Watch: "I-LAND" Trainees Tackle 1st Group Performance Of "Into the I-LAND" Amid Heated Competition For Center Position

The contestants of Mnet’s “I-LAND” have officially begun their training missions!

In last week’s premiere, 16 of the 23 applicants received a pass to move onto “I-LAND.” However, the training facility is only set up to accommodate 12 trainees. On the July 3 episode of “I-LAND,” the contestants took a vote to determine which four of the 16 trainees would be sent to the “ground.”

Receiving 10 votes, Kim Sunoo was the first trainee voted out. With nine votes each, Sungchul and Ta-ki were also sent to the “ground.” Lastly, with six votes, EJ was eliminated.

Ni-ki shocked viewers by voting out his friend Ta-ki, whom he has supported and trained with up until now. He solemnly commented, “Out of the 16 of us, I picked him because I thought he was at the lowest level.”

The remaining 12 trainees, referred to as the I-LANDERS, received their first signal song mission of “Into the I-LAND.” While their performances would be individually judged, the average of their 12 scores would dictate how many trainees were eliminated.

The boys ran into trouble when trying to distribute parts as they all vied for part one, which is the center role. Although Ni-ki perfected this part of the song, the majority of the trainees recommended Heeseung as their group center, giving him the part. While Geonu and Jay both applied for part two, Geonu was unanimously chosen.

Jay then applied for every part, but they were all ultimately given to other trainees. He angrily commented, “I don’t know. I’ll just do whatever is left. I don’t want to do it.”

In a later interview with the producers, he shared, “It’s just so insulting. Resentment, anger, shame. I wonder whether this is the most shameful thing I’ve experienced while being a trainee for nearly three years.”

At the same time, the trainees on the “ground” (referred to as grounders) were also busily practicing their signal song in order to make it into I-LAND.

Back in I-LAND, newest trainees Lee Youngbin and Jake began having a hard time keeping up with the group practice. Youngbin expressed his concern with the way Heeseung was running their practice and other trainees like K, Seon, and Ni-ki agreed. Youngbin confessed to Heeseung, “My feelings were kind of hurt and my pride was very hurt. To be honest, I cried.”

Heeseung explained to the group, “We can’t have concerns right now. If you gave someone authority, we’re in a situation now where we just have to trust everything they say. We have no time.”

Daniel expressed how he felt that there was an imbalance within their team and Heeseung immediately responded, “That’s what I said on day one. I predicted this. When I said on day one that I didn’t want to be the center, it was because I knew this kind of result would happen.” He shocked everyone by adding, “Personally, I would prefer if I was not the center.”

In his interview with the producers, Heeseung continued, “I really worked even harder for my team, but I think that has rather become an arrow back at me. Everyone has a complaint or something they don’t like about me so I didn’t want to keep doing this while also enduring that weight.” In the end, Heeseung took over part 10 while Ni-ki was given the center role.

On the “ground,” the trainees were suddenly instructed to film their evaluation clips to be sent to the producers. After Jaebeom made a mistake in his video, all the trainees comforted him and demonstrated the close friendship they were building.

The I-LANDERS later met up with producer Rain for their half-mark test. After observing their group dance performance, Rain immediately began their vocal tests, surprising the trainees who were unable to catch their breath. Lastly, he instructed them to dance while singing.

After all the tests, Rain pointed out the unstable pitch of Ni-ki’s singing and the trainees began to seek help from Heeseung once again. Heeseung commented, “If this is a situation where I have to be part one again, I’ll do it,” while Ni-ki expressed his frustration through his tears.

However, when they began their first official test, Ni-ki remained in the center position. The I-LANDERS showed off an impressive performance of the “I-LAND” signal song “Into the I-LAND” with the grounders watching.

Despite their well-done performance, the team received an average score of 59 points, meaning half the team was to be eliminated. Ni-ki sadly commented, “To be honest, I think I was the problem. I just feel apologetic.”

The next episode of “I-LAND” airs on July 10 at 11 p.m. KST.

This week’s episode of “I-LAND” will be up on Viki soon! Catch last week’s premiere below.

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