Comedian Kang Ho-dong walks up to the stage and instead of his usual booming, energetic snarl that fans have grown accustomed to, a dreamy voice sings a beautiful melody.
Just like its awkwardly hilarious teaser video, “Shadow Singer” will have established stars lip-synching to the voices of singers hidden in obscurity.
“I thought about what unknown singers lacked. That was when I came up with the idea that we can ‘lend’ them the popularity and recognition that they need,” said producer Min Chul-ki of the upcoming tvN show.
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One of the masterminds behind the MBC program “King of Masked Singer” -- which features established singers performing behind masks to be evaluated solely based on their vocal skills -- Min said his latest program will allow the public to meet singers who are underappreciated.
Participants on the show will range from has-beens who have faded out of memory to those who never got a chance to sing onstage.
“While working on ‘Masked Singer,’ I came across a lot of unknown singers with talent and I wanted to work with them,” Min said.
Stars do more than lip-synch -- they also have to perform like singers onstage, said officials from CJ E&M, which is producing “Shadow Singer.”
“I’ve learned that they (the singers) have a lot of amazing stories. They were so earnest, that I couldn’t help but share their attitude so that their stories are delivered to the public,” said the show’s host Kang.
Min said that Kang’s capacity to empathize with the show’s participants -- demonstrated through his hosting of the popular 2007-2011 talk show “Knee Drop Guru” -- will be a valuable asset to the show.
“The show will focus on stories of individual participants and Kang is the perfect fit,” he said.
In addition to Kang, comedian Lee Soo-guen, songwriter Kim Hyung-suk, singer Ha Hyun-woo of the band Guckkasten and other panel members will join the show as judges.
The first episode will be a special 90-minute edition that will air Friday at 8 p.m. Following episodes will air Fridays at 8:20 p.m. on tvN.
By Yoon Min-sik
(
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
