It's Round 5 (五公) of Call Me By Fire Season 4 (披荆斩棘), everyone. Buckle up, because we're approaching the finale very, very soon!
The following speed reviews are based on YouTube uploads on the 12th and 13th of October 2024:
P/S This Round has better stage design and props! The program finally got their budget approved hahahahahhaa
Round 5 (五公) determines the final 4 groups that will proceed to the Finale.
The finale for Call Me By Fire is a competition of only 4 groups. This implies Fox Hu Xia (胡夏) and William Wei's (韦礼安) groups were disbanded, dispersing all 8 members to join the remaining alliances:
Hacken Lee (李克勤)
Reno Wang Zheng Liang (王铮亮)
Azora Chin You Zhang Jing (尤长靖)
Shi Kai (石凯)
There are two formats for Round 5: group (unlimited number of members) and duo performances. The group leader is required to perform in both.
River (河流)
Brothers: Shi Kai (石凯), Joe Xu Hai Qiao (徐海乔), Jason Fu Long Fei (符龙飞), Austin Li Jia Qi (李佳琦), J.zen Zhu Xing Jie (朱星杰), and Jiao Mai Qi (焦迈奇)
This performance's main advantage is its heartfelt melody. Shi Kai, Jason Fu Long Fri and J.zen stood out for their solo part in the chorus.
There's almost no choreography for this show, however, the directors were clever about it. The Brothers start at different elevated platforms and walk about in meloncholy... All while the platforms move to congregate at the main stage.
This performance is beautifully simple, one of the rare examples of "less is more."
Score: 9/10
Entertainment (娱乐天空)
Brothers: Reno Wang Zheng Liang (王铮亮), Allen li Yi Lun (林依轮), Yan Yi Kuan (严屹宽), Evan Yo Tsai Min You (蔡旻佑), and William Wei Li An (韦礼安)
This is a nonchalant, happy-go-lucky song. 90% of the stage was dedicated to choreography... The dance moves were highly complicated and intricate, albeit not physically demanding. All the steps, hand gestures, path of movement... Geez!
Actors Yan Yi Kuan and Allen Lin outshine the rest with their most nimble movements and joyest faces, so you can't help but smile along!
My only complain is their costume, because the Brothers wore the same suit as the dancers, making it difficult to differentiate who is who.
Score: 7/10
The Sky is High, the Earth is Thick (天高地厚) x Blessing (祝福)
Brothers: Hacken Lee (李克勤), Akira (黑泽良平), Charlie Qin Hao (秦昊), Fu Xin Bo (付辛博), Huang Xiao (黄潇), Fox Hu Xia (胡夏), and Jing Long (井胧)
The song "The Sky is High, The Earth is Thick"... Why does it sound 80% similar to another band, BEYOND's signature song LOL. This group is clever enough to seamlessly weave this song with another iconic song, Blessing (祝福).
All in all, this stage is pleasant to the eyes and soothing to the ears. Hop onto the video to witness Akira rapping in Chinese for the first time!!!
Performed in a typical music band setup, most Brothers are assigned to play a musical instrument... Yet none of them came to the spotlight. This is a huge mis-opportunity, considering Azora Chin's (尤长靖) tribe had more or less trademarked how to seal X-Parts using purely musical instruments.
Score: 9/10
Cannot Ask For It (求不来)
Brothers: Azora Chin You Zhang Jing (尤长靖), MIYAVI, Du Hai Tao (杜海涛), Feng Xiao Yue (凤小岳), and Caelan Moriarty (庆怜)
This is the first song of the season that features the Min Nan (or Hokkien) dialect. This song delivers the best "oomph" energy for this Round, which is further enhanced by their black and gold costume.
Feng Xiao Yue stood out by dabbing the traditional instrument, the pipa, like a rock guitar. MIYAVI and Caelan stole the show with their partial Peking Opera make-up and rock dance moves.
The Peking Opera supporting dancers had bright costumes and make-up, so they kinda stood out even when they were supposed to be in the background.
Even with the glamorous visuals and energetic melody, the overall performance felt... kinda flat. I'm guessing it's because there are too many Brothers at this stage when it could have been done by only three Brothers.
