Hello everyone!
This is Karen, your awesome Asian entertainment reviewer on Wehaiyo! I love reviewing and introducing Asian entertainment in my blog. Do you want to start a journey with me?
I thought that after reviewing NCT Universe: LASTART - Introduction, I wouldn't do a review for an extensive reality survival competition show again on Wehaiyo! After all, what reality survival competition show could beat the ranks of SM Entertainment trainees? Also, I cringe whenever I need to be subjected to a bad performance. Furthermore, all the other competition shows are basically a popularity vote in my eyes.
However, after checking out Make Mate 1, which premiered on 15-MAY-2024, I decided to review it. I was thinking to myself to use the same basic criteria that I have always used, which is to based my judgement on talent. It may or may not be the most popular opinion, but my review must be written because it comes from my heart. I think just because I interned at an A&R department once, I feel like I am truly some type of A&R person. I have listened to numerous music demo tapes back in my internship days, so in some ways, I have been judging other people's professional performance since a long time ago. However, it's all subjective. Writing rejection letters were also painful even if it was a standard template that I wrote and used myself, knowing that I am crushing somebody's dream.
I was kind of scared to review this Make Mate 1 show because there are also other reality survival competition shows airing at the same time such as I-Land 2 N/a and Girls on Fire. I could get suckered in. All of the shows I mentioned can also be seen with a subscription to Viki, my preferred streaming service. I am not paid to promote Viki, but I personally love that they are dedicated to Asian entertainment with subtitles. Another big reason is that each episode is almost two hours long. How will I survive giving a condensed review?
I am thinking that I probably want to focus a lot on survival reality competition show reviews going forward so if you like that type of thing, you are at the right blog. If I have more time, I will also review the other shows accordingly.
As an introduction to Make Mate 1 (and why do they call it Make Mate 1 or do they plan to make a sequel after this show to make a season 2?), I will try to explain the simple premise. I think it is fun to not know everything yet and observe each espisode with a fresh thoughts. What I do know is that there are 36 young, male contestants, ranging from 15 to 21 years old in this show who are not signed to any entertainment agency, so they are not idol trainees and they vie for a position in a new idol group.
While the idea is fresh, it also gives me anxiety because if the contestants are not trainees who have some experience in performance, would they have a decent level of talent, mental, and physical strength to survive the show? If they had talent, wouldn't they have been picked up by an entertainment agency already? I feel like we are trying to find a diamond in the rough or maybe a trainee that is in transition between entertainment agencies so they can join this show. I'm afraid to sit through a series of flopped performances because my expectations have been so high from NCT Universe: LASTART.
Remembering the names of everybody is also difficult for me, so I hope to learn every contestant's name as quickly as possible. It is probably difficult, but there are probably a lot of show footage that will be cut out from the show even though it is two hours long. I might miss some details, but I will give my best thoughts based on what I observe from this show. You can feel free to look at their MakeMate1 Youtube channel to see extra videos and behind the scenes (and possibly do more obsessing over your "favs" or favorites. My review will be soley about the show.
On Wikipedia, it seem that the show is related to The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project where that show aims to bring back the failing careers of current idols, but I think content-wise, there is no relation to this show.
There is a live voting system for Make Mate 1 through the Makestar app. I will try to provide the links for it:
Fans can vote once a day for their biases in the 1st Bias-vote. Voters can vote for up to seven "mates" or contestants that they want to support.
Instead of creating a new theme song for the show, they covered DAY6's "Time of Our Life" song. This is one of my favorite K-pop songs so I feel giddy just hearing the chorus of it.
Teaser 1
Teaser 2 - Well, hearing a main voice in this teaser gives me confidence that the producers probably found the "diamond in the roughs" or contestants who actually have talent.
Teaser 3 - Oo...the same performance in different pink and blue outfits. I like it! Why do I have the feeling based on this video that I will begin to start pseudo-relationships with some of these contestants. I guess that is how K-pop reels us in.
[MA1 - Main Song] 한 페이지가 될 수 있게 (Time of Our Life) Uniform Ver. (FULL CAM):
Looking at the performance, I felt like Spring is here. I loved how they focused on certain singers instead of just showing me dozens of performers in the video. I don't know who they are yet, but I am already curious. It sounds promising that the voices that I am hearing are beautifully sung.
[MA1 - Main Song] 한 페이지가 될 수 있게 (Time of Our Life) Uniform Ver. (FULL + CLOSE-UP CAM)
There is a close-up cam version, but I won't bother watching it because I can't remember everybody's names or faces anyway.
[MA1 - Main Song] 한 페이지가 될 수 있게 (Time of Our Life) Daily Ver. (FULL CAM)
I'm really glad that they made the "Daily version" because I love their pink and but casual outfits here.
[MA1 - Main Song] 한 페이지가 될 수 있게 (Time of Our Life) Daily Ver. (CLOSE-UP CAM)
Again, I won't bother watching the close-up version, but I will post it here for those who want to see it.
Teaser 4 - The stage is looking awesome and futuristic.
[MA1 - Main Song] 한 페이지가 될 수 있게 (Time of Our Life) Uniform Ver. (FULL + CLOSE-UP CAM)
Geez, how many versions are they going to make with the theme song? This is the uniform and close-up version for those who are too lazy to jump to other videos. Why do I feel like these boys are famous already?
[MA1 - Main Song] 한 페이지가 될 수 있게 (Time of Our Life) Daily Ver. (FULL + CLOSE-UP CAM)
...and the Daily version with close-ups as well. I swear this is the last video in this post.
With all this information in mind, feel free to join me in my journey to find out who will be in the final line-up for Make Mate 1. If you are worried about spoilers, don't be worried because I will not publish any thoughts of the episode until it has aired already for about a week. After all, it will take me some time to write my feelings down. If you still don't want spoilers after that, please do not check out any further episode reviews until you are ready to read my thoughts. Feel free to visit my other blog posts on other topics in the meantime.
Episode Links:
Make Mate 1 - Episode 6
Make Mate 1 - Episode 5
Make Mate 1 - Episode 4
Make Mate 1 - Episode 3
Make Mate 1 - Episode 2
Make Mate 1 - Episode 1
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