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boysplanetrecaps · 3 months

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The Great Produce 48 Rewatch: Ep 4, Boombayah Challenge, Part 1

Welcome, or Welcome Back, to The Great Produce48 Rewatch Recap Project Thingy Dingy! When we left off in the previous post, we saw team High Tension. But today we're going to a dark world... a Black World, if you will... and a world of fire and brimstone. It's Boombayah, Group 1, and it's Hellbayah.

(And if you’d like to watch, you can click here and go to the 1:09:20 mark)

Let's do it!

Lee Seungki calls the two Boombayah teams up to the stage, and in the judges room, Cheetah cutely does the sort of “backstroke” arm move from the dance.

Team 1 introduces itself as “Black World.”

LTR: Kim Sohee, Won Seoyeon, Park Chanju, Ko Yujin, Lee Chaejeong

Team 2 introduces itself as “Snack.”

LTR: Han Chowon, Asai Nanami, Asai Yuuka, Chiba Erii, Kang Hyewon, Sato Minami

Seungki challenges them to talk a little smack to each other, and both teams promise to win. We see that the audience is full of fans of Nanami and Erii.

We flashback to Team 1’s rehearsals…

The story so far is that Chaejeong picked the group with Boombayah in mind. She thought Yujin would suit the song, that Chanju would learn it quickly, and that she needed Soyeon to sing. She added Sohee on purpose to provide cuteness. Naturally, given that she had a whole plan in mind, the team elects her leader immediately. Everything’s going so perfectly... Is it maybe too perfect?

Kim Sohee, age 14, future member of Rocket Punch, rose from C to B and was ranked 44th.

Won Seoyeon, age 18, who auditioned to Heroine by Sunmi, fell from C to F and was ranked 77th as of episode 3.

Park Chanju, age 19, label mate of Chaejeong’s, fell from C to D and was ranked 69th.

Ko Yujin, age 17, the “Hyuna lookalike” who auditioned with Lip and Hip and rose from C to A. She was ranked 34th.

Lee Chaejeong, age 18, future member of Alice, stayed in C and was ranked 94th.

We skip to dress rehearsal and the judges are complimenting them on their skills, talent, energy, and charisma. They do say, however, the Chanju is lacking a bit as center, and suggest that maybe they should change. In a flashback-within-the-flashback, we see them at rehearsal with Mary J Lee, where Chanju is making a lot of mistakes. Mary J Lee suggests changing the center to Yujin. Then we go to vocal/rap rehearsal, where Cheetah tries to get Chanju to put a little more “oomph” into her introductory “Black World in your area…”. Chanju is pronouncing it “annea” not “area”, too. Cheetah is like, “This is basically your only line -- can you not do it right?” and Chanju just keeps doing it the same way. Chaejeong tries and does a much better job, and Soyou suggests changing the center to Chaejeong.

LTR: Sohee, Chaejeon, Chanju, Kojin, Soyeon

They have a meeting to discuss it and Chanju apologizes for all the mistakes. Chaejeong, who is Chanju’s labelmate and her friend, tells her it’s ok, there’s still time to improve.

They exchange a look...

and then Chanju collapses into tears.

Her team tries to cheer her up. She continues quietly sobbing through her whole interview. She vows to make her team not doubt their decision to keep her as center.

And that’s it! That’s all the rehearsal footage they get.

Here’s PD48 editing’s blessed edit.

LTR: Chaejeong, Sohee, Chanju, Yujin, Soyeon

Clockwise from bottom left: Yujin, Sohee, Chanju, Soyeon, Chaejeong

I don’t think the stylist unnie did them too many favors. This is all just black and white, no color at all, and Chaejeong’s outfit just adds bulk around her middle instead of emphasizing her curves. You can tell she’s a pretty trim and fit girl, but that’s not how she looks in the outfit. Chanju’s outfit is the worst offender -- the loose knit shorts with a weird suspender/ garter belt thingy over it? What is that? And those trouser socks pulled up to her knee? What is happening? At least her hair looks gorgeous.

