Current Event 20/10/29

---- [Current Events are bi-weekly writing assignments for my junior year history class. The instructions are to find a recent article, summarize it, and describe your personal opinion on it.]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1434534wpp/mnets-kingdom-reportedly-to-begin-filming-in-january

 

Late yesterday night, news broke that the Mnet survival show ‘Kingdom’ will begin filming in January next year and airing in February. This article takes us through the background information about the show, as well as announcing that information. The ‘Kingdom’ series is a competition show between established groups. To sum it up, the first season was called ‘Queendom’ and had a lineup of girl groups ranging from second generation groups, such as AOA, to then-rookies (G)I-DLE. When that ended up being successful, Mnet created a male version of ‘Queendom’ called ‘Road to Kingdom’, and the winner of that will move onto the next level, ‘Kingdom’. The group called The Boyz took on a victorious, yet kind of predictable and inevitable win, on ‘Road to Kingdom’. (I watched it air live at seven in the morning, and man, let me tell you, I was going through it. But I’ll get more in depth to that later.) The article also states that Mnet is “currently casting artists with the goal of airing the first episode in the first half of 2021. The exact details of the filming and broadcast have not been decided.” This means that the highly anticipated details of the lineup for that show is currently not yet confirmed, which leaves fans wondering and guessing. It also mentions that earlier this year, the originally late-2020 planned ‘Kingdom’ got delayed and was not going to be airing in 2020.

Alright, this is going to be a long story. Me, having watched ‘Road to Kingdom’ as it aired from April to June earlier this year, along with many others, remember clearly the chaos and headache-evoking havoc it brought. First off, having competition among groups will surely bring aggression among fans. I’m not going to go into detail about that because it houses some awful memories for me… but basically, my Twitter timeline was a mess and I could not go a single minute without seeing some form of hate being thrown around to one group or another. I didn’t mess with any of that, obviously, as I happen to stan all seven groups that were on that show, so in a way I (and of course a select few other multis) was the mediator. The Boyz taking that final crown brought celebration but also hatred from others. In conclusion, it was just insanely messy. 

Despite the breathtaking performances and my personally favored interactions, no one wanted to repeat that terrible cycle of cyberbullying and just pure mental exhaustion. That’s why when the news that ‘Kingdom’ was back into works after its delay, we all started losing our minds. Of course, it was inevitable, so the next question is: who will be up against our rising stars The Boyz? Well, there are multiple predictions and hopes, and I thought I’d list my own and my logical reasoning for this opinion section. 

My official bets are on: Monsta X, SF9, VICTON, NU’EST, possibly ASTRO, and in my wildest dreams, N.Flying. (And The Boyz, of course.)

Now, to clarify, this is not what I want, but rather my most logical guesses, based on reasoning and my knowledge of Mnet, the show, and the groups. For Kingdom to be the next level up from ‘Road to Kingdom’ means that the competition for The Boyz should be harder, therefore the other groups should be older and more experienced than them. The Boyz debuted in 2017, so I’m aiming for active and fairly popular (but not too popular) boy groups that debuted in 2016 or earlier (but obviously not too early). All the groups I listed above fit that category: Monsta X and N.Flying in 2015, SF9, VICTON, and ASTRO in 2016, and NU’EST in 2012. The only one among there that could be leaning towards the ‘too popular’ side would be Monsta X, but knowing their company, Starship Entertainment, the chance is there. Furthermore, it was stated somewhere that they will be choosing the lineup based on the group’s wins, and each of those groups have had at least one win. SF9’s company, FNC, have sent their girl group AOA onto ‘Queendom’, so it’s definitely possible that they’ll send another one of their groups to ‘Kingdom’. VICTON are also plausible, especially with the fact that two of their members, Byungchan and Seungwoo, were already on an Mnet survival show before. (Though, I sincerely do not wish for them to have to go through another one again.) NU’EST are under Pledis Entertainment, and they too have been put on an Mnet survival show a few years ago. Pledis will likely send someone, simply because they want clout. But SEVENTEEN would be too popular and overpowered to go, so NU’EST is a more plausible option. I also chose ASTRO, simply because they’re a decently popular boy group who debuted before The Boyz and has a win, but really, I don’t see them as a survival show group. Like, I physically cannot imagine them on one, but hey, the chance is there and reasonable. In fact, I really hope they don’t go because their member Eunwoo has been incredibly busy recently, filming for dramas nonstop, and if he immediately goes to ‘Kingdom’ with ASTRO, he’ll have absolutely no time to rest, which is definitely not good for his health. Now, N.Flying, on the other hand, is actually a group I hope will be on there. They’re also under FNC, and they do pretty well on the charts, but recently FNC has been ignoring them and not giving them anywhere near the amount of promotion they need or deserve. Hence, we as their fans are desperately hoping for the chance to get some attention, so much that we are even turning to the soon-to-be craphole that is ‘Kingdom’. Honestly, I don’t think FNC would put them on there, considering their drummer, Jaehyun was sent to Japan to film a drama for supposedly the entire winter. But, you know what, I can dream a little. Imagine: N.Flying, the only instrumental band to go onto ‘Kingdom’, and then they win and get popular, and then we finally achieve world domination.

Sorry if this wasn’t that clear. There is actually a lot more information I excluded, but I ran out of brain power. I originally wanted to write this as soon as the news dropped yesterday, but my brain was too intensely fried from keeping up with the Twitter timeline and the rumors and updates about the show (as well as the upcoming big award ceremonies, as that time of year is coming once again). Now, my brain is still fried because of Twitter and how less sleep I got. So, once again, I apologize if this wasn’t as entertaining as my others or if it was too confusing. I will gladly explain clearer if you insist! This is the one field I am knowledgeable about because I’m useless in everything else. (That’s a joke. Please do not report me to the counselors.)