Ron Does Stuff

I’ll be honest with you guys. I feel like I’ve been delaying and delaying watching this show because I get attached to people on shows like this and I don’t like seeing them being let go. It’s why I don’t watch idol audition shows! But here I am giving this documentary series a try. Let’s hope it doesn’t traumatize me!

The first episode opens with the finale night and the girls getting ready to be introduced and already I feel the tension and the disappointment when some people I wanted to debut didn’t make it to the group.

And already we hear voice talking about how they’ve always wanted this and that they’ve been inspired by the groups they’ve watched before and oh god we’re just past a minute in and I can already feel the heartbreak.

And then we get to see some of the girl’s audition tapes. Who was that girl with her hair in braids? Anyways, we get a little bit of the sausage making process. Sure, other girls may have potential, but will they be trained enough to debut according to the record company’s timetable?

We then get to see the reactions of the girls being accepted into the training and development program and I gotta say I wish they showed this while the whole Dream Academy show was going on because now that I know that some of these girls don’t make I already feel sad? I haven’t even seen the training they’re going to go through!

The first trainee who we get to know is Iliya, who is a refugee from Belarus who is supporting her family via her TikTok audience. Like Jesus Christ I don’t think I can watch this whole series? I’m going to feel so sad for the girls who don’t make it? And I know who doesn’t make it so I’m just constantly sad now. And there are even girls who don’t make all the way to the reality show. Bitch.

The show is also outright showing who the producers consider the top people in the class are and I don’t know how I would feel if I was part of the program and now I have to watch this? I guess this is why they told the Katseye girls in that radio interview that they better have the tissues ready!

One of the girls gets called “of a lower skill set” and I’m like BITCH. BITCH. And I don’t exactly remember her but I feel like she’s going to live of her own volition because she’s talking right now about her Hollywood experience and she’s discovering that Hollywood isn’t the glamor she was expecting. And she’s the one who’s always wanted to be part of the idol world. Oh that’s so rough.

I also like how we’re getting some dancing insights here, especially with the heel dancing. I’ve only ever walked in heels and not for very long either so I know doing anything in them is difficult, but if there was some asshole out there who thinks it’s a walk in the park…well, listen to the dance instructor!

And then we get one of the other girls who also didn’t make the cut and she shares that she basically gave up her London life to be part of this. If she doesn’t make it, she doesn’t know what she’ll be coming back to AND WE AS THE VIEWERS ALREADY KNOW SHE DOESN’T MAKE IT.

To the training and development team’s credit, I feel like even if the girls don’t make it, the skills they’re being taught is something that can be applied further down the line, or even to their next audition. Some of the singers, dancers, and performers trying to break through don’t get this kind of education and usually just learn as they go so if these girls leverage this well they can have a leg up over other people.

Then we get the assessments and I am reminded of how cutting it can seem to people watching on the outside. And Son Sung-deuk is fucking vicious. And to be fair, he’s been vicious on every reality show he’s been in and I do kinda see his point. It doesn’t do these girls any good to cushion their feelings when — as recent events have shown — the general public can be so much more vicious. And the general public don’t even care.

We also get to know a bit more about Daniela and I didn’t know she was already part of multiple competition shows before. America’s Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, the works. So she really does have a leg up if you think about it.

At this point in the episode I just keep holding my breath whenever the girls who don’t make it to the next level are given the opportunity to talk. They don’t know that they’re not going to make it to the next level yet but I do and I just…can’t! It’s so heartbreaking! I honestly don’t think I can watch seven more episodes of this? Or I can, but I don’t know if I’m going to enjoy blogging about it? I feel like all of you are just going to see me stress out?

And then we get the first “elimination” and OH GUYS I CAN’T THIS HURTS SO MUCH AND I DIDN’T EVEN GET TO KNOW THIS GIRL WELL ENOUGH.

I do like how Sophia is early on showing that she can lead and encourage these girls, even those who don’t make it. I just feel like I had to take note of that because I don’t want to end this on such a heartbreaking note.