R U Next? () is a reality competition series organized by Belift Lab and JTBC. The program debuted the South Korean girl group Illit.
Promotion and broadcast On June 1, 2023, JTBC and Belift Lab announced that they had begun filming for the new survival program R U Next?, which aims to create the agency's next global girl group. The contestants would be assessed through seven rounds. On the same day, Girls' Generation's Choi Soo-young was confirmed as the show's host. On June 7, the official Twitter, Instagram and Weverse accounts for R U Next? opened and the first set of promotional posters were posted. An article was also released on the same day confirming the show would be containing seven missions and would also air through Wavve and Netflix in South Korea and Abema TV in Japan from June 30, at 8:50PM KST. On June 9, former Miss A member and actress, Bae Suzy, was confirmed to sing the signal song for R U Next?. It was released on June 12 at 6:00PM KST. Profiles of the twenty-two contestants were revealed on June 16, with individual profile photos and introduction videos.
Final lineup After the performances of the final round, the six-member final lineup was decided through a combination of votes and label consideration. The six winners—Wonhee, Youngseo, Iroha, Yunah, Minju, and Moka—were chosen to become members of Illit, the first girl group under Belift Lab, and the third girl group to debut under Hybe after Le Sserafim and NewJeans. However, Youngseo left the pre-debut lineup which was announced on 5 January 2024, and hence the group was later confirmed to debut with the remaining five members. Illit debuted on March 25, 2024 and released their debut album, Super Real Me, with Hybe's chairman Bang Si-hyuk participating as producer of their album. The group's name "Illit" is the combination of the phrase, 'I will' and the word, 'it,' according to Hybe, which demonstrates the group's desire to go beyond their potential and strive to be what they want it to be.
Cast Host Choi Soo-young
Coaches Park Gyu-ri (Kara) Lee Hyun (8Eight) Jo Kwon (2AM) Kim Jae-hwan (Wanna One) Aiki Vincenzo Mandu
Guests NU'EST's Baekho – special coach for Round 2 (Episode 2-3) Jay Park – special coach for Round 3 (Episode 3-5) Enhypen's Jungwon – special coach for Round 4 (Episode 5-6) Heeseung – special coach for Round 4 (Episode 5-6) Seventeen's Woozi – special coach for Round 4 (Episode 5-6) Shin Kung – special coach for Round 6 (Episode 9)
Contestants Final members of Illit pre-debut Eliminated in final episode Eliminated in fifth elimination Eliminated in fourth elimination Eliminated in third elimination Eliminated in second elimination Eliminated in first elimination Left the show
22 contestants Wonhee () Youngseo () Minju () Iroha () Moka () Yunah () Jeongeun () Jeemin () Himena () Jiwoo () Chanelle () Jihyun () Funa () Seoyeon () Hyewon () Moa () Ruka () Yewon () Ena () Haseul () Iris () Yuisa ()
Profile Name Hangul Age Nationality Prior to R U Next? Jiwoo 21 Korean Appeared in a YouTube content (2020), majored in Broadcast entertainment at Dongduk Women's University Funa 21 Japanese Former Nizi Project contestant Moa 21 Thai Former P Nation and SM Entertainment trainee Chanelle 20 Korean-American Former Yuehua Entertainment traineeAppeared on JTBC's Stage K in 2019 Yunah 19 Korean Former Source Music, Fantagio, Stardium and TS Entertainment trainee Minju 19 Korean Former YG Entertainment trainee Jeongeun 18-19 Korean Former Source Music trainee and child actress Moka 18 Japanese Former Hybe Labels Japan trainee Jihyun 18 Korean Pre-debut member of HOWZFormer HOW Entertainment and Yuehua Entertainment trainee Ruka 18 Japanese Former Cube Entertainment and Source Music traineePre-debut trainee lineup of Le Sserafim Yewon 18 Korean Former Source Music trainee Jeemin 18 Korean Former Source Music trainee Hyewon 17 Korean Former member of Little Cheer Girl Youngseo 17 Korean Former Source Music and SM Entertainment trainee Yuisa 16 Japanese Former member of GOL☆HAF2 Wonhee 16 Korean Scouted by a Hybe employee at a bus station in February 2023 while visiting Seoul Haseul 15 Korean-American Iroha 15 Japanese Former JYP Entertainment trainee Iris 15 Thai Ballroom dancer Himena 15 Japanese Seoyeon 15 Korean Ena 12 Japanese Former Hybe Labels Japan trainee
Missions Round 1: Tryout Episode 1-2
The try out is the gateway to see if you have the potential to become a member. The trainees have been divided into 7 different units with 3-4 members per unit. The tryouts will be evaluated within each unit. Each unit will be evaluated by the coaches after their performances. The unit members will then each be divided into three levels: High (H), Mid (M), and Low (L).
