Chapter 154: The Dreamy Main Vocalist
On the same day IU made her comeback with "cherry blossom ending," Red Velvet also released their first comeback teaser, officially returning on March 20th, one month after IU's comeback.
If Red Velvet had to avoid IU's comeback period, they would have returned in late February or early March.
It wasn't out of fear of IU; Lee Ji-eun's Unique Star's suppression of solo artists was at its peak, but Red Velvet was a girl group and would not be affected.
And the Star Producer had not yet stacked up, so he couldn't suppress Red Velvet either.
The reason for their separate comebacks was entirely due to DM Entertainment's severe losses from IVE's disbandment, requiring groups to return one by one to recover.
Returning together and competing would result in significant financial losses, which was unnecessary.
"cherry blossom ending" was undoubtedly an excellent sweet song, and its release immediately garnered the love of countless listeners.
They hadn't forgotten the incident where Jiang Shu and Lee Ji-eun's hands slipped, but that didn't stop them from listening to the song.
As long as the song quality was excellent, some harmless scandals would only become part of the buzz.
It was also fortunate that it was this sweet song; if it had been "Blueming," it would have caused an uproar.
Jiang Shu did not shy away from filming videos with Lee Ji-eun; the more he avoided it, the more people would suspect him. Being open and maintaining the status quo was the optimal solution.
While Jiang Shu was busy filming schedules and gathering material with Lee Ji-eun, and waiting for Red Velvet's comeback to gather more material, DM Entertainment welcomed a new batch of trainees.
The Director of Trainees sat in his chair, flipping through the documents in his hand.
The first half of the audition hasn't started yet, and this batch of trainees was all sent by agencies with whom they had partnerships abroad.
Due to Lisa, the earliest agency DM Entertainment partnered with was actually from Thailand.
Most of this batch of trainees came from Thailand and Japan, with only one from China.
Three Chinese trainees had already been sent previously, so there were no more to send this time.
Minister Kim reviewed the trainees' information, and in the absence of specific requirements from Jiang Shu, they evaluated these trainees according to standard admission criteria.
Of course, they wouldn't accept all the trainees sent by the agencies; what would they do with so many people?
Moreover, the company was about to start recording audition variety shows, and if these trainees were accepted, they would also participate, so they needed to be carefully considered.
"What is all this mess?" Minister Kim couldn't help but complain as he looked through the trainee files.
How could he show this kind of information to Young-joo, the director?
This is all such a mess.
Flipping through the trainees sent by the Japanese agency made Minister Kim dizzy; despite being the birthplace of idol economy, the quality of trainees was so poor.
Forget it, let's look at Thailand's.
Thinking this, Director Jiang picked up the documents sent by the Thai agency.
The first one immediately caught his eye.
She had a very distinctive look, and this information was very interesting.
Dance rating B, vocal rating B+, but vocal color rating was surprisingly A+.
There was no S rating, meaning A+ was the highest.
Although agencies tended to exaggerate when filling out information, a vocal color rated A+ would not be lower than A even if the exaggeration was removed.
Minister Kim became interested and found the audio-visual materials sent by the agency and began to listen.
…
Evening.
Jiang Shu rubbed his temples as he exited the elevator hall, with Choi Ji-yeon following behind him, reporting various work updates.
Most matters didn't require his personal attention, as Li Duohui was in charge, but as the company chairman, Jiang Shu still needed to stay informed about the company daily.
"Additionally, thirteen trainees were sent by foreign agencies: five from Thailand, seven from Japan, and one from China. After review by Minister Kim and Director Young-joo, it was finally decided that three trainees would join the company: the Chinese trainee..., the Japanese trainee..., and the Thai trainee Minnie."
Jiang Shu paused his steps towards his office and turned to look at Choi Ji-yeon.
"Minnie?"
"Yes, her Thai name is Nicha Yontararak," Choi Ji-yeon replied.
"Where is she?" Jiang Shu asked again.
"She's already moved into the trainee dorms. Would you like me to call her over for you?" Choi Ji-yeon could, of course, tell that Jiang Shu was interested in Minnie, so she offered.
"No need," Jiang Shu waved his hand, "Bring me her information."
"It's already on your desk."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu quickened his pace and returned to his office.
He flipped through it and confirmed that this Minnie was the Minnie he knew.
"Add Minnie to the exclusive trainees and include her in the variety show," Jiang Shu said.
"This would exceed 48 people," Choi Ji-yeon hesitated.
"Have S.M. remove one trainee," Jiang Shu waved his hand, saying it was not a big deal.
"Alright."
After Choi Ji-yeon left to make arrangements, Jiang Shu took out the file and looked at Minnie's face, a smile playing on his lips.
Minnie (A)
Bonds: Dreamy Main Vocalist (1), (G)I-DLE (5/6).
Dreamy Main Vocalist: Minnie's exclusive bond.
Effect: When singing songs that match her vocal color, her musical appeal reaches the level of a sub-main vocalist, but it cannot reach the level of a sub-main vocalist under normal circumstances.
The sub-main vocalist in bonds refers to a main vocalist in the general sense, while the main vocalist in bonds refers to a grand main vocalist.
Lily is close to being a grand main vocalist, but she is not a true grand main vocalist, and Minnie, who reaches this level through bond effects, still has a gap compared to Lily.
But this small gap doesn't matter; Minnie's vocal color is enough to compensate for these differences. Her vocal color is too powerful, maximizing her impact when singing ballads.
Including Minnie, five members for (G)I-DLE are already enough, and as for the sixth...
Jiang Shu reached for the exclusive trainee folder, flipped through it briefly, and saw Cheng Xiao's information.
It'll be her.
The Cosmic Girls' bond effect is good, but there are too many members, and they are all too old to form a group. Since that's the case, let her join (G)I-DLE to form a bond.
It's a pity about her original personal bond; joining (G)I-DLE would wash away her original bond, but it doesn't matter. For solo artists, there's Lee Ji-eun and Kim Tae-yeon, so Cheng Xiao's bond seems less important compared to these two.
Oh, and Kim Tae-yeon.
Jiang Shu slapped his head, having forgotten about her.
After several months of vocal training with Jung Seung-won, her progress will likely be astonishing, so it might be time to arrange her debut.
Forget it, let's wait a bit longer. The top priority is to get IZONE out to recover funds.
The ripple effects of disbanding IVE were greater than he had imagined; the company was already heavily in debt and needed to recover funds quickly.
While Kim Tae-yeon could help the company recover, the speed of recovery would certainly not be as fast as IZONE, which was considered the most formidable bond.
Jiang Shu thought of this and looked at the folder to one side, which was labeled "Produce48."