I.O.I (Hangul: 아이오아이; Katakana: アイオーアイ; Also as Ideal of Idol') is an eleven-member project girl group under Swing Entertainment. Formed through Mnet's survival reality show PRODUCE 101, they debuted on May 4, 2016 with the mini album "Chrysalis". They promoted for a year before disbanding on January 29, 2017.
The final lineup consists of: JEON SOMI (전소미), KIMSEJEONG (김세정), YOOJUNG (유정), CHUNG HA (청하), SOHYE (김소혜), JIEQIONG (洁琼), CHAEYEON (채연), DOYEON (도연), MINA (미나), NAYOUNG (나영) and YEONJUNG (연정).
Prior to PRODUCE 101, some of the members of I.O.I gained recognition after appearing on other television shows: Sejeong was a contestant on competition show K-pop Star 2 in 2012, Somi was a member of 2015 reality survival show Sixteen and Yoojung appeared on web drama "To Be Continued". In September 2015, Chaeyeon debuted as a member of DIA but temporarily withdrew the group to join Produce 101. She also had a cameo appearance on 2015 web drama "Sweet Temptation".
They debuted on May 4, 2016 with a mini-album Chrysalis, accompanied by the title track "Dream Girls". Members Nayoung and Yoojung wrote rap lyrics for the track. Soon afterwards it was revealed that I.O.I would be disbanding in January of 2017.
At the start of their contract, I.O.I was in talks to have a special sub-unit song release. On June 10, 2016, YMC Entertainment revealed Nayoung, Chungha, Jieqiong, Sohye, Yoojung, Doyeon and Somi as members of I.O.I's unit group, slated to promote the group's second album during the summer of 2016. Members Mina and Sejeong were slated to be part of the unit group but declined in favor of debuting in their company's girl group gugudan. On August 9, 2016, the single Whatta Man was released. The album peaked at 2 on the Gaon Album Chart.
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