Name: 2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships - New Year Special
Genre: Variety Show, Entertainment, Sports
Released: 2019-02-05
Rating: 9.1
Cast: EXO, TWICE, SUPER JUNIOR, Red Velvet, iKON

EXO is an award-winning South Korean-Chinese boy band formed under SM Entertainment. Consisting of Chen, Chanyeol, D.O, Xiumin, Kai, Lay, Sehun, Baekhyun, and Suho, the nine-member group made their debut in 2012. Ranked from 2014-2018, as one of the top five most influential celebrities on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list, the group has garnered numerous labels over the years, including "Kings of K-pop" and the "biggest boyband in the world”. Since their debut, they have released countless albums and singles, held a number of tours, and appeared on an endless variety of television programs, including “Music Bank K-Chart in Hanoi” (2015), “Ask Us Anything” (2015), “Star Show 360” (2016), “Music Bank K-Chart in Jakarta” (2017), and “2018 KBS Song Festival” (2018).

TWICE is a nine-member girl group under JYP Entertainment. Formed through the 2015 survival reality show “Sixteen”, the members, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu, rose to fame with the release of their 2016 single, “Cheer Up”. Charting at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, the track became the best-performing single of the year, allowing the group to bring home both the Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards “Song of the Year” award. With the release of subsequent chart-topping tracks, TWICE has become one of South Korea’s most popular and widely recognized K-Pop groups, gaining an incredible following the world over. In 2017 the group was included in both “Forbes” Korea Power Celebrity ranking and “Billboard”’s 21 Under 21 2017: Music’s Next Generation.

TWICE

SUPER JUNIOR

Red Velvet is a South Korean girl group that debuted in 2014 with the single “Happiness.” The group was formed by talent agency SM Entertainment and has enjoyed considerable chart success, scooping the Golden Disc New Artist Award in 2015 and the Mnet Asian Music Awards prize for Best Female Group in 2017. The group began as a four-piece, with founding members Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy. a fifth member, Yeri, joined in 2015. Red Velvet has appeared on numerous TV programs, including “Level Up Project!” (2017-2018) and the “2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships – Chuseok Special.”

Red Velvet

iKON is a South Korean all-male vocal group that was formed in 2015. The group debuted as a six-member act comprising B.I, Bobby, Jinhwan, Ju-ne (aka Junhoe), Yunhyeong, Donghyuk, and Chanwoo, singers who participated in the music-themed reality TV show “WIN: Who is Next?” (2013) – where they were known collectively as part of “Team B.” The Team B members took part in the 2014 spinoff reality survival show “Mix & Match” before debuting the following year. B.I left the act in June 2019, and iKON has continued as a six-piece act since his departure.

iKON

GFRIEND is a South Korean girl group that debuted in 2015, with the “Season of Glass” EP. The group’s six founding members are Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji. The group has appeared in reality TV shows such as “One Fine Day” (2015) and “Mamamoo x GFRIEND Showtime” (2016), as well as televised concerts such as “SMUF K-POP 2019.”

GFRIEND

SEVENTEEN is a South Korean all-male K-pop act that debut in 2015. The group has 13 members and released its debut EP “17 Carat” in late May 2015. The group released its first full-length studio album – entitled “Love & Letter” on April 25, 2016. SEVENTEEN has since gone on to release a number of chart-topping songs and has appeared in a range of TV variety shows – including “Seventeen’s One Fine Day” in 2016.

SEVENTEEN

gugudan

MONSTA X is a popular K-pop group formed in 2015 from the winners of the music survival show “No.Mercy.” The seven members of the group are Shownu (leader, vocalist), Wonho (vocalist), Minhyuk (vocalist), Kihyun (main vocalist), Hyungwon (vocalist), Jooheon (rapper) and I.M (rapper). Since releasing its first EP “Trespass” in 2015, the group has produced two studio albums, six EPs, one compilation album, one video album and many hit singles. It also has provided soundtracks for popular Korean dramas and one mobile game. In 2018, MONSTA X starred in the Viki Original series “When You Call My Name” about the meeting and shared stories between MONSTA X and Gallant, the American singer and songwriter. The mini-documentary features a must-see acoustic duet of MONSTA X’s song “Beautiful.”

