🍋‍🟩⭐️Limelight | Episode 6

THEME "Japanese and Korean Tones" For this round you simply submit a song by a Japanese or Korean artist. If you go the traditional pop route or go with something completely different is up to you. Whatever you think is gonna appeal to the judges. The artist has to be Japanese or Korean though.
ChloeKay - "White Noise" by FEMM "this is a bop that I heard on a random discord call once and I vibed so much during the summer of 2021 listening to it. It’s probably my favorite J-Pop Song." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ratings: JUDGE 1 - 2 Points "Really cool stereo panning at the beginning! I actually really like this song! It's upbeat and fun! Has some really neat stylized vocals/instrumentals! If this were submitted on a non Korean/Japanese round, it would probably actually rank higher. The others really scream Korean/Japanese because they are in their native language which I feel like stays more true to the theme! And with as many bops as what were submitted this time around, this feels like the proper ranking for this sub. But again, I do like it and will totally listen again!" - JUDGE 2 - 2 Points "I think this song is pretty good, I just think the songs that are ranked higher then this is better in my opinion. This song kind of gives off Lady Gaga vibes to me which I think is cool and it is a bop, but I just enjoy the other ones more. I can see why you were bopping hard to this one though!" - JUDGE 3 - 1 Point "You’re going to be the victim of a strong round, because I found things that I liked about every submission this round. I thought that this song had a really interesting production style. Ultimately, this just felt way too generic of a pick for this round. I get that this song comes from a Japanese duo, but I was hoping for a bit more of an exploration into the J-pop genre, whereas this felt like it could’ve been any electropop song from an American artist. A part of this feeling could have been my disappointment that this song was fully sung in English. I thought that this was a good opportunity for players to show their range by submitting songs in Japanese (or Korean if they went the K-pop route), and submitting an English submission felt underwhelming. There were other songs sung partially in English but those songs blended both English and Korean which I thought was a lot more interesting. Also, I swear I’ve stated many times in the past that good notes can help elevate my listening experience. One sentence just doesn’t cut it for me, especially in round six. Maybe if you did more to sell me on why this is an interesting submission you could’ve gotten more than one point from me. " TOTAL POINTS: 5 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Cray - "X room" by Xdinary Heroes "The song “X Room” by Xdinary Heroes is about looking back on a past relationship with nostalgia and acceptance. The vocalist is reflecting on cherishing memories, accepting the act of letting go, and appreciating how the relationship helped them grow personally. The music video expands this idea into a story about growing up and finding inner strength." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ratings: JUDGE 1 - 4 Points "Okay, I nearly panicked at the beginning because the song sounded very…American and I loved the sound but it wouldn't have really encapsulated the theme. Then the native language came in and I was so relieved! I really love this style of music as it's so easy to listen to! And then the voice is so good too! Overall, I feel like it's just a really quality song. One of the better all-around submissions as there's literally nothing about it that I didn't like." - JUDGE 2 - 6 Points "With this song being the last one I had left, the last ranking I had was #2 but after listening to this song I could not justify ranking it there and it made me completely change my rankings, this song is genuinely so beautiful and I love love love the message behind it as well as the lyrics and I resonate with it a lot. For that..I am giving my platinum demo to this song. Congratulations!" - JUDGE 3 - 6 Points "Although I found things I liked in all of the submissions this round, I have to be honest the gap between this song and second place wasn’t even remotely close for me because this was far and away my favorite and easily one of my favorite songs submitted all game. I don’t even know how to speak about my feelings about this song but it hit me like a gut punch. It’s like that moment where you feel yourself slipping, desperately trying to hold on to something. And as you finally lose your grip, it’s the culmination of everything that has happened to you in your life, the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, the highs and the lows. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that something you were trying to hold on to has been ripped from your grasp. But eventually, as you fall, you find a way to accept it, and although it’s hard, you begin to understand that every single experience you’ve ever had has helped shape you into the person you are, and that’s something that can never be taken from you. This submission…this was something truly special. I feel similarly to this as I felt to the song I gave my platinum to, and this song made me wish I had two platinums I got to give out. Unfortunately, I’m limited to just 6 measly points here. Just know that this submission was worthy. Very worthy. And just like that, just like that, we carry on." Cray has received a PLATINUM DEMO award from Judge 2!!! He will receive a 7-point bonus for this round. This means that Judge 2 no longer has a Spotlight Award to hand out. TOTAL POINTS: 23 (16 from Judges + 7 from Spotlight Award) -----------------------------------------------------------------
