2013-2014

268 11 0

by rappernini

by rappernini

2013-2014: WIN: Who Is Next and DEBUT

The five trainees competed as "Team A" on the reality television program WIN: Who Is Next, broadcast on Mnet, in order to debut as a group.

During the finale episode on October 25, 2013, it was announced that they had won the competition and would be debuting as "Winner", releasing two singles on October 28 and performing as the opening act for Big Bang's Japanese dome tour beginning on November 15.

On November 9, the members of Winner appeared as backup dancers in Taeyang's music video for "Ringa Linga". From December 13, Winner appeared in their own reality program, Winner TV, which had ten episodes aired on Mnet.

In 2014, Seungyoon and Mino featured on a track for Yoon Jong-shin's March project. Between June and August of that year, the group members were re-introduced to the public in anticipation for their debut, through a series of teaser images and videos.

Between June and August of that year, the group members were re-introduced to the public in anticipation for their debut, through a series of teaser images and videos — Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

WINNER's official debut showcase was held on August 6, with their album 2014 S/S digitally released on August 12 and physically on August 14.

On the day of Winner's debut the stock price of Yg Entertainment rose by 6.57%, a sign of investor belief in the debut.

Their first music show appearance was on Inkigayo on August 17, and they became the fastest male group to win on a music show by taking first place on M! Countdown during their debut stage.

The group's official FAN CLUB name was announced to be 'Inner Circle'.

Following the album's release, two music videos for their title tracks "Color Ring" and "Empty" were released on YouTube, and the album charted at number one on the Billboard World Albums Chart.

On August 30, a music video for Mino's solo track "I'm Him" was released, with cameo appearances from the members.

On September 10, the group commenced their Japanese promotions for their 2014 S/S: Japan Collection album and embarked on their first Japanese solo concert on September 11.

The group successfully concluded the tour in Tokyo on October 11, drawing 25,000 fans in total.

On December 9, 2014 Fuse announced their 13 Top Breakout Artists of 2014, with WINNER coming in at #11 and being the only South Korean artists on the list.

On December 17 Dazed Digital published their top 20 K-pop tracks of 2014 with WINNER placing tenth with "Color Ring".