I am a Pioneer

Challenge Day

Challenge day had finally arrived. I was very excited about today. I could hardly stay still in the van on the way to the venue. The other trainees kept looking over at me giving strange looks. "What's got you so restless?" Hayashi questioned me. "I'm just very excited for today's performance," I say grinning stupidly. "He says that he has a big surprise for us with his solo performance," Says Hyun-Shik. "He refuses to even give us any hints" he continued, huffing a little bit. "I doubt it's that amazing" grumbled Seol Young from the front of the van. "You'll see" I retorted before finally relaxing a little bit.

Arriving at the venue, we were quickly taken to our dressing rooms to prepare. The venue was soon filled with the other JYP trainees and the panellists. This time it was JYP, our Vocal Coach, and Sunye, the Wonder Girls' leader. This was going to be very fun indeed.

The performances were going to be recorded and put on social media for the public to view and vote later. We would then film a segment that revealed the full results a little bit after the performances as a result. But that didn't matter as there were also the live votes of the panellists and the trainees to consider too. Once everyone was seated, and the first group was ready to perform, the recording began.

Up first was Akira, Hayashi and Chan-wook. They got up on stage and performed Bang! by After School and I am the best by 2NE1. It was a very entertaining performance. They absolutely smashed it. But they did play it safe and stray away from any of the more sensual choreography as we predicted. JYP even commented afterwards that he was a little disappointed that they had played it safe with the choreography. Next up for the performances was Seol Young, DongBang and Kyu-Bong. They performed covers of KARA's Step, which gained a large amount of support from the crowd. They loved the song and sang along with it. The boys crushed the dance. they showed no fear or embarrassment. I was honestly impressed. Their second song was even better. They performed Wonder Girls' Nobody. The beginning of the song was very entertaining. They made fun of JYP's appearance in the M/V with him getting stuck on the toilet. It was honestly hilarious. They even had JYP and Sunye laughing at their antics. They played to their strengths in performance, and it work very well. In the end, they received a very good response from the trainees and the panel.

Finally, it was our group's turn to go up. We did have a tough performance to beat, but I reckoned we could do it. We entered the stage and greeted the audience. We then went straight into our first performance, Run Devil Run. The crowd loved it. They were clapping and singing along the entire time. Then came the second performance, which was Hush by Miss A. This performance not only had people singing along. We had cheers and laughter. Even some claps and a few people opened their mouths. We were completely into the choreography and didn't notice. It was obvious that the audience was enjoying it, but that was all we knew. Once our performance had finished JYP complimented us on taking our performance outside our comfort zone and performing something that male Idols wouldn't usually do. He also liked our decision to split it and only do one song with the racy choreography, as two would have been too much. We thanked the panel and left the stage to prepare for solo performances. While that was happening our group performances were released on social media, and the trainees and panel voted on their favourite group performance.

Soon the solo performances began. I would go second to last. Up first was Hayashi who performed Only One by BOA. He received a very good reception for his cover before leaving the stage quickly after finishing. Next up came one of the best performances of the night. The fearless DongBang Kyong stepped onto the stage and performed a perfect cover of SUNMI's 24 hours, original choreography included. He had lowered the song by one octave so he could sing it. But the best part was his dance and serious facial expressions. I was cackling by the end of the song. It was so funny to watch because of how good it was. The crowd was cheering for him the whole way. It was incredible. If he won, I wouldn't even be mad. I would applaud him. The next few performances were very underwhelming thanks to that too. Seol Young performed Breaking Up by Dia. It was a good performance with decent vocals. But the choreography was almost non-existent. Ra Chan-wook then performed Bad Man by Juniel. He came out and performed a live acoustic version. It was very good but lacked something. I just couldn't put my finger on what. Hyun-Shik and Youngjae came out together and performed Peacock by Z.Hera. It sounded nice with their harmonies but was still overwhelmed by DongBang's earlier performance.

I was the next to perform. I was still very excited about this. I couldn't wait to see the reactions of JYP and our vocal coach who had no idea what I was about to do. I walked out onto the stage and greeted the panellists. I announced that I would be covering a song in its original key, which received a few gasps from the audience, who doubted that I could sing that high. JYP asked if I was sure about this, I replied stoutly. He then allowed me to proceed. I stood in the middle of the stage, ready to begin. The music starts and everyone in the venue realises what song I am about to sing. A lot of doubt is now entering the minds of many including JYP. I can tell at a glance that they think I will fail this song, but they are letting me continue as I am doing this to myself. All he can do is shake his head and sigh. The song continues. I reach the first high note about 2 and a half minutes into the song. I hit it just fine. The crowd are a little surprised, but they know that the highest note is still to come. I can't tell if they want me to fail or to succeed in hitting this note, but I don't really care. I am going to shock all of them anyway. I finally reach 4 and a half minutes into the song. The note is coming up. The crowd is getting ready for it. They are still enjoying the song as I sing and dance along. I reach 4 minutes 40, just 5 seconds until I hit the note. I Spin then stand completely still, I hit the note. I sing, slowly increasing the pitch and volume. I'm holding it. It's stable, the crowd is slowly opening their mouths wider and wider as I sing. The note ends and I finish off the song smoothly. I finish and bow. I'm breathing heavily. I look up to see everyone in the venue shocked. They are all silent, mouths hanging wide open. Soon a couple of trainees begin to clap. It's Na-Yeon and Dahyun who were first to return to normal. Soon everyone else follows. I'm being cheered and clapped. JYP is astonished. "That was incredible Jin-Ho. How long have you been able to hit that note?"

"Since about a month ago PD-nim" I reply.

The panellists continue in shock. I have just performed IU's Good Day, perfectly might I add. I leave the stage soon after. The last performance which is done by Akira, who performs Ailee's U&I gets a very small reception compared to my performance, but that was to be expected after what I did. Very soon afterwards, the performances ended. The live voting is completed and the solo performances are released for the public to watch and vote on. We then end the recording for the day and head back to the dorm. On the way back I am bombarded by questions and praise from the other trainees. I had indeed surprised them, and I was very happy with the reception I had earnt.