# Produce 101 season 1

Produce 101 (Korean: 프로듀스 101) is a reality competition show created by Mnet. It premiered on January 22, 2016, at 22:00 KST and aired every Friday.
It is the first season of the South Korean version of the franchise of the same name. The second season premiered on April 7, 2017, this time featuring all male contestants.

## Concept and format

Produce 101 was a large-scale girl group unit project produced by CJ ENM and Signal Entertainment Group for Mnet. The show was produced in collaboration with 46 entertainment companies from both inside and outside of South Korea. At about four billion won (approximately $3.33 million), it had the second-largest budget out of all Mnet TV programs at the time.
The show's concept hinged on audience participation: the viewers got to choose the final group's members, concept, debut song, and name. Out of the 101 contestants, they could select eleven girls to debut. The resulting unit would release their debut extended play under Stone Music Entertainment and promote together for a year. The group would be co-managed by YMC Entertainment. After their contract period ended, the members were allowed to join any girl groups or projects that their agencies were planning.

## Promotions and broadcast

On December 17, 2015, 98 out of the 101 contestants were unveiled for the first time on Episode 453 of M Countdown, where they performed the show's theme song "Pick Me". The stage was presented by actor and singer Jang Keun-suk. From December 18 to 25, 2015, the participants were revealed via the official website, Facebook, Instagram, and Naver TV Cast. Each girl was introduced through a written profile, photos, and videos.
On January 21, 2016, a production presentation for the show was held at the 63 Convention Center in Yeouido, Seoul. The event was attended by the contestants, the presenter Jang Keun-suk, and the five vocal, dance, and rap mentors, namely Brown Eyed Girls' JeA, Kim Sung-eun, Kahi, Bae Yoon-jung, and Cheetah.
The trainees moved into the dorms on December 5, 2015. The stages for the first group mission were held at the CJ E&M studio in Ilsan on December 27, 2015.
In Japan, the first episode of Produce 101 aired on Mnet Japan on April 3, 2016, with the remaining episodes airing every Friday starting from April 8. In the Asia and North America regions, the show premiered on May 4, 2016, and was then broadcast through Channel M every Wednesday starting from May 11.

## Cast

The show was presented by actor and singer Jang Keun-suk.
The rest of the mentors, who were tasked with training the contestants in various categories, were:
* Vocal Trainers:
** JeA
** Kim Sung-eun
* Dance Trainers:
** Kahi
** Bae Yoon-jung
* Rap Trainer:
** Cheetah
* Fitness Trainer:
** Ray Yang

## Contestants
### Color key (In order of contestant's rank on the show)

101 contestants :
| Jeon So-mi (전소미) | Kim Se-jeong (김세정) | Choi Yoo-jung (최유정) | Kim Chung-ha (김청하) | Kim So-hye (김소혜) |
| Zhou Jieqiong (주결경) | Jung Chae-yeon (정채연) | Kim Do-yeon (김도연) | Kang Mi-na (강미나) | Lim Na-young (임나영) |
| Yoo Yeon-jung (유연정) | Han Hye-ri (한혜리) | Lee Su-hyun (이수현) | Kim Na-young (김나영) | Kim So-hee (김소희) |
| Yoon Chae-kyung (윤채경) | Lee Hae-in (이해인) | Park So-yeon (박소연) | Ki Hui-hyeon (기희현) | Jeon So-yeon (전소연) |
| Jung Eun-woo (정은우) | Kang Si-ra (강시라) | Ng Sze Kai (응 씨 카이) | Kim Dani (김다니) | Park Si-yeon (박시연) |
| Huh Chan-mi (허찬미) | Hwang In-sun (황인선) | Seong Hye-min (성혜민) | Kang Yae-bin (강예빈) | Kim Seo-kyoung (김서경) |
| Lee Soo-min (이수민) | An Ye-seul (안예슬) | Kim Hyung-eun (김형은) | Kim Ju-na (김주나) | Kwon Eun-bin (권은빈) |
| Kang Si-won (강시원) | Yoon Seo-hyung (윤서형) | Park Hae-young (박해영) | Hwang Soo-yeon (황수연) | Kim Si-hyeon (김시현) |
| Cho Shi-yoon (조시윤) | Kim Min-kyeung (김민경) | Park Se-hee (박세희) | Kim Min-ji (김민지) | Kim Min-jung (김민정) |
| Chu Ye-jin (추예진) | Jung Hae-rim (정해림) | Kang Gyeong-won (강경원) | Oh Seo-jung (오서정) | Kim Tae-ha (김태하) |
| Park Ha-yi (박하이) | Park Ga-eul (박가을) | Yu Su-a (유수아) | Lee Jin-hee (이진희) | Risa Ariyoshi (아리요시 리사) |
| Hwang A-young (황아영) | Lim Jung-min (임정민) | Kim Yeon-kyung (김연경) | Lee Yoon-seo (이윤서) | Shim Chae-eun (심채은) |
| Kang Si-hyeon (강시현) | Kim Da-jeong (김다정) | Ahn Yu-mi (안유미) | Kim Si-hyun (김시현) | Seo Hye-lin (서혜린) |
| Hwang Ri-yu (황리유) | Hwang Se-young (황세영) | Kim Ji-sung (김지성) | Kim Su-hyeon (김수현) | Choi Eun-bin (최은빈) |
| Park Min-ji (박민지) | Ham Ye-ji (함예지) | Kim Mi-so (김미소) | Kim Woo-jung (김우정) | Heo Sa-em (허샘) |
| Han Ji-yeon (한지연) | Shiori Niwa (니와 시오리) | Pyun Kang-yoon (편강윤) | Lee Su-hyun (이수현) | Kim Hong-eun (김홍은) |
| Kim Do-hee (김도희) | Kim Seol-a (김설아) | Oh Han-areum (오한아름) | Kim Yun-ji (김윤지) | Lee Seo-jeong (이서정) |
| Kim Ja-yeon (김자연) | Lee Chae-lin (이채린) | Choi Yu-bin (최유빈) | Katherine Lee (캐서린 리) | Shin Hye-hyeon (신혜현) |
| Nam Su-jin (남수진) | Kim Sol-ee (김솔이) | Lee Se-heun (이세흔) | Bang Joon-hee (방준희) | Yun Yu-dam (윤유담) |
| Kim Bo-seon (김보선) | Moon Hyun-ju (문현주) | Ma Eun-jin (마은진) | Lim Hyo-sun (임효선) | Im Kyung-ha (임경하) |
| Kim Ha-yun (김하윤) | | | | |

