‘Street Woman Fighter’ is Mnet’s dance competition franchise that was created to revolve around female dance crews and showcase the best dancing talent that would represent street dance in South Korea. Now in its third season, ‘World of Street Woman Fighter’ offered viewers great dance crews from around the globe, a wide range of talent, new rules, unexpected twists, and several missions that kept us hooked.
Everyone had their favorite teams, and so we cried and laughed alongside them throughout their journey. Of course, along the way, controversies erupted as well as endless fan wars. Yet, as the show comes to an end, it feels a bit sad to say goodbye.
The Final Teams
Way before the beginning of the show, a number of viewers predicted the finals. There were constant speculations about who would be eliminated and who would win. However, the elimination of BUMSUP defied all betting odds. With the three final crews —OSAKA Ojo Gang, MOTIV, and AG SQUAD —there was growing interest as to who would win the crown.
The Last Three Missions
This time, the missions to determine the winning crew differ significantly from last season. We are introduced to three missions:
- The Crew Identity Mission
- The JYP Mission
- The OST (Original SWF Theme) Mission
In the first mission, the three teams have to show the world their team’s identity. In other words, through their dance performance, they have to find ways to authentically express what they stand for. Using elements like team colors and style, they have to embody their identity. This dance performance shouldn’t be like any other, as this would serve as a medium through which they convey to the world, as well as to their fans, their individuality and team values.
During this mission, what I really appreciated was AG SQUAD recreating their original crew poster pose.
When it comes to the second mission, it has particularly faced considerable criticism from the show’s viewers. Compared to the last season, where such a mission was not featured, many questioned the rationale behind its inclusion. While I cannot justify the purpose of this mission, all I can say is that the 3 crews had to create a choreographed performance to JYP’s ‘Gatsby’ and the winner of this mission would win bonus points.
The last mission, again a newly featured one, was the OST mission. Ahead of the show’s first episode’s broadcast, the theme songs were already released to the public. For this mission, the power was vested in the audience, particularly the crews’ fandom. Fans were to choose and vote for the OST to which they want their favorite crews to perform. The theme songs were originally sung by Sung Hanbin from ZEROBASEONE, izna, Kim Min-seok, and ASH ISLAND.
In the end, fans chose ‘CHAMPION (Prod. THE HUB)’ by Sung Hanbin for Ojo Gang, ‘SASS (Prod. THE HUB)’ by izna for AG SQUAD, and ‘Always a Good Time (Prod. THE HUB)’ by ASH ISLAND for MOTIV. And, each crew gave an electrifying and groundbreaking performance.
Finale Guests
One aspect that’s worth mentioning is all the A-list guests who attended the show’s finale. In the audience, one could spot TWICE’s Momo and Jihyo, members from 5th gen group ZEROBASEONE, soloist Choi Yena, AB61X’s Lee Daehwi, famous K-pop choreographer Bada Lee, actors Lee Yeon, Chun Woo Hee, Park Sung Woong, and Han Ye Ri.
The Leaders’ Message
Every member across the three teams must have felt the tension and increasing pressure during the finale. The three strongest contenders of the show, as well as fan-favorites, ended up in the finale — so I guess the stakes were pretty high. But I think no one felt it more deeply than the crews’ leaders.
Here are the heartfelt messages shared by each of them:
AG SQUAD’s Leader:
“Now it’s time to show why we need to win!”
Ojo Gang’s Leader:
“All that’s left is winning!”
MOTIV’s Leader:
“We are the strongest crew. We will put everything on stage.”
Honestly, I can’t imagine standing there on the platform and awaiting MC Sung Hanbin to announce the name of the winner.
The Winner
As with every show and competition around the world, there can be only one winner. While we all had our favorite crews, the victory belongs to only one team, and that team is none other than OSAKA Ojo Gang!
That’s right, the official queens who took away the trophy for ‘WSWF’ season 3 are the Ojo Gang crew.
After the announcement, I’m well aware that the winning crew sparked backlash as many fans argued that AG SQUAD should have claimed the title. While popularity might have its part, a win is still a win. And, the team’s teamwork, charisma, stage presence, and hard work should still be applauded.
So, with that, we wrap up. Just like the show’s MC Hanbin bid farewell with emotion, I think it’s time to say goodbye to our favorite dance show.
Written by Diksha Gangadeen
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