Big Hit Entertainment, the label behind international sensations BTS, has announced global auditions for a girl group that will be part of the “next generation” of K-pop stars.
This girl group, slated to debut in 2021, will be Big Hit’s second: In July, The label acquired Source Music, which was home to the six-member group GFriend.
The Plus Global Audition is set to take place in 16 cities across three continents. The auditions kick off in Los Angeles and New York City on October 5, before moving to Australia and Asia – namely, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand. Check out the full list of dates and cities below.
Plus Global Audition
Saturday, October 5 – Los Angeles and New York City
Saturday, October 12 – Perth and Singapore
Sunday, October 13 – Melbourne
Saturday, October 19 – Busan, Gwangju, Osaka, Sapporo and Taipei
Sunday, October 20 – Seoul, Tokyo and Kaohsiung
Saturday, October 26 – Hanoi and Bangkok
Sunday, October 27 – Ho Chi Minh
The announcement was accompanied by an “invitation” video. The clip features several women who read out a mysterious poem which they discover in a small bottle. “This is a poem for all your secret powers,” it reads. “We are the unpredictable unicorns, plus strong, plus special, plus smart, plus sassy, plus sunny, plus superb, and plus we hope to see you soon.” Watch the video here.
In a joint press statement, Big Hit and Source Music said they “plan to fully utilise their capacities in launching the next generation girl group backed by the know-hows accumulated home and abroad”.
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The South Korean entertainment company had acquired Source Music in July in a bid to expand its range of artists with the latter’s “pool of trainees with high growth potential in the girl group category”. Big Hit’s last girl group was the short-lived five-member group Glam, which disbanded in early 2015 after two and a half years.
Big Hit also recently announced that it is developing a new drama series based on the BTS Universe. The company is also working on a new music streaming platform in collaboration with South Korean gaming company Netmarble, which was behind the ‘BTS World’ mobile game.