This article is part of an ongoing series covering MNet’s reality talent show, PRODUCE 48. Check out the recaps of Episodes 1, 2, 3, and 4 right here on LWOS Life. 

After countless weeks of performances, assessments, and gradings, we have finally came down to the first wave of eliminations. Most contestants have participated in group and solo challenges, and were grouped by company assessments. These assignments, along with the voting done by fans, have brought us to where we are today. The top 58 of the 92 will continue through to the next episodes of the show while everyone else is sent packing.

Produce 48 Contestants Face Top 58 Cut-Off in Rankings

Lee Ga-eun Places #1 for Third Week in a Row

Lee Ga-eun topped the charts once again after having the lead for two weeks prior. This was the first week that showed precisely how many votes each person got, with Ga-eun getting 633,511. She gave an emotional speech to her parents after being awarded the #1 spot. Amazingly, the amount of votes in total from each episode combined was 14,718,724.

Japanese Idol Update

Miyawaki Sakura, who has been the top Japanese trainee throughout the show so far, placed fourth. On the first episode she took the #1 spot and has been declining in the rankings since. Although going down in the charts, Sakura stays comfortable in the rankings and never falls below fifth. After placing fourth this week, she vowed that she will not cry on the show since she has cried on every episode so far. Matsui Jurina placed 13th despite unexpectedly leaving the show last week. People were still under the impression that Jurina, while not present for the rankings, would return. One could speculate that this was recorded before Jurina announced that she was not coming back.

Choi Ye Na’s Unique Story

Each trainee that moved on was given a chance to speak, with everyone giving their usual thanks. The only speech/story that stuck out to me was Choi Ye Na’s. She spoke about how her parents have always been skeptical of her becoming an idol since her brother tried but got stopped because something happened to him. She wants to continue in the contest to prove herself to her family.

Fun at the Rankings

Before the “first ranking”, trainees walked into the set that they were at on the initial episode. They took seats on the floor, with numbered seats based off of where they get ranked in the grandstands. Trainees were given the opportunity when walking in to show off their personality with a dance, catchphrase, or any other sort of act. Throughout the episode rankings were announced, starting at 57th and going up to #1. After that, we got a very dramatic reveal for the 58th spot.

NGT48 jokester Yamada Noe was ranked 14th, going down three spots from last week. When Noe went onto the stage, she was asked by host Lee Seung Gi if she could do another dance. Noe agreed to dance, but only if Seung Gi would too. They both eventually danced, although it took some convincing to get Lee Seung Gi to.

Not All Contestants Were Created (Or Treated) Equal

The 58th spot went to Sato Minami, who was very thankful. At the end of the episode we saw the eliminated contestants say their farewells to the cast. Since the show relies almost completely off of fan votes, not having much camera time works against contestants regardless of their work ethic. This frustration was recently shared online when eliminated contestant Park Jinny said she didn’t get any screen time despite working hard on a livestream. Fellow former contestant Alex Christine commented in the IG Live, saying “relatable.”

“Dancing Queen” Contest

This week’s episode itself did not include much content, with a fair amount of it being filler footage that wasn’t relevant to this weeks rankings. Some of the clips shown were of fun tasks that trainees were given during their dorm time months ago.

One of the clips was a guest appearance that showed Kim Chung-ha and Jeon So-mi hosting a “dancing queen” contest. Chung-ha and So-mi are both winners of Produce 101 season 1 and former members for I.O.I. Speaking of So-mi, there are rumors swirling around that she will lead the next JYP girl group, which is expected to debut before the end of 2018. It should be taken with a grain of salt, but it is interesting news for any fans of her.

The winner of the Dancing Queen contest was Goto Moe. As a celebration she did a very good dance cover of Produce 101’s “Pick Me”. During the celebratory dance Matsui Jurina got choked up, as she saw how much Moe has improved. Because of Moe’s win, her Class C was all given packages that contained makeup. It felt odd that all of this content that showed off personality would air after the first voting period has passed by. 

A Preview of the Next Episode

When the show was concluding, it was announced that all voting from past weeks will be reset for the next episode. Also voting opened for fans to vote for which concept they want specific trainees to do. The options for concepts are Contemporary Girl Pop, Moombahton/Trap, New Jack Swing, Tropical Pop Dance, Hip-hop/R&B Pop & Pop Dance. We were also shown a preview of tomorrow’s episode where contestants are told that the winner of the next task will get 100,000 extra votes.

Now that the contestant pool has been practically split in half, the intensity of the show is bound to heat up. The next episode of Produce 48 airs tomorrow, where we find out what the next big task for contestants will be. Produce 48 becomes one step closer to finding Asia’s next big girl group.

