Make Mate 1 (2024)

No Group Name?

MakeMate1 (MA1) is not my first K-pop survival show, so I did not have too many expectations. My opinion on this show is quite mixed.

Pros:
Talented Contestants: The show features a diverse group of trainees with impressive skills.
- Most contestants showcased their abilities well on camera, knowing their weak and strong points.
Engaging Mentors: The judges and mentors provide valuable feedback and guidance, adding depth to the show.
- Many popular mentors from other audition programs were featured here.

Cons:
Rushed Pacing: The show felt rushed, leaving less time to fully appreciate the contestants' growth and performances.
- The show was only 10 episodes long, whereas audition programs are usually 12. The constant eliminations every other episode and little to no context on what happened during practice made it hard to follow.
Limited Screen Time: Some contestants were hard to recognize.
- Often, I found myself asking, "Who is this?" when someone was called on or during elimination rounds. Many contestants didn't get enough screen time, making it difficult to connect with them.
Benefit System: The ranking benefits were too impactful.
- The benefits in each round were weighted too heavily. A contestant could be in 1st place one day and on the verge of elimination the next. While the contestants were often shocked, it did not make sense given the high stakes of winning weekly benefits.

Overall, there was no unnecessary drama between trainees. The final lineup is well overall.

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W survival to help gifted young people gain visibility

All these young guys are so cutie and amazing.
Their commitment is commendable and their fragility is endearing.
The challenge of 3rd episodes was to give birth of a performance in only 24 hours. It seems an impossible mission but both 2 teams (A and B) at my personal opinion were great.
The campus was a good occasion to compact the group and create mates.
4th and 5th episodes, formed groups A and B with a particular method. They split in two according to the favorite's ranking, even in a side and odd in the other. Not great performance but a lot of commit.

I like all these survivals that give the chance to have visibility of so many youngs talented people who work really hard to "emerge".

The last episode was a very tough and sad selection.
A total pure TORTURE for those poor boys... which from 16 people takes them to 8, and then once again to 7...
In January 2025 we will see the realization of project they created for them. Surprise.

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Despite a good start, it very quickly became bland and repetitive

This survival show features 36 participants with the objective of debuting a new boy group. The cast is made of trainees that don't belong to any agency with the premise of the show being that the participants are just "regular boy". It is more or less true, as some of the contestants had some previous training at an entertainment agency or have even participated in previous survival show. But well, overall indeed, the cast seems to be quite fresh and with a lot to learn.

Unfortunately, past the first half of the show, I quickly lost more and more interest. The episodes -while relatively short- felt more and more repetitive. I enjoyed the introduction as it allowed to discover the participants...But very quickly there were almost not personal focus, making it very difficult to feel invested in any contestants (except a few ones). Still, I liked some of the contestants, despite the lack of screentime and featuring of individuals' personality, and I hope to see in another context (or even in an upcoming survival show) the ones that I liked and did not made the debut group.

The saving grace for me was the guest jury, often made of idols that I like and it was fun to see them commenting on the performances. Other than that, the storytelling was very flat : no evil editing but certainly nothing really exciting happening. Overall, they work and repeat choreography, present it to the permanent dance judge and/or vocal judge that tell them to improve...They work a bit more and get better...And that's the whole trajectory of most of the episodes. That's why honestly, all the performances blend together with too few outstanding. Finale episode are rarely the best part of survival show, and here again no exception. It felt particularly void with just 3 performances : 2 original songs really forgettable and the signature song which was clearly badly lip-sync.

I would not necessarily recommend this to people as I feel there are better / more exciting survival shows out there. Unless you are fond of one of the contestants (or of one of the guest jury), I think it is lacking in too many ways. A more exciting editing, bigger budget as well as better original songs would definitely have helped the show. Too bad !

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Not A Fair Placement

I loved this reality show. I laughed and I cried. I could feel the connections between the boys and could feel they cared about each other. My gripe is going to be about Jo Minjae. He has the best singing voice of any on this show. He was never on a losing team, never got below 7th place, was a good dancer and unfortunately was the second one kicked off on the finale. If he would have been placed with the first group of boys for the finale show, he would have had a fairer shot at making the team. Two of the boys that made the team never even made it to the top 9 tier. I am very disappointed. Jo Minjae DESERVED to make the team. I was confident he would until I saw he had to be with the 2nd group. I am shaking my head at this bad decision. I pray one day soon someone will put some of the boys that didn't make it together and form their own team.

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