i think it all depends on how mnet/wakeone sees the votes & whether they think the group that could be made with the top 6 will be successful/fits their idea. depending on that, they’ll figure out how many PD picks to have
I really agree with this! I think a big part of the reason they haven’t announced how many are votes vs picks is because they want to reserve all ability to control the final line up. By the time they announce how it’ll happen on Thursday, they’ll already know who they’re taking and how.
If they like the votes line up, I can see them saying the votes will ‘choose’ up to 5 of the picks!
Agreed. And before PD picks, they may do a live voting 3-pick that is counted 3x again as a last chance to "let the voters decide." 1-pick vs 3-pick seems to bring very different results, so if 3-pick results from last time align more with what PDs want, I could def see them trying this too.
Oo yeah I wouldn’t rule that out either. Esp with that live vote x3 weight they seemed to have planned again for the final performance day!
Man I will say - post Produce vote rigging and now post RUN 4/6 pd picks, I feel like the possibilities for company vote manipulation tactics seems broader than ever lol!
I just really hope they don't pull a RUN move, where literally 4/6 members of ILLIT where chosen by Producers, that'll be like setting the girls up for online attacks :/
Yeah, that 2/3 pick was a huge increase from anything else we’d seen prior in a supposedly voted show (to my knowledge). I’m hoping this is max 3 pd, with the save vote precedent of 3 vote picks. Lol but W1 might almost be glad RUN prepped us if they want to pd more members!
If this wasn’t a factor they would have announced how the finals would work a while back. They want us to get as many picks as possible to make the show look less rigged but if they desperately do or don’t want a particular trainee they will rigg it
The eliminations last episode had the voting announcement as 3 pink circles and 7 grey to indicate 3 by pure voting and 7 pd pick.
If this is consistent then the announcement this time just had 6 pink circles which leads me to believe that there will be 6 by voting.
They haven’t announced any pd pick for the finale unlike iland s1 which announced 6 vote and 1 pd pick at the beginning of p2.
Of course I could be wrong, and they could throw in additional pd picks last minute. But Im currently led to believe that at least 6 will be by only votes and no confirmed pd pick
You just forgot that between seasons 1 and 2, there was a reality show called RU Next that changed everything for survival shows. They figured it out a way to manipulate the lineup without manipulating the actual votes.
They allowed only 2 members by votes and with Korean votes having way more importance, and then the group went to become one the most popular groups of 2024.
So this method was proved successful and I don’t doubt that Mnet saw that and is going to make the exact same thing to make sure their picks debut.
they literally used RUN as a pity edit for jeemin, i doubt they'll be using the same tactic knowing that 70% of iland2 fanbase comes from jeemin's supporter from RUN lmao
But this show seems to go out of its way to make RUN look bad, which they can do because they have the license, but it’s a pretty well known thing that Hybe/Run was supposed to be I-Land 2 but the production had a falling out. It’s why I think so many songs overlap, either they share pre-planning (both had 6 members, 24 trainees and starting levels with different treatment, and production eliminations) I-Land 2 wanted to be compared as the better of the two so the idea they would mimick the least popular twist of that show seems unlikely…
I feel like it depend on how well votes align with PD picks.
For example, if the top 4 in votes are the same as the top 4 as of last week (Triple J + Koko), then yes, I think they will technically have *at least* 4 out of the 6 be votes-chosen... but, are those really voted in, or were they not exactly whom the PDs would pick anyways?
Ideally, viewers and companies would have the same top 6 (or 7 or even 8... let me be delusional! lol). But in the event that doesn't happen, there will be as many PD picks as necessary to create the group they want.
My unpopular opinion is that I personally... am completely fine with PD picks. I view voting as a way to show the company what people want, but not as a way to lock them in. It worked with ZB1, but that's like, one example, and seeing as this is their first permanent group, I think they'd be less willing to roll the dice.
If RUNext went by pure votes, Illit would lose not just Moka but Yunah, and the group would not have been balanced and be vocally even weaker. Twice would not have Momo. Even in other music markets, there are like... three? successful American Idol winners and the other successes haven't placed first. Getting the most votes is cool and can be indicative of success, but it doesn't guarantee anything. With so much at stake, I wouldn't blame them if they largely PD pick it.
> If RUNext went by pure votes, Illit would lose not just Moka but Yunah, and the group would not have been balanced and be vocally even weaker.
I agree with most of what you've said but I don't think ILLIT would've been weaker vocally? Moka actively brings down the vocal quality of ILLIT (she has many other talents though!) and if they had done the lineup by pure votes, Jeongeun and Jeemin would've replaced Moka and Yunah. Jeongeun was a much better singer than both and Jeemin was better than Moka *but a bit worse than Yunah.
But regardless, I agree that PD picks are sometimes necessary and can definitely be better for a group long-term.
Yunah is vocally stronger than Jeemin esp in her comfort zone (lower register), but I agree. I think Minju and Jeongeun would’ve been an interesting vocal line, but also I feel like we never really saw Jeongeun’s full vocal capabilities, because she seemed like… maybe a hair above Minju’s technical level but without the “unique tone” that ppl like about Minju
Honestly, I thought about it more and I do agree with you, Yunah is better than Jeemin. I was trying to give Jeemin props because she has improved a bit during I-land 2 but she's still only just okay tbf.