+ Tryout mission results Performance Group Contestant Ranking Artist(s) Song(s) Initial Level Episode 1 1 Red Velvet "Bad Boy" Bad Me Girls () Jiwoo 5 L Jeongeun 8 H Chanelle 9 M 2 Itzy "Dalla Dalla" Powerful Kitties () Iroha 3 H Hyewon 13 M Jihyun 14 L 3 Aespa "Dreams Come True" 16,200,000 Iris 16 H Ena 20 L Wonhee 00 M Seoyeon 00 H 4 (G)I-dle "Tomboy" I Want () Moka 6 M Youngseo 7 H Moa 15 L Episode 2 5 Apink "Dumhdurum" Not Shown Funa 11 L Ruka 12 H Haseul 17 M 6 Miss A "Bad Girl Good Girl" MISS TOP Jeemin 1 L Yunah 2 H Minju 4 M 7 Kara "When I Move" Not Shown Himena 10 H Yewon 18 L Yuisa 19 M
Round 2: Death Match Episode 2-3
The theme of the mission is the debut title tracks of the 4th generation idol groups of Hybe. Within the three levels formed, 2 units will be formed. Two units will perform together with the same song. The unit that wins will get a benefit of extra points. Starting from this mission, there will be eliminations. Trainees in the Low Level will become elimination candidates.
The coaches chose the 1st and 2nd places by level after Round 1. The 1st and 2nd place of each level has the advantage of choosing the members of their unit. In selecting the songs the Low Level team chooses first, however higher teams can push aside the lower ranking teams if they want to select the same song.
A mini mission was carried out to decide the killing part for each song. Each contestant will carry out an expression audition in front of a camera to see how well they can leave an impression with the first verse of their mission songs and test their expressive skills. The contestants will vote amongst themselves to choose who gets the killing part.
Each coach will give scores to the individual trainees from 1 – 100 (up to a total individual score of 700). The average of the individual scores will be the overall team score, where higher team score will be the winner for each song. The winning unit receives an extra 50 points added on their individual score.
Color key
Bold denotes the contestant who picked the team members.
+ Death Match mission results Performance Group Result Contestant Artist(s) Song(s) Unit Team Individual Name Position New level 1 Le Sserafim "Fearless" Mid - A 550.5 572 Minju 4 M 440 Haseul 2 L 626 Hyewon 1 H 564 Wonhee 3 M Low - B 536.33 540 Moa 5 L 519 Funa 7 L 550 Yewon 6 L 2 NewJeans "Attention" High - A 589.5 581 Yunah 5 H 603 Jeongeun 7 H 599 Himena 6 H 575 Seoyeon 8 M Mid - B 527 517 Moka 2 L 626 Chanelle 1 H 438 Yuisa 3 Eliminated (L) 3 Enhypen "Given-Taken" High - B 550 607 Iroha 6 H 591 Youngseo 5 H 539 Ruka 8 M 463 Iris 7 L Low - A 545 552 Jeemin 3 M 573 Jihyun 1 M 606 Jiwoo 2 M 449 Ena 4 L
Round 3: All-Rounder Episode 3-5 The contestants will be divided into 3 units of 7 members each, regardless of their level. The three units will be performing two different genres, heel choreography and hip-hop. Each song for the heel choreography will include a mission prop.
