The search for members of a new North American girl group — a project of Korea’s JYP Entertainment and New York-based Republic Records called America2Korea (A2K) — will be done via auditions.
The auditions, open to Americans and Canadians between the ages of 12-16, will be held across five cities: Atlanta on 10 September; Chicago, 14 September; New York on 17 to 18 September; Dallas, 20 September; and Los Angeles from 23 to 25 September.
Shortlisted auditionees will attend a bootcamp in Los Angeles, before the semi-finalists are selected to travel to JYP headquarters in Seoul for further training.
The final list will comprise the group.
JYP founder J.Y. Park said the project will see the first American artists developed in a K-pop system.
“It’s like talented artists who go through a training system like an Olympic gymnast will go through. That’s the K-pop artist the global audience fell in love with because of dedication, discipline, hard work and values. That’s what separates them from a lot of artists,” said Park.
JYP and Republic first collaborated in 2020 which helped K-pop group TWICE’s two albums land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200.
Some of the other artists on JYP’s roster are 2PM, Stray Kids and ITZY, while Republic Records has Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and Drake.