Eunbi in Produce 48
On May 11th, 2018, Kwon Eun-bi joined as a contestant on MNet’s survival show Produce 48. She was a trainee representing her current agency, Woollim Entertainment.
Produce 48 was a large-scale project to produce a new temporary girl group with votes by the public, or as they were called the “national producer.” 96 contestants from South Korea and Japan joined the survival show, and it was a collaboration between the Mnet series Produce 101 and the J-Pop idol group AKB48. In the finale, the winning 12 contestants with the highest number of votes would promote as a group for two and a half years under the official group name Iz*One.
During the show, she showcased her amazing talents and skills both in singing and dancing. In the first episode of the show, all of the contestants from different agencies performed in front of the mentors for evaluation. Each individual was given a letter grade from A to F based on their overall talents, organizing them into temporary classes for training. Kwon Eun-bi and other trainees from Woolim Agency performed their labelmates’ songs, Lovelyz’s “Ah-Choo” and INFINITE’s “Bad Girl.” The results of their intense joint performance were different, by which Eun-bi got an A from the mentors, Kim Chaewon got a B, Kim Suyun and Kim Sohee got a C.
After the contestants were grouped according to their grades, the mentors announced that they would be performing on M! Countdown with Produce 48‘s theme song “You’re Mine (Pick Me).” The song has a Korean and a Japanese version. Their line distribution and positioning on stage were determined by their grades, with grade A having the most singing lines while F being just back-up dancers.
The trainees’ second mission was the group battle evaluation. There were 16 teams of 5-6 members who were competing for 8 given songs – AOA’s “Short Hair,” Red Velvet’s “Peek-a-Boo,” GFriend’s “Love Whisper,” I.O.I’s “Very Very Very,” Blackpink’s “Boombayah,” AKB48’s “High Tension,” Kara’s “Mamma Mia” (JPN Ver.), and Twice’s “Like OOH-AHH” (JPN Ver.). During the group battle evaluation, Kwon Eun-bi had an opportunity to perform I.O.I’s “Very Very Very” alongside Sakura, Chaeyeon, Minju, Wonyoung, Yujin, Hitomi, and Yena.
After the group battle evaluation, trainees were paired to perform live in groups based on positions they want to debut in: vocal and rap or dance. There were five songs for vocals and rap (Girls’ Generation’s “Into The New World,” BTS’ “The Truth Untold,” Heize’s “Don’t Know You,” Blackpink’s “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” and Wanna One’s “Energetic”) and four songs for dance (Fitz & The Tantrum’s “HandClap,” Ariana Grande’s “Side to Side,” Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry,” and Little Mix’s “Touch”).
For this mission, Eun-bi chose to perform and showcase her dancing skills with Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry.” During the performance, Eun-bi was chosen to be the center of the group. She proved that she is an amazing dancer and gained positive feedback from the mentors.
The next evaluation was concept evaluation where viewers chose group formations through online voting. There were six songs for the concept evaluation: Contemporary Girls Pop “1000%,” R&B/Hip-Hop “I AM,” New Jack Swing “To Reach You,” Moombahton/Trap “Rumor,” Tropical Pop Dance “Rollin’ Rollin’,” and Pop Dance “See You Again.”
In the concept evaluation, Eun-bi and the other four trainees got a chance to perform sexy and charismatic performance with Trap’s song “Rumor.” As their group’s name was Hot Issue of National Producers, they really became a hot issue with their intense and charismatic performance. Eun-bi also proved that she does not only have an amazing skill in dancing but also in singing. Her sweet yet powerful voice really suits the song.
In the final mission, trainees had to perform the debut song evaluation. There were two songs “We Together” and “You’re In Love, Right?” for the final line-up’s debut songs. The trainees split into two teams. Each team had 10 trainees. In this final mission, Eun-bi chose to perform the song “You’re In Love, Right?” and Choi Yena was chosen as the center for the song.
After being trained for several months and undergoing some missions, Kwon Eun-bi finished the competition in the 7th place thus ensuring herself a debut as a member of IZ*ONE. The group officially debuted on October 29th, 2018, with the mini-album Color*IZ and its title track, “La Vie En Rose.”
Kwon Eun-bi Re-debut with IZ*ONE and Gaining Popularity
Through the MNet Survival Program, Produce 48 Kwon Eun-bi got her second chance to re-debut in the temporary girl group IZ*ONE, a South Korean–Japanese girl group formed through the reality competition show. The group, managed by Off the Record Entertainment, consists of twelve members: Jang Won-young, Sakura Miyawaki, Jo Yu-ri, Choi Ye-na, An Yu-jin, Nako Yabuki, Kwon Eun-bi, Kang Hye-won, Hitomi Honda, Kim Chae-won, Kim Min-ju, and Lee Chae-yeon.
Iz*One officially debuted on October 29th, 2018, with their first extended play (EP) Color*Iz and “La Vie en Rose” as the lead single of the album. The group received immediate commercial success and gained popularity upon its release.
Iz*One performed their first debut stage on the music program Mnet’s M! Countdown and it was aired on November 1st, 2019. The group received their first music program win a week later on M! Countdown, ten days after their official debut and broke the record for the fastest girl group to receive a music program win at the time.
IZ*ONE’s first EP broke a new record as the highest number of albums sold on the first day of the release. The music video for the lead single “La Vie en Rose” achieved more than 4.5 million views within 24 hours of its release on YouTube, making it the most-watched debut music video by a Korean act in 24 hours at the time. After gaining early success, Iz*One won the “New Artist of the Year” category at several award shows, including Mnet Asian Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, and Seoul Music Awards.
On February 6th, 2019, IZ*ONE released their Japanese debut single “Suki to Iwasetai” under UMG’s EMI Records label.
On April 1st, 2019, IZ*ONE released their second EP, Heart*Iz, with “Violeta” as the album’s lead single.
On June 21st, 2019, IZ*ONE released their second special Japan Album Buenos Aires and the title track with the same title.
On September 25th, 2019, Iz*One released their third Japanese single titled “Vampire.” The music video for “Vampire” is set in a majestic castle, and the 12 members sing and dance about wanting to be a “Vampire” so they can turn a love they long for into an invulnerable one.
