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Rookie girl group IVE took home their tenth Music Bank win with After LIKE against NCT 127’s latest comeback, 2 Baddies, on the show's September 23 broadcast.
After LIKE won by a considerable margin of nearly 3000 points, throwing many K-pop fans into a state of confusion. It was released a month ago on August 22, while 2 Baddies was released only a few days ago on September 16.
The After LIKE girl group is the toughest cookie to crack in the fourth-generation K-pop industry, courtesy of them still trending at No. 1 on multiple South Korean music charts. Their song winning even after an entire month of release against a big group such as NCT 127's much-awaited comeback rightfully bewildered fans.
Netizens believe only three days of tracking led NCT 127 lose their music show win to IVE
NCT 127, a big K-pop boy group with two million-selling albums on their roster, lost to rookie girl group IVE, who joined the 'million sellers' club a few weeks ago on the latest Music Bank broadcast. While the songs charting might not have much to do with the seniority of the groups, many believed that the KBS show was rigged, much like during Lim Young-woong vs LE SSERAFIM (where the channel was found guilty).
2 Baddies scored 4928 points against After LIKE’s 7502. A big gap in the points led to a discourse on clarity for the music show criteria. As some put up nasty comments, others rose to defend and clarify the technicalities of what led to the rookie girl group's win.
A major point that both IVE and NCT 127’s fandom agreed on was that the latter’s release on Friday, September 16, only made them eligible for three days of tracking. The period considered for September 23’s music show broadcast points was from September 12 to 18.
The points are calculated by combining several categories: Digital Music Charts (60%), Album Sales (5%), Number of times broadcast on KBS (20%), Viewers Choice Charts (10%), and social media charts (5%). Meanwhile, fans also talked about the girl group still dominating the South Korean music charts, which shot up their digital music charts scores too.
Another point of discussion was NCT 127’s zero score from the viewers’ committee. As per several K-pop fans on Twitter, no song is given any points by the viewership committee in their first week of tracking.
Meanwhile, a few speculated that the show was rigged since a senior group with a powerful comeback lost to a rookie group. However, many reminded them that it was not a battle between the two groups but 2 Baddies and After LIKE’s general performance.
Several fans even pointed out that the boy group will have a better chance to bag a music show trophy next week.
In relevant news, IVE’s fandom was over the roof with their latest win. With September 23’s win, the girl group has officially become the second K-pop group to win the highest number of music show trophies in 2022. They also hold the first rank for their viral song, LOVE DIVE (10 wins).
Take a look at some of the reactions below:
A lot is riding on NCT 127, considering their reputation as a prominent senior idol group. Fans will have to wait and see if the group’s 2 Baddies will be able to outdo next week’s No. 1 contender or will 2022 prove to be the year of IVE.
