Controversial beauty pageant winner

 

Brian Nguyen becomes the first transgender winner in the 100-year history of Miss America.

According to the competition's website, a scholarship of about ten million won is awarded to the winner of the beauty pageant, which has been held in the United States since 1987.

The scholarship is described as providing opportunities to "women" aged 17 to 24 who excel in various fields such as academic aptitude, talent, personality, and community service, according to the competition's website.

theqoo

-Insane world

-Shouldn't there be a separate transgender beauty pageant?

-This guy isn't even making the minimum effort ㅋ

-Isn't this a bit too much...

-Why always taking away opportunities from women...?

-Maybe this is also why women are losing their place in sports?

-In the end, women are losing their place...

-Trans people should have their own pageant ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-I don't know about anything else, but who's going to acknowledge the people who missed out on the ten million won scholarship because of her?

-If she wasn't trans, would she has been chosen? They took away the title and scholarship from the women and gave it to her.

-They're just busy taking away everything from women and giving it to trans.

-The world has gone crazy.

-Damn, trans taking everything from womenㅋㅋㅋ

-I'm really confused.

-Is this kind of award mocking women?

Continue reading Controversial beauty pageant winner

Zero Base One's Statement Regarding the Kim Jiwoong Controversy

 

Hello, this is Wake One.

We recently commissioned a specialized emotional analysis through the law firm Sejong regarding a video circulated on online communities and social media on the 5th. Here are the results:

After analyzing the speech characteristics of the voices in the video, it was determined that one voice said "Thank you" while the other contained profanity.

Further analysis of the frequency response waveforms showed that the discerned pitch and height were different, indicating that the two voices belonged to different speakers.

Taking into account the overall sentiment that the video was recorded using another recording device in an external location rather than a video calling device, it is possible that the profane voice was recorded externally. This serves as evidence that the profane voice may not belong to the artist.

Despite various testimonies of trust in the artist, we apologize for the delay in providing accurate evidence through additional specialized analysis. We ask for your understanding.

We assure you that we will continue to protect the artist from harm based on facts and will make every effort to ensure that fans of the artist are not further harmed.

We will do our best to promote a healthy and mature K-pop culture.

Thank you.

theqoo

-Why prolong the issue instead of just apologizing and ending it? Spending money and still getting criticized and criticized, what's the point? Only the fans seem pitiful.

-The more they try to response this matter, the worse it gets.

-Why complicate things so much... At this rate, it seems like the agency wants to stir up trouble.

-They can't even offer the most basic apology, what are they saying?

-The image is already ruined, what now? No one believes... If they had apologized to the fan first, it wouldn't have reached this point.

-Does that mean the fans did it on purpose? If so, shouldn't they sue to find out?

-It's not the staff, but the swearing was said by a different speaker according to the voice analysis results, and it seems like the voice was recorded with another device instead of directly recording with a phone on speaker. It seems like it's the voice from the fans' side, so they may not feel the need to apologize.

-Just apologize...

-They won't even say a word of apology to the fan who received all the backlash.ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Wow.

-They're digging their own grave, seriously.

-There's still no apology to the end, it's really unbelievable how they see the fans.

-Either they have no clue how to run a company, or they only see fans as a source of money, not as people.

-Are they crazy? Regardless of who said it, the fan paid $500 and ended up being insulted, and now they're saying that someone prepared a recording in advance and played it at the right moment when the fan called?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is the company in their right mind?

-No, they should've just apologized, blaming it on the staff's voice. Who in their right mind would spend money on a fan signing only to curse and swear?;; It would've been better if they had just stayed quiet, why stir up trouble and create dissatisfaction?

-Damn incompetent at handling things.

Continue reading Zero Base One's Statement Regarding the Kim Jiwoong Controversy

Viewer rankings for MBC's Knight Flower starring Lee Honey, ahead of its final episode today

 

Nationwide / Capital Area

Episode 01: 7.9 / 7.7 🔻Lowest

Episode 02: 8.2 / 7.9

Episode 03: 10.8 / 11.0

Episode 04: 7.9 / 7.7 (aired with soccer)

Episode 05: 11.4 / 12.0

Episode 06: 12.5 / 12.5

Episode 07: 13.1 / 12.7

Episode 08: 12.6 / ?.?

