Second Try Idol

Chapter 17: Survival Show - Cover Song (2)

The tension I had felt regarding the contest briefly eased as I listened to the details about the competition.

"Ah, what was I so nervous about? A cover song from our agency?"

It seemed that Goh Yoo-Joon was on the same wavelength as me. Probably, it wasn't just us—most likely, all the trainees here felt a similar sense of relief.

'Are they taking it easy on us because it's the first round?'

After all, covering a song from a senior artist from the same agency was something we had been doing throughout our trainee lives. It seemed like they aimed to highlight the trainees' skills with a performance that was both familiar and fresh, setting the stage for more intense competition in future broadcasts.

"The choice of artist and cover song is yours to make, but the contest will take place on a stage with an audience in a week. After that, there will be a week of voting through the UNET streaming channel, and rankings will be determined solely by viewer votes."

‘Solely by viewer votes?’

The room was abuzz with murmurs from the trainees. The only ones who seemed unfazed by this voting method were the High Tension members from YU, who already had a fan base.

Then, a hand went up. "Excuse me."

"Yes?"

The question came from the one who had avoided eye contact with me earlier.

"What if our agency doesn't have a senior artist?"

"Ah, right. Trainees from True Entertainment don't have senior artists, so you are free to choose a song from any group."

I already suspected as much since they were relegated to the corner. It seemed like these members were the inaugural artists of their agency.

'Hmm... True Entertainment...'

The name of the agency was unfamiliar to me, even though I had been in the industry for a while. Maybe after this broadcast, this group might not garner much attention and fade away. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for them right from the get-go.

The True Entertainment group didn’t respond to Reina and instead started discussing among themselves. Only I seemed to notice Reina's momentarily frozen expression.

"Okay, you have one hour to decide on your song starting from now. Feel free to discuss it amongst yourselves. Go!"

A large timer next to Reina initiated a countdown for sixty minutes, and the once-quiet practice room was filled with noise once again.

"Hey, what song should we choose? Which senior?"

Following Goh Yoo-Joon's question, the members gathered, and I casually voiced my opinion. "Wouldn't a song from Allure be the safest?"

"Well, true. Honestly, the most famous seniors in our agency right now are Allure."

"They are the obvious choice but also the best one." Please visit fr𝐞𝐞w𝒏.𝒸𝑜𝔪 website to read fastest update

The rest of the members seemed to agree with my opinion. In this situation, choosing an Allure song was pretty much a given. After all, Chronos was the only group that hadn’t danced to cool music in the auditions.

Hence, now was our chance to make an impression with our performance amidst all the attention, including that from the comedy and lighting mishaps. YMM Entertainment was a small-to-medium-sized agency, and before Allure, it was mostly filled with ballad singers, so there was really only one clear option for us to showcase.

After quietly listening to our opinions, Park Yoon-Chan asked, "Which song of Allure?"

I replied, "Let's do ‘Goblin.’"

I glanced at the remaining time. There was only about ten minutes left. As the members continued chatting, I nudged Joo-Han and whispered, “Hyung, are you going to report to the manager during the break?”

“Yes, I should. He will want an update.”

“Let’s go together. There is something I need to discuss with you guys.”

“Can't you say it now?”

“Not in front of the camera rolling.”

Perceiving my unease, Joo-Han nodded in understanding.

“Alright, let's do that.”

Despite Allure's fame resting predominantly on “Goblin”, we swiftly decided on our song choice. With the remaining time, we delved into the details—finalizing the arrangement's mood, deciding on the core performer, and addressing similar issues.

An hour later, Reina, who had stepped out for a while, returned to the practice room and positioned herself in front of the timer.

“Has everyone finalized their song choices?”

“Yes!”

Reina had a demeanor reminiscent of a high school teacher addressing her students. She nodded in acknowledgment and gestured toward a large board that the staff had brought in.

“Starting from the group on the far right, I would like the leader of each group to come forward and write down their song choice next to their group's name. Let’s begin with Street Center.”

Although the broadcast had already introduced the groups through captions or introductory videos, this was an opportunity to learn more about the names of the groups and their respective agencies.

Street Center's agency was known for showcasing quality performances with a large number of members, and Street Center itself consisted of fifteen boys. They chose a lively song from their senior group with a similar number of members. Starting with Street Center, most of the groups listed the hit songs of the most famous seniors from their agencies.

"Ah, of course it’s ‘Goblin.’"

When it was our turn, some members of the group next to us commented softly on the “Goblin” song that Joo-Han chose. When our eyes met, the member greeted me with a polite smile and a slight nod.

"Ah..."

That person. He was a trainee who looked much younger than us, probably around grade seven or eight. I was so struck by the familiar face that I forgot to respond to the greeting and just sighed in amazement.

"Eh, do you have something to say to me?" he asked as he sensed my intense stare.

"No..."

He then turned back to chat with his group members. Yoo On-Sae. I suddenly realized that he was one of the trainees I had mentored when I first became a trainer, before joining a major planning agency four years later.

'Now that I think about it, he was originally with another agency before transferring.'

It was unexpected to encounter my former trainee here. Lost in my thoughts, I continued to stare at On-Sae.

"...Hmm."

"Seems like a risky situation."

The anxious whispers of my group members brought me back to the present, and I refocused my attention. "Ah, the song..."

I couldn’t conceal my surprise upon seeing the song choice of Air Senior from True Entertainment, a group we had minor altercations with even before the shooting started. They didn't have any senior artists within their agency, which gave them the freedom to choose any song from the participating agencies' artists. And the song they had chosen was...

[Air Senior - Allure, ‘Goblin’]

It was “Goblin”—the same song we had chosen and arguably the only hit song from YMM.

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