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'Mr. Trot' sensation delays season finale

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In this screen capture from TV Chosun, trot prodigy Jeong Dong-won, left, and singer Jang Min-ho perform together in
In this screen capture from TV Chosun, trot prodigy Jeong Dong-won, left, and singer Jang Min-ho perform together in "Mr. Trot" last Thursday. Seven finalists performed this week but TV Chosun was unable to name the winners on time after 7.7 million people cast votes for their favorite singers during the live broadcast of the show. / Courtesy of TV Chosun

Winners will be named Saturday as 7.7 million cast votes in real-time

By Kang Hyun-kyung

TV Chosun's mega-hit show "Mr. Trot" saw more drama in its final episode on Thursday.

As usual, the talent search show aiming to select Korea's next top male trot singer has continued to set viewership records, reaching ratings of 35.7 percent. The figure is five percent up from last week's episode in which seven finalists were chosen based on aggregated scores from judges (who were called Masters in the program), audiences and viewers who voted for their favorite contestants through a smartphone app.

On Thursday, "Mr. Trot" also pulled off another, unprecedented record in TV audition show history: It failed to name the winner.

Out of seven, three singers were supposed to be named for three different titles. But TV Chosun was unable to announce the results, mainly because of the explosive real-time votes from viewers.

The winners of the final competition were to be chosen based on the total scores each contestant earned from 10 Masters, previous fan voting and real time voting from TV viewers. Scores from Masters account for 50 percent of the total score and previous fan votes, which were calculated before the final episode, take up 20 percent.

But the real-time vote from audiences delayed the announcement of the three winners. Over 7.7 million text message-based votes were cast during the two-hour program, a record for TV audition shows.

The sheer volume of votes meant the third party agency in charge of collecting votes and calculating the final scores was unable to finish the count before the end of the show.

"Mr. Trot" host Kim Sung-joo said he couldn't name the three winners because of unexpected technical problems.

"Counting the 7.73 million votes is still underway and we have no idea when it will be done. It could take several days until we know the final results," he said at the end of the show. "We decided to postpone the announcement of the final winners until the total scores have been determined. We are sorry for the delay but this is necessary for accurate results."

TV Chosun initially said it will unveil the final results next Thursday.

But the television channel changed its stance on Friday, saying the winners will be named on Saturday in a special episode after the Nightly News show at 7 p.m.

"We're sorry for letting viewers wait so long. But we did our utmost to fix the problem and are happy to announce that the winners will be named Saturday evening," TV Chosun said in a statement on Friday.

"We've received 7,731,782 votes from viewers during the show. The unprecedented level of votes made it difficult for us to finish the count on time. … We're sorry for our unpreparedness for a situation like this."

The unprecedented situation has drawn mixed reactions from other media outlets and viewers.

Yonhap News called it "a big mistake."

But some viewers sympathized with TV Chosun, saying they respect its decision.
"If they were to fabricate the results, they have no good reason to postpone the announcement. This means that they are trying to be fair in the selections of the winners," one wrote.

Another viewer wrote they are anxious for the results. Some viewers, however, blamed TV Chosun for being unprofessional.

On Thursday, the final seven contestants performed two songs each in the competition to win the title. Contestants have diverse backgrounds with a wide age range.

Lee Chan-won, who topped the Masters' ratings, is a college student majoring in economics and international finance. Lim Young-woong, Lee's archrival, enjoyed enormous fandom among middle-aged women. His first name, Young-woong, means 'hero' in English.

Trot prodigy Jeong Dong-won, 13, has a lot of "aunt fans" who view the young singer as a nephew. The story of his divorced parents, his difficult childhood and the recent death of his grandfather ― whose financial and emotional support allowed him to develop his talent and passion for trot music ― made these fans root for him even more.

Other finalists include a Navy sailor, an idol-turned-trot singer and a tenor with a touching backstory, who also inspired viewers to keep tuning into the music show.

Since the first episode aired on Jan. 2, "Mr. Trot" has become a sensation. Viewership ratings increased with each episode and the show outperformed JTBC's hit TV series "SKY Castle." Then "Mr. Trot" broke the 30 percent range two weeks ago, becoming the first cable TV program to do so. The last episode on Thursday pushed the ratings further upward. The popularity of "Mr. Trot" endured even after the final episode. On Friday, "Mr. Trot" and "Mr. Trot final winner" were two of the top 10 trending search terms on the nation's largest internet portal Naver.

The audition show revitalized the trot genre which has long been outshone by K-pop, making it popular again.


Kang Hyun-kyung hkang@koreatimes.co.kr


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