## Ranking

The top 11 contestants were chosen through popularity online voting via the official website and the audience's live voting, the results of which were shown at the end of each episode.

### Color key

List of Top 11 contestants :
| # | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 8 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 |
| 1 | Jeon So-mi | Jeon So-mi | Jeon So-mi | Kim Se-jeong (1) | Kim Se-jeong | Kim Se-jeong | Jeon So-mi (4) | Jeon So-mi |
| 2 | Kim Se-jeong | Kim Se-jeong | Kim Se-jeong | Jeon So-mi (1) | Choi Yoo-jung (1) | Choi Yoo-jung | Kim Se-jeong (1) | Kim Se-jeong |
| 3 | Zhou Jieqiong | Kang Mi-na (5) | Kang Mi-na | Choi Yoo-jung (5) | Kang Mi-na (2) | Kang Mi-na | Choi Yoo-jung (1) | Choi Yoo-jung |
| 4 | Jung Chae-yeon | Zhou Jieqiong (1) | Kim Dani (2) | Zhou Jieqiong (2) | Jeon So-mi (2) | Jeon So-mi | Kim So-hye (4) | Kim Chung-ha (1) |
| 5 | Jung Eun-woo | Kim Na-young (4) | Ki Hui-hyeon (1) | Kang Mi-na (2) | Kim Na-young (4) | Kim Na-young | Kim Chung-ha (8) | Kim So-hye (1) |
| 6 | Ki Hui-hyeon | Kim Dani (1) | Zhou Jieqiong (3) | Ki Hui-hyeon (1) | Zhou Jieqiong (2) | Zhou Jieqiong | Kim So-hee (16) | Zhou Jieqiong (13) |
| 7 | Kim Dani | Huh Chan-mi (9) | Kim Na-young (2) | Kim Dani (3) | Kim So-hye (4) | Kim Do-yeon (1) | Yoon Chae-kyung (8) | Jung Chae-yeon (5) |
| 8 | Kang Mi-na | Jung Chae-yeon (4) | Choi Yoo-jung (5) | Jung Chae-yeon (2) | Kim Do-yeon (5) | Kim So-hye (1) | Han Hye-ri (8) | Kim Do-yeon (3) |
| 9 | Kim Na-young | Ki Hui-hyeon (3) | Huh Chan-mi (2) | Kim Na-young (2) | Yoo Yeon-jung (3) | Jung Chae-yeon (1) | Lim Na-young (2) | Kang Mi-na (9) |
| 10 | Kwon Eun-bin | Kwon Eun-bin | Jung Chae-yeon (2) | Jeon So-yeon (1) | Jung Chae-yeon (2) | Yoo Yeon-jung (1) | Yoo Yeon-jung | Lim Na-young (1) |
| 11 | Choi Yoo-jung | Jeon So-yeon (12) | Jeon So-yeon | Kim So-hye (5) | Lim Na-young (13) | Lim Na-young | Kim Do-yeon (4) | Yoo Yeon-jung (1) |

### First voting period

The first voting period took place from January 22 to February 13, 2016. Viewers were allowed to vote for eleven contestants daily.
Eliminations were based on individual total points.
1st Voting Period results :
| Rank | Episode 1 (Online votes) | Episode 2 (Online votes) | Episode 3 (Online votes) | Episode 4 (Live votes) | Episode 4 (Live votes) | Episode 5 (Total votes) | Episode 5 (Total votes) |
| Rank | Episode 1 (Online votes) | Episode 2 (Online votes) | Episode 3 (Online votes) | Name | Votes | Name | Votes |
| 1 | Jeon So-mi | Jeon So-mi | Jeon So-mi | Kim Se-jeong | 1,204 | Kim Se-jeong | 9,829,002 |
| 2 | Kim Se-jeong | Kim Se-jeong | Kim Se-jeong | Hwang Soo-yeon | 1,180 | Jeon So-mi | 1,223,299 |
| 3 | Zhou Jieqiong | Kang Mi-na | Kang Mi-na | Lim Na-young | 1,160 | Choi Yoojung | 392,773 |
| 4 | Jung Chae-yeon | Zhou Jieqiong | Kim Dani | Kim Ju-na | 1,137 | Zhou Jieqiong | 387,537 |
| 5 | Jung Eun-woo | Kim Na-young | Ki Hui-hyeon | Kim Do-yeon | 1,125 | Kang Mi-na | 376,977 |
| 6 | Ki Hui-hyeon | Kim Dani | Zhou Jieqiong | Jeon So-mi | 1,118 | Ki Hui-hyeon | 294,540 |
| 7 | Kim Dani | Huh Chan-mi | Kim Na-young | Kim Min-kyeung | 1,117 | Kim Dani | 273,930 |
| 8 | Kang Mi-na | Jung Chae-yeon | Choi Yoo-jung | Kang Yae-bin | 1,100 | Jung Chae-yeon | 251,469 |
| 9 | Kim Na-young | Ki Hui-hyeon | Huh Chan-mi | Park Si-yeon | 1,097 | Kim Na-young | 250,552 |
| 10 | Kwon Eun-bin | Kwon Eun-bin | Jung Chae-yeon | Kim Si-hyeon | 1,088 | Jeon So-yeon | 230,395 |
| 11 | Choi Yoo-jung | Jeon So-yeon | Jeon So-yeon | Park Min-ji | 1,087 | Kim So-hye | 227,670 |
* On Episode 4, an additional 1000 points are given to the girls of the winning teams.
* The ranking for Episode 5 is the result of combining the girls' online votes and live votes from the previous episode.

