On Thursday, Dec. 10, the Golden Disc Awards with Curaprox released their nominees for major categories. Quick-eyed fans spotted that IZ*ONE was once again snubbed from the nominations for the second year in a row. Keep on reading to learn why
On Dec. 10, the Golden Disc Awards with Curaprox released their list of candidates for each major category. The nominee's list was released on the Golden Disc Award's official home page. Some popular artists who were included in the nominee's list include BTS, EXO, TWICE, BLACKPINK, and ITZY.
The nominees are meant to represent the top singers and idols who had a huge year in 2020. Whether their careers continued to skyrocket or they saw their breakthrough this 2020, artists who were a notable name in the industry were given a nomination. Despite how they seem to suit these characteristics, IZ*ONE was excluded from the nominations.
This reminded people that in the 2019 Golden Disc Awards, IZ*ONE was not included in the nominee's list.
At the time, reports stated that they were excluded from the nominations due to the decision of the Golden Disc Executive Committee. According to the report, the Executive Committee chose to exclude IZ*ONE from the nominations because the producer of Mnet's "Produce" series was indicted on charges of voting manipulation and voter fraud.
In 2019, Mnet was under fire after it was discovered that the results of the final line-up of the project groups from the "Produce" series and "Idol School" were rigged and manipulated. The scandal started in July 2019 during the finale episode of "Produce X 101", where several viewers suspected that the final votes were manipulated after realizing the numerical patterns in the votes.
Ahn Joon Young and Kim Young Bum, the two main producers of the "Produce" series, were arrested in Nov. 2019. Ahn subsequently admitted to manipulating the ranks of all four seasons of the "Produce" series. A month later, Ahn, Kim, and six entertainment agency representatives were charged with obstruction of business, bribery, and fraud.
Since Ahn Joon Young and Kim Young Bum are the ones who produced the series that gave birth to IZ*ONE, the public perception of the group was affected, as well as the promotions of their activities.
ALSO READ : This IZ*ONE Member Transformed From Being an Audience Member to an Idol Performing on Stage
This year, it was revealed that then-PLEDIS Entertainment representative Lee Gaeun and CUBE final rankings of "Produce 48". Due to the voting manipulation, however, they were unable to debut with IZ*ONE. Once this information was revealed, IZ*ONE saw massive backlash, as people claimed the members were undeserving of their debut since they did not actually garner the most votes.
"Produce" originally gained fame for being a program that debuts a group with members selected by audience votes. With the knowledge that these groups were made with rigged votes, the debuted members' public image was greatly affected. Because of the voting manipulation, IZ*ONE was once again not nominated for a category in the Golden Disc Award.
What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comments.
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Written by Alexa L.
