Produce 101

**Produce 101** (프로듀스 101) was a survival show that aired on Mnet from January 22 to April 1, 2016.

The show featured 101 Korean female trainees whose goal was to make it into the top 11 by getting votes from the audience. At the finale, the show formed the now disbanded girl group **I.O.I**.

Current Weki Meki members **Elly**, **Yoojung**, **Doyeon** and **Sei** all competed on the show, but only Doyeon and Yoojung made it into I.O.I.

## Episode 1

All the trainees are asked to sit in seats from numbers #1 (being the highest seat on the platform) to #101 (being the lowest seat on the platform). Then in front of the judges each group of trainees from each company will perform their rehearsed song and be graded on a scale of a A-F. A is the highes rank and F is the lowest. In the end of the show **Jeon Somi** is at the top of the rank at number 1.

## Episode 2

   After being sorted into their selected groups they are given their theme song **"Pick Me**. They are then given 3 days to learn the choreography and lyrics of that song and are to be evaluated on it later. After being evaluated for a 2nd time on vocals, dance, and musicality they are sorted into their selected groups. If you are selected into A you can become the center pick and be in the middle of 101 girls. In the lowest rank F you will be backup dancers along the platform. In the end **Choi Yoojung** became the center pick.

## Episode 3 & 4

After the departure of 3 girls and the center pick has been chose the girls are given 10 debut songs from popular girl groups. They are then given a race and the first person to get their song post gets to keep it and use that as their song on stage. Each song is performed live by 2 groups and they will be compared by who gets the most votes by their national producers. Whoever wins their group will get an additional 1000 points in the ending to help boost them in the rankings.

## Episode 5

The 97 trainees (4 have left) are then made to choose a top visual out of all the contestants. **Kyulkyung** takes the first place out of all the contestants as number 1. Soon after the MC announces the trainees who will have made it into the top 61 and saved from elimination after the national producers have voted. The rest of the 36 trainees will leave the show.

## Episode 6

All current trainees are announced to perform live in groups based on which positions they want to debut in. They are given 6 songs for vocals, 4 songs for dance, and 3 songs for rap. There is a limit to each member and the member based on rank gets to choose. Only 35 trainees would remain in the next episode and would recieve an additional 100,000 votes if they won. **Kim Sejeong** remained winner in the vocal category.

## Episode 7

The groups and the dance and rap category are shown. Dance group *"Bang Bang"* by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj are composed of **Choi Yoojung**, **Jeon Somi**, **Kim Doyeon**, **Chungha**, **Kwon Eunbin**, **Kim Danielle**, and **Kim Seo-kyung**. **Kang Mina** became winner in the dance category and **Kim Hyeong-eun** in the rap category.

## Episode 8

Each girl is given an english lesson by watching clips of **Jessi** on Unpretty Rapstar. It is then announced that all 61 girls who still remain may not get to perform to be evaluated. Each girl is given 5 original songs to choose from with the winning team recieving an addditiona 150,000 votes. Their teams are chosen based on category and individual ranking. Only 14 were allowed on each team and the leader of each team can kick any extras out forced to do the same to the next. The eliminations then take place where 1-35 girls remain, **Kim Sejeong** at the first rank and **Lee Su-hyun** at the 35th rank.

## Episode 9

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.

## Episode 10

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.

## Episode 11

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.