K-pop is also known as Korean popular music and is a musical genre having its roots in South Korea. Becoming a K-pop idol is very competitive, and one must go through training under entertainment agencies to become an idol. Entertainment companies have started collaborating with broadcast companies to develop survival shows to debut idol groups. In these survival shows, contestants are tested on their abilities and given gruesome training to compete with other contestants to be in the final line-up of the debuting group. Many popular K-pop groups, like IKON, Twice, and BIGBANG, were formed through survival shows.
1. YG Treasure Box
YG Treasure Box is an idol survival show produced by one of the top entertainment agencies collaborating with broadcast company JTBC2. It is a survival show with 29 male trainees between the age of 14 to 19, and they compete with each other to debut in the final 12-member line-up idol group TREASURE. They got divided into groups based on their skills, like dancing, rapping, and singing. Eliminations took place after every evaluation of their ability. The show has ten episodes that show the competition among the contestants. TREASURE is now a K-pop group that is gaining attention internationally for its style of music and is a successful 4th generation idol group.
2. I-Land
I-Land is a survival show produced by Belift Lab and broadcasted by Mnet in 2020. The show started with 23 male constants that had to showcase their abilities to debut in the K-pop boy group. I-Land is different from other K-pop idol survival show as it did not follow the basic format and had a new concept where the contestants were isolated from the outside world for 113 days. Only 12 contestants selected in the final line-up were allowed to stay in the luxurious complex called the I-Land, and the rest had to stay at the Ground, a more mediocre place. This survival show debuted one of the most popular boy bands these days, and they are a twelve-member group ENHYPEN.
3. Road To Kingdom
Road to Kingdom is an idol survival show where seven already-debuted boy groups compete against each other for a spot in Kingdom, another survival show. The boy groups competed against each other and got evaluated after every performance by the experts. The boy groups with the lowest scores got eliminated after the performances. The boy groups which participated in the survival show were PENTAGON, TOO, ONF, VERIVERY, Golden Child, and The Boyz.
4. Kingdom: Legendary War
Kingdom Legendary War is a survival show where already debuted popular boy groups and the winner of the Road to Kingdom compete with each other on their abilities. The groups compete with each other and are evaluated by experts till they get the winner of the competition. The winner of Kingdom is to get their reality show with all their members. The K-pop boy bands that participated are Stray Kids, The Boyz, ATEEZ, IKON, SF9, and BTOB.
5. Produce 48
Produce 48 is a survival show where 96 female contestants from Japan and South Korea competed against each other to debut in a new girl group that would promote together for two years and six months. The audiences have the power to choose the trainees by voting for them and also have control over deciding the concepts. The girls train together and give performances that are evaluated and determine their rankings. The girl band that debuted from this show is a twelve-member group Iz*One which has disbanded already.
6. Stray Kids
Stray Kids is a survival show produced by one of the top companies JYP Entertainment and broadcast by Mnet. In this survival show, the male participants had to survive together as a group and had to accomplish the tasks given by JYPE. They had to compose their songs and make their choreography, which got evaluated by the company. This show led to the debut of one of the famous boy bands, Stray Kids, which has a large fanbase.
7. Produce X 101
Produce X 101 is a popular K-pop survival show where 101 trainees from different entertainment companies compete against each other to be in the final lineup of the debut group. The debuted group is temporary and would promote together as a group for two years and six months. Produce X 101 is the fourth season of the Produce 101 series, where boy bands and girl groups debuted. The public has the power to choose the members through online voting and also decide their concepts. The group that debuted in this survival show is X1. The group got disbanded after it got proven that there had been manipulation in the voting.
8. The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project
The Unit Idol Rebooting Project is a survival show where male and female idols have already debuted another chance at stardom. They are allowed to showcase their talents and compete against each other in appealing the votes from the audience. The survival show debuts a temporary male and female K-pop group of nine members.
9. No. Mercy
Mercy is an idol survival show produced by Starship Entertainment, where thirteen trainees go through fierce competition for a place in the final debut line-up. The trainees are given training by distinguished mentors and are to perform, which got evaluated through a scoring system. The boy band that debuted through this survival show is MONSTA X.
10. Sixteen
Sixteen is an idol survival show produced by JYP Entertainment and broadcasted by Mnet in 2015. In the show, sixteen female trainees compete against each other to secure a spot in the next debuting girl group of the company. The participants got judged on their singing, dancing skills, and charisma in all performances. This survival show formed one of the most famous girl groups in the industry, and they came to be a nine-member girl group Twice.
