Winner is announced and sets off fangirl tears

Last Friday night, I had arrived home late from work and was beyond tired. But I forced myself to stay up long enough to cast my vote for WIN: Who Is Next's final battle. Soon after hitting send on my KakaoTalk account, I fell asleep.

At a little after midnight, I woke up with a start realizing I had not even had dinner yet. But my top priority was to find out who was announced the winner and YG's new boy group. Team A won.

I'd be lying to myself if I said it was the expected outcome. The thing is, it was and it wasn't. As I've mentioned before, I think the show was made in a way that Team A would be announced the "Winner" after the 3-month period. Although, fan-voting could've changed the flow of things.

Team B has a strong fanbase, both in Korea and internationally. Most of the people I know in real life who watched the show as religiously as I did were all Team B supporters. At one point, I had to teach them how to vote via KakaoTalk and I soon regretted that decision, knowing that they'd be voting for the other team when I wanted Team A to win.

When the criteria for the final battle was announced, I thought to myself, "This was made for Team A to win, how obvious." I mean, we have three fantastic songwriters and lyricists in Team A and the battle's categories were as follows: 1) original composition, 2) dance, 3) same song, different arrangement. That's basically giving the groups the mission to create two original songs - except in the third category, a track was already pre-produced by Teddy Park, YG's main internal producer. This was a game designed for the first team to rule. Their only weakness was the second category - dance.

However, even then, I could not have just sat back and relaxed, assured of a Team A win. The fight and the passion were strong in the younger team, and also in their fans. B.I and Bobby most especially. So despite being beyond happy that my boys won last Friday night, I was in tears as I watched the raw version of the final episode, and was again in tears when I had to re-watch it with English subtitles.

I was surprised, actually, that I liked Team A's dance routine more than Team B's. Team B, while technically gifted and just awesome overall, lacked a certain je ne sais quoi to make them stand out. Yes, they were awesome, but they weren't different. What I loved about Team A's performance was the fact that you knew they had come to terms with who they are and what they are limited to. It seemed as if they understood they couldn't out-swag Team B, so they went down a different route and turned to their creativity and ingenuity to compete in a field that wasn't exactly their forte. And it worked. Kudos to Lee Seung-hoon for that awesome choreography.

While I have nothing but praises to give Team A in terms of their songwriting capabilities, I was beyond impressed with the emotions that the boys of Team B poured into their original composition "Climax." Bobby's rap alone already had me in tears (the second time I watched it, with the subtitles, of course), and by the time B.I took to center stage with his own verse, I was ruined.

It doesn't help that Team A went first and their song was about, not just the hardships of their own group, but of all eleven trainees, and how they all had to "Go Up" no matter the outcome of the show - needless to say, I had feels up the wazoo. These boys are a family. All eleven of them. And while I can't blame YG for doing this and pitting them against each other, it is sad that in order for them to reach their dreams, they had to step on the dreams of their own brothers.

On the other hand, because of how the show was designed, YG now has a clear grasp of what their market wants way before the boys even debut. And the boys now have a solid fanbase, as was clear in episode 9 where the boys held a fanmeet at Times Square, where 3,000 fans showed up. That must have been a first, given that they were just trainees at the time.

The final episode ended with everyone crying. And I don't just mean the eleven boys. Their families were in tears. The fans in the audience were in tears. Even YG himself was in tears. And everyone watching from their homes were in tears. You're lying if you tell me you watched the entire thing without bawling every other minute, and especially at the end when the guys were trying to balance between controlling their own emotions and comforting each other. Although they didn't quite succeed in biting back their tears, Lee Seung-hoon especially.

With the finale of WIN, it seems like the future of YG is looking strong. For years, they've relied heavily on Big Bang. Although Psy is doing very well now, what with his international career, for the longest time YG's biggest moneymaker was Big Bang. Even with the addition of 2NE1 in 2009 and Epik High in 2011/12, no one could overtake the popularity of Big Bang and its individual members.

Now though, especially with their signing on of young talents off of survival programs like KPop Star and Superstar K, the future of YG is not hinged on the success of Big Bang anymore. Winner will do great. And when the time comes that Team B is given the opportunity to debut, and they will, we already know that there's a huge fanbase waiting for them. Add that to the fact that Lee Hi has been doing very well, and that everyone is waiting for the debuts of Akdong Musician and Bang Yedam, it's safe to say that YG will remain in the top tier of agencies in Korea.

