What would you have done for the I.O.I members after disbandment?

[Anii]

@YooJeong's recent thread about Sejeong got me thinking about I.O.I. once again. Looking at the current situations of the members, what would you have done for each I.O.I member after disbandment to ensure the best possible outcome? Being specific would be good!

[seokii]

hindsight is always 20/20

I probably would have split them into their own groups like their own managements did.

Looking back we know rushing those debuts was a mistake, but it would have been hard to foresee that when IOI set the precedent for these temporary groups

[Simpatico]

For Chungha - Almost nothing. MNH has handled her career brilliantly. She's a top soloist now making millions (enough the company could put out its own girl group) and is producing great music. She is always busy, has plenty of CFs and variety appearences and soon I think she will put her English proficiency to use and break into the Western market. I've always thought since "Why Don't You Know" that Chungha is the Kpop soloist that could become the biggest global star.

For Nayoung- I would have made Pristin work (that's a whole other story) and also given her the work she clearly craved and was not getting (the minute she left Pledis, she signed with another company and started modeling/acting).

For Somi - I would have had her stay in JYP and debut in Itzy. I'm sure she's happy in a solo career and I really believe she left JYP because they were going to deny her solo schedules (like they do Twice) but Somi deserves to be the center of a super girl group of her own. 

For Chaeyeon - Not much you can do differently signed to MBK. At least they were getting her good roles as an actress before her hiatus (from DIA and acting in general) last year. Once DIA disbands (not that I want them to but again this is MBK), Chaeyeon should head for one of the big acting agencies - she's quite talented and a good career ahead of her.

For Sohye - Nothing different. Sohye is slowly building a good career as an actress with some lead roles already on the major networks and she has her own agency run by her parents which means she collects all her salary and picks all her parts and endorsements.

For Kyulkyung - See what I said about Pristin. But right now she is probably doing financially better in China than she ever would have in Korea.

For Yeonjung - Putting her in WJSN was a godsend to her and to the group. Her first song with them "Secret" really secured the WJSN sound and concept. The group is also the only one of the "IOI" groups that is doing really well (even without the Chinese members for two years). Yeonjung also has really outgoing and extroverted personality (which the IOI antis used against her) but which would really do well in variety shows. She deserves to be pushed as a soloist by Starship too, though she's still young enough for that to wait.

For Mina - She really did well coming out of IOI. Hosted one of the music shows, was on a hit drama with IU with a significant role. The only thing I would do is not have Jellyfish mismanage Gugudan into the ground and give them regular comebacks.

For Sejeong - See my comments on Gugudan. Her solo career could have been managed better but right now she's on hit shows and is coming off her own self-composed single album. I would not have Jellyfish let the Sejeong akgaes dictate what happened to Gugudan (Over 40% of "The Boots" is just Sejeong) leading the company to prioritize Sejeong and only Sejeong over all other members (even Mina). Seriously, just like at the Gugudan IG account and its about only one member. Sejeong herself didn't want that. You could tell she loved Gugudan as much as she did IOI.

For Yoojung - I think Fantagio originally did a good job. Yoojung was all over variety shows (even starring in her own) before Weki Meki debuted. They've started to put her into acting roles now too but she really flourishes in variety - the female Heechul. Weki Meki really hasn't been as successful as it should be but I give Fantagio credit for not giving up like Jellyfish and Pledis and they do produce good music. 

For Doyeon - Again, I think Fantagio did a good job and yes she does have some modeling contacts with Maybelline. But we are probably talking about this generation's Nana. Doyeon is multi-talented, extremely funny/dorky, is learning English fairly quickly (and already knows quite a bit of French). Weki Meki may be too small for what her career could be. Like Chungha she she could be a global star.

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Simpatico

[YooJeong]

Personally:

-Waited to debut Gugudan/kept all the members in IOI until the contract rather than debuting them in other groups 

-If I was Jellyfish I would have promoted Gugudan better and also ensured Sejeong rode out her popularity with songs after Flower Way. While also pushing the talents of Gugudan.

-Would have debuted Somi as a solo ASAP (granted her switching agencies did mess with her timeline so can’t really do much there)

-I actually think Somi should have debuted in Itzy because she shines more in a group and the other members are charming enough and talented that I really honestly don’t think she would’ve overshadowed them. Maybe at first but I think quickly Yuna Yeji and everyone else would have boomed in popularity and it would’ve evened out. Plus Ryunjin was the Somi of her own reality show which really helped. 

