The show that has been under fire from Netizens (online fans) and fans all around the world due to the rough start. Starlight Boys, the Korean survival show most K-pop fans have heard of or started watching, has been getting mixed emotions due to the harsh mission in episode 2 titled “Yoo Gwan Woo and Sun Ying Hao compete for a seat in the All-Star Zone, who will become the first Polaris?”
For readers unfamiliar with Korean survival shows, they are competition shows similar to The Voice or American Idol, where aspiring stars compete and learn under celebrities. However, Korean survival shows choose multiple contestants to make a group debut together instead of choosing one winner.
During episode 2, one of the missions was a “Dance till you drop” challenge, where contestants danced to the show’s signal song repetitively until 56 contestants were chosen to pass. If they were not chosen in the beginning, they would have to keep dancing more and more until they were chosen or unable to dance anymore. This caused a lot of problems due to the resting time between dances being only 30 seconds compared to the dance being 2 minutes.
In addition, lower-ranked contestants had a lower chance of passing or being chosen due to their skill level, which forced contestants to continue dancing over 13-15 times. The mission went for 20 rounds of dancing. There were around 27 contestants left dancing with 12 having to leave the show.
During some of the 30-second breaks, contestants dropped to their knees, and others had to get an inhaler due to how out of breath they were. This caused trainees who passed in the beginning rounds to feel sorry and sad for their fellow contestants, making someone cry.
One contestant, Sun Yinghao, spoke up during the harsh mission yelling to stop before the next round started. Contestants stood up and started yelling to stop the next round from taking place.
Sun Yinghao came down from the passing-constant section to speak up to the judges and staff saying, “I know the crew wants us to show our determination and perseverance… But we are human, not machines.” Sun Yinghao was so upset he was not able to continue talking.
Afterward, Judge Lee Seung Gi, countered by saying to the contestants “Didn’t you come here to become K-pop idols? Not to become K-pop artists, but to become idols performing in front of fans… During the concert, the guilders performs up to 30 songs in front of the fans…” His statement silenced the contestants.
After watching the episode, fans and netizens felt brokenhearted for the contestants. Netizens went to Twitter (now known as X) to express their feelings. One Thai fan tweeted, “The show has kids dance to a theme song to select people. They dance for tens of rounds. Some of them are out of breath and need oxygen. The friends who passed can’t do anything. They can only cry and feel sorry for their friends. Until one kid can’t take it anymore. Is this what adults recommend to kids? I think there’s a better way to prevent the industry from rotting any further.”
Another fan angrily tweeted, “Man f*** starlight boys, the whole concept is f***ed up. Why are u making 100 people perform together when they’re not even visible? Then, repeatedly making them do it 19 times with only 30 secs rest, you can see them break, on the verge of a panic attack, and some can’t even breathe.”
Netizens also felt furious with the judges mentioning that the contestants are still trainees and are not used to dancing without stopping. One fan tweeted “The producers & judges of Starlight Boys are crazy like you can’t compare concerts/normal idol practice to making the trainees dance nonstop until they physically can’t stand anymore.. that has nothing to do with skill, Yinghao is a hero for speaking up!!!”
Fans felt this “dance till you drop” challenge went too far and expressed their feelings on social media. After the episode ended, fans later found out that some of the contestants were sent to the hospital, including Ling Qi, BAE173’s Hangyul, Jijun, Shihuan, and even Sun Yinghao, the person who stood up for the other contestants.
Even though the show is still airing, this has raised concerns of fans not just of the show, but survival shows in general. Is this the future of how survival shows will run and play out? Pushing contestants until there hospitalized to get just to get an idol group that will only last for 2 and a half years.