Having said that, can we please all take a moment to appreciate the maknae line (KPop Star line) of YG? These kids are not only adorable, they are freaking talented.

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WIN causes major feels for YG fans the world over

As a self-proclaimed YG fan stan, I've been keeping up with reality-survival show WIN: Who Is Next and my feels are currently all over the place.

Let me start off by saying that both teams are incredibly talented. To be honest, they may already be at par with the Big Bang members when this sunbae group first debuted. Both teams are mind-blowingly good and to have only one of them debut and the other disbanded will emotionally kill me. But these are the rules YG has put into place and one can only wish that they're just trolling us.

Team A killing it and still losing during their first battle

Now, while I think both groups could debut right now and make it big in the k-pop industry, I have a clear bias for Team A. And, honestly, I think the show was made in a way that Team A would be announced the "Winner" after the 3-month period.

Both teams, as I've already mentioned, are plenty talented - but while Team A has stronger vocalists, Team B has aggressive rappers and are better dancers. Team B may also have better teamwork. Which is not to say that Team A lacks in the dancing and rapping departments, because they don't - and I adore Team A leader and rapper Song Min-ho... It's just that, well, Team B rappers B.I and Bobby are just insanely good. Vocally, though, Team A's Kang Seung-yoon and Nam Tae-hyun just slay it all the time.

It now really all boils down to audience votes. So it's curious then that while Team B has been winning all the challenges and battles (according to the judges on the show), Team A just won the first round of audience voting. Why? Maybe because the show was edited in a way where we just feel more for Team A.

The guys on the first team are generally older than the members of the second team. And there's that sense of "if they don't debut now, it might be too late for them later." And half of the Team A members are already semi-famous. Kang Seung-yoon via talent survival show Superstar K2 and his already established solo career, Lee Seung-hoon who brought YG himself to tears on talent survival program K-Pop Star, and Song Min-ho via the Channel A drama series K-Pop: The Ultimate Audition (2012).

It also doesn't help that we find the boys of Team A struggling every single week to keep up with the young'uns. This makes them more human in our eyes and not mere characters on a show. We all know that nothing captivates an audience faster than an underdog story, especially when the underdogs are a fiery group of adorable Asian boys with more than enough talent to make it big in the entertainment industry. They have everything to lose and we just want them to win.

It's also very telling that while I can name each and every Team A member, and give you their designated role in the group, I can only name 2 out of the 6 members of Team B: B.I and Bobby. Why is that? Again, I'd blame the show's production and editing. We're made to feel for Team A, and it works like magic. I care so much about those boys that I'm actually sad when Team B performs so well.

However, in this recent episode, where the teams were given the mission to cover Tamia's "Officially Missing You" (Team A) and Justin Bieber's "Baby" (Team B), I had to disagree with the judges' scoring. Again, they gave Team B a higher score. Team A was off by 6 points. BUT! As opposed to previous weeks where I honestly found Team B repeatedly outperforming Team A, this last battle, I thought, belonged to Team A.

Team A's cover of "Officially Missing You"

I dozed off halfway through Team B’s performance, but Team A’s cover of “Officially Missing You” was captivating. They played to their strengths and it was awesome. I was honestly surprised by how the judges scored them.

Team B's cover of "Baby"

People may disagree with me on all of this, but bottom line is: as ruthless as it may be, YG has played this game well and we're all on the edge of our seats waiting to find out who their next boy group is going to be. While I'm hoping (and voting) that Team A wins... Can't we just have one super group with all 11 of them in it? Or, can't we have B.I on Team A? Ugh. Fangirl feels. I have them.

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Currently Watching: Master's Sun, Good Doctor, Cool Kiz, WGM

Don't we all wish we had more time in the day to get things done? And by "get things done," I mean watch all the dramas, movies, and variety shows we can get our greedy little hands on while keeping on top of things both at home and at work? As it is, I'm watching my shows on my phone while riding the train to and from work. I'm watching my shows before going to bed. Sometimes, I watch my shows at work. And on weekends, I have drama marathons. But my list of shows to watch is never-ending and, matter of fact, it just keeps on getting longer.

