JYP Begins Search For New Boy Group Via Japanese Audition Program 'Nizi Project'

JYP Entertainment and Japan’s Sony Music have teamed up anew in their search for a new Japanese boy group that will debut in 2023.

JYP Founder and Music Executive Park Jin Young and Sony Music CEO Shunsuke Muramatsu announced that auditions will be held from November to December in eight cities in Japan: Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kobe, Hiroshima, Okinawa and Fukuoka. Hopefuls from the United States will also be screened in Los Angeles and New York and in Seoul, Soompi said.

The two music giants previously worked together in 2019 in the first season of the audition show, “Nizi Project,” which gave birth to the Japanese girl group, “NiziU.”

JYP Entertainment is the home of some of South Korea’s most famous singing groups, including "Twice," "Stray Kids" and "2PM."

The Music Executives said they are looking for talented men who are younger than 22 and are able to speak Japanese regardless of their nationalities.

The young hopefuls will battle against each other in the areas of vocal prowess, modeling and rap expertise. Two new categories have been added in the new season of the contest: Lyric writing and song composition abilities.

Young said he will personally visit the audition venues to bring the right talents to the show.

"When I first started the 'Nizi Project' two years ago, I was pretty anxious. But I am glad that I am now announcing the beginning of its second season. It was incredible to see so many people supporting this project,” Park was quoted by Korea Times during the online press conference.

Japanese girl group “NiziU” is comprised of nine members, viz. Mako, Maya, Mayuka, Riku, Rima, Ayaka, Miihi, Rio and Nina.

Korea Times said NiziU was famous even before its official debut due to the popularity of the program. Their pre-debut song, “Make you happy” placed number 1 on three Oricon digital ranking categories. NiziU also received a platinum award from the Recording Industry Association of Japan for their debut single, "Step and a Step." Their second single, “Take a Picture/Poppin' Shakin” is currently sweeping Japan’s major music charts.

In anticipation of their future male counterparts, NiziU tweeted an announcement of the global audition Tuesday.

The two music giants said applications to the show have started on Tuesday.