### Second voting period

The second voting period took place from February 20 to March 5, 2016. Viewers were allowed to vote for eleven contestants daily.
Eliminations were based on individual total points.
2nd Voting Period results :
| Rank | Episode 6 (Online votes) | Episode 8 (Total votes) | Episode 8 (Total votes) |
| Rank | Episode 6 (Online votes) | Name | Votes |
| Rank | 1 | Kim Se-jeong | Kim Se-jeong | 1,473,687 |
| 2 | Choi Yoo-jung | Choi Yoo-jung | 1,286,447 |
| 3 | Kang Mi-na | Kang Mi-na | 1,212,720 |
| 4 | Jeon So-mi | Jeon So-mi | 1,201,490 |
| 5 | Kim Na-young | Kim Na-young | 931,084 |
| 6 | Zhou Jieqiong | Zhou Jieqiong | 885,556 |
| 7 | Kim So-hye | Kim Do-yeon | 841,749 |
| 8 | Kim Do-yeon | Kim So-hye | 833,101 |
| 9 | Yoo Yeon-jung | Jung Chae-yeon | 696,808 |
| 10 | Jung Chae-yeon | Yoo Yeon-jung | 684,660 |
| 11 | Lim Na-young | Lim Na-young | 665,898 |
* The ranking for Episodes 7 and 9 were not shown due to the second and third elimination.

### Third voting period

The third voting period took place from March 11 to March 19, 2016. At first, it was announced that the voting limit would be decreased from eleven to seven, and was later lowered again to five. Once voting opened, however, viewers were only allowed to select one contestant daily.
Eliminations were based on individual total points.
3rd Voting Period results :
| Rank | Episode 10 (Total votes) | Episode 10 (Total votes) |
| Rank | Name | Votes |
| 1 | Jeon So-mi | 380,783 |
| 2 | Kim Se-jeong | 131,612 |
| 3 | Choi Yoo-jung | 128,004 |
| 4 | Kim So-hye | 93,189 |
| 5 | Kim Chung-ha | 89,323 |
| 6 | Kim So-hee | 54,538 |
| 7 | Yoon Chae-kyung | 53,255 |
| 8 | Han Hye-ri | 49,379 |
| 9 | Lim Na-young | 48,110 |
| 10 | Yoo Yeon-jung | 45,985 |
| 11 | Kim Do-yeon | 44,873 |

### Result

During the last episode, which aired on April 1, 2016, presenter Jang Keun-suk announced the girl group's name: I.O.I (Korean: 아이오아이).
Final members of I.O.I :
| Rank | Episode 11 (Total votes) | Episode 11 (Total votes) | Episode 11 (Total votes) |
| Rank | Name | Votes | Company |
| 1 | Jeon So-mi | 858,333 | JYP |
| 2 | Kim Se-jeong | 525,352 | Jellyfish |
| 3 | Choi Yoo-jung | 438,778 | Fantagio |
| 4 | Kim Chung-ha | 403,633 | MNH |
| 5 | Kim So-hye | 229,732 | RedLine |
| 6 | Zhou Jieqiong | 218,338 | Pledis |
| 7 | Jung Chae-yeon | 215,338 | MBK |
| 8 | Kim Do-yeon | 200,069 | Fantagio |
| 9 | Kang Mi-na | 173,762 | Jellyfish |
| 10 | Lim Na-young | 138,726 | Pledis |
| 11 | Yoo Yeon-jung | 136,780 | Starship |

