"Brother, what did you just say to get off? "Music Bank"?"
After casually replying a text message, Chi Jingyuan put away his phone and entered work mode. He remembered what they had talked about before answering the phone and repeated it with a slightly surprised tone.
"Yes."
Park Jae-hyun nodded and confirmed: "SM has signed a contract for you to star in "Signal". We are now negotiating with the crew on the filming time, trying to stagger the filming of the TV series and the time of activities as an EXO member."
Hearing this, Chi Jingyuan nodded. Idol actors have this kind of problem. If they are in a group with a lot of schedules, they often have to take care of their main job as an idol when participating in TV series, and they cannot devote themselves as full-time actors. When it comes to working on the crew, this is especially true for top male groups like EXO, which have a lot of work. He has to do this every time he participates in a TV series.
Although SM will definitely reduce Ji Kyung-won's activities in the group due to the filming of TV dramas, and some unimportant schedules will directly make him absent, but it will still have a lot of impact.
"Fortunately, this is not the first time PD Kim Won-seok has cooperated with us, so there is no problem in the discussion... But after entering the filming of the TV series, now recording once a week, and the MC work of "Music Bank" which takes a day at a time is a little bit It takes up too much time, and SM feels that MC’s work is no longer helpful to your career.”
"Although the ratings of nearly 10% for each episode now bring a lot of exposure, compared to the popularity and popularity of EXO and Jing Yuanqi itself, it is not very important. On the contrary, " The super high ratings of "Music Bank" are mostly brought by you and Irene's group... So what SM means is that they want you to get off the show after joining the group for filming."
"Well……"
Chi Jingyuan listened carefully to Park Jae-hyun's words, nodded slightly to express understanding at the end, and then leaned back in the chair and laughed: "I can't say that it can't be of any help at all. I feel that this MC job still helps me." There will be a lot of benefits.”
"It's true. There is a variety show with a rating of 10% every week, and most of the viewers come for you two MCs. It has indeed brought a lot of exposure after such a long time. , it has greatly improved your reputation and nationality, and it has been a great help to Jingyuan that you ranked first in this year's Peninsula Gallup ranking of male idols..."
"Of course, Irene Xi, as a member of a new girl group that debuted a year ago, is also the only member of Red Velvet to be on the Gallup female idol rankings and break into the top ten, and she has also received a lot of help from it." Park Jae-hyun didn't refute, he nodded and said with a smile.
The Gallup ranking is a face-to-face sample survey conducted by the Gallup survey agency in the Peninsula. It is conducted three times every year in July, September, and November. Various lists are compiled and surveys are conducted. Among various responses to popularity and popularity, It is one of the most valuable and credible in the category ranking list.
Bae Joo Hyun was able to directly enter the top ten of Gallup one year after her debut. It is already a great achievement. Her personal fame in red velvet far exceeds that of the other four members. Compared to Ledbebe who returned to the band twice this year, In fact, in terms of increasing popularity, the MC position of "Music Bank" may play a greater role.
"So, mutual success?" Chi Jingyuan looked at his manager and blinked.
"Haha, that's right."
Park Jae-hyun did the same, and the two of them laughed together.
But after laughing, Chi Jingyuan fell into thinking and became quiet.
Speaking of which, most of the reasons for taking over the position of fixed MC of "Music Bank" were due to the partner, and I didn't think about how long it would take to do it. The original expectation was only half a year, and it took more than half a year.
only……
Although he knew that what Park Jae-hyun and SM said were quite reasonable, Chi Jingyuan did not directly agree. After pondering for a while, he asked aloud: "Then what will happen to Irene if I get off the car?"
"Haha, I asked SM specifically..."
After hearing this, Park Jae-hyun laughed and seemed to be proud of his preparation: "According to normal circumstances, after one of the two fixed MCs gets off the bus early, a temporary MC will be urgently found to take over. After the other fixed MC contract ends and you get off the bus, you can choose a new fixed MC combination."