-Chungha did great so for her I wouldn’t change a thing.

-Chaeyeon is better off as an actress than anything else so I think honestly just pushing her in that way more would have helped her. But generally she did well esp. with the dramas she did have. 

-Pristine was doing great and had amazing potential. I don’t know what’s wrong with Pledis. But if they had just kept promoting Pristin well it would’ve worked out.

-Doyeon debuting as an actress would have worked out so well. Yoojung desperately needed solo content. She was my favorite after Sejeong in P101 and I haven’t heard anything. About her in ages. I think promoting her more solo would have helped Weki Meki too. 
 

-Yeonjung and WJSN are doing pretty well so idk but I think it’s all about momentum. Sejeong and Yeonjung’s companies should really have pushed them on as many OST and vocal shows as possible because they were very very popular vocalists. 
 

basically I just think better promotions and also all the IOI members that went solo seemed to have done the best (Somi, Chungha, I wouldn’t count Sejeong as a solo but her solo promotions have been plentiful and successful where Gugudan wasn’t). So I guess more solo promotions. I know everyone fears a Miss A-Suzy situation but that would’ve been inevitable with IOI members so I think pushing these members would have ultimately helped their groups more too. The SeMiNa subunit came way too late. 
 

Edited January 15, 2021 by YooJeong

[Simpatico]

13 minutes ago, YooJeong said:

Personally:

-Waited to debut Gugudan/kept all the members in IOI until the contract rather than debuting them in other groups 

-If I was Jellyfish I would have promoted Gugudan better and also ensured Sejeong rode out her popularity with songs after Flower Way. While also pushing the talents of Gugudan.

 

-Yeonjung and WJSN are doing pretty well so idk but I think it’s all about momentum. Sejeong and Yeonjung’s companies should really have pushed them on as many OST and vocal shows as possible because they were very very popular vocalists. 
 

 

Now that I think about it I would probably have debuted Gugudan WITHOUT Sejeong and Mina (kept them in IOI) since it would have been unfair to someone like Hana or Mimi (already mid-20s) to wait another year. Then have them join in the next comeback, making the public more interested in said next comeback (which would have been "A Girl Like Me" which deserved to be a hit) because of the IOI members now being there.

Also, both Sejeong and Yeonjung have both already done a ton of OSTs (Yeonjung is only 21 international age and has more OSTs than most of her seniors) but I do agree getting them both on shows where they could show off their singing would have helped. Post IOI Sejeong was on a ton of variety shows but rarely sung in most of them.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Simpatico

[Anii]

17 minutes ago, Simpatico said:

For Chungha - Almost nothing. MNH has handled her career brilliantly. She's a top soloist now making millions (enough the company could put out its own girl group) and is producing great music. She is always busy, has plenty of CFs and variety appearences and soon I think she will put her English proficiency to use and break into the Western market. I've always thought since "Why Don't You Know" that Chungha is the Kpop soloist that could become the biggest global star.

For Nayoung- I would have made Pristin work (that's a whole other story) and also given her the work she clearly craved and was not getting (the minute she left Pledis, she signed with another company and started modeling/acting).

For Somi - I would have had her stay in JYP and debut in Itzy. I'm sure she's happy in a solo career and I really believe she left JYP because they were going to deny her solo schedules (like they do Twice) but Somi deserves to be the center of a super girl group of her own. 

For Chaeyeon - Not much you can do differently signed to MBK. At least they were getting her good roles as an actress before her hiatus (from DIA and acting in general) last year. Once DIA disbands (not that I want them to but again this is MBK), Chaeyeon should head for one of the big acting agencies - she's quite talented and a good career ahead of her.

For Sohye - Nothing different. Sohye is slowly building a good career as an actress with some lead roles already on the major networks and she has her own agency run by her parents which means she collects all her salary and picks all her parts and endorsements.

For Kyulkyung - See what I said about Pristin. But right now she is probably doing financially better in China than she ever would have in Korea.

