Chapter 57: Music Bank

members of your group.""Jjia" Jung Eun-ji took another sip of water, then held the cup up as she looked at Ji Chang-wook. Her face showed no surprise whatsoever: "I'm guessing... it's probably Naeun."...Listening to the straightforward yet sweet lyrics, following the intense rhythm and catchy melody, Bae Suzy stood alone at the backstage entrance. She held a script in her left hand and a microphone in her right, her body swaying lightly to the music. Her head bobbed constantly to the beat, and her long brown hair on either side of her face swayed along, vividly showing the enjoyment and immersion she had for the stage at this moment.

Even from her current angle, she could barely make out the prerecorded video playing on the large screen. Even though EXO's stage was not clearly visible – she could only see their backs – it didn't affect her excellent mood at all, nor did it diminish her strong immersion in the lyrics and performance.

From the song titles to each line of lyrics, she couldn't help but feel that they were all written about her, that every line was a message directed at her.

She watched as he was pulled from the center position, retreating to the back of the stage and dancing in formation with the rest. Her gaze lingered on the back of Ji Jingyuan, who stood not far away, her head tilted at an angle, a glimmer of stars in her eyes.

...what you said.

Apart from being a feeling shared by many viewers of "Music Bank" live stream who are fans of the group, this is also the most genuine emotion felt by many right now. Aside from its catchy rhythm and melody, this song truly creates a strong sense of relatability for listeners.

It's like your first love is telling you about their yearning and innocence, recounting the experiences you shared together, expressing their feelings so directly. All I feel is sweetness and warmth filling my heart.

Every person seems to find their own place and role here, which is also an important reason why "Ming Ming", despite not being the main song, has garnered better word-of-mouth and listens than the main track.

Following "Target Sniper" was the stage performance for this album's title track, "lht".

After the vcr, the EXO who were still in their casual and hip-hop attire had all changed into a completely different style. Half of the members wore blue American high school uniforms, while the other half wore plain white shirts with red and black striped ties, paired with light blue jeans. Just standing there gave off a feeling of youthful energy and vitality that was captivating.

...and a heady, boyfriend aesthetic.

They stood in three rows of three, lined up neatly on the stage, striking their opening poses.

"Oh yeah, Eon!"

"Take your ti."

"A night inexplicably full of movement."

D.O. led the opening with a soft voice, gently drawing in the audience who hadn't yet focused their attention into the performance. The original three rows of EXO's nine members, like fireworks, instantly exploded and dispersed across the entire stage within a second, beginning to move rhythmically and dance in unison with the music.

The accompaniment and arrangement blend classical instruments with modern electronic music. The guitar and bass work together seamlessly, complementing each other perfectly. With the addition of brass instruments, the entire arrangement is both powerful and rhythmically driven, while also exuding a delicate and gentle charm.

Although this song still showcases EXO's intricate and frequent stage movements, which fans have long praised, every formation change is like a flurry of butterflies, dazzling to the eye.

But overall, the dance moves aren't that difficult. Among all EXO's title tracks, it's considered relatively simple. The dance moves are elegant and graceful, with dramatic hand gestures and leg kicks that seem to have a touch of Broadway classical opera flair. It uses the simplest and most straightforward choreography to showcase its own charm and the surging emotions within.

"Oh!"

This road is an extension of the stage.

Gazing into my eyes, a galaxy of stars shines.

"JTLHT, uhhuh, babylhtuhhuh"

"Come to me, do not hesitate, you are the intoxicating universe of my enchantment."

"hello, uh huh"

"My universe, it's all you."

This song starts with a joyful and relaxed atmosphere all over the stage, even more so during the chorus. From beginning to now, every member of EXO has a sunny and gentle smile on their face, it's really pleasing to the eye.

During rehearsals, the dance teacher and producer repeatedly emphasized that everyone must smile genuinely on stage. They stressed avoiding greasy or exaggerated smiles, aiming for a natural and appealing expression. The exact words they used were, "Smile the way you would at your girlfriend or family member, and do the same on stage."

Even though smiling is not actually difficult, they still practiced for a long time in order to achieve the best stage effect.

At this point, the audience came to appreciate the unique charm of this song.

