Looking back at PRODUCE 101 Season 1’s contestants: after 2 years who are the most successful?

After the final episode of “PRODUCE 101” season 1,  these two names are the most successful now.

April 1^st 2016, “PRODUCE 101” season 1 officially ended with the final line-up included Jeon Somi (JYP), Kim Sejeong (Jellyfish), Choi Yoojung (Fantagio), Kim Chungha (M&H), Kim Sohye (Redline), Joo Kyul Kyung (Pledis), Jung Chaeyeon (MBK), Kim Doyeon (Fantagio), Kang Mina (Jellyfish), Im Nayoung (Pledis) and Yoo Yeonjung (Starship), forming the most popular girlgroup of 2016 – I.O.I.

After 10 months of activities, I.O.I officially disbanded on January 31^st 2017. The members returned to their personal plans.

Until now, the most stable and popular member is not #1 Jeon Somi but #4 Kim Chungha.

Chungha immediately planned her solo debut right after returning to her agency. On June 7^th 2017, Chungha’s debut album “Hands on me” was released with the title track “ Why Don’t You Know”. The album was successful with quite a few achievements such as #1 on Genie and Bugs, 2 million views on the MV after 6 days. These are quite impressive for an idol coming from a small company.

Chungha’s “real blow” is the mini album “Off Set” with the title track “Roller Coaster”. After official release, the song immediately topped the realtime charts from Genie, Bugs, Soribada and ranked #6 on Melon – Korea’s biggest digital music page.

Recently, Chungha continues to prove her success as a solo artist with the “Best Dance Performance Solo” at the MAMA 2018 in Hong Kong. It is reported that she will return to the music scene on January 2^nd 2019.

Next is a successful “PRODUCE 101” season 1 contestant who wasn’t a part of I.O.I but an eliminated trainee who stopped at #20 – Jeon Soyeon, leader of the super rookie (G)I-DLE.

After her elimination on “PRODUCE 101”, Soyeon continued with “Unpretty Rapstar 3” and outstandingly got to the semifinal, surpassing many other strong competitors. Soyeon also impressed the public with her 2 solo MVs “Solo” and “Idle Song”.

After a long time active as a solo, on May 2^nd 2018, Jeon Soyeon officialy debut as a part of (G)I-DLE with a self-produced song “LATATA”

After its release, “LATATA” immediately swept through everyone by storm with the MV got almost 13 million views in just 2 weeks, 3 weekly wins on music shows. They are the 2^nd fastest group to received the winning trophy after BLACK PINK. Needless to say, (G)I-DLE is the most mentioned female rookie name in the first half of 2018.

Aside from that, Jeon Soyeon along with her groupmate Miyeon also performed at the League of Legend World Final 2018. Their opening song called “POP/STAR” featuring Madison Beer and Jaira Burns became a hit right after with more than 100 million views on Youtube.

(G)I-DLE is also the owner of the award “Best of Next” – the same award Chungha had received at MAMA last year.

2 years after “PRODUCE 101” season 1 ends, it’s obvious that Chungha and Jeon Soyeon are the most successful names and their potential is still more to go in the future.

Source: K14