AWARDS SHOW 01. Two Kinds of Nominations
4xU. The ComeBack: AWARD SHOW SEASON!AWARDS SEASON 01. - Two Kinds of Nominations
"So wait, we're nominated for WHAT?" Sophie leaned over JJ's shoulder, looking at the announcements and invitations that the company had sent to them earlier that morning.
"Rookie of the Year for three, and MAMA put us as a nominee for Best Global Group for Females." JJ read off, grinning widely as the girls sat around, drinking coffee and eating breakfast.
"Wow, that's...." Sangmi sighed, unable to find the words. Honestly, it was amazing. "We're up against I.O.I for Rookie, and you know Global's going to be hard to get too." Chase looked up from her phone.
Venus nodded, "Yeah, any nominations are almost too good to be true. We'll actually mean it when we say it was an honor to be nominated, huh?" She smiled, shovelling a large spoonful of cereal into . Naeun nodded. "True, and some of us will be in collaboration stages, right?"
"We still need to confirm so we can go to rehearsals and make sure we're not behind schedule." Su-chin spoke up, having brought over the documents outlining the contract for being apart of MAMA stages and participating in the award shows.
JJ nodded, handing out the individual members their own sheets outlining their stages or proposed stage idea. "Wow, we have a stage as SBS Gayo! A short one, but that's still awesome." Naeun gushed, grinning as she read the stages and schedules on the paper.
Chase was busy on her phone already texting, laughing quietly and not even paying attention. Sangmi raised an eyebrow, "You're not even looking at what's in store for you? What if BTS wanted to do a stage with you?"
"They wouldn't." Was all Chase said in response, shrugging and putting her phone down for two seconds before it went off again. A few of the girls shared a glance inbetween each other, wondering what was going on. It seemed Chase was on a constant roller coaster with BTS -- scratch that, it's always Yoongi. Sophie sighed. Chase claimed there wasn't anything wrong, but anyone could tell something was up. But honestly, who cared about that at this moment.
Sophie just couldn't stop shaking from nerves at the aspect of performing at an end of the year show. That was really impressive, and she was worried about performing. Usually, it'd be fun, but this was a whole new beast. She looked over at Venus, who looked a little nervous too, but the original maknae smiled widely in assurance. Sophie cracked one too. It'd be okay, right?
Sangmi had been silently smiling at her group, proud of how far they'd come even if they weren't all that famous or well known yet. Her smile soon turned into a small frown when she realized that Clara wouldn't be able to come along for any of the shows.
"What's wrong?" Naeun asked, noticing their leader being down. Sangmi shook her head a little, "I'm just bummed for Clara. She's not going to be able to participate."
Naeun pouted a bit at the reminder, but perked up after a moment of thought. "She'll be home for a week, though! She may not be able to come, but she'll be able to help us out with rehearsals, I'm sure!"
The energy of the group only intensified with talks of their performances, the rehearsals, and preparations of the three award shows they decided to confirm their attendance to.
MAMA, SBS Gayo Daejun and the Golden Disc Awards were going to be apart of 4xU's first award show season, and Golden Disc was up first. They had a lot of planning and although they were only attending, it was still going to be a long process. However stressful it might be, nothing could manage to bring their spirits down.
Woollim was a pleasantly successful company, and with 4xU and IDYLL having made a smash their first half year, they were very very pleased with their girl group. When your group succeeded, it was no secret that you got a slightly better treatment than before. While Woollim tried not to do that, it was hard not to reward the girls for their hard work.
But they weren't SM, JYP, or YG who could afford to have their idols change wardrobe 12 times in one night for one show. Despite being told they could only afford one set of matching dresses for the awards shows they were attending, as they were going to invest money in special costumes for their stages, the girls couldn't care less.
"Hey girls!" One of the male stylists greeted, happy to see the six file into the room, all in awe of the new glamour of what awards show wardrobe was like. Another female stylist came up, hugging Naeun before leading them into the racks. "We have a lot of really nice matching gowns without being too uniformed, like this," She pulled out a beautiful pastel ball gown, full and to the floor. Chase eyed it nervously. Naeun cooed over it, feeling the fabric beneath her fingers.
"It's so pretty, can't we try this one first?" Naeun pleaded. Sangmi rolled her eyes playfully, "I mean, if you insist, Princess." She joked, and Naeun beamed, all but running into the dressing room with the chosen dress style. The rest of them accepted the other gowns in the set and went to change. Naeun and Sophie were the first out, and twirled and curtsied to each other.
