december twenty-fourth. 12월 evaluation ✦ merry christmas, seoul !
the twenty-fourth comes quicker than she realizes, and her performance repertoire is as ingrained into her muscle-memory as what she had for last night’s dinner, a memorable meal considering it happened to be the most she’s eaten due to her busy schedule. it passes, the appetite, a common notion she’s begun to appeal to when the constant overwhelming workload includes practices, formation changes and line distributions; an endless cycle that’s been a familiar friend in her life for the past four months. and as horrible as it did sound, jihyun didn’t quite mind.
she liked keeping busy, she liked watching people come together in time for the holiday season; actually was enthralled with the late nights and the small conversations she’s held with everyone at their most vulnerable moments. where exhaustion exists and formalities are dropped because of it. then again, also knowing it was a possibility it would be her last evaluation as a trainee seemed to sweeten the deal : made her work harder, want to spend a little bit more time with those she knew she’ll miss in the new year.
the day goes by and night soon falls; seven pm sharp do metaphorical curtains rise and everyone is in position. the first stage begins and it’s the song that has jihyun rushing from where she stood among the other trainees, pushing past others to sneak a peek from the wings. watching with warm hearts and a proud smile as jongin and minyoung sang on stage. their voices mingling together in a way jihyun could only remember so fondly. days of their time in new york coming back to her as they sang, tales of obnoxious karaoke and sleepy carols had nothing on what the two were performing on stage.
it all comes back to her and as warm as it makes her feel, revisiting fond memories; she’s sad she can’t join them -- retreats before they can see her. her regrets left on the back burner as she’s back to reciting the lyrics of her own performances. when it ends, she spots them in the crowd so easily ; a hand rising in acknowledgement as she waves to them from where she stands in the crowd, amidst the rest of the trainees going here and there, to and from the stage -- trying to keep their nerves under wraps as the concert continued. because at the end of the day, it was still an evaluation and as much as she wanted to wrap her friends in her arms and congratulate them on how well they sounded -- it was best to leave such wishes for the end.
they all still had a show to put on. and jihyun knew better than anyone that putting a half-assed performance for the crowd would be her own undoing. so, she does as she’s told ; instructed by staff to stand where they need her to. waits for her turn to enter the stage, microphone attached to the silk of her cheek by clear tape.
one breath, two -- eyes face the wall behind them, backs to the crowd. the voices from behind already buzzing in her ears before the music begins. the excitement that sinks into her veins, energizing her -- reinventing the thoughts that had clouded her in misery earlier. the smile she dons when she turns, choreography mended into her very bones, becomes more genuine as the song continues -- to the very last bow, it brings the festive holiday spirit back into her eyes.
it continues throughout the concert; ( a sensation that jihyun thanks when it all ends ) from one performance to another. as be my baby comes, she’s rather thrilled for the performance. and unlike her performances at royal survival, save for a few, she feels a liveliness in her -- one she can say isn’t specified as competitiveness or desperation. this one keeps her happy, smile growing wider as she dances around the stage; each movement made to mirror another trainees from beside her. it lacks the christmas-time spirit, unfortunately, but they make it work.
jihyun was sure she could supply enough christmas spirit for the performance if they needed it.
DECEMBER EVALUATION PERFORMANCE
Seoul Plaza Festival End Stage
Song - Line Distribution
excited. that was pretty much the main emotion running through his body.
he barely had any room to be nervous. not that he should be, they practiced this over and over, and he has gone over the song a thousand times since getting his lines. there shouldn’t be any room for mistakes with how much practicing and time has been put into it.
the entire time before the end stage, dongmin was bouncing around everyone. he was sure he had drove yeri up a wall by now with how excited he was. the energy wasn’t even half spent by the time they were making their way to the stage. dongmin had to keep bouncing his knees lightly so he could focus on the song.
when the music started, it was like something in him snapped into place. the hyper kid from before was replaced with someone more calm. he smiled gently, easily taking his place on stage and swaying slightly to the music. the same feeling from before, the one he had felt during the flower festival stage almost a year ago was filling him again. the energy he felt then is the reason he wanted to go ahead with this, to follow the dream his parents had painted for him.
the dream that became his.