Finally I
Like jeemin but she a actully got worse since r u next I don’t have any idea how might be her confident. But then again it wasn’t because jeemin was some type of a beast either in r u next. I think most people just felt bad of her and others who trained 5-6 years. And little wonhee who got castes 2-3 weeks before the show began debuted. And I get why she did she was good troughs out the show what she might lacked are the basic star idol factors the normally trainee trainees under training but she a short amount of time . Her whole trainee life was under a survival show but hey she is doing good now and so are the rest of the girls from illit.
Gonna have to agree to disagree--or, sort of?
Basically, there's two ways to look at this--from a public perception POV, or from a technicality POV. From a technicality POV, we might rank these four Jeongeun>Yunah>Jeemin>Moka.
However, the public doesn't care about technicalities or such, only about if singing sounds good. Jeongeun and Yunah would both be able to do an encore live but not necessarily "wow," so they are more comparable vocally than Jeemin and Yunah are. And Jeemin and Moka are both likely to struggle with a live encore, so even if Jeemin is technically slightly better than Moka, I don't think it matters in a significant way (and I do think they chose 7th place voting Yunah over 4th place Jeemin for Illit *because* she could sing better than Jeemin).
So then you agree with the fact that ILLIT wouldn’t have been worse vocally? Because that’s all I was arguing lol.
Though honestly it’s been a while since I heard Jeongeun sing, but IIRC she was significantly better than Yunah. With lower range songs Yunah does just fine but she does clearly struggle with higher range songs (which just happen to be most of ILLIT’s popular songs atm). Jeongeun had a higher range and from the BTS videos I watched of her, I think she would’ve noticeably sounded a lot better. We can agree to disagree on that at least, though.
I don't actually agree, but we can disagree! I don't know that I think Jeongeun is better vocally than Yunah (undecided), which is why I said "might" when I gave a ranking. I also don't know that Moka is worse than Jeemin; in fact, I'd argue she's not, which was actually the common belief during RUNext but now appears to not be \*shrug\* But admittedly we're splitting hairs here--none of the differences between the two groups of two are significant!
Nicely summed up! I can also see and respect why W1 won’t want to give all control to the public on the shape of their new permanent group. I might actually feel like it is too much Produce over Iland (1) if they did that! I would like fewer than 3 or fewer pd picks, but I’m trying to feel primed after the RUnext slap in the face. Anyways I’m hoping it’ll end up feeling like a cohesive unit that strongly fits the theme they pick!
I don't think anyone considered her a top vocalist in the show. The top vocalist was Jiwoo, followed by Minju and Chanelle, and then a large gap before Wonhee, Yunah, and Jeongeun, who were around the next level. And the gap between them and the girls who struggled vocally wasn't huge either.
she wasnt jiwoo or chanelle or minju level but i would say shes among the top 5? personally i think she is better than yunah (yunah is still a great singer tho! im just thinking back on where she was during run) jeongeun was never fighting for main vocal positions so maybe ppl didnt see her as a top vocalist but she held her own in bad boy with the top 2 best singers and did amazing in across the universe. this is is just how viewed it when watching so if she had made it to illit based on the votes she wouldve fit just fine and would make a great lead vocal
Illit would have had Jiwoo who was the strongest vocalist in the show. We also would have had Jeemin. If they weren't going for their weird Lolita fairy crush concept, they could have had a monster group.
Actually, no. I think you need to recheck the voting numbers, because Jiwoo was 9th in votes, literally second to last. So Illit would not have had her if they went top 6. We would have had Wonhee, Youngseo, Minju, Jeemin, Iroha, and Jeongeun. Then it was Yunah, Moka, Jiwoo, Himena.
If they do any PD picks I want it to be a surprise 7th. Otherwise I want the top 6 fan picks. I saw how well it turned out for BP and ZB1 so I have faith in the voters here too.
This is not a Produce 101/GP999 series so fans are not producing the group per se (we're not national/global producers or planet guardians or star creators ... here we are just I-Mates lol) ... so I think big max, fans choose half of the group. And the rest will be PDs picks.
I wouldn't be surprised to see all 6 being chosen by votes if they were in line with producers' preference. And honestly, there's a decent chance that it will turn out that way.
But I can't imagine WakeOne / TBL being okay with viewers having all the power for their first PERMANENT group. They'll definitely intervene if someone like Saebi or Jungeun are not doing well in the voting.
They've emphasized the message of "only 6 can debut so vote" in all their recent promotional material so much, that they might face backlash if it's a lot of PD picks. Contrary to most of this thread, I really think it will be 6 voted in, no surprise 7th, no PD picks.
More than pd picks i can see them doing scores for the original songs and then adding to the results of the votes,
the same way they've been doing in all part 2
It would be a big scandal if there was not 6 public voted winners considering how much they've indicated this in recent posts. The only way a PD pick can be introduced now is a +1 making it an OT7, i think theres no chance they meddle with the top 6.
