Are K-pop survival shows too cruel?
A surprising number of K-pop groups were formed through survival shows, including big names such as Twice, Seventeen, Monsta X, iKON, BIGBANG and Stray Kids.
Boy-group Stray Kids have become a fourth-generation front-runner after their formation in 2018. Photo by JYP Entertainment.
These shows see contestants – usually teenage and young adult trainees – compete to be chosen as debuting members of a new pop group. With spectacular performances and plenty of drama, it is no wonder these contests are such a big hit with audiences. However, while they clearly have the potential to lead to fame and success, the process can be brutal.
Unfair treatment of contestants
Arguably the biggest culprit for mistreatment of contestants is South Korean television channel Mnet. In 2019, the channel found themselves in hot water with allegations of voting manipulation in their reality shows Produce 101 and Idol School.
The shows were originally formatted through a process of elimination by audience vote, culminating in a group of contestants debuting as K-pop idols. However, during the fourth season of Produce 101, 272 viewers filed a lawsuit to recover the money they had been charged by Mnet’s onsite text voting service (₩100/6p per vote) after noticing suspicious numerical patterns in the voting results.
This led to an investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police, and a subsequent court trial in December 2019, including charges for obstruction of business, fraud and bribery.
Following the arrest of director Ahn Joon-young and chief producer Kim Yong-bum, Mnet stated that they will be using an “observer system,” which will allow for voters to oversee the counting, for current and future reality shows, such as Teen Singer and Queendom, where votes will be overseen by third parties.
Watch ‘PRODUCE X 101’ (X1-MA) Performance.
As well as exploiting viewers, Mnet’s actions have affected the careers of the artists. After the lawsuit, Produce 101’s winning group X1 lost endorsement deals, had their appearance at the 2019 V Live Awards cancelled, and were largely ignored by Mnet in terms of promotion.
Iz*One, winners of previous Mnet survival show Produce 48, also had performances, guest appearances, and even a concert film cancelled. Their Japanese fan club also suspended activity and fans were reimbursed.
Mnet and CJ ENM announced in December 2019 that future plans were being discussed for Iz*One and X1, and trainees eliminated from the survival shows would be fairly compensated.
However, the fact remains that many performers have had their dreams unfairly cut short.
One of this year’s most talked about boy groups, Stray Kids, were put through an Mnet survival show of their own before debuting in 2018 – and it was a tough watch. Remarkably, the original group of nine members (now eight after lead-singer Woojin’s departure) were hand-picked by leader Bang Chan. The then twenty-year-old was trusted by JYP Entertainment’s Park Jin-young to put together a group of talented trainees, and the risk paid off as the boys’ teamwork and chemistry was evident from the beginning.
However, during the show, members Lee Know and Felix were removed from the group for failing to perform at JYP’s tough standards. Australian-born Felix was rejected largely due to his lack of fluency in Korean.
Both eliminations were met with streams of tears from their fellow members, and a particularly moving exchange between Felix and fellow Aussie Bang Chan who told him tearfully,
“I’m never going to leave you behind.”
Lee Know and Felix were later invited back for a final evaluation, and thanks to audience support, JYP decided to debut the group as nine rather than seven. After the result, JYP was criticised by fans for putting the members through so much torment when he was willing to debut them all anyway. Causing severe emotional distress for higher television ratings is undoubtedly cruel, but not uncommon – and if it leads to the kind of success Stray Kids are beginning to taste, one may question if these shows can be worth it for the training and exposure they provide.
Girls Planet 999 – a crucible of fire
August saw the premiere of Mnet’s latest survival competition, Girls Planet 999, in which 99 girls (33 each from Korea, Japan and China – including Hong Kong and Taiwan) battled to be chosen for a new nine-member girl group.
Over the course of twelve episodes and five performance “missions”, huge portions of the contestants were eliminated. The audience voted to save their favourites, and the so-called Planet Masters (K-Pop Masters Sunmi and Tiffany Young; Dance Masters Baek Koo-young and Jang Juhee; and Vocal Masters Lim Han-byul and Jo A-young) awarded “Planet Passes” which allowed three eliminated girls to continue to the next round.
