Jaejin's Pulse Quickened As He Stood Under The Dimmed Stage Lights, The Anticipation For The Dress Rehearsal

Jaejin's pulse quickened as he stood under the dimmed stage lights, the anticipation for the dress rehearsal of "Man in Love" electrifying the air around him and his fellow trainees. This was his favorite performance so far and he had been looking forward to this moment.

As he looked around, he saw the stage crew moving efficiently, setting up props and checking the sound levels. The familiar tune of "Man in Love" echoed faintly through the speakers as they ran final sound checks, and Jaejin couldn't help but hum along. He had been humming this song all week, even when he wasn't performing. It had a way of sticking with him, lifting his spirits no matter how exhausted he felt.

The choreography for "Man in Love" was one of the most challenging pieces he had done so far. The intricate footwork, the sharp, synchronized movements, and the energy required to pull it off had pushed him to his limits. Yet, it was also incredibly rewarding. Every time he managed to hit every move felt like a victory. The satisfaction of seeing the dance come together was unmatched.

Jaejin ran through a few moves in his head, his body instinctively following the rhythm. He felt good—confident, even. The countless hours of practice, the sweat, and the occasional tears seemed worth it in moments like these. He glanced at his fellow performers, exchanging nods and smiles of encouragement. They had all worked hard to get here, and now it was time to showcase their efforts.

The stage lights began to brightenover the space. Jaejin took his position, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline that always came before a performance. He took a deep breath, letting the excitement wash over him. The stage manager gave a quick thumbs-up, signaling that everything was ready.

With a final glance around, he centered himself This performance was going to be great. He could feel it even if no one else would see it except of the people in the room. It was a taste of what was to come. The music started to swell, and the cue to begin their performance echoed through the soundstage.

“Five, six, seven, eight…” The count-in began, and Jaejin’s heart leaped as he launched into the opening move.

TEAM UNKNOWN - MISSION 004 | HC

Solo performance #1:

Top, pants, accessories, shoes.

For his performance Jaejin wears a cropped black t-shirt with a pair of dark wash denim jeans. The jeans have paint splatter covering them, courtesy of Mr.Carter himself. He has about 16 black bracelets covering his left arm, and a pair of brown boots finish off the outfit.

For the first performance Jaejin chose T-ara's Sugar Free after much contemplation. He bounced back and forth between multiple songs but eventually settled on this song because he wanted to perform something other than a ballad for the judges.

The major changes made to the song were regarding the dance. he wanted to make the moves more "powerful" and "masculine" so he worked with a trainer and tweaked a lot of the moves mainly in the chorus where he added a brief dance break.

he added more strong shoulder movements opting to cross his arms in sections where the original dance had the performs put their hands on their hips, and decided to place more emphasis on his upper body rather than his lower body.

One of the standout changes Jaejin made was during the section originally featuring Hyomin and Jiyeon just before the end. Instead of the vocal/chanting interlude, he inserted a small, dance break with rapid footwork and a quick jump sequence to add an unexpected twist.

For the first performance he wanted to show his versatility as a performer and keep the energy high and smooth.

Solo Performance #2:

Jaejin wears a black t-shirt as the base layer. Over the t-shirt, he adds a tan jacket, and for the bottoms, he chose brown pants, with earthy tones that blend seamlessly with his jacket. He accessorizes with a green cap, silver rings, and bracelets and finishes the outfit with a pair of black Converse sneakers

Outfit, hat, and accessories,

The song Jaejin chose for his second performance was Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez.

He was drawn to the song's unique blend of dark lyrics and electro-pop sensibility. As a fan of Melanie Martinez's music, he knew it would be the perfect song to match his plan.

For this performance he wanted to showcase his vocal versatility without reverting to another ballad. and make it different enough from his first performance.

The major change to this song is that he turned the song from electro-pop to strictly Rock. he used grittier vocals when singing, adding more power and intensity to the song.

Another key change in Jaejin's adaptation was his introduction of an electric guitar. With the help of a trainer, he dedicated hours to mastering the song on the instrument, and after learning the song's melody he decided to incorporate dynamic power chords and brief riffs throughout to infuse the performance with a distinctive rock energy. He also adjusted the tempo to suit the rock style more by speeding it up to add a lighter feel to the song.

