“무대를 뒤집어 놓으셨다,” which directly translates as “turned the stage upside down” is a meme that originated from a music show called ‘나는 가수다(I am a Singer).’
‘나는 가수다(I am a Singer)’ is a TV show that was first aired in 2011, where seven famous singers perform a song each and get ranked based on audience voting. The first season of ‘나는 가수다’ was controversial. First, it sparked a debate on whether it’s appropriate to rank professional singers. As the show drew a lot of attention, it also sparked a reaction that the participating singers overuse climaxes in their arrangements and performances to win the votes from the audience. Critics of the show complained that the show is becoming a battle deciding who can sing the highest note.
However, the public’s reaction to the show was sensational on the national level. On internet communities and social media, everyone talked about ‘나가수[nagasu].’
After all, ‘나는 가수다’ was the program that changed the Korean TV industry for good. Thanks to the controversial success of the show, singing competition became a popular genre on Korean TV. Various singing competition formats were created, and the shows such as ‘복면가왕(King of Mask Singer),’ and ‘너의 목소리가 보여(I Can See Your Voice)’ were exported to many foreign countries.
The “무대를 뒤집어 놓으셨다” meme came out in the second season of ‘나는 가수다.’ The first episode of the second season was aired live. It was an ambitious attempt by the producer, who originally created the show. He had left the show right after the first two episodes of the first season.
During the first season, the show established the format showing fellow competitors’ reactions during a singer’s performance. The producers tried to recreate the same thing on the live TV, but it didn’t go very well. The most famous meme from the show was born right after the band, Baekdoosan, performed.
A veteran singer Park Mi-kyung, who was watching Baekdoosan’s performance, reacted in an awkward tone like a robot, and even made a mistake in pronouncing the name of the group.
Her reaction immediately became a popular meme on the internet. Although more than 10 years has passed, the meme “무대를 뒤집어 놓으셨다” is still being widely used in Korean popular culture.
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