"M'lady~" Sophie said in a deep voice, making Naeun giggle. "This is so much fun!" She sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. She'd seen her friends and brother go to these awards shows, and it looked so glamourous and magical. She was starting to believe it really was.
"I look stupid." Chase complained, arms full of dress as she waddled up to the mirror. The two girls laughed at her misfortune. "No, I think you look like a true princess, Chase!" Naeun gushed after she was done laughing, grinning widely as she fixed a few stray hairs from Chase's mane. Chase's eyes narrowed in the mirror. "But... how am I supposed to walk???"
The stylist waited until everyone was out in dresses (some looking happier than others) to instruct how to walk in these types of dresses. "Kick, Walk, Kick, Walk --" She was telling the girls, watching them practice.
"ShhhhH--" Thud. Everyone turned to see Chase flat on her face, only to see the disgruntled look as she looked up from her place on the floor. It took only a few more seconds for the group to burst into laughter while Chase smiled sheepishly.
"So, not this one?" The stylist asked good naturedly, and Sangmi nodded. "They're beautiful, but it's not going to work for some of us, and I think we'd rather be comfortable."
They then tried shorter, ier dresses, which was immediately vetoed by Venus as soon as the woman explained what kind of underwear the girls would have to wear in order to work. Another set looked too similar to their Dream Candy dresses, which didn't suit the older girls. "Take a look, we've got plenty and there's no rush." They were assured by the crew, and the girls wandered around the racks to look for something more fitting to their look and their comfort level.
"I.... I like this gold and black lace..." Venus called out, gaining everyone's attention, pulling out a very pretty high low styled dress, with black lace and gold embellishment on the bottom.
Sangmi looked it over, "It is pretty, but kind of short for some of us. Why doesn't one of us try this one on before we all try and waste more time." The group quickly agreed, doing rock paper scissors to decide who'd be the model.
JJ ended up taking the dress and headed back to the dressing rooms, promising to be back quickly. As they waited, they browsed more, and talked about their new outfits for their performance at SBS Gayo.
"It's really cool that we get to perform, I heard the stage was huge!" Venus said, and Naeun nodded. "Biggest stage they've had in years, if I remember correctly. Ah, it's so exciting!" She squealed, holding onto Venus' arm. Venus agreed, looking over at the older girls. "Big stage, lots of people, it's a great chance to do our best and get ourselves more notice." Chase mentioned, Sophie also nodding. "But also nerve wracking." The girls agreed, murmuring about other rumored performers and stages when they heard JJ clear behind them.
"So, what do you guys th--"
"You're HOT."
JJ blushed at Sophie's blunt statement. Immediately Sophie turned red and hid her face in her hands. "I mean, yeah, but like..." Sophie rambled, continuing to try and cover her statement but continued to flubber for a few moments, looking at Chase for help. The older girl was too busy laughing on the floor to help.
"You look good." Sangmi spoke up, making JJ smile. "Thanks! It's really comfortable too. I think it'd work if everyone else likes it!" Sangmi nodded. "I'm liking it so far, and judging by the rest of them, I think we'll look good but still like a group."
"If we look even an 1/8th as good as you do I don't think it matters." Sophie blurted, before letting out a shriek and grabbing one of the matching dresses and all but teleporting to the dressing rooms to change. JJ laughed. "Guess I'm making a bit of a statement?" She looked over at Venus, who held her own dress.
"Mhm. There's definitely going to be a lot of attention on you if we decide on these~" Venus smiled, winking and walking to the dressing room.
It took ten more minutes for the others to dress and line up with JJ to look at themselves. JJ was right, the dresses were comfortable and looked great on the girls. "I wouldn't be mad wearing this to next years awards show." Naeun commented, playing with the lace cascading behind her dress with a smile.
"They're perfect." The stylist agreed. "Classic but individual, how lovely." She nodded, taking measurements to ensure each dress fitted the member perfectly. "Lace is quite popular this season, I believe there's a performer who's arriving in white lace." She offhandedly mentioned as she pinned the back of Sophie's dress to take it in more.
"Maybe it's Taeyeon and we can take a picture for Tina!" Chase grinned, holding her hair over her shoulder as another stylist started making adjustments on her own dress. The girls laughed and made jokes with the crew as adjustments were made and paid for.
