i-dle Soyeon Screams "I Hate Vegetables" at Waterbomb, Surges to No. 2 on K-POPIT BOARD

Soyeon, the leader of K-POP girl group i-dle, is heading into her first solo comeback in more than five years. A surprise Waterbomb performance has already turned it into one of the most talked-about returns of the season.

According to K-POPIT BOARD, a K-POP analytics index, Soyeon ranked second on both the domestic Power Index (PWR(KR)) with 73 points and the global Power Index (PWR(GL)) with 69 points as of August 25.

The spike traces back to news of her solo return in early September. Coverage in Korean media pushed her domestic media score to 92, while her fandom response score landed at 63.

The biggest buzz came on August 22, when Soyeon took the stage at Waterbomb Sokcho 2026, held at Hanwha Resort Seorak Sorano in Sokcho, Gangwon Province. She used the set to showcase two unreleased tracks, "STAR" and "I Hate Vegetables" (Yachae Silheo Song). The blunt, playful lyrics did the rest. Her D-tier score, which tracks interest from general audiences outside her fandom, jumped 46.2 percent in a single day.

"STAR" leans on a hard-hitting EDM beat and direct lyrics. "I Hate Vegetables" sounds like a joke at first but arrived with a bold performance. One moment in particular, when a backup dancer tugged at Soyeon's shirt to pull off her outer layer, spread quickly online.

Fan-shot clips and official cuts from the Waterbomb set spread across social media and YouTube in the days after. Videos tied to "I Hate Vegetables" drew a wide range of reactions. YouTube mentions of Soyeon climbed 52.9 percent within a day.

Her solo album is due in early September. It will be her first solo release in about five years and two months, since her debut mini-album "Windy" in 2021.

For a member who has spent years writing and producing for one of K-POP's biggest girl groups, the timing signals more than just a personal project. It positions Soyeon to reintroduce herself as a solo artist at a moment when the summer festival circuit still doubles as K-POP's most powerful promotional stage.