On April 26, rising girl group, I.O.I had their first appearance as a singing group on JTBC’s music show “Sugar Man” even before making their debut.
This TV program revolves around the battle of two teams. Each team brings back a ‘Sugar Man’: a singer who was a one-hit wonder, but has disappeared from the public eye. The two teams re-create the old song with the current singers. After the two teams perform, the result of battle is decided by audience vote.
In episode 28, Yoo Jae-suk, who is one of show’s hosts, showed an interest in I.O.I.
He said to Kim Se-jung that her nickname is ‘God Se-jung’ due to her various talents, to Jeon So-mi that she won the 1st prize out of 101 girl candidates, and to Choi Yoo-jeong that she is a representative cutie.
Moreover, I.O.I re-created a hit song from 2003, Eong-deong-yee (”rear end” in Korean) in a 2016 version. They reinterpreted the original techno music version into retro funky music style. Throughout their performance, they heated the audience up with their cute and young girl group style.
As a result, I.O.I in Jae-suk’s team won the battle with support from the audience who range in age from 20 to 40. After this broadcast, I.O.I has been spotlighted in public.
We expect to see I.O.I’s more often on TV!