Nine boys in school uniforms or white shirts, exuding a strong collegiate style with youthful handsomeness, are smiling brightly and sincerely at you. The curve of their smiles and the corners of their eyes seem to directly go into your heart. Coupled with the lively and upbeat melody and the generous and neat dance movements, a heartfelt sincerity comes rushing in, like a summer breeze carrying a rich sense of joy. You can't help but feel a faint happiness in your heart.

A dance performance is best experienced live on stage. Listening to the music alone cannot fully capture the charming smile-inducing magic of it all.

The chorus consists of a single lyric that repeats continuously. Although the word "lht" appears 23 times throughout the entire song, it doesn't feel repetitive or excessive due to its catchy melody. Instead, it adds to the song's memorability and addictive quality.

"YeaYouLove."

"Yea you love."

"My universe, it's all you."

At the end of the song, after the core lyrics in the last line, the stage ended for the whole performance. The progress of the television broadcast and the live stage were slightly different. While the performance hadn't finished on the broadcast, EXO had already left the stage beforehand. Meanwhile, the next group of performers who had been waiting on the side also made their entrance at this time.

When Ji Changwook entered the backstage, he exchanged a smile with Pei Zhuxuan and quickly returned to the resting room to change his clothes. Right after the last stage ended, he went up on stage to host and present the first award as the center of the group.

"Great, both songs' stages were very nice."

Dressed in a fresh white shirt and casual pants, Ji Keon from the staff picked up the script and microphone and walked back to the backstage exit. He had just stood there for a moment when beside him, Bae Joo-hyun smiled sweetly and whispered a compliment to him.

"Heh heh…" Chi Jingyuan let out a light chuckle without saying much, his gaze falling on Jean, who was performing on stage at that moment. Today's final guest on this episode of "Music Bank."

Today EXO is making a comeback, and the reason they weren't able to perform last is because their senior group, Jean, is also making a comeback and promoting during this time.

This group was a hip-hop duo launched by YG Entertainment in 1997. Their activity frequency wasn't high, but they were quite popular at the time. Over these many years, both members of this group have become more than just artists; with countless efforts, they have even become directors of YG Entertainment. Both their income and status have increased significantly.

I just don't know if, as a board member, I have integrated into YG's corporate culture.

Chi Jingyuan looked at the two senior performers singing and dancing with a group of backup dancers, feeling very curious.

Their comeback stage performances this time are very interesting. The comeback single "Tell Me Again" studio version feat. features their fellow agency artist, Jang Hanna. However, they only performed on stage with Jang Hanna during the first week of promotions. Afterwards, they collaborated with different female artists every week to create buzz. Today's collaboration is with Park Sandara from 2NE1.

As expected of the council member, you have quite a wide network.

"Which song do you like better" After a while, Ji Kyeong looked at Jennie softly and whispered.

There was a flurry of hushed voices from behind. Pei Zhuxuan glanced back. It was the last song's performance, and all the idols participating today had come out of the dressing room to the entrance of the stage broadcasting room. Both sides of the corridor were now filled with idols, chatting quietly with their teammates and acquaintances. Even though everyone tried to keep their voices low, the sound of so many people gathered together was still a little noisy.

She also saw her own members standing not far behind her, along with a few people from EXO, pointing towards her and Ji-gyeong. They were smiling mischievously and she couldn't hear what they were saying.

However, without even hearing it, Bae Joo-hyun could just tell what they were talking about.

A group of female idols were standing behind them, and they seemed to be watching the two of them from behind. Bae Joo-hyun didn't know how to say it directly, so she just pursed her lips at Ji Kyeong-won, who was staring at him, and made a few lip shapes without making a sound. After that, she tilted her head and blinked playfully.

Ji Jingyuan couldn't help but smile when he saw it. Bae Joo-hyun's lip movements weren't singing the song title, but rather "You are my target sniper."

As expected of an older sister, even when she's being straightforward, she's so beautiful.

When the stage was about to end, upon pd's notice, all the artists except C took the stage first and danced behind them, finishing the last short part with Jean. It also showed a lot of respect to these two senior directors.