My thoughts:

Kind of underwhelming. Not terrible, but not spectacular.

Chanju does her best as center, and she does manage that first moment ok. I don’t know what, specifically, is missing.

Her hairography is great, though.

I think the biggest problem is Sohee.

I think you guys know by now that I quite like Rocket Punch, and Sohee does a great job as a member of Rocket Punch. But… she’s so young here and really doesn’t fit the concept. She also doesn’t do a very good job, unfortunately. Her dancing is weak and vague, her singing is wavery and pitchy, and she looks completely out of place next to most of the others. I know that Chaejeong picked her to “add cuteness” but I’m not sure that this group needed cuteness. It needed a 100% badass team to really rock it, and Sohee is very much the weakest link. Not her fault. She just needed more time to grow her skillset, and she needs a different concept to really shine. Never fear, Sohee! You’re going to debut in just a few years and do great! This just wasn’t your time.

Soyeon’s singing anchored the team and she had the look and attitude down. There’s a bit of spark missing, I think? But it’s not anything I can pin down.

Chaejeong killed it. Her rapping sounded great to me, and her attitude and performance overall was great.

Yujin also killed it. Everything Chaejeong did, just with Korean-approved visuals too. I think she should have been the center.

The MNET edit has lots of positive reactions from the other and from the judges, but they actually cut out a few seconds of the performance for no reason I can figure out. As Chaejeong raps, we hear Chetah saying, “She’s so full of charisma -- she’s made to perform.” The trainees and judges are signing and dancing along, and when the performance is done, they applaud with apparent sincerity.

When they’re done, we go almost immediately to Group 2.

Soyou says,

“I think I’ll cry if they [group 2] do well.”

Dance Bae notes that both teams have good visuals, and the judges all say that they’re cheering for Group 2.

The members:

Han Cho Won, age 15, future Lightsum member who rose from D to B, ranked 79th.

Asai Nanami, age 18, aka Sailor Venus, who rose from F to D and was ranked 41st.

Asai Yuuka, age 14, who auditioned with Knock Knock, rose from F to D and was ranked 80th.

Chiba Erii, age 14, aka Sailor Mercury, consistent F class girl ranked 38th.

Kang Hyewon, age 18, Miss Purity herself, consistent F class girl ranked 40th.

Sato Minami, age 14, aka Sailor Mars, fell from D to F and was ranked 66th.

The story so far is that this group is the “leftovers” group -- the group of trainees no one else picked. Han Chowon, a member of group B and a talented young trainee, took over as leader and center because no one else would, and Kang Hyewon, the slightly dimwitted seeming Very Pretty Girl, unexpectedly stepped up to take on the main rapper role.

We jump back to rehearsals.

Han Chowon is going through it. She’s exhausted from her quadruple role as leader, center, cheerleader, and teacher to the rest of the group. “I’m trying hard to lead the group,” she says, “but not everyone is able to follow along.”

I know this is a moment of them resting, and Erii is obviously watching the performance on the tablet, but they just look so dispirited. I think that’s Sato Minami on the left with her hair over her face -- I think she’s asleep, actually -- and that’s Asai Nanami sitting on the floor staring off into space.

A staff member asks Chowon, what is the most frustrating aspect? And Chowon pauses for a long time before saying, “Sure, we had members who worked very hard” (and the camera shows us Nanami running through the moves) “but a few members made me doubt if they even wanted to perform” (and the camera points out Minami and Erii, giggling together, or sitting on the floor and needing to be literally dragged into practicing).

The problem seems to be the three 14-year-old Japanese members of the team. The two 18-year-olds, Nanami and Hyewon, do their best to literally drag them into practicing.

“Get up. We have to practice.” - Hyewon doing her best

We saw stuff like this with some of the younger boys on Boys Planet, as well. It’s almost as if, oh, I don’t know, maybe most 14 year olds don’t have the emotional maturity to face up to a situation like this and rise to the challenge, or the physical strength to keep going when you’re exhausted and underfed -- not to mention the constant mental drain of being in an environment where you can’t speak your native tongue. It’s almost as if, oh, I don’t know, maybe they shouldn’t let 14 year olds on shows like this?

