'Myster Mask King' Golden Child Kim Jibeom Performance Excites Judges, Shin Yi-Kim Byunghun-Click-Bee Nominhyuk Eliminated (Summary)

Eight masked singers challenging the King of Singers Joo Yoon-bal are competing. Photo by 'King of Mask Singer' capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Hyesoo] On the afternoon of the 22nd, MBC's 'King of Mask Singer' featured the stage of Joo Yoonbal challenging the 124th Mask King, along with eight masked singers competing against him.

The first stage of Round 1 featured Mirrorball and Globe. The two competed to Rumble Fish's "Euratcha-cha." Mirrorball attracted attention with a clear and stable voice, while Globe caught the judges' eyes immediately with a distinctive voice. Yoo Youngseok guessed, "Mirrorball is a non-singer who practiced a lot, and Globe is a singer."

Globe won this stage with a score of 17 to 4. Mirrorball, who revealed their identity after singing Cherry Filter's "Ori Nalda," was Shin Yi, a 23-year veteran actor who appeared in the movie 'Sex Is Zero.' The judges were delighted by Shin Yi's appearance, who showed enthusiasm and talent comparable to professional singers, saying, "She sings better without the mask."

Regarding receiving 4 votes, MC Kim Sungjoo said, "The current 4 votes are somewhat different from the 4 votes in the past," to which Shin Yi coolly replied, "It's good that I came out and enjoyed it; I don't think the votes are important." Lee Seokhoon praised her, saying, "I've seen her in broadcasts and movies, but her voice is so good that I thought we should all go to karaoke together."

The second stage of Round 1 was between Rocky and Siberian Husky. Singing Jeon Ramhoe's "At J's Bar," the two confused the judges with similar yet individually distinctive voices. Rocky stood out with a soft and sweet tone and relaxed stage manners. Siberian Husky captivated ears with somewhat shy yet smooth high notes.

Regarding this stage, Kim Johan said, "Rocky seems like someone good at music," and Kai commented, "Husky seems familiar with music. Musically delicate and deeply knowledgeable." Rocky advanced to Round 2 with a score of 17 to 4. Siberian Husky, whom Kim Gura guessed to be an athlete, was revealed to be No Minhyuk, the guitarist of the original handsome band Click-B.

Photo by 'King of Mask Singer' capture

The third stage of Round 1 was a battle between Cherry Blossom Ending and Spring Girl. They chose Yoon Sang's "One More Step," to which Yoon Sang said, "What a surprise." Cherry Blossom Ending left a strong impression with a clean and refreshing vocalization. On the other hand, Spring Girl aroused curiosity with a cute and charming voice.

Yoon Sang said Cherry Blossom Ending "seemed to try to appear stiff on purpose," and Jung Kyungcheon also said, "The composer (Yoon Sang) is in front, so she could have done better, but she seemed nervous." Spring Girl won this stage with a score of 14 to 7.

Cherry Blossom Ending, who revealed their identity after singing Choi Seongsu's "Our Happy Love," was Kim Byunghun, a former baseball player turned commentator who was the first Asian to win the Major League World Series. He had already shown considerable singing skills on MBC's 'Pyeonae Joonggye' in January. After finishing the song, Kim Byunghun expressed that he was very nervous.

The last stage of Round 1 was a showdown between Half Moon Prince and Full Moon Prince. When the intro of Michael Jackson's "Black or White" played, the judges murmured, "No way." Half Moon Prince, who performed a dance vibe reminiscent of Michael Jackson and sang the first verse, showed seasoned skills and captivating vocals. Full Moon Prince also dominated the stage with a sexy voice and a tone similar to Michael Jackson.

The closely matched final stage ended with Half Moon Prince advancing to Round 2 by a one-vote difference. The narrowly defeated Full Moon Prince was revealed to be Kim Jibeom, the vocalist of Golden Child. Kim Johan had previously said about Full Moon Prince, "This person seems like a singer. He could have danced more but deliberately didn't," which was exactly correct.

Lee Seokhoon said, "He is a friend who sings very well," and mentioned that the judges went crazy trying to see Kim Jibeom. Song Gain also smiled, saying while looking at Kim Jibeom through binoculars, "He sings well and is good-looking too." Kim Jibeom expressed his thoughts, saying, "After appearing on this show, I hope 'Golden Child' and 'Golden Child Jaebeom' become trending keywords in real-time search."

MBC's entertainment program 'King of Mask Singer' airs every Sunday at 6:20 PM.