June 13 (2023-06-13) – August 15, 2023 (2023-08-15)
Queendom Puzzle (Korean: 퀸덤 퍼즐) is a 2023 South Korean reality competition show created by Mnet. It premiered on Mnet on June 13, 2023, airing every Tuesday at 22:00 KST.[1] The show concluded on August 15, 2023.
The show serves as a spin-off series of Queendom, however it does not share a similar format with the previous seasons, only taking the name of the series.[2]
Concept and format
On January 26, 2023, it was announced that the Queendom series would have a third season, but would be different from the previous two seasons.[3]
The show will focus on forming a global project girl group by taking members from currently active girl groups as well as solo female artists and piecing them together like a puzzle. It will take on a completely new format from the pre-existing Queendom series, with individual competitions taking place rather than team competition.[4]
Out of the initial 28 contestants, they will compete through performances to finally become a 7-member supergroup, El7z Up (Korean: 엘즈업; RR: eljeueop).[5][6]
Promotion and broadcast
On April 10, 2023, Mnet released the first teaser video on their YouTube channel. In the teaser, iconic girl group songs play in the background as well as the silhouettes of seven female celebrities are shown. Along with the confirmation that the first lineup will be revealed in May, the teaser includes the mysterious code on the bottom, "IURP WZHQWB HLJKW WR VHYHQ", which deciphers "from twenty-eight to seven".[7]
On April 24, Mnet confirmed that Girls' Generation's Taeyeon will host the show.[8] The first six contestants were also revealed,[9] as well as Weeekly,[10] and H1-KEY where its agency, GLG, confirmed two of their members' participation in the show.[11]
On April 25, it was revealed that WJSN's Yeoreum would be a contestant in the show.[12] On April 26, it was revealed that members Jiwon, Chaerin and Bora from Cherry Bullet would participate in the show.[13] On April 27, it was revealed that Yuki from Purple Kiss would also be a contestant.[14]
On May 2, the remaining member of AOA, Chanmi, now known as Dohwa, was revealed as a contestant in the show.[15]
On May 9, Mnet released a second teaser to officially announce the program's premiere date of June 13, 2023, at 22:00 (KST).[1] In the teaser, silhouettes of the cast members are revealed as well as Taeyeon standing in the center.[16]
On May 18, Mnet released teaser photos of the first 13 contestants in silhouettes, as well as two teams created, Pick on the top and Pick-Cat. The two teams also released two theme songs titled "Charismatic" and "Snap" respectively on the same day, accompanied by two performance videos shown on M Countdown.[17] It was also shared that the rest of the contestants would be revealed the week after, and that they would be releasing and performing the same two songs on M Countdown in their own versions.[18] On the same day, Lee Chae-yeon and Haein were reported to have withdrawn from the show. They would not be replaced and the show would continue with 26 contestants.[19] On May 19, Mnet released individual teaser videos and posters previewing the first 13 contestants revealed.[20]
On May 25, Mnet released a second set of teaser photos of the remaining 13 contestants in silhouettes, as well as the two teams, Drop The Beat & Athena.[21] The two teams also released different versions of the two theme songs on the same day, accompanied by performance videos shown on M Countdown.[22] On May 26, Mnet released individual teaser videos and posters for the remaining 13 contestants.[23]
On May 29, Mnet released a group poster containing all contestants and MC Taeyeon, as well as the profiles of the 26 contestants.[24] On June 2, Mnet released the first teaser trailer.[25]
On June 6, a behind-the-scenes video was released, showing the contestants meeting each other for the first time.[26] An exclusive preview, also known as Episode 0, was also released, showing the first hour of Episode 1 that was to be aired in the following week.[27]
On June 8, a special stage of the contestants was aired on M Countdown.[28]
All of the contestants have previous experiences in the K-pop industry, either as a current or former member of a girl group or as a soloist. The lineup of contestants includes members of Cherry Bullet, Rocket Punch, Weki Meki, H1-Key, AOA, WJSN, Purple Kiss, Weeekly, Woo!ah!, Lightsum, TripleS, and former members of Lovelyz, CLC, Momoland, BNK48, and NMB48. The show originally had 28 contestants, though Chaeyeon and Haein of Laboum both left the show prior to its airing for personal reasons.[29] Both made appearances in the first 2 episodes.
The final group will be decided based on votes through the Mnet Plus and Twinkple applications, where each voter choose 7 contestants to vote as an ideal final group.
