‘Street Woman Fighter’ viewers slam Mnet over unfair voting process
With just two more weeks left for ‘Street Woman Fighter’ to come to an end, netizens and viewers have a lot to say. As Mnet’s first all-female dance crew survival show, it created a buzz as the production is providing a national platform for underrated artists to show their talent - from Jessi selecting YGX’s choreography for her new song to La Chica collaborating with an LGBT+ dance crew. Noze’s worth also increased to $126k after she went viral for her ‘Hey Mama’ dance. But the show has also come under fire due to mistreatment of the participating crews.
One of the criteria for the voting process is YouTube views that Knetizens found unfair. Some 'Street Woman Fighter' crews had a disadvantage as they do not have a celebrity backing them while others did. Idols like BTS’ J-hope, Wonho and Blackpink’s Rosé have shown their support for some of the crews. Viewers claim that these crews’ stages will get a boost in views. Hence they are suggesting that the voting should only be based on talent rather than YouTube views. They have also not taken kindly to Mnet announcing a spin-off.
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'Street Woman Fighter' spin-off
Even before the show has ended, Mnet announced a follow-up show due to the popularity of ‘Street Woman Fighter’. An insider claimed that this decision was being rushed and the participants had not been consulted. This has led to sudden changes in schedules as the crews have had to cancel their previous events to abide by the contract signed with Mnet. They were first asked to have a special stage for KCON:TACT HI 5.
It has also been reported that there might be a special stage with the crews at MAMA 2021. The spin-off titled ‘Street Girls Fighter’ will focus on teenage girl crews. The leaders of ‘Street Woman Fighter’ crews will be on the judging panel. The winners of the current survival show were only supposed to get a trophy before Mnet was pressured into adding monetary benefits. Many netizens have pointed out that the dancers’ welfare or reputation are not being considered as WANT’s Rozalin and ex-IZ*ONE member Chaeyeon were trolled over ‘evil editing’.
'Evil editing'
Chaeyeon, who was part of WANT, was constantly used for thumbnails and melodramatic storylines because she is an idol with a huge fanbase. But it seemed that she was constantly criticized and not given a chance to show her true potential as a dancer. Viewers also noticed that Mnet had edited Rozalin in such a way that it looked like she was dissing a dancer from another crew. However, fans noticed that some of the words she had said had been cut which was noticeable due to the sloppy editing.
Emma from WANT then released a personal statement as she was targeted for being lazy and making mistakes in the episode where her crew was eliminated. She said that Mnet had cut out the part which showed as to why she was dancing to a different choreography. Instead, it seemed that she had made a mistake. Viewers also found it unfair that Noze and her crew WAYB had gotten a special episode when they were eliminated but the other crews did not get the same treatment.