“Everyone… Konichi… Sex!” – Watanabe Junnosuke
After the group shot was taken, the contestants were ushered into the events hall to test their vocal abilities, performing their choice from a selected list of WACK group signature songs – pitch shifted to match their masculine voices.
The real standouts were Nag Rajun’s sensual performance of pretty pretty good by GANG PARADE, Pe Youngn’s adorable singing voice and facial expressions and Ayuno K being absolutely chaotic while dancing but making it work.
It’s hard to capture how rapid that was in an image but he’s a great dancer! Can’t sing whatsoever but he can MOVE.
After getting a feel for everyone, Watanabe split everyone into teams.
The teams were:
Team 1: Toppo, Wonby, Nag, Ayuno
Team 2: Zonsyo, Kong, Mazacon, Sang Woo
Team 3: Bonbon, Tasukukusu, Pe, John Goku
Team 4: Cha Nomuh, Jiming , 5chan, Tansok
Bingbing would join Team 1 if he showed up but he didn’t. Sad.
The goal was to create a comedy skit that would make Watanabe laugh and if he didn’t laugh, they wouldn’t get to perform. The performance song was ASP’s Haikei Rockstar Sama.
They got props too.
During the practice period was also the interview period: one on ones with Watanabe. These translations were originally meant for Twitter so they had to be a little shorthand, but here’s what was said:
E MAZACON
He’s 154cm (Just over 5 feet tall). Always wanted to sing and dance since he was a kid. Said he didn’t dance too well because he wanted to show off his singing, but Watanabe said imagine if he did that in front of an audience. A mistake.
i ZONSYO
Applied because he wants to be cool, an idol that treasures his fans and staff members. Said his mind kind of blanked during his performance, but Watanabe says to imagine what if he did that in front of an audience? Don’t leave them bored.
CHA NOMUH
Applied because he thought about what he wanted to do in life, and it wasn’t fun. So he wants to do something fun instead. Has applied for other idol auditions before, and Watanabe told him that no matter what he does, he should give it his all.
JOHN GOKUH
Likes BiSH, and applied for WACK because he wants to give people the same feelings that made him smile. He was nervous because he was imagining what if the floor and second floor were full of people? Watanabe repeats similar advice: give it your all, then you’ll shine.
5 CHANMiNG
Applied because he likes Matsukuma Kenta’s music. Wants to perform in a big arena, Watanabe asks even as an idol? 5ch responds yes, but a WACK idol and not a regular one. Watanabe says his performance was half assed and he agrees. Half assed is the worst.
At this point Watanabe felt kind of lukewarm about things. He had to repeat a lot of the same advice and the guys were all sort of… dry.
CHOi TANSOK
Kind of quiet and difficult to hear. But, he watched the previous auditions and thought the auditionees feelings were something missing from the world: there should be more idols like that. So here he is. Again, Watanabe gives kind of samey advice: give it your all.
PE YOUNGN
Very bright and expressive and talks with his hands a lot. His voice is very soft and feminine too. Was studying for exams but wants to try something he likes for the last time – while giving his best for exams too. He wants to make people feel better as an idol, like an oasis in a valley. Watanabe seems to like him but mentions not everyone can be an idol that “saves” people, you have to be conscious, and think about every next step to take it to the next level. No regrets etc.
WONT BE LONG
Applied the second he found out the news. Likes to be on stage. Thinks about having fun more than anything and wants to do it all: stage, radio, TV. Watanabe giggles and says he’s being a bit much. Slow down and consider your surroundings!
KWEN SANG WOO
Wants to change himself. Can normally go all out but stopped this time, he regrets that. Kind of wants to be a content creator in the future, like a video editor, but applied for this so he wouldn’t regret it. He feels that like content creators, WACK show their vision. Watanabe says that’s good and that there aren’t many chances, people regret things and then get eliminated. Its normal to be nervous, but don’t regret what you do.
NAG RAJUN
Applied because he felt he couldn’t give his all in his previous audition where he was eliminated (which was Produce 101 by the way). He’s been working on muisc while working regularly for 3 years. He was about to give up on music, but then the audition came along! Watanabe says to pay more attention to how he sings: be more earnest! It’s like he’s trying to force the mood instead of going with the flow.
CHiN BONBON
Applied because a men’s WACK group is a first and he wants to be apart of it. Wants to be a big star, one that people recognise in the street. Also to be popualr with a girl he likes. His way of describing things is very… on the nose but earnest. Watanabe says ambition is good, but think really hard about why you really want it.