First Voting Period
The voting period for every week began from the start of the episode, to 2 hours before the airing of the following episode. The entire voting period started from June 13, 2023, during the broadcast of Episode 1, and had concluded on July 25, 2023, 23:00 (KST).
One new vote (from each application) would be provided at the start of each episode, for 7 weeks. Hence, each voter would have a maximum of 14 votes throughout the voting period.
All votes cast to each contestant would be accumulated throughout the voting period and will be reflected in the eventual ranking after this voting period. The voting results would be based on 50% for Korea and 50% for all other global regions.
Second Voting Period
The votes in the first voting period would not be carried over to the second voting period.
The voting period would begin from after Episode 7, to during the broadcast of the Episode 9.
Voters can vote once every day. However, on August 8, which is the live broadcast for Episode 9, voters can vote twice on this day: once before 20:00 (KST), and once during the broadcast of the episode.
All votes cast to each contestant would be accumulated throughout the voting period and will be reflected in the eventual ranking after this voting period. The voting results would be based on 50% for Korea and 50% for all other global regions.
Final Voting Period
The votes in the second voting period would not be carried over to the final voting period.
The voting period would begin from after Episode 9, to during the broadcast of the Episode 10.
Voters can vote once every day. However, on August 15, which is the live broadcast for Episode 10, voters can vote twice on this day: once before 20:00 (KST), and once during the broadcast of the episode.
All votes cast to each contestant would be accumulated throughout the voting period and will be reflected in the eventual ranking after this voting period. The voting results would be based on 50% for Korea and 50% for all other global regions.
Round 1: Up-Down Battle (Episode 1-2)
The 28 contestants are split into four tiers, based on the following criteria (as at April 24, 2023):
Number of times the contestant has won first places in music shows (50%)
Largest number of first week orders among all physical albums released (50%) (based on data from Circle Chart)
The two scores are added up and each contestant would be placed in Tiers 1 to 4.
Each contestant would then have a solo performance, and the remaining 27 contestants would each vote for the contestant. "Up" would be pressed if the voters each think that the performing contestant has performed better than the voter, and if otherwise "Down" would be pressed. After the performances, the contestants would be rearranged into their new tiers based on the results of the performances.
For this round, each contestant would choose one of the 2 signal songs, "Charismatic" and "Snap", in order of the number of Ups received from the Up-Down Battle, and there would be 14 contestants per song. In the event when there are already 14 contestants in one of the songs, the remaining contestants that have not chosen would be automatically allocated to the other song. Each song would consist of 2 teams: "PICK" and "DROP". After the contestants choose, in the Puzzle Room, Jiwon would form the 2 teams for "Charismatic", while Bora would form the 2 teams for "Snap". The formed teams would practice and then record performance videos for the songs.
A panel of 13 expert judges will watch the performance videos and evaluate them. The panel of judges consist of the following people:
In addition, the 14 contestants of "SNAP" would evaluate both teams of "Charismatic" and vice versa.
For each song, the team with more votes wins. The contestants under the winning team of each song would get a benefit of 10,000 points.
There would be 1 MVP for the winning team of each song, based on the selection of the expert panel. The selected MVPs would have the right to arrange the teams for the next round.
The contestants would form new teams and recreate top K-pop songs by various K-pop acts.
The MVPs of the previous round, Nana and Hwiseo, have the right to form all 6 teams, with both of them having the right to choose the song they want to re-create first. After that, the contestants of the winning teams would be distributed, then followed by the contestants of the losing teams. After the puzzling, only members from the winning teams of the previous round ("PICK on the top" & "Athena") can raise objections on the song they are assigned to. Then, the 2 MVPs (Nana and Hwiseo) can decide whether to make the change or not.
After each performance, 300 on-site audience would evaluate it, and the score would be revealed immediately after voting ended. From the second performance onwards, the current first place team's score and the current performing team's score would be revealed simultaneously[ap], to show whether the current performing team has replaced the previous first place team or not.
Each member of the winning team will get a benefit of 20,000 points.
The contestants would be split into Team Queendom and Team Puzzle immediately after the Remix Battle performances, starting from contestant Yeonhee being picked into Team Queendom and contestant Kei being picked into Team Puzzle, with the rest of the contestants choosing Team Queendom or Team Puzzle afterwards. As part of winning the Remix Battle, contestants Jihan, Dohwa, Nana and Suyun can bring contestant(s) from one team to another. Lastly, if one team does not have 13 contestants, through voting among the team with more than 13 contestants, contestant(s) would move to the team without 13 contestants.
For this battle, each team would perform 3 rounds of vocal-rap songs, and 2 rounds of dance songs.
