Current Event 20/12/17

 ---- [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/1442014wpp/watch-stray-kids-ateez-and-the-boyz-confirmed-to-compete-on-kingdom-perform-powerful-collab-at-2020-mama

 

Before we begin on the topic of this article, I would like to provide you, Mr. Patterson, with some background information. Assuming you actually read my previous journals, you might remember me mentioning a show called Road to Kingdom somewhere among the text at one point or another. This nuisance-in-disguise of a show aired earlier this year, in the first half of 2020. To summarize in the simplest way possible, it is a Korean survival show program provided by the television channel Mnet, an artistic competition between seven boy groups: Pentagon, ONF, Golden Child, The Boyz, Oneus, Verivery, and TOO. Skip ahead--past all the epic performances and exasperating fanwars--to the final episode: The Boyz won. And, because of that, they gain the privilege of moving on to the next season, which is to be titled Kingdom. 

This brings us to the contents in the link above. Kingdom’s existence has been confirmed and teased ever since the initiation of Road to Kingdom (as the central goal of Road to Kingdom for the contestants was competing to obtain a spot in Kingdom.) Ever since the program ended, sealing The Boyz’s fate in Kingdom, fans have been awaiting confirmations on the rest of the lineup for that half-anticipated, half-dreaded show. (Why ‘dreaded,’ you ask? Stay tuned, and I will explain it all soon enough!) This article announces the official addition of two groups to the Kingdom lineup: Stray Kids and ATEEZ. Of course, the announcement didn’t just come from a few statements to be spread through some news sources; that would be a waste of the amount of hype surrounding this subject. So, Mnet being Mnet, made sure that that first lineup reveal was as dramatic as possible. 

The Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) is one of the biggest music award ceremonies in the industry. You can compare it to the Grammys: equally as prominent, equally as rigged. Besides the esteemed awards, there also comes breathtaking performances by the invited and nominated artists. I think you know what I’m getting at by now. About two hours into the broadcast came what appeared to be a special collaboration stage between The Boyz, ATEEZ, and Stray Kids. Now, I know this isn’t the opinion section yet, but that their performances were genuinely so incredible and, in my opinion, though I’m sure many others would agree, the most outstanding stage at MAMA this year. You could tell a lot of the budget went into this: all the fancy lighting and holograms, crazy stage effects, abundant props that were probably not too cheap, eye-catching outfits and styling, the amount of backup dancers, and just the general stage setup (if you watch it, you’ll understand; they were really not playing around for this one). I won’t go too in-depth on the nitty-gritty details because I’ve already been rambling for too long and I know you’re just trying to grade these dang journals. But hey, all I can say is that it was insane, and I would highly recommend checking it out to anyone. While I could elaborately write out every intricacy of the entire three-way joint performance and attempt to paint the picture in your head, watching it just hits differently. Also, I have four AP classes of other work to do than to write ten pages about K-Pop (again), as much as my heart would like to. (I’ll leave the YouTube link of this collaboration performance at the bottom, if you’re interested.) 

After the three finished up this performance, the screen suddenly transitioned to the Kingdom logo. Havoc ensued.

And that leads me directly into the opinion section. What are my thoughts on Kingdom? Well, well, well. 

I, for one, watched Road to Kingdom while it aired in April to June. And I, for one, support every group that was on there. I am one of the few people who have been a fan of all seven of them since before the show started, while most people just stick to one group or two, so you can imagine how big of a deal it was for me when the lineup for Road to Kingdom was first announced. I was excited for it at first, I really was. The fun didn’t last long, however. It was simply a friendly competition for the artists, a way for them to showcase their talent and improve their own skills. The competition among the fanbases of each group was not-so-friendly. Keep in mind, Road to Kingdom groups were all less known, so most of their fanbases were small and, hence, never got much hate, never have experienced people at their throats like this. Obviously, we can’t tell who initiated which fight, but it didn’t matter because we all knew it was inevitably going to turn out like this anyway. I just sat back and watched all my friends fight--free entertainment. It was all fun and games until people actually began dragging the artists. That was when it stopped being fun. Those were dark times for each of their fandoms; everyday I would log onto Twitter and see one person getting bullied or another. I could get into the details and explain each of the fandoms’ dynamics in the fighting, but I’m sure you’re not interested. 