Episode 09: 11.0 / 10.3 -(Lunar New Year Holiday)

Episode 10: 12.9 / 12.1 -(Lunar New Year Holiday)

Episode 11: 15.4 / 14.7 🔺Highest

theqoo

-Wow, this is amazing. The ratings are increasing by 2-3 percent each time.

-The ratings are insane! 🔥 They're ending the final episode five minutes earlier today, at 9:45 pm!!! So thrilling! 

-I don't usually watch dramas, but I'm watching this one. It's not dull like others, the balance is good, the production quality is nice, and it's fun.

-I usually don't follow dramas, but I'm watching this one every week...

-What's really interesting is that when I went home, my family kept watching reruns. 

-No matter how many times I watched it, it was still fun. At that moment, I realized how fun this drama really is. 

-Why is it already ending?ㅠㅠㅠ They should extend it 

-I just started watching it, why is it ending already?

-Today is the final episode? Wow, it's so short.

-It's really funㅠㅠㅠ I'm so sad that it's coming to an endㅠㅠㅠ

-It's perfect, so much fun.

-This is the first time in a while that I've found a drama this enjoyable

Continue reading Viewer rankings for MBC's Knight Flower starring Lee Honey, ahead of its final episode today

A female idol who looks exactly like RIIZE's Sohee

 

ICHILLIN's Joonie

theqoo

-I can see the resemblance in the first picture. Both of them are adorable, what's wrong with the comments?

-I watched some of her videos and honestly can see her resemblance to Sohee. I think they have similar eyes. 

-I think she resembles Jooe more than Sohee...

-Really? I think she looks like Moon Chaewon, though...

-Wow, I'd believe it if someone told me they were siblings...

-I don't know both of them, but looking at the photos in the comments, they look alike.

-They're both really cute.

-Some of these comments are really something lol. Sohee is cute, and the other idol mentioned in the post is cute too.

-I think she looks like him in the first picture. But after seeing the second picture, I'm not so sure anymoreㅋㅋㅋ

-Oh, they do look alike.

-She looks like Chuu in the second picture...

-I don't think they look alike...

Continue reading A female idol who looks exactly like RIIZE's Sohee

RIIZE is on the Rise! Sweeps February Boy Group Individual Brand Reputation

 

RIIZE has swept the February individual brand reputation rankings for boy groups.

The Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute analyzed big data for individual brand reputation of boy group members from January 17 to February 17, extracting 95,693,991 pieces of big data for 724 individuals. The analysis was based on consumer behavior analysis for individual brands, utilizing participation index, media index, communication index, and community index to analyze brand reputation.

