Mnet's new survival show “Great Seoul Invasion (GSI)” is bringing K-Bands to the global spotlight. Despite having aired only three episodes, the show is already creating a wild buzz among band fans. Attention was drawn to the better-known contestants such as ONEWE and SOUTH CLUB led by Nam Tae Hyun.
Both teams revealed that their goal in participating in the “Great Seoul Invasion” is to show the best of their skills and destroy prejudice about being idols.
Nam Tae Hyun, in particular, added that “When people think about our band, SOUTH CLUB, they are reminded of how I was the center of controversy (as a former member of Kpop idol group Winner). I want to get rid of this prejudice and make it clear that I’m serious about doing band music now.”
SOUTH CLUB 1st Round performance (Full ver.):
Nam Tae Hyun, who already went through the YG survival “WIN: Who is Next?” to become a member of the boy group WINNER, was also shown to give loads of useful advice to his bandmates such as “You need to stay levelheaded. The fact we are being ranked will be extremely stressful.”
On the other hand, ONEWE also expressed their feelings about a similar motivation: “We often hear that we look like just another idol band. But if people doubt our talents because of our looks, then we want to prove our skills. We’ve been feeling this way for the past couple of years. We want to show what we’ve got.”
ONEWE 1st Round performance (Full ver.):
Despite receiving positive comments from both team leaders and rival bands, SOUTH CLUB was not picked by any team leader. Furthermore, Nam Tae Hyun’s failure to control his emotions about the unpleasant result further affected the evaluation of ONEWE’s performance.
When SOUTH CLUB was announced to have given the highest score to ONEWE, Nam Tae Hyun claimed that after not getting picked by any team leader, SOUTH CLUB was gifting a generous 95-points to all bands without any particular meaning.
Although Nam Tae Hyun’s intentions were not necessarily bad, this confession came across as a shock for ONEWE, who were waiting to receive a fair evaluation of their performance. ONEWE’s Dong Myeong expressed his disappointment “(We thought) It was a place where we could expect honest evaluation from fellow bands, but I couldn’t hide my emotions when I heard the explanation (behind the evaluation of SOUTH CLUB).” Another member of ONEWE, Yong Hoon, also added, “I felt really irritated at that moment...”
ONEWE made it into the next round as a part of the MINUE & N.Flying team, while SOUTH CLUB were selected to stay in a so-called ‘BAND POOL.’ Bands staying in a ‘BAND POOL’ will, later on, receive a chance to advance to the next round through the completion of a mini-mission.
While Mnet is promising many unexpected twists and turns in the survival of the show’s participants, viewers are left anticipating the next episodes of this new series.
“Great Seoul Invasion” airs every Wednesday at 9:40 pm KST on Mnet.
About ‘Great Seoul Invasion’
Mnet's new show “Great Seoul Invasion” aims to discover Korean Gen MZ bands with outstanding musical skills and bring them to the global spotlight.
The Top 18 bands that were selected to compete in the series are ONEWE, W24, SOUTH CLUB, Lacuna, D82, Touched, PATZ, OWALLOIL, SURL, Band Nah, MACGUFFIN (MGFF), CHA SE DAE, HeyMen, Hwanho, Walking After U, UNDER HILLS, Hangronan, and Yudabinband.
The winner of the competition will receive a 1 million KRW (~$77,000) cash prize, album release support, a private practice room and studio, opportunities to perform at festivals, tour gigs locally and abroad, and more.
The series is hosted by actor Yoon Bak (“What Happens to My Family?,” “Age of Youth,” Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life”).
“Great Seoul Invasion” also features four ‘team leader’ crews consisting of Ko Young Bae (media personality and vocalist of the band SORAN), Kwon Eun Bi (solo artist and former IZ*ONE member) as team one, MINUE (actor and vocalist of the band The Midnight Romance), Lee Seung Hyun & Kim Jae Hyun (members of the band N.Flying) as team two, Yoon Sung Hyun (vocalist and guitarist of the band THORNAPPLE), Kim Jae Hwan (solo artist and former Wanna One member) as team three, and Peppertones (Korean duo band and producer team), and Jukjae (solo singer-songwriter and guitarist) as team four.
“Great Seoul Invasion” premiered on July 20 and airs every Wednesday at 9:40 pm KST on Mnet.
Voting for the bands have now opened. Here