Full Rankings:

EP 5 Ranking	Contestant	EP 1	EP 2	EP 3	EP 5 Votes
1	Lee Ga-eun	5	1	1	633,511
2	Ahn Yu-jin	2	2	2	607,823
3	Jang Won-young	3	4	4	539,596
4	Sakura Miyawaki	1	5	3	532,273
5	Kwon Eun-bi	25	3	5	507,633
6	Moe Goto	16	8	6	461,078
7	Nako Yabuki	14	27	16	449,722
8	Wang Yi-ren	7	9	8	404,888
9	Choi Ye-na	6	7	9	390,483
10	Lee Chae-yeon	29	10	10	368,218
11	Miyu Takeuchi	39	11	8	362,417
12	Hitomi Honda	30	47	22	333,670
13	Matsui Jurina (OFF SHOW)	4	12	12	329,455
14	Noe Yamada	45	9	11	314,400
15	Kim Min-ju	13	17	19	307,334
16	Miru Shiroma	9	22	13	297,902
17	Jang Gyu-ri	6	14	14	296,913
18	Juri Takahashi	20	29	20	289,547
19	Jo Yu-ri	10	19	18	289,180
20	Kim Si-hyeon	15	13	17	262,648
21	Miho Miyazaki	17	16	15	256,613
22	Huh Yun-jin	19	15	21	256,613
23	Lee Si-an	8	18	27	235,777
24	Erii Chiba	27	38	23	228,389
25	Kang Hye-won	38	40	41	222,716
26	Ko Yu-jin	24	34	26	220,375
27	Saho Iwatate	46	24	24	189,308
28	Kim Chae-won	21	21	30	179,387
29	Na Go-eun	36	20	28	178,233
30	Bibian Murakawa	28	31	29	178,024
31	Mako Kojima	12	23	25	177,040
32	Son Eun-chae	95	85	53	175,744
33	Tomu Muto	23	28	32	175,038
34	Kim Do-ah	31	25	31	166,662
35	Lee Ha-eun	51	58	33	164,273
36	Miu Shitao	41	45	39	160,881
37	Bae Eun-yeong	18	30	34	149,092
38	Kim Na-young	55	63	58	139,350
39	Chiyori Nakanishi	22	37	40	127,714
40	Sae Murase	32	43	45	120,865
41	Kim Cho-yeon	68	75	37	115,687
42	Park Seo-young	34	26	35	112,060
43	Park Hae-yoon	59	35	43	109,158
44	Aoi Motomura	37	42	36	103,611
45	Wang Ke	92	33	44	101,292
46	Nanami Asai	26	41	42	96,530
47	Han Cho-won	64	79	88	89,134
48	Cho Ka-hyeon	65	36	38	89,074
49	Lee Yu-jeong	33	48	49	76,345
50	Kim So-hee	48	44	48	75,898
51	Yu Min-young	86	32	46	75,698
52	Yoon Hae-sol	40	50	55	73,457
53	Kim Min-seo	62	39	47	69,913
54	Park Min-ji	49	56	60	68,130
55	Kim Hyun-ah	67	72	64	67,037
56	Misaki Aramaki	50	61	66	66,659
57	Kim Su-yun	58	51	54	66,438
58	Minami Sato	57	66	59	64,511
	–CUT OFF–
59	Ikumi Nakano	43	53	50	64,172
60	Hwang So-yeon	90	46	51	63,482
61	Shin Su-hyun	42	57	62	63,471
62	Kang Da-min	70	74	75	60,709
63	Shinobu Mogi	44	59	55	57,697
64	Erina Oda	56	67	69	57,612
65	Yoon Eun-bin	54	68	65	57,364
66	Choi Yein-soo	47	52	57	56,200
67	Natsumi Matsuoka	35	55	52	54,450
68	Park Chan-ju	85	69	71	52,903
69	Park Jinny	52	49	61	52,495
70	Kim Da-yeon	60	65	70	48,458
71	Rena Hasegawa	61	54	63	47,766
72	Cho Ah-yeong	83	78	86	46,320
73	Lee Seung-hyeon	66	60	68	45,759
74	Yuuka Kato	71	73	73	43,570
75	Kim Da-hye	80	89	78	42,377
76	Mina Imada	53	64	67	40,155
77	Serika Nagano	72	81	76	40,131
78	Hong Ye-ji	76	76	80	39,465
79	Lee Chae-jeong	96	94	92	38,465
80	Park Ji-eun	77	70	79	37,826
81	Manami Ichikawa	79	83	87	37,685
82	Alex Christine	88	86	85	37,536
83	Sae Kurihara	73	84	81	37,300
84	Cho Yeong-in	74	62	74	36,672
85	Yuki Asai	69	80	83	35,929
86	Ahn Ye-won	82	88	84	35,795
87	Kokoro Naiki	75	82	82	34,463
88	Kim Yu-bin	90	93	93	34,070
89	Cho Sa-rang	89	90	91	34,038
90	Choi So-eun	86	92	89	31,436
91	Ayana Shinozaki	84	87	77	30,489
92	Won Seo-yeon	81	77	90	30,103
OUT	Miku Tanaka	63	71	72
OUT	Amane Tsukiashi	78	91
OUT	Cocona Umeyama	94	96
OUT	Azusa Uemura	93	96

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