A2K (TV program)

*A2K*
A2K
Also known as	America2Korea
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	Monte Lipman; Park Jin-young;
Directed by	Kim Tae-wook (series); Some Production (music);
Judges	Park Jin-young
Theme music composer	Park Jin-young
Opening theme	"Ready for the World"
Country of origin	United States
Original languages	English; Korean (spoken);
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Monte Lipman; Park Jin-young; Shin Hyun-kuk; Danielle Price Sanders; Devon Libran;
Production locations	United States; South Korea;
Editors	Kim Ja-saeng (visual); Jeong Min-soo (visual); Noh Jin-yeong (visual);
Running time	25–50 minutes
Production companies	JYP Entertainment; Republic Records;
Original release
Network	YouTube
Release	July 14 –; September 22, 2023
Related
	Nizi Project

A2K (also abbreviated as "America2Korea") is a 2023 American reality competition show. The series was a joint project between JYP Entertainment and Republic Records. The goal of the series was to create the first American girl group using the rigorous K-pop training system.

The series revolved around JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young 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.^[4]^[5]

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).^[6]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, the collaboration was extended on February 10, 2022, to include JYP groups such Stray Kids and Itzy as part of the alliance.^[7]

On March 15, 2022, JYP Entertainment officially launched their North American label, JYP USA, following its expanded strategic collaboration with Republic Records.^[8]

On July 25, 2022, both J.Y. Park 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

City	Submission Deadline	In-Person Audition
Atlanta	September 3, 2022	September 10, 2022
Chicago	September 7, 2022	September 14, 2022
New York City	September 10, 2022	September 17–18, 2022
Dallas	September 13, 2022	September 20, 2022
Los Angeles	September 16, 2022	September 23–25, 2022

Episodes

No.	Title	Filming Location(s)	Duration (mm:ss)	Original release date	Views (millions)
1	"The Start of A2K"	Dallas, US Chicago, US	30:20	July 13, 2023 (2023-07-13)	5.7
2	"Show Your Talent"	Chicago, US Atlanta, US New York City, US	38:39	July 17, 2023 (2023-07-17)	4.6
3	"The Final Contestants"	Los Angeles, US	27:57	July 20, 2023 (2023-07-20)	2.9
4	"The LA Boot Camp Begins"	Los Angeles, US	27:35	July 24, 2023 (2023-07-24)	2.9
5	"Dance Evaluation Continues"	Los Angeles, US	29:26	July 27, 2023 (2023-07-27)	2.4
6	"Show Your Passion"	Los Angeles, US	31:06	July 31, 2023 (2023-07-31)	2.3
7	"Vocal Evaluation Starts"	Los Angeles, US	32:16	August 3, 2023 (2023-08-03)	2.5
8	"Vocal Evaluation Rankings"	Los Angeles, US	31:33	August 7, 2023 (2023-08-07)	2.2
9	"Star Quality Evaluation"	Los Angeles, US	35:17	August 10, 2023 (2023-08-10)	2.1
10	"Star Quality Evaluation Rankings"	Los Angeles, US	33:11	August 14, 2023 (2023-08-14)	2.0
11	"Character Evaluation"	Los Angeles, US	30:25	August 17, 2023 (2023-08-17)	2.1
12	"Character Evaluation Rankings"	Los Angeles, US	26:30	August 21, 2023 (2023-08-21)	1.8
13	"The Showcase Begins"	Los Angeles, US	29:44	August 24, 2023 (2023-08-24)	2.2
14	"The Showcase Performances"	Los Angeles, US	36:44	August 28, 2023 (2023-08-28)	2.5
15	"LA Boot Camp Rankings"	Los Angeles, US	33:43	August 31, 2023 (2023-08-31)	2.4
16	"Korean Boot Camp Begins"	Seoul, South Korea	44:04	September 4, 2023 (2023-09-04)	2.7
17	"Individual Performances Continue"	Seoul, South Korea	45:27	September 7, 2023 (2023-09-07)	2.2
18	"Individual Evaluation Rankings"	Seoul, South Korea	50:51	September 11, 2023 (2023-09-11)	2.1
19	"Team Evaluation"	Seoul, South Korea	45:18	September 14, 2023 (2023-09-14)	2.4
20	"Team Evaluation Rankings"	Seoul, South Korea	37:09	September 18, 2023 (2023-09-18)	2.2
21	"The Grand Finale Begins"	Seoul, South Korea	48:36	September 20, 2023 (2023-09-20)	2.4
22	"The Final Members"	Seoul, South Korea	50:37	September 21, 2023 (2023-09-21)	2.7

Contestants

Name		Birth Date (Age)	Residence
Stage	Full	Birth Date (Age)	Residence
Cristina	Cristina Lopez Sandiford	(2005-05-11) May 11, 2005 (age 19)	Atlanta, Georgia
Melissa	Melissa Kadas	(2005-07-22) July 22, 2005 (age 19)	Brampton, Ontario
Lexus	Lexus Vang	(2005-11-22) November 22, 2005 (age 19)	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Savanna	Savanna Collins	(2006-07-26) July 26, 2006 (age 18)	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Kaylee	Kaylee Lee	(2009-11-24) November 24, 2009 (age 15)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Camila	Camila Ribeaux Valdes	(2005-08-10) August 10, 2005 (age 19)	Montreal, Quebec
Kendall	Kendall Ebeling	(2006-06-01) June 1, 2006 (age 18)	Fort Worth, Texas
KG	KG Crown (Kiera Grace Madder)	(2007-06-17) June 17, 2007 (age 17)	Los Angeles, California
Yuna	Yuna Gonzalez	(2005-04-28) April 28, 2005 (age 19)	California
Gina	Gina De Bosschère	(2009-07-15) July 15, 2009 (age 15)
Mischa	Mischa Salkin	(2009-08-02) August 2, 2009 (age 15)	Florida

