Seventeen hopes to shine like diamonds with ‘17 Carat’

After years of training and endless evaluations in a pre-debut system that was broadcast to the public, Pledis Entertainment’s new thirteen-member multinational boy group Seventeen finally made its official debut Tuesday in an hourlong live TV performance.

“We’ve performed a lot of songs by other artists through the pre-debut system, but we’re very nervous because this is our first time performing our own tracks,” said member Woozi at a press conference at the MBC Dream Center in Ilsan, Tuesday.

The name “Seventeen” refers to the sum of three numbers ― 13 members, in three subunit groups, coming together as one team. Through the MBC reality program “Seventeen Project: Debut Big Plan,” the members had completed missions while being split into a hip-hop unit, a vocal unit, and a performance unit. 

“We gave tons of performances through the show, and each time it gave us a chance to learn about how to work the stage and handle emergency situations,” said leader S.coups. “We had to wait a long time for our debut, but each step in the process helped us become a better group.”

True to Seventeen’s concept as a “self-producing” idol group, the act’s first EP, “17 Carat,” includes five original songs created by the members themselves. Woozi helped to write and produce all of the tracks on the EP, while Hoshi created the choreography for the pre-release “Shining Diamond” and the title track “Adore U.”

“Our participation on the album went much further than just contributing our opinions,” said Woozi. “The leaders of the three unit groups went to every album production meeting to make sure that we could tell our own story.”

“Adore U” is a funky pop song about a teenage boy trying to navigate through puppy love. The performance for the song is structured almost like a scene from a musical, with the members breaking apart to perform different moves in separate parts of the stage, then coming together for the catchy chorus.

“I contacted a choreographer I admire to help me put together the routine,” said Hoshi. “I focused on the storytelling, and on highlighting each member’s strengths onstage.”

“Shining Diamond,” a dance track which was revealed on Seventeen’s reality TV program, is also on the album, in addition to three tracks from each of the three unit groups.

According to the members, the five tracks were carefully chosen from dozens that they had created to fit their core concept.

“We decided that our central concept as a group would be ‘boys’ passion,’” said Woozi. “We wanted to show off the energy that could come only from guys our age.”

“Once the public becomes more familiar with Seventeen, we’ll also be performing in our unit groups. We’re thinking about doing some mixed-unit performances as well,” said S.coups. “We hope you’ll look forward to everything we have to show you.”

Seventeen made its official debut through a live broadcast Tuesday. The 13 members are S.coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon in the hip-hop team, Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, Seungkwan and DK in the vocal team, and Hoshi, Jun, The 8 and Dino in the performance team. The group’s first EP “17 Carat” drops on Friday at noon.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)