Chuang Asia Season 2

One of the Better Survival Shows

When I think back to some of the controversies of past survival shows like Youth With You’s milkgate and recently Kachine’s STOP moment during Starlight Boys, I can’t help but wait to expect something to happen. Surprisingly I’m seeing a lot of talented contestants show their talents, play lots of games and have some live public shows and interviews. It does have the usual online banter and favouratism but which show doesn’t.

What I enjoy the most though is the inclusivity and safety shown towards the contestants. That’s one thing I noticed especially with the Chinese shows and how they handled inclusivity so I’m not surprised seeing them pull away from this type of show and now the number one show filled with boys in China is about farming. I have nothing against farming by the way.

One thing I am finding odd has been the dance and vocal categories. I’m a big believer in live performances that aren’t lip-synched, dance contestants here aren’t forcefully lip syncing, they are only dancing if they’re in the dance category and rightly so, but as a performer, if there are words being sung, I feel they should be sung not lip synched by the contestants if that makes sense.

Actually another oddity is the language barrier, it is shown in all it’s glory here which I think is great as it is a really noticeable disadvantage or advantage for some.

The Judges - I think I need to update this once the show has finished lol. However THE8 is phenomenal. If there was ever a judge with a poker face, it’s him. I’ve never actually heard him say anything negative that I can recall. However, when you watch him, you just expect some very harsh comment but in reality he’s extremely constructive if you listen carefully lol. What am I saying, it is harsh but not in a bad way. Oh dear I think I will need to update this later lol. Update - due to scheduling he wasn’t available for the remainder of the season but shared a recorded message in the finale.

The Finale - opening was truly amazing having past contestants be part of the history of Chuang was A+.

🌊NEXT1DE 🌊NEXT1DE 🌊NEXT1DE 🌊NEXT1DE 🌊NEXT1DE 🌊NEXT1DE

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Overall, just okay

It started out strong with quite a solid pool of trainees, and I respect that they tried to do things differently from other shows at different points (e.g. group audition stages, style of elimination reveals). The line-up of mentors is also very impressive - active and popular k-pop idols SEVENTEEN The8 and GOT7 BamBam, as well as singers Jeff Satur & Tia Ray, who are well-respected within their respective industries.

That being said, given that I watched it live and participated in voting, I think there was insufficient resources overall to inform voting - meaning fan cams, live vocals, even full performances. At one point, it also started getting pretty obvious who the final 7 was going to be, which just gets a bit boring and demoralising for watchers.

I do think the show could have had stronger narratives and spotlights on more trainees, but in any case, I wish the debut group and undebuted trainees all the best!

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