'Steal Heart Club' created a dramatic moment of cheers and tears as it announced the final results of the 4th round 'band unit battle' and revealed the 20 semifinalists.
In episode 8 of 'Steal Heart Club (STEAL HEART CLUB),' which aired Tuesday the 9th, a breathless sequence unfolded starting with the announcement of the final rankings for round 4, followed by the semifinal mission 'topline battle' midterm evaluations, and concluding with the 'lineup announcement ceremony' that decided the 20 survivors.
MC Moon Ga-young announced, "The team that finishes first in the 'band unit battle' will take 10,000 benefit points," and after adding the scores from round 4's first match, the 'team unit battle,' and the second match, the 'collab unit battle,' which highlighted synergy with various genres, team leader Lee Yoon-chan's team 'Geotchok-sokba' (Park Cheol-gi, Oh Da-jun, Yoo Ho-jin, Lee Yoon-seo, Lee Yoon-chan, Joo Ji-hwan, Kevin Park, K-Ten) finished first with a total of 679 points. Lee Yoon-chan said, "I'm so grateful to my team members," and Kevin Park said, "I'm satisfied with the final result," unable to hide their joy.
The next revealed semifinal mission was the 'topline battle.' Moon Ga-young explained, "This is a mission where you choose one song from among the four toplines created by the original songwriters and must complete everything from arrangement to stage composition," adding, "Especially this round is not open to all contestants; only the 20 who survive the 'lineup announcement ceremony' will take the stage," which put the aspiring musicians on edge.
The lineup of original topline songwriters revealed next was truly dazzling. The four toplines unveiled were: Lee Won-seok of Daybreak's 'Bright' (working title), Jung Yong-hwa of CNBLUE's 'SMASH!' (working title), QWER producer Hong Hoon-ki's 'SORRY' (working title), and music director Park Ki-tae's 'Orbit of a summer day' (working title), prompting the contestants to exclaim, "This is really good," and "This is my taste."
Moon Ga-young revealed a 'hidden rule,' saying, "According to the final rankings of round 4, teams ranked fifth and below will move to the topline to select positions, and if two people choose the same position, 'push-out' is possible," which heated up the atmosphere. In particular, for the guitar part, Lee Yoon-seo and K-Ten chose the same topline to pursue their goal of "going to the semifinals together," but it was then revealed that even within the same topline they would be split into two teams and face each other in the midterm evaluation stage, which shocked them. Lee Yoon-seo said, "That was a strategic failure. We should have gone to different teams," and K-Ten said, "It feels like being forcibly separated from my wife," expressing mixed emotions.
At the 'topline battle' midterm evaluations, Lee Won-seok, Jung Yong-hwa, Hong Hoon-ki and Park Ki-tae participated as judges, giving a sense of the scale of the semifinals. Each topline held midterm evaluations divided into teams A and B, and the winning team earned 3,000 benefit points. Because the results could shake up semifinal advancement, the competition was fiercer than ever.
In the evaluation of Lee Won-seok of Daybreak's topline 'Bright,' team A (Kim Eun-chan A, Na Yu-ha, Oh Da-jun, Choi Chi-young, Han Bin Kim) won. Lee Won-seok praised, "Team A is the team that completed the song with quality in a short time." In the midterm evaluation of Jung Yong-hwa's 'SMASH!,' B team (Kim Gun-dae, Kim Ji-ho, Masha, Choi Jin-geon, Kevin Park), which received favorable reviews from the directors for preserving the charm of the original, beat A team (Kim Gun-woo, Sagisomer, Joo Ji-hwan, Han Jun-hee, Hagiwa) and took the benefit. Jung Yong-hwa praised it as "an arrangement that preserved individuality in line with the topline's intent."
In the midterm evaluation of 'SORRY,' A team (Ki-hoon, Kim Eun-chan B, Dane, Yoon Young-jun, Chae Pil-kyu) received the benefit after producer Hong Hoon-ki praised them for being faithful to the original while incorporating their own color. Music director Park Ki-tae highly praised it as "an arrangement on par with a professional." Finally, in the midterm evaluation of 'Orbit of a summer day,' B team (Kwon Young-bin, Kim Si-hoo, Yoo Ho-jin, Lee Yoon-chan, K-Ten), in which Lee Yoon-chan performed as a vocalist, won the benefit. Park Ki-tae praised B team's stage as "a creative performance I've never seen in my life. They really interpreted the song well." However, Jung Yong-hwa advised, "Lee Yoon-chan has a good confidence of 'I'm number one for this song,' but when focusing on the high notes, he needs to pay attention to detail."
After the 'topline battle' midterm evaluations concluded, the day's highlight, the 'lineup announcement ceremony,' followed. By combining the global band-making voting scores accumulated from the broadcast start date, Oct. 21, to Dec. 2, and the benefit points awarded to the final first-place team of round 4 and the teams that won the semifinal midterm evaluations, only the top four per position, a total of 20 people, advanced to the semifinals.
The final survivors advancing to the 'semifinal' by position were: guitar — K-Ten, Kim Gun-woo, Han Bin Kim, Lee Yoon-seo; drums — Hagiwa, Kim Eun-chan B, Nam Seung-hyun, Kim Gun-dae; bass — Masha, Dane, Jung Eun-chan, Park Hyung-bin; vocal — Rian, Lee Yoon-chan, Lee Woo-yeon, Chae Pil-kyu; keyboard — Yoon Young-jun, Oh Da-jun, Seo Woo-seung, Kim Kyung-wook.
After the announcement, the venue erupted in both relief and tears. In particular, scenes of contestants embracing and exchanging final farewells while crying, regardless of elimination, moved even viewers to tears. Watching this, Moon Ga-young said, "What I really wanted to say is that what's important in life is not speed but direction. Elimination is not failure, so I hope you continue doing what you want to do until the end," offering heartfelt support and comfort.
Meanwhile, 'Steal Heart Club' is a global band-making project that depicts the process of aspiring musicians expressing their individuality and skills and growing into one global iconic band, and it airs every Tuesday at 10 p.m. on Mnet.
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