Color4

Biodata

Members

Background / History

Formation and Debut

Color4 formed from the four trainees who remained at Leap Entertainment after Qi Wang’s dismissal and the withdrawal of the Qi family’s investment. Fei Yue secured replacement funding and developed a debut plan around the remaining lineup 15 22.

Fei Yue chose Color4, pronounced “Color four,” to represent its four members and echo “colorful”—vibrant, wonderful, and energetic. The group’s average age at formation was under twenty 15.

Their October 10 debut consisted of a Weibo announcement rather than a press conference. The members spent the day practicing as usual, while their debut post attracted hostile comments. Music New Trends subsequently rejected their promotional application because they were too obscure 16.

When Gu Zhijing suggested entering a survival show, Sheng Chi refused because he wanted the group to remain together. Their documentary established a shared ambition: becoming the number-one idol boy group in the domestic entertainment industry 16 17.

First Stages and Breakthrough

Fei Yue secured their first promotional stage on Music Show. After arriving before dawn and waiting until 2:30 a.m. the following morning to record, Color4 delivered an elaborate performance ending with Gu Zhijing miming a sniper shot and Sheng Chi dropping to his knees 17.

Their early work remained precarious. At a small-brand commercial event, the organizer attempted to add malicious promotional games without a signed contract or deposit. Fei Yue refused, and all four members packed up and left with him 19.

Less than half a month after debut, Color4 performed at the City D Autumn Music Festival despite having no previous live-performance experience. Initially jeered by the crowd, they received encouragement from two attendees and won over the audience with live vocals, dancing, and rap 19 20.

The festival video spread online on the same day their Music Show stage aired. The contrasting performances—one carefully produced for television, the other a fully live festival set—triggered their first major surge in popularity. Their debut-song topic reached fifth on the trending searches, with over one hundred million views 21.

Debut-Evaluation Rumors

Their sudden visibility revived accusations that Leap Entertainment had rigged its debut evaluations and driven other trainees away. Fei Yue countered with a statement explaining that Color4 consisted of the only four trainees who had stayed when the company nearly collapsed 22.

The statement strengthened fan support and renewed interest in their documentary and debut song. Although small magazines and niche brands began making offers, Fei Yue declined scattered opportunities that would exhaust the members or exploit their new fanbase, prioritizing their first album and longer-term development 22 23.

Major Activities

Starlight Show

Color4 entered Starlight Show, a sixteen-group idol competition, while preparing their first album. All four agreed to participate despite weekly live broadcasts overlapping with album promotions and other work 25.

The demanding promotion schedule culminated in Sheng Chi collapsing from exhaustion during filming. After hospitalization, Gu Zhijing urged him to share responsibility for the collaboration stage. Sheng Chi agreed to rely more on his teammates, though he returned to work after only a day of rest at the dorm 34.

CMJ Music Awards

Fei Yue explained that a music-show first place was necessary to qualify for a CMJ rookie-group nomination. With only three days remaining, Color4 chose not to divert resources from Starlight Show, but their solo, group, and CP fan communities united to pursue first place on New Direction anyway 39.

Color4 subsequently attended the CMJ Music Awards, making their first red-carpet appearance. Yi Xiao lent them his private lounge after staff failed to allocate them one and Wei Ming refused to share his 40 41.

The group won Rising Group of the Year. The award marked their move beyond fandom popularity into recognition by the mainstream music industry 41 42.

Plagiarism Accusation and Romantic Stage

After the award, a trending topic accused their album song “Customized Heart-Fluttering” of plagiarism. The members learned that a dispute with Wei Ming’s fans had escalated into smear articles; Gu Zhijing suspected an additional party had amplified the attack 43.

Rather than replace the song for Starlight Show, Sheng Chi chose to perform it directly. To improve their awkward romantic presentation, Yu Wenwen arranged paired shopping dates for practice and variety footage. Sheng Chi and Gu Zhijing filmed an aquarium outing together 44 45.

The resulting stage helped #WantToDateColor4 trend and earned full marks for adherence to the assigned theme 48.

Music and Programs

Performance Style

Live Vocals and Team Support

• Their festival breakthrough featured every microphone live, demonstrating their ability to sing while dancing 21.
• Members provide backing vocals to support one another; Gu Zhijing completed the festival performance without missing a beat despite comparatively weaker fundamentals 20.
• During Starlight Show’s equipment failure, memorized choreography and Sheng Chi’s harmony helped keep the performance intact 28.

Stage Arrangements

• Verses generally rotate the center position between members, followed by synchronized group choreography in the chorus 28.
• Their debut promotional stage used a red-and-black backdrop, a disappearing burning rose, and a mimed shooting finale 17.
• Their repertoire expands from forceful debut performances to intimate duets and a bright romantic concept 17 28 48.

Fandom

• Promotion culture: Early solo, CP, and group fans largely worked together to expand Color4’s audience. Other idols later recognized the fandom as effective at promotion without habitually causing trouble 21 35.
• Vegetable terminology: “Color Group” developed into vegetable-themed nicknames and promotional language about “buying” or “selling vegetables.” Fans are also called “veggie girls” or “Vegetable girls” 28 35 40 42.
• Shengjing: Sheng Chi and Gu Zhijing’s duo rap and variety-show interactions inspired a growing CP fandom 21.
• Fan signing: Approximately three hundred fans won admission to a signing event. Photographs of Gu Zhijing wearing a fan-provided bridal veil circulated online 49.
• Security concerns: A sasaeng incident involving Gu Zhijing prompted a company statement and increased precautions, including assistants and security accompanying outside trips 23 25.

Relationships

• Fei Yue — Founder and head manager; secures investment and stages, directs publicity, and rejects both exploitative work and proposals to provoke rival fans 15 19 23 29 30.
• Yu Wenwen — Helps coordinate schedules, interviews, fan events, and variety content; develops the paired-date exercise for their romantic stage 43 44 49.
• Light — Senior girl group and Starlight Show collaboration partner. Its members teach Gu Zhijing patiently, while Xu Yin works with Xu Linyuan on the arrangement; Light also helps display Color4’s fan banner at CMJ 35 37 41.
• Shooter — Established project group and first Starlight Show opponent. Color4’s narrow voting victory becomes a major competitive breakthrough 26 30 31.
• Comet — Senior permanent boy group that first seeks a collaboration, then competes against Color4. Its members remain cordial afterward and express interest in future cooperation 35 43 48.
• Yi Xiao — Senior artist and CMJ judge who offers the group his lounge and encourages them before the ceremony 41.
• Wei Ming — Rival on New Direction. Conflict between the fandoms precedes the plagiarism controversy; he also refuses to share his CMJ lounge 39 40 43.

Trivia

• Jiang Yu proposed “C4 bombs” as a fandom name, but the supplied chapters do not establish its adoption 15.
• Rainbow, “colorful black,” “multicolored white,” and red-blue-green-yellow individual colors were jokingly suggested; none is confirmed as an official color scheme 15.
• The members’ average height exceeds 1.8 meters 41.
• Gu Zhijing named their kitten color so they could joke that the cat plus the four members together made “Color4” 19.