When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

# 130

Surpass (1)

The TBN awards ceremony consisted of two parts.

Like other broadcasting company awards ceremonies, a significant number of KK members were nominated at the TBN Awards ceremony. To be exact, there were seven categories.

They were even nominated for Popularity Award (KK), Dance Performance (KK), Hip Hop Genre (OK), Male Solo (Kang Do-wook), Male Group (KK), Duet (Park Tae-hyung), and Grand Prize (KK).

Most of them had strong competitors and were major categories at the awards ceremony.

Since there was no other duet group other than Hyeonji and Taehyung Park, their award was almost confirmed.

In the case of male solos, Dowook was expected to receive the Han Solo Award because he had superior music scores compared to other singers.

These were the Popularity Award, Dance Performance Award, Hip-Hop Genre Award, and other awards whose targets were not clear.

The selection criteria for this year’s Popularity Award consisted of 80% of Internet voting results and 20% of judges’ scores.

Internet voting showed that KK was ahead of other groups, but there was no telling what the results would be.

Also, in the hip-hop genre, there was a giant in the hip-hop world called ‘Rusty Duo’. Although OK had similar sound recording results, there was a greater possibility that the award would go to the Rusty Duo rather than OK, at least for the sake of matching the assortment.

‘The dance performance award or the grand prize is… You have to go to the end to find out.’

Director Oh Baek-ho thought. It wasn’t just Director Oh Baek-ho. Even people inside the company and fans outside of the KK members could have predicted that much.

However, I could get a rough idea by looking at the cue sheet.

Which side is the broadcasting station placing its weight on? I was able to roughly read about how the award would be given.

“Our order is…”

“It’s ambiguous, right?”

“yes. It’s ambiguous. Even if it’s not the ending… I think this is being too generous.”

At the end of the cue sheet that flew to Ga-an, there was Sabang Shinhwa.

KK performed slightly better than Sabang Shinhwa, which was on the verge of collapse this year. However, since there is a thing called annual leave, it was possible to give the ending spot to Sabang Shinhwa.

However, since it was ahead of ‘Little Star’, another singer and girl group belonging to Ara Entertainment, it seemed to anyone that TBN had sided with Ara Entertainment.

Of course, ‘Little Star’ also had higher seniority than KK. It was a 7-year-old female idol group, which was rare in the music industry.

I even heard that KK was the only group that reached the peak before their debut and could stand shoulder to shoulder with Sabang Shinhwa.

However, this year, we did not achieve any significant results. It was unreasonable to hope for the same results as in the heyday.

“It’s not like the order is based on annual leave…” When

Director Oh Baek-ho muttered dissatisfied, Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung also agreed.

“There was definitely something to talk about. Just look at the fact that Man to Man took the opening spot of Part 2.”

“therefore.”

“They gave us 4 minutes to perform on stage.”

It was team leader Lee Dae-hyung, who usually had a smiling face. However, when I frowned, I looked quite angry.

“Are we all 7 minutes in total?”

“yes. “Little Star is 6 minutes and 30 seconds, and Four Directions is about 9 minutes.”

“How many songs did they hit this time? It’s completely Ara Enter. But last year, he pretended to take care of me.”

“Because Do-wook did a drama on TBN last year…”

In fact, the fact that the award ceremony was held mainly for singers from Ara Entertainment was such a common practice that everyone knew it implicitly.

However, other than a little noise, I couldn’t say more because the singers of Ara Entertainment were actually doing well.

But this time things were a little different.

KK, who debuted with Man to Man, completely beat Man to Man and was now trying to beat Sabang Shinhwa.

Even if the performance of a single album was forced to be similar, KK was superior in terms of performance when including the other members’ activities and performances.

Nevertheless, being assigned a similar time to Little Star and being placed in front of Little Star was something that could hurt KK’s pride.

“I talked to an acquaintance at Ara Entertainment.”

Director Oh Baek-ho listened intently to what Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung said. Director Oh Baek-ho was wary of the fact that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung was from Ara Entertainment, but for now, it was true that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung was a good source of information.

I heard that the fan-marketing team system is being structured to fit the larger scale than before. Director Oh Baek-ho thought that the recruitment of Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung was, as expected, a good choice for Manager Jo Annie.

“I heard that a completely new member will be revealed at this awards ceremony. “Man to Man’s new song as well.”

Director Oh Baek-ho looked surprised at Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung’s words.

“So quickly?”

Even though it was fast, it was too fast.

If it was released on the day of the awards ceremony, it was only a little over a month after Seo Kang-jun boarded the plane.

At that time, Dowook opened the conference room door and came in. Do-wook had just finished practicing his dance break to be shown on the KVS awards stage.

It was Director Oh Baek-ho who called Do-wook. It was because I had something to discuss with Dowook.

Do-wook said hello and sat down next to Director Oh Baek-ho.

Director Oh Baek-ho and Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung finished talking. Meanwhile, Dowook carefully checked the cue sheet on the desk.

“It’s probably the result of Director Seo Joong-won’s quick decision. “Once I make a decision, I’m the type of person who doesn’t look back and sticks to it.”

“If it’s Director Seo… it’s worth it.”

Even if they had never worked together, anyone in the industry was familiar with the fiery temperament of Director Seo Jung-won. Director Oh Baek-ho nodded.