In the February rankings, RIIZE's Wonbin, Astro's Cha Eunwoo, RIIZE's Anton, RIIZE's Sungchan, Super Junior's Kyuhyun, RIIZE's Sohee, Highlight's Gikwang, RIIZE's Eunseok, Wanna One's Park Jihoon, BTS's Jimin, RIIZE's Shotaro, Wanna One's Kang Daniel, EXO's Baekhyun, Seventeen's Wonwoo, Seventeen's Mingyu, Seventeen's Jeonghan, The Boyz's Eric, BTS's Jungkook, BTS's V, Super Junior's Heechul, Wanna One's Hwang Minhyun, TVXQ's Changmin, Seventeen's Joshua, Seventeen's S.Coups, BTS's RM, Wanna One's Kim Jaehwan, The Boyz's Juyeon, TVXQ's Yunho, SHINee's Key, Seventeen's Dokyeom, Seventeen's Woozi, BTS's Jin, Seventeen's Hoshi, Seventeen's Seungkwan, Seventeen's Jun, Seventeen's Dino, NCT's Doyoung, NCT's Jaehyun, Seventeen's The8, BTS's J-Hope, BTS's Suga, Seventeen's Vernon, NCT's Mark, The Boyz's Sunwoo, Wanna One's Ong Seongwoo, Winner's Song Mino, The Boyz's Hyunjae, NCT's Haechan, Highlight's Yoon Doojoon, NCT's Jungwoo, Winner's Kim Jinwoo, Zero Base One's Sung Hanbin, Super Junior's Siwon, Super Junior's Donghae, SHINee's Minho, NCT's Taeyong, Tomorrow X Together's Yeonjun, The Boyz's Younghoon, BTOB's Lee Changseob, Tomorrow X Together's Soobin, SHINee's Taemin, Winner's Lee Seunghoon, NCT's Jisung, SHINee's Onew, NCT's Jaemin, Enhypen's Sunghoon, Big Bang's Daesung, Highlight's Yang Yoseob, Super Junior's Eunhyuk, Super Junior's Leeteuk, Super Junior's Shindong, NCT's Renjun, NCT's Jeno, Tomorrow X Together's Beomgyu, Wanna One's Bae Jinyoung, NCT's Ten, BTOB's Seo Eunkwang, NCT's Taeil, Super Junior's Yesung, Stray Kids' Hyunjin, Stray Kids' Hyunjin (NB: No idea why he was mentioned twice), Monsta X's Minhyuk, BTOB's Im Hyunsik, Tomorrow X Together's Taehyun, BTOB's Lee Minhyuk, Pentagon's Hui, B1A4's Sandeul, Winner's Kang Seungyoon, The Boyz's Q, Zero Base One's Zang Hao, Super Junior's Ryeowook, Tomorrow X Together's Huening Kai, Zero Base One's Han Yujin, Wanna One's Lee Daehwi, ATEEZ's San, Monsta X's I.M, Infinite's Kim Sungkyu, Zero Base One's Seok Matthew, Zero Base One's Ricky, and B1A4's Gongchan ranked in the top 100 for individual brand reputation in February. 

theqoo

-This is meaningless but this makes me realize how popular RIIZE is...

-1st, 3rd, and 4th place are all RIIZE's members

-There are a lot of RIIZE's articles these days, congrats

-RIIZE is within the top 11

-What's up with the same name appearing twice?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-This chart still exists?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Even if people say they ignore it or whatever, many still pay attention to it.. Just enjoy it for fun, we all know those who are mentioned here are indeed popular, anyway.

-Are they still doing this..? Until when will Park Jihoon be known as 'Wanna One's Park Jihoon'?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-If their idol is going up, they'll like it, but if their idol isn't there, they say it's not credible...

-Whether it's credible or not, congrats to Wonbinㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Even my mom feels proud as if Anton is her own child after watching him on You Quiz on The Block...

Continue reading RIIZE is on the Rise! Sweeps February Boy Group Individual Brand Reputation

"The word F*ck was said with a different voice"... Zero Base One Kim Ji-woong, obtained voice analysis report

 "Thank you~ F*ck"

"Thank you" and "F*ck". They're contrasting words. Did one person say this? Fans are still divided. Some heard it as 'F*ck', while others speculated '(9) half past nine'.
(NB: F*ck in Korean is 씨발/Ssi-bal and half past nine is 아홉시반/A-hob-si-ban)

'Zero Base One' Kim Ji-woong has been engulfed in swearing allegations. It's said that he cursed during a video call with fans. He emphasized that it's not true. There are those who heard the swearing, but no one knows who said it.

Wake One's side stated, "We will go through confirmation procedures such as digital media forensic analysis. We will clearly determine the truth." However, the controversy didn't die down.

Fan K, who uploaded the video, appealed, "Even with clear video evidence, are you issuing an official statement denying it only verbally? It's unfair and distressing." The battle over the truth continued.

What's needed now is an objective analysis. 'Dispatch' obtained a voice analysis report on Kim Ji-woong conducted by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation. It's been summarized based on expert opinions.

(The expert is Lee XX, Ph.D. He has conducted evaluations for about 30 years at the National Institute of Scientific Investigation. He currently runs a private evaluation company.)

