While the group’s attempt to create a comeback song for Park Kyung-lim was clearly for giggles, the three members present– G.O, Thunder, and Mir–were especially comfortable with the idea of composing a song and writing lyrics. This could have played out as an interesting way to keep the “managers” acting as managers through different tasks, but as mentioned above, the developed manager concept seemed to nix the more important manager roles after Japan.įrom the mentioned rehearsal event and from the silly composition moments in a later episode, what became clear was how seriously MBLAQ takes music. That isn’t to say that ensuring that the idols do have some rest isn’t part of the job description: it’s just not the only description.Īlso in Japan were the hidden cameras for both MBLAQ and the managers. Variety requires wit, humor, and well-planned mistakes as sources of joy for viewer, but the job of a manager is less humorous and more detailed and serious, where errors aren’t appreciated. Logically, the end result was the fact that for variety, entering the hurried world of managers cannot be done. In addition, since MBLAQ is first and foremost an idol group that produces music, they needed to rehearse for their performance. The result of the Japan showcase was a bawling Kim Sae-rom after being scolded by MBLAQ for her lack of focus while in charge of lyrics during rehearsal, a situation that rightfully called for the scolding considering the potential damage such actions could have brought during a real concert. Apart from the last of the list, most of the activities were for enjoyment and pure variety purposes rather than being associated with the musical side of the group that dominates their schedule. After the Japan showcase, the activities were distinctly more relaxing or carefree: resting at an amusement park, holding birthday parties, inviting friends over, composing music.
The former needed to drop the whining and understand that MBLAQ isn’t the type of group that simply caters to others on variety while the latter needed a concept, and quick.Īfter the first couple of episodes, there also developed a disconnect between the harder jobs of a manager and what actually would be done on the show. Although MBLAQ has most likely met Park Kyung-lim before and was briefly acquainted with Kim Sae-rom in an episode of MBC Every1’s Idol Army and MBC‘s Flower Bouquet, the dynamics for this show still needed a period of time for adjustment, mostly for Kim Sae-rom and Jeon-yul. However, if you stuck with the series, what became noticeable was the necessity of time, time to settle into the show and the environment of the variety. It didn’t help that early on, one of the earlier tasks involved incorporating the managers into the high-stress environment of a showcase in Japan, essentially cementing the image that Park Kyung-lim would be the only useful manager of the bunch. There is only so much the others can do when two out of the three of the emcees/managers seemed to be pushing away viewers rather than drawing them in.
#IDOL MANAGER PLATINUM PROFESSIONAL#
While Park Kyung-lim and the MBLAQ boys did a great job of keeping the humor going while still remaining professional and dedicated to the purpose of the show, Kim Sae-rom and Jeon-yul seemed to provide nothing useful: the former was whiny and more dedicated to playing around while the latter was utterly awkward and desperately needed some direction.
#IDOL MANAGER PLATINUM SERIES#
Unexpectedly, as this is MBLAQ, the beginning of the series wasn’t as good as predicted. All three collectively took on the name, “The Three Beauties.” The celebrities chosen to be the managers were comedian Park Kyung-lim, actress Kim Sae-rom, and Jeon-yul, member of idol group Stellar, whose biggest claim to fame is that they were produced by Shinhwa‘s Eric.
The premise was that celebrities would come in and act as the group’s managers, handling the group’s activities and providing a peek into the more professional side of MBLAQ. The boys play well by themselves, incurring enjoyment for the viewer.Īs a result, it’s not entirely surprising that the group scored another show, this time MBC Every1‘s Idol Manager. It isn’t a surprise that they were on both Mnet‘s Sesame Player and KBS Hello Baby. For these reasons, MBLAQ has been popular on variety. While Lee Joon may be touted as a blue chip in the industry, the rest of the members are no slackers. Each member has their own way of grabbing attention, and no territory is left untouched when it comes to individual survival or betrayal for image protection. If there’s something everyone can agree on about MBLAQ, it’s that they’re good at variety.