Watch: "YG Treasure Box" Eliminates 6 Trainees + Splits Contestants Into New Teams

“YG Treasure Box” is inching closer to its final mission!

On the January 4 episode of the YG Entertainment survival show, the contestants wrapped up the one-on-one elimination round, with each of the six remaining duos going head-to-head in a fierce battle for survival. After watching each pair of contestants stage a duet performance, YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun Suk selected one contestant to move onto the next round, leaving the other to be automatically eliminated.

The first duo up was Kim Jongseob and Kotaro, who performed a cover of Eminem’s “The Monster.” After seeing their performance, Yang Hyun Suk remarked, “One thing that I found interesting was that even though you were singing the same song together, the two of you seemed more like competitors than members of the same team.” He later went on to announce that Kim Jongseob had won the battle.

The next duo was So Junghwan and Lee Inhong, who covered Taeyang’s solo track “I Need a Girl.” Although Yang Hyun Suk commented that the two contestants had shown “similar” performances and were roughly equal in their skill level, he ultimately chose So Junghwan as the winner, explaining, “I picked the person that I thought had more potential for growth.”

Yang Hyun Suk proved less complimentary about Asahi and Kang Seokhwa’s performance of Dean’s “what2do,” remarking, “Personally, I feel like both of you could have done better.” He then selected Kang Seokhwa as the victor of the battle.

Yoon Jaehyuk went on to defeat Yun Siyun after covering iKON’s “My Type” together, and Jang Yunseo similarly won his own battle against Kim Sungyeon (though the show did not air their performance).

The final battle was between rappers Choi Hyunsuk and Jung Junhyuk, who performed a cover of A$AP Ferg’s “Yammy Gang.” After seeing their performance, Yang Hyun Suk joked, “You guys should just become a duo instead of staying on ‘YG Treasure Box.’ The chemistry between the two of you was incredible.” Although he praised both contestants, he ultimately chose Choi Hyunsuk as the winner who would move on to the next round.

After the contestants had tearfully said their goodbyes, the program revealed its next mission: a team battle that required the trainees to split up into groups of five. Accordingly, the show announced that its “Treasure 6” debut lineup needed to be narrowed down to “Treasure 5,” with one of the contestants in the lineup leaving the team to join the other trainees.

After revealing that Lee Byounggon and Kim Seunghun had received the lowest number of votes (as a duo) on last week’s episode, the show asked the other four “Treasure 6” trainees to decide which of the two contestants would remain in the “Treasure 5” lineup. The four trainees struggled with the burden of having to make such a difficult decision—particularly Bang Yedam, who had trained with both Lee Byounggon and Kim Seunghun for a long time before the program. In the end, the contestants chose Kim Seunghun to remain on the team, and the room was soon filled with tears as everyone embraced Lee Byounggon before his departure.

With the new addition of Lee Byounggon, there were now 15 contestants remaining who had not made it into the “Treasure 5” lineup. Each of the 15 contestants voted for the two members with whom he most wanted to form a team, and the two contestants that earned the most votes were given the opportunity to create their own teams of five.

Lee Byounggon and Choi Hyunsuk tied for first place with seven votes each. Lee Byounggon chose Mashiho, Kim Junkyu, Kim Doyoung, and Ha Yoonbin for his team, while Choi Hyunsuk chose Park Jihoon, Kim Yeongue, Yoshinori, and Kil Dohwan as his teammates. The five remaining contestants—So Junghwan, Kim Jongseob, Kang Seokhwa, Yoon Jaehyuk, and Jang Yunseo—automatically formed the final team.

On the show’s next episode, the four teams will face off in a high-stakes competition, with all five members of the winning team automatically making it through to the final round.

Which contestants are you rooting for? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Watch the full episode of “YG Treasure Box” with English subtitles below: