wavenovel Chapter 1497 Inside Story
Chapter 1497 Inside Story
Chapter 1497 Inside Story
"Oh?"
Chi Jingyuan's eyes lit up, and he instantly became interested. He reached out, took the tablet, and unlocked the screen.
"A total of 96 trainees participated in this 'PRODUCE 48,' including 57 from mainland China and 39 from Japan,"
While driving, Park Jae-hyun explained, "The trainees in Japan are mostly from AKB48 and its sister groups, while the trainees in the Peninsula come from various agencies, but none of them are from top-tier agencies; they are mostly from second- or third-tier agencies or smaller agencies."
While listening, Chi Jingyuan flipped through the information on his tablet.
The information was very detailed. In addition to basic information such as name, age, height, and weight, each trainee also had several photos—front, side, and full-body shots—and the name of their agency was also noted.
As soon as I flipped to the first trainee page, a somewhat familiar face immediately caught my eye.
Kang Hye-won is affiliated with 8D Creative.
Looking at the rather pure and distinctive face in the information, Chi Jingyuan paused slightly, feeling that the girl looked somewhat familiar.
He frowned and thought for a moment, then quickly realized what was going on.
This girl participated in the audition for his two solo music videos before. She performed very well and her appearance left a deep impression on people.
However, after careful consideration, they ultimately chose another girl named Kim Min-joo.
Looking at that youthful yet familiar face on the screen, the scene of the interview naturally came back to mind.
He remembered this girl... she was a trainee with very poor foundation and average skills, and not very professional.
But the appearance is okay.
He continued scrolling down, and unfamiliar names and faces appeared one after another: Kim Da-hye (Banana Culture), Ko Yoo-jin (BlockBerry Creative), Kim Da-yeon (CNC School). Ji Kyung-won looked at them very carefully, occasionally pausing to look at a trainee's photo and information, and he had a preliminary impression of them.
"Li Caiyan?"
Upon seeing a name and face, Chi Kyung-won couldn't help but speak, his tone tinged with doubt: "I remember she was a JYP trainee, wasn't she? How did she become a WM member?"
He remembered that the girl in front of him, named Lee Chae-yeon, used to be a female trainee at JYP Entertainment. He had met her when he participated in "Sixteen" and even exchanged a few words with her.
I remember she had a younger sister who also participated in the show, but she didn't make it into the final lineup.
Unexpectedly, after so many years, the next time I saw it was in "PD48", and it had changed agencies.
When Park Jae-hyun heard Ji Kyung-won's question, he paused for a moment and remained silent.
He had no idea who Chi Jingyuan was talking about.
Chi Jingyuan didn't pay much attention. He was just a little surprised to see someone he knew suddenly appear on the show. It was a strange feeling.
But ultimately, they weren't really that familiar with each other, so there was no need to delve into it further.
As he continued scrolling down, Chi Jingyuan couldn't help but nod inwardly to himself.
The trainees participating in "PD48" this time are actually quite good overall. Although we can't see their skills, he quickly spotted several contestants with striking looks and excellent physiques.
For idols, appearance is the primary competitive advantage; it's crucial to be able to catch people's attention at a glance.
Looking around, he noticed several outstanding female trainees who were just as talented as SM trainees.
Although SM Entertainment is the largest entertainment company in the music industry with a wide pool of talented trainees, it ultimately cannot monopolize all the talented children. There are also many promising talents hidden in various smaller companies.
"Oh, this person is here too."
Chi Jingyuan turned to a certain page, saw a familiar name and face, and couldn't help but chuckle.
Kim Min-joo, the girl who participated in the filming of his music video "Music Box," is different from Kang Hye-won. She is an old acquaintance who actually went to the United States with him and lived and worked with him for more than a week.
Although the two didn't interact much... During that time, Ji Jingyuan was surrounded by Liu Zhimin every day. Jin Minzhou was probably too shy or inexperienced, and seemed a bit reserved.
Looking at the photo of someone who looks somewhat similar to Chou Tzu-yu, Ji Kyung-won found it quite amusing.
He glanced at the company; the girl's agency was Urban Works Media, a small company he hadn't heard of much.
"Then there are the trainees from Japan, mostly from AKB48 and its sister groups,"
Park Jae-hyun's voice came from beside him. Just then, Ji Kyung-won flipped through the information on the Japanese trainees, and the first one was Miyawaki Sakura, whom he knew.
Ji Kyung-won wasn't surprised that this person had participated in "PD48" since he already knew about it. However, he felt a strange feeling that his colleague, who had previously performed on the same stage, had suddenly become a mentor while the other person had become a trainee.
Apart from Miyawaki Sakura, he didn't recognize many of the other Japanese trainees, and even those from AKB48 weren't very familiar to him.
Moreover, just looking at the photos in the materials, he felt that the trainees from Japan were not as eye-catching as the trainees from the Korean Peninsula in terms of appearance. On the Korean Peninsula, he had just seen several children with excellent physical attributes.
After quickly flipping through all the materials, Chi Jingyuan closed the tablet, his tone carrying a hint of certainty: "Not bad~ The overall level is much better than I expected."
"They are basically the best seeds of each company. Although the companies are not large, they all have a few 'treasured assets'."
Park Jae-hyun smiled and nodded.
"It's confirmed that these are the trainees participating. Filming is scheduled for mid-April. The production team is currently setting up the filming location, and the other mentors have already signed contracts. Their information has also been sent over..."
Park Jae-hyun continued his introduction, his tone suddenly changing slightly and becoming more serious: "However, the production team sent me a message asking me to communicate with you. They said there's something important they need to tell you in advance."
"what's up?"
Chi Jingyuan looked up.
Park Jae-hyun paused for a moment, then slowly began to speak: "For this PD48 program, the 12 spots that will ultimately debut, more than half of them, as well as the debut order... have already been predetermined."
"It's already decided?"
Upon hearing this, Chi Jingyuan was not particularly surprised, only raising an eyebrow slightly.
“That’s right. After the last meeting, PD Ahn Joon-young specifically mentioned this to me. The final round will have twenty spots, and twelve spots will debut. Currently, more than half of the spots have already been decided by the production team.”
Park Jae-hyun nodded and explained the situation in detail: "He probably knows some things about you, so we need to communicate in advance to avoid any problems or conflicts later on."
"Will the final group be a 12-member girl group?"
Upon hearing this, Chi Jingyuan smiled somewhat jokingly: "So, more than half of the 12 members who will debut have already been decided internally?"
"Yes, more or less."
Park Jae-hyun couldn't help but smile and shake his head: "Among them, several well-established agencies that send trainees to participate, such as Yuehua, Stone Music, and Starship, will have a pre-selected spot."
"Companies like Stone Music, which belong to the same CJ Group as the television network Mnet, will receive even more preferential treatment."
"The same goes for Japan. They've also internally selected two or three people. These were all finalized during the cooperation negotiations. Jingyuan, the Miyawaki Sakura you know is one of them, and she's one of the main candidates."
In conclusion, Park Jae-hyun shrugged: "Actually, it's not just this season; the previous two seasons of the 'Produce 101' series were like this."
"Hmm...that's normal."
Although these were considered behind-the-scenes dealings, Chi Kyung-won actually understood.
The production team claims it's a "nationwide vote," but how can a talent show really determine debut spots entirely based on voting?
A successful and popular idol can bring enormous commercial value and income, and there will inevitably be some exchanges of interests between the program team and the management company.
Just like the previous negotiations to have Ji Kyung-won join the show, it was made clear that if SM sent someone to participate, he would definitely be able to debut.
Having been in the industry for so many years, he's seen far too many things like this, and the production team had even mentioned it to him before.
Chi Kyung-won didn't comment much on the matter. He was just there to participate in the show as an MC and mentor, not to uphold justice.
Let the production team decide who gets the roles beforehand, as long as it doesn't affect him.
However, upon hearing Park Jae-hyun mention 'pre-selection,' Ji Kyung-won picked up his tablet again and asked curiously, 'Who are the pre-selected candidates?'
"Of course, I wouldn't publicly say it was 'pre-arranged,' but the PD still gave me a list of people to be 'focused on developing.'"
Park Jae-hyun smiled and waved, then handed over a stack of documents: "These people will get more exposure and screen time. To put it bluntly, they are the pre-selected debut candidates."
Chi Jingyuan took the documents and quickly flipped through the "key training" list.
Then I saw a girl named Zhang Yuanying, whose agency is Starship. She is obviously the only contestant Starship has decided to debut.
In the photo, Zhang Yuanying has round cheeks and clear eyes.
However, her appearance is indeed quite outstanding; she has a slender figure and cute features... she just looks a bit too youthful.
Chi Jingyuan subconsciously glanced at her age... born in 2004.
Upon seeing the year, he paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly, inexplicably feeling that he was indeed getting old.
Next up is Jo Yuri from Stone Music.
This one doesn't look as striking as Zhang Yuanying from before.
Chi Kyung-won continued looking ahead, listening to Park Jae-hyun's words: "It's not just people from a few well-established agencies, but also some easily manipulated or popular contestants, or some business exchanges. After all, business considerations must be taken into account; everyone wants to make money."
