Singing auditions at a crossroads
Choi Sung-bong captivated the nation not only for his deep baritone but also for his humble background, growing up in an orphanage when he auditioned for “Korea’s Got Talent” in 2011. / Korea Times file
By Chung Ah-young
MBC will discontinue its flagship audition show “Great Birth” due to dwindling viewer ratings and applicants. / Korea Times file
Mnet’s “Superstar K” was hugely popular when it was first aired in 2009, generating aspiring K-pop singers. / Korea Times file
When the singing contests were competitively created around 2011 to generate aspiring K-pop singers, millions of applicants took to the broadcasting stations to audition for the programs, which they believed to be the gateway to becoming a star.
Recently, the popularity of numerous singing audition programs such as Mnet’s “Superstar K,” MBC’s “Great Birth” and SBS’s “K-pop Star” is seemingly falling.
More and more viewers are turning away from the shows due to the apparent monotony of similar audition formats.
Following tvN scrapping its audition programs “Korea’s Got Talent” and “Opera Star” last year because of the over-heated competition, MBC announced this week that it will discontinue its flagship audition show “Great Birth” due to dwindling viewer ratings and applicants.
“We have no plans for season 4 as the number of applicants began dramatically decreasing from season 3. We can’t make the number of applicants public,” said an official from MBC. The network decided to stop the program as Han Dong-geun, its final winner of the season 3, failed to find an agency, other winners also were unable to attract public attention.
The show first aired in November 2010 when the nation was swept by a slew of talent programs both on national networks and cable channels. At first, the program was considered an imitation of Superstar K, but the producers put more emphasis on the mentoring system. This guided the participants in their own style, which set it apart from other shows.
40,000 applicants packed Jamsil Stadium to audition for “Superstar K3” in Seoul in 2011. / Korea Times file
Korean-Chinese participant Baek Chung-gang, the final winner of “Great Birth.” / Korea Times file
The first season of Great Birth was popular, receiving the viewer ratings of 20 percent as Korean-Chinese participant Baek Chung-gang, the final winner of the contest, took the nation by storm. However, since Baek, the show hasn’t generated a star winner, with its third season last year just keeping it afloat with ratings of 7.5 percent. Other talent shows had their own popular singers, such as Superstar K’s Huh Gak, Roy Kim, Ulala Session and K-Pop Star’s Lee Hi.
But other audition programs are grappling with the single-digit viewer ratings. “It’s obvious that the country’s talent pool is running out in providing contestants for a slew of audition programs,” said an official from an entertainment agency.
Music critics say that the quality of competition is a major problem as too many similar shows are seeking a limited pool of quality applicants. This has led to the public’s growing fatigue with the singing competitions. Their decline was predictable when they simultaneously sprang up a couple of years ago. The competition process takes a few months which means viweres easily grow tired of the programs.
To prevent this, the producers have excessively used the contestants’ back stories to appeal to the audience’s hearts. What is worse is that even their stories are similar, making the audience feel even more bored.
When Choi Sung-bong auditioned for “Korea’s Got Talent” in 2011, the nation was captivated not only by his deep baritone but also by his humble background, growing up in an orphanage.
Nicknamed as Korea’s Paul Potts, he has been supported by fans and sponsors to help him continue singing. CNN covered the rags-to-riches story the same year, making him a global sensation. But there was controversy over his background as tvN edited out part of his stage interview about his education at Arts High School and aired it as if he was talented without receiving any vocal training. Viewers complained about the cable station’s fabrication of his educational background to raise ratings with a moving story.
Huh Gak, the homely winner of “Superstar K2,” was also an example of a touching human story as he had been a ventilator cleaner with his twin brother before winning the show. He defeated John Park, a well-educated, good-looking Korean-American who had previously taken part in “American Idol.”
The contests’ dependence on selling a human story has backfired as the shows failed to live up to the original goals of discovering hidden talented singers. Also, after the contests finish, there are not many winners who become well known or continue their singing careers.