‘Produce 101’ Season 2 Episode 8: Updates, News & Spoilers
On episode 8 of Produce 101 Season 2, which aired on May 26, the second round of elimination took place and only 35 contestants remain while 23 trainees went home. The ranking was based on the previous position-based evaluation where winners of each category gained benefit votes. The new top 11 contestants are as follows, starting from the 11th rank to 1st: Kang Dong Ho, Joo Hak Nyun, Kim Jae Hwan, Kang Daniel, Ong Sung Woo, Hwang Min Hyun, Im Young Min, Lee Dae Hwi, Park Ji Hoon, Lai Guanlin, and Kim Jonghyun.
Viewers were shocked to find out when Kim Samuel, who used to be a consistent part of the top 11, tumbled down to the 16th place. Lee Daehwi, who previously ranked 10th place, climbed back up and claimed 4th. Park Ji Hoon, who has steadily been at the #1 spot since Produce 101 Season 2 began, was booted off the throne by none other than Pledis trainee Kim Jonghyun, who got an astonishing 2,795,491 votes.
In episode 8, the trainees were again divided into groups for the next mission, which is the concept challenge. This challenge will feature 5 different well-renowned producers in the K-pop industry who crafted 5 original songs in different genres just for Produce 101 Season 2. The trainees were assigned to each song, with a maximum of 12 members per concept. However, Kang Daniel, Kim Dong Bin and Lee Ki Won were the last ones to be assigned songs as a penalty for cheating. The 3 trainees were previously caught hinting on social media which songs they wanted for the mission, which is against the rules. The 3 trainees were also given the chance to express their remorse and apologize for their actions during the broadcast.
Because the groups were formed prior to the elimination in episode 8, the teams for the concept challenge are tentative. The 5 songs that the trainees will perform are hip-hop song "Oh Little Girl," EDM beat "Open Up", disco tune "Show Time," deep house track "Never," and funk ditty "I Know You Know." Next week, the teams will be reshuffled to equally distribute the 35 remaining trainees. This challenge will be the most crucial challenge in Produce 101 Season 2, as the winning team will get an automatic 220,000 points and whoever wins first place for that team will get a benefit of 100,000 points.