''A2K'' (also abbreviated as "America2Korea") is an American reality competition show that aired between July 14 and September 22, 2023 on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. The series was a joint project between

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1997 by Park Jin-young, J. Y. Park. Operating as a record label, talent ...

and

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

. The goal of the series was to create the first American girl group using the rigorous

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

training system. The series revolved around

founder

Park Jin-young Park Jin-young (; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show judge. Park rose to s ...

as he picked members for an American girl group from the United States and Canada through an evaluation process. The winning contestants from ''A2K'' went on to form the girl group VCHA. On June 29, 2023, ''A2K'' was announced to be broadcast digitally through JYP Entertainment's YouTube channel from July 13, 2023, with new episodes being released on Mondays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. ( PT) or 9:00 p.m. ( ET). The series finale officially aired on September 22, 2023 at 6PM PT.

Background

Following Republic and JYP's initial strategic partnership in 2020 with

Twice Twice (; Japanese language, Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Tuwaisu''; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon ...

, the collaboration was extended on February 10, 2022, to include JYP groups such

Stray Kids Stray Kids (often abbreviated to SKZ; ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The band consists of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han (musician), Han, Felix (rapper), Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. For un ...

and

Itzy Itzy (; Japanese language, Japanese: イッチ; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group consists of five members: Yeji (singer), Yeji, Lia (South Korean singer), Lia, Ryujin (rapper), Ryujin, Chae ...

as part of the alliance. On March 15, 2022,

officially launched their North American label, JYP USA, following its expanded strategic collaboration with

. On July 25, 2022, both

J.Y. Park Park Jin-young (; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show judge. Park rose to s ...

and the CEO of Republic Records, Monte Lipman made an official announcement in a virtual press video that was released via JYP Entertainment's YouTube channel. It was revealed at the end of the video that parents could submit the application on behalf of their child(ren). Five contestants from each audition city were selected to move on to the live audition stage. Contestants from the United States and Canada who were born between January 1, 2005, and September 1, 2010, were eligible to submit their applications to attend the audition in one of the five US cities that were held in September 2022.

Episodes

Contestants

Summary

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Showcase

Team Battle

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Final mission

Round 1 Individual song

Round 2 Common Song

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Notes

References

External links

* {{in lang, en American reality television series American English-language television shows K-pop television series Music competitions in South Korea Music competitions in the United States Television series by JYP Entertainment

Background

Episodes

Contestants

Summary

Showcase

Team Battle

Final mission

Round 1 Individual song

Round 2 Common Song

Notes

See also

References

External links