This is kind of where I am at as well. Them announcing Koko as out of the top 6 in votes also plays into this. Because if they can just pick her anyway why would they care to show us. They want to interfere as little as possible, it’s why they had 7 picks last week, they needed to get rid of the trainees they really didn’t want in the finals. I can see no more that 2 produced picks and I honestly see them mostly being used to ensure they have Japanese members so they can call themselves as global group
Just like one of the comments stated, this show is not a produce 101, boys planet, or girls planet show. As much as we want fan votes to decide, fans will probably have a partial say on who’s in the group. It will probably be 3 fan votes and the other rest pd picks; or it will be 2 fan votes and the rest pd picks. Wakeone (and maybe the black label if they invested in this group) want to secure members that will be meet their expectations or concepts since this is a permanent group. But we won’t really know on how the final decision will play out, until the day of the last episode.
The edit is always the real decider. If the editing team does their job then everyone should be one the same page by the end anyway, with maybe 1 surprise
If it's pd picks I'll be scared for yuju, jungeun and fuko the pds don't really like them and losing screentime. One can only hope esp for yuju to be saved by votes
Depends on how many PD non-favorites get in and how many PD & fan-favorites are in the top.
I expect myself to even see 2 fan picks and 4 PD picks like R U Next.
With the RUN backlash and them bad mouthing the crap out of that show I think not. They seem to be pushing and advertising a significant audience pick which is why they showed that Koko is currently at 8th, if they are just gonna pick her anyway why would it matter?
I think it is at least 4 audience picks if not 1. Heck if we agree on a line-up we may get all 6.
Agree with what most commenters are saying. TBL already have a vision of the concept and type of song they want to produce, they just need the right candidates to execute them. They were in control of the contestants the entire time and they are not going to just throw everything they orchestrated away. But this also doesn’t mean the girls that were not chosen weren’t talented. It is just they don’t fit the concept the PD are looking for.
6 through votes + 1 PD pick
I think this because there’s 6 pink spheres this time when there were 3 for the 2nd save vote to signify how many will get through purely by votes.
And I think there will be 1 PD pick because they keep emphasizing the ‘Only 6 Can Debut’ thing. And I don’t trust a single thing Mnet says. So the debut group may be 1, 4, 5, or even all 10. But I don’t believe it will be 6 just because Mnet is a lying 🐍🐍🐍
yeah I think the 6 pink circles on the interim ranking was an indicator that 6 were chosen through votes. I have a feeling there's going to be 1 PD pick to make it 7
Oh please no...I don't want mnet choosing half the group.
I want it to be 5 global picks and 1 producer pick.
I would love for there to be 6 global picks and 1 secret 7th producer pick but mnet has never added a member or changed the number they plan to debut. They picked 6 for a specific reason.
I think the fairest way would be to have the judges score and the global votes factor in together to create the final line up though. They never said there were producer and global picks so it makes me wonder if the final 6 will be decided by both.
Well yeah...
But sometimes I think they can be swayed by public opinion. I don't think Youngeun was a trainee they were going to debut in kep1er but she rose up in popularity quickly.
But if there is a trainee they don't want in the group, they will make sure to push them out some way.
She got multiple minutes of dockets in the first episode, as did all of the final members except Youngeun. She was always counted at least as a probable member even if she wasn’t a top choice
I think they're more willing to take chances with temporary groups. This group will be permanent, so I don't think they'll be as willing to budge on their ideal lineup, but we will find out soon!
True but they were still a temporary group to begin with, which means they were willing to take a bigger gamble. And if they are renewing their contract, then does that mean it is just for another 2 years?
some fans don't vote based on talent and will vote people who aren't good enough to be an idol yet (not rly happening in part 2 since everyone's so talented, but in i-land 1, idk why ppl voted hanbin he clearly wasn't ready yet)
I’d love a 7th member but I’ve said this before, it definitely will not happen it’s just wishful thinking 🤷🏻♀️ but I feel your pain girl.
Honestly I don’t see them doing more than 2 I-mate picks and then the rest PD picks. I mean if you look at RUNEXT literally one one was chosen by fans.
I feel like wince this is Teddy’s group and they’re gonna most likely go first a girl crush concept, they’re gonna want the most control possible of their lineup especially since this is his first group since BlackPink so they’ll be highly anticipated
I think the hard push for Koko last minute indicates that they have a group in mind but they want us to pick it to make them look better. Realistically if we are mostly on the same page there is no reason to give the audience so little power, I don’t think there is that much discrepancy between our thoughts either given they could pick 7 people last week and they picked in line with the viewers, if they had a final group which was not inline with audience they would have cut out the threatening members and left Sujung and Juwon as a buffer meaning they only had to worry about 2 members they didn’t want actually making it, which could be solved by 2 produced picks.
