A Recap of I-Land Episode 12: The Grand Finale (ft. BTS & TXT)
The journey is over and the final day had come. Episode 12 aired on September 18th and at the earlier time of 8 PM KST as this episode was being broadcast live.
We have our last 9 I-Landers to fight for their way into the debut lineup; Heeseung, Niki, Sunghoon, Daniel, K, Sunoo, Jay, Jungwon, and Jake.
During the live broadcast, the viewers were still able to vote for their favorite boy for one more hour before the results. To really kick off the show, the final I-Landers perform I&Credible, a throwback to the end of Part 1. We can see the immense improvement between this performance and the last one. The 9 easily showed off their fiery charisma and improvement with this stage alone!
Namgoong Min gave a proper introduction to Bang Sihyuk and the four producers that have helped the I-Landers on their journey in I-Land. TXT made their appearance, Leader Soobin noted that all the I-Landers have worked hard to make it to where they are now and they should work hard until the very end. Additionally, the 13 eliminated trainees have come back to cheer on their friends. Lastly, the host gives a detailed introduction to the remaining 9 I-Landers that are close to making their debut.
Afterward, we were able to get a view of which trainee got voted the most in a country or region. Reporter Shin Ahyoung took the stage as the global messenger and announced the trainees with the most votes in each country/region. From the United States, Jay was the most voted. In Indonesia, Jake had the most. K has gotten the most votes from Egypt. Sunghoon took over China’s votes and lastly for South Korea, Jungwon reigned in their votes.
Before diving into their last mission on I-Land, the viewers get the behind-the-scenes clips that lead up to it.
K, Niki, and Sunoo walked into the top-tier purple room after the Concept Test. This is K’s first time ranked first and Niki’s first time in the top seven since Part 2 began. Niki had been constantly lower ranked the past few weeks, but with his determination, he was able to appeal to the judges and got ranked 2nd after the test. Niki quoted how happy he was to finally be able to wear the badge the symbolizes the debut team, and that he will only work harder to keep it that way.
However, it seemed they were the only excited ones for the current ranks. It is a first for Heeseung to leave the top 3 since the beginning of the show. The Concept Test, specifically, seemed to have been hard on him. He felt as if he didn’t show his best self with this new kind of concept and he wasn’t able to lead the team well enough for good results.
Jay and Jake have plenty of worries for being 6th and 7th place, respectively, multiple times. Those are the cut off points for the debut group, so it can’t be guaranteed they would stay within those ranks in the last global votes.
For Jungwon, the last mission was the first time he was close to being eliminated. He even thought he would be chosen out after the last survivors’ announcement ceremony. For all the boys, it is definitely no easy feeling while they fight for their spot. None of the trainees are safe from whatever the last global voting results could be.
The I-Landers meet up in the lobby for one last test announcement. They learned that the last global voting will determine 6 of the I-Landers set to debut, while the 7th one will be chosen by the producers. Not only do they have one last test to do, but they will also have to perform live for global viewers.
Their final test is an original song called Calling (Run To You) and it will include all the I-Landers. The song’s theme is ‘hatching,’ which is the story of the I-Landers being ready to make their debut. The song is very EDM-forward, as it includes a lot of face-paced, electronic beats that are perfect in showcasing the powerful choreography.
After the group figured out their parts for the song, they went ahead into the practice rooms to begin preparing for the final test. The 9 show their closeness by jokingly assigning each other as who they are in the family, Heeseung as the dad, Daniel is the mom, Jungwon as their son, and Sunghoon and Jake as their cuddly pets.
They get into assigning the serious roles of leader right after, and after a unanimous vote, K became the team leader. With Jay’s suggestion, Heeseung became the vocal leader and Niki the dance leader. In addition, they have extra leaders, Jay was chosen as the daily-life leader, who takes care of their daily life such as cleaning and cooking. Sunoo as the facial-expression leader, as he had shown off his charms multiple times before. Lastly, the tension leaders, those who will cheer up the team when they need it, were Jake and Sunghoon. With all the roles split up between all of them, rather than having one leader, the boys seem to have much more fun in their practice.
After a midpoint evaluation with Son Sung Deuk and Doobu, the 9 I-Landers surprised them with written messages of gratitude. Sung Deuk replied that he doesn’t remember a time when someone had done this for him and would each word carefully. Doobu was caught in the moment and cried at the sweet sentiment. The boys replied how all the producers and directors had helped them in a variety of ways and they couldn’t be any more thankful for all the advice and tips they gave them.