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Original release date |
| 1 | "Episode 1" | January 22, 2016 (2016-01-22) |
| The contestants enter the studio where 101 seats are arranged in a pyramid, with the seat for the number one trainee at the top. The trainees are grouped together by their agencies and introduced. Every contestant then gets to choose one of the seats according to which rank they expect themselves to achieve. Afterward, they are asked to perform with their group, and each individual trainee is judged by the mentors based on their overall talent and assigned a class; A being the highest and F the lowest. At the end of the episode, the first ranking is shown with JYP Entertainment's Jeon So-mi in first place. |||
| 2 | "Episode 2" | January 29, 2016 (2016-01-29) |
| After each trainee has been assigned a grade, presenter Jang Keun-suk announces that they will be performing the signal song "Pick Me" on M Countdown. The A group trainees will receive the most screen time, while the F group trainees will merely serve as backup dancers. They are informed that they will have three days to practice, after which they will be re-evaluated and re-assigned their final grades by the mentors. At the end of the episode, the girls are given their new grades and asked to move to their respective new practice rooms. |||
| 3 | "Episode 3" | February 5, 2016 (2016-02-05) |
| The girls rehearse for the "Pick Me" stage in their new groups and Fantagio's Choi Yoo-jung is chosen as the center. After the performance, the next evaluation is announced: the Group Battle. The trainees will form twenty teams and perform one out of ten girl group debut songs in front of a live audience, with two rivaling teams competing against each other with the same song. Each trainee will get voted on separately by the live audience and the members' combined scores will determine the winning group, which will receive a benefit. The live votes will also be added to their online votes before the first elimination. Then, the A group trainees compete for their preferred song through a race and are given the privilege to pick the remaining members of their teams. Once the teams are formed, the trainees are shown rehearsing for their stages. The episode ends with the "Into the New World" team's performance. |||
| 4 | "Episode 4" | February 12, 2016 (2016-02-12) |
| The second half of the performances are shown. MBK Entertainment's Kim Dani and Clear Company's Ma Eun-jin both get sick and the latter is forced to leave the show due to health concerns. After the last performance, the girls are shown their rankings based on their individual live votes and the 1,000-point benefit.Jellyfish Entertainment's Kim Se-jeong places first overall with 1204 points. |||
| 5 | "Episode 5" | February 19, 2016 (2016-02-19) |
| For this episode, Shin Bora, Heo Young-ji and Block B's Park Kyung appeared as special panelists. In between announcements of each girl's ranking during the first elimination, events leading up to the elimination are shown. Just after arriving at the dorms, the girls are taken to get flu shot. Weeks after, they were weighed and asked to do a series of exercises with the help of trainer Ray Yang. Some girls were put on a strict diet in order to lose weight. The trainees were also tricked into participating in a 'hidden camera'. The first is a consideration test to see who would be willing to help a staff struggling with two heavy packs of water bottles. The second is to see whether the participants would clean up the floor of a waiting room with coke spilling over. The third is a $30,000 camera which a staff pretends to break during a fake interview. The staff tells each trainee that she might get fired, and some girls take responsibility, pretending it was them who broke it. The 97 trainees choose the 'top visual'. Pledis Entertainment's Zhou Jieqiong takes first place while Jung Chae-yeon, Kim Do-yeon, Kim Se-jeong, Kim Ji-sung, Seo Hye-lin, Park Si-yeon, Kwon Eun-bean, Ki Heui-hyeon (Cathy), Lee Su-hyun, and Jeon So-mi takes 2nd to 11th place respectively. Jang Keun-suk then announces the top 20 trainees with Kim Se-jeong coming in 1st for the first ranking evaluation, and finally the 61st and last trainee, Happy Face Entertainment's Hwang A-young, who was saved from elimination. |||
| 6 | "Episode 6" | February 26, 2016 (2016-02-26) |
| Jang Keun-suk once again met up with the trainees to announce the next challenge. The trainees are tasked to perform live in groups based on positions they want to debut in: vocal, dance, or rap. There are six songs for vocals (Big Bang's "Monster", EXO's "Call Me Baby", Huh Gak and John Park's "My Best", GFriend's "Me Gustas Tu", Zion.T's "Yanghwa BRDG", and Tashannie's "Day by Day"), four songs for Dance (EXO's "Growl", Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's "Bang Bang", Destiny's Child's "Say My Name", and Sunmi's "Full Moon") and three songs for Rap (Verbal Jint's "You Look Happy", SMTM4's "Turtle Ship", and IKON's "Rhythm Ta"). Each song has a member limit and would be picked by each trainee based on their ranks, in which case Jellyfish Entertainment's Kim Se-jeong would have the privilege of choosing the song she wants to perform first and Happy Face Entertainment's Hwang A-young would automatically be placed in the empty slot. Jang Keun-suk also announced that only 35 trainees will remain in the next round and the winner from each category will receive 100,000 votes. The vocal teams are the first to perform and after each performance, they are ranked in their groups first and then overall in the category. Kim Se-jeong emerged as the winner in the vocal category. |||
| 7 | "Episode 7" | March 4, 2016 (2016-03-04) |
| The groups competing in the dance and rap category perform the respective songs and rehearsals for the groups are shown, with the "Bang Bang" group, composed of Choi Yoo-jung, Jeon So-mi, Kim Do-yeon, Kim Chung-ha, Kim Danielle, Kwon Eun-bean, and Kim Seo-kyung, receiving the show's first-ever encore call. Kconic Entertainment's Kim Hyeong-eun emerged the winner in the rap category, and Jellyfish Entertainment's Kang Mi-na emerged the winner in the dance category. |||
| 8 | "Episode 8" | March 11, 2016 (2016-03-11) |
