ID :
186587
Mon, 06/06/2011 - 03:59
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/186587
The shortlink copeid
Forgotten heroes of K-pop return to primetime glory in American Idol fashion
By Sam Kim
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Overshadowed by idols sporting pretty faces, fancy dances and snappy tunes, veteran South Korean vocalists have long taken a backseat in mainstream media, allowing teenage stars to define the country's popular music making a splash around the world.
The scene began to transform when a local broadcasting station cast a group of seven singers, all proven and tested, earlier this year and pitted them against one another in an American Idol-inspired survival contest served up in a reality show format.
"Survival: I'm a singer," which aired on MBC every Sunday evening, soon became the talk of the town and jolted viewers into questioning what their ears have been used to: music that makes up for a lack of singing talent by offering colorful stage choreography.
"For a very long time, everyone always thought, 'Well, you know, the only thing that's successful is idol music, really poppy music,'" Lena Park, a contestant on the show who has released seven albums here since debuting in 1998, said in a telephone interview.
"People are remembering the music that moved them before," the 36-year-old Korean-American R&B singer said, adding the boom in popularity for seasoned singers like herself has given the concept of live concerts "a new renaissance meaning."
Even though the show is a boon for many of her colleagues -- most of whom have sung professionally for at least a decade -- it can mean a big loss of face if they are eliminated by a 500-strong voting audience made up of people from all walks of life.
A singer with the least votes bows out every few weeks. The very first contestant to be eliminated was Kim Kun-mo, who is dubbed "the nation's singer" and has won numerous awards since debuting in 1992.
"With pride and fame at stake, each singer prepares their performance like it's a life-and-death issue," Won Man-sik, chief producer, said as he cited the reason behind the success of his show, whose ratings have risen about 50 percent since the first run.
The show, in which the contestants are supposed to pick songs that are not their own, is also rattling music download charts and racking up hits on YouTube, pet venues for Hallyu, or Korean Wave, stars that are changing the landscape of global music industries.
"The old timers on our show are a testament that Korean pop music comes from a deeper pool of talent and experience. They can help reshape Hallyu, making it a more lasting phenomenon," Won said.
The show had its shaky moment when one of its producers decided to give Kim Kun-mo a second chance after the iconic television star was voted out in the third episode. Instantly, it sparked outrage both online and offline and led to the sacking of the producer.
Park Gil-sung, chief sociology professor at Korea University and a fan of the contest himself, said the row revealed an issue of fair competition, one that people in a fiercely competitive society like South Korea react to sensitively.
"Koreans have long been sickened at news of connections leading to corruption and undermining fair competition. They couldn't stand a tinge of unfairness on their favorite show," he said.
Fairness -- a mantra that even President Lee Myung-bak has held out as a virtue to be respected at all levels of society -- is the bedrock for any survival show to thrive on, said Oh Tai-yoeb, a professor of popular culture at Hanyang University.
"Without fairness, competition means nothing, even in the pop culture industry where consumers look for stars they can justify loving," Oh said.
Oh also spoke of criticism among some artists that survival shows tend to be harsh and too commercial.
"When the end result is generally satisfying even for those who were eliminated, competition can be said to be still positive for the whole industry," he said, citing a television interview in which Kim Yeon-woo, the last contestant to bow out, said he leaves the show as a happy man with a new cause and drive in his life.
Kim, 40, who doubles as a professor at a Seoul university specializing in arts, did not return a call asking for comment.
Lena Park said she remains upbeat about the success of the show and what it has done for her career that, despite her widely acclaimed singing flair, has been less appreciated than hoped for.
"It's greatly increased exposure that I've been receiving up until now," Park said. "I'm able to reach out to wider audiences more than anything else."
Does Park, who grew up in the U.S. and graduated from Columbia University, think the show is an offshoot from American Idol, an Emmy Award-winning show that has drawn fame around the world since its first airing in 2002?
"There's a very general similarity being that, yes, there's a process of elimination, and there's a revolving door for artists," she said. "But that's where all the similarities end. American Idol is dealing with people who are not professional singers."
American Idol, in which a select panel of professionals judges contestants, is open to amateurs within certain age limits.