We used to be best buddies
And now we're not
I wish you would tell me why
christmas has always been something weird for dongmin. before his grandmother became an angel, he use to spend the day with her and his mother. his father always off on a business trip somewhere. and for a few years he would take his mother with him. leaving just dongmin and his grandmother to fill the day with as much joy as they could. usually consisting with making cookies, and watching old movies. his grandmother was always so warm, and the days spent with her had been the most meaningful.
It gets a little lonely
All these empty rooms (These empty rooms)
Just watching the hours tick by
(Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock, Tic-Tock)
when he lost his grandmother, christmas was a lonely day. his parents weren’t home and his grandmother wasn’t around. he would spend the day to himself. usually filling it with homework, and eating as many sweets as he could. it bothered him at first, but he grew use to it, and christmas just became another day to him. he would leave small gifts for his parents under the tree, and they would transfer money into his bank account. it was all just business.
Don’t have to be a snowman
christmas this year was special.
being apart of royal has changed so much about his life. and for once he isn’t going to be spending christmas alone. his mother and him already had a small celebration themselves since he was going to be busy with trainee stuff the day of, and he had heard she was going to her sisters for the day. something he was surprised to hear because he knew she hadn’t been around them in ages. thats why he had never gotten to meet chaeyoung.
thoughts of his family, seokmin and chaeyoung, his friends, his new family. of kibum, and jaehyun hyung. baekhyun hyung, and rachel noona, minah noona and joshua hyung. the royal trainees, and the trainees he has met in other companies. filled his head as he sang. and he poured those emotions into his singing.
his high notes were coming up, the part he was most nervous about. but when everyone else started singing. he felt renewed with energy.
Elsa
Please, I know you're in there (I know you’re in there)
People are asking where you've been (Oh ho~)
They say "have courage", and I'm trying to (Trying to)
I’m right out here for you (Right here for you)
Just let me in (Just let me in)
We only have each other (We only have each other)
It’s just you and me
What are we gonna do? (What are we gonna do)
with his friends beside him, he knows he can accomplish anything. he wasn’t sure about his path as a singer, and he didn’t know what he would do in the future. or where the future was even going to take him. but he knows what he wants. he wants this. this stage, and every other stage he can possible be apart of.
this is what he wants. this is where he wants to be. and he is going to do everything he could possibly do to stay here. no matter how many hours he has too practice. or how tired he gets.
the evaluation that she’d been looking forward to nearly all month was finally here, and dawon couldn’t have felt more excitement. it’s funny, she thinks; just a few months ago she would have thought it impossible to be in such a joyful chapter in her life, especially after certain key events had left her feeling considerably miserable. but, now, she had so much to be grateful for, and so much to look forward to. the holiday season was off to a great start, and the joy she felt in her heart was beyond measure.
I simply must go
So thanks for the show
The welcome has been
So nice and warm
it was one of dawon’s all-time favorite christmas songs, meaning that she felt considerably lucky to have been chosen to perform it. the fact that she was performing it with as talented of a vocalist as baekhyun made her feel all the more lucky, as, in that moment, she felt that she couldn’t have picked anyone that she’d rather sing a song with. he had a beautiful voice, one that dawon enjoyed listening to; and, in her honest opinion, she thought that the two of them sounded pleasant together.
There's bound to be talk tomorrow
At least there will be plenty implied
she was unable to ignore the feeling of déjà vu, remembering just how much joy she had felt during last year’s holiday celebrations. she had felt on top of the world, and, honestly, she had expected most everything in her life to stay the same. events from earlier in the year proved that it was impossible for things to completely stay the same, however. would this time be different? would she actually manage to maintain her happiness into the new year, or would yet another drastic and unpleasant change present itself?
for now, she tried not to delve too deep into those thoughts, enjoying the remainder of the performance as it was finally drawing to a close. dawon had genuinely enjoyed herself, and she could only hope that the other trainees had had fun as well. as she makes her way offstage, she can’t help but smile as she continues to dwell on the thought of how far she has managed to come in the last year. she hopes that she can continue to grow, as a person and a performer, well into the new year.
for most of her life, she’s been told that the spirit of christmas lives on through the heart of giving. that christmas stands strong despite the throes of capitalism because of charitable actions and of giving happiness however you can. to find out that this month’s evaluation practically revolves around the concept of giving means a lot to her. it makes her work twice as hard and put an even bigger smile on her face during her performances the day before because she knew it was meant for something good -- something much bigger than herself and her initial jealousy.
the christmas party with the foundation was the cherry on top of it all. celebrating such a fundamental holiday with children was definitely a hundred times better than having to spend it inside company walls for a whole day.
she likes children and her obvious excitement is clear testament to this fact. "unnie, come with me! let’s talk with the children.” she turns to the older, a huge smile on her features. what better way to spread christmas cheer than to corral one of her fellow trainees to do it with her, right? “we can sing christmas carols for them and just get to know them for a little while.”
