Youth With You 3 (2021)

It's been a few years since I've picked up a survival show and I didn't think I would be as hooked as I was before, but this was so worth it!! Even though the show wounded up in some controversies and the finale was canceled, I still think the rest of the show before it was still very enjoyable.

I honestly didn't think any other seasons that followed Idol Producer would have such a unique and talented set of individuals on the show again but this season (at least) has proved me wrong. All the trainees are so talented!

The selection of music was fire despite what others may say. There had been some rumors saying iQiyi was running low on budget and that's why the song selections were a majority the mentor's songs. Personally I haven't heard many of the songs before so I found it entertaining. The way in which they created groups this season is interesting too. The first evaluation was position and they allowed trainees to select their own groups but also intervene with others selection, and kind of battle it out by persuading the trainee to join them. Then the second was split by age groups and it was based on who was able to snatch the song first rather than by rank (which I found was a bit unfair in the past for the lower classes). These are only a few examples of how they did song selections.

In terms of the editing, I would say its changed a bit but I still appreciate the extra clips they put in of the trainees. In comparison to Produce Camp (another survival show), there's a lot more content and screen time showing their practice sessions leading up to the stage day. The episodes are very oddly separated into parts, but I guess that only means more content! However, unless you are VIP there isn't much extra clips to watch, at least from my standpoint. It's also hard to navigate around the website for the studio recordings and performances especially since some aren't available on YouTube. There has been some talk about how this season isn't as entertaining as the past seasons in terms of editing and music performances but I disagree I thought that it was pretty entertaining. I do agree with some aspects such as the unequal distribution of screen time like during the press conference in the early episodes and also training time leading up to performances.

The mentor line up was also great! You could tell each mentor really cared about the trainees and were very respectful of everyone. They took their time speaking and did their best to help each person. Will Pan didn't get frustrated at all during his sessions with the trainees, he instead would pull those who weren't as comfortable or familiar with rapping aside, giving them advice and helping them figure out their parts. Then there is LISA who I'm not too familiar with but before, but I was always in awe seeing how she was able to so easily catch the problem with each groups' dances and point out how to make it better. I'd watch and be like "oHH yeah that looks SO much better woW!" And finally, Li Ronghao's class sessions would be in the recording studio and it's so funny and cute seeing him come out of the control room and into the recording booth to help out the trainees if they weren't getting a high note or something. Li Chun wasn't exactly a mentor, she was the MC for the most part of the show, but she never failed to show her care and generosity. She often asked about the trainees and would bring them food. The most memorable would probably be giving a Doreamon to Li Junhao (Rimiko).

Overall, the show was really really good! I just wished the finale had happened before the show ended, and Yu Jingtian (Tony) didn't get wrapped up in a controversy as well. Fan or not, I just felt bad and it was very unfortunate that it came right before the last episode was able to air. Same with the rest of the trainees, they worked so hard but in the end were not able to debut (especially Lian Huaiwei). However with that being said, it wasn't a *complete* waste because the trainees at least got some exposure and the show helped each and everyone of them grow in some aspect. We don't always get the ending we want, but we can always pick out at least one positive to hold onto.

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I have to say, even with the tragic and full of scandals ending that led to the cancelation of the finale, it’s still my favorite survival show I have ever seen.

⇢ Cast aka the contestants and mentors
The most unique and diverse cast of the trainees I have ever seen. I am not going to lie, I usually struggle quite a lot to remember the contestants - mostly I just give up trying and just pay close attention to two or three that I like. Here, there were so many unique characters, I was happy to do my research, make some notes and try my best to use the few brain cells I have to remember as many of them as possible.

I also believe that the production team did a good job promoting some pairing and groups of friends that had great chemistry with each other. The focus was (almost) never on the rivalry, but rather cooperation and friendship, which was simply delightful to watch.

This show also has the sunshine, the only true pure boy - Lian Huaiwei. It would NOT be an overstatement if I said I was completely obsessed with this guy. R.I.P all my friends who had to deal with my spam in chats as I was watching the episodes. Half of the messages were variations of “OMG I JUST LOVE HUAIWEI SO MUCH”.

As for mentors - almost pure perfection. I am slightly salty about Lisa being a dance mentor when she could not be present on set. This affected the dance training, and at times other trainees had to do the job the dance mentor should be doing. I also think she was sometimes not quite careful about her remarks which at times quite hurt the trainees as a result. I still enjoyed her a lot and her interactions with some trainees were fun to watch, but overall, she was the least mentor-like in my eyes.

On the other hand I want Chris Lee in my life. She was strict, but also patient. She had realistic expectations towards trainees, and knew how far she can push them to not cross the line. Not to mention, her socially awkward attitude was just entertaining.

Both Will Pan and Li Rong Hao took the mentoring seriously - they were both teaching, but also supporting the contestants. The interactions were funny, inspiring and at times heartwarming.

⇢ Music aka the the performances
I have to say, I was not crazy about a good 50% of the stages, and it’s not on the trainees - the songs/arrangements were just boring. That said, it also has so many amazing bops that I listen to daily - from ballads that make me into a crying mess every single time I watch them, to hype pop tracks that make my heart race.

I appreciated how the trainees had some creative freedom, being able to tweak the stages and performances to add various elements here and there. We were also able to see some self written and produced songs, which is always an additional plus in shows like that.

⇢ Story aka the production
I’m just going to completely ignore the finale issues, because before that I was completely in love with the production of the show.

First of all, “more means more” aka 2 episodes per week was a great idea. The issue with these shows is, they want to showcase 100 trainees in one episode that lasts around 2 and half hours - it’s simply impossible. We get to see at best 10 seconds of some audition stages, not everyone gets a chance to be shown during the practice time, and at the end, we end up with 10-20 trainees we remember, and 80-90 guys whose names we don’t even know. Since YWY S3 gave us 2 episodes per week, each around 3 hours long, we got an actual chance to find out who the trainees are.

Another thing I truly loved was the fact I could feel iQiyi cares about international fans. Providing English subtitles is a bare minimum, but they went beyond that. We always got the indication who was speaking at any given moment (even when it was just an offhand comment made in a crowd). Most of the ranking after stages was translated, so we knew who actually got how many points (comparing it to season one, where the lists were in Chinese, and I was able to figure out the results only by seeing the reactions of the trainees).

The gold editing. Truly, the editing team needs a rise. The fitting sound effects, memes, and other visual effects added made the show so much more enjoyable. They just knew how to turn the entertainment value of the show to maximum.

Overall, it’s an mazing journey with a painful ending. Do the trainees deserve more? Yes. Was it completely iQiyi's fault and should they be canceled for what happened? No. It’s easy to criticize the end result, but if we are honest with ourselves, they could not really make any other choices. The only thing I was truly upset about and it’s truly 100% on iQiyi was the lack of closure. At first they did give updates about the current situation around the finale, but after the cancellation, there was no definite answer. I would love for them to just be honest and say: sadly we will not debut the team. Without a closer it’s harder to move on. And believe me, it was hard to move on. I rewatched the show twice.

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