《Kim Jiwon's Hidden Track》
Survival 'Queendom Puzzle', participant ratings divided before the start
Based on the group's album and sound source rankings in the past
Criteria that do not consider the current capabilities of individual participants
Injecting prejudice into viewers
Survival 'Queendom Puzzle', participant ratings divided before the start
Based on the group's album and sound source rankings in the past
Criteria that do not consider the current capabilities of individual participants
Injecting prejudice into viewers
《Kim Jiwon's Hidden Track》
Ten Asia reporter Kim Ji-won takes a closer look at the hidden stories of the music industry. We will vividly convey the facts and truth of the music industry issues.
The issue of fairness in survival auditions came up every time the program came out. It is a chronic problem of manipulating the number of votes and disregarding the amount of votes. However, in the previous audition programs, 'fairness' became a problem during the process. Mnet's 'Queendom Puzzle' has been controversial even before its release. Even before the start, performers were divided into grades according to ambiguous criteria and differentiated. This is why it is pointed out that the starting line itself is different.
'Quantum Puzzle' is a program that introduces a new combination of girl groups by matching former and current girl group members or female artists like a puzzle. Ahead of the first broadcast, the production team of 'Queendom Puzzle' started to attract viewers' attention with a pre-release video. Contrary to the production team's intention to promote it, the pre-release video created controversy. It was captured that the production team divided the cast into groups 1 to 4. Taeyeon, who appeared as an MC in the video, told the participants, "(In the music industry) there is a thing called a military. This military is the report card you received while promoting in K-pop. We decided to divide this according to the standard unique to 'Queendom Puzzle'." say
As the backlash from the fans grew, the production team explained the background of the ratings at the production presentation held on the 13th. CP Yoon Shin-hye emphasized, "I want to tell you first that being a military is not about dividing the standards of performers and classifying them." Then, he made an excuse, saying, "Since the performers of various years, concepts, and careers are gathered, I thought that there might be some public prejudice and prejudice. (The rating table) was prepared as a device to break such prejudice in the beginning. . He also said, "I hope that the individual stages that follow will serve as an opportunity to break those prejudices by showing the members' charms regardless of their previous numbers and grades. After that, the military will disappear and the mission will progress, so please watch." .
Looking at the classification criteria set by them, the total number of times they won first place on music shows (50%) and the initial sales volume of albums (50%) were counted and converted into points. The 'Queendom Puzzle' participants belong to each team, but they do not participate as a team in this survival. For this reason, it is difficult to say that it is logical to simply quantify individual capabilities based on group performance.
In the case of an idol group, each member has a 'charge'. This is why it is not appropriate to rank the music broadcasting rankings and album sales alone. The participants classified into 4 groups are Weki Meki's Elly, Lightsome Sanga, Miru, High-key Riina, High-key Huiseo, Wow Nana, and Woo Woo-yeon. However, Woowa has a visual that is good enough to be included in the thumbnail of the pre-release video alone, and Weki Meki Ellie was praised for her elegant tone in Kakao Entertainment's virtual girl group survival 'Girl Reverse' earlier this year. Miru, who has been active for 13 years, is a top-ranking member of the Japanese girl group AKB48.
Ranking is something that has been done before in other survival auditions as well. However, the rating reflects the 'current capabilities' such as participant introduction videos and judges' evaluations. It is not simply divided by the sound source and album score of the group to which the participant belongs. Like the 'Queendom Puzzle', the production team did not randomly classify the participants before it even started. It is also graded to provide training tailored to participants with different skills.
The winner of 'Queendom Puzzle' is determined by 100% viewer voting. The intention is to show a girl group that meets the public's eye level by not including other evaluation criteria other than viewer voting. However, the production team has already intervened in survival, which should be fair. It is Mnet that has been followed by fairness disputes whenever they do survival programs. The production team explained that they divided the ratings for 'an opportunity to break prejudice'. However, the act of rating the production team itself has already instilled prejudice in viewers. The discriminatory treatment that 'nameless' idols have to suffer is bittersweet.
Reporter Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia bella@tenasia.co.kr