#rivalsip

The finale began with a montage-- a video of all 24 trainees, and the eliminations one by one-- before the host came out and welcomed the live audience, outlining how you could vote last minute. Then the format of the show was outlined-- one by one, the trainees would perform. Their final confessional would be broadcast, they’d talk a little with the host, and then a clip of their closest friends/their family cheering them on and wishing them well would be played for them to see.

Being the trainee in seventh place, Hyunjoo went first. He performed his song with Tyler, and then his confessional played, with a montage of his best moments throughout the show-- a lot of it was him hitting on girls (trainees and judges alike), but it was cut up with footage of him acting like a goofball and being his real self. The family member they interviewed over video chat were his brothers, who wished informed him that he would surpass them both as ultimate ladykiller, and that they were proud of him.

Next was Rey, performing her song and then watching her confessional before his interview. Her younger sisters were interviewed for her, both telling her that they missed her and hoping she would do well.

Mercedes went third, performing her song with  before his confessional and interview happened. Her family clip was without a doubt the most emotional one yet-- extended family were interviewed, telling her how proud her mother would be of her, and leaving Minah in tears.

Artemis was next. After all the usual proceedings-- emphasis being put on her vocal skill-- a video clip of her father was broadcast, informing her that she had his and her mother’s full support.

Sean was the third last to go, performing his song. His montage was shown, and then a video of Eliza Kim (his mentor) was shown, reading a letter from his brother-- Eliza mentions to the audience that Damien couldn’t find the time to record a video message when she’s done, and then she herself praises him, wishing him well.

Raekyung is second to last, and his montage is full of late hours-- cuts of him sneaking out of the dorm to practice long after the others have gone to sleep and him up in his dorm bed, thinking. His video is full of him trying to prove that he’s not just a a dancer or rapper-- he can sing too. His video from his parents is short but sweet.

Finally is Mirae (as she was first place after Episode Six, as well as throughout most of the competition). Her montage is a lot of hard work and her being hard on herself, but there are a lot of sweet cuts of Mirae looking out for Myungji, and of her spending time with Sean. Her video comes from her mothers, both of them doing well, and then Myungji comes out from backstage to deliver her message personally, prompting Mirae to burst into tears. 

The host reveals that voting is now closed. Montages of the best performances of the show are played, along with final cuts of all seven trainees. And then all seven perform TTL.

After the group performance, the host is given a card with the final rankings, and he reads them from #1 first, and #4 last.

Mirae is ranked first, but that is no surprise-- she was first place for the majority of the competition. 

Raekyung is ranked second place, and he joins Mirae, both of them holding each other. It’s a tearful hug, as both of them are clearly very happy to be where they are.

Artemis is the third one to be called up. She gives both Rey and Mercedes tight hugs, apologizing and wishing them well, before walking over to the other two. 

Sean and Hyunjoo both look downright petrified, but when Sean’s name is called, Hyunjoo gives him a hearty pat on the back and a hug, ushering him to the other three and going to join Rey and Mercedes offstage as Sean joins the final four’s group hug. The host announces that the group will be named Syndicate. Their first single is said to already have music, lyrics and choreography-- they will be recording it and learning it in the next few days, along with getting styled and taking promo photos, before they debut on September 19th.

The host says that the first single is produced by MNet producers, however the rest of their songs are to be released under KWorks, their new label. He also announces the release of a two-disk Official Idol Project Season 3 CD that will come out shortly after their debut.

While Idol Project 3 will follow much of the same format as the first  two Idol Projects, we will be trying a few new things with this season, so please bear with us! Things might get a little bumpy here or there.

Applications will be released tonight so if you’re interested in your trainee competing in Idol Project, keep an eye out for those! Without completing the application, your character will not be counted in the show.

The show will be run on the Rivalstv blog, much like last time.

Of the 24 contestants, all empty spots will be ‘filled’ with NPCs. New trainee characters can join the Idol Project at any time, and will replace a NPC. If a muse is dropped or unfollowed, however, that character will stay in the competition as an NPC.

The way we’re setting up the challenges/tasks/ranking system is in a way where you can catch up at any time if you’re willing to put the work in. There won’t be very many limited-time only events or anything, in an attempt to keep things fair and to be welcoming to new people joining (and to accommodate those on hiatus/with busy lives). More will be released about the points system in the days to come.

This is for fun. To keep things fun, and to keep an edge of suspense, the point counts will not be revealed. A weekly ranking will be released, and at the end of the competition, the admins will make a post will all the points (and how we got those points, so you know we’re being honest).

While there are NPC characters, and they might be thrown into the rankings, that’s just for fun. The NPC characters are not eligible for the final group.

Please, no power-playing. Be realistic with your characters. All of these characters are human, and none of them are perfect. Your character is not a perfect god who can do no wrong– they have flaws and things they aren’t the best at, and we want to see this showcased too. This task is mainly for fun and character-development.

