[REVIEW] Music show "M Countdown"

Cable channel music show "M Countdown" - Mnet, Thursday 6 p.m.

Three members from 2PM, two from 2AM, two from MBLAQ and one from CNBLUE. The revamped second season of "M Countdown" started with the introduction of its group of emcees -- the eight Korean pop idols nicknamed the 'MCD Guys'. The 'MCD Guys' resembled their show "M Countdown" in the sense that both are clusters of the hottest pop idols in town. Watching them working hard at hosting the show was adorable and entertaining, yet distracting, disorderly and over-the-top. While the eight emcees hopped around from the stage to where the audience were seated to the waiting rooms and to the lobby to interview the show's guests and introduce upcoming performances, video clips of stars congratulating the show for the airing of its new season and introductions of new segments for the show were continuously played in between. Consequently, there were moments when the main performances seemed to serve as bridges connecting the various elements on the show. Hence, the Thursday episode of "M Countdown" seemed to be the prologue and trailer to the new season, rather than a complete show.

However, that is not to say there were no new or entertaining attempts. The show displayed its efforts to make changes within its set format of being a music program by adding in a couple unique regular segments; one which will be hosted by [notable songwriter and producer] Bang Shi-hyuk and the other an attempt at creating mini music dramas. The first performance during [Bang Shi-hyuk's segment] B'shop in particular -- where Davichi sang "One Cup of Coffee", "When It's At Night" and "One Night Only" -- was unlike anything that viewers had seen on music shows. As the sole open-broadcast music ranking show airing on a cable music channel which contained no aspects different from the three music programs on Korea's public networks, it will be interesting to see how "M Countdown" progresses in the future. Will Mnet -- a channel which aired more reality shows than music programs -- be able to show something 'beyond music' through its new season?

Written by Yoonina (TV critic)


Editor : Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr