MBC’s Idol Star Athletics Championships (ISAC) is facing backlash for being “cringe” and attention-seeking.
Netizens are calling out idols for acting over-the-top and deliberately trying to stand out during the event, which has aired annually since 2010. One netizen said:
ISAC is kind of cringe. When they’re filming, since there are idols and fans around, they act way more over-the-top than usual when talking, and they deliberately try to stand out too. Seriously, what the hell.
— OP
Highlights from this year’s ISAC include a male idol running onstage just to dance in front of the crowd and idols actively trying to befriend members of other groups.
gehlee had one mission at ISAC: to befriend Ella from MEOVV
— gehlee source (@gehleesource)
Fans also noticed ZB1’s Park Gunwook clearly seeking attention by interacting with multiple girl group idols.
It was kind of funny how ZB1’s Park Gunwook was showing off his interactions with girl group idols this time. It felt like he was the only one going around trying hard to act close with them…
When he’s with his own group, his eyes look dead, but as soon as there are girl idols nearby, his energy shoots up and he starts acting conscious of them. Reminds me of my own idol, damn.
Deliberately doing attention-seeking things… honestly, even if it were my own bias, I’d lose interest.
Other netizens defended the behavior as natural.
Come on, think about it lol. When you spend years stuck together 24/7 with the same members, of course sometimes you want to talk to other people too. ISAC just happens to be that place.
Controversy also heated up over one male idol acting flirty at ISAC, which stirred fan wars and jealousy among teenage girl fans.
At this ISAC, everyone could see it was just one male idol acting super flirty — the girl idols didn’t really do anything. But the way these teen fangirls are foaming at the mouth and fighting over H2H is hilarious. Like, what did H2H even do lol. It’s so funny how teenage girl fans these days are obsessively trying to drag H2H. ㅠ Guess it really is human instinct to feel jealous of a pretty girl your age.
ISAC’s dynamic clearly shifted from pure athletics to also include heavy focus on idol interactions and fan attention.
Fans remain divided over whether it’s genuine fun or just attention-seeking behavior on display.
