In the first half of 2011, MBC was the first broadcasting company to produce one of Korea’s first survival-type singing competitions titled, “I Am A Singer”, a show where talented, veteran singers gather to compete against each other as they perform their own renditions of past famous songs.
It’s safe to say that the show easily became one of the nation’s more televised programs in 2011, which has already been proved with exceptionally high viewer ratings and its immense popularity on countless online music sites.
A few months later came the creation of KBS 2TV’s “Immortal Song 2″, another survival-type singing program but one that is heavily based around idol group singers.
Hankooki News ran a detailed analysis on the main differences between the two ever so popular shows.
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‘Immortal Song 2′ – 1:1 battle, winner competes in next round
‘I Am A Singer’ – After all performances a completed, contestants are judged all at once
#1R: Tournament vs Mass Survival
“Immortal Song 2″ has a tournament-like survival format, where if contestant A beats contestant B, A waits to compete in another round with contestant C. Due to this particular format, the last performer of the show will always have the greatest luck at getting the #1 win.
During an interview with Sports Korea, when PD Kwon Jae Young of “Immortal Song 2″ was asked if he has any worries regarding this survival-type format, he simply laughed and replied, “It’s not like it’s a state bar exam, it’s just for fun.” He stated that the survival format of the show was for the sake of bringing out the comedy in the variety show.
“I Am A Singer” holds a different concept in that once all singers have been given the chance to perform on stage, each contestant gets judged by the audience panel. Voting paper for the audience to use is withheld from distribution only until all singers have performed, in order to maintain a fairer voting system.
‘Immortal Song 2′ – Host is MC Shin Dong Yeop – keeps the audience laughing
‘I Am A Singer’ – Host is Yoon Do Hyun, a fellow contestant of the show, less freedom as MC
#2R: A broadcaster’s emceeing vs. A singer’s emceeing
The roles of the MC in both “I Am A Singer” and “Immortal Song 2″ are to keep the tired audience entertained during the lengthy recording time of the program. There are times when recordings can be delayed by up to a staggering two hours, excluding the time required for artists to prepare themselves for the stage.
The MC of “Immortal Song 2″ is the well-known comedian and MC, Shin Song Yeop. It was reported that one of the recordings had been delayed by approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, while the actual recording spanned well over two hours. Thanks to Shin Dong Yeop’s witty jokes, however, everyone in the audience was kept amused throughout the long dreaded hours. When measures became desperate, MC Shin Dong Yeop would even resort to using insulting humor to keep the audience entertained.
In “I Am A Singer”, Yoon Do Hyun is not only an MC for the show, but also one of the program’s contestants. This limits his emceeing in a way that he doesn’t have as much freedom as MC Shin Dong Yeop to lighten up the audience’s mood and occasionally make subtle, humorous jokes. Out of the 40-50 people who attended the recording, eight of them voiced out their disappointment in Yoon Do Hyun’s role as an MC.
A 40 year old man expressed, “As the recording time takes longer, the patience span of the audience shortens too, but it felt like he didn’t understand that.” A broadcast representative stated, “We wonder if it’ll be a good idea to utilize the singers’ managers, as some of them also work as comedians.”
‘Immortal Song 2′ & ‘I Am A Singer” have both become an intergenerational communication window
#3R: An audience panel with a specific music appreciation for the themed artist vs General audience panel
The ‘audience panel’ concept for both “Immortal Song 2″ and “I Am A Singer” was formed with the same motive. Using this method, both programs are essentially trying to merge the older and younger generations together. A 40 year old woman who was in line to watch “Immortal Song 2″ expressed, “I feel that this show helps the communication between singers born in the 90s and those born in the 50s. Whenever I watch this program, I feel I can actually communicate to my son about music, even with a 30 year difference.”
A 20 year old male spectator voiced out, “I’ve been part of the audience panel for “I Am A Singer” too, and I think both programs are shows where I can go watch with my parents. I have thoughts on applying to get into KBS2’s “Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook”, but I’d rather go to that program with my girlfriend than my parents.”
A broadcast representative stated, “As more programs of similar format come out, people voice out more opinions such as, ‘I’m getting sick of that already’ and ‘They’re just trying to copy’. However, to other viewers and the audience, they say they’re ‘happy that more of these programs are coming out’, and personally come to the studio to watch it directly.”
Source: Hankooki via Nate
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