Idol Star Athletics Championships (ISAC) to return after 2 years… Fans are pouring our mixed reactions
The program which many fandoms are afraid of will return this Chuseok holiday.
On June 17th, MBC announced that they were preparing for a Chuseok Special of their representative holiday program “Idol Star Athletics Championships” (hereinafter referred to as “ISAC”). The last ISAC – the 2020 Lunar New Year Special was suspended in the aftermath of Covid-19. With the recent announcement, ISAC will finally resume after two years.
During the 2020 Chuseok Special, all indoor games were canceled, and the “Idol e-sports championship” and Idol puppies championship” were held outdoors without spectators. The 2021 Lunar New Year Special was made as “ISAC: Hall of Fame”, which summarizes famous scenes of idols who have participated in ISAC. The 2021 Chuseok Special and 2022 Lunar New Year Special were not held.
Therefore, it’s been two and a half years since idols had a chance to normally gather together and compete in ISAC. Since many new idol groups debuted during the pandemic period, more attention is being paid to the lineup for a new season of ISAC.
In response to the return of ISAC, many idol fandoms react negatively, saying they don’t want their idols to appear on the program due to concerns over injuries and scandals. When the news was reported, netizens on an online community commented, “Please stop”, “I don’t want my idols to go there”, “I was so happy that they didn’t hold ISAC due to Covid-19”, “At this point, I hope my idols will be busy with overseas schedules”, “This program only makes idols mentally and physically exhausted. Fans who went there to cheer for idols understand that feeling”, “This program has many problems. They didn’t treat fans properly”, etc.
On the other hand, there are also positive opinions, such as “This program will attract high ratings and hot topics, there’s no reason for them to not make it”, “I hope my idols are on the lineup. It would be really interesting”, “This is the opportunity for idols who want to gain more recognition from the public”, “Fans may not like it but the ratings of the show are always high and there are also many hot topics”, “Even when fans don’t like it, there are still idols who want to appear on the show, right? There are not many shows for idols actually”, “It will be so much fun if they don’t play dangerous sports. I want to see idols play some interesting and cute games”, etc.
ISAC is a holiday special program in which idols singers compete in multi-sport events and determine fair and square wins.
Source: wikitree