KaliMinaj - "Jogging" by LUCY "i could've gone with a big K-pop hit, but I wanted to share something that feels like discovering a hidden gem. Jogging instantly lifted my mood the first time I heard it, and it's been impossible to shake ever since. LUCY's signature violin gives the song a warmth and personality that makes it stand out from the crowd, while the message is a gentle reminder that life isn't a race. We all move at our own pace, and sometimes the best thing we can do is stop comparing ourselves to everyone else and simply keep going. So... let's go for a little Jogging together. 🏃☀️" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ratings: JUDGE 1 - 3 Points "Thanks! I will use this as my motivation before my run tomorrow. Literally. The beginning reminded me of some sort of Nintendo theme song or something! Then I was at the beach sipping margaritas and I don't even drink. It's just a really fun, move your body kind of song! This round is kind of my escape from interpreting lyrics because sadly, I don't know Korean or Japanese….but I'm kind of LOVING it! I know they were on the screen but I didn't know the English version to most of the other submissions so I wasn't going to judge one on lyrical content and not another! But I love that you gave a little insight as I live for this sort of message in music! Honestly, this song deserves more than 3 points but the submissions this round were soooo good that this is just where this one landed." - JUDGE 2 - 4 Points "I really enjoy the background music of this song, and the artist has a nice voice. I don't usually enjoy songs where I don't understand what they are saying, but this is actually a pretty good song! It's very upbeat and I like the message behind it. Good job!" - JUDGE 3 - 5 Points "Listening to this makes me feel like life is sunshine and rainbows. This instrumental is so colorful and full of life. I can’t help but get wrapped up into the world this song is creating. The musicianship on display here from LUCY is top quality. The song is able to maintain a consistently infectious energy whilst delivering complex rhythmic patterns and chord progressions. I also agree that the violin, played by Shin Ye-chan, was an excellent addition. The first time I listened to this I did not look at the English translated lyrics, but after listening again while reading the lyrics, the experience was elevated even more for me. While your notes gave me a general idea of the overarching message of this song, I loved reading the lyrics and seeing how the message was delivered. It almost feels a bit emotional, especially that end portion about the importance of not forgetting who you are and the things you want to do, with LUCY telling the listeners that if they end up running they should run where their heart desires. This was the first song on our judging sheet and it put me in a fantastic mood to listen to the rest of the submissions." TOTAL POINTS: 12 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Lewis - "Sugar Magic" by tonun "I’m wont pretend this is my usual genre… but I’m a BLACKPINK fan, so I started looking into some of the music YouTube recommended after listening to them. That’s how I stumbled across this song, and it instantly clicked with me. It has such a fun, feel good vibe, and it’s one of those songs that gives you an immediate mood boost. Hopefully it does the same for you! Who knows! Hope you enjoy this one I had fun researching a genre I don’t know much about!" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ratings: JUDGE 1 - 5 Points "Yessssss!!! YouTube Recs handing out the good stuff! This song is such a bop! I can always tell which rounds y’all are less familiar with because the notes become simplified and a bit more minimal and that's OKAY!! “We’re all in this together” and I also don't know a ton about the genre (not really a genre, I guess…but whatever you want to call it). But what I learned from this submission is that I like it! This song is so smoooooth! The beat is just intoxicating and I could listen to it over and over! No clue what it's about, but again, that doesn't really matter to me this round. I'm just here for the vibes!" - JUDGE 2 - 5 Points "ngl...this song is a fucking bop LOL. I really enjoyed this one a lot and I don't have any complaints to give about this one, only compliments. It kind of has a jazz vibe in a way to me, it's just pretty upbeat and it is a bop, I could see myself dancing around the room to this one and I lowkey was dancing in my seat while listening to this one. Really good job!" - JUDGE 3 - 2 Points "This song is fun to listen to and is pretty catchy. I did like the song overall, but I can’t help but feel like it didn’t do anything to really capture my attention in a significant way. The competition gets stiffer each round and it gives me no choice but to get more and more nitpicky, and being nice to listen to just doesn’t quite cut it anymore. I just felt like this song didn’t progress in an interesting way. The energy stayed the same most of the way through, and for a song that is nearly 4 minutes long, I couldn’t help but feel a bit bored by the end. I will say that the portion from 2:45 to 3:00 where the production shifts to another place was really interesting, but I was hoping for more production variation that I didn’t get. The sound of this song as well as the lyrical content felt pretty safe for this genre and fell in line with what I was expecting to hear this round." TOTAL POINTS: 12 -----------------------------------------------------------------
