Wednesday K-pop! with Liliana: NU’EST and Produce 101 Season 2 (SPOILERS)

Click HERE to read Part 1 of this looooong appreciation post

Hi!

As I ranted waaaay too much on my new favorite boys, I decided to split this post into two, also in order for those who wants to avoid Produce 101 Season 2 FINALE spoilers, to still be able to check out these five amazing boys from NU’EST.

PRODUCE 101 Season 2, or Blessing in disguise?

After also failing to raise up in charts with Overcome and Love Paint (Every Afternoon), the boys made the hardest decision ever: to reverse back their 5-year experience as idols and become once again PLEDIS trainees and go to a survival show called Produce 101 Season 2. Imagine how much hate they received at the beginning. They’ve been accused of cheating, foul play, cursed in any way possible. Everyone thought that they came here just to promote themselves, which is partly true, but no-one knew for the first 4 episodes that their participation in Produce 101 was their last chance ever to stand as NU’EST. If they somehow failed to make it far into the show, it would have meant the end for all of them. The end of NU’EST.

And knowing that, the boys had to swallow their pride and endure the hardships even deeper. They did everything in order to get themselves acknowledged for their actual skills. After all, the recognition they deserved finally came.

• Hwang Minhyun got his nickname as CEO Hwang and Fortune teller Hwang, as he, using his sharp analytical skills, managed to form a perfect combination of stable vocals, flawless teamwork, killer visuals, and outstanding friendship named Sorry Sorry team 2 (and dubbed by fans as Justice League). You need proof? Everyone that had a chance to work with Minhyun in one team got their recognition and ranking rocketing up to the Pluto (including himself: 4 out of 6 in Sorry Sorry team; 4 out of 5 in Downpour vocal team; 7 out of 8 in Never team – all of them made into final 11). He saw talents in those who got little screen time, and he made sure those talents got the spotlight.

• Kim Jonghyun was dubbed as Nation’s Leader, after showing his breathtaking leadership skills in the same Sorry Sorry team 2, guiding and believing in Kwon Hyunbin (YGK+) whom everyone saw as a black hole. This boy gave up his lines and screentime to make sure the others shine while he himself always pulled a 150% flawless performance (look at his killing 4 seconds in NEVER performance, 2:29 mark). Wherever Jonghyun ended up to team with, he automatically became a leader. Nobody on the show doubted his leadership. Even trainers.
  He inspired his fellow Sorry Sorry team members to become leaders on following missions: Kang Daniel became the leader of Get Ugly and Open Up teams, Kwon Hyunbin was a leader of I Know You Know team, and Ong Seongwoo was a leader of Hands on Me team.

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” – Tom Peters

• Kang Dongho was initially Mnet’s target of evil editing, as he was supposed to be imaged as a scary, bully-type of person (haha, doing that to a boy who sang a song about anti-bullying, really nice try Mnet). But he didn’t went with Mnet’s dirty game, and thus viewers were very impressed by his humble character. He gained such titles as Sexy Bandit, Fireproof Sexy, Sexy Daddy throughout his charismatic performances. He freaking guided 1/10 of the trainees on vocals (especially you can see him giving lessons to Joo Haknyeon). Oh, and he accidentally made an ice-cream brand one of the best sellers.

2:04 mark: THIS, kids, is how you kill the audience
with a honey voice wrapped in a wolf body

• Choi Minki suffered from even worse treatment from Mnet, as he got the less screentime out of 4 members. Clearly Mnet thought that his individual fanbase (which is actually considered one of the biggest among NU’EST members) can pull him themselves without promotion (actually they initially didn’t want Ren to proceed further), and it resulted in Minki always almost making it through eliminations. And what Mnet never shown throughout the episodes is how this boy also carried so many other, much younger trainees, being their emotional pillar.

Baby Minki (blond hair) was a freaking center of this performance, yet he got so little screentime, plus camera kept showing other members when it was his singing part!! Ughhh

Guess what happened in the final episode of Produce 101 Season 2? The whole nation and the whole K-pop world that followed the show were expecting TWO NU’EST members to be in the final lineup. Instead of that, only Minhyun made it, and Jonghyun SOMEHOW freaking ended up being only #14. Not even #12, but #14. Like WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

I slowly got over this fact, after being so emo for the past three days, but it’s still so shocking. I repeat, EVERY. SINGLE. P101. VIEWER. WAS. EXPECTING. JR. TO BE IN. TOP. ELEVEN. Yet the whole Korean nation failed him.

I’ll be honest: I had my 9 fixed picks. I was even okay to accept it if Yoon Jisung wouldn’t make it to the top 11. But in the end, I got my 8 picks on top, and the only one left behind is Kim Jonghyun. Do you want to know even more shocking information? Look at NEVER team: 7 out of 8 members became a part of Wanna One. Only the leader didn’t make it. Proof that whatever team is managed by either Minhyun or Jonghyun becomes a perfection. Sorry Sorry team 2 (Jonghyun, Minhyun). Fear (Jonghyun). Downpour (Minhyun). Never (Jonghyun, Minhyun).

Have you seen Minhyun’s reaction after knowing the result? He was 200% sure Jonghyun would be with him in Wanna One, and when he knew that he’ll be alone up there. HE HAD A MENTAL COLLAPSE. So you know – Minhyun rarely cries in public and prefers not to show much emotion (thus granting him another nickname Stone Minhyun/Expressionless Minhyun), YET HE WAS LITERALLY DESTROYED. He cried so hard, feeling so sorry to be the only one up there when he knows all four of them put their lives on this. He, the nicknamed CEO Hwang, knew that Dongho and Minki had less chances to get onto Top 11, but he never imagined Jonghyun, his own emotional pillar, to be also eliminated. To be honest, NO ONE EXPECTED THIS.

But now they see it as a blessing in disguise.

Yes, Minhyun from now until December 2018 will be inactive as NU’EST member due to contract regulations with Wanna One’s agency YMC Entertainment. He would be separated from his family for 18 months. I wish he finds strength in his new bandmates during those times (especially Jaehwan, Jisung and Guanlin), and I wish he would always know that he has a home to come back to.

NU’EST will soon start their comeback preparations, as PLEDIS Entertainment finally realized that this is a perfect time to ride on their recognition to make the group successful. Now Jonghyun, Dongho and Minki came back to us as NU’EST’s JR, Baekho and Ren, and they (along with Aaron, who didn’t participate in P101) will make sure all the following success of the group after Produce 101 will be dedicated to Minhyun.

Okay, I was waaay too emotional. I never thought that a survival show would put me on such emotional roller coaster and make me emotionally exhausted. But thanks to this, I am now forever regretting not staying with NU’EST when I absolutely loved their debut, but now I will stan them as hard as possible. And of course, as a new LO/\E, I will wait for our baby Emperor to come back to NU’EST family where he truly belongs~

So… I’m sorry for so many emotions put onto these two posts, I couldn’t help myself. Still, I hope you are able to check out their music (seriously, their last two mini albums – Q is and Canvas – are pure gold), and let’s hope for their further success!

Thank you for reading this emotional mess,

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