"The world is full of strange things."
“It’s hard to distinguish between true and false.”
"call me baby call me baby."
"call me baby call me baby."
The music of "Call Me Baby" was played over and over again in the practice room, and Chi Jingyuan and other members were also practicing dancing along with it over and over again, constantly practicing the title song for the first time.
After completing Shonan TV's New Year's Eve party, EXO took a flight back to Seoul early in the morning. Although New Year's Day is a very important holiday here, there is no legal holiday for artists. Chi Jingyuan and the others went back As soon as I saluted, I went to the company to prepare for the new album.
"Call Me Baby", as the first title song of EXO's four single albums this time, is very important to them in every aspect. When they need to try their best to satisfy the fans' long-awaited expectations, it is best to play a preemptive role. The effect gave XO a good start for several subsequent singles.
For this reason, SM has done a lot of promotion and planning for the song "Call Me Baby". In addition to the very high-profile promotional video, SM also paid great attention to the choreography. In order to be more unique in terms of dance moves, this song company did not invite local KPOP dance teachers from the peninsula to participate in the choreography. Instead, it invited very well-known dance teachers from the United States who were responsible for Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, NappyTabs, a choreography team created by celebrities such as Aguilera, came to choreograph the music video for this song.
This is indeed a big deal. The choreography fees of this kind of choreography team are much more expensive than those of local teams. They are not on the same level. SM has really made great efforts for XO's return this time.
The choreography for "Call Me Baby" has been completed for a long time. EXO has been practicing it intermittently for about ten days from the end of last year to now. The specific beats and movements have been memorized by heart. The focus now is to adjust the details and some In terms of coordination, and the neatness of the chorus dance group is still a difficulty.
To be honest, the dance of this song is not simple. Many parts require high coordination and cooperation among the members, and there are still some shortcomings in the dance in the team...
"This song (dance) is mainly hip-hop and jazz. The rhythm and rhythm of the body are very important. The movements of many parts of the limbs must be coordinated with the body..."
After supervising their dance a few times, the dance teacher began to stand up and point out some of the members' dancing problems: "Baekhyun, what are you doing with this move?"
As he spoke, the dance teacher raised his hands diagonally, swung his arms forward a few times to make a dance move, and at the same time frowned and looked at Baekhyun: "Why do you look so stiff here, like a walking stick. "
Byun Baekhyun grimaced and stuck out his tongue. Every time they practice dancing to this new song, it is a torture and challenge for some members.
"Chanyeol, your steps should be more flexible and keep up with the beat. Every time you reach that point, you will always slow down a beat. Even if you are tall, you can't be so rigid, and if you are tall, your movements will look even stiffer. obvious……"
"And the last big group of crab steps, what are you doing? Baekhyun, can't you stretch your arms out when doing the crab steps? Do you have to curl up your arms to maintain balance? Will you fall if you stretch them out? Then What else are you dancing for? And Suho, why are you raising your head, neck, and feet so high? Are you doing a crab walk? Does our choreographer have this move of yours? Did you create it yourself?"
"Wait a minute and take a look at the replay I just recorded to see how bad your dancing is."
When the teacher mentioned this, he became a little angry, his voice became louder, and he gave them a stern lecture. The few people who were named frowned and knew that they were wrong, but they did not dare to say anything. They pinched their waists and lowered their heads, staring at the floor to study. The direction of the grain.
After scolding a few words, the teacher calmed down his anger after venting his anger, and continued to explain in a much calmer tone:
"The last crab step is very important. If done well, it will be a good killing part. I have said it many times, it must be natural and neat."
"I have been practicing for almost half a month, and I am already familiar with the movements, but there are still many areas for improvement, and the progress is a bit too slow... After practicing "Call Me Baby", I still need to shoot the MV, and then there will be more "Spring Day", "El Dorado" and many other songs, you all know how heavy our task is, so keep working hard."
"Got it." All members responded together.
"Watch the replay you just practiced twice first, find out the reason yourself, and then continue."
A few people sat there and watched the dance practice video just now. The first part was not bad. In fact, they were already very familiar with it. At the end of the crab step, it was like the teacher said that the dance was very bad. Chi Jingyuan He first stared at the C position and found nothing wrong, then looked at Jin Junmyeon, Byun Baekhyun and the others who were named and almost laughed out loud. These two brothers really danced more poorly than the other. The handsome choreographer was danced like a circus dancer by the two of them.
In fact, these two people knew it themselves, but they just felt that they were not very good at this dance move. After practicing it many times, it was still awkward to dance.
After watching the replay, we practiced for another half an hour. Everyone was sweating profusely and panting before entering the rest time under the teacher's announcement.
Wu Shixun and Kim Jong-in ran to the refrigerator to get a bunch of drinks and gave each of them a bottle. Then they went to the bathroom. The other members sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, drinking drinks and chatting. Come.
