Nu’est and P101: the Quick Rundown
Hm. I had an ask in my inbox about Nu’est and Produce 101, but it seems to have disappeared?
I’m trying to remember what it said because I wanted to answer it and take some time doing so. They asked me what the deal was with Produce 101 and why people were upset that Nu’est was going to be on it.
OK, so. Produce 101 was the same mnet program that gave us I.O.I. last year, and was riddled with some controversy. Many of the Pledis Girlz participated in the show, and it helped build their popularity and some hype for Pristin’s upcoming Debut. It was marketed as a show for trainees (and a handful of already debuted members) to come together and get some XP, through a voting/popularity system, in which members who make it through elimination have the opportunity to debut with a group. Kindof a fun concept, except for two things:
1.) It’s a TV show, and in order to boost viewership they tend to create drama or cut and paste clips to paint people in an unfairly bad light. Like our reality tv. 2.) One of the producers (whom I believe was let go) was a fucking creep and likened the show to healthy porn for male viewership.
“ He continued, "I'm not sure how to say this, but the reason why I first created the female version is because I wanted to make healthy pornography for guys. Even though the contestants just seem like a younger sister or niece, aren't they adorable? I wanted to create a type of porn that gives you that feeling, and the male version will also serve as that type of porn for female viewers. I once heard that Rain's performance was like porn for girls. The male version of 'Produce 101' aims to fill in that fantasy, and if it's entertaining enough then male viewers will watch it too." Source.
So...you might be able to see so far why LO/\E’s might take issue with our boys deciding to go on this show. (Whether or not they decided to or not is still being hotly debated. I tend to think they did make their own decision on this, but we can never know for sure.) Even though this person was let go, it still reeks of shady shit. As of right now, it seems so few companies are willing to send their male trainees, so instead we are seeing debuted artists being confirmed more frequently, such as A-tom from Top Dogg, an Ex member of Teen Top, Samuel from Seventeen Project, and various others. In a sense, it looks to be building up to be an absolute dramatic shitshow, but I pray that it won’t be. Though I am not Pledis E’s number one fan, they DO NOT view their artists as a ‘healthy porn’ product. They’re far more of a (dysfunctional) family for that. Additionally, while produce 101 was focused but not limited to trainees only, they had enough trouble with trainees the first season that they opened wide the doors to any artist that wanted to participate. In other words, it is NOT intended to be a Rookie show for Trainees only this Season. Established artists are participating, which is going to make competition that much more difficult. Some LOVEs feel it’s a slap in the face; that our boys shouldn’t have to do shows like this if they had been properly promoted. They’re not wrong, either. However, you can only do the same thing so many times and expect a different result. They had two Korean comebacks last year and it did fuck-all to establish a solid K-fanbase, and they NEED one if they’re going to win. Erego, we are stuck with alternative means of promotion.
As to what this means for NU’EST, it will halt all of their promotional activities (as a group anyway. Possibly we’ll get some solo work but I doubt it) which has let a lot of fans down in a sense, because we were convinced they were preparing for a comeback. Their fifth anniversary is approaching in March, and it seems they will not be able to do anything special for it this year. (That doesn’t mean WE can’t, btw, in fact there are many fanprojects in motion). If the member or members participating in P101 season 2 make it through then that will be an even longer time in which they will not be able to promote as OT5. We can endure that, though, because as LO/\E we’ve endured longer hiatuses without any explanation or hope for a comeback. However, we have been PROMISED that Nu’est will return when it’s over, and their Japanese website was renovated as of yesterday. They are *NOT* disbanding. I’ll say it again for the panicked LO/\E in the back who aren’t paying attention to the industry: NU’EST ARE NOT DISBANDING. They love the group far too much for that.
So, what can we do? Support the everloving fuck out of them. Vote for them. Leave them comments on sns. Create content. Make fan blogs. Hashtag campaigns on Twitter. They won’t be able to update their own sns while they are on the show, but they CAN read their messages. None of them are going to disobey the rules, so while we will miss their online presence, we must continue to support them. We will need to vote for them on P101 when it airs, so when that happens I will provide info for you, alongside many other LOVES who are following this debacle. They are doing this because they want to improve for us, and to try and rebuild their lost Korean fanbase. It’s risky, but it is publicity if they do it well.
@loves-diary has written a post that includes some support phrases you can send the boys in Hangul ---> HERE <---- so check it out. In fact, if you aren’t following @loves-diary and you want to stay informed, you should do that. She has excellent advice for dealing with the fandom right now, and she’s absolutely right that the conspiracy theories need to stop. The boys will be fine, but we MUST support them.
I hope that answers some questions? But feel free to ask more.
