Warning: If you haven’t watched the I-LAND finale, spoilers ahead!

And just like that, I-LAND comes to a close, and a brand new boy band is formed! Together Heeseung, Ni-Ki, Jake, Jay, Jungwon, Sunghoon and Sunoo debut as ENHYPEN.

For those of you catching up, I-LAND is a combination of Survivor and The Voice, with 23 wannabe boy band members going through challenges week after week, hoping to debut at the end as a band made up of 7 members. Each week, contestants are voted off by global viewers or by a judging panel. Read my previous I-LAND post for all the details.

The last episode was EPIC, with several intense performances, guests like BTS and TXT on set giving advice and critiques, and not one, but TWO eliminations.

As always, some of my favorite parts are around the intense criticism the I-LANDERS got during their dress rehearsals – and my favorite performance director, Son Sung Deuk, did not disappoint! But after a serious dance critique, the I-LANDERS surprised him and Doobu with thoughtful notes of appreciation – causing both Doobu and I to shed some tears!

I can’t even talk about the recent eliminations as they are still too fresh! But I am definitely not sure how I feel about the elimination of K. He was solid, and had become a great leader of the group after the episode 9 breakdown. But I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I hope K and Taki go on to make their own boy band – and maybe recruit Hanbin and Daniel to round things out!

So – after a season filled with dramatic critiques and some of my favorites candidates being voted off in the final stages (but am soooo glad Jay and Sunoo made it!!), we have a new boy band to follow! And with supporters like BTS and TXT – and already a HUGE global following thanks to the show – I am sure this band will go on to big things!

I am super pumped to see what’s next from this band, and you can bet if they go on tour in my area anytime soon (fingers crossed for 2021 tour!), I will be there!

What do you think about the debut group for ENHYPEN?