148 Votes for a 13-Year-Old: The Song Park Jin-seo Sang for Her Mother

The adults' expressions changed almost as soon as the first verse began. Fourteen dozen-plus votes are an impressive result, but the longer-lasting part of the story may be the journeys she and her mother made to reach that stage.

Episode three of SBS's The Ballad 2 aired October 19. Thirteen-year-old Park Jin-seo said she and her mother had travelled between Dangjin and Seoul three times weekly, a roughly five-hour round trip, for music lessons. She chose Yoon Mi-rae's 'Good Bye Sadness, Hello Happiness' to convey thanks and regret to her mother. Her first-round performance earned 148 votes from a panel of 150, placing second overall.

The performance resonated because she connected the song's wish to leave sadness behind with her own experience. The panel responded to her voice and musical phrasing, and the unusually high vote tally is an observable reaction from this specific broadcast. A talent-show score, of course, cannot guarantee a singer's future.

The show's panel reactions are well documented. Singer Jung Seung-hwan praised the combination of practice and individual musical character. Actor Cha Tae-hyun celebrated the prospect of a new star from Dangjin. Joo Woo-jae and other participants expressed surprise, and some appeared tearful. These are reactions seen on the show, not survey data about all Korean viewers.

The show focuses on the stories behind song choices as well as vocal ability. SBS's own website hosts separate clips of the performance, the panel reactions and the travel story involving her mother. The linked YouTube post is indexed with the title 'Why Adults Were Surprised by a 13-Year-Old's Singing'; this research did not independently confirm the YouTube account's verification status or successful playback.

Verified facts: SBS episode three aired October 19, 2026; Park Jin-seo was 13; the song was originally by Yoon Mi-rae; she received 148 votes out of 150 and placed second in round one. SBS reported a Seoul-area household rating of 5.8% and a minute-by-minute peak of 6.5%. Those are TV ratings, not Park's individual video views.

Contestants advancing from round one will face one-on-one elimination rounds. Park's eventual progress is not yet determined, so no later outcome is assumed.