SM Entertainment Will Form a New NCT Sub-Unit With a K-pop Competition Show in the US
SM Entertainment’s NCT currently has 23 members, and the band is about to become even bigger. On May 6, it was announced that MGM Worldwide Television Group formed a partnership with SM Entertainment to create a new K-pop group based in the U.S. through a competition show.
The members selected through the TV show will become a new NCT sub-unit, joining NCT U, NCT Dream, NCT 127, and WayV.
How NCT functions as a group
NCT originally debuted in 2016 under SM Entertainment, and NCT U was the first sub-unit to debut. With this sub-unit, the members frequently change depending on which members fit the concept of a song the best and it is not a fixed unit.
Taeil, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Mark, Winwin, and Haechan are members of the sub-unit NCT 127. Mark and Haechan are also members of NCT Dream. The sub-unit has seven members: Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung.
While Mark and Haechan are active members of both NCT 127 and NCT Dream, Winwin is no longer an active member of NCT 127 because of promotions with WayV.
WayV is NCT’s China-based group and debuted in 2019. The band has seven members: Kun, Ten, Winwin, Lucas, Xiaojun, Hendery, and Yangyang. Shotaro and Sungchan debuted with NCT in 2020, and the two members have yet to join a fixed sub-unit.
What to expect from the new NCT sub-unit
In 2019, SM Entertainment and Capitol Records debuted SuperM, a K-pop supergroup consisting of members from already-established groups under SM Entertainment.
SuperM primarily promotes in the U.S., and four of the SuperM members, Taeyong, Ten, Mark, and Lucas, are also members of NCT. The septet also includes Kai and Baekhyun of EXO and Taemin from SHINee.
While SuperM was formed with popular K-pop idols, the new NCT sub-unit will feature new talent.
The Hollywood Reporter published an in-depth report on how the group will be formed, writing:
“The talent search will be open to ‘America’s most talented emerging artists’ who are males aged 13 to 25. Contestants will be flown to Seoul for K-pop bootcamp training at the SM campus, where in each episode, they will compete in dance, vocal and style tests and will be judged and mentored by SM founder Lee Soo-man as well as various current NCT members.”
SM Entertainment and MGM executives shared more information about the future K-pop group
In a statement, Lee, the founder of SM Entertainment, dubbed the new sub-unit as “NCT Hollywood.”
“I look forward to making an unconventional audition show that all music fans around the world can enjoy,” he said according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lee continued, “I hope the audience enjoys watching the journey of new stars being born in Hollywood, that will be promoted as NCT-Hollywood in the global market in the future.”
MGM Television chairman Mark Burnett also released a statement, writing, “K-pop is more than a genre of music; it’s a cultural phenomenon and we’re so excited to partner with the incredible Lee Soo-man and the team at SM to bring K-pop to the U.S.!”
So far, there is no set release date for the upcoming K-pop competition show.
