I.O.I (아이오아이) was a project girl group formed through Mnet's survival reality show Produce 101. Originally an eleven-member girl group, they debuted on May 4, 2016, with the mini album "Chrysalis". They promoted for a year before disbanding on January 29, 2017.
In November 2015, Mnet announced their new survival show that would bring together 101 trainees from 46 entertainment companies to form a unit girl group with 11 members chosen by the viewers, which was called Produce 101. The show premiered on January 21, 2016, and the live finale was broadcast on April 1, 2016, with the 11 winners becoming a girl group.
The group's debut line included Zhou Jie Qiong and Lim Na Young from Pledis Entertainment, Kim Chung Ha from MNH Entertainment, Kim Se Jeong and Kang Mi Na from Jellyfish Entertainment, Choi Yoo Jung and Kim Do Yeon from Fantagio Music, Yoo Yeon Jung from Starship Entertainment, Kim So Hye from Redline Entertainment, Jung Chae Yeon from MBK Entertainment, and Jeon So Mi from JYP Entertainment.
Supposedly, the day of the show's finale was when I.O.I was supposed to debut with "Crush" and begin activities, but Mnet and YMC Entertainment decided to postpone their debut so they could prepare the group with their concept and a new song with new choreography. On April 5, 2016, the song was released as a digital single, followed by its music video.
They debuted on May 4, 2016, with the EP "Chrysalis" and actively promoted as a whole and as a sub-unit for less than a year. The group's concert titled Time Slip – I.O.I, which was held from January 20 to 22, 2017, marked their last group activity on stage. They officially disbanded at the end of January 2017 and returned to their respective agencies.
The group was planning to have a reunion in December 2019 with nine members under Studio Blu but due to four members being unable to participate, the reunion was virtually cancelled.
On May 4, 2021, the 5th anniversary of the group's debut, the group (except for Mina and Jieqiong) held a reunion livestream. Jieqiong managed to join the live stream via video calling.
Korean: 나영
Japanese: ナヨン
Korean: 청하
Japanese: チョンハ
Korean: 세정
Japanese: セジョン
Korean: 채연
Japanese: チェヨン
Korean: 결경
Japanese: ギョルギョン
Korean: 소혜
Japanese: ソエ
Korean: 연정
Japanese: ヨンジョン
Korean: 유정
Japanese: ユージュング
Korean: 미나
Japanese: ミナ
Korean: 도연
Japanese: ドヨン