They were so ready for this show season.
"What do you think she wants?" Chase asked, leaning against the wall as Naeun knocked on the door. They were the last two to arrive, as they took the longest to get ready this particular morning and had a seperate rehearsal for MAMA right after. Naeun shrugged, "She is one of the best producers of the company, she probably wants to work with us for our next comeback since we had to re-work our entire schedule due to everything going on." Chase nodded, "Makes sense."
The petite blonde opened the door, grinning widely, "Hey hey! Come on in, we can get started now that you guys are here!" She opened the door more to let the two girls through, hurrying over to her seat and opening up her computer folders, pulling out a sound folder titled "4XU"
"I've been playing around with this sound, and last night I had a break through and pulled an all nighter to finish it." She rushed, selecting a file from this morning and letting it loud. "I wanted your opinion of it, with a little more work it could be a title track."
"I'm all ears!" Sangmi leaned forward, and the producers of the group perked up in interest. This producer was very talented and had a great unique sound and way of making tracks. She hit play, and the song started, with voice already pre-recorded. Venus tilted her head, listening intently. She had definitely heard some of these voices before...
"Did you use another group?" Venus asked. The producer looked over at her, eyes wide. "No, but I did use some of the trainees as vocal and rap spots, as well as myself in a few parts where I couldn't find anyone last night..." She sheepishly admitted, "I think some of them really suit this style of music, I hope to work with them at some point!" The blonde stood up, handing out music sheets for them to look over. "Tell me what you think!"
"...There's seven parts." JJ frowned, "Clara won't be able to participate in promotions until her contract with the show is over..."
"Couldn't we make it six by redispersing the lines and parts?" Sophie suggested, but the producer shook her head. "No, there's an underlayer harmony in the chorus that's a specific part, if one's missing it'll sound flat."
"Okay, so we overlay a voice?" JJ thought outloud, before frowning as she listened to the parts and put them together in her head. Chase spoke up, "The voice would blend in and there wouldn't be a clear distinction in the voices, it'd sound off."
The producer nodded, "I try to make tracks that are very distinctive in voices, so people can hear each voice even if they don't realize it."
"Yeah, it was amazing with Just Go! on our first mini album. People really liked it and wanted it to be the title track." Sangmi complimented, making her grin. "Thanks. This is similar in style and feel, just with seven instead of eight."
The group stood there, not knowing what to do. On one hand, they could just wait until Clara was done and then record and release that then. However, the younger subunit was in the wings waiting to debut, and that'd be the first thing the company would want to do once Clara was back. The group could chose another title track while waiting, sure, but there was no promise that the track would still be available to them once they got around to it. Songs from this producer were sold off pretty quick if they were available, and she needed the income just as much as the rest of them.
"I don't want to give this track up, the dance...." Venus spoke up, pouting at the thought of losing this track. It'd be selfish of them to keep it when she could make money off it selling it to another group and their company, and while Woollim was lenient on them, the girls knew that they could toss the track out for something else if they didn't make a decision soon.
"None of the other tracks we've listened to have made me want to do it. This track..." Naeun sighed, "It sounds like it was made for us. It's a step in the right direction for our sound as a group."
Chase nodded. "So, what are we going to do?"
Sophie had been quiet after her first suggestion, staring at the page pensively. She mumbled something to herself, catching the attention of her best friend.
"You got something, Soph?" Chase asked, sitting down next to her. Sophie gulped nervously. "Well..."
"Maybe we should give one of these trainees who worked on the track a chance..." She offered quietly. You could hear a pin drop in the silence of the room as they all considered the idea.
"...Why don't you explain a little more?" Sangmi asked, not looking directly at the younger but everyone could see the wheels in the leader's head start to turn.
Sophie nodded, taking a deep breath before going on, "Well, when we joined the group," She gestured towards her and JJ, "We had to go through private auditions with you all so you could handpick who you wanted to work with in the renewal of the group. Why don't we give it a try with specifically the trainees who worked on this track."
"That... that could work." Venus mused, "I mean, do you have access to the list of the people who worked with you?" She turned towards the producer.
"Yeah, I do, it'll take me a minute to get specific names though." She turned to her computer, pulling up various files and scanning through them. Venus nodded. Sangmi's lips were in a firm line, still silent in thought.
"Your thoughts, leader?" Chase prodded. Sangmi turned towards her, "It could work. Could." She emphasized, "It's risky. I know that the company wants us to consider adding another member, but it could brand us as a group like T-ARA or 9Muses, always going through member changes and not given a chance despite having good music."
