The fourth episode of the SBS audition survival show League of the Universehosted by former 2 p.m. Jay Park, aired. The program, which is the male counterpart of its first season Ticket of the Universefeatures 42 idol trainees who will compete in five stages: PRISM, which stands for Pick, Represent, and Intercept, so far.
Competitors are divided into three teams under the guidance of mentors called directors, and only one team will earn the Prism Cup and debut.
Team Rythym will be led by WayV Ten and YangYang, Team Groove under BTOB Changsub, and Team Beat under GOT7 Yugyeom and EL CAPITXN.
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In the recent episode, the directors prepared their original songs, which will be performed by their starting lineup (Top 7), and defend them from the other teams’ bench lineup (low-ranking members).
Changsub then he introduced “Prison”, a song he prepared for Team Groove. During the show, a fragment of the song and its choreography were previewed to the audience, arousing various reactions.
“Does the song remind you of any singers?” the director asked after showing it to his team.
“BIGBANG, BEAST. Has ‘Fiction’ vibes,” contestants responded.
Changsub later explained that he chose the song to spark nostalgia for the second generation era.
However, when this reached K-pop fans on X, Starlights (VIXX fandom) denounced the male icon and the show for discrediting VIXX.
In a comparison thread, “Prison” is said to share eerie similarities with VIXX’s track “Error,” according to fandom.
Not only is the choreography where both teams created a domino effect similar, but also the melodies of the songs.
“There’s the intro (in Prison), which is basically just the toned down version of ‘Error,’” highlighted by the user.
I’m so damn angry. Is not only the song but also the dance the same?
As someone who has liked both VIXX and BTOB since they were friends, I’m so hurt right now https://t.co/jzRAJDJ9Hf— 𓆩♤𓆪 ⁶𝖛𝖎𝖝𝖝𝖊𝖉𝖌𝖟𝖇⤮𝖘𝖐𝖟🧩 (@Vixxedgzbz) December 15, 2024
Since Starlights believes that Changsub’s song contains many elements shown by VIXX’s previous song, Melodys (BTOB fandom) was quick to defend him.
“This is not plagiarism at all. You guys are talking about an introductory piano sample, we hadn’t even released the whole song and you guys are making a fuss?” a Melody replied.
this is NOT plagiarism at all. you guys are talking about an introductory piano sample, we hadn’t even released the whole song, but are you making a fuss?
— changsub era nanny / Universe League (@TESTADASEI) December 15, 2024
1) the song hasn’t been released so no credits are available yet 2) the same samples may have been used and if they did it wouldn’t be plagiarism. a notable example with the exact same intro + melody is ateez- dancing like butterfly wings and pentagon-genie. 3) btovixx are friends ++ https://t.co/ZHKlF8Xfi0
— Nikki (@mhzoned) December 14, 2024
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