Boys Planet () is a 2023 South Korean reality competition show created by Mnet. It aired on Mnet from February 2, 2023, to April 20, 2023, every Thursday at 20:50 (KST). Out of thousands of applicants, 98 contestants from various backgrounds were selected for the show. They were then equally split into two groups: -Group and -Group. In the finale on April 20, 2023, which was broadcast live, the show announced the final nine members who would debut as Zerobaseone (abbreviated as ZB1).
The show serves as a sequel to Girls Planet 999, this time featuring all male contestants.
Concept and format Boys Planet used a space theme: the two groups of contestants, -Group and -Group, acted as "planets" and the show's hosts were dubbed "Star Masters". Under the guidance of seven "Masters", contestants had to go through several rounds of evaluation, during which they had to show off their skills in singing, dancing, and rapping. After each round, the audience, known as "Star Creators", voted for their favorite trainees, determining the final debut line-up.
While its predecessor, Girls Planet 999, limited applications to South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan, the regions were expanded this season to allow for international participation.
Trainees were cast through two rounds of applications, the first lasting from December 11, 2021, to February 11, 2022, and the second from June 27, 2022, to August 21. The final contestants were chosen regardless of nationality, affiliation with an agency, or prior experience and professional history as a singer. Ultimately, 98 contestants were selected from 84 countries and regions, including South Korea, other parts of Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Middle East, and 229 management agencies. The aim of the competition was to debut a new nine-member K-pop boy group consisting of trainees from all around the globe, making them the first 5th generation K-pop group.
Voting system The Mnet Plus mobile app was the official platform used for voting and accessing content related to the contestants. Unlike Girls Planet 999, where viewers had to separately cast votes for each regional group, the votes were allocated to individual contestants and equally split between the two regional groups (K-Group and G-Group). The voting system was audited by Samil PwC, an external agency, to ensure transparency and fairness in voting-related processes from aggregation to the results.
Promotion and broadcast On December 11, 2021, during the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards, Mnet revealed that they would release a male version of Girls Planet 999 called Boys Planet in 2022. However, due to production issues, the air date was later pushed back to early 2023.
On November 28, Mnet announced that it would unveil the first teaser video for Boys Planet at the 2022 MAMA Awards. The show's premiere date of February 2, 2023, was confirmed through a teaser photo released on December 21, 2022.
The theme song, "Here I Am" () was released on December 29, 2022, accompanied by a performance of the song on M Countdown, revealing Sung Han-bin of K-Group and Zhang Hao of G-Group as the centers of their respective groups. The contestants' profiles were released the same day. The following day, a special preview episode titled Boys Planet: Star Is Born was broadcast, featuring dance masters Baek Koo-young and Choi Young-joon, former Wanna One members Yoon Ji-sung and Kim Jae-hwan, former Iz*One members Kwon Eun-bi and Choi Ye-na, as well as all current members of Kep1er.
The show was simultaneously broadcast through Mnet and TVING in South Korea; AbemaTV and Mnet Japan in Japan; AfreecaTV in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia; tvN Asia in Southeast Asia; and was available for streaming on Viki and Viu in selected regions, and through Mnet's YouTube channel, Mnet K-Pop, in the rest of the world.
On March 27, 2023, it was confirmed that the Boys Planet contestants would be part of the line-up at KCON Japan 2023 on May 12. A press conference for the remaining 28 contestants was held at CJ ENM Center on March 29. A special episode entitled Pajama Party in Planet Camp () was aired on April 15, 2023, at 20:00 KST.
The finale was held live at Jamsil Arena on April 20, 2023, with an audience of about 6,000 people. Additionally, the episode was broadcast live on YouTube and at eleven CJ CGV theaters across South Korea, with tickets for the theatrical screenings selling out in two minutes.
Broadcast schedule
Cast Instead of having one host present the show for its entire run, it was presented by "Star Masters", which rotated with each round. Star Masters were usually experienced celebrities, who could give advice to and guide the trainees.
The first round was presented by former NU'EST and Wanna One member Hwang Min-hyun as the first Star Master, with Sunmi temporarily joining him as the second Star Master in episode 2. Actor Yeo Jin-goo hosted a special episode titled 1st Survivor Announcement Ceremony () as the third Star Master on February 24, 2023, as well as episode 5. Minhyuk of BtoB joined the show as the fourth Star Master for the second mission and as the host of the 2nd Survivor Announcement Ceremony (). Shinee's Key joined the show as the fifth Star Master for the third mission. In episode 10, 2AM's Jo Kwon became the sixth Star Master for a special "Musical Star Test". Jeon Somi hosted the 3rd Survivor Announcement Ceremony () as the seventh Star Master on April 7, 2023, and also appeared in episode 11. Soloist and former Wanna One member Kim Jae-hwan served as the eighth Star Master for the final mission. Hwang Min-hyun reprised his role as a Star Master for the show's finale.
The rest of the mentors, also dubbed as "masters", were: Dance Masters: Baek Koo-young () Choi Young-joon () Lip J () Vocal Masters: Heo Sol-ji () Lee Seok-hoon () Lim Han-byul () Rap Masters: pH-1 () Lil Boi (Ep. 3–4) () Bobby (Ep. 6–7) ()
Contestants
There were a total of 98 contestants participating in the competition. 49 were Korean, while the other 49 were from Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam.
The English names of contestants are presented in accordance with the official website.
Color key (In order of contestant's group rank on the show) Final members of Zerobaseone Contestants eliminated in the final episode Contestants eliminated in the third elimination round Contestants eliminated in the second elimination round Contestants eliminated in the first elimination round Contestants that left the show + 98 Contestants K-Group(South Korea) Sung Han-bin () Park Gun-wook () Kim Tae-rae () Kim Gyu-vin () Kim Ji-woong () Han Yu-jin () Park Han-bin () Lee Hoe-taek () Kum Jun-hyeon () Lee Jeong-hyeon () Yoo Seung-eon () Yoon Jong-woo () Cha Woong-ki () Lee Seung-hwan () Seo Won () Mun Jung-hyun () Park Ji-hoo () Oh Sung-min () Lee Ye-dam () Jung Min-gyu () Lim Jun-seo () Ji Yun-seo () Lee Dong-yeol () Park Do-ha () Lee Da-eul () Park Hyun-bin () Jeong I-chan () Choi Woo-jin () Lee Dong-gun () Lee Hwan-hee () Choi Ji-ho () Choi Seung-hun () Kim Min-seoung () Han Seo-bin () Park Min-seok () Jang Yeo-jun () Jang Ji-ho () Jung Ho-jin () Jeon Woo-seok () Park Gwan-young () Jeon Ho-young () Jung Se-yun () Kim Min-hyuk () Hong Keon-hee () Han Yu-seop () Jang Min-seo () Jung Hwan-rok () Jo Eun-woo () Yeom Tae-gyun () G-Group(Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, U.S., Vietnam, Philippines) Zhang Hao (章昊/장하오) Seok Matthew () Ricky (沈泉锐/리키) Jay () Keita (佳汰/케이타) Na Kamden () Wang Zihao (王子浩/왕즈하오) Hiroto (大翔/히로토) Haruto (晴翔/하루토) Chen Kuanjui (陳冠叡/천관루이) Ollie (刘天跃/올리) Takuto (拓斗/타쿠토) Zhang Shuaibo (张帅博/장슈아이보) Ma Jingxiang (马靖翔/마징시앙) Cai Jinxin (蔡锦昕/차이진신) Anthonny (アントニー/안토니) Wumuti (أمۇت/우무티) Brian (何廷威/브라이언) Chen Jianyu (陈建宇/천지안위) Dang Hong Hai (Đặng Hồng Hải/당홍하이) Cong (Công/콩) Krystian (王南钧/크리스티안) Yuki (由暉/유키) Xuan Hao (宣淏/슈안하오) Wen Yechen (文邺辰/웬예천) Min (มิน/민) Yutaka (豊/유타카) Haru (暖琉/하루) Chen Renyou (陳任佑/천런유) Chen Liang (陈梁/천량) Ouju (桜樹/오쥬) Yang Jun (杨钧/양쥔) Ichika (一翔/이치카) Wang Yanhong (王颜宏/왕얀홍) Nice (ไนซ์/나이스) Dong Dong (东东/동동) Winnie (วินนี่/위니) Qiu Shengyang (邱勝揚/치우성양) Chen Yugeng (陈誉庚/천위겅) Osuke (央修/오스케) Hyo (飛燿/효) Kei (敬/케이) Itsuki (樹/이츠키) Toui (透唯/토우이) Yuto (佑都/유토) Riku (陸/리쿠) Lin Shiyuan (林士元/린스위안) Feng Junlan (冯俊岚/펑쥔란) Tao Yuan (陶源/타오위안)
Ranking Top 9 The top 9 contestants were chosen through popularity online voting through the Mnet Plus mobile app and audience live voting, as shown at the end of each episode.
Color key New Top 9 Returned to Top 9
+ List of Top 9 contestants # 1 2 5 6 8 11 12 1 Sung Han-bin Sung Han-bin() Sung Han-bin() Sung Han-bin() Sung Han-bin() Sung Han-bin() Zhang Hao(1) 2 Kim Ji-woong Han Yu-jin(1) Seok Matthew(3) Han Yu-jin(2) Zhang Hao(2) Zhang Hao() Sung Han-bin(1) 3 Han Yu-jin Kim Ji-woong(1) Kim Ji-woong() Seok Matthew(1) Han Yu-jin(1) Kim Ji-woong(2) Seok Matthew(6) 4 Lee Da-eul Kim Gyu-vin(1) Han Yu-jin(2) Zhang Hao(1) Seok Matthew(1) Kim Tae-rae(3) Ricky(4) 5 Kim Gyu-vin Seok Matthew(27) Zhang Hao(2) Kim Ji-woong(2) Kim Ji-woong() Han Yu-jin(2) Park Gun-wook(7) 6 Lee Hoe-taek Lee Hoe-taek() Kim Gyu-vin(2) Kim Gyu-vin() Kim Gyu-vin() Keita(2) Kim Tae-rae(2) 7 Zhang Hao Zhang Hao() Lee Hoe-taek(1) Kim Tae-rae(4) Kim Tae-rae() Kim Gyu-vin(1) Kim Gyu-vin() 8 Anthonny Jay(22) Keita(6) Keita() Keita() Ricky(6) Kim Ji-woong(5) 9 Kim Tae-rae Lee Da-eul(5) Jay(1) Jay() Park Gun-wook(2) Seok Matthew(5) Han Yu-jin(4)
First voting period
The first voting period took place from February 2 to 24, 2023.
Star Creators voted for nine boys regardless of their group. In total, 52,434,522 votes from 176 countries were recorded. Roughly 11.9 million of these votes were cast by Koreans, while 40.5 million came from global viewers.
Eliminations were based on individual total points.
Color key Top 9