IZONE News and Discussion Thread

Ouch, I don't know if Moeka centered Teacher teacher naze

More like TWO powerful current aces. Miru was dubbed as NMB's 2nd ace while AKB side even didn't send their aces. Heck I'm pretty sure that STU Management is anti korean stuff

Spoiler: As for NGT...

Inapooh guy didn't let Ogiyuka to go to Korea

 

^
With Miru, I figured she would not end up in IZ*ONE because she's too popular of a member in NMB. And since Sayaka graduated, Miru has centered 2 of the 3 singles (and 3 B-sides) post Sayaka-grad. Sure, Tokonoma Seiza Musume was released after Sayaka graduated. I can't say whether management meant for Miru to not be in IZ*ONE is for this reason. But that's how I see it.

 

No. There was a quota they had to fill, and some members were basically forced in at the end when others couldn't make it. Besides that, it was pretty obvious at the time that management was divying talent up between Romeo and Juliet, Majimuri Gakuen, Yabai yo! Tsuite koren no ka?!, and something (which turned out to be Produce48). Most of the girls might have volunteered, but it came down to management deciding who they wanted where.

 

AFAIK there are many 48Girls that audition to be the part of the Produce48. So they can choose who and who to be part of contestants. Besides, this is MNet we talking about. Are you really think that MNet just want a bunch of nugu 48Girls to be part of the show? Are you really sure that same tv program that capitalise the mess of Somi VS Sejeong, Daniel VS Jihoon (I still remember the mega mess of 4 cat emoji scandal) is nice enough to keep the mess of JuriSaku in Japan only?

 

No one blames IZone or Fromis.

Stone Music and Pledis managed Fromis, then they later named this partnership OTR. The details are in https://www.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/b6c21k/pledis_living_their_gg_dream_through_fromis/.

 

they did accusing and blaming izone, for pristin b4, and the latest one are for fromis_9 delayed cb/ low quality outfit and songs etc, search it on f9 sites like yt etc also reddit, or just google it, it's been written on many sites, poor izone, they been blamed too much with something they didn't do

 

Well, victim blaming isn’t something new anw. Like the Burning Sun case, a lot of people blamed the girls who got raped instead of guys who raped them.

 

I agree with tuxedo_gin that there was more money to be made by managing the japan releases and perhaps getting a bigger share from the cj e&m/otr portion as opposed to getting more shares from 2 or 3 more japanese girls in the line up. On the other hand, it's easy to imagine some sort of guaranty or strong assurance that at least some japanese members would get in as AKS did send a big contingent to the show and many popular members missed many events.

I don't think that initial A really mattered that much -- it might have even been negative as some people removed her from their top 12. Also, the proper grade would have likely been a B based on how the other japanese girls were graded. And if she did as well during the re-evaluation, then she could have moved up to A anyway. For the nekkoya voting, almost all the japanese trainees would have voted for her and kaeun's korean rivals might have strategically voted for her as well -- not to mention the song wasn't really suited for kaeun imo. Anyway, this is from a long time ago lol -- and I think screen time plays a bigger part than that A.

 

I would assume it's probably more the agency than herself. Pledis has a history of not promoting their female talents well enough (compare the number of comebacks by NU'EST and Seventeen with Pristin/Pristin V's)... They probably didn't care enough about her and Yunjin to bribe them, and the agencies that did pay just got bumped up.

On another note, since we had the topic of the girls being involved. The girl from season 1, Niwa Shiori, who made a post about season 1 being rigged, clarified her tweet. In the original tweet, she made no claims of people knowing the songs beforehand; she just said that people "practised the song perfectly" as soon as they got it. There are people who are extremely talented in dancing, like Chungha, that might have been able to pick it up super quick, and she was low ranked from the start. She deleted the tweets and added on, "I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding. I was only talking about the producers and staff and wanted to say that the trainees had no part in this"

Different sources with slightly varying translations of her (now deleted) tweets)
https://www.kstarlive.com/news/2019...son-1-was-also-fabricated-296431/GQS3HkjIVxjV
https://en.businesstimes.cn/article...-suspicion-exposed-contestant-niwa-shiori.htm
https://www.soompi.com/article/1364...uce-101?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Also feel free to look up her name on Twitter for other translations. Her account (now on private) is https://mobile.twitter.com/orytter623

 

I'm guessing you're referencing a pann post that was going around where the OP listed the part where Yujin was the only one who rapped without a lyrics sheet. That's a hate post and this is why you shouldn't just believe everything you read on the internet. The OP puts up a few pics, and writes whatever text he/she wants and the reader just assume it's true and then regurgitates the hatred and falsehoods. Either because they want to as it fits their own narrative, or can't be bothered with fact checking as they didn't really care about the truth anyways. Which might be fine if you had just read and moved on, since who fact checks everything they read, but it's a different case if you then decide to spread it yourself, particularly something that can be harmful to a real human being and in fact, a young girl.

Yes Yujin was the only one to not use a lyrics sheet, but go and watch the scene. She did not know the lyrics perfectly and forgot and mumbled her way through the middle of it. Cheetah helped guide her through that part. Cheetah praised not her sudden flawless knowledge of the lyrics, but her confidence for attempting to rap without looking at the lyrics sheet.

 

As if Korean police have any credibility left after Burning Sun case.

Mnet/Cj ENM scheme, as already reported in the TV program "PD Note", is tail cutting with Ahn Joonyoung and co taking all the blame. So, I don't think AKS will be dragged into this case but, that doesn't really tell anything.

Sakura as center will be more difficult to promote in Korea and, AKS can use whoever it wants for Japanese promotion anyway. Not like the center position is that prominent in K-pop world nor AKS will get more money if Sakura is center.

Of course, more AKS's girls in the line-up = more money to AKS. But, AKS isn't the sole involving agency here. Korean articles implied "agencies" bribing. They are many agencies wanting their quotas. AKS couldn't get all it wanted if it tried anyway. Interestingly, all Japanese girls coincidentally belonged solely to AKS. No one from sister groups not belonged to AKS was in, nor anyone with a double contract to outside agency.

The ban on IZ*One (and X1) is more of a sanction on Mnet's wrongdoing, not the member. (Like it was described that a sport club could be banned for the wrongdoing of its president.)

I don't think the compensation is possible. More likely, they cheated since earlier rounds. So, it's impossible to tell how the lineup might be without manipulation.

Popularity aside, every single 2nd gen Korean female idols (debuted in late 00's to early 10's) acknowledged that After School, of which Kaeun was a member, was the best dance female idol group of their age. Kaeun is pursuing acting career now. Wait 1 more year if she can go anywhere.

Don't pretend to not knowing that no Korean agency will accept a 23+ years-old female trainee for its new idol group regardless how pretty or talented she is.

https://twitter.com/sakkura39/status/1098097696219394048?s=21
Han Sungsoo (Pledis' chairman) in IZE mag

Q: It's interesting how you've produced for IZ*One and it quickly gained popularity. According to Japanese Chart Oricon, IZ*One has sold over 220,000 copies in its first week.
Han Sungsoo: IZ*One got massive reaction in Japan with Produce 48. K-pop wave is spreading. IZ*One's debut track "La Vie en Rose" could show the performance side of K-pop to Japanese fans nicely. Whereas, Japanese album reached to a wider fan base by adopting Japanese style.

Q: You got massive reaction from choosing "La Vie en Rose". It seemed as though the song neither in girl crush nor cute style.
Han Sungsoo: I heard a lot this song wouldn't do well but I was confident about it performance wise. As soon as I heard "La Vie en Rose" I could see a blooming flower and members dancing to it in my head. If a song comes up with a vivid picture, it should be released unconditionally.

Q: You're in charge of producing for IZ*One and Fromis_9. Do you involve in any other content production?
Han Sungsoo: Right, I produce. I thought the debut would be difficult because the public was curios about IZ*One and the expectation was high after Produce 48 ended. So, I quickly started with V-live and Youtube. That was my job. As the team was formed via an audition program, much about the members weren't known so, I suggested them to hang out and communicate together with the fan via V-live, be it in bowling court or practice room.

Q: Many members from both teams have improved much performance-wise in comparison to their audition program days. How do you train them?
Han Sungsoo: I think it's down to they have had enough time to practice and found a role that fit them. I do my best to keep my deal of the promise. Also, I think more communication among members is most efficient. The team improves much faster if the member compliment what others lack.

According to this interview, Pledis
- picks the song for IZ*One,
- involves in marketing planning
- and train the members.

An original agency gets a profit cut for each of its girl in the group, more girls = bigger cut. Surprised.

I remember 1 or 2 AKB's member(s) said the application was voluntary and there were more girls applying than the show could take in so, there was an audition (judged by Han Sungsoo).

 

A profit cut from having their talent in another group vs 100% profits from having their talent stay in their group but with massively boosted popularity including a huge influx of foreign money due to appearing (but losing) on P48.

 

So the girls won't attend the MAMA I hope this ends soon, I mean this situation.

 

Brace yourselves for the worst.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Produce48/comments/duivjq/x1_and_izone_in_disbandment_stages_translation/
The agency associates of several members of IZ*ONE and/or X1 and management staff have discussed disbandment.

An agency associate of a member of IZ*ONE has reported this on Nov. 10: "With the growing controversy over the vote manipulation, the the members are feeling very unstable. We calmed them down as a first priority, but also opined that future activities are unfeasible at this state. This incident carries a big social impact, and we are closely monitoring the situation. The final decision is on CJ ENM. The overall atmosphere is that 'there is no grounds (media appearance, event invitation, etc) for this group to continue,' so a quick decision may follow, regardless of the ongoing police investigation." X1 is holding the pre-scheduled activities abroad, but probably nothing else afterward.

Some have argued for removal of those who were directly involved in the manipulation and refurbish the groups with "clean" lineups, who are also the victims of this incident. However, the fear of extreme backlash and gossip on certain members point towards the prevalent opinion that disbandment is the answer. Speculations on several members closely related to the scandal have already been circulating online.

An agency associate of a member of X1 said on the same day: "Being labeled 'rigged group/members', we are being bombarded with calls for disbandment. The worst case scenario is if the beneficiary group member(s) of this manipulation are publicly named. To prevent further damages, the best option is to finish here."

The two groups have cancelled all televised schedules in Korea, and will not appear on MAMA in Nagoya, Japan on Dec. 4, hosted by CJ ENM.

Original Korean source

 

I don't see any happy endings to this saga, wether Izone continues or not. Feel so sorry for the girls, especially J-Line. I wonder what's going on their minds now.

 

I have a strong suspicion that it will just end in disbandment. There just isn't a good way to fix this. I guess we should just be happy we get Sakura, Nako, and Honda back. I remember reading somewhere that Sakura mentioned that during the last Senbatsu election, she was sad that she wasn't able to be center, as it would be her last senbatsu. Not sure if that meant she would be graduating soon, or it was her last chance before IZONE. But if IZONE does disband, I don't believe Sakura will graduate immediately, the incident would most likely affect her career a little bit, so she would need some time to fix things.

 

She announced that in May (before she was even confirmed to be in the show I believe). SSK was June 16 - the day after the show premiered. Unless for some reason she knew she’d make the group before voting even started - which the general consensus is the members didnt- id say it’s likely for the reasons listed in this article - which is essentially stress around the SSK. It’s also worth noting that the members told their fans during 48G handshakes that they didn’t know they weren’t going to be able to participate in 48G activity’s until after they had made the group. Everyone assumed there was going to be an SSK in 2019- so it’s reasoned to think that sakura would have assumed she was eligible to run in SSK even if she made the Produce48 group. https://wotaspeak48.wordpress.com/2018/05/07/2018-ssk-will-be-my-last-ssk-sakura-miyawaki/


Also remember the Japanese girls will still be under the contract if they disband unless they nullify it which isn’t a guarantee. We don’t know if they will be allowed to promote with 48G if that’s the case.

sources on the contract notice:
https://twitter.com/ithebigc/status/1020608504447447040?s=21

edit:

So I just checked - looks like the contract terms are 1.5 years exclusive - which means April 21st ish would be when they could start promoting with akb if the contract stands.

 

Don't trust it. There're so many people confirming that news is fake. Even the agency hasn't said anything...

Sent from my ASUS_Z00SD using Tapatalk

Today is judgment day. Don’t believe in any clickbait articles that claims to have inside sources. Koreaboo and Allkpop are getting ratio’d in Twitter right now. Wait until the police press conference to see whether disbandment possibilities are real. Let’s all hope for the best

 

And others said they were told by their managers they'd be participating after someone else backed out (before the lineup was revealed, obviously still more girls backed out after that and weren't replaced). Iiirc we didn't see audition footage for everyone.

Her last sousenkyo, not her last senbatsu (she was in NO WAY MAN after all).

Spoiler

She knew they were cancelling SSK.

 

Already predicted and said here since few days ago, either the members or their own agency will pulled out voluntaryly from izone, cuz mnet are at fault, so their contract is nulify automaticly, some agency can sue mnet if they want to and ask for compensation for izone members for damage, fans just need to forced the agency to hire a lawyer for izone, not writing petition