Wanna One's contract to expire on Dec. 31 as scheduled

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

K-pop boy band Wanna One won't have its contract extended and is set to be disbanded at the end of this year, its agency Swing Entertainment said Tuesday.

"Wanna One's contract will expire on Dec. 31 as planned. Its official activities, however, will continue through January," the agency said in a statement. "It will participate in year-end annual awards events and meet fans for the last time through concerts next month."

The news will disappoint avid fans who had hoped the group would extend their contract and stay together for a few more years.

The project boy group, comprised of 11 winners of music channel Mnet's idol competition show "Produce 101," started its group activities in August 2017 for a limited time, with its deadline set at the end of this year.

But its immense popularity in and out of the country triggered rumors -- and anticipation -- among fans about a possible contract extension.

In fact, relevant parties, including CJ ENM, heads of the agencies representing each member and the group's current agency had been engaged in heated debate over the group's future plans since this summer, but apparently failed to narrow differences.

"We really appreciate their amazing performances for the past one and half years. We also support their new beginnings and careers," the agency said. "We also offer sincere gratitude to local and overseas fans who love Wanna One. We hope for your continued support and blessing for the members."

Since its official debut, the group has grown quickly on the back of solid fan support and popular songs, earning them the nickname "monster rookies." It has dropped two EPs, "1×1=1 (To Be One)" in August 2017 and "0+1=1 (I Promise You)" in March; the repackaged album "1-1=0 (Nothing Without You)" in November 2017; and the special album "1÷X=1 (Undivided)" in June.

Last month, the group released its first full-length album, "1¹¹=1 (Power of Destiny)."

The latest album, with 11 tracks, shares the 11 boys' cherished memories and unforgettable musical journey for the past two years, and their strong will to overcome sorrow and fear and face the destiny of disbandment, it said on its album.

At a press conference for the release of the studio album, members talked about their time together. "We couldn't have come this far had it not been for support from Wannable. I would like express my sincere gratitude for those who like us," Park Ji-hoon said. Wannable is the collective name for Wanna One's fans. "I also want to say that this is not an end."

"It was such a fun journey. We had many fun challenges, and I have no regrets. At this moment, I want to only think about how we will try harder for our future stages," vocalist Kim Jae-hwan said.

Kang Daniel, arguably Wanna One's most popular member, and the winner of "Produce 101," said, "It feels bittersweet. It feels good and sad at the same time. It is complicated."

The group is scheduled to appear at the Seoul Music Awards on Jan. 15. It will hold final concerts sometime next month, although the exact venue and time have yet to be determined.



source: Yonhap News

Comments

[nana-the-dwarf.livejournal.com]

I feel bad for the fandoms that will inherit their crazy sasaengs.

[hpn88.livejournal.com]

What happens to all the award shows after December that they are nominated for?

And I pray for the MBC gayo which is on December 31st - it's gonna be overrun by wannable wanting to see their last performance (I'm assuming they are going??)

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

They are actuallt disbanding but still attending all the january award shows and doing one last concert in jan i believe

[aures.livejournal.com]

i think the ones that are available schedule-wise will attend ^^

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

Finallyyyyy. I honestly wanted Minhyun out of the group since forever lol

[bubble-monkey9.livejournal.com]

I liked their debut song but everything afterwards has been meh. It also doesn't help that 90% of the attention is on kang daniel and I don't care for him. Even if it isn't about him, his stans will make sure to make it about him.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Mte

[miyozari.livejournal.com]

mte

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Mte minus the king Daniel part

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

Same. Their debut song was good for their image, their capabilities. I wish they continued with songs like "Energetic".

[suggestivepeach.livejournal.com]

Finally. They’ve been around for a loooong time and I still only know like, four members. Unlike ioi where I gradually recognised who everyone was over time. Their debut was great and everything after that was so-so.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Yea it shows how interested I am when I can only name that Daniel kid

IOI I wasn’t too interested in at first but yea by the end of their run i knew each member

[suggestivepeach.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I only know Daniel (bc he won), Daehwi (bc he does so many girl group dance covers), Guanlin (bc he’s Taiwanese) and jihoon (bc he was the famous “wink” boy).

