The Beauty of Tone Deafness

INTRODUCTION

South Korea is the land of beautiful people, beautiful culture, and beautiful singers. If you were born into Korean culture or just stumbled on it by accident and decided to be an eternal tenant, for sure at least once you sighed and thought, “How I wish I could be on the stage, as well.” Personally, that thought crossed my mind as well, and even though I attended musical school, I know what self-reflection is and that I am far from Korean standards for singers.

But, did that stop me from singing? No, my shower is my stage and my bedroom is my disco, and I am satisfied with it, but some people still hope to become professional singers. Some are successful in their dreams, while others fail and decide to pursue their other dreams.

Some might even feel sorry for those talented people who didn’t get the chance to stand in the spotlight, but there is another group that has an even lesser chance at success: the tone-deaf community.

Everyone should have a chance. Don’t you agree with this statement? Such powerful statements are used by politicians and influencers, but truly, this phrase could be used everywhere, so why not even in the singing world?

I can see your voice was a South Korean program, which created a chance for both the less skilled community and the highly skilled community.

The show began airing in early 2015 and has currently aired for ten seasons, gaining great popularity from both domestic and foreign fans.

FORMAT

The format of the show is very simple: there are main hosts who introduce the singers, and then there is a panel who adds a comedy aspect to it and are considered “tone-deaf detectives." Other than the main hosts and panel, there is usually a singer present, be it a solo artist or group.

The rules of the show are very simple as well; the professional singer has to find the fake singer, eliminate them, and get the skilled singer into the final round to sing a duet with the professional solo singer or a group. If the professional singer fails to eliminate the fake singer, the duet is still going to happen, but will it sound nice?

Throughout the whole episode, the professional singer preset can receive clues and, based on the clues, eliminate the fake singer.

MAIN HOSTS

THE CONTESTANTS

As this article’s mission is to give hope to people who were not born with skilled vocals, I want to focus on the contestants who still managed to win, even if they lacked the proper skills. Honestly, I always cheer for the tone-deaf community, not only for the comedy factor, but overall, they always enter the show to gain recognition for their true jobs.

Thus, let’s talk about the most famous tone-deaf contestants who made it to the final stage and had the opportunity to sing with a professional singer!

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JEONG HYEON UK and KIM JOHAN

Let us start this amazing vocal lineup with Kim Johan's final duet with this man, who broke not only hearts but eardrums as well with his outstanding performance of Johan's hit ''I want to fall in love'' which is a sad love song. The contestant truly ''killed'' the audience with heartfelt singing of the first line from the chorus, ''I am so lonely, and tears come into my eyes ''. Johan is obviously shocked and disappointed, but he continues with his song and finally delivers the line from his song ''Are you happy in this moment?" and directs it to his duet partner, who continues with his outstanding performance. 

Even though the contestant, Jeong Hyeon Uk, is not a real singer, he is a successful student of civil engineering. If you enjoyed the clip above, do check out the rest of the episode. 

This contestant was in the second season and seventh episode of this show. 

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BALLAD OF CHUN HYANG and HWAN HEE

We are going to continue with the second season of this show, and this time, the professional singer present was none other than talented Hwan Hee, who is a member of the R&B duo Fly to the Sky. Hwan Hee successfully reached the final and picked the beautiful contestant, which can be seen in the clip above. The song they picked is "Missing You," which was released in 2003, which is the median age for young idols (yes, it does make me feel old).

Just like with the previous duo, the chorus is sung by the contestant, who delivers the sad line, "Please listen to my heart just once," with a somewhat cheerful out-of-tune voice, which makes the audience and panel toe over. The contestant doesn't give up on her chance and continues with, ''Everyday, every night, I am missing you'', which makes one wonder: what is she missing with such a cheerful representation of the song?

Hwan Hee is clearly in a state of shock, but quickly overcomes it and continues with the song, but the contestant is so good that Hwan Hee just giggled and gave the beautiful lady a solo of her lifetime.

If you want to see this episode, then check out the second season, episode six!

