A2K (JYP) Episodes 4 - 6
Aug. 3rd, 2023 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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paradisediner The LA boot camp dance evaluations! I know ep 7 is also out, but I think it's easiest to group the episodes together by subject.
I feel like this series is already flying by... I definitely prefer the shorter episode length compared to other survival shows.
Anyway, we started the LA boot camp off with the dance evaluations. Before getting into that though, JYP outlined how the boot camp will go. The main thing that stood out to me was that the debut group number isn't fixed, so the girls don't have to get cutthroat about beating the other contestants. Instead, they can focus on improving and showcasing themselves. It feels refreshing, but I doubt they intend to take on all eleven of the girls in the end.
I also liked that the contestants will have a say in each other's evaluation, especially in regards to personality. While it's true that this could result in some mean girl behavior of cliques banding together to vote a target down, I think social cohesion is really important for idol teams. It frustrates me that some survival shows don't seem to account for whether the final contestants actually work well together, so it was nice to see that addressed here. We'll see how well it pans out.
But on to the dancing. I'm really in no place to judge, but I thought overall they did very well. The contestants who are new to dancing were visibly amateur, as expected, but they still demonstrated a lot of effort. I liked that they weren't constrained to only girl group choreo, so we got to see a wider range of styles instead of the constant Dalla Dalla from the auditions. If I'm not wrong, all the songs were JYP songs, which I suppose makes sense since it's a JYP show. However, given the fact that JYP himself is so omnipresent in it, I feel like this is more propaganda than a serious survival show... It especially feels like a weird choice given that the U.S. seems to be the main market for this, and in theory many of the viewers have little context for what JYP Entertainment is and wouldn't care. Then again, maybe that is why they are pushing the JYP agenda so much.
The fact that eight out of eleven contestants got awarded the dance stone made me laugh though. I feel like it cheapens it? I expected it to be harder to earn the stone given that they have a second chance later to get it, but nah. I'm glad that this stage visibly included some evaluators besides JYP, but...hmm...the fact that apparently there was robust debate over who the top three contestants would be and we saw NONE of it bugged me. Plus, the other evaluators' faces were blurred.
(In contrast, I've also been watching the SM survival show NCT LASTART, designed to select the debut member for the Japan NCT unit. You'd think it would have a lot in common with A2K since it's also one label's show, but it really doesn't? A2K is all about one dude (JYP the man), whereas LASTART has three main hosts/judges each episode, has been teasing appearances from other artists/staff, and also NAMED the other evaluators who are judging the performances and shown their faces during the conversations (albeit, the talk is edited severely for concision.) You even hear the voices of the staff interviewing the contestants behind the camera. Not to mention the performances have not all been SM songs...in fact, the majority weren't. It's still all branding and corporate messaging of its own sort, but it's a lot less obnoxious about it than A2K has been with JYP the man constantly in the spotlight.)
Anyway, I'm interested to hear what other people think about the LA boot camp so far. Do people have favorite contestants yet? Any JYP artists you're hoping will show up later? (Do they have any female artists who speak English? I can think of some guys, but I don't know the JYP girl groups well.) Let me know what you think!
I feel like this series is already flying by... I definitely prefer the shorter episode length compared to other survival shows.
Anyway, we started the LA boot camp off with the dance evaluations. Before getting into that though, JYP outlined how the boot camp will go. The main thing that stood out to me was that the debut group number isn't fixed, so the girls don't have to get cutthroat about beating the other contestants. Instead, they can focus on improving and showcasing themselves. It feels refreshing, but I doubt they intend to take on all eleven of the girls in the end.
I also liked that the contestants will have a say in each other's evaluation, especially in regards to personality. While it's true that this could result in some mean girl behavior of cliques banding together to vote a target down, I think social cohesion is really important for idol teams. It frustrates me that some survival shows don't seem to account for whether the final contestants actually work well together, so it was nice to see that addressed here. We'll see how well it pans out.
But on to the dancing. I'm really in no place to judge, but I thought overall they did very well. The contestants who are new to dancing were visibly amateur, as expected, but they still demonstrated a lot of effort. I liked that they weren't constrained to only girl group choreo, so we got to see a wider range of styles instead of the constant Dalla Dalla from the auditions. If I'm not wrong, all the songs were JYP songs, which I suppose makes sense since it's a JYP show. However, given the fact that JYP himself is so omnipresent in it, I feel like this is more propaganda than a serious survival show... It especially feels like a weird choice given that the U.S. seems to be the main market for this, and in theory many of the viewers have little context for what JYP Entertainment is and wouldn't care. Then again, maybe that is why they are pushing the JYP agenda so much.
The fact that eight out of eleven contestants got awarded the dance stone made me laugh though. I feel like it cheapens it? I expected it to be harder to earn the stone given that they have a second chance later to get it, but nah. I'm glad that this stage visibly included some evaluators besides JYP, but...hmm...the fact that apparently there was robust debate over who the top three contestants would be and we saw NONE of it bugged me. Plus, the other evaluators' faces were blurred.
(In contrast, I've also been watching the SM survival show NCT LASTART, designed to select the debut member for the Japan NCT unit. You'd think it would have a lot in common with A2K since it's also one label's show, but it really doesn't? A2K is all about one dude (JYP the man), whereas LASTART has three main hosts/judges each episode, has been teasing appearances from other artists/staff, and also NAMED the other evaluators who are judging the performances and shown their faces during the conversations (albeit, the talk is edited severely for concision.) You even hear the voices of the staff interviewing the contestants behind the camera. Not to mention the performances have not all been SM songs...in fact, the majority weren't. It's still all branding and corporate messaging of its own sort, but it's a lot less obnoxious about it than A2K has been with JYP the man constantly in the spotlight.)
Anyway, I'm interested to hear what other people think about the LA boot camp so far. Do people have favorite contestants yet? Any JYP artists you're hoping will show up later? (Do they have any female artists who speak English? I can think of some guys, but I don't know the JYP girl groups well.) Let me know what you think!
