Before reading this whole article, please be aware that I am just
stating my own opinion and everything is based on my observation as an avid
Korean variety shows viewer.
Man domination in Korean
entertainment division is definitely not a joke especially as variety shows mc.
Usually, every variety show have a number of permanent mc. However, when we
look at difference in number between male and female mcs, it is totally
unbalance. For example, Running Man, Happy Together and Hello Counselor. Each
of these show only have one female member compared to four or five male mc. In
fact, there are many shows consists of all male mcs like Infinite Challenge,
1N2D, Knowing Brothers, New Journey to the West and Radio Star.
Don’t get me wrong because I have
no problem with male mcs. As long as they can bring me laughter, then I don’t
care about their gender. However, I am just wondering why there are not many
female mc in the Korean entertainment shows. In an effort to have more female
mcs in variety shows, some producers did tried to come out with an all-female
mc shows, examples of that are Infinite Girls and Lady Action. Many failed to
attract viewers and got cancelled only after one season. Only a few were successful
and have at most two or three seasons. Recently, there is a show that I see a glimpse
of hope to be a popular all-female hosts.
Sister’s Slamdunk
Last year, KBS broadcasted a show
called Sister’s Slamdunk. At first, I thought it was related to basketball
because of the word slamdunk. I read from many articles to know more about it
and discovered its true premise. The show aims to realize its casts unfulfilled
dream. Personally, I thought that was not a strong premise and I was afraid it
might be kind of similar with Infinite Challenge. But I still gave it a shot
and it was kind of interesting.
Season 1
It started last year on 2016. It
consisted of cast members: Hong Jinkyung, Kim Sook, Min Hyorin, Jessi, SNSD
Tiffany and Ra Miran. Like I said, the premise was each member stated their
dream and other member will provide her support to help her achieve it. The
first one chosen is Kim Sook and her dream is to become a tour bus driver. Honestly,
I felt kind of boring at this time because she was just basically learning how
to drive. There was nothing more to it.
It think the show hit its
popularity when they were fulfilling Min Hyorin’s dream to become a girl group
member. They asked Park Jin Young or better known as Mr JYP to be their
producer. Now, there is more to anticipate like can they sing and dance, what is
their group name and concept. So, they learnt dancing and singing, recording
the song as well as the music video. It was interesting to watch their growth
and also sad at the same time as they struggled to learn new things.
I felt bad for Hong Jinkyung
because yes, she is not a good dancer or singer but people criticism on her
just went overboard. I enjoy watching the show because of a person like her. What
fun can it be if everybody is perfect because there is no challenge to be a
girl group member? As the show progressed smoothly, Tiffany got involved in a
controversy and ultimately left the show. It was suck when an original member
left because they already have chemistry between members. Luckily, she showed
up when their group Unnies performed at last year KBS Entertainment Awards.
The casts’ dreams were as listed
below:
Casts
|
Dream
|
Kim Sook
|
Become a tour bus driver.
|
Min Hyorin
|
Become a girl group member.
|
Jessi
|
Spend time with her parents who live abroad.
|
Hong Jinkyung
|
Host her own tv show.
|
Ra Miran
|
Build a house, sing carol and camping.
|
Tiffany
|
*She left before fulfilling her dream.
|
Click here to watch Sister's Slamdunk Season 1 full episodes.
Season 2
The new season started this
February with new casts. The only members from previous season are Hong
Jinkyung and Kim Sook. This time the show focus is to form a girl group, with
fulfilling each member dreams as side aims. Finally, this show find its strong
point based on last season popularity. The new members are Han Chaeyoung, Kang
Yewon, Hong Jinyoung, Gong Minzy and Jeon Somi. About half of this casts have
musical background so it seems that there might be less challenge compared to
last season. However, it is still early to tell because the show is just
started.
I absolutely have no doubt that
Minzy will be the ace because she is an excellent artist especially a great
dancer and singer. As for Somi, I think her challenge is on how to blend into
the group since most of them are her super senior. But, I am not really worried
about her because Somi is a cheerful person ad I believe she will be just fine.
I never know that Kang Yewon had a musical background. I only know that she is
an actress and former cast of popular SBS variety show ‘Family Outing’. The person
I am most excited to watch is Han Chaeyoung. She is beautiful. No other word
can best describe her other than beautiful. I hope she will not be too shy to
dance or sing. As of today, there were already on episode 2 so there is still
many time to see their progress.
Conclusion
I hope Sister’s Slamdunk will
last for many season and can become an example of a successful all-female mc
variety show. I believe that the producer’s decision to stick to the producing
a girl group idea is worthwhile. As we can see, the concept of a variety show
that produce an idol group has become a trend in Korean entertainment industry.
Among the popular examples are ‘Sixteen’ and ‘Produce 101’. But, what
differentiate this show is that instead of fresh faces or agency trainee, the
members are an already establish celebrities. It is fun to see a new side of well-known
celebrities as they challenge themselves into learning something new. I think
the experience they gain here will be useful because this is an added skill and
later be utilised in their career.
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