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 rigours K-pop training system.

A2K
Also known asAmerica2Korea
GenreReality competition
Created by
Directed by
  • Kim Tae-wook (series)
  • Some Production (music)
JudgesPark Jin-young
Theme music composerPark Jin-young
Opening theme"Ready for the World"[1][2]
Country of originUnited States
Original languages
  • English
  • Korean (spoken)
No. of episodes22
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 time25–50 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkYouTube
ReleaseJuly 14 (2023-07-14) –
September 22, 2023 (2023-09-22)[3]
Related
Nizi Project

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

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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

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No.TitleFilming Location(s)Duration
(mm:ss)
Original release dateViews
(millions)
1"The Start of A2K"Dallas, US
Chicago, US
30:20July 13, 2023 (2023-07-13)5.7
2"Show Your Talent"Chicago, US
Atlanta, US
New York City, US
38:39July 17, 2023 (2023-07-17)4.6
3"The Final Contestants"Los Angeles, US27:57July 20, 2023 (2023-07-20)2.9
4"The LA Boot Camp Begins"Los Angeles, US27:35July 24, 2023 (2023-07-24)2.9
5"Dance Evaluation Continues"Los Angeles, US29:26July 27, 2023 (2023-07-27)2.4
6"Show Your Passion"Los Angeles, US31:06July 31, 2023 (2023-07-31)2.3
7"Vocal Evaluation Starts"Los Angeles, US32:16August 3, 2023 (2023-08-03)2.5
8"Vocal Evaluation Rankings"Los Angeles, US31:33August 7, 2023 (2023-08-07)2.2
9"Star Quality Evaluation"Los Angeles, US35:17August 10, 2023 (2023-08-10)2.1
10"Star Quality Evaluation Rankings"Los Angeles, US33:11August 14, 2023 (2023-08-14)2.0
11"Character Evaluation"Los Angeles, US30:25August 17, 2023 (2023-08-17)1.9
12"Character Evaluation Rankings"Los Angeles, US26:30August 21, 2023 (2023-08-21)1.6
13"The Showcase Begins"Los Angeles, US29:44August 24, 2023 (2023-08-24)2.2
14"The Showcase Performances"Los Angeles, US36:44August 28, 2023 (2023-08-28)2.5
15"LA Boot Camp Rankings"Los Angeles, US33:43August 31, 2023 (2023-08-31)2.4
16"Korean Boot Camp Begins"Seoul, South Korea44:04September 4, 2023 (2023-09-04)2.7
17"Individual Performances Continue"Seoul, South Korea45:27September 7, 2023 (2023-09-07)2.2
18"Individual Evaluation Rankings"Seoul, South Korea50:51September 11, 2023 (2023-09-11)2.1
19"Team Evaluation"Seoul, South Korea45:18September 14, 2023 (2023-09-14)2.4
20"Team Evaluation Rankings"Seoul, South Korea37:09September 18, 2023 (2023-09-18)2.2
21"The Grand Finale Begins"Seoul, South Korea48:36September 20, 2023 (2023-09-20)2.4
22"The Final Members"Seoul, South Korea50:37September 21, 2023 (2023-09-21)2.7

Contestants

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Name Birth Date (Age) Residence
Stage Full
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 18)   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 14)   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

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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
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

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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

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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

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Round 1 Individual song

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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

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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

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

See also

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References

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  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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