with, say, Hwanhee or Jay. Also, the rapping is a little cringe, but TBH it’s cringe even in the original version of the song.

I think he was hoping to get people’s attention by singing a super popular song in English. His end game isn’t to make the top 4 of this show -- he wants to launch a solo career. I mean, that’s what I assume, anyway. I’m not sure if that will work out for him, but I hope it does.

Lee Gwangseok, aka, Lee Kwangseok

Gwangseok is kind of a question mark overall -- I know nothing about him, not even his age. We actually learn on the first episode that he has no training at all and works as a model (!). So he has never been on any other show and he’s definitely not in an existing group.

He’s V19 in the teaser song, showing off a unique, smokey, extremely thick kind of voice. I enjoy his performance, even though he’s singing a ballad, so that says a lot, though I know that some people may not personally like this distinctive style. I wouldn’t necessarily have guessed that he has no training. Maybe he just has good instincts, or maybe he had some light vocal training, like in high school chorus or something like that, because he can hit some fairly high notes in his chest voice. And some singers are charming without training -- Joni Mitchell comes to mind as someone like that. They sing the way they sing, and people can like it or not.

I’ll be really interested in see more of Gwangseok. I don’t know if he’s right for a vocal group based on harmonies, because his voice is so distinctive. However, he’s apparently quite handsome* and that combined with genuine vocal talent and his sort of self-effacing charm could give him a decent solo career.

*Those of you who regularly read my recaps know that I have no idea who is and who isn’t “handsome” or “pretty” in the kpop world. I often pick out the member who everyone thinks is the “ugly one” in a group and choose them as the one who’s best looking! So I have no idea. But the other guys on the show react in such a way as to indicate that he’s really handsome, and he works as a model, so I guess he’s handsome.

Hong Sungwon

He’s a musical actor, and that’s about all I know.

He was V21, doing Desperado by the Eagles. He sings it with a slight country twang, which is wild for a non-native speaker. (I assume he’s a non-native speaker? Maybe I’m wrong.) He has a rich, warm tone and impeccable pitch. I don’t love all his weird rhythmic choices in the song, but he’s trying to show that he’s fully singing live. It’s hard to critique a voice like this -- it’s just really good without necessarily really being all that unique. I like it a lot, don’t get me wrong. It’ll be nice to hear him sing more on this show.

Neon

He’s listed as a solo singer, but I can’t figure out much more about him. There’s another Korean singer in this world named Neon Bunny (check out her song It’s You, one of my all-time favorites -- she’s not a kpop singer, she’s an indie artist and the song is amazing) and another Kpop performer named Neon who is a band called About U, so it’s hard to find out info about this particular guy with the same/similar name. I do know that he’s 28 years old -- that’s about it!

He was V33, doing Rush Hour by Crush. He has clean, nice vocals -- not particular unique, despite his category. He’s just really nice to listen to. Good pitch, good breath control, good power, all the good stuff. In fact, I think I would have put him in the Power category. You can see him in his silhouette performance standing quite a distance from the microphone, still singing loud enough to be heard clearly. I’m looking forward to hearing more from him.

Kim Seohyung

Soehyung is a musical actor and has a similar singing style to Kim Seongjeong and Choi Haram. So it’s just not going to appeal to me, as much as I can respect his skill. His teaser song was V18, Me After You by Paul Kim. He did falter a little on one of the high notes, but I mean, it was just 90 seconds of singing one song, and mistakes happen. I think he belongs in the Power category, not the Unique category, but that’s just me.

A fan of his made this “Kim Seohyung cut” of episode 1 -- all 90 seconds that we got to see of him in episode one. MNET really doesn’t care much about Seohyung!

Lee Hwanhee

Hwanhee is from Up10tion, but you might recall him from Boys Planet as the guy who ended up on General Gunwook’s team for Kill this Love. (Performance) You might also remember that he had to withdraw from the show midway due to his health issues.

He is V38, performing Tomboy by G-Idle. He did the song justice, I thought, putting enough snap and sass into it. There were some backup prerecorded vocals that make it tough to tell how much he’s singing live. But I’ve heard enough of his vocals to know that he’s capable of some excellent singing.

