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| (From top) Jeon Somi, Kim Se-jeong and Choi Yoo-jung / Courtesy of Mnet |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Mnet's TV audition program "Produce 101," in which viewers voted online for their favorite among 101 female trainees from different entertainment agencies in a bid to launch a K-pop girl band, selected the final 11 on Friday. The winners' stage name is "I.O.I."
Jeon Somi from JYP Entertainment received the most votes out of the 11 winners ― 858,000. She was followed by Kim Se-jeong from Jellyfish with more than 525,000 votes and Choi Yoo-jung from Fantagio with more than 438,000.
The band began its official entity on Sunday night by posting a selfie video on V, an online channel for smartphone users where celebrities broadcast live creative content.
The four-minute video titled "I.O.I First V time!" attracted more than 60,000 viewers simultaneously. By Monday, it had collected more than 1.8 million hearts, which V users click to send if they like a video ― similar to Facebook's "Like" function.
"We are currently working on our songs so keep your heads up," Jeon says on the video. The band will officially debut on Mnet's "M! Countdown" in May.
On Monday, I.O.I filmed an advertisement for Hite Jinro's new liquor. Some members who are underage did not participate, according to media reports.
The band, which online daily OSEN dubbed the"Avengers girl band," will release four albums, either as a whole or as a sub-unit, over the next 10 months.
The band is expected to meet fans through diverse channels, including TV music shows, variety shows and commercials.