For the vocal-rap songs, 3-4 songs would be shown, and each team will pick one song on a first come, first serve basis.
For the dance songs, they would be newly produced songs, and the selection of the songs would be through a dance battle between the two teams; the winning team would get to pick 2 of the 4 songs available first, while the remaining 2 songs not picked would automatically be allocated to the other team.
For each round, the audience would vote for the better performance of the 2.[aq] The team that has the higher total score after the 5 rounds would take the battle, and the members of the winning team would each get a benefit of 20,000 votes. The winning team would only be revealed in Episode 7, which would be a special live broadcast.
Five (5) contestants will be eliminated during the first live broadcast, wherein the votes starting from the start of the show until the airing of the episode will be tallied. The benefit points earned from the previous rounds will also be combined, and the Top 7 members will be announced. Subsequently, the Bottom 5 who will be eliminated are also announced.
Episode 7: Scores & Ranking
Rank
Contestant
Votes
Benefits
Total Points
1st
Nana
480,960
50,000
530,960
2nd
Yeoreum
382,964
20,000
402,964
3rd
Hwiseo
381,051
10,000
391,051
4th
Kei
345,529
30,000
375,529
5th
Yeeun
344,959
20,000
364,959
6th
Jihan
298,611
50,000
348,611
7th
Yuki
286,283
20,000
306,283
8th
Bora
272,657
20,000
292,657
9th
Jiwon
255,263
30,000
285,263
10th
Juri
267,258
10,000
277,258
11th
Yeonhee
275,565
0
275,565
12th
Suyun
215,973
40,000
255,973
13th
Wooyeon
208,692
30,000
238,692
14th
Zoa
212,717
20,000
232,717
15th
Riina
191,859
20,000
211,859
16th
Jiwoo
197,166
10,000
207,166
17th
Dohwa
166,012
30,000
196,012
18th
Miru
184,176
10,000
194,176
19th
Elly
171,822
10,000
181,822
20th
Fye
144,391
10,000
154,391
21st
Soojin
124,269
0
124,269
22nd
Sangah
103,258
20,000
123,258
23rd
Soeun
96,186
10,000
106,186
24th
Seoyeon
88,862
0
88,862
25th
JooE
70,439
0
70,439
26th
Chaerin
49,336
0
49,336
The following contestants from the three songs are eliminated before the performances:
Song
Eliminated Contestant(s)
Puzzlin'
Chaerin, JooE
i DGA (I Don't Give A)
Sangah, Soeun
I Do
Seoyeon
The Semi-Final voting assembly-choice voting began from July 4 to 7, 23:59 (KST), via the Mnet Plus application, where voters listen to snippets of three newly produced songs and for each song, they pick 7 contestants they want to put in. The three teams would then be formed based on the votes. Subsequently, elimination of 5 contestants would be conducted on Episode 7 (special live broadcast), followed by member adjustments to the teams, such that each song would only have 7 contestants. The eventual performances of the three songs would be held in the Semi-Final, which is Episode 9 (live broadcast).
Through live text votes in Episode 9, the winning team is decided. The members of the winning team would each get a benefit of 30,000 votes. Subsequently, 7 contestants would be eliminated.
The 21 contestants would choose one of the two newly produced songs. After the elimination of 7 contestants that happened in Episode 9 (Semi-Final Round & Second Live Episode), the remaining 14 contestants would be split into 2 teams, through the grouping by the top 2 as at Semi-Final, Hwiseo and Nana.
The following contestants from the two songs are eliminated before the performances:
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
N/A denotes ratings that were not published.
This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).
^ abLee Chae-yeon and Haein dropped out of the show prior to its premiere date. They have participated in the first recording session and will not be edited out of the broadcast.
^Chaeyeon, currently a soloist, is a former member of Iz*One
^Only the Top 7 contestants were revealed, without revealing the number of votes.
^Only the tiers were revealed, without revealing the number of votes. Tier 1 stands for Top 7 contestants, Tier 2 stands for contestants that would advance to the Finals (together with the Top 7), and Tier 3 stands for contestants on brink of elimination. These tiers were based on votes up to July 31, 23:59 (KST).
^Tiering based on 50% on number of Music Show wins and 50% on number of first week album sales.
^Through re-evaluation done by the fellow contestants.
^After adding up the benefit votes won through winning the 7:7, Re-Mix, and All-Rounder Battles.
^After adding up the benefit votes won through winning the Semi-Final Battle.
^The voting results of each team are shown to the members but hidden from the audience.
