Mnet 'Girls Planet 999': Who are the members of debut group Kep1er?
Survival shows are one of the surest ways to create a successful K-pop group. It allows the participants to get fans who will vote and root for them in the show. This in turn leads to a larger fanbase that makes sure that the group turn heads when they debut. This can be seen with Kep1er that was formed through Mnet’s latest survival show ‘Girls Planet 999’. Fans and netizens are still talking about the group and the show even though it has come to an end.
Artists and girls dreaming of a second chance proved their worth and talent on 'Girls Planet 999'. And now fans are excited for Kep1er to debut and unleash their potential. The nine members of the group are China’s Xiaoting, Japan’s Mashiro and Hikaru, South Korea’s Yeseo, Youngeun, Dayeon, Yujin, Bahiyyih and Chaehyun. Well, here’s everything we know so far about them.
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Xiaoting
Throughout the show, Xiaoting showed much promise and was a fan favorite as she was either #1 or a candidate for #1 till the semi-finals. The 21-year-old singer hails from China and considers her specialty to be dance. In fact, in the Connect Mission and Creation Mission, she had the killing part. She also has experience in ballroom dancing and has won several global ballroom competitions. She ranked #9 in the finale of ‘Girls Planet 999’ and was the last member to join Kep1er.
Mashiro
Mashiro is a singer from Japan and had actually been a trainee under JYPE, as well as Pledis Entertainment. She had trained with Itzy and was supposed to debut with them. Itzy’s leader Yeji, in fact, remembered her and even congratulated her for joining Kep1er. Mashiro also happens to be labelmates with Yeseo as both Kep1er girls are currently under 143 Entertainment. She had a very successful run on ‘Girls Planet 999’ since she ranked #8 and her teams won in three out of the four missions.
Hikaru
Hikaru caught everyone’s eye with her duality as her cute appearance doesn’t hinder her from fierce performances. Fans and judges loved her powerful stages of Blackpink’s ‘Boombayah’, EXO’s ‘The Eve’ and ‘Snake’. So, it is no surprise that CL inspired her to get into K-pop and her favorite song is ‘Hello Bitches’. She is also considered a perfectionist as the other participants used to tease her for her attention to detail. Hikaru had initially ranked #1 in the J-group and was always in the top rankings throughout the survival show. She ranked #7 in the finale.
Yeseo
Yeseo, who is a Korean trainee, is the sixth member of Kep1er. Also the youngest, the 16-year-old was previously in the girl groups Busters and CutieL. And thanks to that experience she had one of the most impactful stages on ‘Girls Planet 999’ when she performed ‘Fate’ with tears in her eyes. She also went viral for a hilarious reason thanks to Knetizens. When her teaser images for the survival show was revealed, many compared her to BTS’ Jungkook and claimed that she looks like him if he wore a wig. Yeseo is also a child actress who has been in popular K-dramas like ‘Abyss’ and ‘Diary of a Prosecutor’.
Youngeun
Youngeun stole hearts from her very first appearance on ’Girls Planet 999’ as she lightened the mood with a playful introduction and bantered with MC Jingoo. She completely transformed as she performed the fierce song ‘Kick It’ by NCT 127 for her demo stage. She also seems to be an all-rounder as she caught the judges by surprise when she decided to sing instead of dance during the Combination Mission. Her high note during the last part of ‘U+Me=Love’ was probably one of the reasons she won the Creation Mission. She joined Kep1er by ranking #5.
Dayeon
Dayeon surprised everyone as she went from #70 on the survival show ‘Produce 48’ to #1 in the K-group on ‘Girls Planet 999’. She ranked #4 in the finale. Having trained for over 3 years and 11 months, she specializes in freestyling and modern dance. She impressed everyone by single-handedly choreographing Blackpink’s ‘Ice Cream’ ft. Selena Gomez for the Combination Mission. She was also one of the well-balanced leaders on the show which even has fans wondering if she will become the leader of Kep1er.
Yujin
Yujin is actually a part of the already popular K-pop girl group CLC and is the visual and center. They debuted in 2015 under Cube Entertainment. They are known for their strong girl concepts and energetic choreography. Yujin explained that she joined the survival show for a second chance since she felt invisible with the powerful image that CLC has. She also added that her label had dismissed CLC but since she wanted to continue singing she decided to join the show.
Bahiyyih
Bahiyyih could arguably be one of the most popular participants of ‘Girls Planet 999’. Sister to TXT’s Kai, she followed her brother’s footsteps and joined the agency Play M as a trainee. She had also auditioned to join YG and Belift Lab and first entered the K-pop scene when she was selected as the narrator for MAMA 2020. She had the most unpredictable journey on the show as she had very little screen time and was never in the TOP9. However, she ended up ranking #2 in the finale.
Chaehyun
Chaehyun was a former SM Entertainment trainee and has been training for 6 years. She was a part of aespa's potential lineup. She became a front runner on the show after her performance of IU’s 'My Sea'. However, she was always on the edge as she ranked #8 or #9 throughout ‘Girls Planet 999’. During the finale, she shot up to #1 and will most probably be the center or the face of Kep1er when they debut. Other than her skill to effortlessly sing in a falsetto, she can also play the guitar.