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PARK SEONG ROK and GUMMY

Gummy—the queen of love songs—that's how we could describe this singer. She also joined this amazingly entertaining show and reached the final with "Flower Boy Police Officer, which truly mesmerized not one pair of eyes on the show. Together, they decided to sing a romantic song, ''If you come back''. Gummy starts the song with words towards her partner: ''I trust you''. But, since you are reading this article, you know that the trust was broken. The true character of the contestant is revealed in the chorus when he sings, ''Still I live, embracing the remaining memories alone. I walk the road we walked together." Even though the Flower Boy Officer didn't win the vocal jackpot, we must admit that he has a very strong voice. His voice is so strong that he basically sweats his way to the final of the song, and our lovely Gummy has to help him with wiping that sweat off. I think all of us would be sweating if we had to sing along, Gummy.

The real person behind the fake persona is a real police officer, Park Seong Rok, who won the show, but also the heart of the whole audience.

If you want to see the whole episode, check out the tenth episode of the second season.

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PARK JUN SEOK and JESSI

With this performance, we're going to dip our toes into the third season of this show, and we are introduced to Jessi, who is, to this day, a very famous singer who is known for her boldness and unique badass style of songs. She reaches the final stage with a timid-looking man nicknamed Yun Jong Sin's Slave, who delivers an almost perfect performance—at least to his ears. Jessi looks more than dissapointed, but continues their duo concert and embraces the man, continuing the amazing song, ''Life is good''.

Indeed, that final stage had the energy of a full-time concert, and to this day, it remains one of my most favorite final stages. 

And who is the timid-looking man? Well, a nice florist named Park Jun Seok.

If you want to see the whole episode, search for the sixth episode of the third season.

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JO JUN BEOM and INSOONI

If someone says the name, ''Insooni'' I immediately thought of two songs: the OST from Jumong and ''Goose's Dream'', and indeed, Insooni reached the final with a macho-looking man dressed in black. Insooni starts the song with her perfect voice, but then comes the dreaded chorus and the first line, ''Yes, I have a dream. I believe in that dream. Please watch over me." Let's say that we should applaud this man for his very strong vocal skills. Insooni is clearly shocked, but she continues the amazing duet and outshines her partner with her flawless high notes. At the very end, Insooni admits that she starts to sing weirdly under the influence of her partner, but still, her performance is flawless.

 If you want to check out the whole performance, go to the third episode of the second season.

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YI U RYEOL and 2PM

Is anyone a fan of 2 PM? I know that with the flow of the Korean wave, we are getting new groups almost every month, but 2PM is a very famous boygroup that has produced many hit songs, such as ''I'll be back'' or ''Hand Up'' or even ''Heartbeat''.

2PM members also graced this show with their presence and reached the final stage with a quirky-looking young man, whose nickname was ''Jun.K's best friend". The song they sang in the final was none other than ''I'll be back'' which has a catchy chorus, which the contestant quickly took over, ruining 2PM's dreams to win the final duet. But not being able to sing was not the only thing the contestant was lacking in; it was the dancing as well. Let me just say that, as the author of this article, I do feel like a twin of this man in terms of dancing. Yes, standing on one spot and moving your hands up and down is the only single deadly dance move of mine.

The first lines of the chorus, ''I'll be back'' sounded more like a screech, but hey, we do not discriminate here, so we welcome those T-Rex screeches, and we even join them! Next time, let's have a tone-deaf karaoke party, please. 

If you want to see the whole episode, check out the ninth episode of the third season!

FINAL THOUGHTS

With Mr. Yi U Ryeol, we reached the final stage of this article, and I do want to thank you all for giving this article a bit of your time. Hopefully, me and the contestants made you smile; after all, they are the true heroes of this article. Since this show has many seasons, you can be sure that there are more fake singers, but I could only post those that the official Youtube channel featured on their page.

Remember, it doesn't matter if you are a bad singer or a good singer; the importance lies in the feelings you put into singing. Don't let others's opinions stop you; do what you are passionate about. Which means that you should stop hiding in the shower and sing out loud in the open! Let your voice be heard, and you'll see that many others are going to gain the confidence to do the same.

Now, if you are a regular watcher of this show, what episode would you recommend to other people who crave to see fake singers in the final stage of the show?