KBS 2TV's "Music Bank" has finally released an official statement regarding LABOUM's controversial win. The production team refused to be accused of staging the result of "Music Bank", yet they haven't released the data on LABOUM and IU's win to prove they're innocent.
A source from "Music Bank" stated that the scoring system was based on the data of album sale, so it's impossible to manipulate, Soompi reported. The source didn't deny that the result was very surprising for them too. However, since IU's album wasn't released yet at the time the calculation began, LABOUM deserved to win over her since their album sale was high, while IU's was zero.
Prior to "Music Bank" official statement, netizens were quite sure the scoring system was rigged. People in multiple online communities argued that it's impossible for LABOUM to win the trophy since their single failed to enter top 100 in music charts, Korea Portal reported. Meanwhile, IU's latest single, "Palette", has achieved all-kill in almost all music charts.
LABOUM's total album sales only rank on number 63 in real time charts. Their music video "Hwi Hwi" only generated 800,000 views, while IU's has more than 11,000,000 views. Fans of LABOUM claimed that the girl group deserves to win since they landed on the top list of Gaon sales chart for physical album sales. However, disappointed viewers said the Gaon chart is not relevant to LABOUM's "Music Bank" win.
"Music Bank" decides its winner based on the combination score of digital sales, physical album sales, viewer preference, and broadcast points. LABOUM won over IU by 400 points, with a final score of 4546. The winning was obviously a sentimental moment for them because it was the first time for them to win a music trophy since debuted 4 years ago. Despite the controversy, the girls are thankful for their fans who have supported them since the beginning.
