[Text/Observer Network Ruan Jiaqi] In South Korea, where idol artists are constantly changing, making a debut on the well-known talent show "Produce 101", which has created super popular groups such as IOI and WANNAONE, has become the dream of countless trainees.

[Text/Observer Network Ruan Jiaqi]

In Korea, where idol artists are constantly changing, making a debut on the well-known talent show "Produce 101", which has created super popular groups such as IOI and WANNAONE, has become the dream of countless trainees. .

But now the "101 Series" has become a street rat - according to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean police confirmed today (14th) that starting from the first season of the draft held in 2016, all four seasons of the "Produce 101" series were fraudulent.

The program director Ahn Joon-young and producer Kim Yong-beom, who were arrested on the 5th, were handed over to the prosecutor for review and prosecution today. In addition, eight other people involved in the case were placed under investigation.

The girl group IZ*ONE in the third season and the boy group X1, which just debuted in the fourth season, are currently at a standstill due to the "faking scandal". They are unable to appear on singing shows and have lost many advertising endorsements.

Faced with requests from the respective original agencies of the two group members to disband the groups, the agency CJ EM stated that they would wait for the results of the investigation to be released before discussing. However, it has been revealed that some members are currently emotional and have filed for disbandment.

IZ*ONE, a Japanese-Korean girl group that debuted in the third season of "Produce 101". Photo from the official website

According to Yonhap News Agency's report on the 14th, the director of the Korean idol talent show "Produce 101" was arrested by the court on the 5th for allegedly tampering with voting results through secret operations. Ahn Joon Young and producer Kim Yong Bum were handed over to the prosecutor for review and prosecution today.

Ahn Joon-young and others are suspected of operating behind the scenes during the live competitions from the first to the fourth season of the show, fabricating the results of viewers' paid SMS voting and selecting specific trainees.

At present, Ahn Joon Young has confessed to the police that he tampered with the player rankings of the third and fourth seasons. The police also revealed that they have learned that the production team and some trainees' agencies manipulated the contestants' rankings.

After investigation, Ahn Joon-young has accepted entertainment from multiple entertainment agencies in entertainment venues many times since last year, and the total amount of bribes involved reached tens of millions of Korean won (approximately RMB 100,000 to 500,000).

The police believe that there were secret operations in all four seasons of the show. In addition to the creative staff, more than 10 people, including employees of the entertainment agency and executives of CJ Entertainment Media, the operator of the mnet channel, were also placed under investigation. Among them, a non-prosecution opinion was issued against two persons related to the planning company.

The announcement of the "full series of fraud scandals" not only cast a shadow over the group groups IOI and WANNA ONE in the first two seasons (both of which have expired and disbanded);

IOI, which debuted in the first season of 2016,

the second season of 2017 The debut of WANNA ONE

caused a devastating blow to the future careers of IZ*ONE and X1 who are currently active in the Korean music scene.

According to South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo, IZ*ONE, which was originally scheduled to release its first regular album on the 11th of this month, has urgently canceled new song releases and other activities, and the album release plan has been postponed. Not only is it unable to appear on the three major channels of SBS, KBS, and MBC All singing programs and programs to promote the new album will also be cut.

Promotional photos for new album "BLOOM*IZ"

X1, which just debuted in July this year, is currently at a complete stagnation in its career. According to the original plan, X1, the limited group , will be active for 5 years.

Both groups have decided not to participate in the Mnet Asian Music Awards MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) to be held in Japan on December 4.

Since both IZ*ONE and X1 have been labeled as "fake groups", even if they remain unchanged, it will be difficult to continue activities in Korea in the future. Some members' former agencies have requested CJ EM to cancel the group disbanded, but CJ EM stated that they will wait for the investigation results to be released before discussing.

According to the Korean media "JOYNEWS24", some members have admitted that they have been greatly affected mentally: "There is no way to continue group activities, and I hope they can disband."

After 4 years, the "Produce 101" series of auditions has become South Korea's The iconic representative of the idol talent show has been exported to China, Japan, and Thailand to produce local versions, which has huge influence.

During the investigation of "Produce 101", several other talent shows organized by the same TV station mnet were also suspected by the police of "secret operations."

For example, in the "Idol School" broadcast in 2017, 9 people were finally selected from 41 candidates, and fromis_9 formed a group.

Picture from Visual China

Trainee Lee Hae-in, who continued to be popular in the show but unexpectedly fell out of the debut circle, posted on social media in October and exposed the following: unnamed members, fraudulently signed contracts, poor accommodation conditions, no meals, disguised imprisonment, etc. Lots of shady shows.

Promotional picture of Lee Hae-in in the "Idol School" talent show

On October 17, Lee Hae-in cried out about the program's shady story in "PD Manual"