"Well, what if that's what we need?" JJ suggested, "We need a seventh voice to do this song justice. If we find someone, then great, we're back to eight and will continue as planned. If not, then okay, we'll stay at seven and try and work something out. If all else fails, we just have to let this one track go. It happens."
The girls seemed to be in agreement, and they turned to the last member. "Naeun?"
She nodded, determined. "I agree with JJ. Let's see if there's someone we might need and not realize it. We did it with these three, we can just see."
It was late when the girls came back into the dorm. The ride home had been stressful, thinking about auditioning potential new members just sounded like a mess and no one really wanted to do it during their break, but they had agreed on it. Sangmi was going to bring it up with Clara to ensure they had everyone's permission before meeting with the CEO after Golden Disc.
"God, I must be so hungry I'm halluncinating." Sophie complained, taking her shoes off. "I can smell Chinese food..."
"Uh, hold on, I smell it too." Chase scrunched her nose as she inhaled, confused at the scent in the dorm room. The other girls noticed the smell as well, looking at each other in confusion. "It's coming from the kitchen..." Naeun began walking over, everyone else following.
"Hello everyone!"
Immediately the girls cheered and clamoured over to the voice. Their baby, Clara, was back at the dorm and cooking Chinese food with Su-chin. Immediately the group shoved themselves into the dorm's kitchen, eithering trying to steal a bite of the food or to bombard their youngest with questions. Naeun was the first to get to Clara, and the first one to steal some food was Venus.
"I'm so glad to see you!" The main dancer hugged Jinsol, "It's so weird not having you around, it's so empty in here without you!"
Clara's eyes widened, "R-really???"
"Of course!" Sophie chimed in, wrapping an arm around her waist for a hug, "You're quiet, not a piece of furniture."
...And now Clara was crying. Sophie panicked, "Oh god, what'd I do??? What happened???"
"I-i'm sorry!" She stammered, rubbing her face furiously as she tried to erase the traces of tears, "I'm just... I'm so stressed, but I see all this support so I want to do w-well... I'm so nervous and I c-can't help but be scared about you guys..."
"Keep going, dear, we're all here for you." JJ smiled, the youngest's hair. Sangmi joined the group, nodding. "Of course, we're rooting for you! Go out there and prove that Yoon Jinsol and 4xU aren't to be underestimated!"
"If you want, we can help with your song choices and anything else you need. Naeun did it before, right?" Venus piped up, slurping a noodle while avoiding Su-chin's spoon.
Clara managed a small watery smile, before pulling herself together and serving everyone once the food had finished cooking. The conversation drifted naturally from topic to topic, and Clara was very eager to talk about the upcoming awards shows and possiblities for the group to win.
"I'm always voting for you and Seventeen, of course," She explained, "And I've recently been asking others that I live with to vote for us and them too." The girls nodded, letting the girl talk. Honestly, everyone was kind of shocked. Was this the same scared 16 year old that they debuted with? Even barely two months into the show, she was showing signs of confidence and maturity. Her stutter had even decreased when she didn't notice others.
"There's this nice former solo artist that's one of my roommates, she's very nice!" Clara continued, "I think you'd like her, she's really nice." She finished, starting to eat her food as well.
Sangmi was first to speak, "Well, any friend of yours is welcome anytime." The rest of the girls agreed in their own way, either with food in their mouths, or waiting to speak or nod when they weren't scared of noodles and side dishes falling out.
Dinner conversation revolved around the awards shows for a while after that, with Clara being very, very excited about them going, despite her contract not allowing her to attend the shows. Afterwards, the group got to work on telling her what was happening, what they were planning for their comeback while Clara was filming, and then getting her to perform and pick out a few pieces while getting critiques from the girls and praises when she did well.
That night, the dorm fell asleep feeling full and complete for the first time in a while.
AT THE GOLDEN DISC AWARDS...
While the buzz about 4xU was decent, their press and photo times weren't nearly as long as some of the bigger stars. However, one thing the group would become forever known for is their friendship with other groups and idol individuals. The girls would periodically sneak off and talk and greet the groups they knew, even a few of the more mischevious ones playing around with specific groups.
