Mnet's Girls Planet 999 held their semi-finals and third round of eliminations on October 15. The 18 semi-finalists were shortlisted and they will battle for a spot in the top 9 to debut.
However, eight contestants were eliminated in the semi-finals. Shocked fans expressed their disappointment and sadness on Twitter.
Eliminated contestants from 'Girls Planet 999' semi-finals
Mnet’s Girls Planet 999’s semi-finals and third round of eliminations took place in episode 11. The third voting period round was held between September 24 and October 9. Fans had the option of choosing one contestant from each group - K group from Korea, C group from China and J group from Japan.
After the O.O.O group mission, the eliminated contestants were revealed. In total, eight contestants were eliminated.
1) Cai Bing
Arguably the most shocking elimination in Girls Planet 999 was of C-Group participant, Cai Bing. She was placed in the top nine three times and yet she lost in the semi-finals, ranking the lowest amongst all. Many fans claim Mnet’s editing gave the the audience the wrong perspective. They claim the Chinese translations were mistranslated or that the company is back to rigging votes.
2) Chen Hsin Wei
Another heartbreaking elimination is of Chen Hsin Wei, lovingly called WeiWei. She was called upon as a contender for the 17th place, but fell short on votes and couldn’t make it in. People loved her performance in Ice Cream.
3) Ikema Ruan
J-Group member Ikema Ruan was another eliminated participant that broke fans’ hearts. Judges saved her in Episode 5 with a Planet Pass and she kept on improving, making hearts flutter with her expressions and dance moves. Her overall rank was 19th.
4) Kamimoto Kotone
Another upsetting Girls Planet 999 elimination was J-Group’s Kamimoto Kotone. She was saved from the eliminations in episode 8 with a Planet Pass but ultimately did not rank high enough to rank in the top 17.
5) Kishida Ririka
The third J-group member to be eliminated was Kishida Ririka. She was a participant of JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan’s Nizi Project in 2020.
6) May (Cherry Bullet member)
May is the second Cherry Bullet to be eliminated from Girls Planet 999, after Huh Jiwon. Fans have their own reasons for being upset as they claim they didn’t get any screentime compared to others, especially May, who reached this far with no passes or benefits, pure talent but even zero compliments.
7) Nagai Manami
Everyone’s favorite Nagai Manami lost the place by three ranks. Her overall rank was 20th. She made the audience fall in love with her rap skills in Woo Won Jae’s mission performance ‘We Are’, where “Manami on the beat ya” became an iconic line for her.
8) Zhou Xin Yu
The C-Group member is ranked 22nd overall and is the last contestant to be eliminated from Girls Planet 999. A majority of the audience suspected her elimination in the semi-finals as she did not get much screen time despite being great at rapping, singing and dancing. It was also because her O.O.O fancam had the least number of views (the more the views, the higher the points a contestant received).
All eight contestants displayed their best skills on the show and have gained fans who will support them in all their future activities.
Girls Planet 999’s finale will be live-streamed on October 22 on their YouTube channel.