‘I didn’t know having a dream would pain me this much.’
Could it be more ferocious than this survival program? YG’s ambitious new program ‘WHO IS NEXT: WIN’, which determines the formation of YG’s first boy group since BIGBANG’s debut 8 years ago, went on air for the first time. South Korean TV’s are full of singer audition programs and there has already been a survival mission show designed by entertainment agencies for their trainees, just like ‘WIN’. But what differentiates ‘WIN’ from all the other ones is that until now, all the programs told the stories through the eyes of potential winners, but this one houses a completely opposite viewpoint.
YG Entertainment’s founder Yang Hyun Suk divided his 11 trainees into Teams A and B and made them compete with each other. Group A consists 5 members including the ex-contestant of Superstar K2 and the recently debuted KANG SEUNG YOON, and the ex-contestant of K-Pop Star, LEE SEUNG HOON. The average age is 20 years old with other members Song Min Ho, Nam Tae Hyun, and Kim Jin Woo. Group B consists of 6 members with an average age of 17 years old, and among them is the then 12-year-old boy rapper B.I who featured in MC Mong’s ‘Indian Boy’, and Koo Jun-hoe, Bobby, Song Yun Hyung and Kim Dong Hyuk.
The winning team makes a debut immediately after the show finishes, while the losing one faces member change or having to wait another 4 years for a debut. They are given 3 chances to impress the viewers, as the watchers are responsible for voting for their favorite group. Only one team gets the golden opportunity. This news has shocked all 11 trainees.
Survival programs are merciless, as the contestants have to face the cold reality. Their glass is inevitably half empty, because they are more concerned about the team being broken up than their seizing victory. When CEO Yang says, “Only one of the two groups can make a debut this year,” no one could express happiness. They are all worried that they may be the ‘losing’ one. Lee Seung Hoon commented, “The moment you lose the game, then the group will be broken up.” And Kang Seung Yoon, in a separate interview also commented, “If we don’t make a debut than our team will definitely be broken up.”
This is why all the members are devoting their entire energy into winning, not just for themselves but also for the entire team. But the cruelty of ‘WIN’ is multiplied by the fact that it is a battle of ‘family’ members from the same entertainment agency. Just like what Kang Seung Yoon said, “You either have to crush others are you’ll be crushed.” Team B is worried because Team A already has two members who are well known to the public through audition programs. But even that worry is changing to “We can still all be friends after this, right?”
But that doesn’t change the fact that the battle between the two Teams will become more and more fierce until one winner is chosen. For the debut that they dreamed of for years, to make years of not going home and staying at the office to train a worthwhile time, they have to crush their peers to climb to the top. All eyes are on the 11 members, who were oblivious to the fact that becoming a professional artist included such a brutal process, like competing in ‘WIN’.
cr: YG LIFE