"I said I have been practicing for half a month, but at the end of last year I was busy with the end of the year. I took time out from my schedule to work overtime. I didn't practice for long at all. I think our progress has been quite fast. If everything goes well The MV will be shot this month." Park Chanyeol took a sip of coffee, remembering that he had been criticized a bit badly just now, and complained in a somewhat impatient tone.
"Okay, we don't just have to practice the dance of "Call Me Baby" and shoot the MV. Although the following "Spring Day" is a ballad, it also has choreography, there is also "El Dorado", and the following "Love" Not to mention "me right", by the way, Jingyuan, have you and the teachers completed the choreography of "Spring Day" and "Boy with Love"?"
Jin Junmian sighed and said something fair, then turned to look at Chi Jingyuan and asked.
For the four most important title songs this time, the company handed over two to outside choreography teams, while the other two were left to the company’s internal staff. SM’s choreography team collaborated with Chi Jingyuan to complete the work. Preparations have been underway since the plan was officially launched in December last year.
"It's almost done. I'll improve some of the movements. Once the company sees that there's no problem, we can start teaching you." Chi Jingyuan swallowed the orange juice in his mouth, deflated his bulging cheeks, and faced a few The person's gaze made an OK gesture.
Jin Junmian nodded, took a sip and said, "So, we have a very heavy task, and it's best to seize the time to practice while we have more free time in the past two months. If it is delayed until after the official return, then Calling trouble..."
He is right. Although there are still two or three months before the return of the first single "E", and "L" is still nearly half a year away, in fact more than half of the preparations include practicing singing, practicing It is best to complete dance and the like during these two or three months of free time.
The workload is too heavy to wait until the return to work. The daily schedule of singing, interviews, variety shows, commercial performances, and concerts is endless. At night, I have to rush back to work overtime to practice dance. Just thinking about it, I know when the time comes. How tired.
The faster the progress now, the easier it will be when the time comes, so the preparation time for EXO's comeback is actually quite tight.
Park Chanyeol took a sip of water, thought for a moment and then pursed his lips: "Yes."
After chatting about album preparations for a while, Xiumin and Baekhyun came back from the bathroom. They sat next to each other and naturally changed the topic to the most explosive news just announced today.
Jin Jongdae mentioned this matter with great interest: "By the way, you said that your ex-wife started dating someone else. Prince Samsung won't be angry, right?"
Today, January 1st, Dispatch, the notorious celebrity media reporting website, broke the news about a dating couple, Lee Jung Jae and Im Se Ryung.
The man of this couple is a well-known actor in the peninsula, and the woman has an extraordinary status. She is a chaebol herself and is the ex-wife of the Samsung Crown Prince.
Immediately after the news came out, there was a lot of discussion on the Internet. The people of the peninsula themselves are disgusted with chaebols but full of curiosity. Lin Shiling, a standard chaebol girl, fell in love with the actor Lee Jung Jae, which naturally attracted a lot of attention.
Some people left messages online expressing their concern, fearing that Prince Samsung would become angry and send a killer to kill Lee Jung Jae.
This kind of thing is very possible in a TV series, but in reality it is a bit difficult to predict.
"Hahaha... It shouldn't be possible. He didn't just know about this. He would have been angry a long time ago..." Chi Jingyuan couldn't help laughing when he heard this and shook his hand to help Jin Zhong. Understand the logic.
"I can't say for sure. Maybe I managed to endure it before it was exposed. Wouldn't it only add fuel to the fire once it was exposed?"
"I feel hanging..."
A few people took advantage of their free time to gossip about the family affairs of the Samsung Crown Prince. They had a lively chat. They even briefly discussed the real insider reasons for their divorce at that time, and what Li Zhengzai and the Crown Prince were now. Relationships, profound topics such as how to address each other when meeting.
Chi Jingyuan feels that if the prince hears this, he might not be too angry with Li Zhengzai, but instead send a killer to kill you gossipy men.
Although Chi Jingyuan himself also participated.
Although the new year couple exposed by D agency in recent years also caused a big sensation, they are a little far away from EXO and the others after all. Chi Jingyuan feels that the news this year is not as exciting as last year's exposure of Lin Yoon-ah and Lee Seung-ki. That is really true. The whole internet was buzzing with the news. Even EXO were holding their mobile phones and browsing the news all the time. It was really a carnival among netizens.
It’s a pity, it would be great if it was still Yoona sunbaenim this year...
After chatting for a while, they started practicing again. When dinner was about to come, Li Chenghuan came to the practice room. He stood aside and watched the members finish the dance, then waved and told something:
"Remember to pay more attention to packing after you go back in the past two days. First, sort out all the things for you. In two days, the company will send someone to help you pack. We are going to change dormitories."
"jinjia?"
"Oh oh oh..."