MONSTA X

MOMOLAND is a seven-member South Korean girl group under MLD Entertainment. Formed in 2016 through the reality show, “Finding Momoland” the members, Hyebin, Yeonwoo, Jane, Nayun, JooE, Ahin, and Nancy, made their debut in November of that same year with the release of their EP, “Welcome to Momoland”. In 2017, two new members, Daisy and Kim Taeha, were added to the group. Since their debut, the group has been nominated for and won numerous awards, including the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards Discovery of the Year and the 2019 Seoul Music Awards Bonsang Award.

MOMOLAND

ASTRO is a six-member South Korean boyband that debuted in 2016 with the EP “Spring Up,” featuring the hit track “Hide & Seek.” The act was nominated for the Best New Artist prize at the Melon Music Awards in 2016, and the Gaon Chart Music Awards in 2017. The group’s members are JinJin, MJ, Cha Eun-woo, Moon Bin, Rocky, and Yoon San Ha. ASTRO has appeared on TV shows, including the 2017 drama series “Sweet Revenge,” as well as the “2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships – Chuseok Special.”

ASTRO

(G)I-DLE is a six-member South Korean girl group that debuted under talent agency Cube Entertainment in 2018, releasing the EP “I Am” – which featured the hit track “Latata.” (G)I-DLE’s members are Miyeon, Minnie, Soojin, Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua. In 2018, the group was nominated for the Best Korean Act prize at the MTV Europe Music Awards and won the Best New Female prize at the Melon Music Awards. The group has also featured in reality TV shows, including “Queendom” (2019) and the “2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships – Chuseok Special.”

(G)I-DLE

NCT 127 is a 10-member subunit of South Korean boy group NCT. Its members were previously part of the talent agency SM Entertainment’s SM Rookies group. NCT 127 made its debut in 2016, releasing the EP “NCT #127.” The act initially consisted of seven members – Taeyong, Taeil, Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, and Haechan. Two more members, Johnny and Doyoung, joined at the end of 2016, with Jungwoo joining in 2018. The act has appeared on long-running TV shows such as “Weekly Idol” and made an appearance on the “2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships – Chuseok Special.”

NCT 127

IZ*ONE is a twelve-member South Korean-Japanese girl group managed by Off the Record Entertainment. The group was formed in 2018 through Mnet’s reality competition show, “Produce 48” and made their debut that same year with the release of their first EP, “Color*Iz”. With both the EP and its lead single, “La Vie en Rose” charting on Billboard’s World Albums and World Digital Songs, the group was met with immediate success. This initial success allowed the group to bring home the title New Artist of the Year from several awards shows, including the Golden Disc Awards and the Seoul Music Awards. The release of the group’s Japanese single, “Suki to Iwasetai”, early in 2019, found the track peaking at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

IZ*ONE

The Boyz is a 12-member South Korean boy band that made its debut in 2017. The group’s first musical release was the EP “The First,” whose lead track was titled “Boy.” The group was formed by talent agency Cre.ker Entertainment, and was originally named Cre.kerz prior to its official debut. The group’s members are Sangyeon, Sunwoo, Jacob, Younghoon, Hyunjae, Juyeon, Q, Kevin, New, Ju Hak Nyeon, Eric, and Hwall. The act won the Best New Male Artist prize at the Melon Music Awards in 2018. The Boyz has also appeared on TV reality shows, such as “Flower Snack” (2017), “Our Happy Home” (2018), “Thumping Travel” (2019), and “School Attack 2019.”

The Boyz

WJSN is a 13-member South Korean-Chinese all-female pop group that is also known as Cosmic Girls. The group made its debut on February 25, 2016, with the EP “Would You Like?” The group’s members are Seola, Xuanyi, Bona, Exy, Soobin, Luda, Dawon, Eunseo, Cheng Xiao, Meiqi, Yeoreum, Dayoung, and Yeonjung. The act appeared on the TV show “Queendom 2” (2022).