I never got the sense that many of my 3-4 readers liked Hwanhee much, but I think he’s a really good vocalist. I like his distinctive, Baekhyun-esque vocal color, which adds nicely to Up10tion songs. However, he might be a tad outclassed by some of the other guys on this show, who have more training than he does. I think sometimes he wears out his voice and kind of runs out of steam while he sings.

I think I would have put him in the Power category, but maybe I don’t really understand what the categories are about.

Kwon Euibin

I can’t get over this official picture. Imagine being like, “Yes, this represents me. This is my brand. I’m going for that, like, pissed off substitute teacher vibe.” I mean. IDK.

He really likes beige sweaters over white shirts, I guess.

Ok, so Euibin is only 25 years old, and my scouting tells me he’s a trainee going for the idol life. He went on two other shows: The Idol Band: Boy's Battle and Kookmin Singer. On the latter show, he may have met Kang Hayoon, the one who sang the Adele song for his intro clip.

He was V35, another fecking ballad, but his voice was unexpectedly sweet and pretty compared to his serious countenance. He strained a little on some of the higher notes and the whole thing felt a little uneven, occasionally kind of shouty. It’s nice to listen to despite all that. I’m not quite sure what to make of him so far, so I’ll reserve judgment for now. But again, not sure he’s “unique.”

Taewoo

Taewoo is 26 and my sleuthing tells me he’s a songwriter who appeared on a few other shows I haven’t heard of, Sing Again 2 and Vocal Play 2.

He’s V28, Thought of You by John Park. I really like his voice. It’s slightly gravely, in a good way -- it has character. Finally, a unique singer who is actually unique. It’s hard to say how trained he is based on this clip but I know I want to hear more of him!

And that’s it! Gang, we did it. We made it through all 40! Now, I’ll move on to the recap at last.

See you then and there!

#bpr recaps build up #build up mnet #mnet build up #up10tion #lee hwanhee #wumuti #kwon euibin #kim seohyung #neon #hong sungwon #lee kwangseok #lee gwangseok #sunyoul #woong #Ab6ix #kang hayoon

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boysplanetrecaps · 2 months

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Thoughts on Jonghyun, End of a Day, and Donghyun and Sunyoul's Performance

Hi, fam. In this post, I’m going to talk a bit more about the song End of a Day by Jonghyun, and what it means in the context of Sunyoul and Donghun’s performance on MNET’s Build Up. Along the way I’m going to be hitting some pretty serious topics, so don’t feel obligated to read this one if you’re not able to. It’s pretty sad. TW: suicide, mental health issues

This is Jonghyun.

He loved music from the time he was a child, and was scouted by SM Entertainment when he was only 15. He debuted as a member of SHINee in 2008, when he was 18. He was handsome, charismatic, and talented, with a unique and strong singing voice and great stage presence. He wasn’t just a singer and dancer and leader -- he also wrote songs for SHINee (Juliette), EXO (Playboy), bandmate Taemin (Pretty Boy, Already), and Lee Hi (Breathe). He was a gentle, sweet man, who stood up for social justice issues, including LGBT rights. He also was suffering, as we can tell after the fact, from mental health issues.

A lot of what he was feeling comes through in his songs Breathe and End of a Day.

Here’s a selection of lyrics from Breathe:

Take a deep breath Until both sides of your heart get numb Until it hurts a little Let out your breath even more Until you feel like there’s nothing left inside It’s alright if you run out of breath No one will blame you It’s okay to make mistakes sometimes Because anyone can do so Although comforting by saying it’s alright Are just words

Someone’s breath. That heavy breath How can I see through that? Though I can’t understand your breath It’s alright I’ll hold you You really did a good job

Here’s a selection of lyrics from End of a Day, which people say was inspired by his dog:

Your small shoulders, your small hands Become my cozy blanket at the end of a tiring day You did a good job today, you worked so hard I hope my shoulders and my thick hands Will become cozy comfort For the end of your tiring day as well I want to naturally sync my breathing with yours

Like water in a bathtub that wraps around you With no space left I want to warmly hold you without any space left At the end of my day, filled with awkward mistakes You, my prize, are waiting for me

I can’t cry all I want or even laugh all I want At the end of a tiring day but still, if I’m next to you Like a child, I can whine and then laugh Till I run out of breath I’m not used to seeing myself like this

You did a good job today, you worked so hard You are my pride

This preoccupation with wanting to do a good job, with wanting others to recognize that he did a good job, comes back in the worst possible place.

