In the "2025 Korea-Japan King of Singers Competition," Japan's Yudai Takenaka strives to uphold his team's pride by choosing the song "Pretender" even under extreme conditions. The competition, airing on the 9th, begins the main round after the preliminaries, with Yudai facing off against Korea's TOP1 Park Seo-jin.

Immediately after the preliminaries, Yudai visited a hospital due to health issues and was advised by doctors not to sing. However, he expressed his strong sense of responsibility to the team, saying, "I really hate losing." Yudai declared his determination, stating, "I hope I can somehow convey it with my heart. I will fight alongside the team until the end."

The song he chose, "Pretender," was hugely popular in Japan and symbolizes Yudai's musical life and youth. Known for its challenging high-pitched parts, Yudai performed this song in the finals of "Active King of Singers Japan," where it accumulated 2 million views on social media. By selecting this song despite his worst vocal condition, Yudai captures the attention of his teammates and the audience.

The "2025 Korea-Japan King of Singers Competition" showcases various genres including Japanese J-POP, ballads, traditional Korean music, bands, and R&B, attracting the interest of the MZ generation. The production team commented, "As Japan's representative TOP1, Yudai showed a stronger sense of responsibility than anyone else. Even in extreme situations where he had to rely solely on his voice, he delivered an even greater resonance," expressing high expectations for Yudai's performance.

The broadcast will air at 9:50 PM on the 9th, marking the official start of the main round. The production team asked for "lots of anticipation." The "2025 Korea-Japan King of Singers Competition" recorded a 5.6% viewership rating in its first broadcast, ranking first among variety shows aired on terrestrial, general programming, and cable channels on Tuesday.