I also realised this tribe is an international tribe, where all members are from different nationalities. If only the Brothers explored the possibility of delivering this song in their respective mother tongues!
Score: 9/10
Group performance is done. Let's move on to the duet stages!
Undersea (海底)
Brothers: Hacken Lee (李克勤) and Huang Xiao (黄潇)
This is a "duet" category, but this stage is technically solo LOL. Hacken Lee sang the role of inner turbulence, whereas Huang Xiao "danced" the external struggle. Both Brothers nailed the dichotomy of roles well, particularly for Huang Xiao.
He metaphorically portrays the dilemma of whether to give up or persist, and if he did, could he succeed.
This team once again brings a visually simple stage for audiences to explore their artistic and personal interpretation. Huge congratulations for this incredible feat after a mediocre Round 4!
Score: 10/10
Black and White Artist (黑白艺术家) x Tom and Jerry (猫和老鼠)
Brothers: Shi Kai (石凯) and Liang Long (梁龙)
This... I don't know, my mind is scrambled. In a good way.
The concept is akin to Season 3's "Joker," except it's chaos on chaos on chaos. Which is the literally the personalities of the two Brothers!
I'm more of a person of order, so I find it difficult to fully appreciate this stage. But hey, their performance must have been an immense success because this part of my writing is chaotic LOL
Score: 9/10
As A Monster (作为怪物)
Brothers: Azora Chin You Zhang Jing (尤长靖) and Zao An (早安)
This is Azora Chin's first try with the program's favourite concept, the psychological series. Both Brothers nailed their roles well, which convinced me even more that Zao An has untapped potential in dancing and acting!
What's more captivating was the stage design's interpretation of "Monster". How the previous Rounds' props and costumes convey the context. And how we are fooled by these "mannequins".
Score: 9/10
Waiting (守候)
Brothers: Reno Wang Zheng Liang (王铮亮) and Nine Gao (高卿尘)
"Waiting" is an emotional song, delivered by Reno Wang's beautiful singing and Nine Gao's impressive acting and dancing.
This stage has one of Call Me By Fire's most unique designs. The directors utilised the science of two-way mirrors to convey the story of Reno Wang and his other persona, Nine Gao. I can't fully express how unique this stage is, so watch the video now to appreciate the high level of artistry!
Score: 10/10
The quality of Round 5 (五公) is much higher than Round 4 (四公)!
Everyone performed incredibly well! Most of the music struck the chords, and more effort was poured into the stage design and choreography.
That said, I have an issue with the format. The restriction to duet-only squeezed the rest of the contestants into one stage like sardines, resulting in uneven contribution and unfair advantage to lesser popular Brothers.
I barely see Joe Xu Hai Qiao and Austin Li Jia Qi. Fox Hu Xia used to shine with his vocals. MIYAVI and Caelan faded into the background. Taiwanese strong houses William Wei Li An and Evan Yo Tsai Min You were finally in a team but under-utilised.
That said, credits where credits are due. Everyone worked hard and demonstrated their best, which was reflected in their scores:
Hacken Lee's tribe dominated Round 5, and rightfully so! Their "duet" is beyond beautiful and only gets more relatable the more you play it. This masterpiece must have touched the hearts of many because it shot Huang Xiao's individual popularity vote:
As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the less popular Brothers are overshadowed in the group performances. Sadly, we bid goodbye to Austin Li and Du Hai Tao this Round.
It's a phenomenal achievement for non-singers to go far in this competition, let alone Round 5. Even though they narrowly missed the Finale, let's thank them for their hard work thus far, and may we see more of them in the future music industry!
Who's the Outstanding Brother for Round 5?
Hacken Lee and Huang Xiao had taken the crown in Round 1 (一公) and 2 (二公) respectively, so let's extend the honours to... *drum rolls please...*
How come I never mentioned MIYAVI before LOL This honour is long overdue for the Japanese rock guitarist! Feng Xiao Yue's (风小岳) sheer talent in numerous musical instruments also stood out.
Not forgetting Nine Gao (高卿尘), a talented performer whose future will only get brighter after this competition!
Cool... What's Next?
The next round is... *drum rolls* the Finale! Is this program ending already?!?! No choice, let's gossip to our hearts' content before this show officially wraps up, yeah?
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.
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