Make Me/Brocky - Week Three

## Maddox's Week Three

Maddox had made quite the jump in the ranking from week one to week two. Going from near bottom to fifth place was the best thing he could have hoped for, well aside from breaking into the top four but that was an issue for this week. He really wanted to at least move up one spot in the ranking for this week, and he really felt like he could possibly do it. He just had to stay focused, and if he was able to do that while also executing a great performance with the right amount of charisma, dancing, and vocals, he could do it.

This week Maddox felt really good about his group, after all he had performed with Jaehyung and Sapphire the week before in week two, and although he didn't know Angel yet he really thought he was a good contestant. The best part though was of course the fact that he was getting to perform with Brooke, aka his twin sister and partner in crime. On top of that they were performing two songs that he really liked, Boys' Generation's Beautiful (which was one of his favourite tracks on their latest album), and Black Swan's Automatic (which was one of his all time favourite girl group songs hands down).

He didn't have a lot of lines in Beautiful, but that wasn't a big deal to him considering the song was so light hearted and he really got to have fun with it. There wasn't much choreography to it (OOC: going off of concert videos) so they really just got to have fun and cater to the fans during it, which was what Maddox was looking forward to the most with the upcoming stage. Practicing for it went well, after all he didn't have to sing much on his own so there weren't much nerves behind it really.

Automatic however was a whole different story. He really had to show his charisma while also maintaining both strong and graceful dance moves as well as impeccable vocals. Truthfully he struggled at first to stay stable with his lines, considering he was given the role of lead vocalist and had *many* lines. With more practice he would be able to maintain stability, but during the first two he certainly struggled with it, after that it wasn't as bad and it gradually got better each time they met to rehearse.

When performance time came around, the group performed Beautiful first and it was a blast to say the least. When the choreography was more lax and Maddox was able to interact with fans, you best believe he was doing the absolute most when it came to fan service and having a great time. He was off in his own little world, but of course he knew he was performing and that he had to uphold some professionalism. This song really got to cater to how fun loving Maddox was, the minimal choreography was upbeat and fun and it was just overall a fun and enjoyable performance for Maddox.

When it came time to perform Automatic however that's when the nerves kicked in, after all Maddox had near half of the song to himself. He had to shake the nerves off fast though as when they took the stage he couldn't let them show and had to maintain an air of confidence and charisma. Goodbye flower boy smile and hello charismatic with a hint of classy sexy. He could only hope he was doing the moves as graceful and effortless as sunbaes Black Swan, he really did want to make them proud like last week when he performed Happiness. When it came to listening in on his inner ear piece his vocals didn't sound too bad, in fact to him they sounded great. The dance though was by far his favourite part, even if he had lots of lines and got to shine in both fields. It was so unlike most title tracks by current girl groups, and to be perfectly honest he enjoyed being charismatic.

At times he struggled to keep his normal bubbly personality under wraps, almost flashing a smile hear and there. But breaking character would have been a big no no and he certainly didn't want to lose points because he couldn't help himself from smiling at fans. Doing his best to remain almost sly looking, Maddox felt as though both performances went well, and after bowing to the judges and the audience, the group exited the stage. He wasn't sure if he did as well as he did last week, but he was proud of his efforts and that was really all he cared about at this time.

## Jinnie's Week Three

Jinnie honestly couldn't believe it, *she* was able to take over the highest ranking available for the contestants with her last performance. When she saw the results for the first time there was a mixture of pure joy and also nerves, the joy was a given when it came to being ranked number one, but the nerves wasn't as expected because now she felt as though she had to perform twice as good as the round before. Which really shouldn't be too much of an issue for Jinnie. She was confident in herself and her talents, and being ranked number one just helps boost her confidence. Part of her kind of felt bad for dethroning Jaehyung as well, but she was sure he'd understand that it was all just a competition.

As this week each group was performing a male sunbae and a female sunbae's song, her group was set to perform Nova's Hide & Seek and Aphrodite's Gee. Jinnie was put into a group with Prism's Sulgi and Alpha's Un.Mi, neither of which she has worked with prior to this round, but she was sure that the three girls would be able to come together and perform some stellar stages. Gee was one of her favourite songs, but then again which Aphrodite song wasn't. Hide & Seek on the other hand she wasn't the *biggest* fan of admittedly, but she wouldn't let her distaste towards the song hinder her ability to put on a good performance for the judges, the viewers, and her individual fans.

Just as she had predicted, Jinnie was able to get along just find with Sulgi and Un.Mi which ultimately resulted in practice sessions to go by smoothly with no bickering amongst the girls themselves. When it came to both songs she had the main vocalist roles again just like last week. She thought this was the best possible situation for her considering her vocals last round were what really shined and this week she would get to showcase her vocals once more. Being the highest ranking member from her team, that did add a bit of pressure to an already stressful situation as she felt like she had to really motivate the other two to push themselves the best they could. But truthfully as long as she aced everything then the other two shouldn't hinder her own results too much.

That being said when practices would commence Jinnie really didn't feel as though she had to carry the team at all. The three girls worked immensely well together and there was no dead weight. Though going back to the second practice, it was arguably the hardest one physically and emotionally for Jinnie. She had woken up with a sore throat that day, thus making the high notes she had to do in both songs sound strained and rather off key. Certainly not up to the standard that a competing main vocalist should be at. But luckily it was only a 24 hour situation and the next day Jinnie felt fine with just a minor tickle in her throat which really didn't cause any sort of hindrance.

After a good five days of rehearsals it was finally time for Jinnie to take the stage. The first song that they performed was Hide & Seek, which throughout the week had grown on her. It was both an upbeat and fun performance and it really gave her a chance to sing in her lower register which she couldn't really use as much when it came to performing female sunbaes' songs. The performance went well for her, at least from her perspective it did. She didn't falter or anything during her notes and the dancing really came together for the whole group which was what Jinnie was really worried about as she wasn't the strongest (nor the weakest for that matter) in the field of dancing.

In her inner ear piece she also could tell that her vocals were rather stable, thinking to herself that last week's vigorous training must really have helped her vocal stability as it carried through into this week as well. Though to be fair she figured she'd do well in the first song because she had a lot of energy going into it, Gee was more so what she was worried about as she had a lot more adlibs to worry about and she was already slightly drained from Hide & Seek. But she was determined not to show it on her face in the next performance.

After some quick costume changes the second performance started and Jinnie had to take a deep breath and convince herself everything would be fine and that if she felt tired, she really couldn't show it as not looking enthused would be quite the deduction of points. Lucky enough for Jinnie, she was always able to show the best of smiles even through pain and fatigue. When the performance was going on however she found that she really didn't need to fake it, after all performing always gave her such a rush and a sense of fulfillment. If anything suffered it was her dancing, but she was so filled with the rush of performing that her excitement and joy *hopefully* made up for whatever the dance lacked.

Once again Jinnie felt as though she did a really good job with her lines. She didn't feel like she was straining her voice to meet the notes and she felt as though she was singing loud enough and on key enough for no points to be deducted from lack of stability in the second stage. When the performance had come to an end, the three girls said their goodbyes and headed off the stage. Jinnie once again felt as though she did really well this week, and she hoped it would keep her as the number one competitor, and if not that she at least wanted to stay in the top four.