For Yeonjung - Putting her in WJSN was a godsend to her and to the group. Her first song with them "Secret" really secured the WJSN sound and concept. The group is also the only one of the "IOI" groups that is doing really well (even without the Chinese members for two years). Yeonjung also has really outgoing and extroverted personality (which the IOI antis used against her) but which would really do well in variety shows. She deserves to be pushed as a soloist by Starship too, though she's still young enough for that to wait.

For Mina - She really did well coming out of IOI. Hosted one of the music shows, was on a hit drama with IU with a significant role. The only thing I would do is not have Jellyfish mismanage Gugudan into the ground and give them regular comebacks.

For Sejeong - See my comments on Gugudan. Her solo career could have been managed better but right now she's on hit shows and is coming off her own self-composed single album. I would not have Jellyfish let the Sejeong akgaes dictate what happened to Gugudan (Over 40% of "The Boots" is just Sejeong) leading the company to prioritize Sejeong and only Sejeong over all other members (even Mina). Seriously, just like at the Gugudan IG account and its about only one member. Sejeong herself didn't want that. You could tell she loved Gugudan as much as she did IOI.

For Yoojung - I think Fantagio originally did a good job. Yoojung was all over variety shows (even starring in her own) before Weki Meki debuted. They've started to put her into acting roles now too but she really flourishes in variety - the female Heechul. Weki Meki really hasn't been as successful as it should be but I give Fantagio credit for not giving up like Jellyfish and Pledis and they do produce good music. 

For Doyeon - Again, I think Fantagio did a good job and yes she does have some modeling contacts with Maybelline. But we are probably talking about this generation's Nana. Doyeon is multi-talented, extremely funny/dorky, is learning English fairly quickly (and already knows quite a bit of French). Weki Meki may be too small for what her career could be. Like Chungha she she could be a global star.

For the most part, we share the same thoughts! I agree that Pledis shouldn't have given up on Pristin so early. They clearly had potential. I would've preferred Somi in JYP too but she seems to be happier under TBL as she can be a soloist. It's interesting to think about an alternate timeline where Yuna didn't debut and Somi debuted in Itzy instead. I'm glad Starship added Yeonjung to WJSN. I'm also glad that Fantagio hasn't given up on Weki Meki.

About Gugudan, as much as it pains me to say this, there were probably too many members? They should've kept SeMiNa and then added 2 or 3 more members like Hana and Sally. Or they could've debuted SeMiNa and the other Gugudan members as separate groups? Idk. I think they really pissed off a lot of fans when Sejeong and Mina promoted as Gugudan members during the I.O.I subunit promotions. Ultimately, Jellyfish's poor management is to blame and the whole group could've thrived if their company did better.

[tuut]

 i feel like jellyfish should've let sejeong and mina promote properly with ioi and then push them as soloists after the disbandment because tbh they can hold their own in the industry 

Spoiler

gugudan could have had a diff ending with 7 members; nayoung wasnt lacking in anything, skills wise, and wouldve been a stable centre for the group + the other members had decent predebut hype iirc. granted all 9 girls trained tgt and have a good r/s but jellyfish's mismanagement aside, considering how big sejeong was at that time, in many ways the situation was to be expected

kyulkyung and nayoung had it set out for them with pristin. what would i have done? just manage the damn group properly 

Spoiler

if you think about it there was decent hype with 7 of pristin members having been on produce + the predebut exposure as Pledis Girlz. 

unlike gugudan the popularity in pristin was more balanced and couldve worked out well for the group whilst giving space for kyulkyung's and nayoung's solo schedules. if you think about it honestly, pristin has more similarities with (g)-idle - the members participated in writing music, kyulkyung could have had side gigs in China and im sure it was no problem to get nayoung booked domestically 

with somi, im in two minds about whether i see her more as a soloist or in a girl group. i love what she's been putting out and doing with her current label and i know for a fact jyp would not have handled her solo debut the same way. at the same time there are moments where i think somi could do with some support on stage for e.g. if she were in a girl group, but again jyp would not prioritize solo schedules over group schedules had she gone with itzy and idk how things would've worked out if she was in a girl group under a diff label 

 

the other ioi members seem to thriving in their own right so

Edited January 15, 2021 by tuut

[Anii]

31 minutes ago, YooJeong said:

Personally:

-Waited to debut Gugudan/kept all the members in IOI until the contract rather than debuting them in other groups 

-If I was Jellyfish I would have promoted Gugudan better and also ensured Sejeong rode out her popularity with songs after Flower Way. While also pushing the talents of Gugudan.