The image an idol carries with their name holds just as much importance as their talent. As learned from the previous evaluation, an ideal image can often hold more value than an honest one. For example, an idol who constantly helps out with their community and donates to those in need will be seen with much better grace by the public than an idol who doesn’t remember to show gratitude towards fans for standing out in the cold to watch one of their performances!
This month, everyone will be expected to work twice as hard for a special two-day long evaluation. On December 24th, trainees from all companies will be the ones performing live at the Seoul Plaza festival, and each trainee will be assigned at least two group songs to perform, with some others invited to take part in a special stage with other trainees. Those who are participating are expected to arrive at the designated area before 1pm to run through a full rehearsal before the official show begins at 7pm. Holiday-themed outfits will be provided for the trainees to use during the entirety of the show so there will be no need to bring your own. Keep in mind: trainees who have a Live Singing achievement below a Beginner level may find themselves struggling greatly during their performances!
Private trainees will not be made public through this, as their names won’t be revealed, their participation won’t be advertised as part of a company, and they’ll only be seen by a small audience.
On the following day, the 25th, all donations received from the festival will be gathered and delivered by the trainees to the organization as a Christmas gift. Trainees should be dressed in red, green, and white colored outfits and will present themselves as Santa’s elves for the full immersive experience. The shuttle service normally used by trainees to move from their company buildings to the Seocho complex will drive them to the designated places instead.
Trainees will then arrive at a rented party area where the ChildFund Korea staff will be waiting for them. A Christmas party has been planned for the families and children they’ve been helping, and the kids will get a wonderful surprise in the appearance of the trainee Santa’s elves at the party! Trainees are free to interact with the children as coaches will still be around to help supervise them. Trainees will not only help distribute gifts to the children but also will help serve a special Christmas lunch at noon, which will then be followed by a simple ensemble performance of Jingle Bell Rock. All trainees will be spread around the room to sing the song in unison, so no line distribution is needed for this.
After lunch is done, all trainees will be sent back to their company buildings to continue with their regular schedules. However, coaches will spread the word that dinner will be optional this time around and trainees will be free to go home after their dinner schedule.
To collect +2 DEBUT POINTS and +2 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, write a four post thread or a 250+ words solo about your muse preparing for their evaluation For +1WK RELEVANT ACHIEVEMENT, +2 DEBUT POINTS and +3 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, write a 300+ words solo about at least one of the performances your muse will take part in for the Seoul Plaza festival. For +2 DEBUT POINTS and +2 CHARISMA, write a four post thread or a 250+ words solo about the day spent at the Christmas party with the families.
Please tag all of your posts with #rkdec17eval and have them up by midnight EST at the end of January 7th. Threads may be continued after the deadline, but points can only be collected if the requirements are met before it.
DECEMBER EVALUATION (for the January 10 verification form)
[ link to thread or solo about preparation ]
+2 ___ POINTS
+2 DEBUT POINTS
NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:
[ link to performance solo ]
+1WK RELEVANT ACHIEVEMENT (NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN AND CURRENT TOTAL)
+3 ___ POINTS
+2 DEBUT POINTS
NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:
[ link to thread or solo about the party ]
+2 CHARISMA POINTS
+2 DEBUT POINTS
NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:
The list of songs and trainees who will be performing them is under the cut! It is shown in chronological order so the first one listed will be the first song performed and the last one will be the last song performed. Trainees assigned to songs without original choreography will be taught a new one created by their company’s coaches.