| The girls are given an English lesson by trainer Lee Si-won through imitating and watching scenes of rapper Jessi on Unpretty Rapstar. Through a video recording, Jang Keun-suk then announces the beginning of the next evaluation prior to the second round of eliminations, meaning that all 61 girls that have survived so far will continue to practice for the performances, but not all of them may get to perform. The evaluation is revealed to be a concept evaluation, and the girls are given five original songs to choose from - EDM song "24 Hours" (produced by DJ Koo and Maximite, who previously produced "Pick Me"), girl crush pop song "Fingertips" (produced by Ryan Jhun), hip hop song "Don't Matter" (produced by San E), trap pop song "Yum-Yum" (produced by iDR), and girlish pop song "In the Same Place"(produced by B1A4's Jin-young) - with the winning team to receive a benefit of 150,000 votes. The girls choose their teams based on their category and individual ranking from the last evaluation. However, as only 14 people can be on one team (twice the amount that will be on the team after the elimination occurs), the first girl to have chosen a concept is given the right to kick out any extras, thus forcing them to choose another song. After practicing for the new songs, the girls undergo the second elimination, beginning with rank 34 up to 1, with Kim Se-jeong once again taking first place. Jang Keun-suk then announces the 35th and last trainee, SS Entertainment's Lee Su-hyun, who was saved from elimination. |||
| 9 | "Episode 9" | March 18, 2016 (2016-03-18) |
| Following eliminations, the teams are reorganized; groups with more than 7 members voted on whom to send to groups with less than 7 members. Jang Keun-suk announces that the evaluation will have an audience of 3000, far more than the 1000 they've had in previous evaluations. The girls resume practice, reassigning parts and meeting with the producers to record studio versions of their songs. On the day of the performances, several eliminated trainees are shown in the audience in support of the other girls. Both the "Yum-Yum" team (composed of Choi Yoo-jung, Jeon So-mi, Jung Chae-yeon, Kim Danielle, Park Si-yeon, Park So-yeon and Heo Chan-mi) and the "In the Same Place" team (composed of Kim Do-yeon, Kim So-hye, Yoo Yeon-jung, Yoon Chae-kyung, Han Hye-ri, Kim So-hee and Kang Si-ra) receive encore calls, but by a small margin of 30 audience votes, "In the Same Place" ultimately takes the win and the 150,000 vote benefit. |||
| 10 | "Episode 10" | March 25, 2016 (2016-03-25) |
| Amidst the eliminations, the girls undergo various lessons (make-up and speech), attend a therapy session to share about their current feelings, and participate in a question relay. They are also asked to pick the 5 most popular trainees amongst them, with Pledis Entertainment's Zhou Jieqiong taking 1st place and Kim Do-yeon, Jeon So-mi, Kim Chung-ha, and Lee Su-hyun taking 2nd to 5th place, respectively. At the elimination, Jang Keun-suk reveals that only 22 trainees will advance to the final stage. The girls are also shocked to discover huge differences in the rankings as a result of the new voting system and the 150,000 vote benefit from the concept evaluation, with various girls previously ranking within the top 11 falling near the bottom. With ranks 21 to 3 revealed, Kim Se-jeong and Jeon So-mi are called up as the contenders for 1st, with Jeon So-mi revealed to have won by a landslide. The contenders for 22nd place are then called up: Chorokbaem Juna's Ng Sze Kai and SS Entertainment's Lee Su-hyun. Lee Su-hyun once again barely survives being eliminated. With the top 22 confirmed, Jang Keun-suk announces the next and final mission: the debut song evaluation. He introduces "CRUSH" (produced by Ryan Jhun, who previously produced "Fingertips") as the final line-up's debut song. He explains that they will be split into two teams of 11, each team composed of one main vocal, eight sub vocals, and two rappers, with only Jeon So-mi's position as center confirmed due to having ranked 1st. The girls choose their positions beginning with rank 22 up to 1, with the higher ranked girls being given the advantage of replacing the lower ranked girls and bumping them into another position. After positions are confirmed, the girls begin practicing the choreography and memorizing the lyrics in preparation for the final stage. |||
| 11 | "Episode 11" | April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01) |
| The episode begins showing the girls' audition tapes, as well as their final confessional interviews. An announcement is then made that viewers will now be able to send SMS votes for one girl only, which will be added to the online votes in order to determine the final line-up. Throughout the episode, the trainee currently ranked 11th is revealed every now and then to encourage people to vote. The debut evaluation starts off with the eliminated trainees joining the top 22 for a performance of "PICK ME". Jang Keun-suk then reveals that the debut group, named I.O.I (Hangul: 아이오아이), will debut with a "unique" concept. The episode then flashes back to the guerilla concert held by the top 22 girls, where they performed their songs from the concept evaluation and eliminated trainee, Show Works' Hwang In-sun, acted as the MC. A high-five event had been held with the first 500 people that arrived at the concert, with Kim Se-jeong receiving the most high-fives. The episode cuts to the girls recording "When the Cherry Blossoms Fade" (produced by B1A4's Jin-young who previously produced "In the Same Place"), which they perform at the evaluation. The girls are then shown preparing for their debut song, during which they surprise the trainers with thank you video messages, cake, and flowers. After the performance of "CRUSH", the episode cuts to the girls interviewing one another, undergoing group photoshoots, and finally, reading letters they had written to themselves from earlier episodes. Voting soon comes to a close, and ranking announcements begin. Lim Na-young, Kang Mi-na, Kim Do-yeon, Jung Chae-yeon, Zhou Jieqiong, Kim So-hye, Kim Chung-ha, and Choi Yoo-jung are announced as 10th to 3rd place, respectively, confirming them for debut. Again, Jeon So-mi and Kim Se-jeong are called up as contenders for 1st, and again, Jeon So-mi takes the win, confirming her position as I.O.I's center. The contenders for 11th, Star Empire Entertainment's Han Hye-ri and Starship Entertainment's Yoo Yeon-jung, are then announced with Yoo Yeon-jung ultimately being revealed to be I.O.I's final member. |||

