JTBC's Mix Nine - A Contestant Primer, Part 3
Here's another 15 company & contestant profiles for JTBC/YG's Mix Nine! As before I'm starting from the bottom of the official instagram and working my way up. For ease, I'm posting them as individual agencies as much as I can, but grouping agencies together where they're all in the same audition group. In this post we have ex-group members, some girl groups, an UPRS2 contestant, and the girl from the She's A Baby music video.
PART 1 HERE | PART 2 HERE
31. CS ENTERTAINMENT - MIXED TRAINEES INC. THE SHORTIES
UPRS2 contestant Moon Sua is no longer a YG trainee - she's under CS Entertainment, which houses Lady Jane and is apparently looking to create a new idol group. It also housed the Shorties/Jjarimongttang, who never officially disbanded but haven't promoted since 2015, and two of their members (Yeo Inhye, Ryu Taekyung) will be competing on Mix 9 alongside Moon Sua. They're also sending their PD101 S2 contestant, Jo Jinhyung, back into auditioning. Their other three boys are Jang Giseob, Shin Donggyun, and Son Hyojung.
Check out Moon Sua's UPRS verses and performances, as well as The Shorties' releases.
32. DOUBLEV - FEMALE TRAINEES INC. WA$$UP'S DAIN
A theme for this show seems to be 'get one ex-group/audition show member and then send the rest of your trainees' which is exactly what DoubleV have done. Dain (Song Jieun) left Wa$$up earlier this year alongside Nada and Jinju. She will be competing with DoubleV's other female trainees, Moon Hyeyoung, Gu Minhee and Kang Jiwon.
33. MAROO ENTERTAINMENT - BONUSBABY + MALE TRAINEES
Click to viewMaroo Entertainment houses an eclectic roster of artists, from Running Man castmember Kim Jongkook to UPRS contestant/ex-The Ark member Euna Kim, as well as the remaining members of 2006 boy group Supernova. They'll be sending all six members of BONUSbaby, who debuted on the 1st January this year. BONUSbaby have generally had various 15 minutes of fame due to how Maroo disbanded their previous girl group MyB in order to put two of their members into BONUSbaby, and how their stage costumes for If I Become An Adult included baby bibs. The ex-myB members are Choi Moonhee and Jung Hayoon, and the other four are Kim Chaehyun, Kim Dayun, Beom Gaon, and Kongyoo/Kong Yoojin. They are also sending one extra female trainee, Ahn Dabi, seen playing the keyboard at Mix Nine's instagram post. BONUSbaby have a wealth of dance covers that you can check out on youtube. Maroo's male trainees may be of interest to Wanna One fans as they're likely to be the group Park Jihoon debuts with. They are Hwang Dongjoon, Lee Jaesung, Son Joonhyung, Jo Youngho, Shin Minchan and Kim Jungwoo, as well as almost-PD101 S2 competitor Han Jongyeon, who was dropped from the programme before it aired due to a bullying scandal.
34. MAJOR9 - MIXED TRAINEES
As far as musical acts go, Major9 (previously The Vibe Label) hosts more indie acts and bands and few idols - 4MEN is as close as it gets. They're sending six female trainees (left to right: Lee Seungmi, Cha Joohyun, Park Hyeri, Kim Sunhong, Im Sohyeon, Lee Soohyun) and three male trainees (Park Jungok, Hiro, Han Seungmin), none of whom represented them on PD101 S2. As to what's happening to those four, our only clue is the company disagreement that prevented Kim Taedong from debuting in JBJ.
35. A100 ENTERTAINMENT - NEON PUNCH
Neon Punch haven't debuted yet - they're currently releasing a predebut reality through A100 Entertainment's youtube, and will debut late this year or early 2018. It probably depends on how well they do on this programme - it's an interesting choice, choosing to potentially split up a five-member group just before debut. All five members are competing (Dayeon/Hwang Yunkyung, Lee Hajeong, Baekah/Kim Sua, Ian/Lian(?)/Yoo Dongjoo, Arang/Son Minjung), as well as a trainee that A100 have billed their 'secret weapon', Jeon Yeim. Perhaps either a solo debut or being added to Neon Punch are in her future.
36. MILLION MARKET - WOO TAEWOON (EX-SPEED)
Since Speed disbanded, former member Woo Taewoon (real name Jiseok, sometimes known as ₩uNo; he was with them even in the days of CoEd School) has been trying to make a go of it as a soloist, appearing on SMTM in 2015 and forming a group called Royal Class with several other independent rappers (including KittiB from UPRS2 and Mino, who almost debuted with Taewoon's twin brother, Zico). He's taken part in lyric-writing for idol song since 2014 as well as dabbling in producing, including for fellow Mix Nine competitors 2EYES and JJCC. Apparently he and Million Market are up for another shot at the idol life.
37. KIWI MEDIA - EX-SPEED OH SUNGJONG/TAEHA/IONE
It's a reunion! Taeha joined Speed in October 2012, about eight months after Speed officialy debuted as their own group separate from their original group, Coed School. In 2015, Speed disbanded quietly - the only real announcement was MBK deleting the artist profile from their website. Afterwards the members pursued different paths - Taeha redebuted as soloist 'IONE', and is now competing as trainee Oh Sungjong under Kiwi Media, reuniting with Taewoon for their audition.
