Your fandom has been saying some really, extremely awful stuff about BIGBANG and the VIP fandom. I think there are some things you really need to get straight.
1) We probably won't be up against each other again, so I really don't give a fuck if you find yourself attracted to Big Bang or their music, but you all need to stop disrespecting this band as if you know a goddamn thing about them, when you obviously don't. You're not even taking them at face value. You're just flat-out stereotyping them. And I realize they're your competition right now, but saying shit like "They're not real artists" and "they don't write music" and "they just do whatever someone wants them to" and "they don't make real music" is just rude and not at all true, for Big Bang. There are 5 members, G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Seungri, and Daesung, and all five members have written a song, either for their own solo project or for the group, and most of the group's songs are written or produced by G-Dragon. The ones he didn't directly write or produce, he worked closely with the producers on.
It's easy for you to get confused by words like "pop" and "boy band", but those words are only used because there is not really a Western equivalent for what a band like Big Bang is. They're way less "N'Sync/One Direction" and much more "Pharrell/Black Eyed Peas" and even that isn't a good description, because the Korean music industry doesn't compare well to the American music industry, anyway. Big Bang are sorta their own thing completely. Which brings me to the second point...
2) Big Bang is extremely popular. The fact that you may have never heard of them only means you probably don't listen to a lot of Asian music. And don't be racist and Westerncentric enough to think that the Asian music industries don't produce superstar artists. One does not need to be on the US top 40 charts to be a world-famous artist. Besides that, part of the reason Big Bang has never been that high on the US Billboard charts is because Big Bang has never had an official US release. But that didn't stop them from charting at all, because they still managed to chart their 2012 Alive album on the US Billboard 200 without any promotion and from iTunes alone. It was, at the time, the highest charted Korean album in the US. That stat has since changed, to Big Bang labelmate, girl group 2NE1... and the members of Big Bang have since had solo albums that also charted pretty high on the US Billboard 200 chart (G-Dragon, Taeyang). Again, without official promotion in the US.
Understand that Big Bang has also chosen to not force promotions in the US on purpose. They believe in creating music that they can be proud of, and that if people like their music, that's good. And people love their music. That's why they're the most popular Korean band in the world.
And when I say "in the world" I mean they easily sell out world tours, and despite not having a group album since 2012, they still shut down airports and sell out concerts and stuff all over Asia, Europe, and even the Americas.
3) Big Bang's members are extremely famous and very legendary. G-Dragon was considered a prodigy as a child. As an adult, he is one of the most respected musicians in Korea, and has influenced a generation of Korean artists, and he's only 26. He's also well known in the fashion world, and is a regular at fashion week in Paris and a favorite of many designers, including Karl Lagerfeld. He has the ability to influence Asian youth culture just by wearing something once. T.O.P, also known as Choi Seunghyun, is also a famous and popular actor in Korea. He has also influenced a generation of rappers in Korea, and is one of the most famous and wealthy celebrities in Korea. He's also often regarded as the most handsome idol in Korea. Daesung is extremely famous and popular in Japan and recently sold out a solo summer tour there. He is lauded as one of the best Korean vocalists, and has recently flexed his skills as a songwriter, and topped the Oricon charts in Japan with his recent solo album. Taeyang is often regarded as Korea's Usher. His solo album Solar gained international recognition and solidified his place as one of the best, if not THE best R&B singer in Asia. His recent solo album, RISE, charted around #1 for about 2 months straight, and was well received by critics internationally. And album which HE wrote and produced for, with help from his best friend G-Dragon and a few other friends and labelmates. It's largely considered the best Korean album of 2014. Seungri is often called Korea's Justin Timberlake. He not only is a great singer and dancer, but he is an actor, having recently completed his TV series "Angel Eyes", and a TV host in both Korea and Japan. I could go on and on with their accomplishments, but the point is, they're hardly nobodies or newcomers. In fact, they are fixtures in Asian entertainment. They're household names. You can hardly walk down the street in Korea or Japan without seeing G-Dragon's face somewhere.