The units are formed around each levels' 1st place trainee, Hyewon, Seoyeon and Yewon. The three leaders will have the power to decide the parts and flow of the practice sessions. The heel choreo songs are decided based on a flexibility test and hip hop songs are decided based on 'Show me the SWF' freestyle dance and rap competition, where the winning unit will choose the mission songs for all the units.
After each performance, each coach will give scores to the individual trainees from 1 – 100 (the total of individual scores will become the final unit score). The winning unit receives an extra 100 benefit points and the second place unit receives an extra 50 benefit points.
Mission 1: Heel Choreo
Bold denotes the contestant who picked the team members and acts as the team's leader.
+ Heel Choreo mission results Performance Group Result Contestant Artist(s) Song(s) Mission prop Unit Team Individual Name Position 1 Chung Ha "Dream of You" Cane Yewon's Unit 3660 500 Yewon 7 529 Wonhee 6 613 Jeemin 1 509 Ruka 4 543 Moka 2 504 Funa 3 462 Haseul 5 2 f(x) "4 Walls" Fan Seoyeon's Unit 3688 547 Seoyeon 5 566 Minju 2 505 Moa 4 598 Jiwoo 1 611 Himena 3 413 Iris 6 448 Ena 7 3 Girls' Generation "The Boys" Hat Hyewon's Unit 4419 632 Hyewon 1 613 Iroha 7 636 Yunah 3 657 Chanelle 2 640 Youngseo 6 616 Jeongeun 4 625 Jihyun 5
Mission 2: Hip Hop
Bold denotes the contestant who picked the team members and acts as the team's leader.
+ Hip Hop mission results Performance Group Result Contestant Artist(s) Song(s) Unit Team Individual Name PositionNew level 1 (G)I-dle "My Bag" Yewon's Unit 3862 569 Yewon 1L 600 Wonhee 2L 525 Ruka 5L 593 Jeemin 3M 580 Moka 7L 521 Funa 4L 474 Haseul 6Eliminated (L) 2 CL "Tie a Cherry" Seoyeon's Unit 3855 566 Seoyeon 2M 579 Minju 1M 569 Moa 5L 575 Jiwoo 3M 639 Himena 4M 453 Iris 7Eliminated (L) 474 Ena 6Eliminated (L) 3 Lisa "Money" Hyewon's Unit 4254 605 Hyewon 4H 631 Iroha 1H 581 Yunah 7H 603 Chanelle 5H 634 Youngseo 2H 588 Jeongeun 3M 612 Jihyun 6H
Round 4: The Specialists Episode 5-6
Bold denotes the contestant who picked the team members and acts as the team's leader.
+ Vocal Battle Results Performance Result Contestant Artist(s) Song(s) Team Individual Name Ranking New level 1 Baek Yerin "Across the Universe" 3305 894 Jiwoo 1 H 835 Yunah 4 M 813 Jeongeun 5 L 763 Wonhee 7 M 2 Taeyeon "Spark" 3105 628 Yewon 8 Eliminated (L) 863 Minju 2 M 838 Chanelle 3 M 776 Seoyeon 6 L
+ Dance Battle Results Performance Result Contestant Artist(s) Song(s) Team Individual Name Ranking New level 1 After School "Bang!" 3897 938 Youngseo 1 H 884 Iroha 3 H 830 Hyewon 7 L 577 Ruka 10 Eliminated (L) 668 Moa 9 Eliminated (L) 2 Wonder Girls "Tell Me" 4237 902 Jihyun 2 H 862 Jeemin 4 H 831 Himena 6 L 853 Moka 5 M 789 Funa 8 L
Round 5: Concept Game Episode 7-8 This round consists of two missions, testing how well the contestants digest songs of different concepts that are represented through colors. The final results for this round is composed of 50% Color mission and 50% Black Mission.
Mission 1: Color mission Starting from lower-ranked contestants to the higher-ranked contestants, the contestants choose their desired songs based on the color of the room, which indicates the concept of the song, as well as the artist pictured on the outside of a door. The higher-ranked contestants must push out a member if there are more than five people in a room.
Within each group, each contestant will each decide how the parts should be distributed. Each contestant in the group then votes on which distribution they think is the most ideal, which ends up being the final part distribution. The contestant whose part distribution is chosen will also be the leader.