The infamous Road to Kingdom fanwars eventually faded away with the end of the show and The Boyz taking the crown, giving their already ruthless and egocentric fandom yet more boasting rights. I’m happy for The Boyz; they deserved every bit of that (they worked so hard and their performances were beyond astounding). But, at the same time, I’m slightly ticked because their fandom, Deobis, were probably the most aggressive towards the other groups and fans throughout the majority of the show. 

The aftermath of Road to Kingdom simply left exhausted fans from each of the groups, exhausted from keeping up with the show, exhausted from voting, exhausted from defending their idols, exhausted from fighting other fans. It was a complicated mess. Despite all the life-changing performances and fun interactions I got from my favorite artists, there was also so much hate being thrown towards them that I do not want to subject any more talented artists that I care about through anything like this. In fact, most people share this ideology. 

(Personally, I don’t see why everyone couldn’t just ignore the fighting and enjoy the hecking show. I understand the feeling of needing to defend your group, but fighting fire with fire simply creates infernos. Throughout Road to Kingdom, I was either the mediator or the bystander during the raging battles I was subjected to witness on my Twitter timeline. My friends described me as this meme:  and I have never seen anything so accurate in my life.)

These notorious fanwars explicate the mayhem caused by the unexpected Kingdom lineup reveal at the recent MAMA performance. Here’s the thing: Stray Kids fans and ATEEZ fans have been at each other’s throats for nearly two years. I really cannot tell you the reason, though my best guess is that because the two groups debuted the same year, they are at around the same places in their careers, therefore their fans see one another as competition. 

So, here we have it. The holy trinity of this K-Pop generation’s worst and most combative fandoms--ego-inflated Deobis (The Boyz fans), overprotective Stays (Stray Kids fans), and aggravating Atinys (ATEEZ fans)--all about to fight it out in only a few more months. And, remember, it’s not even over; there will definitely be more groups confirmed to this lineup very soon. But a Deobi-Stay-Atiny mega-war already sounds horrid enough… How much worse can it really get?

(I probably just jinxed it. They’re going to add Treasure and the defensive Teumes now, aren’t they…

There have been many different predictions of the full lineup, and I have my own hypotheses too, but I won’t get started on that now. That topic can be for another day, assuming the full lineup hasn’t been revealed by then.)

The rest of the world is already shaking; we all know how bad Deobis, Stays, and Atinys can get alone. Now, they’re basically being forced into a gladiator rink together. Buckle up, boys, because World War III begins in the first half of 2021. 

 

 

Links to their MAMA stages, as I promised:

 

The collaboration stage was split into four sections. The Boyz went first with a mashup of their two most noteworthy performances from Road to Kingdom. Then, ATEEZ performed the title tracks from their two latest albums in some awesome makeup and outfits. Stray Kids went last of the three with a powerful B-side track from one of their older albums with this, uh, Sparta concept(?). At the end, Juyeon from The Boyz (red hair), San from ATEEZ (black hair), and Hyunjin from Stray Kids (blond hair)--one of the main dancers and, I suppose, most popular member of each group--come together and have a special collaboration choreography. A “triangular fight,” it was titled.

 

Without further ado, here are the links (flashy lights and extravagance warning ahead!):

The Boyz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8aOScCgPYg

ATEEZ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQJIszK1EOo

Stray Kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1QMXlDbUJ0

Triangular Fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FAHOyL0sog

 

(If you’re running low on time, I recommend just watch the triangular fight one then, since that was the final one that led to the reveal.)