The Origin – A, B, Or What? (Korean: 디 오리진) is a 2022 survival program created by IST Entertainment in association with its parent company, Kakao Entertainment, and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It aired on MBN, Kakao TV and 1theK YouTube channel on March 19, 2022, every Saturday at 18:00 (KST) timeslot for eight episodes.[1] In the finale on May 7, 2022, the show announced the final 7 members who would debut as ATBO.
| The Origin – A, B, Or What? | |
|---|---|
| Created by | |
| Presented by | Park Seon-young |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time |
|
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | March 19 – May 7, 2022 |
Background and concept
editOn February 6, it was reported that IST Entertainment, home to male idol groups Victon and The Boyz as well as female idol group Apink and Weeekly, is making their first boy group under the new company name in the first half of the year.[1]
On February 10, It was announced that IST will be forming their boy group under a survival program titled, The Origin – A, B, Or What?. It will be jointly produced with Kakao Entertainment and Sony Music Solutions. The show will consist of 13 contestants.[2]
On February 22, IST announced that the premiere date was postponed from February 26 to March 19 due to some trainees who tested positive for COVID-19.[2]
Cast
editThe show is presented by Park Seon-young.[3] Meanwhile, the judges, dubbed as "balancers", are:
Guests
Contestants
editColor key:
| Final members of ATBØ | |
| Eliminated in the final episode | |
| Eliminated in Survival Balance | |
| Eliminated in PR Balance |
| 13 contestants | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeong Seunghwan (정승환) | Oh Junseok (오준석) | Seok Rakwon (석락원) | Ryu Junmin (류준민) |
| Bae Hyunjun (배현준) | Yang Donghwa (양동화) | Kim Yeonkyu (김연규) | Choi Jinwook (최진욱) |
| Jeong Junho (정준호) | Kim Minseo (김민서) | Park Jaehoon (박재훈) | Won Bin (원빈) |
| Kang Daehyun (강대현) | |||
Profile
editThe ages of all contestants are presented in accordance with the international age system as of Episode 1 (March 19, 2022).
| Name[4] | Hangul | Birth date | Training period[a] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeong Jun-ho | 정준호 | July 11, 2002 (age 19) | 2 years 2 months | A former SM Entertainment trainee. |
| Kim Min-seo | 김민서 | January 11, 2003 (age 19) | 2 years 8 months | Lived in China for ten years. |
| Oh Jun-seok | 오준석 | March 3, 2003 (age 19) | 3 years | |
| Ryu Jun-min | 류준민 | April 5, 2003 (age 18) | 2 years | A former SM Entertainment trainee. |
| Choi Jin-wook | 최진욱 | May 20, 2003 (age 18) | 2 years 8 months | |
| Bae Hyun-jun | 배현준 | June 6, 2003 (age 18) | 2 years | |
| Kang Dae-hyun | 강대현 | July 15, 2003 (age 18) | 2 years 4 months | |
| Yang Dong-hwa | 양동화 | August 19, 2003 (age 18) | 2 years 9 months | |
| Seok Rak-won | 석락원 | November 14, 2003 (age 18) | 2 years 10 months | A former SM Entertainment trainee. Former child model. |
| Jeong Seung-hwan | 정승환 | January 24, 2004 (age 18) | A year 9 months | He was born in Busan. |
| Kim Yeon-kyu | 김연규 | May 3, 2004 (age 17) | 11 months[b] | A former YG Entertainment trainee. A former contestant on YG Treasure Box.[5] |
| Won Bin | 원빈 | July 1, 2004 (age 17) | 2 years 5 months | Lived in the Philippines for over ten years. |
| Park Jae-hoon | 박재훈 | July 20, 2005 (age 16) | 5 months | The youngest of the trainees. |
Missions
editPR Balance
editTeams were formed prior Episode 1. There are two rounds to this mission.
The Death participant from the losing team will be eliminated. Both teams' Aces received the benefit to lead and form the teams for the next mission.