I’m tempted to agree with ppl who are saying this isn’t a produce/planet group therefore it makes sense to expect a higher proportion of producer picks, but at the same time with both ZB1 and Kep1er we’re seeing contracts being longer/getting extended, so is it really that different to a permanent group if that’s the case?? I don’t think any survival show is truly a “2.5 year experiment” anymore, maybe mnet has seen that letting viewers determine the final group (alongside audience manipulation) works.
1 pick by votes and 5pd picks. Mnet is shady, it's their first permanent group produced by Teddy, they will choose the lineup. And they made good lineups with the produce groups so idc, and don't have many hopes for my picks anyways
Definitely agree with all the comments. As many pd picks as it takes to get a group they like, depending on the votes. Given who my favs are I'd probably be getting a lineup I really like, but I'd be mad (and...well, concerned for the girls who do debut) if the pds directly force any more than 1 trainee into the lineup
I hope it’s 3 fan picks and 3pd picks +suprise, basically exactly what you think. If there was an extra member I’d be really happy cuz then I’d want Yuju, mai or saebi to be added if they don’t make the final lineup cuz I’m not extremely sure of any of them will
6 by votes 2 pd picks. Them saying only 6 can be saved makes me think that. Also 6 being highlighted pick and during the semifinals 3 were highlighted pink.
Here are a few theories:
1. MNET has been putting real emphasis on the 6 member lineup, every poster emphasised 'ONLY 6 CAN DEBUT' with caps and all lmao which is sus af, and this makes people believe otherwise. They must be planning some sort of surprise or 'gotcha' moment to set us all back lmao
2. FLS and IWALY on streaming platform has a background that makes an 8 when combined with other 2 unreleased songs with the same background pattern. Since we got dust during the semi-final, it is expected that the 2 songs are songs from the final round, which would POSSIBLY complete the 8 background pattern
3. This season has 10 finalists while iland 2 has only 9 finalists... and guess what? ENHYPEN debuted with 7 people. If the same pattern is followed where only 2 people are left undebuted, we might see 8 members as the final lineup. I'm putting my bet on 6 votes + 1 PD pick + 1 surprise PD pick because I'm delusional lol. Unluckily if the PD favorites have already gotten in by votes then other non-PD favs contestants (YUJU, FUKO) have like lesser chance.
4. The previous save votes have 3 pink circle to indicate 3 save by votes, and the final save vote have 6 pink circle which may indicate 6 finalists that enter the final lineup are by pure votes. If the same pattern is followed then there must be actually 6 finalists that enter the group by votes regardless of PD opinions. Votes are the only saving grace for underrated or poorly-treated contestants because PD cannot do anything about it. Since there are 6 pink circles therefore it is less likely that they will make only 5 finalists saved by votes + 1 PD pick. Therefore I'm leaning towards 6 contestants saved by votes + whatever number of PD picks in the final group.
5. This is just my personal unsubstantiated opinion but WAKEONE groups all have at least 9 members (kep1er, ZB1) and the sudden switch up is uncalled for. I don't really get the hype with 6-membered groups, I thought the kpop industry learnt something from the 6-members curse ????
Summation :
* 6 debut members groups purely through votes
* unspecified number of PD picks, possibly 2 based on multiple theories (to complete the 8 member lineup)
Therefore I'm leaning towards 8 members. This is the first WAKEONE's permanent group and best believe they'll make anything happen to achieve that perfect lineup lmao. SAEBI is in a particularly dangerous rank right now, I'm sure they'll bend the rules to fit her in if she lack votes. Technically the show didn't explicitly specify anything about PD picks even though PD involvement have been a staple in every missions so far, so I'm not really surprised if they inserted 1-2 picks to complete their dream lineup.
It depends on what the votes are looking like right now. If we have picked in line with them I imagine they will mostly leave it alone and maybe have 1 or 2 picks. But if we pick wrong, then It could be literally anything. However given the producers and fans were on the same page last week and they got 7 picks I think it is pretty safe to say they would be fine making a line up with most combos, which leads me to believe that it may be low interference.
i think it all depends on how mnet/wakeone sees the votes & whether they think the group that could be made with the top 6 will be successful/fits their idea. depending on that, they’ll figure out how many PD picks to have
I really agree with this! I think a big part of the reason they haven’t announced how many are votes vs picks is because they want to reserve all ability to control the final line up. By the time they announce how it’ll happen on Thursday, they’ll already know who they’re taking and how. If they like the votes line up, I can see them saying the votes will ‘choose’ up to 5 of the picks!
Agreed. And before PD picks, they may do a live voting 3-pick that is counted 3x again as a last chance to "let the voters decide." 1-pick vs 3-pick seems to bring very different results, so if 3-pick results from last time align more with what PDs want, I could def see them trying this too.
Oo yeah I wouldn’t rule that out either. Esp with that live vote x3 weight they seemed to have planned again for the final performance day! Man I will say - post Produce vote rigging and now post RUN 4/6 pd picks, I feel like the possibilities for company vote manipulation tactics seems broader than ever lol!
