7 Things You Need to Know About Jeon Somi
On 2 August, soloist Jeon Somi made her comeback with the song "Dumb Dumb", a song about a girl trying to act sweet and innocent in front of her crush to get his attention, but has an interesting twist where she calls the guy dumb for not noticing it.
To celebrate Somi's comeback, here are seven facts about the singer that you need to know about!
Broken Trophy
The trophy breaks around the 2-minute mark.
When Somi achieved her first win with her first comeback "What You Waiting For", the artist managed to clinch her very first win on MCOUNTDOWN! During her encore stage, she promised to eat a lemon to celebrate her victory — of which she forgot to peel and just bit straight into the rind — whilst clutching her MCOUNTDOWN trophy in her left arm. As she was moving about the stage, the top portion of her trophy did a nosedive to the ground, leaving Somi shocked and embarrassed. Luckily, her dancers immediately came on stage to comfort the pouty singer joined her for the rest of the encore.
Fanfiction Reader
Image credit: @somsomi0309 on Instagram
Somi once read fanfiction of herself. Thinking that it was merely an article on her, Somi was shocked to discover that it was, in fact, fanfiction about her and her fellow I.O.I members! The easy-going singer took a screenshot of the list of fanfiction before putting it up on her Instagram story, requesting the writer to look into how her character was written.
I'm Somi!
The news footage occurs around the 3:43 mark.
When Somi was 4, her father Matthew Douma was interviewed a news team. He had been carrying the toddler in his arms and as he was talking, Somi suddenly piped up announcing "I'm Somi!" much to the surprise of her father. Somi's fans often say that the singer's been promoting herself since she was four. In 1theK's IDDP, Somi shares that when that interview had been going on, she felt like she needed to say something and make herself known, that's why she introduced herself.
Staged Produce 101 Fight
Many of you might be familiar with this picture from the trailer of Produce 101 back in 2016. Somi looks like she's about to fight someone, while another trainee restrains her. Back then, this scene had made everyone super excited for the next episode, wanting to know what had gotten Somi so worked up. However, when the next episode was aired, there were no traces of this anticipated fight! It was only four years later that Somi clarified in an Instagram live that the "fight" had been completely staged — she had told the director that she would pretend to fight and requested that he put it in the trailer to attract more viewers for the next episode.
Pre-debut Appearances
Somi, her mother, and grandmother appear around the 39:40 mark.
Somi's most notable pre-debut appearance was her participation in SIXTEEN, the show that gave us TWICE. She had been a strong contender for the debut lineup, only to be eliminated in the final episode, failing to secure a spot in JYP's newest girl group. Aside from SIXTEEN, Somi also appeared in KBS' "Let's Go! Dream Team" Children's Day special in 2013, representing Midong Elementary School's Taekwondo performance team. On the programme, Somi declared that she wanted to be a singer and even sang a Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". Congratulations on Somi for achieving her dreams! In 2014, Somi also appeared with her mother and grandmother in KBS' "Hello Counselor" as part of the audience.
Lost Lines
One of I.O.I's most iconic songs is their last song Downpour written by SEVENTEEN's Woozi. The piece carries a deep sense reluctance but also an element of bittersweetness — truly encompassing how the girls must've felt when the project group was disbanded after 8 months together. In 1theK's IDDP, Somi shares that Yoojung's line at 0:41 which reads "I'm still young, and it's a little scary" was initially meant for her, the maknae of I.O.I. During the recording, the part at 2:41 was not yet taken and Somi volunteered to sing that part, thinking that she would have two verses in their final song. However, when the song was released, she realised that her initial part had been replaced by Yoojung. When she clarified, the production team had thought that she preferred the second part and thus gave Yoojung the first part instead.
Idol Drama Operation Team
In 2017, Somi participated in KBS' "Idol Drama Operation Team" alongside fellow idols like Mamamoo's Moonbyul, Red Velvet's Seulgi, Nature's Sohee, Sonamoo's D.ana, Oh My Girl's YooA, and Lovelyz's Sujeong to create the autobiographical drama "Let's Only Walk the Flower Road". The drama shared the hardships the girls faced during their trainee days and how hard they had worked to debut. The fictional band in the drama, Girls Next Door also released a song Deep Blue Eyes as part of the programme.