Little Pink Starfish

Sedalbaekil’s fans watching M-show’s music broadcast today could hardly contain their pounding hearts.

It wasn’t just the anticipation for Sedalbaekil’s stage.

That much was a given.

What they were truly hoping for was their first music broadcast win.

The public tends to take chart-topping and music broadcast wins lightly.

They think that if a somewhat popular singer releases a song, the networks hand out wins accordingly.

But reality couldn’t be more different.

It varies month by month, but around eight idol groups debut every month.

More than half disappear without ever being known by the public.

Many fade after a single music broadcast appearance—if they even get one.

Each month, only one or two groups even reach the level of being called “rookie idols.”

The rest fail to become rookies and remain unknown.

And among those rookies, how many can claim a music broadcast win?

If 24 groups a year sustain regular activities, only three or four can even dream of winning.

So if Sedalbaekil were to win, it would be historic.

Has anyone ever won on debut stage?

It has happened, but only very few.

And all of them were from giant agencies spending enormous amounts on promotion.

Has an independent artist ever won a music broadcast?

Perhaps, but only after they’d already risen to stardom.

No one has won as an independent from debut.

That’s why Sedalbaekil’s fans were so nervous.

Today might mark a historic first in K-pop.

‘Given M-show’s current stance…’

‘It might actually happen?’

Fans speculated that Sedalbaekil had a decent chance.

Their broadcast score was lacking, but M-show places more weight on preference scores.

Preference scores often frustrate fans.

The calculation method is never disclosed and feels arbitrary.

But from what’s known, preference scores reflect “public preference.”

That heavily favored Sedalbaekil.

Even though K-pop idol music leads the industry, biases still remain.

Many still dismiss idol music without even listening.

This stigma fades after the pandemic era, but it’s still 2017.

But Sedalbaekil stood apart from those biases.

Sedalbaekil is different!

That’s how the public felt.

While fans promoted SMS voting and messaged their friends carefully…

[Let’s meet Sedalbaekil, nominated for 1st place on their debut stage!]

Sedalbaekil appeared for a mid-show interview.

The interview was ordinary.

Today’s debut stage featured three performances — an unusually high number.

Kpop Struggle, State of Mind, and Pin Point.

Public networks usually only grant two stages; M-Mixdown was their final chance to perform Kpop Struggle.

This clearly indicated that M-show was favoring Sedalbaekil.

Even for a popular group, getting three stages was extremely rare.

As the interview continued, the MC smiled while checking the cue sheet and tossed a question.

Fans didn’t know, but this was the only unscripted question.

[Since you’re nominated today, can you make a pledge if you win?]

With little time left, the members instinctively turned to Han Si-on.

He was the leader and usually made these decisions.

Most of the time, such pledges were lighthearted, like switching parts during encore stages.

Han Si-on casually answered without much thought.

[If we get an encore stage, we’ll perform a cappella.]

[A cappella?]

[Yes.]

But the answer wasn’t light at all.

Even the MC, an idol himself, was flustered as the interview wrapped up.

[That was Sedalbaekil! Now, onto the next stage…]

The MC barely kept the broadcast going, but online reactions exploded.

-lol so basically they’re doing their own MR removal?

-They must be super confident.

-Is Han Si-on trying to stand out by himself?

-What are you talking about? Go watch Masked Singer and SNUMJE.

-Is Choi Jae-seong still filming SNUMJE? I thought he was eliminated.

-Nope, he’s still filming. A contestant who was eliminated posted a fan account.

-But he probably won’t make Top 10, right? That’s where the big agencies take over.

-Yeah, exactly.

-What if Sedalbaekil doesn’t win? I wanna see them perform a cappella.

-Vote, people!

-How do you vote?

-Open your eyes. It’s on the screen nonstop.

The public found it intriguing.

-This is how you flex your skills, right?

-So good, lol.

-It’s already spreading on general communities. There’s even an article out!

-So fast, lol.

TT was loving it too.

Time passed, and finally it was Sedalbaekil’s turn.

The first stage was a mix of Kpop Struggle and State of Mind.

They started with Kpop Struggle, then transitioned into State of Mind at around the 2/3 mark.

