Idol Producer (2018)

It has been a long journey and an emotional one too. This show was so beautiful it basically ruined and took over my life. It basically put me into a state of depression when I realized that the show was ending, and that is what it will do to everyone who watches the show. Bewareeeeeee!

This show is about 100 male trainees selected from 31 companies, who are competing for a spot in the debuting group. The debuting group is comprised of the top nine winners, and is decided through the final votes of the Citizen Producers. During the four months there, the trainees are given different evaluations. These evaluations involve a group battle, concept (singing, dancing, or rapping) evaluation, and mentor collaboration. The mentors assigned to this group of contestants are made up of people who have some sort of experience in the music industry. Whether it was a year or more of experience being on stage, the mentors were able to share their knowledge and experiences with the trainees.

Although the show is based off of another, it has its own uniqueness to it. It is not just the concept of the show that is important but the trainees and the mentors who made the show amazing. Throughout this journey, we can see that the trainees grew significantly, even those who seemed to be very good from the very beginning. Though many members of the show had left one by one, they still remained (and were remembered as) a big part of the show (Dong Yanlei, for an example), and the rest of the trainees respected them very much. What really made me love the show was watching the interactions between them. Many of them were kind and caring towards each other, not to mention the relationships they shared with the mentors were wonderful (I recommend watching the behind the scenes, Xin Fan, game times, and short footages of them in their dormitory because they were always funny and exciting, and it is where the audience gets to know the trainees more). At the end, the show welcomed those who were eliminated for a final performance on stage, during the season finale.

There is not much that I would change about the show, but I would have really liked it if the mentors had some sort of influence over the winners of the debuting group (not saying that I want to change anyone!). I love each and everyone who made it, I just wished it could have been made fairer for those who were not quite as popular. The selections were made solely based off of who the audience liked the most. There were many amazingly talented people who did not make it very far, not to mention were underrated and overlooked most of the time. Do not get me wrong, everyone who made it in the finale are hella talented, but the lack of mentor input made the show more predictable. Other than that, I am completely satisfied with the show and the nine trainees who made it! Plus many of my favorites (and bias) made it!

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This is the show that got me into chinese variety shows and into the beautiful world that is full of idol trainees and they're growing careers. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show and became very very INVESTED with all of the trainees that were featured on this show. Even though, I was a bit late to watching this and only discovered all these talents after, I was able to continue watching other shows that they've been featured on and listening to all of their new songs and creations.

#NinePerecent in my heart will forever be my favorite chinese boy group, each of them have solidly captured my heart!!! <3 <3 I've found myself watching almost everything else that they've joined! My core favorites are Fan Cheng Cheng, Cai XuKun, Chen Li Nong, Justin, Bi WeJun and okay honestly i just love them all (there's too many of them to name really). I followed their whole journey through these 12 episodes, cheered for them and cried for them when they struggled. But loved the different opportunities and experiences that they were able to learn through this journey. THE EDITING was totally on point, 10/10, honestly laughed so many times because of they way they edited different scenes. Everyone had a chance to shine and be featured based on the many experiences that they went through. Also ngl, have downloaded all the songs that they have performed and listen to them quite often. All of their stage performances were arranged beautifully and really captured that entertainment value that idol trainees should experience.

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