Color key
Winning team
Leader
Ace
Death
Leader & Ace
| PR Balance (episode 1–2) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Team | Votes[c] | Contestants | ||||
| Performance | Performance | |||||||
| Order | Original artist(s) | Song | Order | Original artist(s) | Song | |||
| 1 | BTS | "Mic Drop" | 2 | BM | "13IVI" | Team A[d] | 118 (52.68%) | Choi Jinwook |
| Park Jaehoon | ||||||||
| Ryu Junmin | ||||||||
| Seok Rakwon | ||||||||
| Won Bin | ||||||||
| Yang Donghwa | ||||||||
| 2 | Ateez | "Hala-Hala" | 1 | GD & TOP | "Zutter" | Team B | 106 (47.32%) | Bae Hyunjun |
| Jeong Junho | ||||||||
| Jeong Seunghwan | ||||||||
| Kang Daehyun | ||||||||
| Kim Minseo | ||||||||
| Kim Yeonkyu | ||||||||
| Oh Junseok | ||||||||
Concept Balance
editTeams were formed in Episode 2.
The losing team, with the exception of the Ace, and the Death participant of the winning team will be eliminated.
Like the previous round, the selected Aces also automatically led and formed the new teams for the next round.
Color key
Winning team
Leader
Ace
Death
| Concept Balance (episode 3–4) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Team | Votes[e] | Contestants | |
| Original artist(s) | Song | |||
| The Boyz | "The Stealer" | Team A | 63 (55.26%) | Choi Jinwook |
| Jeong Junho | ||||
| Kim Yeonkyu | ||||
| Oh Junseok | ||||
| Won Bin | ||||
| Seok Rakwon | ||||
| "Thrill Ride" | Team B | 51 (44.74%) | Bae Hyunjun | |
| Jeong Seunghwan | ||||
| Kim Minseo | ||||
| Park Jaehoon | ||||
| Ryu Junmin | ||||
| Yang Donghwa | ||||
The ace card of the losing team exchange fates with the death card of the winning team making Ryu Junmin part of the saved members and Won Bin on the run for elimination.
Survival Balance
editThis mission was given to eliminated contestants in order to reverse their elimination. The participants were given 30 minutes by the Balancers to prepare a performance.
The chosen two Death contestants by the Balancers will be fully removed from the show.
Color key
Death
| Survival Balance (episode 4–5) |
|---|
| Contestants |
| Kim Minseo[f] |
| Bae Hyunjun[g] |
| Won Bin[h] |
| Park Jaehoon[i] |
| Yang Donghwa[j] |
| Jeong Seunghwan[k] |
Final Balance
editBattle Round
editTeams were formed in Episode 5. Performances were shown on Episode 5. Results were revealed on Episode 7.
The winning team will receive 100 points for five members. Each Ace will receive a bonus of 100 points, giving the victorious team's Ace total of 200 points. The winning team's Death trainee will earn no points, while the losing team's Death trainee will incur a 100-point deduction, putting them at a disadvantage.
Color key
Winning team
Leader
Ace
Death
| Battle Round (Episode 6) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Team | Votes[l] | Contestants | |
| Original artist(s) | Song | |||
| Got7 | "Hard Carry" | Team A | 71 (34.8%) | Choi Jinwook |
| Jeong Junho | ||||
| Kim Minseo | ||||
| Oh Junseok | ||||
| Ryu Junmin | ||||
| Infinite | "BTD (Before the Dawn)" | Team B | 133 (65.2%) | Bae Hyunjun |
| Jeong Seunghwan | ||||
| Kim Yeonkyu | ||||
| Seo Rakwon | ||||
| Yang Donghwa | ||||
Origin Round
editIn this round, the live audiences voted for each trainee individually. They can vote for multiple trainees, but they cannot vote for the same trainee multiple times. Each Balancer selects which trainees receive the Ace card, which is worth 50 points, and the Death card, which deducts 50 points.
