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Queendom 2 might have come to an end with WSJN being crowned as the winner, and LOONA as the runner-up, but controversies continue to follow the Mnet show.
In light of the situation, Mnet released an official statement on June 3, addressing the allegations and clarifying their calculation system. The agency stated that while it is true that they used a "global music streaming service" - Spotify - to calculate the digital performance scores, only one stream per day per ID was used in the calculations, and not multiple.
"As previously announced, only one stream of ‘Queendom 2 Official Playlist’ per day and per ID (multiple songs permitted, duplicates not permitted) was reflected in the digital performance score. This digital performance score data was all organized by the music streaming service and shared with ‘Queendom 2’ producers after they calculated final scores."
Why viewers were disappointed by the Queendom 2 results
In the second iteration of the show, the winner was reportedly determined on the basis of cumulative scores from all the rounds so far, in addition to the live final score. The live finale scores included each participant's digital performance, YouTube video score, fans’ choice score, and live vote count.
Many viewers claimed that the final results were tampered with, especially given that according to the total digital performance rankings by Spotify, the first position belonged not to WSJN, but to LOONA.
LOONA was closely followed by VIVIZ, with WSJN coming in at a distant third. Given the disparity between these rankings and the rankings that were shown for digital performance during the broadcast, it did not take long for accusations of manipulation to arise. Based on the final broadcast ranking, the list was- LOONA, WJSN, VIVIZ, Kep1er, Brave Girls and Hyolyn.
Mnet was accused of favouritism as fans of LOONA claimed that the competition was rigged against them from the start, since the girl group could not participate in the first round due to their COVID-19 diagnosis.
Mnet releases statement addressing claims
In their statement, Mnet confirmed that they did use Spotify to calculate the digital performance scores:
"In order to hear the diverse voices of global K-pop fans, we calculated digital performance scores through the ‘Queendom 2 Official Playlist’ on a global music streaming service."
However, the agency also insisted that only one stream per day per ID was considered for the calculations. Mnet also revealed that a voting witness was present to make sure there was no mix-up.
Additionally, a voting witness confirmed that this data was reflected as is on the broadcast. Thank you for giving ‘Queendom 2’ lots of attention until the very end.
However, the statement did not reassure fans of LOONA, who continued to be unconvinced by the results.
Meanwhile, the winners - WJSN - surprised fans by announcing their highly-anticipated return on July 5.
