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'Street Man Fighter' judges BoA, 2PM Wooyoung, Super Junior Eunhyuk slammed: 'Not pro dancers'

Previously, idol judges BoA and NCT Taeyong had come under fire for alleged biased evaluation during 'Street Woman Fighter'

On July 22, ‘Street Man Fighter’ finally announced its judges. The Mnet survival show has roped in second-gen idols like BoA, her labelmate Super Junior’s Eunhyuk and 2PM’s Wooyoung who will be mentoring and judging the all-male dance crews. BoA had already judged the first edition -- ‘Street Woman Fighter’, the first Korean survival show for dance crews that had gone on to acknowledge backup dancers and choreographers who elevate K-pop performances. Eunhyuk and Wooyoung are also known as exceptional idol dancers while the latter has experience as a street dancer.

‘Street Man Fighter’ producers revealed they brought back BoA for her accurate judging on ‘Street Woman Fighter’. Other judges included NCT’s Taeyong and idol-turned-choreographer Hwang Sang-hoon of EXO and SHINee fame. However, there has been discontent among K-pop idols and professional dancers as evident in the way IZ*ONE’s Lee Chaeyeon was bullied on ‘Street Woman Fighter’ for being an idol. The professional dancers of ‘Be Mbitious’, the prequel to ‘Street Man Fighter’ had boasted that since they only focused on dancing, their skill level was much higher than an idol who was a jack of all trades.

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‘Street Man Fighter’ gets idol judges

It seems that this sentiment was shared by many viewers as they slammed the ‘Street Woman Fighter’ idol judges for their supposed biased evaluation. In many instances, the judges had accepted that they did not know much about the diverse dance genres that the participants excelled at. Mnet had won brownie points by then getting the ‘Street Woman Fighter’ participants as the judges for the sequels ‘Street Dance Girls Fighter’ and ‘Be Mbitious’. But with BoA, 2PM’s Wooyoung and Super Junior’s Eunhyuk judging ‘Street Man Fighter’, many viewers are unhappy again.

‘This is for dancers’

One viewer asked, “This is for dancers and dancers only to shine, why are idols judging them? the dancers are not going to take their feedback or comments seriously because they are not actual dancers. At least last season they had that cheorgrapher director. People are just going to be more annoyed with idols, already YouTube is full of comments disagreeing with this.” Another shared, “Mnet never learns 🤦🏻‍♀️ They really went from SWF leaders, Lip J, Poppin Hyunjoon, Bae Yoonjung in Be Mbitious to idols again for SMF. I’m not discrediting Boa, Eunhyuk or Wooyoung but they are NOT pro dancers. They are idols. Let them judge idol competitions, not SWF or SMF.”

Knetizens wrote comments like, “Can they put some dancers at least,” and “Huh??? What are they going to judge?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Aren't the participants their own teachers??” Another said, “I dont mind having them for guest judge but.... its a battle, can mnet put *at the very least* one professional judge for that? I mean.......... i dont want he "the vibes was good on the battle" fiasco all over again lol.” One added, “SMF just turn in to a shit show c’mon mnet as much as i luv ma 2gen idol JWY and LHJ can’t even beat LHW how can they be a judge.”

A dancer shared, “As a dancer that currently goes to battles, we hate when we know that the judge knows nothing. In the dance worlds they're very specific with the judges, even if its a locking battle, you have a judge that can dance locking, if its waacking or breaking, is the samd. They try not to put a locker judging a breaking battle. So tbh as a dancer i would be pissed if i saw those types of judges but yeah, this is television.”

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‘Not there to actually judge’

However, some fans pointed out that the show was not a professional dance show but a platform to help Korean dancers get more recognition. By roping in popular idols, Mnet would be securing their fandoms as viewers of ‘Street Man Fighter’. One fan explained, “I guess Eunhyuk and Wooyoung will bring some variety show experience and hopefully make the judging at least funny, because I don't expect anything else from them. These "judges" are not there to actually judge dancers who are much more experienced than them, but for big companies to just be part of the show.”

This argument was strengthened with the way the next fan became a potential viewer of the show just because of the judges, “As a 2nd gen fans, I’m so happy seeing them, cause I know how great they are.” A 2PM fan was excited, “Let’s go dancing machine Jang Wooyoung.” A Super Junior fan cheered, “LETS GO DANCE JUDGE EUNHYUK.” Another pointed out, “For people who said why choose idols as judges... SMF is not a professional dance competition. its a program to help introduce street dancers to public. and they'll judge it from famous idol dancers pov, which is fairer.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.