Here’s How “Girls Planet 999″‘s New Finale Voting System Could Affect The Winning Lineup Next Week
After revealing which contestants were eliminated in the semi-finals of Girls Planet 999, Mnet has now announced the new voting system for the finale—and it could shake up the rankings significantly.
Voting on Girls Planet 999 has changed multiple times since the series began in August. At first, contestants were organized into “cells” of three members: one each from the K, J, and C-Groups. During this period, fans were instructed to vote for three cells they supported. This style of voting was highly criticized by viewers after contestants with high individual votes were eliminated from the show because their cells ranked low overall.
Next, the voting moved to individual votes, with fans allowed to choose three participants each from the K, J, and C-Groups for a total of nine votes. In the third voting period, that number was lowered to one contestant from each group for a total of three votes.
Now, ahead of the Girls Planet 999 finale next week, Mnet has revealed the newest (and final) voting system for the show: “one-pick” voting. So dubbed by fans, one-pick voting will allow viewers to vote for just one single contestant across all groups, with one vote allowed per day.
The final global vote will have two rounds. The first began immediately after the end of the latest episode and will last for one week, ending on October 22 at 10:00 a.m. Korean Standard Time. The second round will open during the final live broadcast on October 22. At the end of the episode, the votes from both rounds will be combined in order to determine the final Top 9—the contestants who will debut the new girl group’s lineup.
Since the first voting round, the votes have been weighted, with Korean votes counting for 50% of each contestant’s total points and the remaining 50% combing from all international territories combined—including China and Japan. Since Mnet hasn’t mentioned any changes to this weighting, it’s presumed that the final votes will follow the same rules.
While many fans predicted that Mnet would opt for a one-pick voting system for the final round, not everyone is happy with the change, and it’s all because of how it may affect the final lineup.
Up until now, all voters had to pick trainees from all three groups: K, J, and C. As such, non-Korean contestants have been highly successful overall so far. In fact, in every single round, J-Group and C-Group participants have accounted for over half of the Top 9. However, with the new voting system, Korean voters will no longer need to choose a J-Group or C-Group trainee to push through. With Korean voter accounting for 50% of the total score, this puts the non-Korean contestants at a disadvantage in the final round.
A similar outcome was seen during the Produce series, which also used a one-pick voting system in the final week. In the Produce 48 penultimate elimination round, seven out of the Top 12 trainees were Japanese. However, the final round became a one-pick vote, only three Japanese members were able to make it into the final group.
Since the one-pick system is expected to shake up the current rankings significantly, many viewers are advising viewers to vote for their absolute top choice in the final rounds. Voting for your second-favorite pick because your think your first pick is safe, fans say, could have bad consequences for your favorite contestant.
The first round of the Final Global Voting is open now on the Universe app. The Girls Planet 999 finale will air on Friday, October 22, available for free international viewing on YouTube or iQIYI.
Missed this week’s eliminations? Get the full run-down here:
“Girls Planet 999” Eliminations: Here’s Who Survived The Semi-Finals (& Who Didn’t)
