Yoo Jae-suk, all Yang Sang-guk, Heo Kyung-hwan, and Park Young-jin eliminated on 'Hangout with Yoo'... Ending the 'Comedian Free Pass Theory'

In episode 348 of MBC variety show ″Hangout with Yoo,″ Yoo Jae-suk gave all three comedians Yang Sang-guk, Heo Kyung-hwan, and Park Young-jin a fail, ending the rumor of a ″comedian free pass.″ In that episode, Yoo Jae-suk, Haha, Heo Kyung-hwan, and Joo Woo-jae continued preparing for the ″95 MBC Seoul Music Festival.″ The re-evaluation of ″Stop Moving,″ which had received a hold decision in the first preliminary round, was conducted by Yoo Jae-suk, Haha, and Joo Woo-jae. ″Stop Moving″ performed Im Jae-beom’s ″If This Night Passes.″ Yoo Jae-suk expressed surprise, saying ″Not bad,″ but the contestant failed the high note in the final verse and was rejected by all three judges. The identity was revealed to be comedian Heo Kyung-hwan, who after elimination said, ″I feel at ease. I didn’t even realize I was coming down the stairs. I was nervous wondering what expectations there were.″ In the second preliminary round, most applicants passed except for ″Pilot.″ The identity of ″Pilot″ was comedian Park Young-jin. When Park Young-jin sang Sung Jin-woo’s ″Don’t Give Up,″ Yoo Jae-suk harshly commented, ″It seems like you shouldn’t be on this stage in this condition,″ and gave a fail, with Joo Woo-jae and Haha agreeing. In last week’s first preliminary round, Yang Sang-guk, who participated under the nickname ″Walking to the Sky,″ was eliminated. Haha noticed a dialect in the singing and guessed the identity, while Joo Woo-jae said, ″If you listen without prejudice, it’s quite refreshing.″ However, Yoo Jae-suk said, ″Even without prejudice, it’s not acceptable. You have to be bold,″ and gave a fail, with Heo Kyung-hwan adding, ″This is a level that can’t be on stage. It’s an accident.″ Meanwhile, in the broadcast on July 4, comedian Kim Won-hoon was shown actively trying to appear on the program by visiting the recording studio without prior arrangement. At that time, guest Kwak Beom mentioned the ″Hangout with Yoo″ free pass rumor spreading in the comedian industry, saying, ″How the word got around is that even if you’re not officially invited as a guest, if you show up, the seniors accept you.″