R U Next Finale Reactions: Netizens Count "HYBE's Biggest Losses", Congratulations Roll Out for Others | Leisurebyte (2024)

With the last episode of the South Korean idol survival program out on September 1, 2023, the R U Next finale reactions are taking over X (formerly Twitter) again as they have been on a weekly basis since the first episode’s premiere on June 30, 2023. Now, the series (알유넥스트) has finally run its course and has given way to the rise of yet another K-pop girl group with six trainees being announced as the winners of the show and now members of the next global girl group managed by BELIFT LAB, the same label as the 4th Generation boy band ENHYPEN.

The reality competition was ajoint venture between JTBC and HYBE Corporation, and was hosted by Choi Soo-young aka SNSD’s Sooyoung. In addition to the ENHYPEN members, the new K-pop group will also be listed under the same umbrella as other girl groups like NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM, both formed by companies – ADOR and Source Music respectively – that have now been acquired by HYBE. Heading into the R U Next Episode 10, only ten contestants made it to the final outing after receiving the green signal during the semi final broadcast. And out of these contestants, only 6 were picked as the finalists in the end.

Since this was the last time we’d be seeing the show’s full lineup of contestants of 22 trainees welcomed at the very beginning of the survival show series, the final entry in the episode list dealt out a lot of information and announcements. Some happy, some sad, for both the contestants and their fans in the audience. The first hit taken on by the loyal viewers of the show was that out of the six finalists, only two of them were to be chosen through fan votes, while the remaining four were label picks, thus pushing the fans’ hard work and humongous volumes of votes down the drain.

Many X users voiced their dislike and distrust against this arrangement, both during and after the live broadcast. Thereafter, the new group’s name announcement didn’t have netizens fawning over it either. The majority considered “I’LL-IT” (ILLIT or 아일릿) a massive downer, especially since they were expecting the girl group to assume its identity as “RubyMoon”, a much more favoured and liked name as compared to the official declaration.

Then coming down to all the missed opportunities, many viewers again went back to the memory of Chanelle’s elimination, which when added to the pain of Jeongeun, Jeemin and Jiwoo not making it to group lineup, only pushed the audience to further believe in the show being “rigged”. Netizens listed the names of these eliminated trainees as “HYBE’s Biggest Losses”. In the midst of all these sad thoughts, some viewers also voiced their congratulations to the contestants who’d actually crossed the bridge and were to debut soon. All in all, the reactions were best summed up by one of the X users’ response that stated, “Still kinda sad and mad but I’m also so happy for them”.

R U Next Winners

The six members who secured their spots as ILL-IT members during the final live broadcast were Wonhee, Youngseo, Minju, Iroha, Moka and Yunah. Out of them all, Wonhee and Youngseo were the Top 2 fan voting picks, and Minju, Iroha, Yunah and Moka were label picks.

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R U Next Finale Reactions

R U Next Episode 10 Performances

Special Performance Featuring All 22 Trainees – A Medley of ENHYPEN’s Given-Taken, LE SSERAFIM’s Fearless and NewJeans’ Attention.

ROUND 7: FINISH LINE Unit

1. Team DESPERATE (Minju, Jiwoo, Jeemin, Youngseo, Iroha)

2. Team AIM HIGH (Wonhee, Yunah, Jeongeun, Moka, Himena)

All 10 Final Trainees’ Stage – Show’s Theme Song R.U.N (At Full Speed)

All performances and other focus cam videos are expected to be uploaded on the official HYBE LABELS+ YouTube Channel eventually. The R U Next final episode was aired on JTBC and live streamed on the HYBE LABELS YouTube Channel on September 1, 2023, at 8:50 PM KST.

Now that the R U Next HYBE girl group debut project is over, a new one is already on its way to us. The Debut: Dream Academy is a joint venture between HYBE Entertainment and Geffen Records, and will introduce us to 20 participants. The series will debut in 2024.

Did your favourite contestants make it to the final stage? Let us know your thoughts on the final episode and lineup in the comments section below.

Also read: R U Next Winners and Final Group Name Announced!