I've written a speed review for Round 1, now be prepared for Round 2! The videos premiered on YouTube on the 31st of August and the 1st of September 2024.
The contestants are regrouped in Round 2!
There was a huge reshuffle of members after Round 1, which I suspect is a ploy to disperse the popular Younger Brothers and give the Elder Brothers a tad bit of competitive advantage.
That said, 3 Elder Brothers will be swapped with another 3 Younger Brothers. They are:
MIYAVI - I'm not surprised... Neither are the Elder Brothers!
Fu Xin Bo (付辛博)
Du Hai Tao (杜海涛)
Jason Fu Long Fei (符龙飞) - dude is so happy when he's promoted to a senior citizen LOL
Nine Gao Qing Chen (高卿尘)
Caelan Moriarty (庆怜) - the irony, he's the youngest in the competition
The music program also elected new leaders based on Round 1's Individual Popularity Votes. With this, our 8 leaders are:
Hacken Lee (李克勤)
Liang Long (梁龙)
Reno Wang Zhe Liang (王铮亮)
William Wei Li An (韦礼安) - new leader, yay!
Azora Chin You Zhang Jin (尤长靖)
Fox Hu Xia (胡夏)
Shi Kai (石凯)
Zao An (早安) - welcome to the adult world, mate!
Regardless of the reshuffle, we audiences get to see a wider variety of interactions and quality performance so it's still a win-win solution haha!
Cage (笼)
Elder Brothers: Reno Wang Zheng Liang (王铮亮), Allen Lin Yi Lun (林依轮), Evan Yo Tsai Min You (蔡旻佑), and Nine Gao Qing Chen (高卿尘)
Reno Wang can't seem to escape from Season 3 Chen Chu Sheng’s psychological-themed stage!
This performance tells the story of a “musician” Reno and his assistant, Allen Lin, who kept Nine Gao hostage (in a cage... get it? GET IT???) to keep producing music for Reno. Everyone's singing and acting were quite convincing, particularly the X-part.
Evan Yo finally showed off his violin skills by playing the classical piece Csárdás. Nine Gao perfected the X-part by jumping into a glass water tank and smirking to kill his abuser's joy… All while submerged until the end of the song.
Impeccable performance, a much clearer storyline than Round 1!
Score 9/10.
Growing Up with Immense of Pressure (负重一万斤长大)
William Wei Li An (韦礼安), Caelan Moriarty (庆怜), Joe Xu Hai Qiao (徐海乔) and Yan Yi Kuan (严屹宽)
This masterpiece deserves a blog on its own. This stage is Season 3's Joker, but Becoming Human the First Time.
In other words, this stage is an emotionally-heavy performance backed up by an army of dancers.
The play with black and white accentuates the song's depression and loneliness. The illusion of dancers forcefully grabbing the brothers. A brother trying his best, despite futile efforts, to push against a solid wall. Another brother drenched under the heavy shower...
Just watch the video. This is artistry in its finest form!
Score: 10/10
DISCO
Elder Brothers: Liang Long (梁龙), Jason Fu Long Fei (符龙飞) and Jerry Yuan Cheng Jie (袁成杰)
As the title suggests, the idea is about disco and the performance definitely sells! The singing, background music, dancing, drama… Everything.
The storyline was simple and delivered well. Jerry Yuan performed well, even though he is an actor by career. Overall, this is a light-hearted show that prompts every one to sing and dance along. Liang Long made a noticeable mistake towards the end of the dance, but who cares when everyone is enjoying themselves!
Score 7/10.
Orchid Pavilion Preface (兰亭序）
Elder Brothers: Hacken Lee (李克勤), Akira (黑泽良平), and Charlie Qin Hao (秦昊)
This group scored the second highest. They were overscored and overhyped… here's why.
The program has been teasing us about Hacken Lee and Akira's humongous effort to learn Chinese opera. It was rather comprehensive, from the way they walk and talk, down to the details of gestures and facial expressions.
Do we get to see their fruits of labour? Barely, as the two Elder Brothers have minimal stage presence.
They primarily remain seated in costume and full make-up throughout the performance. Akira had a brief 1-minute segment where he wielded the sword and sang a few lines. Hacken hardly contributed anything, while the other brother's role was limited to narrating.
Season 3's Bird Zhang Yuan (张远) also performed the Peking Opera and he sang at least half of the song.
Don't get me wrong: everyone performed their part well. It was a faultless performance: my only problem was that it did not live up to the marketing hype.
One bonus point for Akira for his willingness to cross-dress as a woman… and genuinely delve into his character, particularly when he's removing "her" makeup.
Score 6/10.
Confess (表白)
Younger Brothers: Azora Chin You Zhang Jing (尤长靖), MIYAVI, Rhydian Vaughan Feng Xiao Yue (凤小岳), J.zen Zhu Xing Jie (朱星杰), and Huang Xiao (黄潇)
Azora Chin is clever by recruiting the best guitarist and dancer of the season, MIYAVI and Huang Xiao respectively, into his group.
This is a rehash of yet another popular song, which worked pretty well in the end. The X-part shows a duel(?) between MIYAVI and Feng Xiao Yue... via traditional instruments! We have MIYAVI on shamisen, Feng on guqin.
J.zen and Huang Xiao's raps are good; Azora Chin’s vocals remain uncontested. The impression wasn't as strong as Round 1, though one thing is for sure:
Azora Chin's team is the strongest and most stable team amongst the Younger Brothers.