## Controversy

Controversy arose after Ilgan Sports leaked the contract terms between CJ E&M and the Produce 101 trainees' agencies to the public on February 16, 2016. According to the contract, the agencies and trainees are prohibited from legal action against manipulated edits made on the show and from revealing unreleased information. While the agencies share music production costs, trainees will not receive payment for participating in the show and CJ E&M will take half of any profits from Produce 101 music releases, with the agencies of members featured in the release sharing the remainder.
An affiliate of the show stated that "it [was] regrettable that the contents of the contract were revealed" and emphasized that the terms outlined in the contract are "legally common" and "made to protect the editorial rights of producers and to prevent any spoilers of the show."

## Discography
### Extended plays

List of extended plays, with selected chart positions and sales :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales |
| Title | Details | KOR | Sales |
| 35 Girls 5 Concepts | Released: March 19, 2016 Label: Stone Music Entertainment Formats: Digital download, streaming Track list 24 Hours (24시간) Fingertips Don't Matter Yum-Yum (얌얌) In the Same Place (같은 곳에서) | — | — |

### Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales | Album |
| Title | Year | KOR | Sales | Album |
| "Pick Me" | 2015 | 9 | KOR: 893,723 | Non-album single |
| "24 Hours" (24시간) | 2016 | 44 | KOR: 204,742 | 35 Girls 5 Concepts |
| "Fingertips" | 2016 | 21 | KOR: 394,446 | 35 Girls 5 Concepts |
| "Don't Matter" | 2016 | 30 | KOR: 253,613 | 35 Girls 5 Concepts |
| "Yum-Yum" (얌얌) | 2016 | 14 | KOR: 579,478 | 35 Girls 5 Concepts |
| "In the Same Place" (같은 곳에서) | 2016 | 8 | KOR: 807,282 | 35 Girls 5 Concepts |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |||||

## Viewership

Average TV viewership ratings :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide |
| 1 | January 22, 2016 | 1.042% (28th) | N/A | 0.50% |
| 2 | January 29, 2016 | 1.561% (8th) | N/A | 1.10% |
| 3 | February 5, 2016 | 1.777% (5th) | N/A | 1.50% |
| 4 | February 12, 2016 | 3.306% (3rd) | 2.75% | 3.00% |
| 5 | February 19, 2016 | 3.475% (3rd) | 3.36% | 3.60% |
| 6 | February 26, 2016 | 3.406% (3rd) | 3.12% | 3.60% |
| 7 | March 4, 2016 | 3.781% (3rd) | 4.03% | 3.40% |
| 8 | March 11, 2016 | 3.664% (3rd) | 4.78% | 3.00% |
| 9 | March 18, 2016 | 2.976% (3rd) | 3.17% | 3.10% |
| 10 | March 25, 2016 | 3.692% (2nd) | 4.77% | 4.10% |
| 11 | April 1, 2016 | 4.383% (1st) | 4.94% | 3.70% |
| Average | Average | 3.01% | — | 2.70% |
| In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes rating that was not released. NR denotes that the show did not rank in the top 10 daily programs on that date. This show aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC, and EBS). |||||