COUPLES START PERFORMANCE: Baby It’s Cold Outside
Performed by: Ahn Sohee & Yoo Youngjae + Hwang Miyoung & Kim Jongdae + Jung Soojung & Nam Woohyun + Lee Minyoung & Kim Jongin + Nam Dawon & Byun Baekhyun
SPHERE BOYS: Show Me Your Love
KT GIRLS: Party
NOVA BOYS: Lately
ROYAL GIRLS: To My Boyfriend
TRC BOYS: Mistletoe
BOYS SPECIAL STAGE: Jingle Bells+Feliz Navidad
Performed by: Ha Huidong + Im Jaebum + Jung Jaehyun + Kim Kibum + Kwak Youngmin + Lee Taemin + Nakamoto Yuta + Oh Jinseok + Yoo Changhyun + Zhang Yixing
SPHERE GIRLS: Merry Christmas In Advance
KT BOYS: Wish Tree
NOVA GIRLS: Santa Tell Me
ROYAL BOYS: Let It Snow
TRC GIRLS: Santa Baby
GIRLS SPECIAL STAGE: Santa’s Coming For Us
Performed by: Choi Jinri + Jung Sooyeon + Kim Taeyeon + Lee Jihyun + Son Seungwan
SPHERE BOYS: White
KT GIRLS: I Love You
NOVA BOYS: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
ROYAL GIRLS: Be My Baby
TRC BOYS: Last Christmas
KTROOKIES SPECIAL STAGE: Holiday Medley
Performed by: Kim Taeyeon, Hwang Miyoung, Lee Taemin, Kwak Youngmin, Lee Hyeri, Kim Yerim, Kim Jongdae, Park Jimin, Park Sunyoung, Choi Sooyoung
SPHERE GIRLS: Yayaya
KT BOYS: Santa U Are The One
NOVA GIRLS: Happy Christmas
ROYAL BOYS: This Christmas
TRC GIRLS: All I Want For Christmas Is You
END STAGE: Do You Want To Build A Snowman
Performed By: Im Dayoung + Kim Yerim + Lee Dongmin + Oh Sehun + Son Seungwan & All The Trainees (the others will come in at 1:28, and all will sing for the parts in unison)
#rkeval ﹍ show your love / white ₊˚.༄ ʚ ––––––– ･ﾟ○
┊ holiday performance eval ┈ 171224 !
this is it -- this is their moment.
not exactly the moment that the crowd has been waiting for -- they’re still unknown faces in a sea of trainees. perhaps some of their faces could be recognized -- but highly unlikely considering everything. too much going on, too much movement -- for now, taeyong revels in their mystery identities, settling for having to perform his heart out with his practical second family without getting the acknowledgment they deserve.
convex -- here we are, here we come, he thinks.
luckily for him, their performance that they’ve worked so hard on is right up his alley. it begins with cheesy smiles, toothy grins that might seem a little too sweet, sweeter than hot chocolate -- taeyong is all smiles, a little pout coming up on his lips when the lyrics morph and change. from yien to rome, from woohyun to jinki, taeyong makes sure that he isn’t lost within the group, that he’s getting his time in when it’s time for him.
his part comes on -- he still really can’t believe he’s in the vocal team for his group. but it’s a nice change of pace -- a nice indication of his shift in focus on his training. he sings his little heart out, warm smiles all around. he shakes his head, full of aegyo, his eyes wide and his bottom lip still jutted out.
the choreography while harmonizing is somewhat difficult -- but the adrenaline of performing drives him forward, makes him the confident person that he appears to be in front of the crowd. in little breaks where the other members are singing their parts, he looks towards the crowd, looks toward yuta on the side of the stage and smiles -- winks.
as the performance rolls on, as they continue to dance with each other, smile at each other, laugh at each other -- taeyong notes how this feels to him. how this group of people make him feel. he looks to yixing -- a fitting leader, his strong presence still coming through the cutesy choreography. then to the rest of the vocal team -- hyun being the charismatic king that he is, kibum making his heart warm with every facial expression, woohyun and jinki letting their honey vocals speaking for themselves. then to ten, who he hopes is having the best time in the world -- because he deserves it. they all deserve.
he couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be grouped together with -- he couldn’t imagine it being with any others.
soon, it ends -- the adrenaline keeps pumping through his bloodstream, though, as they all step off to make way for the kt girls, who’s sure to follow it up with even more holiday cheer. he feels ten’s hand clutch at his forearm, and he smiles at him before he looks towards his boyfriend with a soft gaze -- did i do good, he hopes his expression reads as such.
he thinks he did good -- for as cold as the wintry seoul air right now, his heart is warm, full.
