There‘s nothing he can’t do, whether it‘s variety shows, national tours, or being a judge.

BTOB’s Lee Chang-sub is actively participating in the SBS audition program ‘Universe League’, the digital variety program ‘The Ex-Convict’, and even his own national tour.

‘Universe League’, in which Lee Chang-sub is appearing as the director of the vocal team ‘Groove’, depicts the process in which 42 contestants, divided into 3 teams, compete against each other like a sports league to reach the final victory where they are given a debut ticket. Each team director must not only judge, but also select team members, trade them, and form the best combination to lead their team to victory.

Since Lee Chang-sub is in the position of director who directly influences the contestants‘ debut, he has completely eliminated his usual playfulness and is leading the team by making use of his experience ‘running’ an actual practical music academy. According to broadcast officials, he is known to be so passionate about giving vocal instruction to the team members separately even on days when there is no filming despite his busy schedule.

His ‘Tongs Vocal Tutoring’ has already become a hot topic online. The ‘Groove’ team mid-term review that aired on November 29th is a representative example. As soon as Lee Chang-sub gave specific instructions such as “Bend your knees a little and make a sound”””Think of making your falsetto in a triangle shape”, the participants’ voices immediately changed, drawing an explosive response from viewers. The ‘National Anthem Test’, which selected the national anthem as the starting song to check the participants‘ exact pitch, also surpassed 60,000 views on YouTube.

Lee Chang-sub is also showing off his ‘vocalist’ side with his first national tour in six years. ‘The Wayfarer’, which opened on the 30th and 1st of last month at the KBS Arena in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, will continue to Gwangju, Busan, Daegu, Suwon, and Cheongju until January next year. He is receiving a favorable response by presenting new songs such as ‘1991’, the title song ‘33’, and ‘Old Town’ from his recently released first solo full-length album.

‘The Convict’, which put Lee Chang-sub in the ranks of entertainers, is also boasting its continued ‘view power’. ‘The Convict’, which tours universities across the country to highlight various departments, has become a popular program on YouTube, with the most recent episodes all surpassing 1 million views within 3 months.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com