## Aftermath

I.O.I released its debut EP Chrysalis on May 4, 2016. The group disbanded on January 29, 2017 after the release of their final single titled "Downpour".
* Several group members resumed activities for their respective agencies:
** Jung Chae-yeon (7th) (with label mate Ki Hee-hyun) came back as a member of DIA for their 1st EP Happy Ending on June 14, 2016.
** Kim Se-jeong (2nd) and Kang Mi-na (9th) (with label mate Kim Na-young) debuted as members of Gugudan and released their debut EP Act. 1 The Little Mermaid on June 28, 2016. The group officially disbanded on December 31, 2020. Kang Mi-na left Jellyfish Entertainment.
** Yoo Yeon-jung (11th) was announced as the newest member of Korean-Chinese girl group Cosmic Girls and released their 2nd EP The Secret on August 17, 2016.
** Zhou Jieqiong (6th) and Lim Na-young (10th) debuted as part of girl group Pristin and released their first EP Hi! Pristin on March 21, 2017. Pristin officially disbanded on May 24, 2019. Zhou Jieqiong stayed with Pledis Entertainment, while Lim Na-young departed from the label.
*** Zhou Jieqiong made her solo debut in China with the digital single "Why" on September 6, 2018.
** Jeon So-mi (1st) signed an exclusive contract with JYP Entertainment in January 2017 for solo activities. She left JYP in August 2018, and signed with The Black Label in September 2018. She debuted as a soloist on June 13, 2019 with single "Birthday".
** Kim Chung-ha (4th) appeared in soundtrack Strong Woman Do Bong-soon OST part 5 on March 17, 2017 and solo debuted EP Hands on Me on June 7, 2017 with title track "Why Don't You Know" featuring Nucksal. Kim Chung-ha left MNH Entertainment after seven years with the company on April 30, 2023.
** Choi Yoo-jung (3rd) and Kim Do-yeon (8th) (with label mates Lee Seo-jung and Jung Haerim) debuted with girl group Weki Meki and released their debut EP Weme on August 8, 2017.
** Kim So-hye's (5th) family decided to buy out her contract with RedLine Entertainment, and then set up a new agency, S&P (Shark & Penguin) Entertainment.
* Some contestants debuted in or joined other groups:
** Han Hye-ri (12th), Lee Su-hyun (13th), Kim So-hee (15th), Yoon Chae-kyung (16th), and Lee Hae-in (17th) formed I.B.I, which was known as I.O.I's "sister group" under LOEN Entertainment. They released their first single "MOLAE MOLAE" on August 18, 2016.
*** Kim So-hee (15th) and Yoon Chae-kyung (16th) later debuted in the project group C.I.V.A from the Mnet mockumentary The God of Music 2. The group released a remake of Diva's "Why Do You Call Me?".
*** Kim So-hee (15th) joined Nature on October 8, 2019.
*** Yoon Chae-kyung (16th) joined April on November 11, 2016. The group disbanded on January 28, 2022.
** Park So-yeon (18th) and Lee Soo-min (31st) were set to debut in a new girl group under LOEN Entertainment in 2018 but never did.
** Jeon So-yeon (20th) debuted with (G)I-DLE under Cube Entertainment on May 2, 2018.
** Jung Eun-woo (21st), Park Si-yeon (25th), Kang Yae-bin (29th), Kim Min-kyeung (42nd), and Gang Gyeong-won (48th) debuted in Pristin under Pledis Entertainment. They released their first extended play Hi! Pristin on March 21, 2017, with the lead single "Wee Woo". The group disbanded on May 24, 2019.
** Kim Seo-kyoung (30th) debuted with GWSN under Kiwi Pop. They released their first extended play The Park in the Night Part One, with the lead single "Puzzle Moon" (Korean: 퍼즐문), on September 5, 2018.
** Kim Hyeong-eun (33rd), Park Se-hee (43rd), Kim Min-ji (44th), and Lee Jin-hee (54th) debuted with BULLDOK under Kconic Entertainment. They released their first single "Why Not" on October 20, 2016. The group disbanded in late 2018.
** Park Hae-young (38th), Kim Mi-so (73rd), and Heo Sa-em (75th) debuted with A.DE under 2able Company. They released their first single "Strawberry" on June 23, 2016. The group disbanded in late 2017.
** Kim Si-hyeon (40th) debuted with Everglow under Yuehua Entertainment on March 18, 2019.
** Jung Hae-rim (47th; under the stage name Elly) and Lee Seo-jeong (85th; under the stage name Sei) debuted with Weki Meki under Fantagio on August 8, 2017.
** Kim Tae-ha (50th) joined Momoland under MLD Entertainment on April 4, 2017. She left the group on November 30, 2019.
** Yu Su-a (53rd) was a member of the pre-debut group OAHSIS under Krazy Entertainment. They disbanded on October 11, 2019, before their official debut. She later re-debuted as a member of AQUA on November 17, 2018, with the digital single "Log In". The group disbanded in 2019 after their company closed down.
** Lim Jung-min (57th; under the stage name Taeryeong) debuted with Lunarsolar under JPlanet Entertainment on September 2, 2020. The group disbanded on May 22, 2022.
** Kang Si-hyeon (61st) and Kim Yun-ji (84th) debuted with Ariaz under Rising Entertainment, a sub-label of Star Empire Entertainment, on October 24, 2019. The group disbanded on April 10, 2022.
** Kim Da-jeong (62nd) debuted with HashTag under Luk Factory. They released their first extended play The Girl Next Door, with the lead single "Hue" (Korean: ㅇㅇ), on October 11, 2017.
** Ahn Yu-mi (63rd) was supposed to debut with Twinkle under Blessing Entertainment but the group's debut was canceled.
** Kim Su-hyun (69th) debuted with Billlie under Mystic Story. They released their first extended play The Billage of Perception: Chapter One, with the lead single "Ring X Ring", on November 10, 2021.
** Park Min-ji (71st) debuted with Secret Number under Vine Entertainment. They released their first extended play Who Dis? on October 27, 2021.
** Ham Ye-ji (72nd; under the stage name Ham Ryeowon) debuted with Prism under LCH Entertainment on May 4, 2018, with the digital single "Chok". The group disbanded in January 2021 after their company was foreclosed due to financial issues.
** Kim Ja-yeon (86th) joined 1NB under Trivus Entertainment on November 29, 2017. The group disbanded on April 27, 2018.
** Lee Chae-lin (87th) debuted with Fanatics under FENT. They released their first extended play The Six, with the lead single "Sunday", on August 6, 2019.
** Choi Yu-bin (88th) debuted with Nature under the stage name Chaebin on August 3, 2018.
** Lee Se-heun (93rd) debuted with Girlkind under Nextlevel Entertainment on January 17, 2018. The group disbanded on August 13, 2022.
** Lim Hyo-sun (99th) debuted with H.U.B under New Planet Entertainment on February 9, 2017. The group disbanded in February 2019.
* Some contestants returned to their original groups:
