On the hit MBN trot audition program ‘Legend of the Unknowns’, which is currently No. 1 in the non-drama category, the singer ‘Haru’ is continuing a surprising undefeated run.
Episode 8 of MBN ‘Legend of the Unknowns’, which aired on April 15, featured the third main round, the ‘National Songs Showdown’, the final gateway to the semifinals. The contestants staged fierce competition with performances of songs by four national favorites: ‘Choi Baek-ho’, ‘Jeon Young-rok’, composer ‘Kim Jin-ryong’, and ‘Jang Yoon-jeong’. The contest consisted of a Round 1 team medley and a Round 2 top-ace match, and tension peaked because only the first-place team would all advance to the next round.
Scoring was structured with 10 members of the Top Pro panel awarding 100 points each for a total of 1,000, and 200 members of the National Pro panel awarding 1 point each for a total of 200. However, in Round 1 only the Top Pro scores were revealed, heightening curiosity about the outcome.
The team ‘Haru All Day’ (‘Haru’, ‘Lee Dae-hwan’, ‘Hwang Yoon-seong’, ‘Park Min-su’, ‘Choi Jong-won’), led by leader Haru, took the stage third. Dressed in matching light yellow-and-black suits, they grabbed attention from the start, drawing raves as the ‘handsome team’, the ‘visual team’, and possessing ‘prince visuals’. They were further dubbed the ‘Trot Avengers’, a blend of the unknown and the well-known with visuals•vocals•performance all in one.
In the pre-stage VCR, the group was shown building teamwork at the home of Haru. The members made spring-cabbage bibimbap themselves and shared bellflower-root tea, strengthening their bond; this process became the foundation that raised the completeness of their stage.
The national singer the team chose was Jang Yoon-jeong. They opened brightly with ‘Next-door Oppa’, a rewritten version of ‘Next-door Noona’, instantly seizing the audience with solid harmonies and natural performance over a lively rhythm. In the following ‘Warak Boobi Boobi’, even bolder dance-trot performance lifted the mood, and stage manners oscillating between sexy and playfulalong with tight group choreography and a dance breakbrought the crowd response to a fever pitch.
Then, after team members’ stages of ‘Odongdo Blues’ and ‘Noga Beoryeoyo’, ‘Sarang Cham’ featured an emotional duet by Haru and Park Min-su. Delicate vocals and sturdy harmonies deepened the stage, and as the song moved into its latter half, surging vocal power and emotion left a strong impressionenough to be called a ‘vocal feats-of-strength show’.
In the final number, ‘Sarang-a’, they expanded the scale with a large card-section performance together with dozens of dancers, completing an overwhelming finale. With staging that shifted from a heart shape to the face of Jang Yoon-jeong, the energy of the performance reached its peak, and at the climax, amid the fervor of the standing audience, a scene of becoming one with the singer brought the curtain down grandly.
The judges offered high praise as well. Hong Hyun-hee said, “Thank you on behalf of older sisters nationwide,” and Tei called it “a stage that had me smiling without even realizing it.” Yang Se-hyung admired, “I came to understand why the trot fandom is growing,” and Jang Yoon-jeong lauded, “At some point I was just enjoying it, and it is No. 1 in my heart.” Composer Kim Jin-ryong also expressed surprise at how the team had grown, saying, “I thought they were a guest-artist team.”
In the Top Pro scores revealed that day, the ‘Haru All Day’ team posted 956 points to take overall first place. It was a valuable outcome earned after withstanding a difficult preparation process.
Meanwhile, in the third main round, the final winning team is set to be decided next week through the Round 2 team-ace match. ‘Legend of the Unknowns’ airs every Wednesday at 9:40 p.m.
