Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend/ Immortal Songs 2
Network: KBS
Aired from 2011 – present
MCs
Current: Kim Shin Young, Kim Jun Hyun, & Kim Tae Woo
Former: Moon Hee Joon, Hwang Chi Yeul, Jung Jae Hyung, Yoon Min Soo, & Eun Ji won
In this show, singers/groups compete in front of a legendary singer and a 500 member audience for the most votes. The show alternates between starring a legendary singer or having episodes based on themes such as Trot or English Pop Songs. Legendary singers from past shows have included Uhm Jung Hwa, Cho Yong Pil, and Lee Sang Min. Those competing perform a re-interpretation of a song by the legendary singer or a song related to the theme of that week’s episode. Past singers have included Ailee, Taemin (SHINEE), & Seomoon Tak. Idol groups have also participated including Mamamoo (obviously!), EXO, & Astro.
Mamamoo has made 14 appearances on this show taking home a total of 3 wins. Each time they’ve made an appearance they’ve given us amazing vocal performances! I don’t even remember when I stumbled onto this show but it was a happy surprise! Through this show, I became familiarized with older Korean songs and singers. I also got to see performances by solo artists who I had no idea existed but who gave goosebump-inducing performances. It was so great to see idols showcasing their vocal abilities through re-interpretated versions of older Korean songs. I miss seeing Mamamoo on here even though their last appearance was in 2019 so it wasn’t even that long ago but still!
I Can See Your Voice
Network: Mnet & tvN
First aired 2015 – present, upcoming release date of season 8 TBA
MCs
Current: Kim Jong Kook, Leeteuk (Super Junior), & Yoo Se Yoon
Former: Kim Bum Soo
Guest singers/groups attempt to weed out the tone death contestants from the singing contestants. Through a series of rounds, guest singers gain clues and receive counsel by the tone death detective team who helps guests weed out the non-singers. During the final round, the guest singer/group performs a duet with the final contestant(s). If the final contestant is a singer that contestant gets a digital single release. The prize was later changed to a customized microphone. If the final contestant is tone-deaf then they win 5,000,000 won or ($4,500). Guest singers have included Kim Jong Kook (before becoming an MC), 2PM, TWICE, GOT7 plus more.
Surprisingly enough, Mamamoo did not bring me to this show. I found the show first and then thankfully Mamamoo became involved later on. They made 2 appearances on this show and both times were able to successfully weed out the tone-deaf contestants and sing a duet with someone who could actually sing. I can’t remember how I came across this show but one of my favorite performances is ‘Memory’ by Laura Emmitt (Sooo upset I didn’t get to see the Cats musical live). Anyways yeah I was already obsessing over the show and Mamamoo came on and just made me obsess over it even more. Singers trying to guess the singing abilities of someone based on physical appearance and behavior is bound to make interesting content. It’s also pretty funny listening to tone death contestants sing their hearts out.
King of Mask Singer/Masked Singer
Network: MBC
First Aired 2015 – present
MCs/Hosts
A good-sized panel of comedians, music specialists, and special guest artists.
In a 3 round elimination show, 8 singers compete to win the title of Mask King. Singers wear masks during their performances to hide their identities. This was done in an attempt to get rid of bias and have fair voting. During the competition, once a singer is eliminated they give a final performance where they take off their mask and reveal their identity. Past singers have included Cheetah, Seohyun (SNSD), Chen (EXO), Ryan Reynolds plus more.
This show, like I Can See Your Voice, I found before Mamamoo got invited later on. What I’ve seen of the show has been alright so far. I can’t say I’ve watched an entire episode all the way through, I’ve only seen clips of performances. That being said I really like watching the face reveals where they rip off the mask all dramatically. I don’t think I’d watch a whole episode though, I’m not sure why but the show just doesn’t seem all that interesting to me. It might have something to do with this over the top confusion over who a masked singer is when it’s pretty obvious who it is by the sound of their voice. That being said, there are still some pretty cool performances on there and surprise appearances like Ryan Reynolds singing his lil’ heart out! An American version of this show aired January 2019 and I refuse to watch it because it looks like it sucks. Everything just seems over the top in the American version which makes it hard to watch.
Singing Battle
Network: KBS2
First aired 2016-2017
MCs
Namkoong Min (Eps 1-21) & Hyun Woo (Eps 22-29)
On this show, 4 teams consisting of 3 contestants and 1 team leader compete against one another with a panel of 13 judges determining winners. The winner of each round allows their competitor to choose the next song. During each round singers are dropped into a hole of failure if they get eliminated. Each team also has a chance card which allows a hidden singer to compete in place of a contestant. In the past Seomoon-Tak, Lee Changmin (2AM), JeA (Brown Eyed Girls) plus more have starred on the show as hidden singers. Contestants have consisted of individual artists, artists from idol groups, as well as comedians/actors who sing.
Oh my Jesus! I loved watching this show! I found this show because of Mamamoo and thank God I did because it’s great! I learned about Seomoon Tak through this show and was caught off guard by how amazing she is. I love Wheein, she’s a great singer but she did not stand a chance against Seomoon Tak. It was still a great performance even if Wheein did end up falling in the hole! I’m kind of upset that this show didn’t air very long because I loved it! There were some really great battles by powerful singers and there could have been so many more but the show got canceled. Ugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-VbBpJ01CQ&ab_channel=KBSEntertain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rJ6dFAcevo&ab_channel=KBSEntertain
Two Yoo Project: Searching for Sugar Man (Sugar Man)
Network: JTBC
First aired 2015 – 2020
MCs
Yoo Jae Suk, Yoo Hee Yeol, Kim Eana, Sandara Park, Joy (Red Velvet), Park Na Rae
Two teams battle to re-create modernized versions of well-known songs by past singers. Artists are led by MCs Yoo Jae Suk and Yoo Hee Yeol with winners being determined through on-the-spot voting. In the past various singers/groups have starred in the show including of course Mamamoo, TWICE, EXO & more.
This is another one of those shows where I have not watched full episodes. I’ve definitely watched all of Mamamoo’s performances but again never full episodes. There have been some interesting performances done by other artists like TWICE. From the clips, I have watched it seemed like the MCs were doing a good job bringing humor into the show but no surprise there because Yoo Jae Suk.
There’s a bunch of other music competition shows that Mamamoo have showed up but I thought I’d start with these first. They’re not my top 5 they were just randomly picked. I might write another blog later on about Mamamoo’s other music show appearances so stay tuned! If you want to hear about other Korean shows be sure to check out Valerie’s blog on shows hosted by Yoo Jae Suk. You can also take a look at Sandra’s favorite mukbangs from Superman is Back!