The song was performed in English.

@LGCENT JUST POSTED A PHOTO!

2024.07.15

happy 22nd birthday, carter jaejin!

#lgctrainees #lgcent #carterjaejin #lgcbirthday

Jaejin sat alone in the practice room, a guitar resting on his lap, its weight both familiar and foreign. His fingers, still awkward on the strings, moved hesitantly, finding their place with slow precision. It had only been a few months since he picked up the guitar, and already, new callouses were forming on the tips of his fingers—a quiet symbol of his hard work and the grit required to embrace something outside his comfort zone.

The room was silent except for the uncertain, soft strumming of his chords. Jaejin worked through basic scales, his focus steady as he adjusted his fingers on the frets. Each slide felt a bit gritty, the new callouses making every string's texture more pronounced, but he welcomed the discomfort as a sign of progress.

Despite practicing diligently for months, Jaejin could only see small improvements. The sound slowly became more coherent, though still tentative. Each strum felt slightly more confident, but his touch still carried a hint of uncertainty. The guitar responded better, yet the progress seemed gradual, with gaps still evident in his playing. As the last note faded into the quiet room, Jaejin leaned back, his raven hair falling into his eyes. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but he could tell the effort he was putting in was paying off. For now, he took comfort in the small victories, knowing that each practice session was inching him closer to finding his own rhythm.

TRAINEE MISSION 017| Review

Week One: During week one of filming Jaejin found it hard to connect with the performance. Regarding the song, he didn't really care for it and found the lyrics pretty idiotic. "Oh my beautiful target, You zoom zoom my heart like a rocket". absolutely stupid. the dance was simple enough that he could follow along easily and the vocals were not too demanding. Overall a pretty blah week for him. Jaejin Rating : 4/10.

Week two: Jaejin is a big fan of dbsd so he was already family with the song. Though he was familiar with it he wasn't a huge fan of performing it. He enjoyed the song better than week one's and felt like he matched the vibe and concept much better, but still thought the song was a little flat and bland. The dancing was still pretty simple and again the song didn't require too much effort. He did however enjoy the rapping bits in the song and would have liked to try performing them. Jaejin Rating: 6/10

Week Three: By far his least favorite week of the bunch. Nothing during the week went right for him. He found himself fading into the background more often than he would like to admit. He struggled with the dancing and quick footwork. He also didn't like the song (though it was probably because he was in a bad mood the whole week) Vocally he found it hard to keep up while jumping around stage. He would never want to perform this again. Jaejin Rating 0/10

Week four: Week four was a 180-degree difference from week three. He loved everything about the performance. Vocally, he found singing the song challenging but not impossible and he thought that the dance was fun and bright. He liked that the concept felt young and fresh, which he thinks matches his vibe. Again he liked the rapping and how the performers played off each other. Jaejin's rating: 8/10.

Week Five: Keeping the performance going on a high note he really liked performing the week 5 song. The dance was very hard this week, and it took him a long time to remember them and where he was supposed to be at any given moment. That and the mix of floor work and jumping was a bit much for him. Vocally the song didn't require any complex vocals so it was comfortable. The song was still very fun to perform and even though struggled he didn't mind much. Jaejin's Rating: 7/10.

Week 6: this was his favorite performance of the week by far. He found the performance challenging but rewarding. He loved the song and was humming it all week, even when he wasn't performing. The dance was difficult but once it was all put together was so satisfying. Jaejin's Rating 8.5/10.

Week 7: An ok song to end their performances with. He liked how upbeat it was and found the melody funny and charming. The dance was one of the easier ones to learn. he hated that they had to perform with the senior trainees. He felt that comparisons would be inevitable and that the junior trainees were at a disadvantage. There were also too many people and moving parts that he felt like he couldn't stand out from the crowd. Jaejin's Rating: 6/10.

Notes: He liked that they performed more upbeat songs, but thinks there could have been more variety. Maybe a ballad or rock cover could have been fun.

He found himself struggling with standing out in the group and learning the dance steps. Also through a few different songs, he realized he would like to possibly dabble in rap. He liked the musicality of it and it was one of the first time he didn't find it super corny.