#What was said? (Pronunciation Analysis)

The event involves randomly selecting 30 album buyers of 'Zero Base One' for a video call. It took place at the 'Wake One' office on the 27th of last month. Each member talked for about 1 minute and 30 seconds with one fan.

There are two pieces of evidence. Firstly, a video K shared on social media. It's 95.6MB, 3 seconds long. The segment was divided into three parts: A (F1~F5), B (F6~F8), and C (F9~F12).

Secondly, CCTV footage recorded during the event. It compares Kim Ji-woong's mouth movements in the CCTV footage with the voice in the fan's video.

Pronunciation was analyzed using formants. Formants refer to resonant frequencies occurring in the vocal tract. It's a method of analyzing vocal tract imprints by examining sound frequencies. 

The results of the vocal tract analysis are as follows: A segment was identified as "Thank you," B segment as "voiceless consonant + F*ck," and C segment as "seems strange or seems suspicious".

#Who said it? (Speaker Analysis)

So, who said it? K presumed it was Kim Ji-woong. If we judge based on the video, the A segment indeed matches Kim Ji-woong. However, the issue lies with the B segment, which was obscured by the screen (presumably by covering the phone or by a staff member's hand).

The expert analyzed the speaker based on the frequency (pitch) of each segment. They examined the vocal tract's range from low to high frequencies, dividing it into different areas.

First, the A segment. The doctor concluded, "It is presumed to be the voice of the same person recorded in the situation. (Kim Ji-woong's) mouth movement and the formant voice production of segment A coincide," determining Kim Ji-woong as the speaker.

The crux lies with the B segment. It should be observed between the low-frequency range (1957 Hz) and ε and α, higher frequencies. It appears to be a similar vocal tract area. In other words, it signifies the voice of one person.

However, it cannot be definitively concluded that it's Kim Ji-woong's voice. The expert stated, "It's impossible to confirm the person (Kim Ji-woong) speaking in the fan video," and remarked, "It's difficult to determine the speaker of the B segment voice," which also applies to the C segment.

#Is it Kim Ji-woong? (Tampering Analysis)

What if we look at the segments together? The waveform of the A-B connection was examined. There were no distortions in pitch and height in the A-B 'connected part'. This indicates a continuous recording situation.

However, different values appeared in the 'frequency response waveform'. At this point, the pitch and height were different. The expert concluded, "The voice of segments A-B appears to be different speakers with different voices."

The B-C segment was also recorded continuously. However, once again, the frequency response waveform was different. The pitch and height did not match.

The analyst viewed segments A-B and B-C as 'different speakers, different voices'. They stated, "The pronunciation of segments A and C appears to be digitally altered to the original voice through 'pitch processing'." 

"The pronunciation of segment B is relatively clear and distinct from segments A and C. Through vocal tract analysis, it is determined that segment B was intentionally recorded without pitch processing to maximize the focus on 'F*ck ' for the listeners."

The expert analyzed, "Judging from the shake in the fan video and the movement of the filmed subject (person, phone, etc.), it appears to have been filmed with another device," and stated, "Segment B was recorded by an externally inserted voice."

#The Situation of That Day (On-site Staff Interview)

The CCTV footage, which captured both the fan video and the events of the day, was compared side by side on the same timeline. However, discerning Kim Ji-woong's mouth movements was difficult as they were obscured by the head of the member next to him.

'Dispatch' also interviewed staff member Mr. D who was present at the scene. Each artist was assigned one staff member for the event. Mr. D was in charge of Kim Ji-woong. He is an employee of a record company.

Kim Ji-woong was seated as the fourth person from the right out of nine. Mr. D was seated right in front of Kim Ji-woong. Both of them were simultaneously connected to earphones, listening to the conversation in real-time together. (This was a precautionary measure in case of any unforeseen circumstances, such as the need for interpretation staff.)

He stated, "I don't remember the exact content of the conversation with K," but emphasized, "However, I can definitely say that Kim Ji-woong did not swear. I didn't hear anything."