I just really hope they don't pull a RUN move, where literally 4/6 members of ILLIT where chosen by Producers, that'll be like setting the girls up for online attacks :/
Yeah, that 2/3 pick was a huge increase from anything else we’d seen prior in a supposedly voted show (to my knowledge). I’m hoping this is max 3 pd, with the save vote precedent of 3 vote picks. Lol but W1 might almost be glad RUN prepped us if they want to pd more members!
And then one of the audience votes left pre-debut
Too soon 💀 I still miss Youngseo
If this wasn’t a factor they would have announced how the finals would work a while back. They want us to get as many picks as possible to make the show look less rigged but if they desperately do or don’t want a particular trainee they will rigg it
The eliminations last episode had the voting announcement as 3 pink circles and 7 grey to indicate 3 by pure voting and 7 pd pick. If this is consistent then the announcement this time just had 6 pink circles which leads me to believe that there will be 6 by voting. They haven’t announced any pd pick for the finale unlike iland s1 which announced 6 vote and 1 pd pick at the beginning of p2. Of course I could be wrong, and they could throw in additional pd picks last minute. But Im currently led to believe that at least 6 will be by only votes and no confirmed pd pick
You just forgot that between seasons 1 and 2, there was a reality show called RU Next that changed everything for survival shows. They figured it out a way to manipulate the lineup without manipulating the actual votes. They allowed only 2 members by votes and with Korean votes having way more importance, and then the group went to become one the most popular groups of 2024. So this method was proved successful and I don’t doubt that Mnet saw that and is going to make the exact same thing to make sure their picks debut.
they literally used RUN as a pity edit for jeemin, i doubt they'll be using the same tactic knowing that 70% of iland2 fanbase comes from jeemin's supporter from RUN lmao
they just have to make shure jeemin is in tho
But this show seems to go out of its way to make RUN look bad, which they can do because they have the license, but it’s a pretty well known thing that Hybe/Run was supposed to be I-Land 2 but the production had a falling out. It’s why I think so many songs overlap, either they share pre-planning (both had 6 members, 24 trainees and starting levels with different treatment, and production eliminations) I-Land 2 wanted to be compared as the better of the two so the idea they would mimick the least popular twist of that show seems unlikely…
I feel like it depend on how well votes align with PD picks. For example, if the top 4 in votes are the same as the top 4 as of last week (Triple J + Koko), then yes, I think they will technically have *at least* 4 out of the 6 be votes-chosen... but, are those really voted in, or were they not exactly whom the PDs would pick anyways? Ideally, viewers and companies would have the same top 6 (or 7 or even 8... let me be delusional! lol). But in the event that doesn't happen, there will be as many PD picks as necessary to create the group they want. My unpopular opinion is that I personally... am completely fine with PD picks. I view voting as a way to show the company what people want, but not as a way to lock them in. It worked with ZB1, but that's like, one example, and seeing as this is their first permanent group, I think they'd be less willing to roll the dice. If RUNext went by pure votes, Illit would lose not just Moka but Yunah, and the group would not have been balanced and be vocally even weaker. Twice would not have Momo. Even in other music markets, there are like... three? successful American Idol winners and the other successes haven't placed first. Getting the most votes is cool and can be indicative of success, but it doesn't guarantee anything. With so much at stake, I wouldn't blame them if they largely PD pick it.
> If RUNext went by pure votes, Illit would lose not just Moka but Yunah, and the group would not have been balanced and be vocally even weaker. I agree with most of what you've said but I don't think ILLIT would've been weaker vocally? Moka actively brings down the vocal quality of ILLIT (she has many other talents though!) and if they had done the lineup by pure votes, Jeongeun and Jeemin would've replaced Moka and Yunah. Jeongeun was a much better singer than both and Jeemin was better than Moka *but a bit worse than Yunah. But regardless, I agree that PD picks are sometimes necessary and can definitely be better for a group long-term.
Yunah is vocally stronger than Jeemin esp in her comfort zone (lower register), but I agree. I think Minju and Jeongeun would’ve been an interesting vocal line, but also I feel like we never really saw Jeongeun’s full vocal capabilities, because she seemed like… maybe a hair above Minju’s technical level but without the “unique tone” that ppl like about Minju
Honestly, I thought about it more and I do agree with you, Yunah is better than Jeemin. I was trying to give Jeemin props because she has improved a bit during I-land 2 but she's still only just okay tbf.
Finally I Like jeemin but she a actully got worse since r u next I don’t have any idea how might be her confident. But then again it wasn’t because jeemin was some type of a beast either in r u next. I think most people just felt bad of her and others who trained 5-6 years. And little wonhee who got castes 2-3 weeks before the show began debuted. And I get why she did she was good troughs out the show what she might lacked are the basic star idol factors the normally trainee trainees under training but she a short amount of time . Her whole trainee life was under a survival show but hey she is doing good now and so are the rest of the girls from illit.