In a special segment, we get to see the behind-the-scenes footage of the 9 I-Landers making their self-promotional videos. K, who was ranked first, will be able to record a whole minute of promoting himself. Niki, as second, got 50 seconds for his video. Sunoo gets 40 seconds as ranked third and the rest of the I-Landers have 30 seconds to appeal themselves. They have a whole room of clothes and props they can use to make their videos much more special.
The I-Landers try out a variety of concepts that will make their video their own, such as cute concepts or the schoolboy concept. They all helped one another to make the perfect video, despite whether or not it made their toes curl from cringing! You can check out each of the I-Landers’ self-promotion videos through the Mnet K-POP YouTube channel.
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Finally, the debut group name was announced. Back to reality and before the group gets to perform for their very last test, the name will include the meaning of connection, discovery, and growth. Their final debut group name is ENHYPEN. The name signifies how a hyphen can connect two words to make it into a whole new meaning. It means that the members discovered each other and got to grow together with their connection. Bang Sihyuk mentioned how he would love for the group to help the divided world become whole again as a team.
This is also the segment we got to see BTS in full for the first time. Host Namgoong Min asked them how they felt when they heard their group name for the first time. Leader RM took initiative to answer and replied how they weren’t able to tell people their name except for their friends and family for three years. It was a painful memory for the group to have to hide it for so long with an unsure future. He added how cool and pretty the name ENHYPEN is.
Afterward, the 9 I-Landers performed their last test of Calling (Run To You) for everyone.
Here’s the full version of the performance:
After the performance, Bang Sihyuk commended the boys for looking cool and doing very well. He had thought this was a great last step before they have to become professionals with their debut.
Son Sung Deuk noted how they had done a great job at performance despite having to do it during a live broadcast. Sung Deuk specifically praised Jungwon and Jake for their performance. Jungwon could’ve felt intimidated by his near-elimination from last week’s episode but was able to show his abilities through this song. Jake had shown the greatest growth with his time on I-Land and he’s able to stand tall among the boys that could have the better skill or longer training time as him.
Wonderkid praised Jay specifically for this stage. Despite his short parts, he was still able to make himself shine with his own strong charisma. He also commented on how he liked Daniel’s voice, and it was regretful that he had such short parts as well. Pdogg showed his love for K and Heeseung for their control and strong dancing skills. He also added how Sunghoon successfully pulled off a stable performance.
Lastly, Doobu gave his words for Sunoo and Niki. He remembered the times in Part 1 where Sunoo seemed too weak and wasn’t a strong dancer. He truly proved himself in Part 2 of the show and Doobu was highly proud of his achievements. For Niki, Doobu only thought he was just a dancer with nothing else, but through his journey on I-Land, Niki had become more like an idol.
Namgoong Min gave the question to BTS on what would the I-Landers need to possess in order to become a global idol? J-Hope took the mic and answered that to become an idol, one must not forget why they wanted to be one in the first place. They should have the heart for music, as well as the effort and passion to go into their work. Jimin replied that they should remember the people that are rooting for them, as well as give love to your own members. Jungkook noted that he had his eye on Jungwon in particular, and gave him the personal advice to not forget the current moment as he’s on his way to debut.
We come back to some behind-the-scenes footage, and I-Landers were given the special gift of home-cooked food from their family. They were also given small letters from their family members for words of support. They share a happy yet bittersweet moment as they remembered their parents’ support and love for them.
The viewers and the 9 finalists also get the surprise of the eliminated I-Landers returning to I-Land to prepare for a whole group performance of ‘Into The I-LAND!’
The 22 of them have a fun game of Truth or Dare altogether. Everyone had their much-needed fun while asking each other risky and interesting questions. While gathered together in the living room, the 13 ranked the nine I-Landers on various questions.
For dirtiest member, Daniel was ranked 1st on the list, a lot of them noting how he has stinky feet. One point away, Jay was second the list, and he made the promise to wash more. On the question on who’s the most visual, Sunghoon got first place (with not much surprise) and Jungwon has gotten second. The third question was, “Who would you introduce your younger sister to?” Again, Sunghoon was able to nab first place. Sungchul turned the question around and asked Sunghoon that out of the rest of them, which of their younger sisters would he date? After much deep thinking, Sunghoon chose his bestie, Jake.
The next question was who they would want to talk informally too, and K and Heeseung got the top two votes. This fun question leads to three minutes of reversing their age and the younger boys are able to talk informally to the older ones. For the last question, it asked, “Which I-Lander did you miss the most?” In which the 13 boys replied that they missed everyone.
