| A2K | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | America2Korea |
| Genre | Reality competition |
| Created by | |
| Directed by |
|
| Judges | Park Jin-young |
| Theme music composer | Park Jin-young |
| Opening theme | "Ready for the World"[1][2] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original languages |
|
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Production locations |
|
| Editors |
|
| Running time | 25–50 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | July 14 – September 22, 2023[3] |
| Related | |
| Nizi Project | |
A2K (abbreviated from "America2Korea") is a 2023 American reality competition show. The series is a joint project between JYP Entertainment and Republic Records aimed at creating the first American girl group using the K-pop system, aimed at a global audience. A2K is centered on JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young as he picks members for an American girl group from the United States and Canada. The winning contestants would go on to form the girl group Vcha.[4][5]
On June 29, 2023, the program was announced to be broadcast exclusively on JYP Entertainment's YouTube channel from July 13, 2023, with new episodes being released on every Mondays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. (PT) or 9:00 p.m. (ET).[6]
Backgrounds
Following Republic and JYP's initial strategic partnership in 2020 with Twice, the collaboration was expanded on February 10, 2022, to include Stray Kids and Itzy as part of the alliance.[7]
On March 15, 2022, JYP Entertainment officially launched their North American label, JYP USA, following its expanded strategic collaboration with Republic Records.[8]
On July 25, 2022, both J.Y. Park and the CEO of Republic Records, Monte Lipman made an official announcement in a virtual press video released on JYP Entertainment's YouTube channel.[9] It was revealed at the end of the press release video that parents may submit the application on behalf of their children. At most, five contestants from each audition city will be selected to move on to the live audition stage. The contestants from the United States and Canada who were born between January 1, 2005, and September 1, 2010, are eligible to submit their applications to attend the audition in one of the five US cities in September 2022.[10]
| City | Submission Deadline | In-Person Audition |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | September 3, 2022 | September 10, 2022 |
| Chicago | September 7, 2022 | September 14, 2022 |
| New York City | September 10, 2022 | September 17–18, 2022 |
| Dallas | September 13, 2022 | September 20, 2022 |
| Los Angeles | September 16, 2022 | September 23–25, 2022 |
Episodes
| No. | Title | Filming Location(s) | Duration (mm:ss) | Original release date | Views (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Start of A2K" | Dallas, US Chicago, US | 30:20 | July 13, 2023 | 5.7 |
| 2 | "Show Your Talent" | Chicago, US Atlanta, US New York City, US | 38:39 | July 17, 2023 | 4.6 |
| 3 | "The Final Contestants" | Los Angeles, US | 27:57 | July 20, 2023 | 2.9 |
| 4 | "The LA Boot Camp Begins" | Los Angeles, US | 27:35 | July 24, 2023 | 2.9 |
| 5 | "Dance Evaluation Continues" | Los Angeles, US | 29:26 | July 27, 2023 | 2.4 |
| 6 | "Show Your Passion" | Los Angeles, US | 31:06 | July 31, 2023 | 2.3 |
| 7 | "Vocal Evaluation Starts" | Los Angeles, US | 32:16 | August 3, 2023 | 2.5 |
| 8 | "Vocal Evaluation Rankings" | Los Angeles, US | 31:33 | August 7, 2023 | 2.2 |
| 9 | "Star Quality Evaluation" | Los Angeles, US | 35:17 | August 10, 2023 | 2.1 |
| 10 | "Star Quality Evaluation Rankings" | Los Angeles, US | 33:11 | August 14, 2023 | 2.0 |
| 11 | "Character Evaluation" | Los Angeles, US | 30:25 | August 17, 2023 | 1.9 |
| 12 | "Character Evaluation Rankings" | Los Angeles, US | 26:30 | August 21, 2023 | 1.6 |
| 13 | "The Showcase Begins" | Los Angeles, US | 29:44 | August 24, 2023 | 2.2 |
| 14 | "The Showcase Performances" | Los Angeles, US | 36:44 | August 28, 2023 | 2.5 |
