Singer Kim Gun-mo said he has voluntarily decided to stay out of MBC’s survival program “I am a Singer,” apologizing for his earlier choice to remain in the program even after he received the lowest score from the audience in the competition against six other singers in the latest episode.

In each episode, seven singers are given a mission to perform in front of a 500-member audience made up of ordinary viewers. Under the program’s rules, the singer who receives the lowest score from the audience is replaced by a new singer.

MBC on Wednesday replaced Kim Young-hee, the veteran producer of the program, admitting Kim should have been eliminated.

“My decision to accept another chance to compete elicited public criticism and I apologize to the viewers and the audience,” Kim told reporters in his office in Seoul on Wednesday night.

“Producer Kim was replaced because of me. This decision is best for all.”

He said when he heard he received the lowest score, he felt as if he had done something really bad. During the two weeks given to Kim for another competition, he was able to look back on his life, he said.

Kim said he will release an album in June and hold a concert in September to mark the 20th anniversary of his debut.

Meanwhile, netizens have predicted the new contender will be ballad singer Kim Yeon-woo, saying a new contender’s socks in the short clip aired on the latest episode on MBC matched his socks shown in a KBS music program “Yoo Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook.”

The program “I am a Singer” airs weekly on Sunday at 5 p.m.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)