As soon as they heard the news, the members immediately became excited and started to cheer and dance with sweat on their bodies. Kim Jong Dae and Byun Baekhyun imitated the gorilla sounds and kept shouting, just like crazy.
EXO has moved into their current dormitory before their debut. Ever since "Roar" became a hit in 2013, when the sasaengs came into the dormitory, they said they wanted to move, but as they said, there was no sound, and it has been delayed. It was brought up again in mid-2014 but there was no sound by the end of the year. This time in 2015 it was finally fulfilled.
The dormitory is an extremely important place that directly affects their quality of life. Although the current old dormitory has been lived in for more than two years, it can be regarded as a bit emotional, but if they can choose, everyone will definitely want to live in a bigger and better one.
"Brother, when will you change? In the next two days?" Park Chanyeol asked at the right time.
"It's not recently. You guys have to pack everything in the past two days. If you want to move, you probably won't have to wait until after the Spring Festival."
"Where is the new dormitory? Is it big?" Jin Junmian asked everyone's most curious question.
"Well..." Li Chenghuan gave it up with a smile, then laughed loudly and gestured: "The new dormitory is in Cheongdam-dong. I have visited it some time ago. It is very large, about three to four hundred meters. Ping, various electrical facilities companies have prepared them for you..."
"And the address is also very good. It's in Jiangnan District. It's also very close to the company's new office building. It will be very convenient for commuting to and from get off work in the future."
"Dafa!"
"oh……"
This news was really great, because the practice was not going well, and my mood suddenly felt much better after a tiring day, and several people started shouting again.
"New office building? The one in Samseongdong?" Chi Jingyuan interrupted and asked: "Brother, when will the company building be moved?"
"Although the building has been built, it still depends on what the company says at that time. It will probably take a few months." Li Chenghuan said that he didn't know.
After looking around at the excited members, he smiled and clapped his hands at the end: "Okay, stop making trouble, the reason for changing the dormitory is because our XO's status in the company is getting higher and higher, and the previous dormitory no longer matches our current one. position, this is something we have worked hard to achieve step by step... You all know how important this return is to us, so keep working hard and fighting!"
Nine people raised their hands and cheered together:
"fighting!"
…………
The end of the year has passed, and Chi Jingyuan's personal activities have also been reduced in the two days of the New Year, and he has focused most of his energy on the preparation of the new album.
However, in the past two days, in addition to practicing dancing at the company, he also set aside a fixed time to study for his driver's license. His brother Chi Jingxu arranged a school for him and found an experienced coach for one-on-one training. for guidance, and would go there to practice for a while every afternoon.
The Category 2 driving test for private cars in the peninsula is very fast. If you had just taken the test, you would have been able to get your driver's license in one day. Even if you have average basic skills and are not too stupid, it will not take more than a week.
Although it is quite comfortable to have Park Jae-hyun as the driver every time I go out, and there is no need to worry about the risk of exposure, but to be honest, sometimes it is still a little inconvenient for outsiders to be present in private matters such as dating a girl. Chi Jingyuan wants to learn It’s been a long time since I got my driver’s license, but I couldn’t spare the time last year. It happened that the activities were reduced in January of the new year, so I took this opportunity to start practicing driving.
After the New Year's Couple on January 1, another scandal involving a well-known artist was exposed in the past two days. Popular actor and singer Jang Keun Suk, who was once known as the Prince of Asia, has been continuously boycotted and attacked by netizens, and has received various unfavorable public opinions. Under the influence, his acting career has been greatly hindered. While many cooperative brands have solved the problem, they also officially announced today that they have decided to withdraw from the recently very popular live variety show "Three Meals a Day" that is currently being recorded.
He has been deeply troubled by tax evasion scandals since last year. In July 2014, he was reported by the media as being suspected of huge tax evasion. Although both he and his brokerage company have come forward to explain and clarify many times, and also took the initiative to make up the tax, however, the negative The effects continue to this day.
Even though the National Tax Service's investigation revealed that the cause of tax evasion was not intentional accounting errors and there was no criminal prosecution, his career was greatly affected and his reputation plummeted.
It is said that Jang Keun Suk has filmed many popular TV dramas in the past few years and became very popular. He was nicknamed "The Prince of Asia", and many dramas are still familiar to this day, such as "Beethoven Virus", "Hong Gil Dong", and "So I Am" "Beautiful Man", his stardom is very smooth, and he is one of the most successful male solo artists.
However, ever since he and Yoona sunbae filmed "Love Rain", things suddenly turned 90 degrees, and the previous hot upward momentum was suddenly stopped.
After filming "Love Rain" with sunbae Yoona and "Beautiful Man" with IU Lee Ji-eun, I haven't filmed a movie for a year.
Then he was exposed for tax evasion.