"Live broadcast, Music Bank! The cool stage with all the performers has ended…"

After the stage show officially ended and the music stopped, Ji Chang-wook and Park Soo-ah, the two center members of the group, returned to the stage to the beat of the background music and the cheers of the audience below. They stood at the front and center of all the artists and began to host the next award ceremony.

"On the first week of May 2015, Music Bank is about to announce today's number one. EXID and EXO, who will take home the trophy Let's see the scores!"

Under Chi Jingyuan's guidance, the live camera switched to a screen displaying the score calculation.

Although EXO still occasionally appears in the top three or as a contender for first place on several music show charts, to be honest, their competitiveness against the latest comeback of several popular groups has weakened. However, they are still maintaining their position on "Music Bank" thanks to their steady album sales figures.

This exid, which Ji-seong once saw casually performing on the streets as an unknown group, has become one of the most watched girl groups on the entire peninsula since last year's sound source reverse attack incident. Their hit song "Up & Down," which launched them to fame, came out over half a year ago and is long past its promotional period, but the song still frequently appears in the top 20 charts of major music shows, demonstrating its astonishing staying power and popularity.

After they became famous and entered the public eye, fans and passersby were surprised to discover "Wow, how amazing is this band's lead singer" "Hani's stage presence is simply incredible!" "This group is really talented," and so on. In all sorts of praise, people even sighed with regret, lamenting that they hadn't discovered this treasure girl group sooner.

But who knew this was a girl group that was on the verge of disbanding last year during their roadshow, where barely anyone watched and there were only a few claps.

But in reality, the members of EXID are still the same people. Their skills and performance ability couldn't have made such a sudden leap forward in such a short time. The only reason for all this is because they became popular.

However, although their comeback title song "ahyeah" performed well this time, Ji Kyeong-won found it a little strange after listening to it.

No matter how he listened, he felt that this song, both in melody and song structure, sounded too much like the previous song "Up and Down". It was just a few places that were changed, otherwise it was almost like a mold being taken.

This might be their unique style as a group.

"Audio source score…"

Audience favorability…

Then today the first master of Glory...

"Exid, Caramelldance..."

Balloons descended as Ji-won and Suzy announced today's winner. Interestingly, EXID's final award presentation hadn't arrived yet; they had only come to record a stage earlier and left due to their schedule.

"We will definitely hand over the trophy to them."

In the absence of one winner, KBS staff will handle the handover. Jiseok raised the trophy in his hand and waved it around before looking at Irene beside him: "Irene, how does it feel to be the center for this first broadcast today"

Behind Ji-won's back was standing EXO members. At this moment, those people clapped and congratulated the winner while grinning at Ji-won and Joo-hyuk who were standing in front of them. Park Chan-yeol and Kim Jong-in exchanged strange smiles. Under the cover of the camera lens, they lightly pointed at the two figures' backs, their eyes conveying a playful vibe.

They really think that seeing two people who seem to be ambiguously or romantically involved, standing shoulder-to-shoulder here so openly and acting as C, with eye contact and various interactions, is really comedic.

They wished they could experience it themselves and see what it feels like.

Red Velvet, due to their seniority and popularity, couldn't stand in the front row. They were at the side of EXO, happily clapping with enthusiastic faces but their eyes held different emotions as they looked at their powerful leader who was also a close senior.

"Well, I've always been on stage as a singer before, but today I'm standing here as a c. It's really exciting and thrilling. Yuanxi, this is also your first time as the c, you must be nervous inside, right But you still guided me very well on the hosting side. I'm really grateful." Pei Zhuxuan turned to look at Ji Jingyuan, she sincerely expressed her concern and then expressed her gratitude.

“Aniyo, it’s really great to be able to stand here. Irene Xi helped me a lot and relieved a lot of my nervous feelings, thank you so much.” Their eyes interacted, and with words of gratitude on their lips, Ji-sung and Seulgi looked at each other for two seconds, blinked, then tacitly turned back to the camera at the same time. In unison and harmoniously, they said: “We’ll also be waiting for everyone on ‘Music Bank’ in the future, please give us a lot of love and support.”

"Inside, we will work even harder for the program and the spread of K-pop!"

Then see you next week!