"However, Jingyuan, you and Irene Xi are in a special situation. Your hosting method is very special. With CP-themed hosting style, your tacit partnership has attracted a lot of regular viewers and fans, so "Music Bank" 》The ratings are so high...
"But this kind of CP is bound in the hearts of the audience. Once one of them is replaced, the heart-warming sweetness will be gone. Changing a partner to force the host will even cause the audience's disgust and anger, which will have the opposite effect. , and Irene xi may not be willing...so if you get off the show, SM will probably discuss with the "Music Bank" program team and let Irene xi get off the show in advance."
"..."
Hearing what this brother said, he nodded clearly.
From May to now, nearly six or seven months have passed. "Music Bank" has gone from being a singing program with average ratings to not being very eye-catching, but it has been achieved by the MC pairing of him and Bae Zhuhyun. The myth that each episode receives close to 10% of the ratings makes "Music Bank" stand out among all singing programs.
Moreover, the weekly program recording is actually quite enjoyable. In Chi Jingyuan’s view, this case is not so much work as it is a break from a busy week of work. Every time I sit on the sofa in the MC lounge, I watch I was playing with my phone, listening to the sweet voice, and smelling the fragrant smell coming from the side. I was actually quite enjoying it.
At this time, he suddenly mentioned getting off the car, and he was really not used to it for a while.
Moreover, what SM cares about most, the bonus brought by being an MC in terms of popularity and exposure, is not the highest weight for Chi Jingyuan.
Because that's not what he came for in the first place...
"So, Jingyuan, what do you think..." After a moment of silence, Park Jae-hyun asked.
"It shouldn't be so busy since I just joined the team for filming..."
Following the thoughts in his mind, Chi Jingyuan raised his head and exhaled: "It's only been six months. It's a little too ugly to get off the bus just half a year ago. So, let's not get off for now. Let's wait until the TV series is released and we really get busy."
"OK, I'll talk to the other side."
Park Jae-hyun nodded quickly, without any intention of persuasion, and quickly wrote twice on the information with a pen.
Judging from his expression, it seemed that this brother had already expected this.
Chi Jingyuan saw it, but he didn't think there was anything wrong. As for his private affairs, the person who knew the most about him was probably his personal manager.
Afterwards, they talked about a few more things. This small meeting of Chi Jingyuan’s personal team came to an end, and the atmosphere became a lot more relaxed. Park Jae-hyun smiled while sorting out the documents and chatting with the assistants next to him. Oh my god, Chi Jingyuan, who had made the decision not to get out of the car for the time being, felt inexplicably relaxed. He crossed his legs and took out his mobile phone. Zhou Ziyu's reply was sent very early.
"Why do you say that? I know it all...Thank you, thank you."
"Ah."
Seeing that the little girl was a little awkward and a little shy to thank her, Chi Jingyuan tilted his head and chuckled, tapping the screen casually:
"Okay, got it."
…
Although he decided not to get off the bus for the time being, Chi Jingyuan was still absent from this episode, which was the recording of "Music Bank" on the 13th. He flew to Neon Osaka with the EXO group on the 12th to start preparing for the next step Three days of Osaka Dome concert.
Speaking of which, since he started acting as MC, he has actually missed many recordings of the program due to personal and team schedules. Although the "Music Bank" program team did not have any objections, to be honest, he would still be absent after being absent too many times. There are some negative impacts, so it’s no wonder that the team at SM that runs EXO started to look down on this case.
As a brokerage company and the operation of an idol group, naturally everything must be considered in terms of popularity and revenue. The position will also change as the popularity and level of EXO and Ji Jingyuan increase. At that time, I still felt that the fixed MC could bring EXO A lot of publicity and exposure can achieve certain results in the head-to-head competition with Big Bang. But now that XO has reached the top, SM is anxiously thinking about letting Chi Jingyuan get off the bus.