But it wasn’t a basic mix — it felt more like a mashup.

Or you could say they recreated the music video on stage.

Thanks to pre-recording, elaborate effects fired off as they transitioned.

-So good.

-Weird. No matter how much I watch, I’m not tired of it.

-That means it’s not bias — it’s genuinely good.

Both TT and listeners of The First Day agreed on one thing.

The music felt different hearing it live versus on album.

That can sometimes be a bad thing.

But for Sedalbaekil, it was very positive.

The album feels static and soothing when listened to.

Even after repeated listens, it remains pleasant and stable.

But with live performance, the songs become dynamic and dramatic.

People concluded that Sedalbaekil had analyzed their music perfectly to choreograph the performances.

They weren’t wrong.

But there was another factor: Han Si-on had adjusted the live tracks quite a bit.

The music itself remained intact, but certain effects were tweaked.

For example, the compression levels differed greatly between album and live versions.

Especially the drums.

So people were drawn to the performances even after just hearing the songs.

Even casual listeners of idol music gathered to watch the broadcast.

-Now it’s Pin Point, right?

-Yup. I’m curious about this stage.

-This song’s really good, isn’t it?

-Yeah. I wonder why this didn’t top the charts.

-Summer Cream seems to be the public’s favorite. Even TT loves it.

-It just puts you in a good mood. Moom-bahton, right? lol.

-Hey, idiot. It’s moombahton co-written with Roots Lobby hyung. Different level.

-Who’s Roots Lobby?

-Think of it this way: Who holds the most Billboard reggae chart records? Roots Lobby. Who has the most Grammy wins in reggae? Roots Lobby.

-If Bob Marley’s the grandfather of reggae, Roots Lobby is the father.

-They’re not that far apart in age.

-Bob hyung passed away, thoughㅠㅠㅠ

-Dumb Si-on. Should’ve made Summer Cream the title. It’s sitting at track 10, crying.

-You must be new. Si-on is smiling.

-That’s the truth.

-Pin Point is starting lol.

-Whoa, their outfits!

-Wow, so cool.

Fans had expected military-style outfits for Pin Point.

The song had a grand, suspenseful feel, evoking war movies.

But they came out dressed differently.

-It’s Hong Kong noir, lol.

-Aren’t they supposed to be holding toothpicks?

-Grandpa, please…

Modernized reinterpretations of trench coats and sunglasses.

It could’ve looked old-fashioned, but instead it felt hip.

Especially Lee Eon, with platinum hair and orange-lensed sunglasses, was dazzling.

The performance was much tighter choreographically than their usual stages.

In Korea, “techno” is often seen as outdated.

But technically, techno broadly refers to electronic music.

Nowadays, it’s narrowed to the Detroit house scene refined by academics.

While EDM dominates electronic music now, techno hasn’t died.

And its face is Mary Jones.

People debate what defines techno’s essence, but Han Si-on thought differently.

He believed techno’s strength was “space.”

So he added orchestral melodies behind Mary Jones’ sound to amplify that spaciousness.

He contrasted it with vocal sections, filling the gaps with choreography during techno-heavy parts.

The result?

-It sounded lighthearted on the album, but the stage is crazy fun lol.

-Wait, are the drum kits different?

-I expected goofy dance moves, but this is so cool lol.

The public was thrilled.

-This is the nation…!

-Eon’s face steals my breath every time.

-How do they even coordinate the trench coat angles?

-I imagined something totally different. But I love it lol.

-Si-on is the only one with black sunglasses again lol.

-Confident Confucian boy lol.

The fandom was ecstatic too.

Behind the scenes, Mary Jones had initially disliked Han Si-on attaching orchestral melodies to his techno.

He felt it clashed with techno’s essence.

But days later, he messaged:

-What did you do to me? I can’t stop thinking about Pin Point’s interlude. The transition from orchestral to synth feels like drugs were mixed in.

As the stage ended, posts flooded every community even slightly connected to Sedalbaekil.

Of course, the 1st place pledge was widely discussed too.

And then…

[Sedalbaekil! Congratulations!]

[Congratulations!]

Sedalbaekil’s Pin Point won first place on the music broadcast.