| Origin Round (Episode 8) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Points[m] | Contestants | |
| Votes | Ace cards | ||
| "Run" | 1170 | 0 | Bae Hyunjun |
| — | — | Choi Jinwook | |
| Jeong Junho | |||
| 1590 | 3 | Jeong Seunghwan | |
| — | — | Kim Minseo | |
| Kim Yeonkyu | |||
| 1410 | 4 | Oh Junseok | |
| 1380 | 0 | Ryu Junmin | |
| 1320 | 2 | Seo Rakwon | |
| — | — | Yang Donghwa | |
- points were not shown for the eliminated and final two members (Yang Donghwa and Kim Yeonkyu).
Episodes
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2022) |
Episode 1 (March 19, 2022)
editThe show opened up with a performance of "Run", which is the signal song by all 13 contestants.[6] The judges, known as balancers, were then introduced.[6] The concept of the show was then explained by the MC Park Seon-young. It was also revealed that one member of the losing team will be eliminated.[6]
For the first round, called the PR balance round, Team A performed "Mic Drop" by BTS while Team B performed "Hala Hala" by Ateez. Following each team's performance, the balancers voted for the best (Ace) and worst contestant (Death) of each team.[6] The on-site audience then also voted for the best team performance with Team B winning the on-site voting. However, the final result will be decided through a combined points system.[6]
Episode 2 (March 26, 2022)
editEpisode 3 (April 2, 2022)
editEpisode 4 (April 10, 2022)
editEpisode 5 (April 16, 2022)
editEpisode 6 (April 23, 2022)
editEpisode 7 (April 30, 2022)
editTeam B wins the first round of the final balance game and the members receive 100 points, except Jeong Seung-hwan, who gets the Death card and receives no points, and Yang Dong-hwa, who is chosen as the Ace and thus receives 200 points. In Team A, Oh Jun-seok receives 100 points as the Ace of his group, while Jun-ho receives minus 100 points as the Balancers deems him the most unconvincing. Then, the trainees are given a day off and are taken to a vacation house in the mountains, where they play games and enjoy a barbecue party. In the evening, they are joined by Jay Park, who gives them words of advice over dinner; the trainees conclude the night watching video messages they have previously recorded for each other.
Episode 8 (May 7, 2022)
editRanking
editThe first five members were chosen from the final stage points, Ace and Death card points, and Balancers' assessment. The last two members were chosen by the Balancers.
| Episode 8 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Points | |
| 1 | Jeong Seung-hwan
|
1,740 | |
| 2 | Oh Jun-seok
|
1,710 | |
| 3 | Seok Rak-won
|
1,520 | |
| 4 | Ryu Jun-min
|
1,380 | |
| 5 | Bae Hyun-jun
|
1,270 | |
| 6 | Yang Dong-hwa
|
points were not shown | |
| 7 | Kim Yeon-kyu
|
points were not shown
| |
Discography
editSingles
edit| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Run" | 2022 | Non-album single |
Ratings
editIn the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share |
|---|---|---|
| Nielsen Korea (Nationwide)[7] | ||
| 1 | March 19, 2022 | 0.293% (63rd) |
| 2 | March 26, 2022 | 0.249% (68th) |
| 3 | April 2, 2022 | 0.211% (71st) |
| 4 | April 9, 2022 | 0.396% (55th) |
| 5 | April 16, 2022 | 0.396% (58th) |
| 6 | April 23, 2022 | 0.191% (77th) |
| 7 | April 30, 2022 | 0.095% (84th) |
| 8 | May 7, 2022 | 0.145% (68th) |
Aftermath
edit- On June 13 2022, IST Entertainment announced that Yang Donghwa would not be debuting as a member of ATBO after his past misconduct, when he was a student surfaced online.[8][9]
- On June 17, 2022, IST Entertainment announced that Won Bin who is originally eliminated in ep 5, would be debuting with ATBO in replacement of Donghwa.[10][11]
- ATBO made their official debut on July 27.
