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MGM TV, Mark Burnett Team With Soo-Man Lee, SM Entertainment on K-Pop Competition Series

Elaine Low
·2-min read

Supersized K-pop group NCT is looking for new members, and the world will be watching — on television.

MGM Television and its chairman Mark Burnett have inked a partnership with producer Soo-Man Lee and Korean powerhouse SM Entertainment to develop a K-pop competition series to find the newest members of NCT. The group is currently comprised of 23 members who also make up the sub-groups NCT 127, NCT DREAM and WayV.

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Open to young men between 13 and 25, the contestants will be sent to Seoul to attend “K-pop bootcamp” at the SM campus. Each episode will see them competing in various challenges designed to test their dance skills, vocals and style under the mentorship of Lee — who will also be a judge — and a variety of NCT stars including NCT 127.

“This series is exactly the type of innovative programming that MGM is committed to creating on a global scale,” said Burnett. “K-Pop is more than a genre of music; it’s a cultural phenomenon and we’re so excited to partner with the incredible Soo-Man Lee and the team at SM to bring K-Pop to the US!”

The series would join the ranks of MGM TV’s other well-known musical properties, “The Voice,” which airs on NBC, and Fox’s “Beat Shazam.” “Shark Tank” and “Survivor” remain two on-air unscripted staples from the studio.

“I’m happy to be able to proceed with the global audition project together with producer Mark Burnett and MGM,” says producer Soo-Man Lee. “I look forward to making an unconventional audition show that all music fans around the world can enjoy. We aim to help the contestants show their unlimited potential in becoming true artists. 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.”

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