I-Land 2: FUKO deserved it! IZAN group lineup, producer's choice sparks fan backlash

Mnet's survival show 'I-LAND 2: N/a' has finally come to an end, revealing the lineup for its brand-new girl group called 'IZAN'. On July 4, the survival show aired its grand finale, during which it announced the seven contestants—one surprise member added after initially stating that six would debut—who made the final debut lineup.

ALSO READ | I-LAND 2 N/α: Meet the Top 10 finalists as Kim Sujung and Son Juwon bid farewell

While five of the members were chosen through vote rankings, the two additional members earned spots in the lineup as 'producers’ picks'. This is where the controversy erupted, as one of the most consistent trainees, FUKO, was not included in the lineup.

While fans are happy with the lineup of the seven contestants — Choi Jungeun, Bang Jeemin, Yoon Jiyoon, Koko, Ryu Sarang, Mai, and Jeong Saebi — many questioned why FUKO was not chosen.

Fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to ask how the producers (Teddy, Taeyang, VVN, and 24, along with directors Monika and Leejung Lee) chose Mai, stating they chose her for her visuals and that she is still improving, over FUKO, who has been debut-ready with I-LAND 2 being her second survival show. Many stated that FUKO deserved to debut and hoped another company would choose her.

About the final episode:

The finale of 'I-Land 2: Final Countdown' aired live on Thursday at 9:30 PM KST. The septet will be managed by a CJ ENM subsidiary, WakeOne, which is home to beloved K-pop groups like ZEROBASEONE and Kep1er.

Unlike Season 1 of 'I-LAND', which produced the group ENHYPEN, Season 2 was not a collaboration with HYBE. This season was broadcast by Mnet in collaboration with TheBlackLabel.

K-pop star Jeon Somi joined the broadcast as a special host alongside the show's fixed MC, ZEROBASEONE's Sung Hanbin.

IZ*ONE's Jo Yuri, Kep1er’s Hikaru and Chaehyun, and ZEROBASEONE’s Han Yujin, Kim Taerae, and Zhang Hao attended the final broadcast of the series as special guests to boost the confidence of the participating contestants aspiring to debut as K-pop idols.

Enjoy 35+ OTTs like ZEE5, LionsgatePlay, Ullu, SunNXT, SonyLIV, Fancode and 250+ Live TV channels at just ₹99