"Here we have all ages not only in the voting audience, but also amongst our singers. We have all generations, all genres. So it's a different thing a different animal," she said.
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Overshadowed by idols sporting pretty faces, fancy dances and snappy tunes, veteran South Korean vocalists have long taken a backseat in mainstream media, allowing teenage stars to define the country's popular music making a splash around the world.
The scene began to transform when a local broadcasting station cast a group of seven singers, all proven and tested, earlier this year and pitted them against one another in an American Idol-inspired survival contest served up in a reality show format.
"Survival: I'm a singer," which aired on MBC every Sunday evening, soon became the talk of the town and jolted viewers into questioning what their ears have been used to: music that makes up for a lack of singing talent by offering colorful stage choreography.
"For a very long time, everyone always thought, 'Well, you know, the only thing that's successful is idol music, really poppy music,'" Lena Park, a contestant on the show who has released seven albums here since debuting in 1998, said in a telephone interview.
"People are remembering the music that moved them before," the 36-year-old Korean-American R&B singer said, adding the boom in popularity for seasoned singers like herself has given the concept of live concerts "a new renaissance meaning."
Even though the show is a boon for many of her colleagues -- most of whom have sung professionally for at least a decade -- it can mean a big loss of face if they are eliminated by a 500-strong voting audience made up of people from all walks of life.
A singer with the least votes bows out every few weeks. The very first contestant to be eliminated was Kim Kun-mo, who is dubbed "the nation's singer" and has won numerous awards since debuting in 1992.
"With pride and fame at stake, each singer prepares their performance like it's a life-and-death issue," Won Man-sik, chief producer, said as he cited the reason behind the success of his show, whose ratings have risen about 50 percent since the first run.
The show, in which the contestants are supposed to pick songs that are not their own, is also rattling music download charts and racking up hits on YouTube, pet venues for Hallyu, or Korean Wave, stars that are changing the landscape of global music industries.
"The old timers on our show are a testament that Korean pop music comes from a deeper pool of talent and experience. They can help reshape Hallyu, making it a more lasting phenomenon," Won said.
The show had its shaky moment when one of its producers decided to give Kim Kun-mo a second chance after the iconic television star was voted out in the third episode. Instantly, it sparked outrage both online and offline and led to the sacking of the producer.
Park Gil-sung, chief sociology professor at Korea University and a fan of the contest himself, said the row revealed an issue of fair competition, one that people in a fiercely competitive society like South Korea react to sensitively.
"Koreans have long been sickened at news of connections leading to corruption and undermining fair competition. They couldn't stand a tinge of unfairness on their favorite show," he said.
Fairness -- a mantra that even President Lee Myung-bak has held out as a virtue to be respected at all levels of society -- is the bedrock for any survival show to thrive on, said Oh Tai-yoeb, a professor of popular culture at Hanyang University.
"Without fairness, competition means nothing, even in the pop culture industry where consumers look for stars they can justify loving," Oh said.
Oh also spoke of criticism among some artists that survival shows tend to be harsh and too commercial.
"When the end result is generally satisfying even for those who were eliminated, competition can be said to be still positive for the whole industry," he said, citing a television interview in which Kim Yeon-woo, the last contestant to bow out, said he leaves the show as a happy man with a new cause and drive in his life.
Kim, 40, who doubles as a professor at a Seoul university specializing in arts, did not return a call asking for comment.
Lena Park said she remains upbeat about the success of the show and what it has done for her career that, despite her widely acclaimed singing flair, has been less appreciated than hoped for.
"It's greatly increased exposure that I've been receiving up until now," Park said. "I'm able to reach out to wider audiences more than anything else."
Does Park, who grew up in the U.S. and graduated from Columbia University, think the show is an offshoot from American Idol, an Emmy Award-winning show that has drawn fame around the world since its first airing in 2002?
"There's a very general similarity being that, yes, there's a process of elimination, and there's a revolving door for artists," she said. "But that's where all the similarities end. American Idol is dealing with people who are not professional singers."
American Idol, in which a select panel of professionals judges contestants, is open to amateurs within certain age limits.
"Here we have all ages not only in the voting audience, but also amongst our singers. We have all generations, all genres. So it's a different thing a different animal," she said.