^Fellow group members and family members of the contestants would also attend the recording of the battle as audience, but they are not allowed to vote for the entire battle.
^Originally in the "I Do" Team, Elly chose to join the "i DGA (I Don't Give A)" Team.
^ abcSuyun, Yuki, and Kei originally chose "Last Piece", but then moved to "Billionaire" during the second grouping after the Semi-Final.
^Members include Jihan, Jiwon, Jiwoo, Nana, Soeun and Wooyeon.
^ ab엠넷 측 "'퀸덤 퍼즐' 올 상반기 방영 예정…이전 시리즈와 차별화" [Mnet side "'Queendom Puzzle' launch, scheduled to air in the first half"]. Celuv Media (in Korean). Retrieved May 23, 2023.
^Jung-min, Yoo (April 10, 2023). "'퀸덤' 시리즈 귀환…'퀸덤 퍼즐' 6월 방송 "걸그룹 개성·매력 재발견"" ['Queendom' series returns... 'Queendom Puzzle' broadcast in June "Rediscovering the individuality and charm of girl groups"]. iMBC Entertainment (in Korean). Retrieved August 17, 2023 – via Naver.
^태연MC '퀸덤 퍼즐' 내달 13일 첫방 [The Taeyeon MC's 'Queendom Puzzle' first broadcast on the 13th of next month]. Newsis (in Korean). May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
^새로워진 '퀸덤' 시리즈 컴백…'퀸덤 퍼즐' 6월 첫방 [The new 'Queendom' series comeback... 'Queendom Puzzle' first broadcast in June]. News1 (in Korean). May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
^걸그룹 멤버 재구성?…새로워진 '퀸덤', 아티스트 라인업 5월 공개 [Reorganization of girl group members?... New 'Queendom', artist lineup unveiled in May]. xports (in Korean). May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
^‘퀸덤퍼즐’ 걸그룹명은 엘즈업...휘서→케이, 톱7 진입 ['Queendom Puzzle' girl group name is EL7Z U+P... Hwiseo→Kei, enters Top 7]. Maeil Kyungje via Naver (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^Lee, Su-hyeon (April 10, 2023). '퀸덤 퍼즐', 5월 라인업 공개 예정…암호문=참가자 수? [The 'Queendom Puzzle' is scheduled to be released in May... Password = Number of participants?]. Top Star News (in Korean). Retrieved May 18, 2023.
^Jeong, Jin-ah (April 24, 2023). 소녀시대 태연 '퀸덤 퍼즐' MC 발탁…"프로그램에 찰떡" [Taeyeon of Girls' Generation was selected as the MC of "Queendom Puzzle"..."Perfect for the program"]. Newsis (in Korean). Retrieved April 25, 2023 – via Naver.
^Jeong, Ji-won (April 24, 2023). 이채연·케이·예은·해인·주이·시로마 미루, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 출격 확정 (공식) [Lee Chae-yeon, Kei, Ye-eun, Hae-in, JooE, and Shiroma Miru have confirmed their appearance in the 'Queendom Puzzle' (Official)]. Joynews24 (in Korean). Retrieved May 18, 2023.
^Jeong, Jin-ri (April 24, 2023). [단독] 위클리, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 출격…'K-하이틴'으로 노리는 글로벌 걸그룹 [[Exclusive] Weeekly Goes to 'Queendom Puzzle'...Global girl group aiming for "K-Highteen".]. SpoTV News (in Korean). Retrieved April 25, 2023 – via Naver.
^Son, Bong-seok (April 24, 2023). 하이키 리이나·휘서, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 출격···데뷔 후 첫 경연 프로그램 도전 [Haiki Rina and Hweseo, would participate in the "Queendom Puzzle"... The first competition program since their debut.]. Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Retrieved April 25, 2023 – via Naver.
^Jeong, Jin-ri (April 25, 2023). [단독]우주소녀 여름, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 출격…'퀸덤2' 우승자 등판 [[Exclusive] WJSN Yeoreum, goes to 'Queendom Puzzle'... The winner of "Queendom 2" will appear.]. SpotTV News (in Korean). Retrieved April 25, 2023 – via Naver.
^Gong, Mi-na (April 26, 2023). [단독]체리블렛 지원·채린·보라, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 합류…글로벌 인기 노란다 [[Exclusive] Cherry Bullet Jiwon, Chaerin, and Bora Join the 'Queendom Puzzle'... Global popularity.]. SpoTV News (in Korean). Retrieved April 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^Gong, Mi-na (April 27, 2023). [단독]퍼플키스 유키, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 출연…오디션 도전장 [[Exclusive] Purple Kiss Yuki appears in 'Queendom Puzzle'... An audition challenge.]. SpoTV News (in Korean). Retrieved April 27, 2023 – via Naver.
