The “Chronic Disease” of Korean Year-End Music Shows: Serious Stage Accidents 

Despite stage accidents being a “chronic disease” of Korean year-end music shows, it seems that no actions are being taken

Every year, incidents and stage accidents occur at the year-end music shows of Korea’s 3 major broadcasters, similar to a chronic disease. Ratings are also dropping to 1-2% as the public is turning away from these “boring” events.

On December 25, the 2023 SBS Gayo Daejeon was held at Inspire Arena. Here, NCT’s Ten opened NCT 127’s stage with a solo performance, only to face the “chronic disease” of stage accident.

In particular, due to the dim light and lack of safety measures and precautions, Ten did not notice a descended stage lift, which resulted in him falling down and almost hitting his face. However, as if nothing happened, Ten re-emerged on stage and completed his performance. In the early morning of December 26, he even reassured fans through a fan platform by telling them that he’s okay.

A similar incident occurred four years ago. In 2019, during the rehearsal for the same SBS Gayo Daejeon, Red Velvet’s Wendy fell from a 2m high lift, resulting in a six-week injury.

Meanwhile, Ten’s stage accident was not the only commotion of the 2023 SBS Gayo Daejeon, as the red carpet event was not without incident. Particularly, while aespa was leaving the red carpet, a man in the audience approached aespa’s Winter with a camera and made an attempt to dash at her. Fortunately, a security guard who noticed it stopped the man.

In the end, after overcoming its “chronic disease” of stage accidents, Gayo Daejeon, which lasted for about 4 hours, recorded ratings of only 2.2% for Part 1 and 2.4% for Parts 2 and 3. This figure even dropped to 1.7% in 2021, only one-tenth of the record of 17.4% in 2009.

Other broadcasters’ year-end music events are no different. On December 15, KBS broadcasted the “Music Bank Global Festival”. Part 1 of this event was broadcasted from Yeouido, Seoul, and Part 2 was recorded in Japan. Among the tickets for the local Japan performance, VIP seats were controversial for their high price of about 360,000 won (278 USD). Moreover, Part 1 was mostly prerecorded, making the live broadcast pale in comparison.

The viewership for KBS’s “Music Bank Global Festival”, was even more serious than the SBS’s Gayo Daejeon. In particular, Part 1 was 1.5% and Part 2 was 1.1%, the lowest viewership in history, at one-tenth of the highest rating of 15.3% in 2009.

In the case of MBC Gayo Daejejeon, it is in a slightly better situation than KBS or SBS. Gayo Daejejeon will be broadcast on the last day of the year, the 31st, gaining an advantage in terms of viewership. However, it still remains in a similar position. Last year’s MBC Gayo Daejejeon had a viewership of 3.9%. Also, because the event is held at the broadcaster’s own hall, it reduces safety accidents, but on the other hand, due to the small capacity, illegally traded non-standing tickets are sold for tens of millions of won.

Korean netizens now insist that year-end music shows have lost their meaning due to the broadcasters’ self-esteem, the heightened status of K-pop, and the demand of overseas fans for K-pop performances. In particular, many year-end music shows are now held overseas in lieu of better profits and Korean venues attracting less viewers.

The venues being moved overseas also leads to insufficient practice and rehearsal time for artists as well as inadequate time for stage set up, continuing the “chronic disease” os stage accidents.

However, broadcasters are reluctant to put an end to these year-end music shows, mostly due to their self-esteem and these shows being treated as long-standing traditions.

In order to resurrect these events, it is necessary for broadcasters to change their careless thinking and take proper measures to prevent incidents instead of hoping for controversies to be forgotten.

Source: Daum