Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- Big Hit Entertainment, the agency of K-pop sensation BTS, has launched a global audition program aimed at finding talented boys who are born in or after 2003.

"Big Hit Entertainment, the label that manages BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER, is now looking for individuals with talent and passion who will be the next global superstar," the agency said through a website for the global audition on Monday.

The agency will carry out two types of auditions, one titled the Global Audition and another titled Online Audition. The global audition will take place in the United States and other regions this year. The final announcement for the global audition will be made in October but Big Hit said that audition schedule may vary depending on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The online audition targets trainees who have talent in skills such as singing, rap, dancing, acting and modeling. Big Hit will receive applications including photographs and video that show applicant's talent via the global audition website. Big Hit said the results for its online audition will be sent to selected individuals via email within two weeks after the audition.

The agency uploaded a 35-second long promotion video for its global audition on YouTube. The video was watched more than 1.3 million times in less than a day of its release.

Big Hit became the largest shareholder of Pledis Entertainment, which controls two boy groups, NU'EST and Seventeen, in early May to strengthen the agency's multi-label system designed to strengthen the lineup of male idol artists. To bring diversity to its male-centric agency, Big Hit acquired Source Music, a domestic label that manages girl band GFRIEND, in July last year.

As part of its talent-seeking project, Big Hit joined hands with CJ ENM, the entertainment wing of South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, this year to launch "I-LAND," a cable TV audition show involving BTS' creators as producers. The first episode of the cable TV show will hit black screens on June 26.