Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
‘Produce 101‘ episode eight is here and so is a new evaluation task!
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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3y4yu7_eng-sub-160311-ep8-1_fun
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3y4qqj_eng-sub-160311-ep8-2_fun
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The beginning of this episode was familiar territory for most, if not all, Korean competition shows that have come out in the last few months. I am beginning to think that all Mnet shows are now contractually obligated to make at least one reference to Jessi’s iconic “this is a competition” rap. So, for fear of angering the Mnet gods, ‘Produce 101’ had its take on it. I found it interesting that they utilized Jessi’s half English-half Korean tirade to teach English, but whatever. It is certainly far more ratchet than a traditional ESL course, and props to Juna for doing a pretty dead-on impression.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlLbXmB9PDo
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Anyway, this week marks the beginning of another evaluation task. Said evaluation task centers around the idea of each contestants’ ‘concept’. To do this, the contestants chose one of five songs that express girlish, cute, sexy, or girl crush concepts. But prior to the task actually taking place, there will be an elimination of the lowest scoring 26.
The build up to the evaluation task begins on a dour note. It is no longer surprising that the contestants (and idols in general) are dragged rather ruthlessly by netizens. That being said, it’s still a bit sad to hear just how bothered contestants are about the harsh comments that they receive.
On a more positive note, even the contestants are aware of just how cringy K-pop lyrics are. That said, the lyrics to “24 Hour” are far tamer than a lot of other songs (“the best ever cum in my life”, anyone?), but still hilarious nonetheless.
Insun will forever remain the token crotchety grandma of ‘Produce 101’.
As per the last few weeks, it has really been the lower ranking contestants’ stages that I’ve anticipated the most. There is something captivating about the drive inherent in utter desperation and, so far, that drive has never failed to produce engrossing stages. This week, however, the lowest ranking group seemed resigned to failure. Such resignation is understandable due to many of the contestants’ drastic drop in rankings.
Since we’re talking about rankings, Kahi called Sohye out on her second place dance ranking being the sole result of her popularity and not her ‘talent’.
Like the moist phoenix that she is, Sohye impressed with her uncanny (i.e. fake) ability to seem utterly confused but still properly execute her choreography. Luckily for us, her teammate Sohee was more than happy to pick up the incapable of dancing slack. Girl messed up so much that even Sohye appears shocked (or is it just that she is even more confused than usual?).
That look of disdain though.
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After the build-up, we are finally given a ranking update, and only contestants ranking between #1-35 will be saved and the remaining 26 will be eliminated.
Sira and a few of the other girls who showed singing/dancing talent in the last episode managed to place within the top 35 this week. The top three consists of Mina, Yoojung, and Sejeong, while notable eliminations included Ariyoshi Risa, Seohyeung, and Siwon.
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Next week’s episode will be all about the latest evaluation performances. Let’s anticipate!