《 ★ rkjinwook》 he hasn’t sung with jinwook in a while. with just the two of them, it must’ve been ages and yixing knows it’s his own insecurities when it comes to singing, especially with the rest of the sphere boys. wanting to dance, to work on almost everything else, he hadn’t truly dedicated himself to singing until their group concept was announced. he couldn’t skate by on charm and being able to dance, even if he’s willing to dance day and night, but he has to be well-rounded, lead by example. most of all, he wants to be able to perform with his group members and feel like he’s not letting anyone down. he wants them to be proud, as proud as he feels about each of them for making it this far. debut is so close, in the palm of their hands and there’s no official date but he knows it’s coming and that’s all he cares about. they’re all together and he can’t imagine being anything less but grateful from the bottom of his heart, with all of his heart. with how many of them there are, how could he feel lonely anymore?
he feels like christmas day has already come for him.
guitar on his back, he’s grinning as he sprints up to jinwook, deliberately and as gently as possible crashing into his friend. “kiss me if i’m wrong but isn’t that mistletoe above you? oh damn, i’m wrong... imagine if i was right,” he jokes around, puckering his lips and leaning close to try and scandalize the trainee talking to jinwook. yixing doesn’t recognize him but it must be a sight to see how far yixing’s willing to go to tease a friend.
Son Seungwan - Nova Ent
December 2017 Evaluation
Line Distribution: Nova Girls Stages | Santa’s Coming For Us | Do You Want to Build a Snowman
Wendy’s not going to lie. She has been dependent on ginger tea and lots of vitamin C to keep her voice intact with all the singing she’ll be doing tonight. She’s flattered that the coaches trust her and her skills enough to include her in special stages besides the performances with her unnies at Nova. She likes to think that maybe she has grown and improved in the year and a half she’s been with the company. She isn’t certain how much growing she has done and still has to do, but she wants to keep doing well to earn the coaches faith in her to do more.
It’s always fun performing with Kaeun unni, Hyuna unni, and Min sunbaenim. This also marks the first performance with Suji unni. Wendy may have been more of a “loop The Nutcracker Suite in lieu of Christmas carols” type of girl, but she had developed a soft spot for the first song she’s performing for the night. Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me” is relatable, in a way that she hopes that a person she’d have a crush on would still be around next year. She can’t get anyone to stay, case and point: Toshi and Minhyun oppa. (To be fair, Minhyun oppa did shoot her down on Day 1, but he was always there as an older brother slash handsome friend to her).
There’s also the unspoken pressure that she has to do well to represent Nova in the joint collaboration with the girls from other companies. It’s an honor to share the stage with three MGA season three coaches from different companies. Rumor had it that the girls she was performing with were the among the best trainee vocalists in their respective companies. She had heard three of them sing back at the MGAs, and she had even shared a stage with Taeyeon sunbaenim. However, it still doesn’t stop her from being impressed whenever she hears them sing in practice, and every day she wonders what she did in her past life to be worthy of standing and singing on the same stage with some respected senior trainees.
There seems to be an unspoken agreement among the females of Nova that they would all rather die than do aegyo. However, when push came to shove and their backs were against the wall, there was a surprising reveal of aegyo skills. Min sunbaenim was a revelation of sorts to Wendy, that she found herself taking notes on how to pull it off as naturally as Min sunbaenim did. If she respected Min sunbaenim before, then Wendy’s respect grew even more. It takes talent to pull off aegyo and be cute without being cringe-worthy. Wendy hopes and prays that her cutesy acting and smiling onstage didn’t come across as laughable. It took her hours to practice e expressions in front of the mirror between study breaks.
Finally, there was the final stage. It’s been long since she got to share a stage with Yeri, one of her long-time best friends. She also recognizes the two boys: one of them is the one with Soojung a lot while the other was one of those attractive faces she accepted a Royal flyer from. During practice, they realized that they who got solo lines were the youngest trainees of their respective companies. Wendy almost wants to laugh at the irony of it all, yet it also makes sense. The program ends with a Disney song... and that they youngest kids lead it. As much Wendy has professed to banning anyone within her vicinity from singing this song when the movie first came out, it has grown on her. Oh... if her other friends could see her now. (She bets Seulgi and Joy are giggling somewhere as they remember her screams of agony when she got sick of the song). They’d probably be laughing at her for singing the song she once loathed.
As she and Dongmin sing the last line, Wendy lets out a sigh of relief. It’s over... They did well enough to entertain the people at the plaza. Maybe... just maybe... she’s on the right track in this whole idol thing after all.