** Ki Hui-hyeon (19th) returned to DIA under the stage name Cathy. They made a comeback with their first extended play Happy Ending on June 14, 2016.
** Ng Sze Kai (23rd) returned to the Hong Konger girl group As One. They released the single "Hey Ya!" (Korean: 헤이야) on May 4, 2016.
** Kwon Eun-bin (35th) officially joined CLC in June 2016.
* Some contestants debuted as soloists:
** Kim So-hee (15th) released her debut extended play The Fillette under The Music Works on November 8, 2017, with the lead single "Sobok Sobok" (feat. Yezi of Fiestar).
** Park So-yeon (18th) released her debut single "Flower" under Gachi Entertainment on November 30, 2020.
** Jeon So-yeon (20th) released her debut single "Jelly" under Cube Entertainment on November 5, 2017.
** Kang Si-ra (22nd) released her debut single "Don't Wanna Forget" (Korean: 못 잊어) under Chungchun Music on January 18, 2017.
** Hwang In-sun (27th) released her debut single "Emoticon" under Show Works on April 28, 2016.
** Kim Ju-na (34th) released her debut single "Summer Dream" under Music K Entertainment on September 12, 2016.
** Kang Si-won (36th) released her debut single "Click Click" under TNK Entertainment on April 4, 2019.
** Choi Eun-bin (70th) released her debut single "Hmm" (Korean: 흠) under Enterarts in 2018.
** Kim Woo-jung (74th; under the stage name D.A.L) released her debut single "Fireworks" (feat. History's Kim Jae-ho under the stage name Bignose) under 2% Entertainment on August 4, 2016.
* Some contestants left their companies or signed with or joined new ones:
** Lee Su-hyun (13th) and Lee Hae-in (17th) left SS Entertainment in May 2016 after a legal battle.
** Kim So-hee (15th) left The Music Works on July 11, 2019, and then signed with n.CH Entertainment.
** Park So-yeon (18th) moved from LOEN Entertainment to its subsidiary FAVE Entertainment. She later left the company and signed with Gachi Entertainment.
** Lee Soo-min (31st) left Fantagio in April 2016, stating that she was considering leaving the entertainment industry. However, she eventually signed with LOEN Entertainment on April 25, 2017. She then left LOEN and signed with Mystic Story, which she also left in 2020 and signed with Highline Entertainment. She left the company in 2021.
** An Ye-seul (32nd) left MAJESTY and is now an independent artist.
** Kim Si-hyeon (40th) signed with Yuehua Entertainment in April 2016.
** Kim Tae-ha (50th) left Starship Entertainment and signed with MLD Entertainment. She terminated her contract with MLD Entertainment on November 30, 2019.
** Yu Su-a (53rd) left MJ Entertainment and signed with Krazy Entertainment.
** Kim Da-jeong (62nd) left Hello Music Entertainment and signed with Luk Factory.
** Choi Eun-bin (70th) was subject to a legal battle when she received illegal funds from GM Music while under contract Nextar Entertainment. She later left Nextar Entertainment and signed with Enterarts.
** Park Min-ji (71st) left Magic Fresh Company and signed with MND17. She later left MND17 as well and signed with Vine Entertainment.
** Kim Woo-jung (74th) left Happy Face Entertainment and signed with 2% Entertainment. She has since left the company.
** Lee Seo-jeong (85th) left LOUDers Entertainment and signed with Fantagio.
** Kim Ja-yeon (86th) left Happy Face Entertainment and signed with Trivus Entertainment.
** Lee Chae-lin (87th) left Midas Entertainment and signed with FENT.
* Some contestants debuted as actors:
** Kim So-hee (15th) was supposed to appear in the K-drama adaptation of the hit Japanese anime The Idolmaster, titled The Idolmaster KR, but later backed out.
** Lee Hae-in (17th) acted in a supporting role in Something About 1%, the 2016 remake of Something About 1%.
** Kim Ji-sung (68th) debuted as an actress under N Company.
** Lee Seo-jeong (85th) appeared in the music video to Astro's "Confession" (Korean: 고백).
* Some contestants released singles:
** Yoon Chae-kyung (16th) released a digital single titled "Clock" with April's Chae-won in May 2016.
** Jung Eun-woo (21st), Park Si-yeon (25th), Kang Yae-bin (29th), Kim Min-kyeung (42nd), and Gang Gyeong-won (48th) released the digital single "We" as Pledis Girlz under Pledis Entertainment on June 28, 2016.
** Hwang In-sun (27th), Yoon Seo-hyeung (37th), Park Hae-young (38th), Hwang A-young (56th), Ham Ye-ji (72nd), Kim Mi-so (73rd), Heo Sa-em (75th), and Pyun Kang-yoon (78th) released the single "Don't give up" on September 28, 2016.
* Some contestants participated in other reality competition shows:
** Lee Su-hyun (13th), Kim So-hee (15th), Yoon Chae-kyung (16th), and Lee Hae-in (17th) appeared on The God of Music 2.
** Lee Hae-in (17th) participated in the Mnet reality competition show Idol School and finished 11th.
** Jeon So-yeon (20th) participated in the Mnet reality rap competition show Unpretty Rapstar 3.
** Ng Sze Kai (23rd), Huh Chan-mi (26th), Park Hae-young (38th), Lim Jeong-min (57th), Kang Si-hyeon (61st), Kim Si-hyeon (69th), and Kim Yun-ji (84th) joined the JTBC and YG Entertainment reality competition show Mix Nine.
** Lee Soo-min (31st) participated in the sixth and final season of K-pop Star. She also appeared on the JTBC and YG Entertainment reality competition show Mix Nine, where she finished 2nd.
** Kim Si-hyeon (40th) and Park Min-ji (71st) participated in Produce 48.
** Lim Hyo-sun (99th) participated in The Unit.
** Jung Haerim (47th) participated in Queendom Puzzle.
* Some contestants decided to pursue other careers:
** Ahn Yu-mi (63rd) debuted as a model under Blessing Entertainment. After leaving the company, she kept pursuing her modeling and acting career and became a pilates teacher.
* Some contestants left the entertainment industry:
** Lee Soo-min (31st) left the entertainment industry after failing to debut under several companies and is pursuing a university degree instead.

## Vote manipulation investigation

In July 2019, during the final episode of the Produce 101 series' fourth season, Produce X 101, several viewers suspected that the total votes were manipulated after noticing numerical patterns. On August 1, 2019, 272 viewers filed a lawsuit against Mnet, as their on-site text voting service charged ₩100 per vote. On November 18, 2020, the court revealed that the show was manipulated within trainees in the 1st round of voting for Kim Suh-yeon and Seo Hye-Lin, who passed the 1st Elimination. Mnet had changed their ranks to eliminate them. It is not known what their true rank was supposed to be when they were eliminated.