In the end, Ji-seong and Joo-hyuk remained still with their feet, but their upper bodies leaned towards each other, each striking a cute pose and uttering the iconic ending phrase:

"When I need music, live stream, ik!"

"Ahhh..."

At this sight, the audience below couldn't help but scream again. Even just the ending made people feel a little touched.

After the concluding remarks, the camera panned out for a final shot of the entire scene before the livestream officially ended. Ji Jingyuan and the other guests turned to each other and exchanged polite greetings.

After the artist finished greeting the audience, everyone returned to the backstage area and waited. After the singing program ended, there was usually a segment where the artists thanked the program staff. It was a simple courtesy where they stood on either side of the corridor and bowed to the producers and staff returning to the backstage. The process was very short, just a formality.

But during the waiting time, when they stood on both sides of the hallway chatting and exchanging glances, it was also a good opportunity for many male and female idols to get in touch and know each other. It was a great chance for them to make eye contact or exchange contact information. Once, Ji-seong Choi and EXO were greeted with numerous admiring glances and flirtatious attempts from female idols during this segment.

Although he hasn't tried it himself, according to the members' explanations, as long as there are responsive eyes and expressions, and then exchanging contact information through friends' introductions, it's easy and quick to develop a relationship.

However, relationships in this situation probably won't last very long.

"Hahaha..." After returning backstage, the two stood at the front, closest to the XO members who came over laughing and patted Ji-won's shoulder. Woo-seok even raised an eyebrow at him and said, "How does it feel"

"You'll know when you try it." Ji-sung looked at IU lightly bowing to EXO, then waved hello to Seulgi from Red Velvet, casually replied with a shrug.

"I didn't mean it like that... Forget it." Wu Shih-hsien retorted, sensing the situation was off and didn't press further. He chuckled with a few other guys and stood there chatting softly.

After a short while, the staff from the Music Bank set returned. PD Han Kyung-jeol even came out to show his face. After greeting the artists with "Hard work," they all dispersed. Ji Kyeong-won and Kim Jun-myeon whispered to each other for a moment before following along with Bae Joo-hyun and Han Kyung-jeol into one of the program's meeting rooms.

I had already told them before that after the show, C needs to have a small meeting with the program team to summarize today's hosting. We need to see if there were any problems or areas that need attention and improvement.

However, judging from Han Kyung-cheol's expression, there seemed to be nothing amiss. As soon as he entered, he changed his usual serious expression and laughed happily several times. He looked at the two people standing opposite each other, their looks complementing each other perfectly. His eyes were filled with both delight and pride as he clapped his hands.

"The real-time viewership has been tallied, reaching 1.4% at the start, which is double the usual rate. By the end, it had even climbed to 2.0%, nearly triple the average viewership previously recorded."

“In the past, viewership would noticeably drop during the C-turn transition and hosting segments, indicating that many viewers weren't really interested in C’s hosting or lines. They came primarily for the idol stage performances. However, this wasn't the case today. The biggest increase in viewership occurred during yuanxi and Irenexi’s hosting segment, showing they did a fantastic job and were very engaging to the audience.”

"Bang bang bang…" With pd setting the tone, several creators and staff in the conference room excitedly clapped their hands, obviously very satisfied with today's immediate effect.

Although the surge in viewership is largely attributed to the recent explosive popularity of EXO's comeback stage, backstage statistics and analysis also indicate a significant impact from c.

"Kamsahamnida." Ji-gyeong and Joo-hyuk looked at each other, smiled simultaneously, and stood up to bow.

Han Kyung-cheol, seeing the two satisfied, added:

"Today's episode alone proves that our changes were correct, and it also proves that our c-person selection was completely spot on!"

……

"Are you kidding me"

However, after the live broadcast of "Music Bank" ended, many fans of XO started arguing online:

"Damn it, Irene is such a b*tch. Why the hell is she partnered with us yuan Seeing her holding hands and smiling with Oppa like that, I just want to rip her face off!"

Firstly published on the Traditional Chinese Novels Networkse, my office is no match for Lee Xiu-Man's.At this time, the others in the office may have all gone out to work, and there are only two people left in the entire office.A plump middle-aged woman in h...