“Synchro U” is the entertainment show that marks Yoo Jae-seok’s comeback to KBS after three years. It was designed to target a wide range of fandom by forming a panel lineup of stars from various fields and ages, including idols, singer-songwriters, and comedians. On top of that, it has the mystery music show concept that is familiar to the public, where the panelists and audiences find the dream artists among AI performances.
Since the pilot, however, the audience has mixed expectations and concerns about “Synchro U.” The show itself was very similar to JTBC’s “Hidden Singer.” aespa Karina’s was said to lack variety skills, even though her visuals stood out. The show also achieved disappointing results, recording 2.0% and 1.8% of ratings nationwide.
Despite poor performance, “Synchro U” was released as a regular show four months later. Its first official broadcast was aired during the Chuseok holiday with a 3.7% viewer rating. It was a great move of KBS to move the show’s broadcast time about two hours earlier to 6:40 from the previous broadcast time of 8:30 p.m to make it convenient for the whole family to watch. In addition, a large number of talented stars including Lee Seung-gi, Lyn, and Jung Yong-hwa appeared in this episode, which was a boon to the audience.
However, the popularity of the show ended in a flash. In the second episode broadcast after the holiday season, the rating was cut in half with 1.8%, similar to that of the pilot episode. This proves that the first episode was a “holiday buff.”
The issue of “Synchro U” is not just a matter of the day or time of broadcast. First of all, the panelists are deemed not very professional. Jonathan, who joined the team as Yook Sung-jae, who was a panelist in the pilot program, withdrew, has music ability that was no different from that of the 100 audience members. Karina assists Yoo Jae-suk as an assistant MC and a panelist, but she did not make a strong impression. As a result, Lee Joon as a special member in the second episode surpassed that of all panelists.
Lee Joon, dubbed the “Ace in the Room,” succeeded in matching the dream artist in both the first and third rounds, and continued his strong performance by analyzing the reasons and successfully grasping the intentions of the production team. His screen time portion was also overwhelmingly larger than that of the five panelists. This is a proof that they are not qualified as much as him.
On top of that, critics point out that the music performance on stage was also poor in the second episode. In the case of Byul, her unstable pitch was heard in stark ways. In addition, 10cm Kwon Jeong-yeol started the first pitch belatedly due to an acoustic accident, which exposed him.
The return of Yoo Jae-seok, the most reliable card released by KBS, has been creaking from the beginning. Fans are saying even Yoo Jae-seok could not save such a clumsy program.