The group was first introduced in the reality-survival program called Who is Next: WIN as "Team A." Team A and their adversaries Team B were both formed from trainees within YG Entertainment. The teams competed against each other in order to debut as the first YG boy group in eight years, following on the strong legacy of YG's previously debuted male group Big Bang. At the conclusion of the program the title of "WINNER" was given to Team A after they won all three rounds of public voting.
After several delays, the group made their Korean debut on August 15 at YG Family Concert and following their broadcast debut on August 17 with their first official stage on Inkigayo. On September 10, the group debuted in Japan.
Pre-debut
Prior to the group's debut, the leader Kang Seung-yoon was a former Superstar K2 contestant who reached the final four. After much consideration, he decided to sign with YG Entertainment in 2011 and revealed he had chosen the company as he was impressed by their demands to return to training to "hone his craft". In the same year, he made his acting debut in the popular sitcom High Kick: Revenge of the Short Legged. In 2013, he had made a solo debut releasing multiple tracks. The track "It Rains" reached the top spot in multiple charts.
Lee Seunghoon, the group's main dancer, was also a former reality-show singing contestant. He was a contestant in K-Pop Star Season 1 where he came in fourth place. Yang Hyun-suk recruited Seunghoon himself; as one of the show's judges, Yang had shown great admiration for him during the season's run. On May 16 YG Entertainment announced they had signed an exclusive contract with Seunghoon. Like Seung-yoon, Seunghoon returned to trainee status under the company.
Song Minho started out underground under the stage name "Mino" or "Hugeboy Mino" with other underground rappers-turned-idols, namely Block B’s Zico, Kyung, P.O and M.I.B's SIMS. Minho was initially a trainee intended for the male group Block B, but left the group before debut for personal reasons. In 2011, he made his debut as a rapper with the ballad group BoM under Y2Y Contents Company, however the group was disbanded two years later due to its lack of popularity with the public. In 2013, he was recruited into YG Entertainment through private auditions after being recognized from his acting debut in the March 2012 cable drama The Strongest K-POP Survival in Channel A.
Kim Jinwoo attended "Joy Dance – Plug In Music Academy," known in the entertainment industry as "Seungri Academy" after Jinwoo's senior label mate Big Bang's Seungri. Seungri brought Jinwoo to YG Entertainment after seeing his potential and he was eventually accepted as a trainee in 2010. Jinwoo and Nam Taehyun – who was recruited in 2011 through a private audition – performed as backup dancers at the 2011 YG Family Concert.
Debut: WINNER (2013–2014)
As a result of "Team A"'s win on the reality show "YG's WIN: WHO IS NEXT" finale on October 25, 2013, the members were promised a debut as 'Winner' under YG Entertainment. At the conclusion of the show it was announced that Winner, along with Team B, would immediately release two self composed songs each on October 28 and then Winner would go on tour with Big Bang. Winner opened for their Japanese dome tour starting November 15. Big Bang's Dome tour was attended by an estimated 721,000 people, providing Winner with a wide spectrum of exposure in Japan and major event experience. On November 9, 2013, Big Bang's Taeyang released his Ringa Linga music video which featured Winner as backup dancers.
Winner's "road to debut" in both Korea and Japan was broadcast in the form of a reality show entitled WINNER TV that began airing on December 13 on Mnet for ten episodes.
During an interview with Star News on January 7, 2014, CEO Yang Hyun Suk revealed to the press that Winner would be making their official debut at the conclusion of "Winner TV." Debut album official promotions were slated to start by the end of February but were later delayed. Kang Seung-yoon and Mino participated in a collaborative track for Yoon Jong Shin's March project.
On June 10, 2014, Winner released a teaser called 'The Visitor'. This was followed by a launching campaign plan from June 16 to July 6, entitled "Test Week" and "New York Week" respectively, which featured the release of individual and group teaser images everday. The final week of the campaign was called "Winner Week" and released the individual members and group teaser videos, with the end of the last group teaser releasing yet another date for the "WINNER Debut Album 2014 S/S" grand launch teaser on August 1. After two months of promotional stints, the said teaser finally confirmed the group's debut date in Korea with a launching showcase held on August 6 and a debut album titled 2014 S/S which was released on August 12 digitally and in physical stores on August 14. Winner's official debut stage was on Inkigayo on August 17.
Following their album release, two music videos were uploaded on their official Youtube account for their alternative rock title track, 'Color Ring,' and the mid-tempo hiphop track 'Empty,' with the latter surpassing one million views in less than 24 hours. Further solidifying their "monster rookie" status, the album achieved an all-kill on major music charts immediately after release. It became a certified perfect "all-kill" on Melon. The group also peaked at number one on iTunes in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan and entered the Billboard World Albums Chart ranking at first place. On the day of WINNER's debut the stock price of YG Entertainment rose by 6.57%, a sign of investor belief in the debut's strength. On August 30, a music video for Mino's solo track, "I'm Him" was released with cameo appearances from the members.
On September 10, the group commenced their Japanese promotions for their 2014 S/S: Japan Collection album and embarked on their first Japanese solo concert on September 11.
Fandom
WINNER's official fan club name is the "Inner Circle" (IC) and its official color is "nebula," a mixture of blue, purple, and teal.
source; wikipedia
0 comments:
Post a Comment