TASUKUKUSU
Watanabe is actually happy to finally meet him! A real genuine smile. Asks why he wanted to continue with this after WACKchin, he responds because he likes Watanabe and Matsukuma – to be in WACK and work with them. He’s not letting go of that dream. Wants to be an idol like Johnny’s, so famous not a single person wont know who he is.
CHE JiMiNG
Was a BiSH fan, and wanted to be an idol but kind of gave up on it until now. Watanabe asks about his profile shot, turns out it was taken for a men’s hair salon. Wants to sparkle and shine on stage. They both kept saying sparkle/kirakira so much they giggled about it.
T.O.P.P.O.
Played soccer for 10 years and wanted to be Japan’s best but things didn’t work out so he got into music. Wants to be an idol but also have a solo career as a rapper (like how Ayuni has a band). Was a male chika idol before. Watanabe says he seems kind of narcissistic which isn’t nessicarily a bad thing, but he should think about how he does things and why. If he didn’t sell well before in his previous idol job, why would doing the same thing make it work this time?
AYUNO K
Did his best but couldn’t sing well. Watanabe tells him to relax a little, his feelings feel too rushed. He wants to sing cool WACK songs to give people feelings like courage, the same feelings he gets when he listens to WACK. Watanabe also says he put him in a group with “bothersome” members to make him give his best.
KONG BUH
He was crying just a little. Always wants to perform in front of people and stay in their mind. Wants to be very famous despite a lack of confidence. Watanabe says he senses his regret and again, gives the advice that regret is bad. Don’t regret things or you’ll be eliminated.
And that was it! Watanabe surprisingly started to come around on the guys despite being extremely lukewarm at first. He really wants to do something with them and thinks they look cool without their masks on.
Then after that:
It’s finally time for the skits and hopefully, performances!
…they were mostly terrible! The only one Watanabe laughed at was from Bonbon, Pe, Tasukukusu and John Gokuh.
Goku was a golden uncut cock and Pe was the king of peeling.
And then because they were the only group to make Watanabe laugh, they got to perform Haikei Rockstar Sama.
While dressed like that of course.
We got video footage too!
After a short break, then it was time for dinner. So naturally, death sauce time.
Lots of groaning from aroudn the room. And Bonbon finished last because he is a slow, slow eater.
So slow he was there until almost 5 minutes before the end of day meeting!
A bit of light chastising from the start: he reminds the guys that they aren’t geniuses from the start, nobody is. Aina the End was already doing singing and choreography before WACK, but it was BiSH that pushed her to where she is today. He also mentioned that he’d been getting a lot of negativity about the idea of starting a men’s group, but it was like that with BiS and BiSH too; the “this will never sell” rhetoric.
Then he states that tomorrow, once again, there’ll be a skit. If he doesn’t laugh, no performance. Also they can’t take off their clothes this time.
He then went on a long, rambly speech. Condensed down, it was basically that you don’t have to be good at singing or dancing, you can even be ugly: what WACK is, is having the freedom to persue your ambitions. But with that freedom comes a great responsibility and pressure on yourself.
And then there was time to kill until the fan and staff vote, so there was a light Q&A session:
- Watanabe’s favourite male group is SMAP
- He also listens to BTS (really)
- The Korean names for the contestants were because doing male-ified WACK names would be too boring/obvious
- The person he admires most of all is Matsukuma Kenta
When the results came in, it was as follows
#1 PE YOUNGN
#2 TASUKUKUSU
#3 CHiN BONBON
#4 CHE JiMiNG
#5 AYUNO K
#6 KONG BUH
#7 JOHN GOKU
#8 CHOi HANSOK
#9 TOPPO
#10 NAG RANJUN
#11 5 CHANMiNG
#12 WONT BE LONG
[Up for elimination]
#13 i ZONSYO
#14 KWEN SANG WOO
#15 E MAZACON
#16 CHA NOMU
The elimination revival game tomorrow morning is going to be throwing paper cups into another paper cup. Really. Then there’ll be a marathon and the song they’ll be performing to is GANG PARADE’s pretty pretty good.
So… that was the first day!
Also, as an added bonus, Japan has a law regarding when minors can work so they can’t be on camera after 10pm. Cinderella hour! The only two people to rush off camera (that we saw) were John Gokuh and Ayuno K. Please be nice to the cinderfellas.
Our translators for today were Ganba Renai, Rachel Raisehell and Đorđe no Jinsei. Thank you!
going going WACK 