While the show will include both male and female trainees, the final group is set with two male and two female finalists. Because of that, male trainees will only be ranked against male trainees, and female against female.

While trainees who have competed in past Idol Projects are open to apply, you may not apply if your character has made it into either Creed or Unity, or if they are already set to debut (if they are set to debut, you will have been contacted by an admin already). If there are not enough trainees for the show to run, we will open it up to trainees in Creed or Unity who are not set to debut in another group, and possibly soloists as well.

A couple confessionals are played about how empty the dorms feel and how surreal it feels to be on the second last episode. Mirae looks visibly distressed without her sister. They are brought to the main set, though, and the host tells them they will be writing, recording and choreographing their own song, along with recording and learning choreography to a group song. Both of which will be performed at a guerilla concert, along with the duo and trio songs they wrote and recorded with their groups in the previous episode. The host adds that the audience will vote for their favorites, and two trainees will be eliminated at the end of the episode, leaving a top 5 going into the finale. 

They break off on their own to start writing their lyrics for their songs. The host tells them they have the full day to write, though one by one they will be pulled out to record their part for the group song. Sean is pulled out first, leaving the other six to write while he’s recording. Mercedes and Mirae noteably seem to be having trouble writing, though Mirae more than Mercedes. While it takes Minah a while to get going, it takes Mirae even longer. Shots are shown side by side of her in the previous episode and her in this one-- rolling around on the floor and holding her head as she tried to get anything down, though eventually she gets started too. There is a moment where Mercedes seems to be overwhelmed, breaking into tears, revealing that her song is to be very personal. 

One by one they go in to record for the group song-- after Sean is Hyunjoo, then Raekyung, then Mercedes, then Mirae, then Rey and finally Artemis. At the end of the day, they meet with the producers they’ve been assigned to go over what they’ve written, and the producers help them correct small things and flesh other things out, before they’re dismissed for the day and the producers start working on music. Rey is the only trainee who isn’t yet done her lyrics, but her producer assures her that it isn’t an issue-- she’d given him enough to start putting music together, and when she was done writing, they’d just edit the lyrics to fit the track. 

The trainees start the next day together-- a rough cut of the group song has been put together, so they spend the morning and part of the afternoon learning the choreography and working on it together as a team. Rey is given a little time with her producer to finish writing her song, and they all split off again to record their solo song. It’s a late night, many of the seven recording long into the night. Hyunjoo is the only trainee who is given a featuring artist, and that artist is revealed to be Tyler of Echoes-- a lot of shots are shown of them bonding and goofing around too, before all the trainees turn in for the night.

The trainees are given the next morning off to do whatever they need to do-- most of them break off into pairs or on their own to practice the group choreography, but Rey and her producer work on finishing the lyrics and Rey starts recording-- in a confessional she reveals that she is nervous about being a bit behind, but that she is confident that she will catch up. After lunch, all of the trainees except Rey are given rough cuts of their songs to choreograph to. While all of them are offered choreography help, none of them take it-- all wanting to make their songs their own. 

Day four is spent polishing the choreography-- it’s the first chance Rey gets at choreographing hers, but as she is a dancer, it’s a little easier for her to put her own choreography together. In the afternoon, all seven are brought together again to practice the group song to the instrumental track, singing and performing live so they can get a feel for that.

The trainees get to pick if they want back up dancers or not, and if they do, whether or not they want to choreograph for those dancers, or if they want the show’s choreographer to work something out. Hyunjoo is the only one who doesn’t use back up dancers, and Sean, Mirae and Raekyung all choose to choreograph for their dancers. Day five for them is spent choreographing for them, but for the rest, it’s another day to practice and polish. Days six and seven are practice days too, and at the end, they get a few minutes to talk to the stylists about their concepts and what their songs are about.

The next day, they are all driven out together to the venue-- there’s a lot of shots of the seven goofing off together in the van. At some point, Mirae starts singing along loudly with something on the radio, turning the ride into a karaoke car ride. When they get to the stage, they are given a tour, shown their dressing rooms, and then they do a practice run of the show-- complete with the Unpretty contestants, who arrived after they already started. When the run-through is done, the contestants of both shows mingle. 

The producers order pizza for all the performers (including Tyler, who has just arrived on set, and Myungji and Bambi, who were brought to perform with Mercedes), and then everyone is sent to their dressing rooms to get into their costumes as the audience is brought into the venue. Once everyone is set, the show begins.

First up, Hyunjoo Raekyung and Artemis perform Hollywood together. Hyunjoo doesn’t get much time at all to change, for his solo song is next. It’s sensual and intense and really seems to capture who he is. The crowd goes wild for Tyler, too, and the producers from Unpretty who are there to watch their own competitors all seem to recognize her and get excited when they see her. 

