closer || oc girl group

- produce 48

Despite being quite young, Excel Music decided to send them to participate in Produce 48, believing in their potential and wanting to give them early exposure and experience in the highly competitive world of idol training.

———

PRODUCE 48

Episode 1 (June 15, 2018)
The contestants enter the studio, where seats are arranged in a pyramid numbered from 1 to 96. Each contestant is introduced according to their company or group, with their self-predicted rankings shown on a monitor above the stage. After all 96 girls are seated, Jeon So-mi and Kang Daniel, the first place winners of the past two seasons, enter as special MC's to explain the rules of the competition. They reveal that top producers Han Sung-soo and Yasushi Akimoto will be involved in producing the debut album of the final group, which will be composed of 12 members. The contestants then perform in front of the mentors for evaluation. Each individual is given a letter grade from A to F based on their overall talents, organizing them into temporary classes for training. At the end, the popularity ranking is shown with HKT48's Sakura Miyawaki taking first place.

Introduction performance :
Company : Excel Music
Girls : Lee Ji-Na, Seo Chun-Ja, Park Bo-Ra
Song : Lotto - EXO

Grade :
Lee Ji Na : B
Seo Chun Ja : B
Park Bora : A

Top 12 :
1. Sakura Miyawaki
2. Ahn Yu-jin
3. Jang Won-young
4. Park Bo-ra
5. Jurina Matsui
6. Lee Ga-eun
7. Jang Gyu-ri
8. Choi Ye-na
9. Lee Si-an
10. Lee Ji-Na
11. Miru Shiroma
12. Seo Chun-Ja

Episode 2 (June 22, 2018)
After the contestants are grouped according to their grades, the mentors announce that they will be performing on M Countdown with Produce 48's theme song "Nekkoya (Pick Me)", which has a Korean and a Japanese version. Their line distribution and positioning on stage will be determined by their grades, with A having the most while F are backup dancers. The contestants are given three days to memorize the choreography and the lyrics to both versions of the song, after which they will undergo a re-evaluation and have their grades reassigned. The contestants film themselves performing the song individually - once in Korean and once in Japanese. Each video is then watched and evaluated by the mentors. The girls are then given their new grades and asked to move into their new practice rooms. The episode ends with an A-class contestant being moved down to F, a first in Produce history.

Grade :
Lee Ji-Na : A
Seo Chun-Ja : B
Park Bo-Ra : A

Top 12 :
1. Lee Ga-eun ↑5
2. Ahn Yu-jin =
3. Park Bo-ra ↑1
4. Kwon Eun-bi ↑22
5. Jang Won-young ↓2
6. Sakura Miyawaki ↓5
7. Choi Ye-na ↑1
8. Wang Yi-ren ↑6
9. Moe Goto ↑8
10. Noe Yamada ↑36
11. Lee Chae-yeon ↑19
12. Lee Ji-Na ↓2
...
21. Seo Chun-Ja ↓9