Timelesz’s Audition Program Gains Popularity, Sparking Concerns Among Other Talent Agencies

Popular along with “Kyokyuu Kyoukaku JoOu” and “Jijishi Tachi”.

timelesz project -AUDITION- (Taipro),” an audition program for new members of STARTO’s idol group “timelesz” (formerly Sexy Zone), consisting of Katsutoshi Sato (27), Fuma Kikuchi (29), and Satoshi Matsushima (26), is now available on Netflix (Netflix). Episode 01″ was released on September 13, and “episode 02” on September 27. Both of the original series on Netflix, “Jishitachi” and “Kyokaku JoOu” have become very popular, and “Taipro” has become a popular content, ranking in the top 5 of “Today’s Top 10 TV Shows” and weekly rankings.

Sexy Zone’s core member, Kento Nakajima (30), graduated at the end of March. The following day, April 1, the group announced that it would change its name to TIMELESZ and hold auditions for new members from the general public in response to the late Janie Kitagawa’s sexual assault scandal. Since it was unprecedented to decide group members by audition, fans were divided on the issue. However, the popularity of the video is evidence of the high level of interest among fans.

In the previous broadcasts, about 350 people selected from 19,822 applicants met directly with the group members. 36 people between the ages of 17 and 29, including former juniors (former Johnny’s Jr.) and announcers from local TV stations who had served as back-up dancers during the Sexy Zone era, passed the second round of screening and advanced to the third round. They passed the second round and proceeded to the third round.

In “ episode02,” Kikuchi was asked about her thoughts on the audition and said , “I think this is the culmination of all the work I’ve done so far, and I’m going to walk the last leg of my idol life with the friends I met here, so this is as big as it gets. Sato said with a passionate gaze, “I think it will be my last challenge in that sense, because I think it will be related to where I am at now to be able to set up a dream of such a scale, such as five big domes or the National Championships. It seems that their commitment to this audition is more than half-hearted.

In Japan, “Rainbow Pro” and “Nippu” were popular. ……

Originally, audition programs to select K-pop group members were popular in Korea. In Japan, the global audition project “Nizi Project (a.k.a. Rainbow Pro),” which produced the 9-member girl group “NiziU” in ’20, was distributed on the video distribution service Hulu and YouTube in the midst of the “stay home” COVID-19 crisis. It became a popular content in the midst of the “stay home” Corona disaster. The TBS survival audition program “PRODUCE 101 JAPAN (a.k.a. Nippu),” led by Yoshimoto Kogyo, was also a hot topic. The boy groups “JO1” and “INI” and the girl group “ME:I” made their debuts from this program.

In the past, NTV’s audience-participation open audition program ‘Star Birth! was very popular.’ At the end of the 1990s, “ASA,” which produced “Morning Musume. However, after that, Japanese television did not produce any new audition programs for many years. However, the popularity of Niji Productions’ program brought attention to Nippu, which had started at the same time in September ’19.

Season 2 was held in ’21, and Season 3, a girl group version, in ’23, and has become popular, especially among teens and 20-somethings. Since the show’s system determines debut members based on viewer votes, fans became overheated and excited as they called for votes for their favorite candidates on social networking sites. It could be called an “audition business” that draws attention to the audition process and lures fans in before the debut.

The only work that the former Johnny’s agency did with Netflix was “Sakura no You na Boku no Koibito,” a movie starring Nakajima that was released in March 2010. The fact that timelesz decided to work with Netflix in earnest as a group was quite a milestone.

The popularity of the audition show on Netflix has certainly put timelesz in the spotlight. Fans who watched the show will probably promote the new members as well, so I think it’s a very successful leverage strategy. Originally, STARTO Inc. has a lot of fans due to its immense influence. If they were to hold an audition program for “Junior” members, the attention they would receive would be extraordinary. STARTO’s entry into the ‘audition business’ is nothing but a threat to other agencies,” said a source from a record company.

The first thing to watch out for is how many new members of timelesz will be selected.

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