XG Documentary Series: EP XX to EP X3
Added 2023-06-19 00:10:10 +0000 UTCWhat. A. Journey. These girls went through A LOT.
Comments
From what I've seen from these 3 episodes is that Simon is extremely smart and really knows what he is looking for. The Korea dance training for example, yes they were training in dance, but I think that the main objective was to trigger their determination and a change in mindset. Sending them away very quickly definitely had a change in the members, but also the members that were not sent away had the realization that it could end very quickly, thus bringing out detirmination and drive.
Virtual TimeLine
2023-07-07 20:08:19 +0000 UTCOMG how did i miss this earlier ?? time to binge
chy 💋
2023-06-21 15:48:18 +0000 UTCAsh, we know multiple KPOP companies use the same system, Simon himself went through it and mentioned it in the first episode that he is using the Korean idol training system. We have accounts from idols like Jennie who have stated there were 9 girls for BP and every month or so she had to say bye to a friend. We also have seen in the baemon introduction videos that there were others girls there and their faces are blurred out, the last eval which was the current 7 members those specific members had not sung together or danced as a group together of that size up until a year ago. We know YG was not planning on a group that size either since all the evaluations were in groups of 5 before the last eval, so of course they haven't sung/danced together. That is the same for XG in this, none of them have danced together as the 7, definitely haven't sung together.
Jagjot Atwal
2023-06-21 10:29:24 +0000 UTCNate's point was that the documentary for Baemon was fake in the sense that, that wasn't what their trainee time and evaulations were actually like which is what Ashkahn was saying as a reason that XG's training was harder. So he is saying the same thing as you.
Jagjot Atwal
2023-06-21 10:23:48 +0000 UTCOh definitely. I didn't want to come off nitpicky by the way sorry if it sounded like that. I just wanted to add some context to the yelling sequence. Like I said it took 10 watches for me to get there haha. But thank you again for reacting to this. I know you cut out a lot of extra speaking, but it wasn't too long at all, your insights are super good!
Nate
2023-06-20 19:00:36 +0000 UTCthank you for clarifying some of the moments i missed! definitely helped! between the subs and the footage, you do miss some details hehe 😂 such great girls!
seth james
2023-06-20 18:53:26 +0000 UTCAbout Simon, he was in a 2nd gen group called dalmatian that became DMTN after. Their most well known song is ER I think.
vega
2023-06-19 20:26:46 +0000 UTCyes please agree.. Head In The Clouds - New York (Their 1st Performance in USA)
Llyjil Busch
2023-06-19 17:28:40 +0000 UTCDear Jeff, love your reaction and analyze as always. I like your saying that It's totally fine for children to do this as long as it's their own will. I have seen many people protest about the training system for young trainee. They may young, but it's their own decision, they seriously invest their effort and passion for their own future. It's should be fine as long as the adult take care of their mental health, they can put them to high pressure but need someone to consult them frequently to guide them. Provide the kids a proper place to stay, practice and learning is ok . Just do not threaten them, force them to do it, then why not, just let them do their loving things. By the way, I recommend you watch XG's performance (fan cam) on Head In The Cloud - New York, they were awesome.
Redclover
2023-06-19 15:48:14 +0000 UTCDear Nate, I think that each company, each producer has their own vision for their group, which made their eliminate and training process different from each other. The YG documentary of Baemon that they show us is just a very small part of the whole elimination process that was happening continually all the time with high pressure just as the Xtra Xtra documentary. And we only see the tiny final moment of it. For us, that seem like a fake one to boost the fame on the market, but to the trainee at that time, they are all real, they all face the last chance to the new start. So please, do not compare anything while you are not really thoroughly observe the whole process.
