Drama Digest
Phantom Singers: All-Stars is the fourth instalment of the admired Korean musical survival show Phantom Singers. In this edition, the nine finalist teams from the past three seasons compete against each other for a trophy and special prizes. The show aims to deliver the ‘best K-crossover group.’ The variety show explores various genres of music like – classical, pop, and traditional Korean. A celebrity fan pan composed of idol singers, actors, and comedians judged the show. Due to covid restrictions, live audience were not allowed.
The Feel-Good Part
The music, beyond any doubt, is the feel-good part of the show. All the contestants have unique and handsome voices. The highlight of this season is the contestants re-creating the songs in their style. This edition is not a formal competition, so we see a kind of comradeship among the contestants. The reaction of the other contestants and the panel to the performing group is excellent. It somewhere makes up for the absence of the live audience. The contestants don’t sing but perform and deliver. They bless our ears with their heavenly singing capabilities.
The Disappointing Factor
The absence of the live audience has a huge effect, especially in episodes where they are great performances. Also, we see less focus on the feed projected behind the stage during the performances.
In-Depth Analysis
We see the nine finalist teams from the past seasons compete. The nine teams include Hpresso, Miraclass, RabidAnce, Ingihyunsang, Forte di Quattro, La Poem, Forestella, Edel Reinklang, and Letteamor. This season had a different format since it was not a competition to find one winner. There is no elimination. All the contestants move on each round. The quartets were assigned seven missions, and the winner was named ‘MVP.’ The MVPs get to keep the trophy with them until there is another one. They also earn coupons as special prizes. Round one was a quartet v/s quartets mission, in which each quartet performed separately and the one with the most votes won. The second round was a three-way battle where each quartet chose another to duel. They declared the best performing quartet out of two as the winner and the one with the highest votes as the MVP. The third round was a solo battle where each quartet selected one among them to represent the team and perform. The member who earned the most votes became the MVP. Round four was a battle of seasons. Quartets from different seasons face off and fight for the MVP title. In this round, the quartets from the same season form alliance. The season with the most wins became the MVP. In round five, each quartet had a genre, and they go against another quartet by drawing lots. Round six was the K-pop Showdown, where the quartet performed k-pop songs in the order decided by the lot. In round seven, the quartets give their final performances. In the last episode, the quartets are re-shuffled based on song preference, and new quartets were formed. There was no MVP in this episode.
Star Power
Kim Myung Soo is the MC for the season. The nine producers seen are Yoon Sang, Kim Mun-Jeong, Hye-soo Sonn, Micheal K.Lee, Bada, Yoon Jong-Shin, Ock Joo-Hyun, Kim Eana, and Kim Ji-Yong. Go Hoon-Jung, Kim Hyun-soo, Son Tae-jin, Lee Byeo-RI, Paek In-tae, Yoo Seul-gi, Kwak Dong-Hyun, Park Sang-don, Baek Hyeong-hun, Lee Dong-shin, Ko Eun-Seong, Kwon Seo-Kyung are the quartet members from season one. Bae Doo-hoon, Kang Hyung-ho, Cho Min-Gyu, Ko Woo-rim, Julian Kim, Park Kang-Hyun, Phillip Jeong, Han Tae-in, Lee Choong-Joo, An Se-Kwon, Kim Dong-Hyun, Cho Hyung-gywn are the quartet members from season two. You Chae-hoon, Park Ki-hun, Jeong Min-Seong, Choi Sung-hoon, Kim Paul, John Noh, Ko Yeong-yeol, Hwang Gun-ha, Gil Byeong-min, Kim Sung-Sik, Kim Min-Seok, Park Hyun-soo are the quartet members from season three.
Overall Opinion
The variety show is an excellent music therapy show. It also introduces us to Korean singers, producers, and songwriters other than the mainstream idols and solo artists. It also showcases all kinds of genres of music.
