IZ*ONE Looks to the Future After Seeing Major Success With Debut Single 'La Vie En Rose': Exclusive
3/1/2019 by Tamar Herman
Courtesy of OFF THE RECORD Entertainment
IZ*ONE
They say that third time’s a charm, but it’s more of a star in the case of IZ*ONE -- at least based on how they stylize their name. The latest temporary K-pop group to come out of South Korean channel Mnet’s Produce series, the 12-member team follows in the successful footsteps of I.O.I and Wanna One after being formed through the reality competition series’ third season, last year’s Produce 48. But unlike their predecessors, the new group is a blend of K-pop star hopefuls and a trio of women who have already launched careers in Japan’s AKB48 and its associated sister groups, and will release both Korean and Japanese music.
After the 12 women were announced as the top competitors on Produce 48 in August, IZ*ONE released their first song “La Vie En Rose” at the end of October. The single with its vivid soundscape promptly topped charts in Korea, and debut EP COLOR*IZ premiered at No. 9 on the World Albums chart. One of the the must-watch K-pop rookie acts of the year, Billboard spoke to IZ*ONE in Korea in December about their career so far and what they hoped to achieve before their time together comes to an end after the planned two and a half years.
Congratulation on your debut! How are you guys feeling nowadays ?
Wonyoung: We’re so grateful and thankful for all the love we’ve received so far, and we’re going to try our hardest to succeed and show everyone what we can do in the future.
Your song “La Vie En Rose” became a great success. What about it do you think appeals to listeners ?
Yujin: “La Vie En Rose” was just released but it’s already received a lot of love. We’re really thankful for that. We think it’s done really well because we each have our own separate styles and colors, and in that sense we were able to show different charms from each one of us through the song and music video.
Your song “La Vie En Rose” became a great success. What about it do you think appeals to listeners ?
You actually each have a color assigned to you. What’s the significance, and which member do you think fits her color best?
Chaeyeon: Yena represents yellow, and I think it matches her really well because she’s as charming as the color. She has a really bright energy.
Yena: Thank you.
What were your first thoughts when you heard “La Vie En Rose” ?
Eunbi: We first heard the song when we were altogether in the practice studio. When we heard it, it was so much better than anything we had been expecting. It was much more powerful than we had expected. It was an earworm. Because we liked it so much it made us prepare for it with a lot of energy.
Chaeyeon: There are a lot of members that have shown bright and cute images of themselves through Produce 48 so we thought the powerful nature of the song would be a pleasant surprise and something different than from what the audience expected.
Wonyoung: That may be a factor behind its success, we think.
What did you think about the choreography ?
Wonyoung: We can’t deny that at first it was hard because it’s that powerful of a choreography. But once we got better at it and looked at the final results, we felt it was so great that all of our hard work was worth it.
What other songs on your debut EP do you especially like, and why?
Yuri: There’s a song called “Colors” and, like “La Vie En Rose” it reflects IZ*ONE and all we have to offer.
Can you explain the meaning of your group name ?
Eunbi: The name of the group was actually created by our fans, WIZ*ONE [pronounced weeze-One]. It refers to the moment that we, 12 stars, come together as IZ*ONE [pronounced Eyes-One] like the 12 astrological signs, which is why there’s a star.
You’re the first integrated group to come out of Produce 48 that blends the K-pop and J-pop world. How has it been working out with both Korean and Japanese members ?
Yena: At first, we had a lot of concerns and were worried because we couldn’t communicate verbally. We were worried about our teamwork because we can’t really speak to one another directly. But maybe because we can’t talk easily, we try harder to communicate and understand one another, and things have turned out better than we expected.
A few of you knew each other prior to Produce 48 but largely you were grouped together by viewers. What are some of the difficulties or biggest surprises you’ve encountered while working together? [ Wonyoung and Yujin are both signed to Korea’s Starship Entertainment and Eunbi and Chaewon to Woollim Entertainment, while Nako, Sakura, and Hitomi are all part of the AKB48 structure, with the former pair part of the Fukuoka-based team, HKT48.]
Chaeyeon: We started on Produce 48 and it wasn’t an easy path so therefore our bond is much deeper. Though our time period between the show and our first release wasn’t very long, our bond is very strong because we went through that experience together.
Wonyoung: Since Produce 48, there were language barriers and some cultural differences but because we went through the competition together as a group there weren’t as many difficulties to overcome. Communication and language barrier has been the biggest thing we’ve had to overcome.
Knowing that there’s a lifespan on IZ*ONE’s time together, what are some things you want to achieve over the next few years ?
Eunbi: It’s the beginning of our two and a half year promotional period together. We definitely want to try and receive newcomer awards and go on a lot of big stages before we reach our end. We want to go on global stages, maybe do a world tour that will take us to the Americas and Europe, and be able to interact with our fans a lot over that time.
Yoon Ji Sung is starring in the musical “The Days” and is making his solo debut in February. He is expected to enlist sometime in the first half of the year.
"The Days" Musical poster promo (jisung oppaaaaa)
Kang Daniel, who is under the same agency as Yoon Ji Sung, is reportedly making his solo debut after Yoon Ji Sung.
K-Pop star Kang Daniel has achieved a new record for the Fastest time to gain one million followers on Instagram after joining the social media platform on New Year's Day.
Kang quickly gained one million fans, breaking a record previously held by the Pope Francis, who reached 1 million in 12 hours after debuting his verified Vatican Media channel 'franciscus' back in 2016.
The 22-year-old's first post, a selfie with the caption 'HELLO', appeared on 1 January 2019 at 10:00 p.m. PST (Pacific Standard Time) before the channel hit 1 million followers on 2 January at 09:36 a.m. PST, achieving the new record in 11 hours 36 minutes.
Kim Jae Hwan is preparing to make a solo debut also. As he writes his own songs, he will likely release solo music once he has good songs written.
jaehwan x sewoon collab lassgooooo~
As confirmed by Pledis Entertainment, Hwang Min Hyun will be joining NU’EST again. The agency commented, “Hwang Min Hyun is returning to the team after concluding the Wanna One concerts.”
siap release teaser kepulangan anak yang dirindu yach, khelassss. Tepat 1 January 2019 12am KST pulak tu Pledis release, tazzabar nampaknya
NU’EST W Epilogue
On whether Ha Sung Woon will be returning with HOTSHOT or debuting as a solo artist, his agency Star Crew Entertainment responded that nothing has been decided yet, similar to their previous response.
rasanya dah boleh confirm la kot, lepas taehyun debut then sungwoon. tapi nape tah iols dapat rasa Hotshot ni nanti disband jugak.
Lee Dae Hwi and Park Woo Jin are making their debut as a group with MXM’s Lim Young Min and Kim Dong Hyun. Their agency Brand New Music shared, “We are planning for an official debut in about April or May after the members are finalized.”
So far BNM boss senyap je lol. kalau tidak time W1 masih ada dok sibuk interview kiri kanan cakap pasal BNM boys debut Iols syak heols masih membisu kerna kes San E belum reda kot.
According to the report, Lai Guan Lin is heading to China in February to film a drama and will debut with Cube Entertainment’s upcoming boy group in Korea later on.
Rumours cakap cite cintan-cintun remaja, sesuai la kot dengan dik linlin.
Ong Seong Woo is likely to star in upcoming JTBC drama “Eighteen,” which he was previously reported to be starring in.
Iols pasti merindukan idol Ong sobsss Ong cakap heols akan jadi singer juga, tapi taktau la joget-joget ke ballad kan hoho
Park Ji Hoon’s future plans have not been determined specifically, but the plan is for him to take on both acting and music. His agency Maroo Entertainment revealed, “He has received offers for several dramas. There is a drama being considered, but a decision has not been made yet. Also, he has the will to be a singer, so he plans on carrying out activities in both fields.”
okay kot winkboy berlakon drama. fans heols sepertinya bakal riot kalau heols debut dalam group.
Bae Jin Young has reportedly also received several drama offers, but it appears that he will focus on music for the time being. Various options are being considered for him to debut in a group rather than solo.
C9 mohon jangan peram dik Baejin lama sangat (ada rumours C9 tengah cari staff baru sebab ada major reshuffle which affect all C9 artists huhu)
Official Account W1 members buat semua yang merindui
Diorang still guna fancafe & twitter W1, rasanya atleast sampai habis concert January ni kot. Siap ada official live streaming untuk fans Japan and Taiwan kat cinema hall. Hebat kan Swing, sampai ke saat akhir reti buat duit
Excited nak tengok plan masing-masing. Too bad Jisung dapat kerja sekejap je, lepas tu kena enlist pulak huhu.
Iols pura-pura comma waktu 31 December tu supaya tak rasa sedih sa ...
hahahaha..siap koma yach
iols pura2 xreti diorg nk disband
slow2 je tgk show diorg yg belum tgk
tahniah daniel mng award mbc!
sedih gak jisung keje kejap je
tp ensem sgt ye gmbar musical tu
Yeay.. Wanna one pun dah disband, tinggal Final Con je nanti.. Iols pun nak beransur-ansur move on untuk sementara waktu ni.. Memandangkan Kang Daniel takde perancangan untuk debut dalam awal tahun ni kan.. Ada try masuk fancafe Jihoon. Tapi terpaksa ignore sebab semua dalam bahasa korea.. nak up ke level2 kena beli fanclub kit pulakkkkk.. tunggu untuk kang daniel punya je lah nanti.. nanti kalau sesapa bukak thread untuk Wanna One members tolong tag iols k.. BYEEEEE..
takpe kejap je since diorang dah pendekkan enlistment period kan. dah keluar nanti boleh la berlakon musical sampai lebam. sesuai sangat heols buat musical, nak jadi idol leceh skit tambah ngan umur dia tu, selalu jadi bahan untuk antis drag je.
Update official social media account round two *ding ding ding
Post time 1-1-2019 12:34 PM
Author
Iols syak heols masih membisu kerna kes San E belum reda kot.
Ong cakap heols akan jadi singer juga, tapi taktau la joget-joget ke ballad kan hoho
