TV Show: Who’s the Real Queen of K-Pop?

Queendom 2: Run the World | 퀸덤 2: Run the World  (2022)

Mnet | Queendom

The first season of Queendom aired in 2019, with the catchphrase “the top girl groups’ comeback war.” Six girl groups competed with each other in five different rounds of performances, the last round being a new single drop for each group. With the scores given by the audience, the “real queen” would win an exclusive comeback show to be broadcasted on Mnet. The six groups in season 1 were Park Bom, Mamamoo, AOA, (G)I-DLE, Lovelyz and Oh My Girl. Mamamoo was the winner of the first season, but for me who was already a MooMoo (Mamamoo fan), (G)I-DLE was my best discovery of the year 👏 I was amazed by the group from their Put It Straight (Nightmare ver.) performance and their single, LION, in the final round of the show triggered my obsession towards Minnie ❤️‍🔥 Similarly, many K-Pop lovers saw new sides to each group that competed in the show, and their fandoms grew immensely.

Mnet | Queendom 2

Because the first season was such a big hit, people have been waiting for the second round of Queendom. There had been two seasons of Kingdom (the boy group version of the show) during the wait, but the K-Pop girl group stans were patiently waiting for the new queens to enter the scene. After three years of waiting, Queendom Season 2 is FINALLY HERE! The lineup included Hyolyn, Brave Girls, VIVIZ (formerly GFRIEND), WJSN, LOONA and Kep1er. For me, I’m already familiar with 👑Queen Hyolyn 👑, Brave Girls and VIVIZ, but not so much with others. I’m quite excited to find my next (G)I-DLE from the second season, because it seems like all the groups have a LOT to show us! The show aired its fourth episode a couple of days ago, revealing a total of two performance stages from each group till now. 

Mnet | Queendom 2

So how does the competition work? There’s a total of four rounds, and the scores of each round get summed up into the final score. The first three rounds have 10K points to accumulate in each one, 6K points from the live audience, 3K from the global audience (those who applied to Mnet before the show), and 1K from the self-evaluation scores. The groups give self-evaluation scores to each other after the performance, by choosing a superior or an inferior group, self-judged solely by the day’s stage only 😯 The final round, however, is scored slightly differently. The final round score will depend on each stage’s YouTube video view & like counts, the new single track’s download counts, and finally, the live votes. The YouTube vid view & like counts are only counted for the first four days after release, so if you have a group you root for, note the final episode’s date down on your calendar!

I love all K-Pop girl groups, and that includes the six contestants of Queendom 2. I even think I already found my bias in WJSN, Exy, after watching their NAVILLERA performance in round 2, Cover Song Mission. But for my HONEST review after watching episode four last night, I just don’t think anyone can top Hyolyn’s stage presence 👑 Her round 1 Hit Song Mission performance of Touch My Body was a whole festival, and she blew up the stage with her tight vocals. Don’t even get me started on her round 2 performance, the So What cover. She had #1 written on her forehead the moment she entered the stage 🐈‍⬛ Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got my fav stages of all other groups as well - Brave Girl’s MVSK cover pulled me out of my stereotype of the group only being a one-hit-wonder, and VIVIZ’s Time for the Moon Night + Rough performance had me reaching out for tissues.

Mnet | Queendom 2

We still have two more rounds of performances to see from these six iconic K-Pop gems, and I know that the best is yet to come! As the episode goes, I see myself fangirling for each girl on the show. Knowing me, I’ll probably be crazy over their final round single releases for a long while. Do you want to join me on the third and fourth rounds of this crown-snatching competition? 👑 Watch the trailer below if you're intrigued xx