NayoungLeader
임나영- Name
- Im Na-young
Chosen as leader by a vote of all eleven members.
Their story
Picked by the public
I.O.I came out of Mnet's Produce 101 in 2016, where 101 trainees from different agencies competed and viewers decided who stayed. In April the final eleven were set, with JYP trainee Jeon Somi at the top of the vote. The plan was fixed from the start: about ten months of releases and shows, then everyone back to their own company. Nayoung was voted leader by the members, and Chrysalis, led by the hopeful "Dream Girls", followed in May.
Very Very Very
The summer belonged to a unit. Seven members released the brassy "Whatta Man", which gave I.O.I their first music show trophy. In October all eleven returned with "Very Very Very", a gift song from Park Jin-young, and it became their first No. 1. By the end of the year they had the rookie prize at MAMA. The goodbye came on schedule: the single "Downpour" in January 2017 and three farewell nights at Jangchung Gymnasium.
A group of soloists
Because the members kept their own agencies, I.O.I always sounded like eleven careers meeting in one place. Several of them were also in other groups, from DIA to gugudan. The songs moved between bright girl group pop and ballads, and a decade later the members wrote much of the music themselves. On I.O.I : LOOP Somi, Yeonjung and Chungha all have writing credits, and "Goodbye with a Smile", recorded in 2016, finally got its release.
Where they are now
In February Swing Entertainment announced a reunion for the tenth anniversary in 2026. Nine members took part; Mina and Jieqiong stayed out because of other commitments. The fandom finally got an official name, Angdungi. "Suddenly" came out in May, topped Melon and was still collecting music show trophies in July. After Seoul, the LOOP tour went to Bangkok and Hong Kong. The tour closed the anniversary project. Accepting the last trophy in July, Yoojung only joked that they might suddenly turn up again someday.