[aures.livejournal.com]

agreed, i know daniel, minhyun because i know him from nu'est and then like guanlin and daehwi because they both have interesting faces, the others i have NO IDEA

[killua89.livejournal.com]

lol finally. Solo sungwoon 2019 pls
I was so excited about actor Ong but a 24 years old playing a highschooler is a big no from me.

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

Thank God. Their stans need to go away.

[921227.livejournal.com]

Thank god! Im ready for Minhyun to be back w the rest if nuest!

[annayism.livejournal.com]

yessss i want minhyun back in nuest and sungwoon back in hotshot already

[countthesaints.livejournal.com]

Bye!

[hilary-faye.livejournal.com]

[scribblyness-x.livejournal.com]

I'm really interested to see how the members end up compared to ioi members in terms of finding success and how the public/fans receive them post-W1. I feel like Baejin will blow up in popularity without the restrictions of being in a group and having more solo opportunities.

Unlike seemingly everyone, I love Minhyun being a part of W1. He gets to dote on the younger members and show a vastly different side of himself. I also can't get over my hatred of aron (and also how the Baekho thing was just... brushed aside) so my interest in nu'est is zero.

I feel like no one in omona really likes them but they are the first boy group I've liked in a long ass time lol. I will miss my son Woojin's interactions with everyone. Speaking of, please support future kpop dancing great, king of fancams Park Woojin /end psa

[killua89.livejournal.com]

I can't believe people want minhyun to go back to that trash group but I shouldn't be surprised omona loves their problematic faves.

I'm gonna miss woojin and jihoon together! You can tell their friendship is real and they are close to each other.
I was looking forward to bnm4 but rhymer killed my excitement and the music that daehwi produce is... lol not good

Baejin is my favorite member so I'm worry about his future lol I hope he gets more opportunities to shine now that he wont be overshadow by the others. I don't know if he will debut in a bg because I saw rumor about c9 sending their trainees to the new produce101 season

[scribblyness-x.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really don't understand omona's boner for nuest. I guess sexism and conveniently-swept-under-the-carpet sexual assault allegations isn't enough of a deterrent...

Ahaha I don't want to think about 2park not being in each other's pocket all the time. They both said they were each other's soulmates I'm emo.

BNM is straight up trash and with rhymer showing his ass so much this past year that I can see them squandering bnm4's potential and alienating their fanbase. Tbh the thing I'm most sketched out by is the possibility of them trying an overly ~hip-hep~ concept. Daehwi's current blandish style >> problematic appropriating shit any day.

I've grown to appreciate baejin so much recently. Spring breeze is HIS era for me. I think he'll do well even if he doesn't get to debut soon if he gets pushed into other areas. I hope he grows on the Korean gp, he's such a good egg and his growth from p101 until now is one of the most dramatic in the group.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

yeah i was surprised too. That’s why i can’t be a fan of nu’est or shinee(onew). Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and sexual assault allegations are enough for me.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I agree.

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

Lmao yeah they are not popular here, but i liked W1 a lot too. Ong is a gem, a lot of the members are imo but hes my favorite

I only recently started bopping to Nuest W and of course two of them are garbage trash, I just wanted to stare at ren in peace. Its kpop so i wasnt that surprised, but Im sure Minhyun is sad he missed the success of his group so he probably wants to go back

[katheli.livejournal.com]

it's weird how I paid about the same amount of attention to S2 and S3 (not much at all lol) of Produce 101 and yet I can pretty much name all IZ*ONE members at this point and still don't know who's in W1 aside from Daniel, Jihoon and that guy who was in Nu'est. Oh and Sungwoon cause he's friends with Jimin. I guess the difference is the debut single? LVER got me interested enough to check out the group meanwhile W1's entire musical output is just kinda...there...for me.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Thank god, one less crazy fandom

[miyozari.livejournal.com]

Thank u, next.