Jang Keun Suk's co-stars in the last two dramas, one Mei Mei went to the mainland to film in summer, and the other's career is getting more and more prosperous, but he seems to have been knocked down and everything is not going well. There is always a kind of luck that is affected by some kind of magical power. The feeling of sucking away is the same.
In addition to the recent hot topics, what has caused the most discussion is an announcement just posted online today.
The Peninsula National Taxation Department recently released the 2014 National Tax Statistics Annual Report, which contains detailed statistical data showing the overall average income of Peninsula star artists. According to the annual report, the average income of Peninsula entertainers last year was 47.64 million won, not much higher than the average annual income of 37 million won for ordinary office workers on Peninsula.
After the news came out, many people said that the celebrity's income level was completely unexpected and unimaginably low.
"I used to think that the life of a celebrity was similar to that in Korean dramas, but I didn't expect that there was such a big gap."
"An annual income of 40 million won can only be regarded as a relatively ordinary income. I don't know why there are so many children in our country vying to become some kind of trainee..."
"And it's the average income. Last year, the top three artists in the income list, Kim Soo Hyun, Ji Kyung Won, and Jun Ji Hyun, all had tens of billions. The average income of these people was only over 40 million. The bottom of the entertainment industry How low is the income of artists in China..."
"I heard that there are many idol groups who have been in the industry for many years but have not received any share from the company. They live in basements and work part-time, and rely on family support to survive."
"You can't say that. The income of an industry depends on the average, but also on the top group. The money earned by first-line stars is much more than that. Look at Chi Jingyuan's annual income of tens of billions in two years since his debut. Do you know what this is? What’s the concept? How many years does it take for an office worker to earn what he earns in a year? Once an artist is good, there is actually a very promising future.”
"Can it be more normal? Can a born idol like Chi Jingyuan, who is born every few years and is the best in a top group like EXO, be used as an example? Let's be realistic, look down and see how many there are I can’t even afford idol food…”
Because of this report, there has been a lot of discussion on the Internet about the income of idol artists, and the true income of celebrities has been clearly displayed in front of everyone's eyes.
After various news during this period, many people have understood that even among celebrities, the income gap is even greater than that between ordinary people. Top celebrities have tens of billions a year, while those who are not popular have even their names. No one knew that the unknown activity was disbanded on the spot after a few days, without even a dollar of income.
The artist industry seems to be prosperous, but it is only the successful group.
All I can say is that it’s not easy to do any job.
"Nothing is easy to do..." Chi Jingyuan sat in the back seat of the nanny car and couldn't help but sigh while watching the heated discussion about idol income on the Internet.
He had just finished driving practice, and Park Jae-hyun, who had been waiting nearby, picked him up. Now he was going to have a meal and then return to the company to practice dancing.
"If it's hard for you, Jingyuan, then there will really be no one left in the idol industry." Park Jae-hyun, who was driving, couldn't hold back after hearing his pretentious words. He looked in the rearview mirror and said helplessly.
"Well..." Chi Jingyuan looked at the phone and pursed his lips, feeling that what Park Jae-hyun said made sense.
"By the way, I was contacted for an advertising endorsement some time ago. I put the materials in the back seat. The filming will start in a few days. You can take a look."
Park Jae-hyun reached out and pointed while speaking. Chi Jingyuan nodded and then picked up a document bag placed next to him, pulled out the information inside and spread it out to read.
""Samsonite", Samsonite? "
"Yes, "Samsonite". Last year they signed Kim Soo Hyun and Hong Kong artist Bei Bi. The contract has expired and will not be renewed. This time the brand is interested in your image and popularity. The endorsement contract has been negotiated. That's almost it. "
Park Jae-hyun nodded and explained briefly: "This time it is the "Samsonite" RED series, which is a brand of business casual bags with a very popular style. It will shoot a series of promotional advertisements. "
"The person you're working with is... a trainee?" Chi Jingyuan was a little surprised when he saw what was shown on the information.
"Yeah, the person chosen by the advertising company to work with you is a trainee from YG who has not yet officially debuted. It is said that he was strongly recommended by YG. But to be able to receive this case, he must have some connections in his family. ...I have read her information. Although she has not debuted, she has already shot a lot of commercials before, so she is not a pure newcomer..."
Park Jae-hyun paused for a moment, then asked tentatively: "But I still feel that with your current popularity and weight, it is not very suitable to cooperate with a newcomer, but the main thing is to see Jingyuan's opinion. If you are dissatisfied, I will go Communicate with the advertising company.”
Chi Jingyuan looked at the photo of the trainee posted in the information and felt that he looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere.
After thinking about it for a long time, he really couldn't remember it, and it seemed that it didn't leave a deep impression on him. Chi Jingyuan put the information aside, leaned on the back of the chair, looked out the window, tilted his head and replied casually:
"Forget it, it doesn't matter."
(End of chapter)
