Hi everyone, welcome back to another Call Me By Fire (披荆斩棘) blog post! Round 4 (四公) videos... Wow, time flies when you're having fun, hey? Round 1 felt only like yesterday!
Anyhoo, here are my reviews based on the YouTube uploads on the 27th and 28th of September 2024:
P/S Most of the songs this Round aren't that great... So be prepared for more critical commentaries.
Round 4 (四公) sees major regrouping, with the former 8 teams now reduced to 6!
Here are the 6 leaders:
Hacken Lee (李克勤)
Reno Wang Zhe Liang, (王铮亮)
William Wei Li An (韦礼安)
Azora Chin You Zhang Jin (尤长靖)
Shi Kai (石凯)
Fox Hu (胡夏)
Sad to say, Liang Long's (梁龙) and Zao An's (早安) teams are officially dissolved from the competition.
Hacken Lee and Reno Wang got to keep their entire crew, whereas the remaining 4 leaders will have to re-recruit members, be it former or new members. This reshuffle sees the permanent integration of the Elder and Younger Brothers. Welp, there goes the segregation idea at the beginning of the season LOL!
The biggest surprise? Most contestants are open to switching tribes!
This is what Call Me By Fire is all about: breaking through the comfort zone and exploring new things!
The producers spiced the contest further by granting a certain advantage... Only if the brothers could score more than 6882 points accumulatively.
Teamwork, yay?!
I'll do the math for you: every group needs an average score of 860 in order to be safe. That's a pretty high benchmark!
Soul of the Sword (剑魂)
Brothers: Shi Kai (石凯), Liang Long (梁龙), Jason Fu Long Fei (符龙飞), Austin Li Jia Qi (李佳琦), and Jzen. Zhu Xing Jie (朱星杰)
The story is an assassination attempt within a Chinese fantasy wuxia setting.
The team exemplified genuine teamwork, where each member excelled in their respective roles and collectively contributed to the shared narrative.
Liang Long and Shi Kai were comfortable with their new drumming skills. There was a sword duel between Jason Fu and J.zen... And the scene was almost straight out of a Chinese drama.
My ovation goes to Austin Li, who learned, trained and delivered the traditional Chinese water sleeve dance in 2 weeks. This man never ceases to try and wow us with new tricks every Round!
What else can I say... this new formation is impressive! Everyone outdid themselves, bravo!!
Score: 10/10
Popular (流行)
Brothers: Azora Chin You Zhang Jing (尤长靖), MIYAVI, Du Hai Tao (杜海涛), and Rhydan Vaughan Feng Xiao Yue (凤小岳)
This is a drama-heavy stage, backed by strong vocals and dazzling coolness. The melody isn't as catchy though.
We finally see Feng Xiao Yue flashing his dashing mixed-race looks. MIYAVI has always been the cool one, and he did not disappoint.
I am impressed by Du Hai Tao! For someone who does not possess a professional singing and dancing background, he delivered his role exceedingly well without looking pretentious or trying too hard.
The latter seemed to be the case for the team leader, Azora Chin. There were a few moments you could see he was overdoing elements when the others were so casual and natural. You can even spot this from the video thumbnail.
Perhaps it's the accumulated immense pressure on his shoulders? We're already approaching the show's end, and Azora Chin's team has been the most consistent and astounding compared to the rest of the contestants.
Score: 8/10
Turning Waste to Treasure (变废为宝)
Brothers: Fox Hu Xia (胡夏), Fu Xin Bo (付辛博), Zao An (早安), and Jing Long (井胧)
This Round is a huge relief for Fox Hu Xia, because they finally (!!!) won bidding their preferred song. This genre also happened to be the group's domain.
This lyric tells about the conflict between two parties, delivered via exceptional acting by Fu Xin Bo and Jing Long.
The abstract stage design takes inspiration from brutalism architecture; the detail lies in the cold, hard concrete reflecting the persona's tension.
I never imagined rap would fit such a melancholy tune... But hey, it's Zao An whom we're talking about. The raw emotion in his lyrics accentuated the turbulence; the sudden change in rhythm also significantly helped to variate the original melody's repetitiveness.
My round of applause for producing a much-sought art piece of the season!
Score: 10/10
Crossroads (十字街头)
Brothers: Hacken Lee (李克勤), Akira (黑泽良平), Charlie Qin Hao (秦昊), and Huang Xiao (黄潇)
I believe this is Season 4's first performance that featured ballroom dance!
Hacken Lee, Akira and Huang Xiao showed off their new ballroom dance skills. Akira's bigger build was perfect for this scene; his Japanese facial features pulled off the "70's wealthy, influential figure" effortlessly.
Charlie Qin Hao is once again reduced to a mere narrator. Every brother played their role well, though the person who did the most heavy lifting was the female professional dancer.
To conclude, this is a beautiful set that checks all the technical boxes, with their wow factor stolen by a supporting crew.
Score: 8/10
Bomb Squad (拆弹专家)
Brothers: William Wei Li An (韦礼安), Joe Xu Hai Qiao (徐海乔), Jiao Mai Qi (焦迈奇), and Caelan Moriarty (庆怜)
Unlike Fox Hu Xia, luck doesn't side with Taiwanese Mandopop singer William Wei, whose team ended up with another rock song after struggling with "100 Ways" in Round 3.
The original piece was sung by Hua Chen Yu (华晨宇), or stage name Hua Hua (花花). This guy is notorious for his high pitch and big lungs... I mean, strong vocal.
While outperforming the original talent posed quite a challenge, I'm happy to see a much cleaner execution and greater confidence by the four Brothers in this Round!