^Jeong, Jin-ri (April 27, 2023). [단독]AOA 임도화(찬미), '퀸덤 퍼즐' 출연…걸그룹 서바이벌 재도전 [[Exclusive] AOA Lim Do-hwa (Chan-mi) appears in 'Queendom Puzzle'... Girl group's survival challenge again.]. SpoTV News (in Korean). Retrieved April 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^Kim, Min-ji (May 9, 2023). '퀸덤 퍼즐' 태연·출연진 실루엣 티저 공개…6월13일 첫방 ["Queendom Puzzle" Taeyeon and the cast's silhouette teaser released... The first broadcast on June 13th.]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Naver.
^Lee, Su-hyeon (May 18, 2023). '퀸덤 퍼즐', 퍼포먼스 비디오로 라인업 공개…이채연·라붐 해인 하차 소식까지 ['Queendom Puzzle' reveals lineup with performance videos...Lee Chae-yeon and Haein of LABOUM got off.]. Top Star News (in Korean). Retrieved May 18, 2023.
^Jeong, Jin-ri (May 18, 2023). [단독]이채연-라붐 해인, '퀸덤 퍼즐' 최종 하차 [[Exclusive] Lee Chae-yeon - Haein of LABOUM, eventually dropping out of 'Queendom Puzzle'.]. SpoTV News (in Korean). Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Naver.
^Ha-yeong, Kim (May 25, 2023). "'퀸덤 퍼즐' 완전체, 오늘(25일) 베일 벗는다" ['Queendom Puzzle' complete, take off the veil today (25th)]. Sports kyunghyang (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^Na-yeong, Lee (May 25, 2023). "(여자)아이들, 에스파 꺾고 1위…몬스타엑스 주헌 솔로 데뷔 (엠카)[종합]" [(G)I-DLE beat Espa to take first place... MONSTA X Jooheon's solo debut (Mcountdown)[Comprehensive]]. Xports News (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^Eun-hye, Kim (May 26, 2023). "'퀸덤 퍼즐' AOA 찬미·러블리즈 케이➝하이키, 3·4세대 걸그룹 총출동 "상상못한 조합"" ['Queendom Puzzle' AOA Chanmi · Lovelyz Kei ➝ High Key, 3rd and 4th generation girl groups all out "Unimaginable combination"]. News Inside (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^Mi-na, Gong (June 2, 2023). "태연 "K팝신에 XXX 존재"…"예의는 살짝 버리도록" '퀸덤퍼즐' 예고부터 매운맛" [Taeyeon "XXX exists in the K-pop scene"... "Let's throw away the courtesy" 'Queendom Puzzle' from the preview to the spicy taste]. SPOTV News (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^So-yeong, Park (June 6, 2023). "나보다 한수 아래 지목?..'퀸덤퍼즐', 시작부터 무섭다" [Points lower than me?..'Queendom Puzzle', scary from the start]. Osen (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^Hye-jin, Hwang (June 7, 2023). "방탄소년단 지민 '엠카' 깜짝 출연, 800회 특집 축전 공개[공식]" [BTS Jimin's 'M Countdown' surprise appearance, 800th special congratulatory exhibition revealed [Official]]. Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^Na-yeon, Kim (June 13, 2023). "'퀸덤퍼즐' PD "'하차' 이채연·라붐 해인, 촬영분량 편집 없이 모두 공개"" ['Queendom Puzzle' PD "'Get off' Lee Chae-yeon and Laboum Hae-in, all of the filmings are released without editing"]. Osen (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2023 – via Naver.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 TEAM BATTLE 1" [Queendom Puzzle Team Battle 1] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023 – via Melon.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 TEAM BATTLE 2" [Queendom Puzzle Team Battle 2] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023 – via Melon.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 RISE UP" [Queendom Puzzle Rise Up] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023 – via Melon.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 ALL-ROUNDER BATTLE 1" [Queendom Puzzle All-Rounder Battle 1] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023 – via Melon.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 ALL-ROUNDER BATTLE 2" [Queendom Puzzle All-Rounder Battle 2] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023 – via Melon.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 SEMI FINAL" [Queendom Puzzle Semi Final] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023 – via Melon.
^"퀸덤퍼즐 FINAL" [Queendom Puzzle Final] (in Korean). Genie Music. Stone Music Entertainment. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023 – via Melon.
