Girl group mimiirose showed its ambitions to bloom during Friday’s showcase for its debut EP “Awesome” at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul.

The group’s debut EP “Awesome” and lead track “Rose” dropped the same day. The team of five — Inn Hyo-ri, Yoon Ji-a, Seo Yun-ju, Han Ye-won and Choi Yeon-jae — opened the showcase with a performance of its b-side track “Kill Me More,” a funky electro-swing dance number.

The girl group’s name is a combination of a repetition of the Chinese character "mi" for beauty and the flower.

“It signifies layers of our outer and inner beauty, like the layers of rose petals,” said Ye-won. “And we are going to bloom into a magnificent flower.”

“Each of us members are a petal, and all of us come together to form a beautiful rose,” said Hyo-ri. “We want to be a harmonious team like that.”

Anticipated as “Im Chang-jung’s girl group,” mimiirose is produced by the renowned singer-songwriter and actor who is behind many hits. He recently shared on a television show that he had to sell the copyright of most of his hit songs in order to fund the production process of this group, which he has been preparing for years.

“Since our agency chief [Im] is so famous, we felt pressure that we really have to do well,” Ji-a said. “It was our motivation to do our best during practice.

“We have waited quite a long time for our debut due to Covid-19,” Ji-a continued. “It was a hard wait, but we think that it was also a blessing because now we can debut while seeing our fans in-person. Our debut will finally feel like a reality once we meet our fans.”

Im himself made a special appearance on stage during the showcase, saying “I’m more nervous than I was for my own debut.”

“They’re talented rappers, singers and dancers,” he said, adding that he’s dreamt of producing a K-pop idol group for over a decade. “I’m also going to let them pursue acting in the future if they want to. They’re so talented all around. It’s basically like a group of five Im Chang-jungs,” he said with a laugh.

Many of the members have already left an impression on the public as contestants on the hit audition shows “Girls Planet 999” (2021) on MNet and “My Teenage Girls” (2021-22) on MBC, and have already built a global fan base. Fans, Korean and foreign, were gathered outside the showcase venue on Friday.

The girl group proceeded to perform its lead track “Rose,” a dance number with a unique traditional-feeling zither beat. The “half-version” music video for “Rose” will be released today, while the full version will be available a week later.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]