[Entertainment] YG Entertainment: WIN Who is The Next!
Trainees who dream of becoming a star spend day and night singing
and dancing—their biggest goal is to make a ‘debut’. However, even after a
successful debut, in the South Korean music market where tens of new groups are
born every year, winning the hearts of the public as a true artist is practically
impossible. No one can predict who will be successful, and there is no set
formula for it either. Even YG Entertainment, the entertainment agency which
produced BIGBANG and 2NE1, groups which each respectively brought about a
paradigm shift in the music world in 2006 with its borderless popularity and changed
the entire perception of girl groups, has not debuted a new group for the last
4 years. And the exact agency, YG, has returned
finally in 2013 with the first boy group in 8 years since BIGBANG’s debut, named
‘WINNER’. But the members of the boy
group has not been confirmed yet, as YG’s next boy group formation will be
determined on a real survival battle program called ‘WHO IS NEXT : WIN’ where only the real surviving team can seize the
name ‘WINNER’ to make a debut. This
is a real test to see who can remain alive in the dog-eat-dog pop music market.
The most important aspect of this program is that the fait of ‘WINNER’ is dependent on the viewers. Even
the founder of YG, YANG HYUN SUK, will only be giving brief advice to the
contestants. He boldly chose to let the viewers decide completely to see who
the true ‘WINNER’ is. ‘WIN’, which allows
the public to participate even before a new group is formed properly, will
create a battlefield for the 11 members who have been training at YG for a long
time. The boys will be divided into Teams A and B for a fierce fight.
Team A, which consists of KANG SEUNG YOON, the recently
debuted ex-contestant of Mnet’s Superstar K2 and LEE SEUNG HOON, the
ex-contestant of K-Pop Star, have 5 members in total with the average age of
20. Team B has 6 members with the average age of 17, with the then boy rapper
B.I. who featured in MC Mong’s ‘Indian Boy’ and Koo Jun Hoe, another
ex-contestant of K-Pop Star.
The final winning team will seize the name ‘WINNER’ to make a debut immediately after the program finishes, while
the losing team’s debut will be postponed indefinitely. ‘WIN’, a program that is to show the harsh and cold reality of the
professional world, will depend completely on the viewers’ decision to choose
the winning team. The battle program will keep everyone on their toes, as even
YG will not find out the winner until the very end.
How the Program is Run
‘WIN’ is not
an auditioning program with judges, but is a 100% real survival battle program
where the viewers decide the final winner. From episodes 1 to 10, there will be
3 battles in total, and along with YG’s founder YANG HYUN SUK, other YG
artists, producers and special guests will be participating in the process of the
competition.
Online and mobile
advance voting will be available from episodes that the battle begins, and the
final battle, which is aired live, will allow viewers to use live text message
voting system. The final winner is determined based on the tally from online/mobile
advance voting and live text message voting combined. Further details on the
voting method and dates will be announced later.
WIN Airing Information
In South Korea, the program will be aired every Friday on
a relay on two different channels, at 10 p.m. on Mnet and 11:20 p.m. on tvN. The
first episode will be aired at 10 p.m. on August 23 (Friday). The program
consists of 10 episodes. The show will be broadcasted simultaneously on portal
sites like Daum’s mobile webpage, also showing happenings of behind-the-scenes.
The program will be aired overseas beginning from
September 17, through channel V (part of the cable channels of START TV) and
channel M (part of the cable channels of FOX) in 10 countries including Hong
Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Cambodia, Myanmar, the Maldives, and Macau. In China, the largest video-sharing
website Youku will exclusively air the program.
YG is
negotiation with Arirang TV to air the show beyond Asia in 188 countries from
mid September. Arirang TV will provide subtitle services including English,
Spanish, Chinese, and Indonesian. The entertainment agency is also in the midst
of negotiation with various national television in the Asian region and their
cable channels. As seen from the effort, YG is preparing in earnest to show
‘WIN’ to a wider audience around the world.
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| TEAM A |
TEAM A
Song Min Ho
TEAM
A’s leader SONG MIN HO, experienced & talented rapper
March
30, 1993 “21 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Rooster, Aries, Blood Type A
Hobby:
Writing & Composing songs, Drawing, Basketball
Specialty: Beat box,
caricature
Kim Jin Woo
YG’s longest trainee,
oldest of Team A, KIM JIN WOO the epitome of diligence
September 26, 1991, “23
years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Sheep, Libra, Blood Type A
Hobby: Swimming
Specialty: Acting
Lee Seung Hoon
Team A’s mainstay for
performance, artist LEE SEUNG HOON
January 11, 1992, “22
years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Sheep, Blood Type A
Hobby: Writing songs
Specialty: Dancing
Nam Tae Hyun
Team A’s youngest NAM
TAE HYUN, possessor of a mesmerizing voice
May 10, 1994 “20 years
old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Dog, Taurus, Blood Type A
Hobby: Writing &
Composing songs
Specialty: Martial Arts
Kang Seung Yoon
Team A’s all-rounder
KANG SEUNG YOON, gone from an audition program star to YG’s trainee
January 21, 1994 “20 years
old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Rooster, Aquarius, Blood Type B
Hobby: Writing &
Composing songs, Drawing
Specialty: Billiard
 |
| TEAM B |
TEAM B
Kim Jin Hwan
Team B’s oldest with powerful dancing skills
& sentimental voice KIM JIN HWAN
February 07, 1994 “20 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign
Rooster, Aquarius, Blood Type A
Hobby: Looking at the night view, playing guitar
Specialty: Foreign language, swimming, playing trumpet
Bobby
Team B’s clown KIM JI WON, the swagger guy
who returned home to realize his dreams
December 21, 1995, “19 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Pig,
Sagittarius, Blood Type O
Hobby: Basketball
Specialty: Swimming, Free-style Jamming
B.I
Indian Boy’s boy rapper B.I. now an adult!
Team B’s charismatic leader, KIM HAN BIN
October 22, 1996 “18 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Rat,
Libra, Blood Type O
Hobby: Taking a walk
Specialty: Writing & Composing songs, Beat Boxing
Song Yun Hyeong
The all-rounder with a sweet & charming
voice, SONG YUN HYEONG
February 08, 1995 “19 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign
Pig, Aquarius, Blood Type A
Hobby: Cycling
Specialty: Exercising
Koo Jun Hoe
Persistence to realize his dreams! An individualistic
& manly KOO JUN HOE
March 31, 1997 “17 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Ox, Aries,
Blood Type A
Hobby: Collecting albums
Specialty: Nunchuks
Valedictorian & brainy KIM DONG HYUK!
Team B’s zealous vocalist
January 03, 1997 “17 years old”, Chinese Zodiac Sign Rat,
Capricorn, Blood Type O
Hobby: Playing piano, drum, guitar
Specialty: Basketball
