You Are Just Somewhere a Little Higher Than Me
Performing second, he was back to emotional rendition of a ballad song. This song holds a special meaning to me when it comes to Hwang Chi Yeul. It was, as far as I recall, the very song that has brought my attention back to him after I Can See You Voice and successfully thrown me to a point of no return to Hwang Chi Yeul fandom. The song was his performance for Immortal Songs 2 that earned him the title and trophy Super Rookie for the Super Rookie Showdown episode. It was not his first appearance in Immortal Songs 2, and not really his first win (He won a trophy in earlier appearance for song "Father"), but until that episode, I had no idea he was even in Immortal Songs 2. I was not a dedicated IS2 follower, but was chanced upon that particular episode while browsing youtube. Since then, I had backtracked all the way to his first appearance and kept checking the IS2 guest list to see if his in (him or Moon Myungjin. haha).
Back to his performance in I Am a Singer, he again presented a vocally and emotionally powerful performance. Like his performance in IS2, he put his heart and soul into the singing. I don't even know if tears were there on his face amidst a real sweaty face. He sounded a little pitchy at the last stretch but other than that, his vocal was really steady and melodic, despite the background music that seemed a little not in par with his delivery or dreary. I dunno, it could be the same old problem of poor audio output for TV.
Despite other singers' managers gave him top recommendations for first place, he was voted fourth place by the audience, with the winner of the round goes to Jeff Chang. And this is where I found it interesting. I wonder if Chinese audience really prefers Jeff Chang style of singing, because there were times when I was bored with his performances, but he was ranked quite decent. He has this singing style that is very calm that pierces through not matter what he sings, which is pretty much the complete opposite of Hwang Chi Yeul's style. Like in this particular episode, even when the background singers and music seem too overpowering, his voice cut through above it all with this calm voice and tone. It was quite amazing to be honest, given the circumstances, but still sounded pretty boring to me for a stage performance. For a CD though, his voice is perfect!
Having said that, it would do Chiyeul good to apply the advice from Shin Seung Hun to him in Healing Camp on how to perform ballad that can overwhelm the audience without forcing out too much. He compared that with an actor potraying a sad scene. He who wants to cry but holds back tears versus he who bawls his eyes out that can turn off the viewers. That is to say, there are more than one ways to engage audience with ballad other than excessive emotions. I understand that is probably Chiyeul's style, his way of giving it all on stage, which I love dearly and appreciate. But for the sake of this competition, I think it is worth for him to analyze what the audience wants, and not just what he wants to give.
Back to his performance in I Am a Singer, he again presented a vocally and emotionally powerful performance. Like his performance in IS2, he put his heart and soul into the singing. I don't even know if tears were there on his face amidst a real sweaty face. He sounded a little pitchy at the last stretch but other than that, his vocal was really steady and melodic, despite the background music that seemed a little not in par with his delivery or dreary. I dunno, it could be the same old problem of poor audio output for TV.
Despite other singers' managers gave him top recommendations for first place, he was voted fourth place by the audience, with the winner of the round goes to Jeff Chang. And this is where I found it interesting. I wonder if Chinese audience really prefers Jeff Chang style of singing, because there were times when I was bored with his performances, but he was ranked quite decent. He has this singing style that is very calm that pierces through not matter what he sings, which is pretty much the complete opposite of Hwang Chi Yeul's style. Like in this particular episode, even when the background singers and music seem too overpowering, his voice cut through above it all with this calm voice and tone. It was quite amazing to be honest, given the circumstances, but still sounded pretty boring to me for a stage performance. For a CD though, his voice is perfect!
Having said that, it would do Chiyeul good to apply the advice from Shin Seung Hun to him in Healing Camp on how to perform ballad that can overwhelm the audience without forcing out too much. He compared that with an actor potraying a sad scene. He who wants to cry but holds back tears versus he who bawls his eyes out that can turn off the viewers. That is to say, there are more than one ways to engage audience with ballad other than excessive emotions. I understand that is probably Chiyeul's style, his way of giving it all on stage, which I love dearly and appreciate. But for the sake of this competition, I think it is worth for him to analyze what the audience wants, and not just what he wants to give.
(Side note: I thought if anyone other than Chiyeul should ranked first this episode, it should be Coco Lee. She showed amazing vocals and energetic performance)
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