Mnet with 'professional dancer' Monica... Will the judge avoid the fairness controversy?

《Kim Seoyoon's Nunettune》
Reporter Kim Seo-yoon of TenAsia digs into the current status of the entertainment industry, including notable dramas, entertainment, and noteworthy rising stars.

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Mnet's 'Street Woman Fighter' returns with Season 2. A survival program that has been followed by controversy as much as it boasts hot popularity. Both 'Street Woman Fighter 1' and 'Street Man Fighter' suffered from the issue of fairness in the screening. With professional dancers at the forefront this season, will they be able to finish the program safely?

'Street Woman Fight 2' (hereinafter referred to as 'Swoopa 2') is set to premiere on August 22nd. 'Swoopa' is a program where 8 teams compete to find the best street dance crew.

After the broadcast of 'Swoopa 1' in 2021, the dancers received as much love as celebrities. In particular, Noje's 'Hey Mama' challenge led the trend that year. The leaders of each team, such as Honey J, Aiki, Gabi, and Monica, led the program's popularity with their strong personalities. Numerous parodies have also been made.

Thanks to the popularity of 'Swoopa 1', a male version of 'Smanpa' was also created. 'Smanpa' also succeeded in gaining a lot of attention with the 'new' dance, which was the mission of the leader class.

However, both 'Suwoopa 1' and 'Smanpa' could not escape rumors related to the fighter's judgement. The judges of 'Swoopa 1' were singer BoA, group NCT 127's Taeyong, and Black Beat's Hwang Sanghoon. In evaluating professional dancers, it was pointed out that the judges were biased toward idols, and thus lacked professionalism.

All three judges of 'Smanpa' were also idols. Following singer BoA, Eunhyuk of Super Junior and Wooyoung Jang of 2PM judged the dancers. In particular, BoA had to endure an outpouring of malicious comments regarding the confrontation between Team Prime Kings and Bank 2 Brothers. It is said that BoA raised the hand of Bank 2 Brothers, not the Prime Kings, who induced them to rematch and drove the momentum with a 'landmark victory'.

BoA, the judge, had a given role in judging and evaluating the dance team's performances, but at the time, netizens did not hesitate to attack BoA on social media and poured out criticism. This was obviously a wrong move that crossed the line, but there were also opinions that it was understandable for the fans who had been complaining about Judge's fairness since 'Swoopa 1'. It was pointed out that the standard for evaluating the dance team's stage was not clear and was very subjective.

In this 'Swoopa 2', Monica, who was a participant in 'Suupa 1', will be the judge. He is an active dancer and has proven his skills as a crew leader. The production team, who seemed to be conscious of the previous controversies, said, “The judge who knows the situation of the crew members working on the ‘Swoopa 2’ mission better than anyone else.” Group MONSTA X's Shownu also appears as Judge.

As much as 'Swoopa 1' gained popularity like a syndrome, interest in 'Suupa 2' is also hot. The 'K-POP Death Match' mission video released through the YouTube channel 'The Dance' has exceeded 5 million cumulative views. In addition, the lineup of participating teams in Season 2 is also spectacular. Jam Republic stands out, and this team is a global crew that receives love calls from celebrities around the world, including Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Ciara, and Jennifer Lopez. Crew Tsubakil, who represents the Japanese dance scene, also appears, boasting a larger scale than Season 1.

The season of 'Swoop', which is positioned as Mnet's representative survival program. I'm looking forward to seeing if it will blow up the dance craze once again.

Kim Seo-yoon, staff reporter seogugu@tenasia.co.kr