IZ*ONE Spotlight: Kang Hyewon (ranked #8 on “Produce48”)

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As we are a few weeks away for the music debut of global pop group, IZ*ONE (pronounced as “Eyes One”, IZ=12 and 12 members make One), we have been spotlighting each member.

IZ*ONE is comprised of 12 trainees who competed among 96 trainees from South Korea and Japan (members of AKB48G-AKB48, SKE48, NMB48, HKT48 and NGT48).

Last time we spotlighted Lee Chae Yeon (ranked #12) of WM Entertainment, Kim Minjoo (ranked #11) of Urban Works Entertainment, Kim Chaewon (ranked #10) of Stone Music Entertainment and Honda Hitomi (ranked #9) of AKB48.

This time we will spotlight Kang Hyewon and 8D Creative who ranked #8 and became a member of IZ*ONE!

A member who has been slowly growing on fans due to her awkward nature, underdog status when it comes to vocals and dance but also has been designated as “Mukbang Queen” as her attention towards eating a lot on the group’s VLIVE videos have literally become a meme.

But she has no doubt began to break out of her shell and is now becoming a member that IZ*ONE fans are starting to take notice.

Kang Hyewon was seen as a true underdog.  Unlike others from big to middle-sized agencies, Kang Hyewon represented 8D creative and singing and dancing are not exactly something she truly dominated in “Produce48”.  But she tries her best, may it be singing, playing the guitar, dancing and even rapping.

She was known for her visual beauty but also her personality which was different from other trainees.

For one, she’s a huge anime fan, for her audition, she sung a Japanese song by Nishino Kana and for her audition, she repeated dialogue from Luffy of the anime “One Piece” and did his “Third Gear” pose which shocked the hosts of episode 0 of “Produce48”.

Unfortunately her first performance for the show’s trainers earned her an F.

And being part of Team F, she was in a group of other F trainees who were selected by a higher ranked team to compete in the Group Battle to perform “BOOMBAYAH” which Hyewon bursted into tears with her other teammates.

It was a rough, as the difficult was high for the Japanese trainees but they eventually came together thanks to their team leader Han Chowon (who would be known as the “Queen of Reversals”).  Through the practicing, Kang Hyewon would develop a close friendship, more like a mother and daughter relationship with young AKB48 member, Sato Minami.

Kang Hyewon would be responsible for the rap and her underdog team which consisted of members that no one wanted on other teams would do the impossible and defeat the other team which had more skilled members.

Needless to say, the team who would be known as Team Boombayah would be successful and suddenly eyes would start to focus on Han Chowon, Kang Hyewon, and AKB48 members Chiba Erii, Asai Nanami and Sato Minami.

For the Position Evaluation, Han Chowon and Kang Hyewon would become teammates again, but this time competing against each other.  Kang Hyewon would take on another role as a rapper and she would come in third place.  While Han Chowon displayed her amazing vocals which earned her #1 vocalist among the Position Evaluations and established her as a trainee who may be able to go from Team F to the Top 12.

And for the elimination episode, Kang Hyewon managed to survive and make it into the Top 30 at rank #25 (from rank #41).

She would then do another anime reference, this time for her introduction prior to the elimination episode by doing a “Love Live” Yazawa Nico catchphrase, “Nico Nico Ni”.

But Kang Hyewon would be featured in the episode halfway not for her vocals, dance or rap but mostly for her close relationship with Sato Minami.

This footage of Kang Hyewon taking care of Sato Minami showed a caring side that people never saw from Kang Hyewon and that motherly role would actually do something which viewers did not expect.

For the next elimination round,  Kang Hyewon who was at #25 would make the largest jump that no one saw coming.  Kang Hyewon who was expecting to go home and possibly visiting Sato Minami’s home in Japan, saw herself on the big screen as one of the people in the running for #1.  Kang Hyewon shocked everyone by ranking #3.

Next up for Kang Hyewon was being part of a Concept Evaluation Team for “See You Again” featuring Wang Yireon, Park Hayeon, Takeuchi Miyu and Miyawaki Sakura and once again, she takes the rapper role alongside Miyawaki Sakura.  And surprisingly, the two strike a close friendship on the show.

While Team “See You Again” placed fourth, for the rankings for Top 20, Kang Hyewon would be ranked #4 in her group.

Kang Hyewon had her final performances on the “Produce48” finale.  While many were not sure if she would make the top 12, there was no doubt that the National Producers (voters) had fallen for Kang Hyewon.  Some may feel that she was voted more for her visual looks but Kang Hyewon has been straightforward each time she got on the mic and is aware that she needs to get better as a performer.

And she has been working hard in being a better performer, behind-the-scenes in camera and not looking too awkward.

And for the final episode, Kang Hyewon was voted #8 to the surprise of her fellow trainees:

While there maybe a few angry people who felt that people with skills were denied the opportunity of becoming IZ*ONE, it’s important that people are reminded that Korean voters gave Kang Hyewon this special opportunity.  May it be because she has the potential or that she’s a diamond in the rough and given some polish, she will no doubt shine.

Kang Hyewon is the third IZ*ONE support character (“Ranger” skills) for NEXON’s “OVERHIT” game:

She’s featured as a model with her fellow IZ*ONE members for the brand, SALEWA:

And while it has been over a month after the “Produce48” finale and we got to see a side of Kang Hyewon never seen before via IZ*ONE’s VLIVE and that she must have an amazing metabolism.  Needless to say, Kang Hyewon is the “Mukbang Queen”.

And remember that imitation of Luffy in the beginning, suffice to say…Kang Hyewon and Luffy now have something in common.  But it’s part of that awkardness that makes people start to support Kang Hyewon, especially with her close friendship with Miyawaki Sakura.

Kang Hyewon has become IZ*ONE’s meme queen, which is hilarious but at the same time, similar to how she became popular in “Produce48” for her mother/daughter bond with Sato Minami.  Kang Hyewon is winning people’s hearts through the revelations and actions on VLIVE:

And sure enough, she is no doubt showing her potential as with the recent IZ*ONE Dance Pratice video which was released and is nearing 3,000,000 views:

We look forward to seeing Kang Hyewon performing as a member of IZ*ONE!

 

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