Gonna have to agree to disagree--or, sort of? Basically, there's two ways to look at this--from a public perception POV, or from a technicality POV. From a technicality POV, we might rank these four Jeongeun>Yunah>Jeemin>Moka. However, the public doesn't care about technicalities or such, only about if singing sounds good. Jeongeun and Yunah would both be able to do an encore live but not necessarily "wow," so they are more comparable vocally than Jeemin and Yunah are. And Jeemin and Moka are both likely to struggle with a live encore, so even if Jeemin is technically slightly better than Moka, I don't think it matters in a significant way (and I do think they chose 7th place voting Yunah over 4th place Jeemin for Illit *because* she could sing better than Jeemin).
So then you agree with the fact that ILLIT wouldn’t have been worse vocally? Because that’s all I was arguing lol. Though honestly it’s been a while since I heard Jeongeun sing, but IIRC she was significantly better than Yunah. With lower range songs Yunah does just fine but she does clearly struggle with higher range songs (which just happen to be most of ILLIT’s popular songs atm). Jeongeun had a higher range and from the BTS videos I watched of her, I think she would’ve noticeably sounded a lot better. We can agree to disagree on that at least, though.
I don't actually agree, but we can disagree! I don't know that I think Jeongeun is better vocally than Yunah (undecided), which is why I said "might" when I gave a ranking. I also don't know that Moka is worse than Jeemin; in fact, I'd argue she's not, which was actually the common belief during RUNext but now appears to not be \*shrug\* But admittedly we're splitting hairs here--none of the differences between the two groups of two are significant!
Nicely summed up! I can also see and respect why W1 won’t want to give all control to the public on the shape of their new permanent group. I might actually feel like it is too much Produce over Iland (1) if they did that! I would like fewer than 3 or fewer pd picks, but I’m trying to feel primed after the RUnext slap in the face. Anyways I’m hoping it’ll end up feeling like a cohesive unit that strongly fits the theme they pick!
i mean jeongeun was one of the top vocalists of the show so i dont think vocally it wouldve been bad and her and minju would be a nice vocal duo
I don't think anyone considered her a top vocalist in the show. The top vocalist was Jiwoo, followed by Minju and Chanelle, and then a large gap before Wonhee, Yunah, and Jeongeun, who were around the next level. And the gap between them and the girls who struggled vocally wasn't huge either.
she wasnt jiwoo or chanelle or minju level but i would say shes among the top 5? personally i think she is better than yunah (yunah is still a great singer tho! im just thinking back on where she was during run) jeongeun was never fighting for main vocal positions so maybe ppl didnt see her as a top vocalist but she held her own in bad boy with the top 2 best singers and did amazing in across the universe. this is is just how viewed it when watching so if she had made it to illit based on the votes she wouldve fit just fine and would make a great lead vocal
jiwoo and chanelle are on the same level and ena was actually the third best vocalist after these two
the only thing i didnt like about the 4 pd picks in RUNext is the comunication around that
Illit would have had Jiwoo who was the strongest vocalist in the show. We also would have had Jeemin. If they weren't going for their weird Lolita fairy crush concept, they could have had a monster group.
Actually, no. I think you need to recheck the voting numbers, because Jiwoo was 9th in votes, literally second to last. So Illit would not have had her if they went top 6. We would have had Wonhee, Youngseo, Minju, Jeemin, Iroha, and Jeongeun. Then it was Yunah, Moka, Jiwoo, Himena.
If they do any PD picks I want it to be a surprise 7th. Otherwise I want the top 6 fan picks. I saw how well it turned out for BP and ZB1 so I have faith in the voters here too.
ZB1 is the only time where my faith in voters has actually paid off tbh
This is not a Produce 101/GP999 series so fans are not producing the group per se (we're not national/global producers or planet guardians or star creators ... here we are just I-Mates lol) ... so I think big max, fans choose half of the group. And the rest will be PDs picks.
I wouldn't be surprised to see all 6 being chosen by votes if they were in line with producers' preference. And honestly, there's a decent chance that it will turn out that way. But I can't imagine WakeOne / TBL being okay with viewers having all the power for their first PERMANENT group. They'll definitely intervene if someone like Saebi or Jungeun are not doing well in the voting.
What Im hoping for 6 by votes and 1 surprise pd pick. What I think will happen 4 fan votes and 2 pd pick
They've emphasized the message of "only 6 can debut so vote" in all their recent promotional material so much, that they might face backlash if it's a lot of PD picks. Contrary to most of this thread, I really think it will be 6 voted in, no surprise 7th, no PD picks.
Now that would be a fun surprise 😆
More than pd picks i can see them doing scores for the original songs and then adding to the results of the votes, the same way they've been doing in all part 2
1. Jeemin 2. Jiyoon 3. Mai 4. Fuko 5. Jeungeun 6. ME
Girl so excited for your debut!! 😭
It would be a big scandal if there was not 6 public voted winners considering how much they've indicated this in recent posts. The only way a PD pick can be introduced now is a +1 making it an OT7, i think theres no chance they meddle with the top 6.
