Fans aren’t having it. They accuse Nickelodeon of trying to boost ratings and how Nickelodeon is ignorant about K-pop culture. And that's not all...
25 June, 2019 by Fachana Techamaneewat
On Tuesday, Nickelodeon Latin America announced their Kids’ Choice Awards Mexico 2019 Nominees and you won’t guess who were part of the nominees for 'Favourite Ship'.
It was none other than Blackpink's Lisa and BTS' Jungkook!
Let's rewind.
So, last year saw the massive success from K-pop group Blackpink and BTS who, not only managed to break through but exploded in popularity in America.
We saw them almost everywhere. Blackpink was performing at Coachella, The Late Late Show with James Corden and at Times Square.
Meanwhile, BTS was slaying it, performing on America's Got Talent, Central Park, The Ellen Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and finally, the American Music Awards (AMAs).
Phew. And that's not even listing all their performances.
But back to the Nickelodeon scandal.
The pairing of Lisa and Jungkook AKA Liskook, were nominees for the favourite ship category. While it's not a new ship, seeing as how it's very popular in the K-pop fandom with many fans already shipping 'Liskook' together with countless photoshops, fanfictions and memes of them both, it's still sort of a weird nomination.
Why? Because they had hardly any interaction with each other in reality. I mean, compared to the rest of the nominees who are all either currently starring in the same show or are known for often collaborating with each other.
Here are some of the examples of the nominees: #Sprousehart (Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart AKA Riverdale's Jughead and Betty) and #Charmila (Charles Melton and Camila Mendes AKA Riverdale's Veronica and Reggie). These nominees aren't just starring in the same show, they're actually IRL couples.
So, we're not really sure how the #Liskook pair ended up as nominees. In fact, hilariously enough, a photoshopped picture of the pair was actually used as the official picture for the nomination.
Wait, Nickelodeon. What?! And why?
It's unclear whether or not the person in charge of this whole nomination thing knows that the image is a photoshopped fan picture, but with the public outcry, we're pretty sure they know now.
Some fans were angry and claimed that since they were the two K-pop groups that were raking in massive success in the US, Nickelodeon was using the ship purely for marketing purposes. You know, to boost popularity, viewership and votes.
Of course, there were some fans who voted for the ship, but the majority was against the very idea. Several BLINKS and ARMYs actually came together and voiced out how it was extremely disrespectful for the two artists.
In a nutshell, here's the gist of South Korea's culture: They're a lot more strict regarding dating in general, but boy, it's a lot more ruthless for K-pop groups. In most K-pop companies, it's mandatory for their idols to stay single for an extended period of time, especially during their promotional period.
How long is the promotional period? Well, usually three years. Why? Because K-pop companies want their idols' image to be ‘single and fresh’ and basically, to not hurt their earnings in any way. Hence, the ‘no dating’ clause.
Oof. So what happens to K-pop idols who break the rules, then?
They get backlash. And in some cases, it could mean the end of their career. A recent example of this is Hyuna from a popular K-pop group called 4-minute, who was forced to leave her entertainment company after a dating scandal that hit headlines.
Another example is a trainee, Cho Mi-Yeon, who was actually meant to debut with BlackPink, but was immediately kicked out of the group after breaking the no-dating rule during her trainee days.
Ouch. As you can see now, dating is a pretty big deal in South Korea.
So in response to the nomination, BLINKs and ARMYs are calling for fans to vote for any other pairing in the hope that the 'Liskook' pair will lose.
What do you think about all of this? Do you think it's a harmless nomination or do you think it's very disrespectful to the Korean artists?
What are your thoughts?
Read More: Halsey Wishes ALL Fans Were Like BTS' ARMY Fans?!
Read More: Psycho Fan FINDS OUT ‘Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard’s Address - Finn Gets MAD
Read More: Haters Harasses Umbrella Academy's Aidan Gallagher’s Twitter
Fachana Techamaneewat is a news writer at Exclusive Hollywood and is responsible for researching and writing news articles while providing story updates wherever necessary.
Fun fact: On the weekends, she's an avid writer for practically anything. Her current obsession is the Umbrella Academy, and as of now, is writing a book.