It was the same before. At the beginning of 2013, EXO was not popular yet. When SM and JYP discussed the cooperation of the temporary group Yuan & Suzy, they were very serious and attentive, thinking that they could take advantage of each other's popularity. As a result, when "Roar" became a hit in the second half of the year and EXO soared to the sky, SM became a little careless when discussing this temporary group.
Although he is a bit respectful and arrogant, it is normal for the company and the actual entertainment industry.
Unfortunately, Chi Jingyuan's ideas and pursuits are slightly different from theirs.
But this appearance caused quite a stir on the Internet. This was the first time Chi Jingyuan appeared in public after cutting his hair short. He did not wear a hat when entering and leaving the airport to show off his airport fashion. As soon as the mask was revealed, the waiting reporters and surrounding fans took crazy pictures with their mobile phones, and the flashlights made it difficult to open their eyes.
So before he even boarded the plane and was waiting in the departure lounge, there was already a press release with freshly released photos on Peninsula.com.
Although male idols with short hair are very rare in the music industry, there is no precedent before. Some boy groups have used this as their main feature to attract gimmicks, and some groups even have bald male idols.
However, the influence of these groups is not comparable to that of EXO and Chi Jingyuan. The combined number of fans is estimated to be less than one-tenth of Aili's. Naturally, there is not much repercussions. On the contrary, Chi Jingyuan this time because of his relationship with Her previously completely different style of short hair attracted the attention of many passers-by and fans in a short period of time.
"Omo, why is Oppa's hair so short? What happened?"
"Why did Yuan suddenly cut his hair short? What is this? Is it a new fashion?"
"SM has not made an announcement, but I think it must be because of the role in the new TV series. Otherwise, why would an idol suddenly cut his hair? The company would not allow it... But having said that, I think Yuan's look is super handsome. I didn’t feel much about him before, but I felt it instantly today.”
"I'm looking forward to Chi Jingyuan's new drama. It's been a year since the end of "Misborn". We fans of the drama have been waiting for so long. He finally remembered that he is still an actor. He is really looking forward to it... Does anyone know that it is a new drama? What is it? Is there anyone on the inside who can break the news?"
Due to the agreement with the crew and the coordination and promotion, SM has not announced the news of Ji Kyung Yuan's participation in "Signal". However, these senior fans are all good people, and they can almost guess that Ji Kyung Yuan will star in the new drama at a glance. There have been discussions on the Internet. Although "signal" has not been released yet, it has already brought considerable popularity.
At the same time, Chi Jingyuan's hair style that is close to a hairline has also received a lot of praise. Among EXO's airport photos, he is the most conspicuous. You can feel the difference in temperament at a glance. He is even attracted by his style. A wave of fans was something Chi Jingyuan didn't expect.
Starting on the 13th and ending on the 15th, the Osaka Dome concert for three consecutive days was a complete success. With the end of the last day's performance, it was a perfect conclusion for EXO's Neon debut and half-month-long activities. period.
Each of the six dome concerts was nearly full, mobilizing a total of more than 300,000 spectators.
Peninsula artists who are able to hold concerts in a stadium like the Dome at full capacity are rare, let alone hold several concerts in a short period of time. Nowadays, there are almost only big artists within SM. Seniors TVXQ can do it easily, even SJ is a little bit behind. When looking at the entire male group in the music industry, Big Bang is the only one.
As for the girl group, they have been able to play for a long time if they can hold a show in the dome. It is still a little difficult to hold a dome tour.
Among them, EXO, the youngest and youngest member, has also achieved this achievement. This is because the focus of their activities is obviously not on neon.
It can only be said that the amazing popularity of XO, a peninsula group, on the neon side can be explained from any angle.
…
Returning from Neon with dazzling results, the dusty EXO was immediately pulled to the set up studio to start shooting the MV for the winter special "Sing for You".
It had actually been set up before, but due to the activities at Neon, the shooting had been postponed. It was only now that the group had time to hurry up and shoot.
Fortunately, if the MV progresses quickly enough, it can be almost completed in half a day.