-Would have debuted Somi as a solo ASAP (granted her switching agencies did mess with her timeline so can’t really do much there)

-I actually think Somi should have debuted in Itzy because she shines more in a group and the other members are charming enough and talented that I really honestly don’t think she would’ve overshadowed them. Maybe at first but I think quickly Yuna Yeji and everyone else would have boomed in popularity and it would’ve evened out. Plus Ryunjin was the Somi of her own reality show which really helped. 

-Chungha did great so for her I wouldn’t change a thing.

-Chaeyeon is better off as an actress than anything else so I think honestly just pushing her in that way more would have helped her. But generally she did well esp. with the dramas she did have. 

-Pristine was doing great and had amazing potential. I don’t know what’s wrong with Pledis. But if they had just kept promoting Pristin well it would’ve worked out.

-Doyeon debuting as an actress would have worked out so well. Yoojung desperately needed solo content. She was my favorite after Sejeong in P101 and I haven’t heard anything. About her in ages. I think promoting her more solo would have helped Weki Meki too. 
 

-Yeonjung and WJSN are doing pretty well so idk but I think it’s all about momentum. Sejeong and Yeonjung’s companies should really have pushed them on as many OST and vocal shows as possible because they were very very popular vocalists. 
 

basically I just think better promotions and also all the IOI members that went solo seemed to have done the best (Somi, Chungha, I wouldn’t count Sejeong as a solo but her solo promotions have been plentiful and successful where Gugudan wasn’t). So I guess more solo promotions. I know everyone fears a Miss A-Suzy situation but that would’ve been inevitable with IOI members so I think pushing these members would have ultimately helped their groups more too. The SeMiNa subunit came way too late. 
 

Pledis is one weird company. It still boggles me that they just abandoned Pristin like that. 

I definitely agree that the companies should've waited for the I.O.I contracts to end before promoting their idols in their own groups.

Yup, it would've helped if Somi debuted without such a large gap between disbandment and re-debut. She lost some hype as a result.

Doyeon becoming an actress is definitely interesting to think about. I 100% agree that SeMiNa came way too late as well.

And honestly, I was expecting Yeonjung to be pushed to appear on tons of singing shows and OSTs but Starship didn't do that.

Edited January 15, 2021 by PurpleAnii

[Anii]

34 minutes ago, tuut said:

 i feel like jellyfish should've let sejeong and mina promote properly with ioi and then push them as soloists after the disbandment because tbh they can hold their own in the industry 

  Reveal hidden contents

gugudan could have had a diff ending with 7 members; nayoung wasnt lacking in anything, skills wise, and wouldve been a stable centre for the group + the other members had decent predebut hype iirc. granted all 9 girls trained tgt and have a good r/s but jellyfish's mismanagement aside, considering how big sejeong was at that time, in many ways the situation was to be expected

kyulkyung and nayoung had it set out for them with pristin. what would i have done? just manage the damn group properly 

  Reveal hidden contents

if you think about it there was decent hype with 7 of pristin members having been on produce + the predebut exposure as Pledis Girlz. 

unlike gugudan the popularity in pristin was more balanced and couldve worked out well for the group whilst giving space for kyulkyung's and nayoung's solo schedules. if you think about it honestly, pristin has more similarities with (g)-idle - the members participated in writing music, kyulkyung could have had side gigs in China and im sure it was no problem to get nayoung booked domestically 

with somi, im in two minds about whether i see her more as a soloist or in a girl group. i love what she's been putting out and doing with her current label and i know for a fact jyp would not have handled her solo debut the same way. at the same time there are moments where i think somi could do with some support on stage for e.g. if she were in a girl group, but again jyp would not prioritize solo schedules over group schedules had she gone with itzy and idk how things would've worked out if she was in a girl group under a diff label 

 

the other ioi members seem to thriving in their own right so

I think the same about Gugudan! I love all the members with all my heart but debuting such a large group wasn't probably the wisest of decisions. A 7 member group without SeMi would've been a good idea.

Pristin was a different case as there wasn't any huge disparity between the members' popularities like Gugudan. Pledis just messed up real bad.