Redclover
2023-06-19 15:41:07 +0000 UTCThank you Jeff. I've seen each episode including everyone's reactions more than 10 times at this point, and your POV coming from an asian household and as a dancer is like spot on with your commentary and analysis. Couple things I've noted myself that I felt you missed or maybe caught but didn't mention... Like it becomes apparent that by midway episode 3 there was never an intent to send anyone home. Simon says in episode 2 that they intend to put them in stressful situations to promote dynamic growth. And while you are correct, the bottom 3 have work to do as dancers, ultimately in the end, all of that is fixable. They're still young and have plenty of room to grow and improve. But what was the issue and why I think Simon came down on them so hard was like he said in the end, the lack of passion for dance just didn't catch up with everyone else. So the getting eliminated was the first stimuli to try and change that. What happened the next day (which I didn't catch until my like 3rd watch through) was Yui and Maju came to the studio 3 hours before opening to practice. They made to sure to show them with the timestamp. 8:55? I think the rest of the students show up. 10amish they finally show Chisa, Juria, and Maya. I believe that was intentional. Yui and Maju were given the opportunity to rejoin the girls because they knew they showed up early and showed the passion. Chisa, Juria, and Maya hadn't. Then right before the yelling scene, Simon then introduces another stimuli. Right after calling the final rankings he said "everyone except the last 3 improved." Right after that he says lets go into team practices and the instructor will give you pointers. During this time, right before Simon raises his voice, you see Chisa, Maya laughing in the corner of the studio instead of following the instructors tips. This happened less than an hour of Simon calling them out saying they didn't improve at all. With it being the last day and the threat of being sent home no longer looming, he pulled the very last card he probably never wanted to use, and that was the culmination leading into that scene. Of course nobody wants to be yelled at, and them joking in the corner is something kids their age do. But the 12 girls before them found the passion of dance and wanted to continue learning. They just weren't there yet. Of course all of that is changed now as we see in their performances and dances now. But really, in the end it wasn't about the skill gap in dance. That could be fixed. But it couldn't be fixed if they never found the passion. I went to watch XG perform in HITC NY and they were amazing. We even got to meet Simon and he is super nice, available to talk to, and just super chill. We are all going back (the ALPHAZ i made friends with, whom i've told of your awesome reaction to check out) to watch them again in LA! You should make the trip! XG is definitely worth watching live. Looking forward to your episode 4 reaction. Also note episode 5 will release this week (tue night or wed night?).
Nate
2023-06-19 07:45:32 +0000 UTCOmygosshhh I'm so happy you did this!! I always look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions than other content creators!
Llyjil Busch
2023-06-19 03:56:10 +0000 UTCI agree, but some clarification on the whittled away part. A good number of the girls are still training under XGALX. Just because they didn't make XG or were demoted to 02 or 03 doesn't mean they left the program. Sure some families might have pulled their kids at some point thinking they weren't going to debut soon enough, but XGALX Japan still runs the program. I have heard from reliable sources too that XGALX is also planning to debut a boy group too. And lets be honest here, that YG documentary fake elimination was purely a publicity stunt.
Nate
2023-06-19 03:53:05 +0000 UTCI’d actually argue that this training is actually even more extreme than the Kpop ones. While individual Kpop trainees have varying training times, some short and some very long, all of these girls started TOGETHER and then were slowly whittled away to form the final group, XG. Most Kpop companies just have a bunch of trainees and then see how they look and pair them up and swap them around and add new people all the way up until the literal recording and release of the debut. Using the very recently released docucompetition for BabyMonster as the Kpop example: YG is a huge label so they can afford more. The BabyMonster project was just about a year old and they’d never even sung together as 7 before that final vocal evaluation.
ThatPatreonThough
2023-06-19 00:46:04 +0000 UTC5min in and Jeff gets it. Love the commentary. Gonna make sure other ALPHAZ know about this.
Nate
2023-06-19 00:40:02 +0000 UTCHELL YES HERE FOR THIS! Marathon begins tonight! Thanks for getting to this Jeff! Really looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Nate
2023-06-19 00:22:24 +0000 UTC