Score 8/10
Strive against the Stream (逆流而上)
Younger brothers: Alan Aruna (阿如那), Jing Long (井胧), and Shi Kai (石凯)
This is probably the first stage in Call Me By Fire history to pull an action-packed feat! The story was simple: two gangsters (Shi Kai and Jing Long) brawling against the Special Arms Force (Aruna).
The singing was good… The action was even better! There was a segment where Jing Long scissors-wrapped himself around Aruna… Reminds me of Black Widow and Winter Soldier hahaha.
They are the second-best performing group amongst the Younger Brothers, a huge improvement from Round 1!
Score 8/10
Bridge of Tears (泪桥)
Younger Brothers: Fox Hu Xia (胡夏), Fu Xin Bo (付辛博), Austin Li Jia Qi (李佳琦), Wang Yi Zhe (王一哲), and Jiao Mai Qi (焦迈奇)
This is a continuation of Fox Hu Xia’s Round 1 performance, Who. The only difference is that the song isn't as good as the former... perhaps it's the melody's problem?
All four brothers delivered the emotions well, however, the overall ambience fell flat and boring after a while. Fox Hu Xia and Austin Li should have stood out with their harmonica play, but unfortunately too short to be of any significant value.
This is one of the common phenomena where the performance ticked all the technical aspects but missed the wow factor.
Score 7/10
Soul Singer (灵魂歌手)
Younger Brothers: Zao An (早安), Du Hai Tao (杜海涛), Dylan Xiong Zi Qi (熊梓淇), and Ning Huan Yu (宁桓宇)
This... I have no words. In a bad way.
This group is the weakest from the start because Ning Huan Yu is the only professional singer. As though this composition isn't dangerous enough, this piece initially had a creative restriction that bans improv... To be specific, adapting the lyrics and rap, which is Zao An's bane of existence.
At this point, it appears to be a deliberate move to suppress the Younger Brothers for the sake of balancing the competition.
The song... is this even a song, do they even sing? The brothers are merely speaking along the tune... and some solo-ed off-key.
Sad to say, this is what you get whenever an agenda takes precedence. They kill both the soul and the song.
One pity point for Dylan Xiong because his high notes are the only music of this show.
Score: 5/10
The King and the Beggar (国王与乞丐)
A collaboration between Elder and Younger Brothers.
Elder Brothers: Reno Wang Zheng Liang (王铮亮) and Joe Xu Hai Qiao (徐海乔)
Younger Brothers: Fox Hu Xia (胡夏) and Huang Xiao (黄潇)
Another must-watch performance!
The story was about a king, Joe Xu, manipulating the beggar, Huang Xiao. Reno Wang and Fox Hu are in charge of the vocals.
Fox Hu is one of the rare qualities who demands everyone's attention whenever he sings. In this sense, Fox Hu’s vocals outshine Reno’s. Reno attempted falsetto at some point but couldn't quite hit them.
Joe Xu's acting is terrifyingly convincing as a master manipulator, particularly when he dons the mask of a psychopathic narcissist while toying with the poor beggar, Huang Xiao. Speaking of which…
I previously commented on how Huang Xiao needs to bring his A-game to stay in this competition… And this Round literally threw one at his doorstep.
This choreography was designed specifically for a dancer… For him.
This might be a bit biased, but hey, not every dancer can achieve what Huang Xiao did. His expressions while being puppetted by Joe Xu, the tacit timing with king's fingers… Phenomenal. I have no words, just watch the video already!!!
Score 10/10
Final Score, Elimination and Thoughts
For the first half of Round 2, one Elder Brother group will be challenged by three Younger Brother groups...and vice versa for its second half. Reno Wang and Azora Chin took the lead in their respective age group.
All in all, I think the seniors outperformed the juniors, which tallies with their overall scores:
The scores are reasonably fair, reflecting the stage quality as it is... Except for Hacken Lee's team. I still think it's an overscore. All in all, the Elder Brothers won by quite a margin... more than 50 points!
Remember how Huang Xiao was the least popular Younger Brother in Round 1? Who knew the Beggar was his saviour! Not only did he physically fly up the stage for this Round, but his ranking also soared!
The Younger Brothers knew this fact early (it's a no-brainer, honestly) and prepared themselves for the departure of two other members: Wang Yi Zhe and Dylan Xiong Zi Qi.
Who has the Best Performance of the Week?
This week is tough!! "Growing Up with 10,000 Pounds of Pressure" (负重一万斤长大) is probably my pick of the week, followed very, very closely by the collaboration piece, "The King and The Beggar." (国王与乞丐)
What about the best Brother?
Huang Xiao, hands down. Joe Xu Hai Qiao (徐海乔) is another formidable contender... This man is versatile!
What's Next?
Round 3 of Call Me By Fire Season 4 will see collaboration between two groups! Every group is free to choose whichever team they like, regardless of the age. With this, expect astounding performances from these unique collaborations:
Reno Wang 王铮亮 (Elder) and Shi Kai 石凯 (Younger)
Hacken Lee 李克勤 (Elder) and Azora Chin 尤长靖 (Younger)
Liang Long 梁龙 (Elder) and William Wei 韦礼安 (Elder)
Fox Hu 胡夏 (Younger) and Zao An 早安 (Younger)
I can't wait! 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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