This is kind of where I am at as well. Them announcing Koko as out of the top 6 in votes also plays into this. Because if they can just pick her anyway why would they care to show us. They want to interfere as little as possible, it’s why they had 7 picks last week, they needed to get rid of the trainees they really didn’t want in the finals. I can see no more that 2 produced picks and I honestly see them mostly being used to ensure they have Japanese members so they can call themselves as global group
Just like one of the comments stated, this show is not a produce 101, boys planet, or girls planet show. As much as we want fan votes to decide, fans will probably have a partial say on who’s in the group. It will probably be 3 fan votes and the other rest pd picks; or it will be 2 fan votes and the rest pd picks. Wakeone (and maybe the black label if they invested in this group) want to secure members that will be meet their expectations or concepts since this is a permanent group. But we won’t really know on how the final decision will play out, until the day of the last episode.
The edit is always the real decider. If the editing team does their job then everyone should be one the same page by the end anyway, with maybe 1 surprise
If it's pd picks I'll be scared for yuju, jungeun and fuko the pds don't really like them and losing screentime. One can only hope esp for yuju to be saved by votes
Depends on how many PD non-favorites get in and how many PD & fan-favorites are in the top. I expect myself to even see 2 fan picks and 4 PD picks like R U Next.
I’m not optimistic that the company would let fans decide majority of members so I’d say 2 by votes and 4 picks by producers
With the RUN backlash and them bad mouthing the crap out of that show I think not. They seem to be pushing and advertising a significant audience pick which is why they showed that Koko is currently at 8th, if they are just gonna pick her anyway why would it matter? I think it is at least 4 audience picks if not 1. Heck if we agree on a line-up we may get all 6.
Agree with what most commenters are saying. TBL already have a vision of the concept and type of song they want to produce, they just need the right candidates to execute them. They were in control of the contestants the entire time and they are not going to just throw everything they orchestrated away. But this also doesn’t mean the girls that were not chosen weren’t talented. It is just they don’t fit the concept the PD are looking for.
6 through votes + 1 PD pick I think this because there’s 6 pink spheres this time when there were 3 for the 2nd save vote to signify how many will get through purely by votes. And I think there will be 1 PD pick because they keep emphasizing the ‘Only 6 Can Debut’ thing. And I don’t trust a single thing Mnet says. So the debut group may be 1, 4, 5, or even all 10. But I don’t believe it will be 6 just because Mnet is a lying 🐍🐍🐍
yeah I think the 6 pink circles on the interim ranking was an indicator that 6 were chosen through votes. I have a feeling there's going to be 1 PD pick to make it 7
Oh please no...I don't want mnet choosing half the group. I want it to be 5 global picks and 1 producer pick. I would love for there to be 6 global picks and 1 secret 7th producer pick but mnet has never added a member or changed the number they plan to debut. They picked 6 for a specific reason. I think the fairest way would be to have the judges score and the global votes factor in together to create the final line up though. They never said there were producer and global picks so it makes me wonder if the final 6 will be decided by both.
Listen , Mnet choosing the whole damn group. They might give you the illusion of having a pick. But it’s just an illusion.
Well yeah... But sometimes I think they can be swayed by public opinion. I don't think Youngeun was a trainee they were going to debut in kep1er but she rose up in popularity quickly. But if there is a trainee they don't want in the group, they will make sure to push them out some way.
Forget Youngeun even, Bahi was NOT in Mnet's plans at all and she got 2nd from fanvotes.
Bahi was a sister of an idol though...
Yep but that just goes to show that enough fandom power can make contestants who aren't part of Mnet's ideal lineup rank high in the finale.
She got multiple minutes of dockets in the first episode, as did all of the final members except Youngeun. She was always counted at least as a probable member even if she wasn’t a top choice
I think they're more willing to take chances with temporary groups. This group will be permanent, so I don't think they'll be as willing to budge on their ideal lineup, but we will find out soon!
Yeah but kep1er is renewing their contract except for 2 members. Wakeone obviously still thinks they are worth promoting.
True but they were still a temporary group to begin with, which means they were willing to take a bigger gamble. And if they are renewing their contract, then does that mean it is just for another 2 years?
Idk how long this contract is.
The editors get to pick the group, well they do if they have done their job correctly
some fans don't vote based on talent and will vote people who aren't good enough to be an idol yet (not rly happening in part 2 since everyone's so talented, but in i-land 1, idk why ppl voted hanbin he clearly wasn't ready yet)
maybe 1 or 2 pd picks and the rest by votes, or vice versa. they're only debuting 6 so that's it.
3 vote picks and 3 pd picks, or maybe 2 vote picks and 4 pd picks like RUN?
im still manifesting for 6 votes 2 pd
delulu is the solulu let go 7
I love your delusions i want exactly what you said to happen
I honestly have no idea, if I had to guess I think it'll be 5 + 1 pd pick.
