There are good and bad aspects to the announcement.
Survival shows have become extremely common, with companies seeming to use the chance to preview a trainee’s popularity before debut. While Produce 101 is thought of in survival shows, there are many kinds, including those held by companies internally.
JYP Entertainment has been involved in multiple survival shows, including Sixteen, which formed TWICE, and Stray Kids, which documented their journey to debut as a group.
Last year, J.Y. Park, founder of JYP, was directly involved in a collaboration between the company and Republic Records titled A2K (America 2 Korea). The survival show sought to produce an American girl group under the K-Pop system, resulting in the debut of VCHA.
On May 13, JYP Entertainment announced that J.Y. Park and KBS would present a new survival/audition show titled The Entertainer.
According to the posting, the show seeks an “all-kill” entertainer with singing, dancing, acting, and entertainment skills.
As to be expected, this announcement has been met with a variety of mixed reactions.
On the positive side, many are appreciative of the eligibility requirements, as there is not a limit on nationality and the ages accepted range from 32 to 15.
Oppositely, many commenters questioned the opening of another survival program while alleging the company is mismanaging their current groups. Some brought up the contestants of LOUD, another survival show, who have not debuted in the three years since the show completed as others reflected on the limited in person opportunities for those outside of Asia and America.
Auditions are currently on-going until June 30th, and second auditions for those that advance will take place in Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, American, Japan, and Vietnam.
