On August 6, 2021, Mnet premiered the first episode of their new survival show Girls Planet 999. This caused mixed emotions in the Kpop community due to Mnet’s infamous history with survival shows involving unfairly eliminating contestants and rigging votes. On Girls Planet 999, 99 trainees of different nationalities (33 each of Chinese, Japanese and Korean) and from different companies would compete for a spot in the top 9.
During the semi-final round, Mnet revealed a ‘one-pick’ voting system for the finale of the show. This was the third and final time the show changed its voting system. This particular change raised concerns among fans as it could drastically influence the results.
Voting for the final debut lineup was split into two parts. The first round of voting was already open on the UNIVERSE app until October 22, 10:00 am KST. The second round would start during the live stream later on the same day.
Some thought that the new voting system put the Japanese and Chinese contestants at a heavy disadvantage, given that Korean fans mostly pick Korean trainees, and the show was mostly broadcasted in Korea.
The new voting system announced by Mnet allows the audience to use their single vote to support one of the 18 candidates left.
As per the rules, the votes are calculated by considering 50% Korean and 50% international votes. The outcome of this has been that Japanese and Chinese group members dominated the top nine seats.
The concern stems from fans seeing a one-pick voting system gone wrong. In the boy group of the same show, Mnet similarly changed the voting system to the one-pick system in the finale. Seven out of 12 final trainees were Japanese, but only three survived. Fans connected the massive drop to the change in audience voting and interest.
In the final lineup, revealed on October 22, 2021, 7 trainees were Korean, 2 were Japanese and 1 was Chinese.
Source articles: https://www.quora.com/When-was-the-debut-lineup-for-the-K-pop-group-KEP1ER-announced
https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/news-fans-upset-girls-planet-999-s-new-voting-system-puts-non-korean-contestants-disadvantage
During the semi-final round, Mnet revealed a ‘one-pick’ voting system for the finale of the show. This was the third and final time the show changed its voting system. This particular change raised concerns among fans as it could drastically influence the results.
Voting for the final debut lineup was split into two parts. The first round of voting was already open on the UNIVERSE app until October 22, 10:00 am KST. The second round would start during the live stream later on the same day.
Some thought that the new voting system put the Japanese and Chinese contestants at a heavy disadvantage, given that Korean fans mostly pick Korean trainees, and the show was mostly broadcasted in Korea.
The new voting system announced by Mnet allows the audience to use their single vote to support one of the 18 candidates left.
As per the rules, the votes are calculated by considering 50% Korean and 50% international votes. The outcome of this has been that Japanese and Chinese group members dominated the top nine seats.
The concern stems from fans seeing a one-pick voting system gone wrong. In the boy group of the same show, Mnet similarly changed the voting system to the one-pick system in the finale. Seven out of 12 final trainees were Japanese, but only three survived. Fans connected the massive drop to the change in audience voting and interest.
In the final lineup, revealed on October 22, 2021, 7 trainees were Korean, 2 were Japanese and 1 was Chinese.
Source articles: https://www.quora.com/When-was-the-debut-lineup-for-the-K-pop-group-KEP1ER-announced
https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/news-fans-upset-girls-planet-999-s-new-voting-system-puts-non-korean-contestants-disadvantage
