‘Mr. Trot 1’ performers and judges rehash the ‘Burning Trotman’

MBN's new Trot audition program 'Flaming Trotman' appears to have failed to find a new face. There is some overlap with the cast and judges from Season 1 of TV Chosun's 'Mr. Trot'.

In the 5th episode of MBN's 'Burning Trotman' (hereinafter referred to as 'Bult'), which aired on the afternoon of the 17th, a one-on-one match situation continued. The four people who appeared on this day's broadcast - Shin Seong, Nam Seung-min, Han Kang, and Kim Jung-yeon - are from Season 1 of 'Mr. Trot'.

Shinsung sang Na Hoon-ah's 'Woman on the Beach', which requires a relaxed singing, with deep bass and soft bends, giving off a sugar-like charm that melts your eardrums. Shinsung scored 510 points and won by a large margin over Enoch, who received 178 points.

Nam Seung-min and Han Kang attracted attention as the results were reversed due to the scores of the 'celebrity delegation'. Nam Seung-min increased the sense of crisis by selecting Geumjandi's 'Let's Live in Seoul', which did not match the vocal range, but touched the hearts of people by showing his unique emotional voice. However, Han Kang, the protagonist of 'Unconventional Transformation', who created a captivating performance with Seo Ju-kyung's 'Bench', all-killed the votes of the 13-member celebrity delegation and jumped to 526 points, causing a landslide victory over Nam Seung-min.

Kim Jung-yeon showed the performance craftsmanship that he showed in 'Mr. Trot 1' in the same way in 'Bult', another broadcasting company. Kim Jung-yeon, who selected Kim Sang-guk's 'Fire Butterfly', devastated the scene with a huge 'water show' in which she performed an alluring dance while splashing water using a huge special set filled with 300 liters of water, receiving a standing ovation. Kim Jung-yeon, who delivered an all-time performance, won with a score of 120 to 565.

Judges Xia Junsu, Kim Yong-im, Yoon Myung-seon, Joo Hyun-mi, and Park Hyun-bin are also former members of 'Miss Trot' and 'Mr. Trot.' The same trot audition screening was conducted only by changing broadcasting stations.

'Bult' is a program presented by PD Seo Hye-jin (CEO of Crea Studio), who created 'Miss Trot' and 'Mr. Trot', in partnership with MBN after she left the company. The similarity to 'Mr. Trot' has already been pointed out since the teaser was released before the first broadcast.

Naturally, the cast and judges competing again were similar, and even the format was similar. The fact that there are 100 audition participants is also the same. Even the poster design containing the faces of all participants is similar. If we try to find a difference, the costume concept of the 'Mr. Trot' participants in the teaser video is red, and the costume concept of 'Flaming Trotman' is blue.

The only thing that differentiates it from ‘Mr. Trot’ is the ‘open prize system.’ The prize money is not set, but increases depending on the competency of the participant. However, there is no significant change in the core enough to be considered a spin-off of 'Mr. Trot'.

It doesn't seem easy to find a new face that PD Seo Hye-jin was confident about. ‘Mr. Trot’ has already won by a landslide in terms of viewership ratings and completion. In addition, Hwang Young-woong, who is ranked first in support votes, is also being accused of ‘pushing’ out of nowhere. The future of 'Bult', which looks like a rerun of 'Mr. Trot', is not bright.

Ryu Ye-ji, Ten Asia Reporter ryuperstar@tenasia.co.kr