| 15 | "LA Boot Camp Rankings" | Los Angeles, US | 33:43 | August 31, 2023 | 2.4 |
| 16 | "Korean Boot Camp Begins" | Seoul, South Korea | 44:04 | September 4, 2023 | 2.7 |
| 17 | "Individual Performances Continue" | Seoul, South Korea | 45:27 | September 7, 2023 | 2.2 |
| 18 | "Individual Evaluation Rankings" | Seoul, South Korea | 50:51 | September 11, 2023 | 2.1 |
| 19 | "Team Evaluation" | Seoul, South Korea | 45:18 | September 14, 2023 | 2.4 |
| 20 | "Team Evaluation Rankings" | Seoul, South Korea | 37:09 | September 18, 2023 | 2.2 |
| 21 | "The Grand Finale Begins" | Seoul, South Korea | 48:36 | September 20, 2023 | 2.4 |
| 22 | "The Final Members" | Seoul, South Korea | 50:37 | September 21, 2023 | 2.7 |
Contestants
| Name | Birth Date (Age) | Residence | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Full | ||
| Cristina | Cristina Lopez Sandiford | May 11, 2005 |  Atlanta, Georgia |
| Melissa | Melissa Kadas | July 22, 2005 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Brampton, Ontario |
| Lexus | Lexus Vang | November 22, 2005 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Savanna | Savanna Collins | July 26, 2006 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| Kaylee | Kaylee Lee | November 24, 2009 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Camila | Camila Ribeaux Valdes | August 10, 2005 | Montreal, Quebec |
| Kendall | Kendall Ebeling | June 1, 2006 | Texas |
| KG | KG Crown (Kiera Grace Madder) |
June 17, 2007 | Los Angeles, California |
| Yuna | Yuna Gonzalez | April 28, 2005 | California |
| Gina | Gina De Bosschère | July 15, 2009 | |
| Mischa | Mischa Salkin | August 2, 2009 | Florida |
Summary
| Phase 3 | Outcome | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contestant | Dance | Vocal | Star Quality | Character | Overall | Individual | Team | Finale | Attitude | Overall | |
| Lexus | 3 | ■ | 4 | 1 | 6  |
7 | 8 | Won | 1 | 1 | Vcha |
| KG | 8 | 3 | ■ | ■ | 8 |
3 | 6 | Lost | – | 2 | Vcha |
| Camila | 7 | 1 | ■ | 3 | 1 |
2 | 3 | Won | 3 | 3 | Vcha |
| Savanna | 4 | ■ | 3 | 4 | 4 |
5 | 4 | Won | 2 | 4 | Vcha |
| Kaylee | 6 | 6 | ■ | ■ | 7 |
4 | 1 | Lost | – | 5 | Vcha |
| Kendall | 2 | 5 | 2 | ■ | 5 |
1 | 7 | Lost | 4 | 6 | Vcha |
| Cristina | 1 | ■ | ■ | 2 | 3 |
6 | 2 | Lost |
 |
Eliminated | |
| Gina | 5 | 4 | ■ | ■ | 2 |
8 | 5 | Won |
|
Eliminated | |
| Yuna | ■ | ■ | 5 | 5 | 10 |
9 |
9 |
Eliminated | |||
| Melissa | ■ | 2 | 1 | ■ | 9 |
Withdrawn[lower-alpha 1] | |||||
| Mischa | |
■ | ■ | |
11 | Eliminated | |||||
Notes
- ↑ Due to personal reasons, as broadcast in Ep. 16.
See also
References
- ↑ "READY FOR THE WORLD". ASCAP Repertory. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ↑ "READY FOR THE WORLD (SIGNAL MUSIC)". ASCAP Repertory. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ↑ "FY23 Q2 Earnings Call". JYPE. JYP Entertainment. August 18, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
- ↑ "JYP Entertainment, Republic Records announce U.S. girl group VCHA". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ↑ "Meet VCHA, the New Girl Group Formed by JYP's 'A2K' Audition". Teen Vogue. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ↑ Aniftos, Rania (June 29, 2023). "K-Pop Competition Series 'A2K' Gets Premiere Date: Watch the Trailer". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (February 10, 2022). "JYP & Republic Expand Strategic Partnership to Include ITZY & Stray Kids: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ↑ Voon, Talia (March 15, 2022). "JYP Entertainment officially steps into the US market with JYP USA launch". Bandwagon Asia. Bandwagon Pte Ltd. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (July 26, 2022). "'A2K' Competition To Create American Girl Group With K-Pop Model & Top Global Labels". Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ↑ Yeo, Gladys (July 26, 2022). "TWICE's agency JYP Entertainment and Republic Records to launch new North American girl group under 'A2K' project". NME. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
External links
- Official website (in English)