The project boy group ZB1 (ZeroBaseOne, hereinafter "ZB1") has emerged from the audition program "Boys Planet." This is the fifth group to debut from an Mnet audition program.

As they have secured their debut opportunity after intense competition, they deserve congratulations. However, unresolved manipulation suspicions leave a lingering discomfort.

The manipulation suspicion began with a fairness controversy. A fairness dispute arose in the vote to decide the members who would take the killing part in the final live broadcast of "Boys Planet."

The killing part has the most weight in a song, making it highly likely to be selected as the final debut member. The production team announced that the killing part members would be determined by the voting results accumulated until 10 a.m. on April 14 (KST) but changed the standard on the 15th. They stated that they would use the results as of 7 a.m. on April 14 instead.

The production team explained that the issue was due to an external platform's "freeze." On the morning of the 14th, they discovered that some trainees' video view counts on the external platform were not increasing and were continually 'frozen.' They added that they had explained the changed criteria and results to all trainees and obtained prior consent.

Viewers did not trust the production team's explanation. According to the Broadcasting and Telecommunication Review Committee (hereinafter "BTRC"), as of the 20th, 11 complaints regarding the fairness of "Boys Planet" had been filed. Fans formed the "Boys Planet Action Alliance" and held a truck protest. Protests demanding clarification of the suspicions have been held in front of CJ ENM's headquarters since April 17 and are expected to continue until April 24.

There is a reason why viewers cannot dispel their suspicious gaze despite the explanation of unavoidable circumstances. It is because there is a history of manipulation in survival audition programs broadcast on Mnet.

The "Produce 101" series was a representative survival audition program for Mnet. It gave birth to I.O.I, Wanna One, IZ*ONE, and X1, but in 2019, it was revealed that the voting results were manipulated. An Joon-young PD and Kim Yong-bum CP were arrested on November 5, 2019, and both were sentenced to prison.

When the manipulation suspicions were revealed to be true, IZONE, X1, I.O.I, and Wanna One were labeled with a stigma. X1, which had just started activities, forced its debut on August 27, 2019, but the image did not recover, and it officially disbanded on January 6, 2020. IZONE suffered damages, such as suspending activities and being excluded from the 34th Golden Disc Awards nominees.

I.O.I and Wanna One had already completed their activities, but when the vote manipulation facts were revealed, they lost their group image due to the search for the 'beneficiaries.' No beneficiary trainees have been disclosed. Regarding this, the court judged, "The relevant trainees are believed not to know the facts about the rank manipulation. There are aspects to see them as victims as well, such as being tied to entertainment planning companies using rank manipulation as an excuse."

Following "Produce 101," Mnet's "Idol School" also manipulated voting results, and Kim Tae-eun CP was sentenced to one year in prison.

Recently, news has been reported that An Joon-young PD and Kim Tae-eun CP, who were legally judged for manipulation

Copyright © 2023 Kpop Reporter. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.