Watch Girls Planet 999 ‘O.O.O’ Performance.
Girls Planet had 999 problems, but preparing trainees for the reality of idol life was not one of them. The girls had to deal with a lot while on the show, not least during the torturous elimination episodes which painfully dragged out the ranking announcements. Tears and anxiety reigned as the girls waited to hear their fates, but most concerning is what went on behind the scenes.
Chinese contestant Liang Qiao, who appeared on the show with her identical twin sister, revealed some shocking information in a live Pocket48 broadcast after her elimination. She explained that as she and many others did not understand Korean, Mnet had promised to provide round-the-clock translators.
However, the girls did not get so much as a dictionary.
Liang Qiao even recalls running out of her dorm room, which she shared with Korean trainee Joung Min and Japanese trainee Hayashi Fuko, seeking help from the filming crew as she was completely unable to communicate with them.
The language barrier was not the only issue that Mnet failed to deal with, as the girls were also subjected to exhausting filming hours. Liang Qiao spoke further in the Pocket48 broadcast, disclosing that shooting the Planet Demo stages at the start of the show lasted 40 hours straight, with no time allocated for sleep.
Soon after, the girls had to film their O.O.O theme song performances which took another three days.
According to Liang Qiao, they were only able to sleep for an hour each day.
This would be taxing for anyone, but considering around a quarter of the contestants were younger than 18, the treatment is particularly alarming.
Watch Girls Planet 999 C-Group ‘Twins’ Hmph!
However, the Girls Planet 999 contestants coped outstandingly well, and the performance missions pushed them to sharpen their musical skills. The Planet Demo stages were littered with off-key vocals and choreography mistakes, but as the show progressed the improvement was stark. Some of the later performances were stunning – the Fate dance routine during the Combination Mission was a particular highlight, and the girls choreographed the entire thing themselves.
While survival shows like this can be cruel, and genuine mistreatment of contestants is unforgivable, they can be a ticket to stardom. Conversely, elimination – when rightfully given – may be a blessing in disguise. Survival shows, in true dystopian spirit, sort the weak from the strong. The K-Pop industry is a harsh world and those who cannot cope with a reality competition like Girls Planet 999 could struggle even more after debut.
Kep1er – an astronomical debut
In the Girls Planet 999 final, nine contestants secured their place as part of brand-new girl group Kep1er (named for “kep”, meaning catching dreams, “1”, signifying the nine girls unifying as one, and as a reference to German astronomer Johannes Kepler). The official members include Kim Chae Hyun, Huening Bahiyyih, Choi Yu Jin, Kim Da Yeon, Seo Yeong Eun, Kang Ye Seo, Ezaki Hikaru, Sakamoto Mashiro, and Shen Xiao Ting.
The girls debuted on January 3rd 2022 with First Impact and punchy title track WA DA DA, which has amassed over 66M views on YouTube. According to Hanteo Chart, Korea’s album sales tracker, the group sold 200,000 copies of First Impact in its first week, with 150,000 on release day. The numbers break the record set by IVE’s Eleven – which sold 152,229 copies in its first week – for debuting artists in 2021 and 2022.
Given the success of survival shows such as Girls Planet 999, it is highly likely that they will continue to be produced. In fact, several new reality shows are expected this year, such as K-Pop Goes Hollywood, which will bring new potential members to NCT’s US-based sub-unit NCT Hollywood.
Also on the horizon is an HBO Max, CJ ENM, and ENDEMOL SHINE BOOMDOG survival competition which aims to unite the South Korean and Latin American markets by forming a group with members from Latin American countries. A combination of well-known K-pop idols and Latin American artists are set to be on the judging panel. While these particular shows are awaiting confirmation, it seems safe to say that, for better or worse, K-pop survival shows are not going anywhere.
Edited by Abby White.