Looking forward to NU'EST's new album.

[kalsipher.livejournal.com]

Wow it really has been such a run. 1.5 years really gone by fast. Im really enjoying their journey since they're formed and slowly from only liking certain members to loving all of them. I'll missed them as Wanna One but also looking forward and wish them great future ahead! Cant wait to ugly cry on their final concert 😭

[xlovexlessxtyx.livejournal.com]

Finally!

[kyulkyung.livejournal.com]

and nothing of value was lost

hopefully nuest will disband next year as well!

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

why should nuest disband?

[kyulkyung.livejournal.com]

pretty sure their contract ends next year

[daceymormont.livejournal.com]

Sadly nuest have been doing well since produce but one can hope

[hillando.livejournal.com]

finally, they've been worked to death and their fans are crazy, I hope they get a vacation at the end of all this

one of my old course mates (Korean, married, over 30 years old so not really wanna one's demographic), and her reason for applying to interpretation line was so she could interpret for wanna one lmao what is she going to do now

[torontok.livejournal.com]

I'm just excited for King Daniel's solo

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

I still don’t get why they always disband these groups a little while after the shows end like in shows in the west they stay together afterwards. Doesn’t it just ruin the group dynamic they already had and affect the fanbase they built up? Don’t people become attached to the groip members together or maybe i’m wrong?

[normanikordei.livejournal.com]

the difference is all of the contestants on the produce shows come from different companies. so those companies send them to the show to hopefully drum up some hype for their pre-debut/rookie groups, maybe get a slot in the winning group and get even more popular, and then come back to their original company with their newfound popularity once the contract for the group ends and parlay it into success for their company’s nugu group.

shows in the west like X factor or making the band are organized by a single company and the contestants are free agents that don’t already have contracts, so the purpose is to create a permanent group where all the members are signed under one company. that’s the main difference.

mnet is now extending the length of the contracts for each group born from the produce series. ioi was one year, wanna one was 18 months, and izone is 2.5 years. they’re catching on that these groups are so popular that they can milk them for more money with a longer contract.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

that sucks that the contestants have to be trainees in a company already. it would be cool for people to have a chance at stardom without the cruel trainee process. although i guess the contestants wouldn't have enough media training and perfectly synchronized dancing if they didn't go through the trainee process, or it could lead to a super talented group where each member has one thing they really excel at rather than being just ok at several things

[strawberry-efeu.livejournal.com]

It's actually not required for the trainees to be in a company, it's just that most of them are/were. There were five "individual trainees" in season 2. Jaehwan, one of the main vocalists of Wanna One, actually didn't belong to a company when he was on the show but has since signed on to cje&m. And yeah, he struggled with dance if I remember correctly, but Lai Guanlin (another W1 member) could barely dance at all when he started because he had just entered cube and had almost no dance training. They put the trainees through some pretty terrible training during produce anyway, so pretty much everyone who managed to survive had at least passable skills by the end.

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

Same here. They really had a huge debut. Bias aside (I am a big fan of Pentaon), I really wanted Hui to make another song for Wanna One. I was hoping he could gift them with another bop like "Energetic".

Ong is pretty popular and will most likely not only be performing as an idol after Wanna One but also be active in variety as he's got good comedic timings. Jihoon is also a good kid but will his company debut an idol group soon? One of the kids that went to PD101 with him already left their management company. Guanlin belongs to CUBE and have a huge Chinese fanbase behind him.

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

It was inevitable, but I'm still sad. I look forward to seeing the groups that will be formed after this (I'm so ready for Daehwi, Woojin, Youngmin, and Donghyun).

[daceymormont.livejournal.com]

Energetic is a bop but god am I tired of these temporary groups. Make it stop. Most of them will fade into obscurity anyway.

[bananaclaw.livejournal.com]

I think I know more about their sasaengs' antics than the group itself...