Thoughts on GP 999 as a show v produce. (1 Viewer)

[RandAlThor]

Over all the show tried some new things.
Being the first of these shows in a covid virtual fan only world, change was expected.


With the day trip ep especially. Even if it was mid week in what had to be a hectic time of prep for the performance.
It was a change from the Korean model and fun.

The video fan messages were a nice touch.

That is about it for happy stuff though.

They had so many issues.

Starting with.
In an effort to be different, the show evaluated all the contestants.
Ranked them by country group.
Then assigned tv audition songs to groups. All off camera.
The girls met lived practiced for weeks if not a month together.
did the theme song ect.
None of the girls prepared these songs for any length of time to get the polish of the outstanding auditions of the past.

These were bad choices in so many ways.
1. they robbed the girls of the chance to really prepare and showcase themselves in the best possible light to the voters.
2. they made the contestants into actors playing like they knew or didn't know other girls.
3. The songs were wrong and just unfair group composition.
4. the entire audition process was then a lie to the viewers.
5. Watching the transition from audition to the first test of the show was/ is a crucial learning bonding time for the viewers.
To get a feel of the contestants see what groups they formed to work and learn in.

I liked the idea of dance and vocal trainers. with the addition of experienced star idols to help guide the girls.

They had to pick a starting nine, but because of the mess detailed above it was not really fair. Many of the teams had songs that just were not right for the mix.
So because of the shows off camera choices another layer of shadow manipulation right off the bat to the viewers.
it was scripted (and not well) not raw. Individuals were set up to pass or fail and not given close to a level playing field.
Add to that the 'creative' edits and looking back its pretty shameful.

so pretty much the entire audition phase was manipulation central.

Now the cell system.
The cell passes or fails together.... uggg school group project hell writ large.
i get it they REALLY REALLY wanted an even split for several weeks of the show.
but mnet picking the cells, and then letting the top nine they manipulated into that position repick their cells.
With the rest left to scramble and pick up the pieces was bad tv and not fun to watch, and horrible unfair.
like watching the poor kids wander and ask to be in this or that group.

And this is just the first 2 eps.

Then as the show goes on we learn that the contestants felt real bias. To the point that some C group girls took over the make up of c group because they felt they were getting 'ugly' looks


The cell/ split structure then had a very large impact on teams for the competition rounds.
With cells being picked for each group instead of individuals. this lead to teams with no vocals or a really poor mix again.
This is important because while you can do amazing in the rounds like say a Nako , Yeonjung or Sejeong its more about not screwing up and looking really bad.
Mostly because the benefits are impactful for a small number of slots so the amount of skin in the game for popular contestants is not very large.
For example Sakuras team could loos and all make the next round. YXY, Hikaru or Yujins cells ect were going to advance baring massive collapse.


ok i am tired of typing ..

call this part 1

You wanted to be tagged
@RunningMan

 

[athenaaa]

I like the cell system to an extent. If it was one pick all the way through the results would have been drastically different

 

[RandAlThor]

I like the cell system to an extent. If it was one pick all the way through the results would have been drastically different

as a concept yes it has merit.
As it was implemented it was pretty awful.
And almost any system for populating the cell thing is either pure random (awful) the girls pick and its that awful grade school picking teams deal.
Now a structured build of cells with 1 useful vocal , a dancer and one random. would be better but again its putting a ton of power in the cell builders.

I would have been happier with group voting only from the start.
it still masks the issue, but forcing ppl to pick cells when most were not happy with that built to the kind of back lash we saw.

then at some time its pick 6 pick 3 what ever to get a feel of the girls that are actually connecting with the audience.

one pick is one of my least favorite things about the system.
If your building a group let people feel like they are picking a group .

 

[athenaaa]

as a concept yes it has merit.
As it was implemented it was pretty awful.
And almost any system for populating the cell thing is either pure random (awful) the girls pick and its that awful grade school picking teams deal.
Now a structured build of cells with 1 useful vocal , a dancer and one random. would be better but again its putting a ton of power in the cell builders.