Sophie was busy inbetween BTOB, of course, not escaping the scolding and teasing of Sungjae and Eunkwang (who kept telling her to go back to her seat and be respectful, but seeing as when the cameras were off, idols seemed to scatter to say hello to their friends, his words were taken with a grain of salt) and when they got too annoying, she'd scamper off to sit next to Seungyeon of Pristin. The two had hit it off, both being not from Korea originally and having difficulty as trainees, and their powerful voices made for a silly and ear splitting duo. And when Seungyeon would get chastised, Sophie ran off to BTS, who was known for their antics and she could be somewhat safe while talking to Jimin and V.
JJ was jumping around constantly, speaking with Hyunsik, Changsub, and Peniel about their lives, having been busy with variety show schedules and various other activities, with special attention to Hyunsik and teasing him in English with the help of Peniel. Of course she stopped to check in with her sister and the rest of f(x), planning with Amber on her next vlog that was in Korea and potentially other activities with Krystal and Jessica once the holidays and shows settled down, and then was flagged down by JB so he could check in with everything going on with her (to which she argued that he should be the one looking after himself, much to his embarrassment). Mark even mentioned that his family said hello to her, which she told him that she would definitely want to return their greetings. Eventually she returned to her seat, occasionally jumping up to ask a question to Hyunsik or to congratulate a fellow idol when they were announced.
As for Chase, she was hardly ever at her seat even before the show officially started. Many fans would complain on twitter and other social media platforms that there was hardly any good view or fancam of her reactions to performances since she seemed to be hovering over a few groups (aka BTS, Got7, and CLC once she learned that Sorn was friends with Bambam).
Eventually the group's stragglers were forced back into their seats as the next performance was beginning. "I swear to god, you girls are insane." Su-chin hissed behind them as the lights dimmed, causing the girls to giggle and bow their heads in slight apology towards their manager before turning towards the stage for the group's performance.
However, the girls were surprised to see MAMAMOO start amongst the audience, surprising a few fans and getting loud cheers as they made their way up the stage steps. Moonbyul made a little stop by their table during her rap, and the girls cheered and 'fainted' in good fun, making the four girls on stage grin as they continued their performance.
One of the cameramen focused on 4xU during the performance, broadcasting a few seconds of footage of Sangmi jamming and mouthing the words to both of the songs, making it clear she was a fan.
Mamamoo quickly disembarked the stage as the lights dimmed once more, stopping to greet the girl group as they did so. "We're big fans!" Wheein whispered as they passed by, making Chase straighten up.
"Uhm Sangmi, let's go." She said, mentioning that the cameras were off, tugging on the leader's hair a bit. Sangmi made a face. "Go where?"
"Meeting Mamamoo, of course!" Chase rolled her eyes, standing up. Naeun and Sophie were already with the idea, up and waiting for the two of them. "You sure, what if Su-chin --" Sangmi looked around for their manager, only to see her off chatting with other managers, surely lamenting on how hard her job is, even with only six of them.
"No excuses, you love them, I love them, we're going!" Chase announced, tugging her wrist along as the small group made a beeline for the girl group.
"Hello!" Chase waved as the four approached the other group. The girls looked shocked, but all smiled really big when they saw it was the group they had just greeted moments before. "Hello!" Solar grinned, and Sangmi swore her heart skipped a beat. Geez, she knew Solar was pretty, but in real life she could say the cameras didn't do her justice.
"So I'm in love with all of you and I want to be friends. Cool?" Sangmi could've choked at Chase's bluntness, but the girls seemed to take it in stride and even laugh, asking them to join them. Sophie and Naeun were already making friends with Wheein and Hwasa. Moonbyul was chatting with Chase, but soon Hwasa inserted herself in that as well, gushing over her admiration and excitement to meet and befriend another girl group that was a bit different in personality.
"Oh shoot, they're making us leave again." Sophie groaned, seeing Su-chin start to look over her shoulder and eyeing the four who were still out of their seats. "They won't seperate us, come on, Mamamoo, we're merging our groups." And before anyone had a say, Chase had Moonbyul and Hwasa being dragged over to their table and Naeun was skipping alongside Wheein back to the table. Sophie laughed and scurried after them, joining Naeun and Wheein their conversation quickly as the group crowded around their table.
Sangmi looked over at Solar before extending a hand, "Shall we?" She asked, pretending to be a gentleman. Solar grinned, curtsying and taking her hand gently.
Wow her hand is soft. Sangmi noted, before shaking herself, Stop with the thoughts!! Now is not the time -- god I hope she's single -- SANGMI. SANGMI PLEASE.
