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Female idol who attempted to re-debut through ‘Quandum Puzzle’
Contract terminated, desperate for comeback after group disbandment
Concerns about fandom competition, ambiguous concepts, profit distribution, etc.
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
<<Ryu Ye-ji's yellow card>>

TenAsia reporter Ryu Ye-ji takes a proper look at the entertainment industry incidents and accidents that are attracting the most attention.

The number of idols who forget their past and dream of a new start has increased. Despite various reasons such as contract termination and group disbandment, he is challenging the 're-debut' audition with a fresh mind.

Mnet is preparing a new series of 'Queendom', 'Queendom Puzzle'. 'Queendom Puzzle' is an evolved version of the 'Queendom' series and is a project to create a new global girl group by combining current and former girl group members like a puzzle. To put it simply, it is to gather each group member and have them ‘re-debut’.

Nako Yabuki and Hitomi Honda from IZ*ONE, Jooe from Momoland, Kei from Lovelyz, Haein from Laboum, and Yeeun from CLC have long ago confirmed their appearances on 'Queendom Puzzle'. I feel a desperate desire to succeed as a singer again.
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
What the groups in 'Queendom Puzzle' have in common is that they have experienced pain at least once. First, LABOUM is a group that terminated its contract with its agency Interpark Music Plus. There have been reports that the members are willing to continue working as a team, but realistically they are taking steps toward disbanding.

Since IZ*ONE was a project girl group derived from 'Produce 48', the time for disbandment was set from the beginning. They debuted in October 2018 and disbanded in April 2021, after 2 years and 6 months of activity.

Among the IZ*ONE members, Jang Won-young and Ahn Yu-jin are active in the group 'Ive', while Kim Chae-won and Miyawaki Sakura are active in the group 'Le Seraphim'. Eunbi Kwon, Yena Choi, Chaeyeon Lee, Minju Kim, Yuri Jo, and Hyewon Kang attempted to stand alone. Although it was not as popular as IZ*ONE's time, it showed good results.
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
The remaining members, Nako Yabuki and Hitomi Honda, have not been able to show outstanding performance either in Korea or in their home country of Japan since the disbandment of IZ*ONE. Before disbandment, it was possible to take advantage of the popularity of existing members, but after the contract ended, it all ended.

Momoland also failed to surpass ‘Seven Years of Demon’. At one time, they seemed to be taking a flowery path by creating a 'boomboom syndrome', but they were unable to maintain their popularity due to the withdrawal of several members. In the end, we had to take the unfortunate step of disbanding some time ago.

Other than that, Lovelyz and CLC were no different. After the group disbanded, everyone had to disperse.
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
The members appearing on ‘Queendom Puzzle’ are veterans who have already been active for more than 7 to 8 years. Considering the trainee period, his skills are already beyond reproach. It also has a certain level of recognition.

However, as it is a ‘re-debut’ and ‘re-leap’ of an existing idol, it is not without risk. Problems such as fandom competition, ambiguous concepts, and profit distribution naturally follow.

Each fandom is expected to be in an uproar over the news that ‘my idol’ whom they once supported is making a comeback. This may create competition between fandoms. There is a possibility that the division will deepen as they share opinions on parts distribution and broadcast editing.
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Re-debuting female idol, somewhere between success and nowhere near success
Because each person has different charms, it is not easy to combine concepts into one. The concepts are diverse, including innocence, sexiness, freshness, and power. Unless you are going to do unit activities, it is difficult to gather members into one group.

It is also difficult to manage members from different agencies in one place. From a structural perspective, the issue of profit distribution according to the contract cannot be left out.

In the end, the ‘limits’ are already visible even before the start. There is no problem as long as the members just feel proud of appearing on TV and appearing on TV for the first time in a long time. However, if you think about the impact of 'IZ*ONE', 'Wanna One', and 'I.O.I', which are called success stories of audition programs... it's unfortunate, but it's "not good."

Ryu Ye-ji, Ten Asia Reporter ryuperstar@tenasia.co.kr
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