Summary

Color key

Got the stone after evaluations
Got the stone after revaluation
Got the stone later

						Phase 3					Outcome
Contestant	Dance	Vocal	Star Quality	Character	Overall	Individual	Team	Finale	Attitude	Overall	Outcome
Lexus	3	■	4	1	6	7	8	Won	1	1	Vcha
KG	8	3	■	■	8	3	6	Lost	–	2	Vcha
Camila	7	1	■	3	1	2	3	Won	3	3	Vcha
Savanna	4	■	3	4	4	5	4	Won	2	4	Vcha
Kaylee	6	6	■	■	7	4	1	Lost	–	5	Vcha
Kendall	2	5	2	■	5	1	7	Lost	4	6	Vcha
Cristina	1	■	■	2	3	6	2	Lost		Eliminated
Gina	5	4	■	■	2	8	5	Won		Eliminated
Yuna	■	■	5	5	10	9	9	Eliminated
Melissa	■	2	1	■	9	Withdrawn^[a]
Mischa		■	■		11	Eliminated

Showcase

Team	Original artist(s)	Song	Contestants
Team A	Wonder Girls	"Be My Baby"	Camila
			KG
			Cristina
Team B	ITZY	"Wannabe"	Kendall
			Kaylee
			Savanna
			Mischa
Team C	TWICE	"The Feels"	Melissa
			Lexus
			Yuna
			Gina

Team Battle

Color key

Eliminated

Team	Result	Original artist(s)	Song	Contestants
Marteami	3rd place	TWICE	"Alcohol-Free"	Lexus
				Kendall
				Yuna
Back Dawgz	2nd place	Stray Kids	"Back Door"	Camila
				Gina
				Cristina
SP3KTRUM	Won	NMIXX	"Love Me Like This"	KG
				Savanna
				Kaylee

Final mission

Round 1 Individual song

Team	Result	Original artist(s)	Song	Contestants
TOPIC	Won	Original Song (Produced by JYP & David Stewart)	"Know Me Like That"	Gina
				Lexus
				Savanna
				Camila
Clover	Lost	Original Song (Produced by JYP & Space Primates)	"Go Getter"	Kaylee
				Kendall
				KG
				Cristina

Round 2 Common Song

Color key

Final member of Vcha
Eliminated

Team	Result	Original artist(s)	Song	Contestants
Clover	Lost	Original Song (Produced by JYP & Cirkut)	"Y.O.Universe"	Kaylee
				Kendall
				KG
				Cristina
TOPIC	Won			Gina
				Lexus
				Savanna
				Camila

Notes

^ Due to personal reasons, as broadcast in Ep. 16.

References

^ "READY FOR THE WORLD". ASCAP Repertory. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "READY FOR THE WORLD (SIGNAL MUSIC)". ASCAP Repertory. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ "FY23 Q2 Earnings Call". JYPE. JYP Entertainment. August 18, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
^ "JYP Entertainment, Republic Records announce U.S. girl group VCHA". Korea JoongAng Daily. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
^ "Meet VCHA, the New Girl Group Formed by JYP's 'A2K' Audition". Teen Vogue. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
^ Aniftos, Rania (June 29, 2023). "K-Pop Competition Series 'A2K' Gets Premiere Date: Watch the Trailer". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ Benjamin, Jeff (February 10, 2022). "JYP & Republic Expand Strategic Partnership to Include ITZY & Stray Kids: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ Voon, Talia (March 15, 2022). "JYP Entertainment officially steps into the US market with JYP USA launch". Bandwagon Asia. Bandwagon Pte Ltd. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ Benjamin, Jeff (July 26, 2022). "'A2K' Competition To Create American Girl Group With K-Pop Model & Top Global Labels". Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ Yeo, Gladys (July 26, 2022). "TWICE's agency JYP Entertainment and Republic Records to launch new North American girl group under 'A2K' project". NME. Retrieved September 22, 2023.

External links

Official website (in English)

[Melissa-11] Due to personal reasons, as broadcast in Ep. 16.

[1] "READY FOR THE WORLD". ASCAP Repertory. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[2] "READY FOR THE WORLD (SIGNAL MUSIC)". ASCAP Repertory. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[3] "FY23 Q2 Earnings Call". JYPE. JYP Entertainment. August 18, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.

[4] "JYP Entertainment, Republic Records announce U.S. girl group VCHA". Korea JoongAng Daily. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.

[5] "Meet VCHA, the New Girl Group Formed by JYP's 'A2K' Audition". Teen Vogue. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.

[6] Aniftos, Rania (June 29, 2023). "K-Pop Competition Series 'A2K' Gets Premiere Date: Watch the Trailer". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[7] Benjamin, Jeff (February 10, 2022). "JYP & Republic Expand Strategic Partnership to Include ITZY & Stray Kids: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[8] Voon, Talia (March 15, 2022). "JYP Entertainment officially steps into the US market with JYP USA launch". Bandwagon Asia. Bandwagon Pte Ltd. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[9] Benjamin, Jeff (July 26, 2022). "'A2K' Competition To Create American Girl Group With K-Pop Model & Top Global Labels". Forbes. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[10] Yeo, Gladys (July 26, 2022). "TWICE's agency JYP Entertainment and Republic Records to launch new North American girl group under 'A2K' project". NME. Retrieved September 22, 2023.

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