Boy band audition show by HYBE Labels Japan to air from July

From left, K-pop boy band trainees K, Taki, Nicholas and EJ will compete in the upcoming Japanese audition program for boy bands titled ″& Audition.″ [ILGAN SPORTS]

An audition program for boy bands titled “& Audition – The Howling,” hosted by HYBE Labels Japan, will air from July on Nippon TV in Japan, the agency announced Wednesday.

One episode will run for 30 minutes on Nippon TV. The 60-minute full version of each episode will be released on HYBE Labels’ official YouTube channel and video platform Hulu.

Boy band trainees including K, Nicholas, EJ and Taki, who became familiar faces to the public through Mnet’s K-pop boy band audition show “I-Land” (2020), will compete on “& Audition.”

“The program will showcase the hard work, development, joy, conflict and the final moments leading up to the debut of young and talented men who are all running toward a single goal of ‘debut’ in a real documentary format,” said HYBE Labels Japan in a statement.

The boy band formed through the show, according to HYBE Labels Japan, will debut in Japan and aim to become global stars.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seung-hye@joongang.co.kr]