Great Birth and K Pop Star, Singing Competitions with Different Audiences

SBS's singing competition program K Pop Star had its first live stage last Sunday. The viewing rate was 16.5 %, which was about 4 % higher than the firs live stage of its competing show, Great Birth of MBC.

A recent research shows that the two singing competition shows have markedly different audience groups in terms of age. Most of the audience of Great Birth are women in ther40s and 50s, while the main audience of K Pop Star consists of young people in their 10s and 20s.

The rate of audience votes reflected in the overall score of the competitor are also different. In Great Birth, 60 % of the score comes from the audience vote. So, it has been subject to criticism that the fate of a competitor is determined by popularity rather than ability. On the other hand, K Pop Star reflects only 30% audience votes, and 60 % of the score comes from the judges. This can also be criticized as the producers ignoring the viewers' opinion, and too much relying on he power of the judges. Nevertheless, the result of the first live competition of K Pop Star contracted the prediction. Lee Jeongmi who received a higher score from the judges than Lee Seunghoon got eliminated just because of the audience vote. 30 % still exerted significant influence.

An official of K Pop Star said that the producers are trying hard to find a balance between judges professional opinions and popularity votes.