Gayo Daejeons Being Called Glorified “SM Festivals” After EXO Takes Final Stage In All 3 Major Shows
The 3 major networks’ Gayo Daejeon controversies are still buzzing strong. What was supposed to be a festival to commemorate 2018 has stirred up a quite a bit of scandal among fans.
It all started when KBS Song Festival’s cue sheet was illegally leaked on December 27 during the rehearsal. This document had all of the artists appearing on the show in order as well as the songs they were planning to perform. This sparked a tension among fans when it showed EXO as the final stage performer. Technically, the last song of KBS Song Festival was Kim Yeon Ja’s ‘Amor Fati’, but this was a celebratory stage with all of the artists singing together so this was viewed as KBS’s attempt calm the finger-pointing among the fandom.
However, the drama continued when EXO was chosen as the final performer for all 3 major broadcasting companies’ Gayo Daejeon. This meant all 3 major networks had chosen EXO as the best artist of 2018, which raised few eyebrows. Although EXO had a good year with their new song, ‘Love Shot’, many viewers felt BTS deserved the final stage as it is considered as a place for the most influential artist of the year. BTS not only reached the top in Korea, but they also became an international sensation.
Fans and other viewers began to speculate SM Entertainment influenced the 3 networks’ decision as the largest entertainment agency of the country. Fans pointed out the only thing BTS didn’t have was a large corporation behind their backs to fight for them. MBC added fuel to the fire when it seemed like SM Entertainment artists were dominating the entire program. Many have criticized MBC’s ‘Gayo Daejejeon’, saying it’s just an ‘SM Festival’ in disguise.
A.R.M.Ys began flooding Twitter in frustration and accused the networks of being afraid of the large entertainment companies.
I think bh and bangpd are smarter than we give them credit for. Bts showed everyone how corrupt the industry is because nobody can refute how big of a year they’ve had, but they still didn’t get the ending stages? It just resulted in bts getting all the sympathy and backing
— Sarah |𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 (@Chocoaddickted) January 2, 2019
[trans] my dad watched btsʼs performance and said : “that is obviously the ending stage” https://t.co/iuYFqJRtTx
— 냠준 할때 냠 (@myalogue) December 25, 2018
EXO-Ls fought back just as hard by pointing out EXO’s seniority over BTS.
why are people surprised that EXO are performing last….. they always preform last. y’all newbies gotta LEARN
— chloé (@sirbbh) December 25, 2018
I don’t usually comment on this but this boils my blood so much. You can’t understand why EXO’s the ending performance? They’re almost 8 years in the industry, sold 10 Million albums, bagged 5-year consecutive daesangs, etc. What’s so hard to understand? https://t.co/i4C8LizLJu
— aya. (@sehunownsme) December 25, 2018
The fairness of the 3 major networks’ end-of-the-year ceremonies was always questioned. It is unfortunate to see such celebration being tarnished by unnecessary drama.
