Mention of BTS V and Park Bo Gum on “Queendom Puzzle” Sparks Controversy Even Before the Show’s Premiere
Mnet’s survival variety show “Queendom Puzzle” is facing criticism even before its official release.
On June 7th, Mnet’s “Queendom Puzzle” released a pre-release video ahead of episode 1 aired on June 13th.
In the video, Cherry Bullet’s Bora, Jiwon, and Chaerin were introduced as “BTS V‘s counterpart,” “Park Bo Gum’s counterpart,” and “Kim Hye Soo‘s child role,” respectively.
Bora previously starred alongside V in a promotional video for BTS’s album in 2017. Jiwon had a collaboration with Park Bo Gum in a clothing commercial, and Chaerin played Kim Hye Soo’s younger self in tvN drama “Under The Queen’s Umbrella.”
Bora expressed her disappointment, saying, “We were all introduced through our acting activities. It’s a bit disappointing to be introduced through acting activities rather than our 5-year debut as singers.”
She also revealed her ambitious aspiration, “Next time, I hope we can be introduced with a ‘Queendom Puzzle’ stage that is of the highest level.“
Cherry Bullet’s fans also had negative reactions to Mnet’s introduction of the members. Despite achieving significant success since their debut in 2019, fans expressed their disappointment with Mnet for not properly introducing Cherry Bullet. In particular, the keywords used to describe Cherry Bullet members could make them overshadowed by other stars.
The controversy surrounding “Queendom Puzzle” does not stop there. The pre-release also includes an explanation of the evaluation method of “Queendom Puzzle.”
Host Taeyeon explained, “In K-pop, there is a ranking system called ‘Goon.’ Goon is the report card you have received so far. We divided the standards into 1st to 4th Goon.” As of April 24th this year, the total number of music show wins (50%) and the highest first-week album sales among released albums (50%) were converted into scores to divide the participating artists into 1st to 4th Goon.
In response, popular music critic Jung Min Jae expressed anger, “I don’t want to give any attention to malicious programs like ‘Queendom Puzzle.’“
He further criticized, “From the idea of taking people who are doing well in their own way, regardless of their previous achievements, and putting them in competition to create the ‘best combination,’ the program lacks any respect for the artists.”
Mnet’s “Queendom Puzzle” will premiere on June 13th.
Source: Daum.