I would have been happier with group voting only from the start.
it still masks the issue, but forcing ppl to pick cells when most were not happy with that built to the kind of back lash we saw.

then at some time its pick 6 pick 3 what ever to get a feel of the girls that are actually connecting with the audience.

It did eliminate some strong trainees in the beginning but it proved to be helpful for cells in which people weree voting onky cause of one person in the cell. It helped some participants survive longer than they would’ve if the cell system didn’t exist

 

[RandAlThor]

It did eliminate some strong trainees in the beginning but it proved to be helpful for cells in which people weree voting onky cause of one person in the cell. It helped some participants survive longer than they would’ve if the cell system didn’t exist

but that is a recipe for disaster like the interim ranking. If ppl are pushing contestants thru who have few fans they are going to crash hard.
Then ya get ppl in the final with 30k votes over all and that is not pretty for anyone.

 

[athenaaa]

but that is a recipe for disaster like the interim ranking. If ppl are pushing contestants thru who have few fans they are going to crash hard.
Then ya get ppl in the final with 30k votes over all and that is not pretty for anyone.

It helped save some trainees who we gor to see grow throughout the duration of the show but some were eliminated too early simply because their cell wasn’t popular

 

[RandAlThor]

It helped save some trainees who we gor to see grow throughout the duration of the show but some were eliminated too early simply because their cell wasn’t popular

The cell system to me cluttered up the contestants i had an awful time getting to know them and i watched every ep and many of the 1 min clips.
i am sure many would have loved to see the twins just to name 2 work on learning the title song.

but if they had filmed it like produce we would have seen them grow.

I really loved the girls in pd 48 f group they were working so hard.

One of the best at that was PD 101 China the growth in f group as a whole in that show was fun to watch.

going straight into the performance rounds robbed me of watching that growth.

 

[athenaaa]

The cell system to me cluttered up the contestants i had an awful time getting to know them and i watched every ep and many of the 1 min clips.

but if they had filmed it like produce we would have seen them grow.

I really loved the girls in pd 48 f group they were working so hard.

One of the best at that was PD 101 China the growth in f group as a whole in that show was fun to watch.

going straight into the performance rounds robbed me of watching that growth.

Early on I definitely mixed up the contestants because of the cell system. Very few really sttod out unlike produce

 

[VillageIdiot]

I just want a survival show based on talent and talent only. Democracy is a mistake

 

[RandAlThor]

I just want a survival show based on talent and talent only. Democracy is a mistake

Especially if ppl are say gaming the system...


ofc the problem then is who defines talent?
Because i promise you fans of the contestants in all these shows are adamant they have talent, mad talent like really they are a main vocal....

 

[VillageIdiot]

Especially if ppl are say gaming the system...


ofc the problem then is who defines talent?
Because i promise you fans of the contestants in all these shows are adamant they have talent, mad talent like really they are a main vocal....

I think a show like 99 would be cool except 33 vocals, 33 dancers and then 33 rappers would be cool.

Maybe some objective judges like BoA, Aileen and Stephanie would be cool

 

[planetarium]

I think a show like 99 would be cool except 33 vocals, 33 dancers and then 33 rappers would be cool.

Maybe some objective judges like BoA, Aileen and Stephanie would be cool

This would be cool, kinda like Under Nineteen! It's certainly less controversial than grouping the contestants by their nationality as well.

But yeah, just get rid of the cell system. I liked how the trainees were grouped by some weird attribute at first (like I think one cell was full of Sones?) and it kinda helped with getting to know them better, but the random advantages/disadvantages during voting was just... no. Planet Pass was a very welcome addition though!

 

[RandAlThor]

Early on I definitely mixed up the contestants because of the cell system. Very few really sttod out unlike produce

this is a bit long but i am going to incorporate some of his framing into my next part.
The point i think he was making is that separating them into country groups is its self a very bad thing.

some of the other geopolitical stuff is a tad off.