Watch: APRIL, Venus, Weki Meki, Cherry Bullet, And SONAMOO Members Face Off In Vocal Battle On "V-1"

Sep 13, 2019

Girl group vocalists dueled it out on tvN’s Chuseok special “V-1”!

“V-1” is a survival program that aims to determine the No. 1 girl group vocalist. The competition began in July on the program’s website where fans voted for their favorite contestants after watching videos of the idols. As a result of the online votes and evaluations from the special panel, 12 contestants were chosen for the final round.

On the September 13 premiere, the 12 finalists competed in one-on-one matches.

gugudan’s Nayoung was the first to arrive. She embarrassedly asked, “Am I the first one here?” Speaking about her fellow “Produce 101” contestants, she added, “I think I’m going to see [WJSN’s Yoo] Yeonjung and [Weki Meki’s Choi] Yoojung here.”

A staff member shared, “WJSN’s [Yoo] Yeonjung was chosen as the No. 1 person contestants wanted to avoid.”

The preliminary rankings were then revealed to show Yoo Yeonjung in first, DreamCatcher’s Siyeon in second, Weki Meki’s Choi Yoojung in third, Weki Meki’s Ji Suyeon in fourth, and Cherry Bullet’s Haeyoon in fifth place. “I’ve never gotten No. 1 on a survival program before,” said Yoo Yeonjung. “So I like it, but I’m also nervous.”

Contestants got to choose their opponents for the one-on-one battle in the order of their preliminary rankings. Only one person from each battle could advance onto the next round, and the final winner will receive a prize of 10 million won (approximately $8,483).

MC Kang Ho Dong watched the competition and introduced the VIP panelists and 12 contestants. The first battle was between APRIL’s Jinsol and Venus’s Jeong Da Kyung. Jinsol said, “I appeared on the show because I wanted more people to hear my voice.” Jeong Da Kyung, who made it to the top four on “Miss Trot,” said she wanted to show a new side of her.

Jinsol sang BTS’s “Boy with Luv” while Jeong Da Kyung performed Park Wan Kyu’s “A Thousand Years of Love” (literal title). Jeong Da Kyung explained, “I chose this song because it’s something I’ve sang for a long time. When I told Song Ga In I was coming here, she said, ‘Get to the top.’ I’ll use Song Ga In’s energy and get to the top.”

After the performance, VIP panelist Car, The Garden said, “Jinsol is the youngest contestant, but she’s so cute, is good at singing, and has strong skills. So I immediately pressed the button.” Hyun Woo commented, “I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time I was watching.”

About Jeong Da Kyung, he said, “I think I would’ve gone home if I was preparing to compete after her. She’s a strong front-runner.” Brown Eyed Girls’s JeA added, “I didn’t know about Jeong Da Kyung’s success because I didn’t watch ‘Miss Trot,’ but I became curious about ‘Miss Trot’ while watching this performance. It was impressive to the point that I wanted to listen to other songs.”

Jeong Da Kyung advanced to the next round with 62 votes from the 101 members of the VIP panel.

The second battle was between Weki Meki’s main vocalist Ji Suyeon and fellow member Choi Yoojung.

Choi Yoojung said, “During Weki Meki’s live broadcasts or questions during fan meetings, people kept talking about a rap battle between Suyeon and me. I wondered, ‘Does she want to go up against me?'” Ji Suyeon said, “I know what kind of songs Yoojung is good at singing. Someone will compete next to me either way, so I felt more comfortable competing against Yoojung.”

When asked if it was a disadvantage to compete against someone of the same group, Ji Suyeon replied, “10 million won goes to the individual anyway.”

Choi Yoojung chose Heize’s “And July” while Ji Suyeon sang Kim Gun Mo’s “First Impression” (literal title). “There’s something I heard that hurt me in the past,” revealed Choi Yoojung. “They said, ‘You’re vague when you do this and vague when you do that.’ I was almost eliminated as a trainee because there wasn’t one thing I was particularly good at. So I’ve shown things for a short time rather than one thing for a long time. Through this program, I want to let people properly hear my voice.”

JeA commented, “This was a big match. Choi Yoojung is a skilled vocalist. I think [the decision for] this performance will be split based on personal preference.” Hyun Woo added, “This is an amazing team. This is a great team that has everything including dance, singing, rap, and performance all in one team.”

Ji Suyeon continued onto the second round with 53 votes from the VIP panelists. Wiping away her tears, Choi Yoojung said, “Why am I crying? I think it’s because I felt responsibility. I think I’m crying because it’s over and I’m relieved. All of the contestants were main vocalists or vocal-focused, and I think I felt a lot of burden because I’m not. I keep crying.”

Ji Suyeon and Choi Yoojung hugged one another and told each other that they worked hard. Choi Yoojung said with a smile, “I’m cheering you on for successfully completing the first round. Good luck Ji Suyeon. I trust you.”

The third battle took place between Cherry Bullet’s Bora and SONAMOO’s High.D. Bora, who’s a rookie idol of seven months, said, “I have a high singing range. Most singers say that three octaves are high, but I can go up to five octaves using a whistle.” Bora did her nickname “Gwangju’s Mariah Carey” justice by showing off this skill and earning applause.

“I debuted after four years as a trainee, and I’m currently resting because my group has been on a hiatus for about a year and a half,” explained High.D. “‘V-1’ is an opportunity for me. I think I got a chance this time that I hadn’t gotten before. It’s a TV show where I need to grit my teeth and work hard at. I talked with my fellow member Euijin about how we’re going to make a comeback with the winning prize money of 10 million won. I’m going to get No. 1 no matter what.”

Bora sang Ben’s “Don’t Go Today” (literal title) and High.D performed Im Chang Jung’s “A Cup of Soju” (literal title). After the performance, the panelists had a difficult time coming to a decision between the two contestants.

JeA said, “Both of them are skilled and I don’t know where Bora’s sound is coming from. She sings high notes, uses falsetto, then sings high notes. This technique is really difficult. She did a really good job and also did a good job at delivering emotions. I fell into High.D’s emotions so much that I became teary. I felt that she was a great vocalist even if she didn’t sing high notes.”

Car, The Garden commented, “Both of them are amazing vocalists, and they’re voices that make me want to see a solo album from them. High.D made me think about grabbing a drink after this. I wondered, ‘Is it okay for me to talk like this?’ I have to talk since I’m here, but I thought, ‘Why am I saying this to these people? Can I say this?’ after watching their performances.”