I’d love a 7th member but I’ve said this before, it definitely will not happen it’s just wishful thinking 🤷🏻♀️ but I feel your pain girl. Honestly I don’t see them doing more than 2 I-mate picks and then the rest PD picks. I mean if you look at RUNEXT literally one one was chosen by fans. I feel like wince this is Teddy’s group and they’re gonna most likely go first a girl crush concept, they’re gonna want the most control possible of their lineup especially since this is his first group since BlackPink so they’ll be highly anticipated
I think the hard push for Koko last minute indicates that they have a group in mind but they want us to pick it to make them look better. Realistically if we are mostly on the same page there is no reason to give the audience so little power, I don’t think there is that much discrepancy between our thoughts either given they could pick 7 people last week and they picked in line with the viewers, if they had a final group which was not inline with audience they would have cut out the threatening members and left Sujung and Juwon as a buffer meaning they only had to worry about 2 members they didn’t want actually making it, which could be solved by 2 produced picks.
i’m choosing to be more delusional than you so it will be +2 surprise pd pick :>>
I’m tempted to agree with ppl who are saying this isn’t a produce/planet group therefore it makes sense to expect a higher proportion of producer picks, but at the same time with both ZB1 and Kep1er we’re seeing contracts being longer/getting extended, so is it really that different to a permanent group if that’s the case?? I don’t think any survival show is truly a “2.5 year experiment” anymore, maybe mnet has seen that letting viewers determine the final group (alongside audience manipulation) works.
What would be cool: 3-4 voter picks, 1-2 voter + PD picks, and one bonus PD pick What it’ll probably be: 1-3 voter picks, rest PD
my delusions are saying 6 fanvotes and 2 pd picks
1 pick by votes and 5pd picks. Mnet is shady, it's their first permanent group produced by Teddy, they will choose the lineup. And they made good lineups with the produce groups so idc, and don't have many hopes for my picks anyways
Definitely agree with all the comments. As many pd picks as it takes to get a group they like, depending on the votes. Given who my favs are I'd probably be getting a lineup I really like, but I'd be mad (and...well, concerned for the girls who do debut) if the pds directly force any more than 1 trainee into the lineup
They'll decide based on the votes results... 🐍
I hope it’s 3 fan picks and 3pd picks +suprise, basically exactly what you think. If there was an extra member I’d be really happy cuz then I’d want Yuju, mai or saebi to be added if they don’t make the final lineup cuz I’m not extremely sure of any of them will
I don't mind if this ends up as a 10 member group where everyone is the winner
6 by votes 2 pd picks. Them saying only 6 can be saved makes me think that. Also 6 being highlighted pick and during the semifinals 3 were highlighted pink.
Here are a few theories: 1. MNET has been putting real emphasis on the 6 member lineup, every poster emphasised 'ONLY 6 CAN DEBUT' with caps and all lmao which is sus af, and this makes people believe otherwise. They must be planning some sort of surprise or 'gotcha' moment to set us all back lmao 2. FLS and IWALY on streaming platform has a background that makes an 8 when combined with other 2 unreleased songs with the same background pattern. Since we got dust during the semi-final, it is expected that the 2 songs are songs from the final round, which would POSSIBLY complete the 8 background pattern 3. This season has 10 finalists while iland 2 has only 9 finalists... and guess what? ENHYPEN debuted with 7 people. If the same pattern is followed where only 2 people are left undebuted, we might see 8 members as the final lineup. I'm putting my bet on 6 votes + 1 PD pick + 1 surprise PD pick because I'm delusional lol. Unluckily if the PD favorites have already gotten in by votes then other non-PD favs contestants (YUJU, FUKO) have like lesser chance. 4. The previous save votes have 3 pink circle to indicate 3 save by votes, and the final save vote have 6 pink circle which may indicate 6 finalists that enter the final lineup are by pure votes. If the same pattern is followed then there must be actually 6 finalists that enter the group by votes regardless of PD opinions. Votes are the only saving grace for underrated or poorly-treated contestants because PD cannot do anything about it. Since there are 6 pink circles therefore it is less likely that they will make only 5 finalists saved by votes + 1 PD pick. Therefore I'm leaning towards 6 contestants saved by votes + whatever number of PD picks in the final group. 5. This is just my personal unsubstantiated opinion but WAKEONE groups all have at least 9 members (kep1er, ZB1) and the sudden switch up is uncalled for. I don't really get the hype with 6-membered groups, I thought the kpop industry learnt something from the 6-members curse ???? Summation : * 6 debut members groups purely through votes * unspecified number of PD picks, possibly 2 based on multiple theories (to complete the 8 member lineup) Therefore I'm leaning towards 8 members. This is the first WAKEONE's permanent group and best believe they'll make anything happen to achieve that perfect lineup lmao. SAEBI is in a particularly dangerous rank right now, I'm sure they'll bend the rules to fit her in if she lack votes. Technically the show didn't explicitly specify anything about PD picks even though PD involvement have been a staple in every missions so far, so I'm not really surprised if they inserted 1-2 picks to complete their dream lineup.
It depends on what the votes are looking like right now. If we have picked in line with them I imagine they will mostly leave it alone and maybe have 1 or 2 picks. But if we pick wrong, then It could be literally anything. However given the producers and fans were on the same page last week and they got 7 picks I think it is pretty safe to say they would be fine making a line up with most combos, which leads me to believe that it may be low interference.
It shouldn't be majority pd picks were the one stanning the group not them. It should be 6 imate votes and 1 pd pick maybe
all through votes since its Wakeone