With a handful of my shows over and done with (having had to say goodbye to I Hear Your Voice, Monstar, Fabulous Boys, and You're the Best Lee Soon-shin), I've started on several new dramas and I'm still hooked on a handful of ongoing varieties. My current watch-list looks like this:

1. Master's Sun - As a handful of dramas written by the Hong sisters have been my crack in previous years, this new horror/romcom penned by the famous writing siblings is my crack for this season. I'm just eating it all up and it is awesome. Sufficiently scary and satisfyingly heartwarming, this is a formula I never thought would've worked, but it does. Also, So Ji-sub is a hottie.

2. Good Doctor - I'm kind of behind on this drama, having only seen up to the 4th episode, but I am determined to catch up. Joo-won is awesome, as is expected of him, and I've always had a soft spot for Moon Chae-won. So far, the drama is living up to expectations.

3. Running Man - Admittedly, I'm not all caught up with this show. I've seen a lot of its episodes but not each and every one of them. The last one I saw was the one with the couple race that featured an eclectic handful of celebrity guests like Sayuri, John Park, Jo Jung-chi, and Jung-in. Last week had long-running boyband Shinhwa on the show and I can't wait to see that episode. The Chuseok special that will feature 14 idols is coming up. Big Bang's Seungri, G-Dragon, and Daesung will also be featured in an upcoming episode - ohmygod.

4. We Got Married (Taemin-Naeun Couple) - I can't even handle how precious these two are. They are both adorable and are just as perfect together. It helps that Naeun's a lot shy, so there's more to look forward to in the coming months. I mean, I'm at a point where a quick hug from them results in screams and a lot of OMG's from my end, so you know I'm feeling them.

5. Cool Kiz on the Block (Badminton) - Who would've thought a game of badminton could make me fist pump so hard? When a game is exciting, a heart attack is not a far-fetched occurrence. I mean, the number of deuces in Kang Ho-dong and John Park's game last week left me on the brink of insanity. I was watching with bated breath and so much pent-up energy. And then the episode ends and it leaves you thinking... "That was just badminton." So I guess kudos to the show's editors. They make badminton look badass. So do the hot men on the show.

6. WIN: Who is Next? - This reality show by YGE and Mnet is only on its second episode but the stakes are high and the competition is fierce, so I'm stuck to it like glue. It also helps that the backstories of the trainees makes you care about them and how they fare on the show.

Whew. That's a lot of shows. And if I had more time, there would be a lot more. A whole lot more. I mean, I have yet to see The Gu Family Book, Goddess of Fire Jung-yi, and Two Weeks. And I have a lot of backtracking to do with 1 Night 2 Days and Master Chef Korea Celebrity Edition, seriously. And then you have the shows from years ago that I have yet to see. On my list is He Who Can't Marry. Aigoo.

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YG's new reality survival show - Who Is Next?

I just saw the pilot episode of WIN: Who Is Next? on Mnet's youtube channel. For non-YG stans, WIN is a new 10-episodic reality survival show on Mnet that documents the debut of YG Entertainment's next boy group. In the same way the debut of Big Bang was documented in a reality show, WIN shows us the road to the debut of YG's first new boy band in 8 years, dubbed WINNER.

However, unlike Big Bang's debut, WIN seems more cutthroat and aggressive. While G-Dragon and the rest of the boys of Big Bang competed for a spot to be a member of the group, with Jang Hyun-seung eventually being cut from the Big Bang roster (he's now a member of the boy band Beast under Cube Entertainment), WIN's premise is having two set teams fight for the right to debut. Should the team beat out the other team, based on audience votes, they debut in 3 months. The losing team may face member changes, another 4 years delay in their debut, or be totally dropped from YG. The stakes are higher for the 11 trainees and this excites me.

While we have some familiar faces on the show (i.e. Kang Seung-yoon of Superstar K2, Lee Seung-hoon of K-Pop Star - both members of Team A), there are a handful of new and interesting trainees whom we will be getting to know more of throughout the course of the show. I'm not sure how much of an advantage Seung-yoon and Seung-hoon's team have on the show, despite already having made names for themselves, seeing as how they seem more like the underdogs in this early stage of the competition. While I give mad props to Team A's vocals, the younger guys on Team B seem to have an edge when it comes to teamwork and rapping and dancing skills, which CEO Yang Hyun-suk has clearly acknowledged.

Seems like I'll be keeping close tabs on this show. Not sure which team I'm rooting for yet, but we'll see how it goes.

WIN: Who Is Next? airs every Friday night at 10pm on Mnet, with a replay at 11:20pm on tvN. Episodes are subsequently uploaded onto Mnet's youtube channel with English subtitles for international fans. Catch the first episode below.

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