ENTERTAINMENT
Fierce competition between legends
In MBN's 'Firework Band' broadcast on the 3rd, a total of 7 legendary bands, including Love and Peace, Jeon In-kwon Band, Lee Chi-hyun and Friends, Five Fingers, Kwon In-ha Band, Resurrection, and Kim Jong-seo Band, gathered in one place and entered into their first face-to-face ceremony and evaluation match. It unfolded. In particular, the legendary bands' deliberately staged performances gave goosebumps and emotions, and the bold talk and behind-the-scenes stories that rivaled those of a 'hip-hop diss match' poured out, providing fun that you couldn't take your eyes off for a moment.
On this day, the seven teams met in a studio that resembled a fighting arena and had a face-to-face ceremony. Kim Jong-seo Band, the youngest member of Fireworks Band, entered the studio first, and they boldly announced, “We will show the new charm of band music.” Park Wan-gyu, the vocalist of Resurrection, who appeared later, expressed his wish, saying, “I hope the image of becoming one will be covered in depth.”
Kwon In-ha Band, who made up a team of trendy members, showed confidence, saying, “There is no weapon greater than youth,” and Love and Peace, which drew a standing ovation just by appearing, boldly said, “Our goal is to be number one.” Five Fingers predicted deeper music, and Lee Chi-hyun and his friends showed their competitive spirit, saying, “I don’t want to lose to any team.” Lastly, the Jeon In-Kwon Band emphasized the teamwork created from long-term collaboration and predicted a fiery stage once again.
While the seven teams appeared one after another, there was a strange tension and awkward atmosphere in the studio. Kim Jong-seo, who was the ‘first vocalist’ of Resurrection, felt awkward when Resurrection appeared, saying, “We are a very close team, but honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable.” Park Wan-gyu also doubled the tension by saying, “I have a grudge against Kwon In-ha,” and even shaking off Kwon In-ha’s hand. Five Fingers got angry at Lee Chi-hyun's joke, "Are the session guys here?" and said, "We're a 12-year-old team, but I don't think they're saying 'it's like a session.'"
2 MCs Kim Gura and Bae Seong-jae appeared in a studio full of sharp nerves and checks on each other from the first meeting, announcing the spectacular beginning of the 'Firework Band'. Kim Gu-ra said, “We have gathered bands that will be recorded as the best in the history of Korean popular music in the 20th century,” and Bae Seong-jae announced the purpose of ‘Firework Band’ by saying, “We will select the best bands of this era through contests on various topics.”
They added to the fun of the contest with various episodes in their relationship that were as tangled as their long-term activities. When Kim Jong-seo was asked how he felt when he met Jang Hyuk, the Five Fingers he worked with in the past, as an enemy, he answered sharply, “Jang Hyuk is a ‘taboo word’ to me.” In addition, Lee Chi-hyun and Myeong-joo Myeong-ju (keyboard) suddenly sat at a distance and laughed at the MC's joke, saying, "You could think of them as a couple."
The seven teams will compete against each other according to various missions, and the rankings will be calculated based on 100% of the scores of the audience evaluation team present at the scene. Afterwards, the scores from each contest are accumulated and the first eliminated team is selected after the third contest. On this day, before entering the main competition, an evaluation match was held to check each other's skills and the band's identity. This evaluation match was conducted in a way that each team checked all stages and then directly ranked the seven teams, including their own band.
Five Fingers emerged as the first runners in the evaluation match. They selected 'Balloon', which contains pure memories, and presented a still refreshing stage. Next, Kim Jong-seo's band passionately sang 'Beautiful Redemption', and Lee Chi-hyun and friends passionately sang 'We Met Again'. The Jeon In-kwon Band thrilled the audience with its ‘March’, which was full of unrivaled voice and talent. Resurrection also maximized the emotion by singing ‘Rain and Your Story’ in a charismatic atmosphere. Love and Peace selected ‘Rose’ to showcase the charm of funky sound, and finally, Kwon In-ha Band selected ‘In Search of My Dream’, creating a forum for conversation and agreement that transcends generations through music.
After all evaluation stages were over, the rankings of the seven teams were announced. Gura Kim drew attention by saying, “The team that ranks first in this evaluation match will be given the benefit of deciding the order of the first round of the competition.” First of all, Kim Jong-seo Band was named in 5th place. Regarding this, Kim Gu-ra said, “This team was faithful to entertainment. Even though they gave themselves 1st place, they came in 5th place. “If we hadn’t given ourselves first place, we would have been in big trouble,” he said. 4th place was Five Fingers, but Kim Gu-ra later revealed, “Kwon In-ha Band ranked Five Fingers in 7th place.” In response, Kwon In-ha Band said, “You praised us earlier saying you did a good job, but honestly, I feel bad. “I need to be more wary of people laughing in front of me,” he gritted his teeth.
Third place was Jeon In-Kwon Band. Here too, Kim Gura said, “The team that selected Jeon In-Kwon Band in 7th place was Five Fingers. “If it weren’t for this team, we would have finished in 1st or 2nd place,” he said, stimulating Jeon In-kwon. Five Fingers Lee Tae-yoon (bass) gave his own explanation, saying, “It felt like the performance and ensemble were somewhat lacking in practice,” to which Jeon In-kwon responded, “When several people take pictures together, everyone only looks at themselves. “I think it was the five fingers,” he said, delivering a heavy blow. While the announcement of the top 1st and 2nd places and the bottom 6th and 7th places has been postponed to next week, the long-awaited first contest with the audience evaluation team is scheduled for the 2nd episode, raising expectations for even more legendary bands' performances.
Ten Asia Reporter Kim Seo-yoon seogugu@tenasia.co.kr