melanie - "Tokyo" by GEZAN "hiii this is another theme i have no knowledge about and honestly…… i also dont rlly want to cause jpop and kpop just aint my vibe. but for this theme i went exploring at the pool once again and this time i wanted to step out of my comfort zone once again and submit something more unique.. and i think i found it. i love how this beat changes and its a rock vibe but also gives you something poppy.. like the vibe switches from yeahh rawr rawr rock n roll to softie emotional vulnerability and i rlly like that idk. the production of this song overall is just amazing, unique and it shows the artists creativity" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ratings: JUDGE 1 - 1 Point "Mad props to you for taking a huge risk and going out of your comfort zone. I hate that it's going to feel like I'm not taking that into consideration with my ranking this round & I hope you aren't afraid to try again. The problem is just that this round’s setlist is…probably the best overall that we’ve received so far this season. The song is definitely different from the rest which makes it stand out. But where it's lacking for me is that…I just don't really care for it where I'd listen to most of the others again and again. The genre pick is great but the voice gets a little hard to listen to with a 6+ minute song. I loved reading your notes though!!" - JUDGE 2 - 1 Point "Yeah this one is not for me. First of all, why is the song 6:37 long, and why is there screaming in the beginning and it just stops? I think the beginning of this song was way too long and I found myself skipping to get to when they finally started singing and when I heard the singing.. I wish I never listened to this song to begin with. I do not like how this artist sings at all, his voice is a little too nasally for me. I appreciate you for going out of your comfort zone and submitting a song out of your comfort zone and taking a risk..and I think a lot of the risky songs have worked out pretty well for people, but this song is just not it. The only thing I sort of like is the background music but I genuinely cannot stand the sound of the artist singing." - JUDGE 3 - 4 Points "Ummmmmmmm…ok. This is a submission. A real bold submission at that. I can see why this wouldn’t be exactly someone’s cup of tea (I know Judge 2 does not have great things to say about this song) but luckily for you I actually have gotten more and more into the noise rock genre in the past few years, and I’m pretty familiar with some East Asian artists who have dabbled into noise rock styles (if you like this song I’d highly recommend checking out Parannoul, a Korean shoegaze artist who is spectacular). This type of submission was always going to be a winner for me, because I enjoy how experimental songs of this genre are and I think it was a really out of the box pick for a game like this. I can tell that you went out of your comfort zone with this pick and I respect it. I will say that this song in particular took me quite a few listens to fully grasp, specifically the vocals which are…unique. But eventually I was able to really get the full picture of this song and how the vocals, as strange as they are, contribute to fully painting that picture. Don’t let any low scores you receive from either of my fellow judges discourage you from continuing to step outside of your comfort zone and making experimental and crafty picks like this one." TOTAL POINTS: 6 -----------------------------------------------------------------
TheBreeze - "Not Alone" by PITTA "Kang Hyung Ho (known under the stage name PITTA) sings triumphantly that he's not alone as a mantra to keep himself in a strong headspace far away from worry. This song embraces me like a warm blanket right before bed. Everything from the whistling to the soundscapes to his vocal fluctuation makes me feel at peace. Which is also the vibe I associate Korean music with. It's near challenge level impossible not to crack a smile listening through this. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!! ❤️" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ratings: JUDGE 1 - 6 Points "This sounds a bit…dare I say it…..COUNTRY 😱!? And not the crappy radio country….like the good stuff. We’re all about ALL kinds of music up here in Limelight and I'm so sad that it took a Korean/Japanese round to get a little taste! But I'm so HAPPY that you found this gem! The intro just instantly makes you smile…and then I got slightly nervous because it slowed down. Then it got the perfect groove back. Lovely voice too! “I like it, I love it, I want some more of it!” And for that reason, 6 points! I contemplated the platinum, but I'm a hoarder and have a feeling that y’all might continually improve and I'll want it later on. Hope I'm not making a huge mistake because if a submission doesn't top this….then I probably won't use it at all!" - JUDGE 2 - 3 Points "This is another song where I like the message behind the song and I also enjoy the background music of this song. The artist also has a good voice and since I don't usually like songs that I can't understand it is hard for me to stay into the song, but I was able to listen to this song all the way through with no complaints." - JUDGE 3 - 3 Points "This was so fascinating to me that I almost wasn’t sure what to think of it. This is obviously a K-Pop song by a Korean artist, but I was hearing a lot of different influences here that I wasn’t quite expecting to hear, which were a bit of country and maybe some gospel influences as well??? I think that on paper this wouldn’t be a song I would typically gravitate towards, but this was a completely different sound than what I was expecting to hear this round, and that made me like it more. I appreciate the message behind this song, it felt like a similar message to Jogging, which is funny as they were the first two songs on our judging sheet. I thought I had missed the memo on an “inspirational” theme. I do think Jogging delivered the message in a more interesting way, lyrically and sonically, which might contribute to why this slipped a bit in my rankings, but I still really liked this as a submission." TOTAL POINTS: 12 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Which means, I'm super sorry ChloeKay but you have been eliminated from Limelight </3 Chloe Kay thank you very much for playing, when I saw you apply, I knew you'd give it your all and we very much enjoyed having you <3 --- CONTESTANTS Cray KaliMinaj Lewis melanie TheBreeze --- ELIMINATED brookie KnowUh Space Lexus ChloeKay