Hyped as one of the biggest audition shows yet, SBS‘s ‘Survival Audition K-POP Star” (or “K-POP Star”) finally saw all three of its judges record an episode together for the first time.
On November 7th, Yang Hyun Suk, J.Y. Park, and BoA came together as judges and representatives of the ‘Big 3′ agencies in Korea (YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and SM Entertainment). BoA and J.Y. Park already started the audition process for overseas hopefuls, with BoA flying out to L.A. and J.Y. Park coming to New York City.
On this day, however, all three judges came together to oversee auditions as a trio. The first time the judges came on set, they couldn’t help but feel nostalgic over their own audition process. The three thought back to the first time they auditioned to be a star, and shared their personal experiences.
A staff member of the program remarked, ”Judges Yang Hyun Suk, J.Y. Park, and BoA judged the contestants honestly and fairly; while they pointed out strengths, they weren’t afraid to criticize any shortcomings as well. There are a lot of highly qualified contestants so the competition is fierce, and we feel as though this will be the greatest survival audition to find the world’s best K-Pop star. We hope you will look forward to the season, which will kick off in December.”
The names of the judges alone are heightening expectations for the show, but foreign contestants are also becoming one of the key points — demonstrating that the Hallyu wave is blowing strong all across the globe.
The winner of SBS’s “K-Pop Star” will win $300,000 USD and an opportunity to produce their own album with the agency of their choice. They will also gain the chance to film a CF and a personal car as well. The first episode airs sometime in December.