It's just that the situation at this time seems to be a bit unsatisfactory for the shooting.
"Hahaha, oops, no, no, no."
"cut!"
"Stop laughing!"
Seeing the filming stopped because several members were laughing, and the director's helpless yelling after calling for a stop, Chi Jingyuan, who was sitting aside, also laughed along with him.
The MV for this song contains many interactive shots of EXO members facing each other and staring at each other. There are also some scenes of two people fighting, pushing, and angrily grabbing each other's collars and yelling.
That kind of exaggerated yelling in front of each other, pretending to be angry, and then looking at the familiar face of the other person, the absurd and funny feeling really makes people laugh.
Although "Sing for You" is a very sad song that makes people feel sad and lonely when listening to it, its MV was extremely easy to shoot. From the beginning until now, the laughter has almost never stopped. .
In particular, you can enjoy the wonderful scene of Wu Shixun wearing a thick spacesuit and being suspended in the air by Wia for thirty or forty minutes, fluttering his limbs in the air like a frog swimming. It's hard not to make people laugh. .
If you're not a professional actor, you can't help it.
This is the first MV that Chi Jingyuan shot after cutting his hair short. Although his hairstyle is very energetic, in order to fit the style of the song, Cody still made his hair look longer. It's as eye-catching as the airport was a few days ago.
Sister Cody in the entertainment industry is indeed very powerful. She can easily change Li Zhien's long hair into short hair, not to mention his short hair into long hair.
However, Chi Jingyuan is not the protagonist in this MV and does not have many scenes, so he can stay by and watch the fun for a long time. His smile has almost never stopped since the filming started.
It took a whole day to shoot the MV. After dinner, EXO returned to the company's practice room in the evening.
"We, XO, have confirmed that we will participate in this year's MAMA Awards Ceremony on December 2. You all have participated several times and are familiar with it, so I won't go into details about some things that need attention."
In the practice room, EXO members formed a circle, and manager Lee Seung-hwan stood in it with several familiar dance teachers, explaining to them the next most important schedule:
"The organizers of MAMA have great expectations for us and have given us a total of nearly five songs to perform. After consideration, the company has confirmed the performance repertoire. In addition to "Call Me Baby" and "Boy with Luv", one of the three title songs In addition, there are "drop that" and "LIGHTSABER" as an intermediate connection. The specific performance content, choreography, and process have also been completed. You will learn from the teacher later and then start practicing..."
"Brother, have any awards been determined?" Hearing this, Park Chanyeol waved his hand and asked loudly,
Although he was interrupted, Lee Seung-hwan was not upset and was obviously in a good mood. He glared at Park Chanyeol and then laughed again: "The awards determined by the organizer and us through private communication are all small awards, such as 'Best Look'" , there is still one voting award that is still being voted for, but currently we have a great advantage..."
"This year is a harvest year for us. The results over the year are the result of the hard work of the company and everyone, so the effect of our stage must match the final award. We must practice hard and don't be embarrassed when the time comes. We must know that Big Bang is also Will go..."
"If we go there, we will naturally be targeting Daesang, and the same goes for Big Bang and YG."
Li Chenghuan put away his previous smile and gave a serious explanation, and finally clapped his hands: "I have been a senior for three years since my debut, so I won't say any more. Let's start fighting!"
"fighting!"
After saying that, the manager left the lounge and exited, and EXO began to practice with the dance teacher for this MAMA stage.
Although the dances of several title songs have not changed, this is more important. The stages of large-scale parties will add new choreography or interaction in the middle for the stage effect.
But after all, the content is not much, so it is not difficult to practice.
After dancing for more than an hour, it was time to rest. Chi Jingyuan took out drinks from the refrigerator and distributed them to others who had not gone to the bathroom. Then he returned to his seat and sat down cross-legged, panting and taking a few sips. , and then took out his mobile phone.
"Um?"
A text message tagged with Ming Jingnan's name attracted his attention.
(End of chapter)