Somi would've been more well-known had she debuted in Itzy. However, she wouldn't have gotten solo promotions which I think was her priority. Plus, she always seemed to be more a YG fan than a JYP fan in terms of her style and music preferences. So, perhaps TBL was right for Somi cause she seems happy and 'unrestricted' being under such a label. I agree that there are times when Somi could really use some support when performing on stage. She's perfect for a girl group but I guess she didn't want to debut in one.

Edited January 15, 2021 by PurpleAnii

[Simpatico]

14 minutes ago, tuut said:

 i feel like jellyfish should've let sejeong and mina promote properly with ioi and then push them as soloists after the disbandment because tbh they can hold their own in the industry 

  Reveal hidden contents

gugudan could have had a diff ending with 7 members; nayoung wasnt lacking in anything, skills wise, and wouldve been a stable centre for the group + the other members had decent predebut hype iirc. granted all 9 girls trained tgt and have a good r/s but jellyfish's mismanagement aside, considering how big sejeong was at that time, in many ways the situation was to be expected

kyulkyung and nayoung had it set out for them with pristin. what would i have done? just manage the damn group properly 

  Reveal hidden contents

if you think about it there was decent hype with 7 of pristin members having been on produce + the predebut exposure as Pledis Girlz. 

unlike gugudan the popularity in pristin was more balanced and couldve worked out well for the group whilst giving space for kyulkyung's and nayoung's solo schedules. if you think about it honestly, pristin has more similarities with (g)-idle - the members participated in writing music, kyulkyung could have had side gigs in China and im sure it was no problem to get nayoung booked domestically 

with somi, im in two minds about whether i see her more as a soloist or in a girl group. i love what she's been putting out and doing with her current label and i know for a fact jyp would not have handled her solo debut the same way. at the same time there are moments where i think somi could do with some support on stage for e.g. if she were in a girl group, but again jyp would not prioritize solo schedules over group schedules had she gone with itzy and idk how things would've worked out if she was in a girl group under a diff label 

 

the other ioi members seem to thriving in their own right so

I really like Mina but there was (and is) no way she could have been a soloist right after IOI. She was (according to many accounts) the Gugudan member on the bubble of debuting and it was only her placement in P101 that led JF to put her in the the final Gugu lineup.  She also got a lot of flack from anti-s for her weight at the time. She didn't drastically lose weight (too much by her own admission) till the OguOgu sub-unit which came after "A Girl Like Me". 

On the other hand if Sejeong had gone solo and Gugudan had debuted as 8 it might have been better for everyone. Hana is born to be a center (she can dance, sing, lead and has A+ visuals) and yet was still attacked because Sejeong wasn't the center in their debut "Wonderland".

Gugudan should really have done what Pledis did. Kept Mina and Sejeong in IOI, while slowly putting the Gugudan members out there in concerts and YouTube individually so people would come to know them.

Really, the rollout out of Pristin with the Pledis Girlz is still the best of any girl group in the Produce era. Even the three non-P101 members (Sungyeon, Kyla and Yewon/Yehana) had fanbases by the time they debuted which took away any chance of them becoming Nayoung, Pinky & Friends (which is what happened to both DIA and Gugudan). How they screwed Pristin up so bad to the point they not only disbanded within two years but only 4 out of 10 members still wanted to be idols after that, remains one of the biggest mysteries in all of Kpop. 

[tuut]

7 minutes ago, Simpatico said:

I really like Mina but there was (and is) no way she could have been a soloist right after IOI. She was (according to many accounts) the Gugudan member on the bubble of debuting and it was only her placement in P101 that led JF to put her in the the final Gugu lineup.  She also got a lot of flack from anti-s for her weight at the time. She didn't drastically lose weight (too much by her own admission) till the OguOgu sub-unit which came after "A Girl Like Me". 

On the other hand if Sejeong had gone solo and Gugudan had debuted as 8 it might have been better for everyone. Hana is born to be a center (she can dance, sing, lead and has A+ visuals) and yet was still attacked because Sejeong wasn't the center in their debut "Wonderland".

