| From left, Taki, EJ, Kyungmin, Nicholas and K, former contestants of K-pop survival show "I-Land," will debut as a boy band under Big Hit Japan. Courtesy of Big Hit Entertainment |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Big Hit Entertainment, the Korean entertainment company that manages BTS, is expanding its business portfolio into Japan with a new boy band.
The company announced Friday that Big Hit Japan, its regional subsidiary, is launching a "Global Debut Project."
The first boy band of the project will include five trainees ― K, Nicholas, EJ, Taki and Kyungmin ― who were eliminated from Mnet's K-pop survival show "I-Land."
The show, which ran from June to September last year, was created as part of the company's joint venture with CJ E&M, an entertainment and media giant in Korea. The seven finalists ― Park Sung-hoon, Niki, Jungwon, Sunoo, Heeseung, Jake and Jay ― made their debut as ENHYPEN in November.
In addition to the existing five members, extra performers will be selected to join the group through "&AUDITION," an audition organized by Big Hit Japan. The group is planning to debut this year.
"We will debut under Big Hit Japan with new members from the audition. We are excited to see who will join our team, and hope for your support and love," the members said in a statement through the agency.
The project, led by Big Hit's founder and CEO Bang Si-hyuk, will invite famous producers, including Pdogg who has worked with BTS, and Soma Genda, as well as choreographer Son Sung-deuk, to be the trainees' mentors.
The photo and video submissions for the audition are due Jan. 17.