Chapter 85 Popularity Status

believe you. I already understand your personality and behavior now, you can't fool me anymore."Cheng Xiao pursed her lips and let out a scoff."Oh, senior. You've really changed from before. You've g...This award doesn't carry much weight; it's just an awards ceremony in the Peninsula fashion world, hosted by CJE&M, the same company that produced "Reply 1997," so it's definitely something Park Seo-joon would attend.

After receiving the 'Fashion Icon Award' given to them by their class along with Jung Eon-di, Ji Kyeong-won didn't even return to the dormitory and took a flight to Japan overnight.

Chik Ching Yuen felt that this "Fashion Idol Award" was a bit like a participation award. There were ten artist groups who received the award, and he and Jung Eunji made up one group.

But the other winners are also quite impressive, like Shin Se-kyung, Jang Dong-gun, and Ha Jung-woo. They're all famous actors on the peninsula.

After the neon lights, he took some time to rest. The family concert on the 26th was very tight schedule, and he had to get up early for makeup and rehearsals in the morning.

These family concerts have followed a similar pattern each time. Basically, EXO's stage is almost the same every time, and there isn't anything that requires special preparation.

After the concert, they rested for a night and flew back to the peninsula the next morning. Tomorrow there are still commercial performances and announcements to attend, and on the 29th, there is also a stage performance for TheShow.

Qi Jingyuan still had some mild acrophobia. He had been on and off the plane for several days, which was quite torturous.

The M Team also came back together. Their recent schedule has also come to an end, and Luhan and Kim Jong-in recently collaborated with several seniors in the company on a new track called "Matep."

This song was created by ** as a promotional song for the modern company, with several popular groups from the company each contributing members to form a temporary group that collaborated on recording and performing the song.

Including Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon, SHINee's Taemin, Super Junior's Lee Heechul, and EXO's Luhan and Kim Jong In.

Actually, considering EXO's current popularity and status, these two don't quite fit in with the several seniors who came before them. Having them participate in this temporary group is kind of like the company subtly promoting these two juniors.

The company has designated main push members in both EXO's M and K units. Luhan is the main push member for the M unit, while Kim Jong-in is the main push member for the K unit. Both of these members receive significantly more exposure than others in terms of released materials, public appearances, personal information, center positions on stage, and Killgpart.

They were the players the company originally hoped to make popular stars in both teams, hoping they could become the top popularity picks within the team and bring in enough attention, which would then benefit the entire organization.

It's a pity that the promotion was conducted and resources were also invested, but it didn't achieve the expected harvest.

The current situation is that in EXO, Park Kyung-won's popularity is top tier. His popularity surpasses all other members by a significant margin; the second place member is considerably behind him, leaving him in a state of undisputed dominance.

Pool Kyungwon was a member who joined the group two months before their debut, and the company had actually already made plans and strategies for EXO's promotion and main push after their debut. After Pool Kyungwon joined, the company did not change the plan, and at that time they didn't know much about him either.

Among the two songs filmed for the mini album's music video, Ji Kyeongwon's parts and center shots are not the most frequent, only considered moderately high. His exposure before his debut was also minimal, with only one pre-debut promotional video. This is in stark contrast to Luhan and Kim Jongin who had constant exposure and a plethora of pre-debut promotional videos.

This includes Chi Jingyuan joining the company rather hastily, and his debut was very rushed, which didn't give him time to shoot certain things. There are also some reasons why the company hasn't focused on promoting him.

But to the company's surprise, after Pool Jingyuan's trailer video was released, EXO's popularity was no longer within their control. Just one video brought Pool Jingyuan a significant amount of exposure and heat, and also absorbed his first batch of hardcore fans.

After their official debut, things became even worse. The music style and styling were not well-received, and the title track didn't really boost the members' popularity. With everyone facing public ridicule, only Ji Kyeong-won saw his popularity rise against the trend.

Especially after the broadcast of "Reply 1997," the popularity soared, bringing a huge amount of attention and heat. It also brought in countless new fans and national recognition. Now, many people who don't follow boy bands only know Park Seo-joon, the actor who played Yoon Jae, but they don't know that he is from the group EXO.

It can only be said that in the entertainment industry, to some extent, being a minor success relies on support, while becoming a major success depends on luck.

Of course, many people also became fans of EXO because of Ji-sung's popularity, which can be seen as a kind of reciprocal fame boost.

Currently, he alone accounts for more than half the group's popularity. The other popular members in the group can only follow in his wake, and some of the less popular ones can't even see his tire tracks.

This is actually abnormal and unhealthy for a group. While the company is excited about Chi Jingyuan's popularity, the economic benefits he brings, and the boost to the team, they are also anxious to increase the popularity of other members, at least to the point where their popularity isn't too far behind, so that the group doesn't become Chi Jingyuan and his 11 backup dancers.

Besides sticking to the original plan of promoting Luhan and Kim Jong-in, they are also trying their best to elevate the popularity of other members.

This temporary combination is just another attempt.

Judging by the current situation, Luhan is indeed very popular. Within the group, he is second only to Ji Jingyuan and isn't inferior in popularity to other domestic members. His popularity in China is even hotter.

Jin Jong-in was lacking in some areas. I don't know what the reason is, even though he has a lot of exposure and as the main dancer, he has many center parts when he performs on stage, but it seems that not many fans like this kind of act. There are also quite a few people online criticizing him for his appearance.

Even Wu Shixun, who didn't really push himself much, and Park Chan-hyeol managed to catch up thanks to their good looks, their popularity isn't much lower than his.

However, it's not too surprising either, because looks are one of the core competitive advantages of an idol group.

Boosting other members and the overall popularity of the group is not a simple feat. Unless they have a smash hit that catapults them to immense fame, EXO's recognition won't catch up. They need a true breakout moment under their name "EXO," rather than just being known as "the group Ji-sung comes from."

…………

November has arrived, which means we are entering the last two months of the year.

Yesterday, the collaboration between **'s temporary group for "Matep" was officially released. The response was average, and the heat it caused wasn't very high, quickly being lost among many new songs.

The music is generally average, the melody isn't catchy, and the entire song is filled with electronic sounds and fast drum beats. It doesn't sound fashionable at all, instead it feels a bit overwhelming.

While the members of this temporary group were all from popular groups, they weren't the most popular members of their respective groups, so they didn't attract much attention.

The final result is that songs can't bring people together, and people can't bring songs together.

This attempt wasn't a success, the company will likely be disappointed.

At this time, all twelve members of EXO were gathered in the practice room, listening to several teachers giving them guidance.

They are going to start preparing for several important year-end stages.

First release on the Traditional Chinese Novel Networkere quietly, not a sound could be heard. A palpable tension hung in the air around them.This time, Tao's departure, EXO members including Park Chanyeol, didn't seem as furious and agitated as when Han...