Viewer reactions to the results of 'Current King of Singers 2' Top 7 were mixed, while coincidentally, Park Seo-jin and Jin Hae-sung, who appealed to their family backgrounds, took the final first and second places.
On the broadcast on the 25th, MBN celebrated its 30th anniversary with the final episode of 'Current King of Singers 2', where the Top 10 contestants, including Hwanhee, Shin Yoo, Kim Soo-chan, Park Seo-jin, Jin Hae-sung, Kim Jun-soo, Choi Soo-ho, Kang Mun-kyung, Shin Seung-tae, and Enoch, faced off in the final round. They performed songs that encompassed their lives in front of their families.
After all rounds concluded, the final rankings were announced, reflecting the scores from the first round, on-site judging results, nationwide support votes, and real-time text voting scores. The total of real-time text votes stood at 2,434,804. Park Seo-jin, who secured an overwhelming 396,359 votes and recorded a total score of 4,574 points, emerged as the final winner. Following him, Jin Hae-sung, Enoch, Shin Seung-tae, Kim Jun-soo, Choi Soo-ho, and Kang Mun-kyung completed the Top 7.
However, viewers are engaged in heated discussions regarding the rankings of Park Seo-jin and Jin Hae-sung. Notably, because Park Seo-jin gained significant recognition through KBS 2TV's 'Salim Nam 2', many questions if the popularity results he obtained through overwhelming text votes are unfair. In fact, Park Seo-jin maintained the top position in nationwide support votes starting from the third week, greatly benefiting from public support.
Above all, some voices from other fandoms argue that it is unfair since the producers of 'Current King of Singers 2' extensively covered the emotional family stories of Park Seo-jin and Jin Hae-sung before the finals. In the final broadcast, Park Seo-jin, who had bid farewell to his two older brothers, shared a story of visiting the temple where he held a fortieth-day ceremony for his younger brother, who passed away suffering from chronic kidney failure. This led to increased support for him ahead of the final stage.
Jin Hae-sung, who barely made it to 6th place in the first round, met with his grandmother, who raised him, before the final stage. His grandmother tearfully expressed, "I want to see you succeed..." and Jin Hae-sung also reddened his eyes. Unfortunately, prior to the finals, his grandmother passed away, and he kept a tearful vigil. This story was enough to earn him viewer support.
'Current King of Singers 2' has already been embroiled in fairness controversies. One internet user disclosed on an online community before the finals on the 25th that they lodged a complaint against 'Current King of Singers 2' with the Fair Trade Commission for suspected violations of fair trading laws. This informant had previously requested an investigation of the program's production representative, Producer Seo Hye-jin, for allegations of obstruction of business at the Mapo Police Station in Seoul.
The internet user explained the purpose of the complaint, stating, "There are suspicions that unfair advantages may have been offered to certain participants during the competition process of this program, which could be interpreted as actions impeding fair competition. In particular, concerns have arisen regarding the involvement of the production team and potential collusion with specific participants (affiliated companies or investment firms), necessitating a thorough examination of the likelihood of violations of fair trading laws."
The user pointed out four unfair allegations: the direct advance of participants Shin Yoo and Park Seo-jin to the finals without preliminaries, the preferential treatment provided to Shin Yoo during the finals stage, the controversy over sharing information regarding audience tickets for the finals in Shin Yoo's fan cafe, and the involvement of an investment firm related to the agency of contestant Hwanhee, which invested 1.1 billion won in a concert. As a result, many viewers raised concerns about fairness throughout the broadcast of 'Current King of Singers 2.'
These controversies ultimately continued through to the finals and escalated into distrust regarding the results. On the 26th, 'Current King of Singers 2' noted, "The final episode achieved a peak rating of 15.1% and a nationwide rating of 13.9% (according to Nielsen Korea), setting a remarkable record by breaking its own highest rating," but questions regarding the results only further inflamed online discussions.
[Photo] Current King of Singers 2