Earlier this week, MBC unleashed its newest singer survival program, "I Am A Singer", which kicked off to an explosive start. The program pits a total of seven big name singers (including Kim Gun Mo, Kim Bum Soo, Park Jung Hyun, Baek Ji Young, Yoon Do Hyun, Lee Sora, and Jung Yeob) against each other in a battle of vocal talent. For each episode, the singers are ranked according to a specific mission, and one singer is eliminated with votes from a 500-member audience. The first episode surveyed the level of viewers' interest each singer received based on performances of their own hit tracks. Park Jung Hyun came out on top with 22%, while Jung Yeob placed last. Viewers were especially ecstatic with the way the program exhibited the artists' true passion for music, leaving comments like, "It's an amazing program, you can tell that the singers are all doing the best they possibly can.  Truly an honor to watch the show," and "Throughout the show, my ears had a blast listening to the talent, and my heart was racing with anticipation." Moments after the broadcast, the songs that were performed on the show began sweeping back into the music charts, with some tracks ranking at the top. Unfortunately, because it was recorded in front of a live audience, the producers are struggling with spoilers leaking information about the missions and the eliminated. The controversy later developed into accusations about how the program was distorting results.  One news agency alleged that singer 'A' was eliminated, but requested to re-record the episode because they questioned the standards of judgment. Lee Jin Sook, MBC's promotional director, spoke with Daily Sports on March 10th and explained, "I met with PD Kim Young Hee yesterday and discussed various things.  We're all surprised at the reports claiming that we fabricate the content of our program, but that is absolutely ridiculous.  We would be putting everything MBC stands for at stake if it were true. We feel that this controversy only came about because of the explosive response 'I am a Singer' has been receiving since its first broadcast." PD Kim Young Hee added, "I feel that the controversy isn't even worth commenting on.  It's preposterous." The second episode will officially begin missions with the risk of elimination, as each singer will be given a specific 'mission song' that they must perfect and perform in order to be judged by the audience. Source: JoongAng via Nate, BNT News via Naver, Focus via Naver