Erii, who breathes through gills on her neck and thus wears her mask under her chin, interviews, “Korean raps are so difficult. The tempo is really fast.”

Minami says she felt demotivated. G”I don’t think I tried very hard,” she interviews. God, she looks so miserable.

To the left: Team 1, rehearsing. To the right: Team 2, standing around.

We go visit the girls at vocal rehearsal.

Minami, Erii, Yuuka, Nanami, Hyewon, Chowon

Minami and Erii are shown sort of… murmuring vaguely, I guess I’ll say… in the opening lines, which are in English: “Been a bad girl, I know I am / and I’m so hot, I need a fan / I don’t want a boy, I need a man.” They are putting absolutely no emphasis or energy into it. Not even a little.

Look, I get it. Rapping along with a rap song not in your language is tough. But there are Korean rap songs I’ve heard enough times that I can at least do a “na na na” noise to in rhythm even though I have no idea what they’re saying. If I had two days of practice, I think I could learn two or three lines of lyrics, especially if I just had to read them off of a sheet of paper! Also, the opening lines of Boombayah are in English, and they’re the same lines in the Japanese version and the Korean version. The song was a monster hit -- did they not hear the song thousands of times? Didn’t they study English in school? These are all fairly elementary English words, I feel like. I’m not just tearing these girls down over nothing, but I feel like they’re not even TRYING. It’s uncomfortable to watch.

Cheetah is like, “What are they DOING?” PS: I love when Cheetah does her heavy makeup, bright red lip thing. She’s such a queen. Have you listened to Villain yet? Because it slaps.

Soyou is ded.

They get to the first “Boombayah!” and Cheetah is like, ok, that’s enough. After an uncomfortable pause, Cheetah asks, “What was I supposed to even watch? … I don’t think this is a language barrier issue.”

Soyou immediately agrees, asking them if they just aren’t trying because they don’t want to do it. Yuuka, who is also 14 but appears to be trying a bit harder than her young teammates, shakes her head no, and Nanami, the team “mom” I think, also shakes her head no, as if trying to say, no, we’re here to try. But Minami and Erii just stare. Minami looks sad, at least, but Erii is just… well, whatever this is.

LTR: Minami, Erii, Yuuka, Nanami

Honestly, Erii’s dead eyed stares get on my last nerve. I am trying not to be mean about the girl because she’s young and under stress and all that but OMG. GIRL. WTF. Why are your bangs just a little clump in the center of your face, and why is your brain just a little clump in the middle of your head? Sigh. That’s mean. But I’m not deleting it.

Soyou calls out Minami and Erii. Pointing to them, she asks, “Are you both that discontent? You’re not even nodding. Your not singing, you’re not replaying, you’re not responding.

Aww, Minami looks terrified. I feel for the kid, despite everything.

Soyou says, “If you don’t want to be taught, then get out.” There’s a long pause again, then shes asks Hyewon to give it a shot. We’re reminded that Hyewon stepped up to be main rapper. She tries to say “Blackpink in your area,” but manages to give it the volume and enthusiasm you’d give the phrase “hey, can you pass me the salt?” while someone else is telling a story at the dinner table.

Cheetah is trying not to lose her shit.

She makes her do it again and she does it exactly the same every time, and every time she looks at Cheetah when she’s done, hoping for approval. Meanwhile, her attempts are so similar to each other that you could believe it’s just the same audio clip played over and over again, which, maybe it is. When Cheetah sort of yells at her, she laughs uncomfortably and apologizes. Cheetah is like, you don't have to be sorry to me. My butt isn’t getting on stage in a few days.

Soyou is all of us.

Ok, let's pick up immediately in the next post, because I'm out of space for photos!

#bpr recaps p48 #produce 48 #boombayah #hellbayah #akb48 #chowon #lightsum #elris #alice #rocket punch

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brunelsblog · 1 year

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#boombayah #yeah yeah yeah yeah #BOMOMTBITA #BO #BOOM #B #B-B #b

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