While those girls had gone off in search of recruiting Mamamoo, JJ and Venus headed around to greet other groups, meeting Gfriend (who were too cute for their own good, JJ insisted), the I.O.I members (Venus was very happy to see the Kyulkyung and Somi, talking to them for a bit about plans after the new year, planning on meeting up and the likes) and even managed to snag EXO's attention for a bit. JJ happily chatted with Suho and Chanyeol for a bit, laughing at a joke that one of them made.
Venus was in the middle of asking Sehun and Kai how things were going when her ears automatically perked up in hearing Chinese. "Nǐ zhīdào Chase zài nǎlǐ ma? (do you know where Chase is?)" She turned to see none other than Lay asking her, smiling gently.
"Mǒu chù. Wèishéme? (Somewhere. Why?)" She asked, trying to be as polite as possible. Lay almost looked flustered, "Méiyǒu lǐyóu. Wǒ xiǎng wèn wèn tā shì zěnme huí shì. (No reason. I just wanted to ask how she was doing.)"
Venus would press further, but nodded, smiling as he turned back around and redirected her attention to Sehun and Kai.
"Having fun?" He teased, motioning over to the suddenly growing commotion that was 4xU's table. Venus smiled, "Of course, it's never dull with them." She frowned when she noticed he didn't get closer. It wasn't like she wanted him to hug her or anything, but he was straining to look at her instead of turning in his chair like Kai had.
"Doesn't your neck hurt?" Venus asked, and Sehun visibly blushed. "Ah, well... I think it'd be..."
Kai rolled his eyes. "He's flustered because he wants to tell you that you look nice without sounding weird or suggestive. I told him it was dumb."
"You... think I look nice?" Venus blinked, feeling her own face get warm. "Well... thanks... You do too?" She didn't really know how to respond, but she was pretty sure fainting or dying of heat (which both were high probabilities for her right now) wasn't it. So, onto the more socially acceptable choice. It was only a few more minutes of chatting about the performances before Su-chin barrelled over, greeting EXO and herding the two of them back to their now crowded table. Not that Venus minded. She ended up alongside Hwasa, Wheein, and Sophie. Mamamoo turned out very easy to make friends with, especially since the four were just as loud and silly as the rest of the group.
After that, Su-chin made extra efforts to make sure that if the girls got up, it was either for the bathroom or to stretch their legs. Apparently talking to the groups you were friends with, breaks or not, was seen as kind of rude. While they were new, it was still apparently causing some mumurs amongst attending fans and the girls didn't want anymore drama for the rest of the year.
THE NEXT DAY, AT WOOLLIM...
Knock, knock, knock. The CEO of Woollim looked up at the knock, "Sangmi? Is that you? Come in, you're just on time."
"Hello." Sangmi greeted, shuffling in with some papers in hand, sitting down across the desk from him. He raised an eyebrow. "Everything alright? I'm assuming this is about your impending comeback in the New Year..."
"Yes, it is." Sangmi nodded, swallowing hard. She's not usually nervous with these meetings, but she wasn't exactly sure how the CEO would feel about this.
He broke into a smile, "Excellent! You all have agreed on a title track, then?"
"Well, yes... But we were thinking..." She hesitated, biting her lip.
"What is it?"
Sangmi took a deep breath. "We want to hold auditions for a new member, and we already have a list of selected trainees that we'd like to go through if possible." She handed him the list that their producer had forwarded them just barely the day before this. The CEO took the list, handling it carefully and looking down the list.
"You all are sure that this is what you want to do? I know that we pushed it on you."
She nodded. "We're doing this as a trial. Giving them a chance, so to speak. If we decide we like one, then great. If not, then we'll continue as six for the time being until Clara joins us again."
"...Alright. I'll let these girls know."
ANNOUNCEMENT: GIGI'S NEW ALBUM "CHAT-SHIRE" TO BE RELEASED ON HER BIRTHDAY
Solo artist GIGI is making her big debut back on the idol front, dropping various teasers and images of the new mini-album. Today, the track list and coverart was revealed, naming the album "CHAT-SHIRE" and title track "23". The images suggest an Alice in Wonderland theme, and GiGi in a recent interview about her end of the year plans were to "showcase a more mature sound of herself, to showcase that she's growing up and learning."
comments:
- mY QUEEN OF CONCEPTS AND LOOKS IS RETURNING. BLESSED BE. Fansites don't seem to have anything other than public appearances at award shows, the album dropping, and a few variety shows. When will she be performing????