Seeing that Ji Kyung-won had seen enough, Park Jae-hyun said at the right time, "Probably knowing some things about us, that PD Ahn even made a promise to me on behalf of the production team."
"say what?"
Chi Jingyuan asked casually.
"Although a lot of spots have already been decided, if Jingyuan has any trainees you like or think are good, you can recommend them to them, and they can also enter the final debut group."
"Do I have that much influence?"
Upon hearing this, Chi Jingyuan couldn't help but laugh and looked up.
"hehe."
The guy squinted and chuckled a few times, nodding matter-of-factly: "Of course you have a lot of influence... Besides, when we were discussing the collaboration, they promised to pre-select debut spots for SM. Since no one from SM is participating, it's the same for you."
That makes sense.
Upon hearing this, Chi Jingyuan raised his eyes, thought for a moment, and then smiled.
However, after seeing the results, he shrugged: "But I don't have any friends participating, and I didn't recognize many of the names on the list, so it's unnecessary."
"I won't participate."
After a pause, Chi Jingyuan shook his head.
However, even though that's what they said, the production team still mentioned him when they were doing behind-the-scenes work, making sure to give him some perks, which was a way of showing them respect.
However, given the blatant vote-rigging and pre-arranged results, especially on a highly influential program like "Produce 101" with nationwide participation, Ji Kyung-won felt it was inappropriate to do such a thing and that it could cause problems later. Therefore, he explicitly refused to participate to avoid implicating him in the future.
Besides, if there really is someone he favors during filming, a slight hint would suffice; why be so direct? Do you really think they'd refuse to give him face?
After reviewing the information, Chi Jingyuan thought about it carefully for a moment, then took a breath and finally asked:
"Filming will be in mid-April, right?"
"Correct."
"Okay, I got it... By the way, please pass on my suggestions to the production team."
"Well, you said."
"It doesn't matter how many are pre-selected, but... don't go too far."
…………
Not long after, the van arrived at the filming location of "The Spy".
After the car came to a stop, Chi Jingyuan straightened his clothes, opened the car door, and got out.
The crew members were already in place, busily moving around the filming location, setting up scenes and adjusting equipment, creating a well-organized scene. As soon as Chi Jingyuan appeared, he was immediately noticed by the crew, who all stopped what they were doing and greeted him with smiles.
"Jingyuan is here!"
"You've worked hard today too!"
With a gentle smile on his face, Chi Jingyuan responded to everyone's greetings one by one, nodding to familiar staff members as he walked.
"Here you are, big star."
A clear and melodious voice rang out, and Kim Ji-won walked over from not far away with a smile, her eyebrows curving and her tone carrying a hint of teasing.
Perhaps because she wasn't filming, this woman was dressed casually in a pure white shirt and casual pants, with the top buttons undone just to her collarbone. Combined with her face and lively smile, she looked quite refreshing.
Chi Jingyuan looked up at her, and in a show of feigned modesty, raised his chin: "What, want an autograph?"
Kim Ji-won's eyes lit up, and she immediately showed a look of surprise: "Really? That's great! Quickly sign an oppa for me, I want to keep it as a treasure."
"Big stars' autographs shouldn't be given out casually."
Chi Jingyuan deliberately dragged out his words, his eyes full of amusement: "It depends on how you perform."
"What, what more do you want from me?"
Kim Ji-won immediately caught the teasing in his words, her face instantly hardening. She reached out and lightly patted him a few times, her tone tinged with a hint of coquettishness, "Chi Kyung-won, tell me, what kind of performance do you want? What do you want to do?"
"Hahaha..." Chi Jingyuan couldn't help but burst into laughter. Kim Ji-won, seeing his laughter, couldn't help but smile as well; her earlier anger vanished instantly.
After laughing for a while, Chi Jingyuan composed himself, walked towards the director and producer, greeted them, chatted briefly about the upcoming filming schedule, and reported on his preparations.
After chatting for about ten minutes, Ji Kyung-won turned around and returned to Kim Ji-won's side.
At this moment, his assistant brought over two chilled drinks and handed them to the two of them.
Chi Jingyuan took the drink, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. The cool liquid slid down his throat, instantly dispelling the fatigue of the journey. He pulled up a chair, sat down, and chatted with Kim Ji-won while drinking the beverage.
"Ah, I only have a few scenes left, and you still have... But my scenes are fine, but I see from the script that your last few scenes are quite challenging."
Kim Ji-won took a sip of her drink and looked at Ji Kyung-won curiously, "Especially that church scene, just reading the description makes me think it's super difficult, I can't even imagine how to get into it... How's your preparation going?"
No updates tomorrow, please take a day off. Happy May Day everyone!