And that's just where they actively promote. They, again, draw large crowds and sell out shows in Singapore, Malaysia, England, The US, Peru, and many other countries. Announcing a Big Bang concert means a guaranteed sell out in less than two hours (a few minutes/seconds if it's Korea or Japan.)
4) Big Bang has won a slew of awards in their 8 years as a band, and no, they don't need some random Billboard poll to prove anything. But, that said, Big Bang's fans, VIPs, have won much bigger polls and votes against much bigger artists (sorry... no shade, but we've definitely beat bigger names than 30 Seconds to Mars), with much more at stake. The margin we had against you all, before your whining convinced Billboard to cheat in your favor, was most likely legit. Considering we'd once one the MTV EMA for Best Worldwide Act with 58 million votes, I doubt the probably few million we had against your fandom was "foul play."
But don't mistake our enthusiasm for some desperation at winning this pointless poll. Big Bang has proven 100 times over what they're worth, and the Billboard poll was never to prove what they were worth. It was just some fun, for us, and since Big Bang's 8th anniversary is on August 18th, we thought it would be nice to win YET ANOTHER poll in their honor.
But don't be stupid and assume that means Big Bang has never won anything. Asia has awards shows, guys. Asia has huge music industries that earn billions of US dollars every year. America is NOT the only music industry in the world. And besides that, Big Bang has won two EUROPEAN MTV Awards (one EMA, and won MTV Italy.) So, the band is pretty well decorated, even internationally.
5) And most important: Don't be racist assholes about shit. Seriously. Say you don't like their music. Say you hate them. But don't call the "talentless chinks" or "fucking Chinese" or some other racially insensitive bullshit. I don't understand why this is the first thing so many people go to when they go up against an Asian band. First off, we know they're Asian. We are not confused. We can see them, and we hear the songs in Korean. Secondly, how dare you use racial slurs over a damn POLL. Again, there is no real prize for this contest other than bragging rights. There's no TV special. There's no trophy. There's no award. There's nothing except for the bragging rights of being "the best fan army."
I don't think those are high enough stakes for you to be insulting Big Bang for their race. Then again, if you used that language, you're probably already racist as fuck.
That also goes for those Echelon that have been going to Big Bang's music videos on youtube and making comments about them being gay. First of all, there is nothing wrong with being gay. Second of all, Jared Leto just played a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club. How can you stan someone who is at least trying to be sensitive to LGBT issues and then use "gay" as a way to shame someone else?
Don't go there. There is no reason to cross those lines, okay?
That said, you may have never heard of Big Bang, but many VIPs, especially the ones in Asia, may have never heard of 30 Seconds to Mars. So, don't assume this contest was so "obvious". The stupid thing about the whole thing is that we BOTH got our bands to the finals. You were arrogant to assume that you were just going to automatically beat the VIPs simply because Big Bang is an Asian band, even though their fans had already smashed all the other fans in order to get to the finals. (INCLUDING another K-pop band, so you can kill all that noise, too.)
Hell, I live in America, and I've heard of 30 Seconds to Mars, but I honestly know none of their music. I only know them as Jared Leto's band. Most people know Jared Leto, but a lot of those people don't give a shit about his music. Don't ever assume everyone else is as in to your shit as you are. K-pop fans don't. We know that, to your American eyes, "Big Bang" is a big "huh?" But we also know that just because some random American never heard of something doesn't mean it's not huge.
I mean, if Big Bang aren't huge, how can they consistently go on dome tours in Japan? That's upwards of 100,000 people at each show.
Also, I doubt most of you could name any popular bands or artists from Japan, Korea, or China. I bet most of you just assume they mostly listen to American music, like you. But they don't. They mostly listen to their own artists... and there are billions of people in Asia. So, what the ever loving fuck makes you Westerners consistently assume going against an Asian band is easy? They have the internet in Asia, you know. If you can access billboard.com, so can the millions of fans in Asia.
The point is: stop being disrespectful as fuck and just do your best for 30STM. You don't have to disrespect Big Bang to click "vote" for your shit. Shit, instead of whining about never having heard of something, you could use Google and find out what the deal is with Big Bang. It should be obvious by now that you're taking them far too lightly.