Raekyung goes second-- his singing is heavily featured, and in the confessional he reveals he did that to showcase how much better he’s gotten.

Next is Artemis-- her song is unique though it fits her quite well, and though her choreography may not be anything insane, it suits the song.

Why is performed next-- Mercedes is the only active competitor in the group, but Bambi and Myungji still perform well, both grateful to get the chance to come back, even if it’s just for one performance. Mercedes performs her solo song, and the choreography is simple and elegant. It showcases her vocals better than any other performance on the show thus far, and it is clear how much it means to her.

The third trio-- Sean, Mirae and Rey-- perform their group song last, and the crowd goes wild. Their song was the top ranked song in the previous episode, so it has brought a lot of extra attention. Rey is noted by the judges to be having a lot more fun, and they comment that it adds so much to her performance. She is the first of the trio to perform her solo song, and it is simple, sensual and graceful-- while she was one of the last trainees to finish it, it doesn’t show.

Sean is next, and if you hadn’t known he had broken his ankle the season before, you’d never be able to tell-- he’s an incredible dancer, and that shows. He seems to have known what he was doing, showcasing his choreography and dance ability strongly.

Mirae is the last soloist to perform. The lyrics are simple, but she does well with them, and while her choreography may not be on the same level as Sean, she still does very well.

After that, the seven trainees perform the group song. There are highs and lows. Sean is complimented for his dancing, though that isn’t a surprise. The trainers point out how much better Raekyung’s rapping has gotten since the performance with Choko a few episodes back. Artemis and Mercedes are complimented on their vocals. Hyunjoo is criticized for looking bored, though, and they point out that Rey seemed to fade into the background. They also mention that Mirae’s rap verse seems rushed and that she stumbles over her words, but that her vocal ad-libs were impressive. 

The first actual shot of the episode is of the trainees entering the main stage set to be given this week’s challenge. In confessionals, many infer that this week will include making their own songs in groups, based on past seasons, and as they get settled, the host confirms that theory-- though also comments that all new producers have been brought in to build the songs this season. Everyone is excited, though some trainees comment that it’s because so many of the producers from past seasons are currently producers on Unpretty and could not return. 

One by one the producers are announced; Brandi from Juliette, Enzo from LMG, Dylan (a producer with 360), Ghost (another producer with 360), Shrines from Radioactive (who is the only returning producer), and Svetlana-- ex Juliette member and soloist with Alpha. Right off the bat, there is visible awkwardness between Brandi and Svetlana. It’s clear that neither were made aware that the other would be there. When the producers take the stage, Svetlana makes a point not to stand beside Brandi, moving to go stand between Shrines and Enzo at the last minute. 

The host reveals that the producers picked which members were to be on which team-- they picked who they thought would suit what they had in mind, and would work well together. Instead of announcing the top ranked trainee first like in past episodes, they work backwards, calling up the lowest rank trainee and working their way up to Mirae.

Sean, Rey and Mirae are paired with Brandi, and it is clear off the bat that Rey seems a little intimidated, be it because of which producer she was paired with, or the strong friendship between Sean and Mirae. In her confessional, though, Mirae reveals that she didn’t want to work with Sean; she wanted to stay focused and it’s hard for her to not goof around when working with him. Before they start writing, Brandi plays them the music that they will be writing lyrics to. While Mirae has excelled at most things over the course of the season, she hits her first wall when they start working together to write lyrics. A time lapse is played of Rey, Sean and Brandi writing lyrics and at the same time Mirae scribbling things that she doesn’t like out, tearing out pages and crumpling them up, and groaning and laying on the floor in frustration. Rey reveals that she found being a lyricist quite difficult too, but between Sean and Rey’s lyrics, and additions and edits made by Brandi, they finish the lyrics to the song.

Jisung and Addie are paired with Enzo. He shows them their music, and mentions that he picked them because they both have very pretty, soft voices and neither of them are particularly fond of dancing, so a ballad suits them more than it would suit Yena or Hyunjoo. Jisung and Addie are a lot more collaborative than most of the other teams-- every line has a lot of thought put into it by both members of the team. It takes them a little longer to finish in comparison to the other teams, but Enzo doesn’t have to edit much at all when they’re done.

Kyle and Yena are paired with Dylan, and they show the duo their music-- something light and fun. Kyle struggles a little with writing lyrics, but Dylan takes more of a hands-on approach than the other producers; they coach and guide Yena and Kyle through the lyrics rather than just set them loose. For that reason, no revisions need to be made by them when the pair is done.