38. NO COMPANY - EX-A-JAX MOON JIHU/HYOJUNG
Auditioning with Woo Taewoon and Oh Sungjong is Moon Jihu, an ex-member of A-JAX who changed his birth name to 'Jihu' from 'Hyojung' while in the group, which is the name A-JAX fans might remember him by. The 91-liner left the group in February 2016, and has pursued acting and modelling since then. While he initially remained under DSP Media after leaving the group, he is auditioning for Mix Nine with no company backing.
39. IMEKOREA - FEMALE TRAINEES
IMEKOREA houses musician WAX as well as a host of actors and a few other singers, and are apparently preparing to debut an idol group. They're sending five girls (left to right: Kim Joohyun, Park Jinsol, Park Soomin, Ahn Hanbyul, Park Eunjo) and four boys (Kim Hankyul, Kim Sungyeon, Park Joonhyun, Lee Eunseo). Their audition outfits already seem coherent with a certain image, so we might see one of these debut quite soon!
40. JTG ENTERTAINMENT - BERRY GOOD
Berry Good debuted with six members under Asia Bridge Entertainment in 2014, swapped out three original members for two new ones pretty instantly, transferred to JTG Entertainment in 2016, and have been slowly catching small amounts of public interest since, but nothing remarkable. They added a sixth member in late 2016, coinciding with a move towards a more mature image. All six members (Taeha/Yoo Joo, Johyun/Shin Jiwon, Seoyul/Seo Yuri, Daye/Kim Hyunjung, Kang Sehyung, Gowoon/Moon Yujeong) will be competing. Fun fact; Seoyul is AOA Yuna's little sister, and it's her dream to sing a duet on TV with her sister one day.
41. SUBLIME - EX-JYP TRAINEE MINAMI RIHO
Sublime's Minami Riho is an ex JYP trainee, who left JYP to pursue an acting career in Japan, spent a lot of time modelling, and has apparently now decided to re-pursue an idol career. She's probably best known for starring in Zico's She's A Baby music video, for which netizens apparently dubbed her 'Zico's girl' because they thought she matched him so well. Here's hoping Mix Nine will help her get a more independent title.
42. LOTUS E&M + CODE - FEMALE TRAINES
I couldn't find anything about these two companies. Auditioning with Minami (left) is Park Jinhee from Lotus E&M, and Code's (I saw it translated as this and I don't think that's accurate but I don't know enough Korean to verify it) Han Jiyoon. Perhaps they're all models, or maybe just friends.
43. HUNUS ENTERTAINMENT - ROMEO + ELRIS
Romeo have been through a couple of labels/label rebrandings and are now under Hunus, though whether that's a move or a sublabel acquisition, I don't know. They debuted in 2015 and have kept the same lineup, ranging from '94 to '99. All seven members (Lee Seunghwan, Hwang Yunsung, Milo/Kim Minhak, Minsung/Kim Minhwi, Kyle/Ma Jaekyung, Hyunkyung (Kim Hyunjong), Noh Kangmin) will be auditioning. Hunus are also sending their own creation, girl group Elris, who debuted earlier this year after star member Kim Sohee, a former KPOP Star competitor, released a pre-release solo track. Kim Sohee will actually be sitting this out - perhaps a solo comeback while the other four are competing? - and her members (Bella/Choi Yoona, Yang Hyesung, Lee Yukyung, Min Karin) will be joined by Hunus company trainee Yoo Haeun.
44. CHOON ENTERTAINMENT - FEMALE TRAINEES
Choon sent two competitors to PD101 S2, and turned them into a duo - Longguo&Sihyun. They're sending a lot more competitors to Mix Nine, but if Longguo&Sihyun are the standard, we'll see a debut from these trainees pretty soon. This time they're sending the girls, and they're sending ten of them. Left to right is Seo Yoorim, Kim Seohyun, Kim Somi, Choi Nara, Hong Jiyoon, Hong Joohyun, Bae Yoonhwi, Park Sohee, Kim Jiyoon, and Kim Seungeun.
45. NO COMPANY - PRODUCE 101 CHOI DONG-HA
Choi Dongha placed 63rd on PD101 S2, so it's not a huge unfairness that he still hasn't been signed. Still, Mix Nine might offer him that extra little bit of exposure and another chance to shine. Even if he doesn't make it to the final group, he could at least finally get signed by an agency. It's a reminder that for some of these trainees, just getting into the competition is valuable exposure.
sources: jtbc.mixnine (2, 3, 4, 5, 6), BONUSbaby, A100 Entertainment, 1theK (2), IONE_OFFICIAL, A. JAX, CJENMMUSIC OFFICIAL (2), Mnet Official
I'm lowkey glad I accidentally deleted this because I'd skimmed over a few of these in the original. I'm pretty sure I didn't realise Jihu was an AJAX member before! I have been informed that instead of a Mix Nine tag we have a survival show tag, which is a much better idea.
STAN TALENT, STAN BERRY GOOD.