It’s been a year since Queendom 2 (2022) aired. Let’s look back at the performers, the stages, and of course the winners of this long-awaited survival show!
What Was Queendom 2?
Queendom 2 was the second season of Mnet’s survival show Queendom. In this series, six trending female K-pop acts compete to win the title of Queen and their own comeback show. Mamamoo won Season 1, which aired in 2019.
Image Credits: Image via allkpop
Following this show’s success, Mnet did two male-focused spin-offs. Road to Kingdom aired in 2020, crowning The Boyz the winners and netting them a spot in the sequel series.
Image Credits: Mnet via Korea JoongAng Daily
Kingdom aired the following year, with Stray Kids winning first place despite member Hyunjin forced to take a hiatus for most of the show.
Image Credits: JYP Entertainment via The Korea Times
Three years after the first season, Queendom 2 aired from March 31-June 2, 2022. The contestants were: Loona; WJSN; Brave Girls; Viviz (former GFriend members Eunha, SinB, and Umji); Hyolyn (formerly of Sistar); and Kep1er. Who’d take the crown and be the queens this time? Fans tuned in to find out.
Round 1: Representative Song Battle
In the first round, each group sang one or a combination of their own songs or by their previous acts. As with the other rounds, rankings were determined by view and like counts, audience votes, and the other contestants’ assessments. Whoever ranked last twice in the preliminary performances would be eliminated.
Hyolyn took first place for “Touch My Body,” Sistar’s signature song. She was the leader, main vocalist, lead rapper, and lead dancer of Sistar, as well as the leader of its subgroup Sistar19.
WJSN, also called the Cosmic Girls, finished second with "As You Wish" despite a mishap involving a sandglass.
Moving GFriend fans to tears, Viviz performed a mashup of “Time for the Moon Night” and “Rough,” coming in third.
Fresh off Girls Planet 999 (2021), Kep1er performed their debut single “Wa Da Da,"
and Brave Girls did a mashup of their summer 2021 single “Chi Mat Ba Ram” and viral song “Rollin.’”
Due to three of their members contracting COVID-19, Loona were unable to perform and, as a result, automatically placed sixth. However, they later released their performance video for their most recent comeback “PTT (Paint the Town).”
Round 2: Cover Song Battle
In the next round, each group rearranged and covered a song by another contestant. Hyolyn placed first again with her cover of Loona’s “So What,” amping up its original ferocity with Catwoman-inspired visuals and choreography.
In their first official round, Loona covered “Shake It” by Sistar, adding a jazzy and fun twist to this summer hit.
WJSN chose GFriend’s “Navillera,” changing the originally innocent concept to a dark fantasy and elegant one,
while Viviz added a tango twist to WJSN’s “Unnatural.”
Kep1er did a summer rock take on Brave Girls’ “Rollin’,” which they called “Pool Party (Rollin’ Right Now),”
and Brave Girls added class and a casino concept to Kep1er’s B-side “MVSK.”
Round 3: Position Unit Battle and FANtastic Queendom
Part 1
Part 1 saw the acts form temporary Vocal and Dance Units. The Vocal Units competed first. Universe in Eunha (Viviz’s Eunha and WJSN’s Soobin and Yeonjung) won with a moving performance of IU’s “Hold My Hand.”
33 came in second, with Hyolyn and Brave Girls’ Minyoung singing BOL4’s “To My Youth,” showcasing powerhouse vocals and a chemistry evident in the singers’ hug following their performance.
Sun and Moon (Loona’s HaSeul, Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Chuu and Kep1er’s Kim Chaehyun and Seo Youngeun) placed last with their youthful cover of Exo’s ballad “Don’t Go.”
Next was the Dance Units’ turn. Queen is Me (Brave Girls’ Eunji and Loona’s HeeJin, Choerry, Yves, and Olivia Hye) placed first with “Tell Me Now,” which blew audiences away with jazzy verses, powerful choruses, and a sensual yet dangerous aura.