It was one last gift to the viewers to see all the boys once again in the building and having fun. Not only is it a healing moment for the fans, but also to the trainees that spent the past few months there.
As their first and last performance on I-Land, all 22 of them performed ‘Into The I-LAND’ together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBZ4hze27q8
Finally, the time that everyone had been waiting for arrived. With the final results in, it was time for the announcement of the final 7 that will make their debut into ENHYPEN. Host Namgoong Min asked BTS one more question of how they must have felt when they were announced to debut.
Jin took the lead on this question and replied that he was reminded to that time while watching the I-Landers and would hope they stay together for a long time. Suga also agreed that the show brought back memories to their debut and to their very first stages. He praised the trainees for a job well done, as well.
BTS was then asked how it was like to visit the I-Land building, V answered that there was so much food that it surprised him. He thought back to his first days as an idol and even brought up the memory of being in trouble of adding salt to the chicken breast to eat. V hilariously starts tripping over his words that RM had to cut in and save him.
As an avid watcher of I-Land, J-Hope brought up that he really enjoyed the BTS Test that the I-Landers did. He also noted that he finds Jay very funny. He funnily told Jay that, “your dark history begins now.”
With one last word of support from BTS, the announcement for the debut lineup begins.
I will spare you the excruciatingly long wait of each announcement and list the 6 members that have made the lineup through global votes. The 7th member will be chosen by the producers and directors.
At 5th place with 1,137,323 votes, Heeseung was the first announced as a member of ENHYPEN. He has truly shown off his extreme talent from the very beginning of the show. Not only was he an ace in performances, but he had also honorably taken the role of a leader in almost every test.
With 1,140,728 votes, Niki was then announced as 4th place. This came as a great surprise as he had been getting low ranks from global votes in the past. With his expertise in dancing and his improvement in becoming an idol, Niki truly proved himself to be a perfect addition to the lineup!
Jake was announced next as the 3rd debut member and ranked 3rd with 1,179,633 votes! Jake entered I-Land as one of the least experienced trainees, but with his hard work and a continuous passion for his dream, he successfully showed that he is on par with everyone else in the program.
In 2nd place with 1,192,889 votes, Jay was the next official ENHYPEN member! From the very beginning, the viewers saw how much Jay had struggled to keep balanced on his journey in I-Land. However, after every struggle, he was able to turn it around and shine even more in his performances with his famous RAS (resentment, anger, stress) attitude.
As the most voted with 1,417,620 votes and the 5th debut member was Jungwon, a big contrast from last week’s results! He had shown his talents and charm from the very beginning. Although he had lost some confidence along the way, it didn’t slow Jungwon down from demonstrating the best version of himself and got him a deserved place in the lineup!
Lastly, we turn back around the list and figure out the 6th most voted. With 1,088,413 votes, Sunghoon narrowly made it into the final lineup. Sunghoon has all the qualities of the perfect idol. He was never seen slacking from his practice and constantly showed how powerful and talented he is as an upcoming idol.
The remaining three were K, Sunoo, and Daniel, and their fates of the debut were up to the producers and directors.
After a long and difficult discussion, Sunoo was chosen as the last official member of ENHYPEN. Ever since the beginning of Part 2 of I-Land, he had been a favorite and ranked 1st in global votes. Despite the health problems and his lack of experience, Sunoo had the unique charisma and talent that deserved his spot to debut. Shockingly, he was ranked 8th with 935,771 global votes.
Unfortunately, K and Daniel were eliminated. K was 7th in global votes with 946,046 votes, as Daniel was 9th with 773,792 votes. Let’s hope the two, as well as the other eliminated trainees, don’t stop fighting for their dream to become idols.
Here is the ranked list of global votes:
- Jungwon (1,417,620 votes, debut member)
- Jay (1,192,889 votes, debut member)
- Jake (1,179,633 votes, debut member)
- Niki (1,140,728 votes, debut member)
- Heeseung (1,137,323 votes, debut member)
- Sunghoon (1,088,413 votes, debut member)
- K (946,046 votes, eliminated)
- Sunoo (935,771 votes, debut member)
- Daniel (773,792 votes, eliminated)
Congratulations to the 7 members of ENHYPEN: Jungwon, Jay, Jake, Niki, Heeseung, Sunghoon, and Sunoo! We will be waiting for your grand debut in the near future!