In December of 2017, Jonghyun lost his life to suicide. It was something he obviously had been planning for a few days at the very least. In his note, he said he was “broken from the inside,” that his depression was “devouring” him. He spoke of wanting someone, anyone, to notice how much pain he was in, or to give him a reason to live, or just meet him where he was and empathize with him. He also spoke of feeling like he was going against the world, and ended the note by saying:

“It wasn‘t my path to become world-famous. That’s why they say it‘s hard to go against the world and to become famous. Why did I choose this path? It’s quite funny now that I think about it. It‘s a miracle that I endured through it all this time. What more can I say. Just tell me “good job.” You did great. Tell me I suffered enough. Even though you can’t laugh right now, just don‘t send me off blaming me. Good job. You suffered a great deal. Good-bye.”

To whom was he speaking, when he said “Good job. You suffered a great deal”? I think he was talking to himself. He was saying to himself what he wished someone would say to him, the same thing he said to himself in the lyrics of the songs he wrote. Good job. You did well. 수고했어 Sugohaesseo.

And that’s why this whole segment with Donghyun and Sunyoul on Build Up completely broke my heart.

We already saw Donghyun’s reaction to being selected as Top Tier in the first round of performances. He almost broke down, saying he’d never been chosen in first place for anything before. His overwhelming desire for praise and recognition made the judges a little uncomfortable. But even when he’s top tier, he and Sunyoul still feel like that. When they have to choose someone to sing to when they’re singing Jonghyun’s song, they need to sing to themselves. They have to tell themselves Good job. You did well. 수고했어 Sugohaesseo.

When they lose the 2 vs 2 rival battle to the other team, after laying all their vulnerabilities on the line, Sunyoul thanks the the judges for the praise, saying he was “hungry” for those words. They told him he did a good job. But Donghyun, who got mixed results from the judges, takes it really, really hard. Sunyoul tries to comfort him by saying the magic words: Good job. You did well. 수고했어 Sugohaesseo. But the words fall into a bottomless pit in Donghyun’s heart. Did he do well? He didn’t do well enough to beat the other team. There is no good enough to fill that pit.

After Jonghyun died, Lee Hi sang a song as a memorial performance at an end of the year award ceremony. She sang Breathe, the song he wrote for her, the song that was a wail of his pain, and she couldn’t quite make it through it, falling silent for almost a whole verse.

I found an article about that, and when I scrolled down a little, the very next article was about netizens attacking f(x)'s Sulli for something she did that they didn’t like. An article about an idol who felt pushed to take his life because he was never good enough for the public, followed by an article about another idol being attacked by the public -- an idol who also lost her life in the same way not too long later.

Where does this end? I don’t know.

Am I feeding this machine, by being a fan of this industry that chews people up and spits them out? Am I being too heartless to the people on this show by pointing out when their singing is pitchy, or nasal, or out of tempo? Should I just say 수고했어 sugohaesseo, you did well? The words that they all want to hear? The words that Jonghyun said in his note that he wanted to hear? The words he wrote to himself to soothe himself at the end -- his last thoughts on this earth?

수고했어.

At the end of Our Page, the song that the surviving members of SHINee wrote to honor Jonghyun, you can hear Onew saying 수고했어 in a soft voice. Did that reach Jonghyun, wherever he is? Does it reach anyone?

Jonghyun, 수고했어. You did well.

Sulli, 수고했어. You did well.

Hara, 수고했어. You did well.

Moonbin, 수고했어. You did well.

And while they’re still here to hear it, I want to say it to everyone on this show, too. Donghyun, 수고했어. Sunyoul, 수고했어.

And you, dear reader. You also. You are doing well. You don’t owe anyone anything. You don’t have to be productive or useful or what other people want you to be. Be kind, be open, be happy. You are doing well. 수고했어.

Click here to go on to the next recap Click here to go back to the Build Up main post

#tw: suicide #tw: depression #mnet build up #jonghyun #sulli #goo hara #moonbin #donghyun #sunyoul

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