“Still, it’s surprising that there were members who were prepared. Plus a new song.”

“It seems like the song was originally prepared for a comeback. Ara Entertainment is famous for having a large pool of trainees. It is also true that there are trainees who would be good to debut right away…”

Dowook caught up with the conversation between the two without difficulty.

‘Are they recruiting new members already?’

Do-wook thought, it was just as fast. A backlash from Man to Man fans who liked the existing members was also expected. Nevertheless, seeing this push, I could feel the strong will of Director Seo Joong-won to somehow revive Man to Man.

Team leader Daehyung Lee continued.

“And the member who is making his debut is also a trainee I know.”

“Do you know the trainee?”

“I don’t know him personally… He was a famous trainee when I was at the company. Although he doesn’t look like Seojun, he looks cute. It looks attractive. I think he sings better than Seojun. “He was a friend who even thought about setting it up as a group center after Man to Man.”

“You’re trying to save Man to Man somehow.”

“I think so.”

Director Oh Baek-ho and team leader Lee Dae-hyung’s gaze naturally turned towards Do-wook. Dowook was quietly listening to the conversation between the two without any significant change in expression.

If a new member was recruited to Man to Man, it would be completely different from Man to Man, which was centered around Seo Kang-Jun.

Dowook thought.

‘From then on, it was a man-to-man situation that I really didn’t know about… Although KK has already established himself, he will have to work harder to avoid being pushed out.’

There was no feeling left for Man to Man without Seo Kang-Jun. This was done in the spirit of fair competition.

At the same time, in order to bring down Director Seo Jung-won, he had no choice but to position himself in a higher position.

“If we get pushed back from the TBN awards ceremony, the atmosphere at this year’s awards ceremony will all be like this. The target is probably…”

Director Oh Baek-ho said while listening to Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung’s words.

“It seems like Ara Entertainment was coaxed into the stage to give us the grand prize…”

If you think about it again, what Director Oh Baek-ho said made sense. However, Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung shook his head. Director Seo Joong-won, whom Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung knew, was a person who knew important things.

It was a move that clearly recognized that if they were pushed this time, it would be the end.

“If that were the case, I would have refused to appear at all.”

“Well…”

Director Oh Baek-ho’s brows narrowed.

“The MC must have made a suggestion to appease us.”

The reason I called Dowook today was because TBN requested him to be an MC. TBN was thinking of Do-wook as the MC and female solo singer Gye Na-ri.

It was a good offer because being an MC would give me more exposure and become a hot topic. However, since it meant using a star who had been to the Cannes Film Festival as an MC, it seemed like the topic Do-wook would get from TBN would be greater than that from Do-wook.

“Actually, I thought you were going to be so ridiculously busy… but how many performances do you have to do… so I was going to decline.”

Director Oh Baek-ho explained as if he was frustrated. It felt like KK was being pushed too far if I didn’t see the MC. In reality, it was Hit Entertainment that was pushed out rather than KK.

Dowook responded as if telling him not to worry.

“are you okay. I could.”

“You don’t even have three bodies.”

He said it as if he was sorry, but it was more like a request. Since Dowook was appointed as the MC, the intention was to extend the stage time a little more.

“Did you say anything to Manager Cho or Director Kwon?”

“yes. yet.”

“Hmm…”

Director Oh and Team Leader Lee decided to show their discomfort to TBN and request an adjustment. The meeting ended with a sigh.

“We should at least spend money on the stage to show that KK’s stage is the best.”

Director Oh Baek-ho mumbled and left the conference room door. Dowook also had similar thoughts.

‘Regardless of the order, you just have to prove that you are the best on stage.’

Still, I couldn’t help but feel bitter in my mouth. It was because they were not pushed back in terms of popularity or ability, but simply because of the power of the agency.

***

“A new member…”

Do-wook returned to his dorm and grew curious about Man to Man’s new member. In the future, the success of Man to Man would be closely related to the downfall of Director Seo Jung-won.

When we returned to the dorm, the members, exhausted after practice, were spread out all over the living room. Jeong Yoon-gi found Do-wook and gestured.

“Do-wook, you come quickly and choose the menu!”

“Chicken…”

Park Tae-hyung held up flyers for various chicken stores and held them out to Do-wook.

Since it was not an activity period, the members had freedom to choose their food. Since even that was scheduled to be limited again from tomorrow to prepare for the awards ceremony, the members were planning to eat one last big meal.

“Uh… I can do anything.”

“Anything! Today, each person will eat one chicken. “You choose the chicken you want to eat!”

Ahn Hyeong-seo urged with frightening force. Do-wook, who had received a flyer from Tae-hyung Park, was trying to choose a menu.

As we chose the menu together next to us, Ahn Hyeong-seo hummed an old song as if it were a joke.

“Have you ever seen KK wandering around the foot of a mountain looking for food?…”

“Ma, it’s a very old song. “It’s been a really long time.”

“What song is this?”

Seok Ji-hoon looked puzzled by Jeong Yoon-gi’s words. It was because I had no idea what the song was. It was a famous song that Seok Ji-hoon didn’t know much about because he was young, but Do-wook also knew it well.

At the same time, a good idea that would change the atmosphere of the awards ceremony occurred in Dowook’s head.