KBS2 title for ‘The Seasons-Sung Si-kyung’s Eardrum Boyfriend’.

Singer Sung Si-kyung has been selected as the ninth MC of ‘The Seasons’, but a heated debate is unfolding over the title ‘Sung Si-kyung’s Eardrum Boyfriend’, with some saying it feels out of touch.

On the 11th, the KBS2 team behind ‘The Seasons’ announced that singer Sung Si-kyung had been chosen as the MC for the ninth season, adding, “‘The Seasons-Sung Si-kyung’s Eardrum Boyfriend’ is set to air its first episode on the 27th.”

It continued, “Sung Si-kyung is expected to lead the program based on the musical depth and stage experience he has built over a long time, along with the witty talk he has shown across various broadcasts and content. As the original ‘Eardrum Boyfriend’, he will introduce new ‘Eardrum Boyfriends’ and ‘Eardrum Girlfriends’, whose performances will unfold every Friday night, offering a special healing time that blends music and talk.”

However, once the title was revealed, online reactions were cold. Some asked whether the word ‘boyfriend’ suits someone who is 48 this year, while others joked that ‘Eardrum Uncle’ would be a better fit. Many also questioned why, despite Sung Si-kyung having numerous hit songs, this season suddenly went with ‘Eardrum Boyfriend’ instead of following the precedent of previous MCs who titled their seasons after their own hits. In fact, earlier hosts largely drew on their song titles and musical images, such as ‘Jay Park’s Drive’, ‘Choi Jung-hoon’s Night Park’, ‘AKMU’s Onal Obam’, ‘Zico’s Artist’, and ‘10CM’s Sseu-dam Sseu-dam’. Sung Si-kyung, too, has plenty of classics that could work as titles, like ‘It Would Be Good’ and ‘Smiling Angel’, making the choice of ‘Eardrum Boyfriend’which doesn’t match his imagean unusual one.

Netizens commented, “He’s practically turning 50 soon, but the term itself is old-fashioned”, “He’s the same age as my uncle. Change the title already”, “It’s frivolous, and it’s not even trendy”, “No, seriously, ‘Smiling Angel’ would at least have been funny kind of like a dancing Sung Si-kyung”, “Who actually came up with this? Honestly, even with a younger MC, the reaction wouldn’t have been great”, and “How about Seongsik-hyung Spicy Cockle Salad”.

Meanwhile, ‘The Seasons’ is the first KBS late-night music talk show to adopt a seasonal MC system, with top artists such as Jay Park, Choi Jung-hoon (Jannabi), AKMU, Lee Hyo-ri, Zico, Lee Young-ji, Park Bo-gum, and 10CM taking turns as MCs since 2023. Each season has presented a range of music stories with a different MC, continuing its run as Korea’s representative late-night music talk show. The first recording of ‘The Seasons-Sung Si-kyung’s Eardrum Boyfriend’ will take place on the 17th.