Validity of Taemin's win on 'Hit the Stage' called into question

Article: 'Hit the Stage' Controversy brews for fairness of Taemin's #1... his own song + his own choreography

Source: Sports Chosun via Nate

1. [+232, -20] The fact that stupid fangirls get to vote for the winner and not a panel of professionals is weird already

2. [+230, -16] Well contestants are free to choose what song they want so it doesn't matter but having the entire audience made up of fangirls isn't fair. It's a miracle that Hyoyeon even got 152 votes under such circumstances.

3. [+182, -18] Taemin certainly did well but you can tell that the audience clearly cheers louder for Taemin's stages in the first two episodes

4. [+45, -11] It's fine that he used his own song but it's a problem if his choreography matched 99% to the original. It doesn't fit the point of the show and he clearly had an advantage compared to the other contestants who had to come up with an entirely new choreography.

5. [+38, -7] It is fair to question the validity of his win if he just performed his own song with his own choreography... even if you can choose whatever song you want, using the same choreography means he didn't come up with anything new.

6. [+28, -7] The audience is all women, no way were the votes fair to begin with

7. [+23, -9] Taemin's stupid fans trying so hard

8. [+22, -18] He was great, I was in awe the entire time. Not sure why it's a problem when he followed the rules. Should've made it a rule in the first place that you can't use your own songs then.

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Article: 'Hit the Stage' reps, "Fairness controversy? He did not break the rules" 

Source: OSEN via Naver

1. [+867, -47] Just leave the votes up to a panel of professionals; I don't get why the audience gets to vote for the winner

2. [+1,033, -196] I don't know why people are saying this is problematic. If Taemin's stage was a problem, then you'd have all sorts of other problems like one contestant using stage props, another dancing with nothing but his body, etc. Not like there was a rule prohibiting him from using his own stuff. Furthermore, the prep time from when Taemin first learned that choreography to how much time the other contestants had to prepare their choreography was the same..

3. [+1,157, -241] The reps are right. The other contestants felt that other songs fit their dance better whereas Taemin felt that his own song would better express his idea of a devil on stage, which is why he recorded it in Korean and made up a new choreography for it. I actually find it amazing that Taemin and Koharu put on a stage with just their dances alone without the use of costume or crew members. Didn't even professionals admit that? You really can't bring these two down for their dances

4. [+808, -148] Taemin learned his choreography on May 20th. 'Hit the Six' was officially announced on June 4th, which means the other contestants also began prep around May~June too so the prep time for both were the same. There's also no rule about using your own songs. The choreography for 'Sayonara Hitori' was created by Taemin's crew member Koharu and was newly edited for 'Hit the Stage' with a different beginning.

5. [+150, -4] I still think it'd be better to have a panel of professionals than leaving the winner up to the audience to judge. Whatever the results are, it's going to end up in fandom fights. Or you can be like 'Girl Spirit' and have students who majored in this field make up the votes.

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