- On May 6, 2024, IST Entertainment announced Seok Rakwon's departure from the Group due to health reasons.[12]
- Some trainees joined new agencies:
- Kang Dae-hyun joined Urban Works Media before transferring to DSP Media and subsequently to RBW, expecting to debut in RBW's new boy group in October 2023..
- Jeong Jun-ho joined NOMAD Entertainment.
- Yang Dong-hwa joined Bluedot Entertainment.
- Some trainees opened social media accounts:
- Choi Jin-wook opened a personal Instagram account & Tiktok.
- Kang Dae-hyun opened a personal Instagram account.
- Some trainees participated in other survival shows:
- Kang Dae-hyun to participate in MBC's "Fantasy Boys".
- Kim Min-seo participate in Mnet's "Build Up : Vocal Boy Group Survivor".
- Some trainees will debut or debuted in new boy groups or released music as solo artists:
- Kang Dae-hyun will debut in RBW's new boy group in October 2023.
- Jeong Jun-ho debuted as a member of boy group NOMAD on February 28, 2024 under NOMAD Entertainment.
- Yang Dong-hwa debuted as a soloist on February 18, 2024 under Bluedot Entertainment.
- Kim Min-seo debuted as a member of boy Project group B.D.U on June 26, 2024".
Notes
edit- ^ Based on Episode 1.
- ^ At the current company.
- ^ Out of 224; Votes from Round 1 and Round 2 combined
- ^ Death participant was not revealed.
- ^ Out of 114
- ^ Kim Minseo performed "No Sense" by Sam Kim.
- ^ Bae Hyunjun Performed "Chewing Gum" by NCT Dream.
- ^ Won Bin performed "Hot Sauce" by NCT Dream.
- ^ Park Jaehoon performed a self-written song titled "개 (Me)".
- ^ Yang Donghwa performed "Make Up" by Sam Kim.
- ^ Jeong Seunghwan performed "Fate" by Lee Sun-hee.
- ^ Out of 204
- ^ Only the top five trainees' points were revealed.
References
edit- ^ a b Cheon, Yun-hye (February 11, 2022). "MBN, 보이그룹 프로젝트 '디 오리진' 론칭..아이돌 데뷔 건 극강의 밸런스 게임[공식]" [MBN, boy group project 'The Origin' launched..Idol debut is the ultimate balance game [Official]]. Herald Pop (in Korean). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
- ^ a b Kim, Ye-eun (February 11, 2022). "IST엔터 새 보이그룹 탄생한다…MBN '디 오리진' 론칭" [IST Entertainment's new boy group is born... MBN 'The Origin' launched]. X Sports News (in Korean). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
- ^ "The Origin – A, B, Or What? Cast". Daum. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
- ^ "더보이즈 후배 누가 될까…'디 오리진' 13명 연습생 공개". News Culture (in Korean). February 11, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
- ^ Park, Su-in (November 7, 2018). "'YG 보석함' 최연소 연습생 7인 공개 '치열 경쟁 예고'". Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved April 2, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e YouTube: (THE ORIGIN) EP.01｜밸런스 서바이벌 오디션 THE ORIGIN - A, B, Or What?｜2022.03.19
- ^ "더 오리진 시청률" [The Origin ratings] (in Korean). Nielsen Korea. Retrieved May 9, 2022 – via Daum.
- ^ @THEORIGIN_AorB on Twitter (June 13, 2022)
- ^ Soompi: IST Entertainment Announces Yang Donghwa Will No Longer Debut With ATBO
- ^ THE ORIGIN - A, B, Or What? on Twitter: [NOTICE] 안녕하세요. IST엔터테인먼트입니다. (June 17, 2022)
- ^ Soompi: IST Entertainment Announces ATBO Will Debut As A 7-Member Group This Summer With Won Bin
- ^ Soompi: ATBO Announces Seok Rakwon's Departure From Group