In second place was Ex-it (Hyolyn and WJSN’s Eunseo and Yeoreum), who performed the upbeat modern dance number “Ka-Boom!”
Lastly was KeV1Z (Viviz’s remaining members and Kep1er’s Xiaoting, Kim Dayeon, and Hikaru). They performed “Purr,” a sassy hip-hop song entirely in English.
Part 2
In the FANtastic Queendom portion of Round 3, each act performed a song suggested by the audience. Brave Girls performed their 2021 single “Red Sun” – and in an unexpected twist took first place. (The group had felt sure they’d be placed last, and as a result eliminated.)
After them was WJSN with “Pantomime” (and a truly spectacular effects-driven performance),
Loona with their signature song “Butterfly,”
and Hyolyn with her beach-themed solo “See Sea, Bae.”
Kep1er covered Girls’ Generation’s 2011 song “The Boys,” since they had few remaining songs from their own discography to perform.
Viviz came in last with a dance-pop version of their debut song “Bop Bop!”
Round 4: Finale Live Comeback Stages
The final round saw the groups performing an original song. The digital points from the Comeback Singles and the text message votes from the stage would count towards the overall ranking. Loona took first place with “Pose,” a track with confident moves and lyrics.
In second place was WJSN’s “Aura,” which included a haunting whistle and ethereal vocals.
Viviz came third with their own “Red Sun!”, a mix of magic and elegance matched by an equally fantastic(al) performance.
Meanwhile, Kep1er placed fourth with the (literally) fiery “The Girls (Can’t Turn Me Down),”
and Brave Girls came fifth with their tropical track “Whistle.”
Hyolyn placed last with the powerful “Waka Boom (My Way),” featuring female rapper Lee Young-ji.
After the competition, vocalists from each act joined together to sing “Epilogue.” The singers for this performance were: Hyolyn; Eunha; Brave Girls’ Yuna; WJSN’s Seola; HeeJin; and Kep1er’s Kang Yeseo.
Then, the final rankings of the competition were announced. WJSN were crowned the winners of Queendom 2.
Image Credits: Starship Entertainment via hellokpop
What Happened after Queendom 2?
The show had finished airing, but it would be a busy year for all the contestants! WJSN embarked on their “2022 WJSN Concert Wonderland” tour from June 11-12. They came back on July 5 with Sequence and its title track “Last Sequence.” Members Xuanyi, Cheng Xiao, and Meiqi (on hiatus since 2018) officially left the group in March 2023.
Loona had a difficult year. After Flip That’s release (June 20), Chuu was removed from the group, having filed for a provisional injunction to suspend her exclusive contract with company Blockberry Creative. Eventually, all the remaining members filed lawsuits. Their 2023 comeback was postponed, and by June 16, all the members had left BBC, although Loona itself is still active.
Following Queendom 2, Kep1er had three Korean comebacks (two in the second half of 2022) and debuted in Japan. They also released a single for Universe Music, “Sugar Rush,” before going on a Japanese arena tour from late May to early June 2023.
Hyolyn performed at Youth Festival 2022 shortly after Queendom 2’s finale, and on July 18 she released Ice, which included “Waka Boom” on the tracklist. Prior to the EP’s release, she dropped an exclusive performance video for the song on June 27.
Viviz’s second EP Summer Vibe dropped on July 6, while their third, Various, was released the following January 31. The trio also released “Rum Pum Pum” for Universe on October 27.
However, the coming year was the most emotional for Brave Girls. They covered Brown Eyed Girls’ “How Come” and toured the U.S. in July. But on February 16, 2023, they released "Goodbye" and disbanded, leaving Brave Entertainment. To fans' relief, they signed new contracts with Warner Music Korea, and on May 3 announced they’d continue making music together as BB Girls.
For any of our Seoulmates who missed this series, Queendom Puzzle is currently airing. The winners will form a temporary project group. The next episode airs June 27 KST.
Image Credits: Mnet via Soompi
Congratulations to Queendom 2’s winners and all the contestants!