- GiGi making the world shake at the mention of a comeback honestly. She's so smart with her song choices and she's beautiful, there's no way to flop.
- Does this mean she's going to awards ceremonies or skipping in order to prep??? Because... no offense... it might be best if a certain group's going to be there, they've already confirmed their attendance weeks ago. I know it was old news, but it seems like GiGi was at the center of a LOT of drama around a now former member.
ANNOUNCEMENT: WOOLLIM HINTS AT 4XU COMEBACK IN THE NEW YEAR, A NEW MEMBER, AND JINSOL GOES STRONG INTO THE CASTING AUDITIONS OF KPOPSTAR.
Rising girl group 4xU has had their issues recently, but it doesn't look like that's going to slow them down -- Woollim released a schedule confirming the girls coming back in the beginning of the new year, and a mysterious image was posted (and then removed) of a mysterious girl outlined in a forest. Is this a hint of the comeback? Some fans speculate it could be a new member after the departure of Tina. What do you think?
In other news of the girl group, maknae JINSOL (formerly known under stage name CLARA) is thriving in KPOPSTAR 6. She's been complimented every time she comes back with her singing and dancing, and after a stunning solo performance and another with fellow contestant JEON MINJU, she's confirmed to go on to the casting audition of the show! JYP has made it clear that he wants her on his team, however it seems like YG and Antenna may be up for a fight over the talented girl. What are your predictions for her casting? Are you surprised about Jinsol's performances so far?
comments:
- They're coming back at the same time as GiGi then? ... Y i k e s.
- Another new member??? Are they going to be like 9Muses? Idk, maybe they should just go forward as six for now until Jinsol's done with her thing... Which, btw, she's totally going to be placed in JYP. He's been saying she's his company's style and I agree. Maybe this'll prove that she's got more to bring to the table than her cute face!
- I hope they go for a more mature concept, I'd love to see them as girl crushes since they're becoming really popular with lots of girl groups lately! MAMAMOO mentioned them as the group they'd really love to get close to in the new year! :D
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4XU'S VITAMIN C CHASE AND SUNSHINE SOPHIE : Sophie and I are clearly the best looking here, so obvs we have to show you our faces ~~ Thank you for all the support with many firsts! This is only the beginning, and this new year brings lots of new music, new units, and more surprises! :D Hope you're ready ~~
comments:
(withlovesophie shared photo and added: SBS was great, thank you for having us despite our seats being unoccupied a lot :'D One down, two to go!)
@rejiyoungovoo: you guys should smile, you're at an awards show!!! you'll be in trouble for leaving your seats too... y i k e s
@official_mamamoo: So nice meeting you!!! We hope success comes for you guys in the new year, and we get to know each other even more! ~ HWASA
@noticemesophiepls: OMG we've been blessed by the sunshine goddesses!! YAY. I hope you guys perform and win this year!!! Lots of international fans are supporting you :')
@almostangely_jinsol: TT^TT i wish I could be there... have fun!!!!
ANNOUNCEMENT: 4XU'S JJ RELEASES "STRONG WOMAN DO BONG SOON" OST, ACHIEVES A CLOSE ALL-KILL ON DIGITAL CHARTS.
JJ of 4xU and the Jung Sisters has officially made a step as a solo OST artist!! This morning the track for the popular drama "STRONG WOMAN DO BONG SOO" was released digtially alongside the M/V, which can be found here! Titled 그대란 정원, the song is that is best described as a powerful ballad about love that fits the drama well and JJ showcases her powerful vocals well! We aren't the only ones who think that it seems, because it only missed achieveing a perfect All-Kill on the charts by two spots. Does anyone else think a solo project might be in the near future???
comments:
- So JJ has officially ruined OSTs for me, because if I don't hear her voice now, I'm not going to think it's good. TT^TT She has a VOICE. I can't believe she's just in a group. #GiveJJaSoloDebut
- Jinsol is doing KPOP Star, JJ has her OSTs... What about Sophie??? Give the main vocalist some love too!!!
- JJ did so well ~~~ LOVE how emotional her voice is, it just fits the whole drama!! Well done, JJ! I'm sad she barely missed an all-kill, BUT we can still achieve it as long as we keep streaming! She deserves this!
Comments