Hyunjoo, Raekyung and Artemis are paired with Ghost. Upon hearing the track, all three of the trainees look a little put out-- none of them seem to be very keen on it, Artemis mentioning that it sounded like an Aura song, and Hyunjoo adding that it sounded like it came from the mid 80s. Ghost seems to help guide them a lot, and the trio gets over it, banding together to write lyrics, with Hyunjoo throwing in a bad pick up line here and there to bug Hana. Thus far in the competition, Hyunjoo’s true nature has not been revealed (except for some seductive stages), but there are many cuts of him trying to flirt with Artemis whenever he gets too bored, saying he’s doing it to “get inspiration”. There are a lot of shots of Raekyung looking a little lost too, though not nearly as many (or as dramatic) as Mirae. Ghost takes on more of a mentor role than as a producer-- he doesn’t help every step of the way like Dylan, but doesn’t wait to add his additions at they end; instead he guides the three whenever they come to him for help.

Chanmi and Choko are paired with Shrines. In Eunwoo’s private interview, she explains that she was given Chanmi because she was the only producer who had done this before, so it was assumed she could work with the trainees easier. Chanmi refuses to have any part in the songwriting process, saying that when she’s an idol there will be people who do that for her, so while she pouts in the corner, Shrines and Choko write the song together. 

Finally, Bambi, Mercedes and Myungji are paired with Svetlana. After they hear the track, they all go to separate places to write. Bambi seems to be having a lot of trouble, and resorts to just doodling and giving her opinion here and there. While Mercedes has trouble at first, she seems to get the hang of it, but Myungji visibly takes the lead when it comes to writing-- in her confessional she reveals that it’s the most fun thing she’s been able to do on the show yet. 

Day two is a full day in the studio, recording the songs-- while their performance for the show will be live, the tracks will also be released for public consumption, and it’s a great chance for the producers to guide the trainees through working in a studio, and help nail down melody and pitch. Some people are better than others-- Sean seems born to be in a studio and takes to it very quickly, whereas Chanmi is quickly frustrated and mutters something about it all being able to be fixed in post production. The trainees are dismissed early so the producers have enough time to put together a rough cut of the song for the trainees to practice with. 

Day three is when the trainees split up from their producers-- the producers are to spend the rest of the week remastering the audio and making sure the tracks are up to spec. Each trainee team is given a studio to work in and two days to create choreography for their dance. Jisung and Addie are the only group who opts out of that, instead spending their time practicing their song and bonding. Every group has a member that takes charge. In the Born to Be Wild group, Mirae volunteers Sean to be in charge, saying it’s only natural since he’s worked with Eliza Kim so much (though both Rey and Mirae get their two cents in here and there). Yena does most of the choreographing for the Half an Hour group. Hyunjoo is the strongest dancer, so he does much of the choreography for his group, though he gets much help from Raekyung. Chanmi (again) opts out of helping, so Choko does a lot of the work-- the producers of Idol Project even send in one of the coaches/judges to help her out, while Chanmi is reprimanded. Bambi is the only dancer in her group, so she does a lot of the initial choreography, though Merceds and Myungji throw in their own touches.

Days five and six are dedicated to putting everything together and polishing it. Since Jisung and Addie did much of that while everyone else was choreographing, they work on facial expressions and emoting and gestures-- while they don’t have choreo, they recognize that it would be unwise to just stand in one spot for the whole song. At the end of day six, they all meet up again with their producers to get some last minute advice and support, and to hear the final version of their song.

A cut of the Hollywood team is played again-- while none of them liked their track and didn’t think it suited them, they try to look at the bright side while they’re choreographing and polishing. Hyunjoo says he figures the key is to not take themselves too seriously, and that if they debut, they don’t get to pick with what concept, so they should make the most of it. In the end, the trio agrees to just have fun with it.

Finally, it’s time for performances. There are standouts-- the Why group is praised on how cohesive and professional they looked. While it maybe wasn’t comparable to highly-produced groups, the coaches praise them on looking like an actual girl group, and not just a tag team that was throw together. Raekyung is praised for improving after the past week, and the whole Hollywood group gets praise for making the most out of their situation. The group reveals that while they didn’t like it at first, the song was kind of growing on them. There are also lows, though-- while the Dream group is praised on their lovely song, they are criticized for not working on at least some sort of routine, as they stick out from the other groups. the Ice Chu group is a mess, and Chanmi is highly criticized for being hard to work with, and not being a team player. 

They are corralled back into the main stage set, and the elimination starts, but before that, the performances are ranked. Chanmi and Choko are ranked sixth, and have the least amount of votes by a long shot. Addie and Jisung are ranked fifth. The Half an Hour and the Why groups are very close, nearly tied, but Yena and Kyle get fourth, and Myungji, Mercedes and Bambi get third. Not far above them is Raekyung, Artemis and Hyunjoo in second, so Rey, Sean and Mirae take first. It is revealed that there were only 2-3 point differences between teams 1, 2, 3 and 4.