 

aahhh my bad i kinda just meant solo promotions in general for mina and sejeong but yes maybe gugudan could've worked too with 8 

8 minutes ago, Simpatico said:

Really, the rollout out of Pristin with the Pledis Girlz is still the best of any girl group in the Produce era. Even the three non-P101 members (Sungyeon, Kyla and Yewon/Yehana) had fanbases by the time they debuted which took away any chance of them becoming Nayoung, Pinky & Friends (which is what happened to both DIA and Gugudan). How they screwed Pristin up so bad to the point they not only disbanded within two years but only 4 out of 10 members still wanted to be idols after that, remains one of the biggest mysteries in all of Kpop. 

And they had such a distinct musical colour with Wee Woo and We Like i just akjdfhalsfhldj 

24 minutes ago, PurpleAnii said:

I think the same about Gugudan! I love all the members with all my heart but debuting such a large group wasn't probably the wisest of decisions.

Pristin was a different case as there wasn't any huge disparity between the members' popularities like Gugudan. Pledis just messed up real bad.

Somi would've been more well-known had she debuted in Itzy. However, she wouldn't have gotten solo promotions which I think was her priority. Plus, she always seemed to be more a YG fan than a JYP fan in terms of her style and music preferences. So, perhaps TBL was right for Somi cause she seems happy and 'unrestricted' being under such a label. I agree that there are times when Somi could really use some support when performing on stage. She's perfect for a girl group but I guess she didn't want to debut in one.

like u said i do think about the alternative where somi debuted with Itzy instead of Yuna! Esp since Somi would've definitely been super popular but its interesting to see how Yuna's popularity also really took off despite being in a group with members who had such strong pre debut presences 

[Pinkika]

Pristin girls - i really think pristin would of worked better with less members.

chungha - probably debuted her in a group but that's because i can't stand her singing voice

yeonjung - would of debuted her as a solo doing boring ballads

somi - would of debuted her in Itzy

rest of them pretty much the same as what happened to them.

 

[Mrs. Morale]

Somi - Debut soloist under JYPE with great promotions & song. Or in a group with 5 members outside of JYPE

Sejeong - Debut in SeMiNa along with 2 members of Gugudan. Also more OST & solo covers/song

Mina - Same as Sejong ^. Also promote as an actress & MC

Chungha - Same as now 

Pinky - Debut in Pristin with only the 7 members who participated in P101. Don't why they add the other 3, lol. Plus, some solo promotions in China

Nayoung - Same as Pinky but solo promotions in Korea

Yeonjung - She's doing well but I would like them to push as a vocalist. Give her some solo songs/covers & OST. I feel like she is over shadowed in WJSN

Doyeon - Weki Meki should have been 7 members, lol. I want more solo promotions for her, make her the Nana of this generation, please!

Yoojung- Debut in Weki Meki with 7 members only. More variety shows & solo rap songs.

Chaeyeon - Give DIA better songs & promotions. Plus, some solo promotions for Chaeyeon along with some other members. Chaeyeon was over shadowing at one point, I don't want that

Sohye - Same as now. But I want her do some solo songs too

 

 

[YooJeong]

21 hours ago, Simpatico said:

Now that I think about it I would probably have debuted Gugudan WITHOUT Sejeong and Mina (kept them in IOI) since it would have been unfair to someone like Hana or Mimi (already mid-20s) to wait another year. Then have them join in the next comeback, making the public more interested in said next comeback (which would have been "A Girl Like Me" which deserved to be a hit) because of the IOI members now being there.

Also, both Sejeong and Yeonjung have both already done a ton of OSTs (Yeonjung is only 21 international age and has more OSTs than most of her seniors) but I do agree getting them both on shows where they could show off their singing would have helped. Post IOI Sejeong was on a ton of variety shows but rarely sung in most of them.

This is a great idea! Jellyfish should hire you lmao 

Yes, I think they had enough OSTs and such but they only highlighted their singing in shows a few times. 

[My Everything]

Somi - should’ve waited to join itzy

sejeong & Mina - debut gg with nayoung plus one more member 

Doyoung & yoojung - debut gg with 2-3 more members 

nayoung & pinky - debut gg with xiyeon and 2 other members 

yeonjung - either go solo or join wjsn

chungha - solo debut 

Chayeon - go back to DIA

Sohye - should’ve had a solo debut 

[abra]

Chungha - kept the plastic surgeon away from her