In particular, the members were seated close to each other. When one member finished the call, they would pass the phone to the next member. Even after Kim Ji-woong's call ended, the member next to him continued their call.

He mentioned, "Another artist was continuously video-calling right next to us," and said, "It wasn't a situation where swearing could occur. There was no opportunity for it, and I didn't hear anything."

#Summary 

① The identified voices are A (Thank you), B (Voiceless consonant + F*ck), C (Seems strange or seems suspicious).

② In the fan video, the pitch of the A segment was manipulated during production to emphasize the pronunciation of 'F*ck'. It is judged that the pitch was also manipulated in the C segment.

③ The pitch and height discerned in the frequency response waveforms of the A-B and B-C segments were different. Therefore, it indicates different speakers and voices.

④ The A-B-C segments were recorded consecutively. Considering the filming conditions of the fan video, there is a possibility that 'F*ck' was recorded externally.

⑤ Upon reviewing the CCTV footage, no peculiarities were observed in Kim Ji-woong's mouth movements. The fan video cannot exclude the possibility of mixed surrounding voices. Therefore, it cannot be determined whether 'F*ck' was spoken by Kim Ji-woong.

theqoo

-Originally,  they could have honestly apologized, clarified any misunderstandings, and cleanly ended it. With that attitude, fans wouldn't keep causing trouble in the future. Why do they keep stumbling?

-Yeah, there will never be an apology, no member withdrawal or hiatus. Only the fans are really suffering, seriously.

-If they had just apologized at first, it would have been forgotten. Now it's making me remember it againㅋㅋㅋ

-F*** really... why does this happen every time the lights go out? Wake One, I can't enjoy fangirling because of stress... Did they apologize to the person involved...?

-The fans are the ones suffering the most. The management company is really mishandling things...

-They probably expect us to believe this, right...?

-Regardless of who did it, swearing definitely occurred, and the fans heard it, so shouldn't an apology come first??

-Is it possible that there's a staff member swearing right next to the artist?

-So, they're saying it's true that someone swore? But there are only members and staff there, right??

-Then was it a ghost??;; Is it that hard to just apologize?

-Just apologize and cover it up, the company really can't handle its job, what are they going to do if the fans raise their voices in protest?

Continue reading "The word F*ck was said with a different voice"... Zero Base One Kim Ji-woong, obtained voice analysis report

Emma Watson addressed the criticism she faced for taking a photoshoot exposing her chest in an interview

 

There was a reaction like "Is it okay for someone advocating for women's rights to take such photos? Why expose your chest, hypocrite!" when Emma Watson took this photoshoot.

In an interview, she said, "Every time something like this happens, it makes me realize how many misunderstandings and prejudices there are about feminism. Feminism is about giving women the freedom of choice, it's not some kind of oppressive force aimed at other women! Feminism is about freedom and liberation, about equality. I really don't understand how my tits have anything to do with all of this."

theqoo

-Exactly, it's about giving people choices.

-So if I enjoy doing a strip show and call it freedom of expression, does that become feminism too? It's too complicated, I really don't know.

-It's not sexualization, right? Why is there even a debate about this? If you're going to argue like that, then aren't the Kardashians also being independent by doing what they do, and isn't Kanye's current girlfriend also exercising her freedom by going around naked?

-Feminism is about giving women the freedom of choice. That's true, but I'm still not fully grasping the concept, so I sometimes get confused.

-It's not meant to be mocking; I'm genuinely confused. If making money through exposure isn't sexualization, then what is it?

-The freedom to expose is just too funny, I don't even know what they're talking about.

-Feminism is really difficult, huh?

-It's just about doing what one wants. Men and women have different body shapes, so naturally, not everyone can go around exposing themselves like men. Does one have to undress to be confident, achieve gender equality, and become free? Exposing oneself doesn't equal feminism.

-Everyone just lives the way they want to. Right and wrong depend on perspective.

-Should we really treat sexualization so negatively, like something taboo?

Continue reading Emma Watson addressed the criticism she faced for taking a photoshoot exposing her chest in an interview