WJSN

Stray Kids is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through a 2017 survival reality program of the same name. Composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Changbin, Felix, Han, Hyunjin, I.N., Lee Know, and Seungmin, the band released a series of music videos, EPs, and singles, prior to their official debut. On March 26, 2018, the band released their second EP and made their official debut. Since then, the band has released a number of albums and singles and has frequently charted on both the Korean and World music charts. In addition to their music, the group has appeared in a number of variety programs, including “2019 KBS Song Festival” (2019), “2020 Idol Star eSports Championships - Chuseok Special” (2020), and “SEOUL PLAY” (2020).

Stray Kids

Celeb Five

Golden Child

Weki Meki is a South Korean girl group that was assembled by talent agency Fantagio in 2017. The group’s eight members are: Ji Suyeon, Elly, Choi Yoojung, Kim Doyeon, Sei, Lua, Rina, and Lucy. The act made its debut with the EP “Weme” in August 2017. Members Choi Yoojung and Kim Doyeon are former members of I.O.I, the group formed by the reality TV show “Produce 101” (2016). Weki Meki has appeared in TV reality shows such as “Weki Meki, What’s Up?” (2018), as well as televised concerts including “SMUF K-POP 2019.”

Weki Meki

SF9 is a nine-member South Korean boy group created by FNC Entertainment. The group debuted in 2016, releasing the single album “Feeling Sensation.” The group’s members are Youngbin, Inseong, Jaeyoon, Dawon, Zuho, Rowoon, Taeyang, Hwiyoung, and Chani. SF9 won the Rising Star prize at the Asia Artist Awards in 2018. The act appeared in the survival music show “Dance or Band (D.O.B)” in 2016, and also competed at the “2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships – Chuseok Special.”

LABOUM

UP10TION

APRIL is a South Korean girl group that debuted on August 24, 2015. The act’s debut EP was named “Dreaming,” and featured the lead track “Dream Candy.” The group’s six members are Chaekyung, Chaewon, Naeun, Yena, Rachel, and Jinsol. The group has featured on TV shows including “Here Goes April” (2015) and “SMUF K-POP 2019,” and member Naeun was made the co-host of TV music show “Inkigayo” in October 2019.

April

IMFACT

fromis_9

Cherry Bullet

Samuel

ELRIS

HyeongSeopXEuiWoong

DreamNote

IN2IT

Hash Tag

D-CRUNCH

Nature is a South Korean girl group formed by n.CH Entertainment. The group made their official debut on August 3, 2018 with the release of their single album, “Girls and Flowers”. Nominated for multiple awards since debut, the group is the winner of the Soribada Best K-Music Awards’ “New Artist of the Year” (2018) and “Music Star Award” (2019). Since debut, the group has appeared on various music shows, including the “SBS Super Concert in Incheon” (2019).

Nature

ATEEZ is a South Korean boy band formed by talent agency KQ Entertainment in 2018. The group’s eight members are Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho. In October 2018, the group released the debut extended play “Treasure EP.1: All to Zero.” ATEEZ has also appeared in reality shows and televised concerts such as “Code Name Is ATEEZ” (2018) and “SMUF K-POP 2019.”

ATEEZ

HEYGIRLS

NOIR

LIPBUBBLE

TRCNG, an acronym for Teen Rising Competition in a New Generation, is a South Korean boy group that formed in late 2017. The 10 members of the group are Jihun, Hayoung, Taeseon, Hakmin, Wooyeop, Jisung, Hyunwoo, Siwoo, Hohyeon and Kangmin.

TRCNG

icia

VOISPER

GWSN

BLACK6IX

Holics

S.I.S

Seven O'clock

H.U.B

MBC, KOCOWA

The Idol Star Athletics Championships is back again to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Opening with Jun Hyun Moo’s live performance as Moocury, the hottest idol stars in today’s K-pop scene gather again to shine the event at the Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium. This year, the talented stars will compete against each other to win in a variety of games. Track and field, rhythmic gymnastics, bowling, archery are just to name a few. A shootout round has been added as a new event this year, expecting to excite the fans with more breath-holding moments. Promising a fair play as athletes, not idol stars today, keep your cheerleading spirits high as the young entertainers dash down the track field, jump in mid-air, and focus hard dripping buckets of sweat. Hold on, because it’s going to be some intense hours of fun with loads of athleticism.

2019 Idol Star Athletics Championships - New Year Special

About

Episodes

Reviews & Comments