The Dark Horse of Wanna One.

When Mnet came up with the idea of generating a nation picked idol boy group, it was obvious there was going to be laughter, tears, happiness, joy, disappointment and break downs among the 101 trainees from different agencies. Therefore Produce 101: Season 2 started early this year by bringing in heaps of young guys to train for 4 months evaluating their individual skills, teamwork, dance, singing and overall performance. The vocal trainers pushed them hard, the choreographers drilled them in dancing moves, they practised day and night for performances to go on air for the citizens to vote for them. It was a matter of survival in this project.

Park Ji Hoon made his way winning most female voters ranking top spot in the first 3 episodes. By the time episode 3 came, Ji Hoon didn't budge from his position. He was 1st followed by Lee Dae Hwi and Samuel Kim.  And what we didn't expect was a young bloke with pink candy hair slowly climbed his way up from 20+ positions to top 10 and smooth sailed to top 5. Kang Daniel was a chatter himself but strong determination has proven to be successful. His fellow trainee mate Yoon Ji Sung also managed to secure himself a spot in the top 35 spots. 

내마음속에 저장! (I've saved you in my heart!)

When announced that there will be only 20 positions for the semi-final episodes....trainees were nervous waiting for their names to be called out by announcer BOA. It was not 18 or 22 but only 20 spots available to be evaluated again. Kim Jae Hwan carrying the powerful vocal secured himself within top 10 as he didn't expect. Hwang Min Hyun- the female voters favourite because of his shy naive looks- after all it was his 2nd debut if he makes it since he was a former member of NU'EST. Kang Dong Ho who earned himself a nickname Sexy Daddy is somehow nervous when BOA mentioned his new dance rival, Daniel - the originator of the sexy thigh sweeping move in the Devine Chennel's 'Open Up' performance. BTW, Open Up performance scored the highest among group performances with 500+ votes, followed by Oh!My Girl...etc.

Other trainees Lai Kuan Lin, Park Woo Jin, Bae Jin Young, Ha Sung Woon were also voted into the top 20. Ong Seong Woo- the so-called comical trainee of all did very well as well with his smooth popping dance and trademark 'really, daebak...heol...etc' whenever he spits out a sentence. Other fellow favourable trainees Kim Jong Hyun, Ahn Hyung Seob, Ju Hak Nyeon, Im Hyung Min were part of the top 20. 

The 2nd voting period was a close call for some. Jong Hyun managed to snag top spot followed by Daniel and Ji Hoon. Jong Hyun still leads from Episode 7-8. The 3rd voting period started where group performance votes are counted in. Kang Daniel came up unexpectedly first rank in third voting surprising most trainees as most were expecting for Ji Hoon. 
Daniel gained 100K+ votes for Episode 9 and 828K+ votes in Episode 9. BUT...the finale requires only 11 trainees to form the group. It has been determined the top 11 wins the survival contest and debuts as a new rookie group called Wanna One. 

The top 11 has determined fellow trainees were voted from the nation with 11th spot by Sung Woon, followed by Jin Young, Min Hyun, Ji Sung, Lai Kuan Lin, Woo Jin, Seong Woo and Jae Hwan. 3rd spot went to Dae Hwi and final 2 ranks will determine the centre position of the group. And who would have expected a trainee from MMO Entertainment to win the overall program?

Result was announced as Kang Daniel claimed the first place with a whooping total of 1,578,837 votes! Park Ji Hoon took second spot with total 1,136,014 votes. It was a massive win for Daniel as he is declared the overall winner for Produce 101: S2 program. He was indeed a dark horse-a bubbly person has a passion for B-boying. Given the centre spot, he's always in the main position for choreography. His ranking was at 38th to 21st- suddenly crept up to 8th spot in the performance Get Ugly and finally first in Open Up performance. Fans of Jong Hyun and Samuel Kim would be fairly disappointed seeing their bias have been eliminated in final round. Some trainees returned to their agencies forming new groups, releasing new MVs and even joined daily dramas. It is not the end for trainees who left or been eliminated from the program. 

                            
Overall, the results were pretty overwhelming. I am rather satisfied with the results.
Well least, aren't we glad that the citizens have voted and created Wanna One with those lovable members? Visuals? Vocals? Dance? Variety? Each member has their own charms, skills and personality. Wanna One (101) members are now enjoying popularity wherever they go. Members have been invited to variety talk shows, endorsing many advertisements and as they continue to dominate the music charts and even earning themselves Rookie Award.
Once again Kang Daniel has proven himself the first rank;  immediately he got himself a home cooked dinner in the program Let's Eat Dinner together with emcee Lee Kyung Kyu after requesting for the first time. 

After all, "It's me" 나야, 나!"..you picked them and they are the "tonight's main character" as per the lyrics of It's Me (Pick Me). Good luck to the team and congratulations to the winners.
We hope to see them more in shows and dramas! ^_^ 

Wannables- get ready as Wanna One are riding the waves to the shores of Australia this week at the KCON 2017 Festival in Sydney. Have fun! (Aww...I miss those beautiful people)