The ever-so-gentle William Wei delivered his rap smoothly. The innocent boy Jiao Mai Qi shockingly pulled off the punk vibes. Caelan was comfortable with his skin. Joe Xu Hai Qiao had limited singing parts, so he made do by flashing his most intense gaze LOL.
The team must have tried 100 ways to make a comeback, and I'd say they did.
Score: 7/10
Fable (寓言)
Brothers: Reno Wang Zheng Lian (王铮亮), Allen Lin Yi Lun (林依轮), Yan Yi Kuan (严屹宽), Evan Yo Tasi Min You (蔡旻佑), and Nine Gao (高卿尘)
This song is a literal repetition of Round 3's "Twilight" (黄昏). Brilliant blend of vocal pitches and nice accompaniment, but a seriously lazy stage design.
Reno Wang once again steals the show by playing yet another musical instrument: the grand piano. Someone start a petition for Music Olympics, please.
Reno's limelight also prompted a critical realisation: don't we have violinist Evan Yo in the group? I thought piano and violin were the most classic and classiest musical combo.
The leader remained the central attention throughout the performance. This may not be the best practice for teamwork, but that's a separate blog post for another day.
All in all, this piece is full of missed opportunities that did not help the original song's flat melody.
Score: 7/10
Bird's Nest (燕窝)
Guest Brothers: Zhang Yuan (张远) and Yu Hao Ming (俞灏明)
Brothers: William Wei Li An (韦礼安) and Azora Chin You Zhang Jing (尤长靖)
This is a collaboration between the Guest Brothers (veterans of Season 3) and current brothers. All four participants are formidable singers, so their vocal rendition is of the highest quality.
All three but one member performed in a more relaxed, natural manner. There's nothing else to add as they delivered the song as per the original edition.
Score: 8/10
Lili Wanxiang (历历万乡)
Guest Brothers: Chen Chu Sheng (陈楚生), Bird Zhang Yuan (张远), Yu Hao Ming (俞灏明), and Wang Yue Xin (王栎鑫)
Ah... here's where all of Reno Wang's budget go!
Here's my first impression: this performance is full of Season 3's "Walking through the Wheat Field" (走麦田) and Derek Ma Xiao Long's (马晓龙) trademark. When I watched the behind-the-scenes... lo and behold, call me Sherlock!
Simple movements in unison, yet convey the largest dynamic. No complicated dance moves, yet mesmerising enough for you to keep watching.
Choreographed by Derek Ma, this is easily a masterpiece of the season!
Score: 10/10
Final Score, Elimination and Thoughts
Apart from Hacken Lee's team, the final scores once again tallied with my reviews:
I'm happy to place Hacken Lee behind Fox Hu Xia LOL. Azora Chin's group emerged as the champion (again!), followed by Hacken Lee and Shi Kai.
Azora Chin's group is absolutely killing it! They have reigned as the champion 3 times out of the 4 Rounds... That's a 75% winning rate.
The winners of every round are honoured by hanging their group photo in the program's Hall of Fame. What's even more special? This is Du Hai Tao's inaugural portrait! The team celebrated his success by allowing him to personally hang the portrait.
Needless to say, I'm deeply moved by this thoughtful gesture!
Moving on to the individual popularity votes:
The Malaysian leader himself has been Most Favourite Brother two times in a row!
What do the votes tell us about Round 4's elimination?
You might notice Aruna's vote is 0. You may also notice he is not listed in any of the performances above. This is because he's not present for this Round due to a clash in his work schedule.
The only rule for Aruna to stay in Call Me By Fire Season 4 is if his team, i.e. William Wei's team, ranked first. Let's say they did, but also not quite... so we're bidding Aruna goodbye this Round.
Yan Yi Kuan was ranked the second lowest. However, the 45-year-old actor is saved by teamwork, all thanks to the brothers garnering more than 6882 points.
Who has the Best Performance of the Week?
Tough choice! It's either Lili Wanxiang (历历万乡) or Soul of the Sword (剑魂). Both are visually appealing; every Brother has equal attribution and all contributed well.
What about the best Brother?
Zhang Zi Yi... I mean, Austin Li Jia Qi (李佳琦)!
Austin Li is quite an outstanding fellow... He is an influencer, the only contestant without a professional singing, acting or dancing background. But the dude has been doing all three... And nailing them well ever since he joined the competition!
What impressed me the most was his ability to execute the graceful movements that are traditionally considered feminine, yet did not overtly display femininity. The real artistry lies in achieving this subtle equilibrium.
Honourable mention goes to 27-year-old Jing Long (井胧), who has been pushing himself since Day 1! His efforts and hard work didn't go unnoticed!
What's Next?
The next round is Round 5... The final Round of Call Me By Fire Season 4 before it's Finale! Where did all the time go?!?!
As with every Season, the last Round will see a further reduction of groups, from 6 to 4. Looking at the scores above, it's sad to see Fox Hu Xia and William Wei will be disbanded. At least both had delivered at least one masterpiece throughout the competition.
On the other hand, the next episode will be an exciting one, because it'll be recruiting, coaxing and hassling processes all over again hahaha *evil intensifies*
Now that we're close to wrapping up the season... Is there anything you want to gossip about? Let's spill the tea here!
Thank you for reading, and see you all in the next blog post!
Disclaimer:
All published media are screenshots of 披荆斩棘的哥哥 Call Me By Fire and China HunanTV Official Channel 湖南卫视芒果TV官方频道 YouTube channels. Kindly contact me should you wish to remove any of the published media.
JIAQI IS SO COOL