I. Introduction
R U Next? (알유넥스트?) is a South Korean survival show that aired in 2023 for a total of ten episodes. It was produced by Belift Lab, HYBE, Mushroom Company, and Studio JAMM (JTBC).
II. Cast
Host
Sooyoung from Girls' Generation
Coaches
Aiki
Baekho (special coach during the second round)
Heeseung from Enhypen (special coach during the fourth round)
Jay Park (special coach during the third round)
Jo Kwon
Jungwon from Enhypen (special coach during the fourth round)
Kim Jae-hwan
Lee Hyun
Mandu
Shin Kung (special coach during the sixth round)
Woozi (special coach during the fourth round)
Contestants
Twenty-two contestants participated in the survival show. They are Chanelle, Ena, Funa, Haseul, Himena, Hyewon, Iris, Iroha, Jeemin, Jeongeun, Jihyun, Jiwoo, Minju, Moa, Moka, Ruka, Seoyeon, Wonhee, Yewon, Youngseo, Yuisa, and Yunah. Seven of the members are Japanese (Ena, Funa, Himena, Iroha, Moka, Ruka, and Yuisa), eleven contestants are Korean (Hyewon, Jeemin, Jeongeun, Jihyun, Jiwoo, Minju, Seoyeon, Wonhee, Yewon, Youngseo, and Yunah), two contestants are Korean-American (Chanelle and Haseul), and 2 contestants are Thai (Iris and Moa).
III. Description
The survival show was made for creating a brand new girl group. The contestants participated in seven rounds. They are named "Tryout", "Death Match", "All-Rounder", "The Specialists", "Concept Game", "Image Training", and "Finish Line". Out of those seven missions, only the third round, "All-Rounder", the fifth round "Concept Game", and the sixth round "Image Training" had two missions. The other rounds had one mission.
The first round had the trainees divided into seven different units with 3-4 individuals per unit. The individuals were divided into three different levels: LOW LEVEL (L), MID LEVEL (M), and HIGH LEVEL (H).
Eliminations
Eliminations started on the second mission.
- Yuisa was eliminated on the third round, becoming the show's first contestant to be eliminated.
- Ena, Haseul, and Iris were eliminated on the fifth round
- Moa, Ruka, and Yewon were eliminated on the sixth round
- Funa, Hyewon, and Seoyeon were eliminated on the eighth round
- Chanelle and Jihyun were eliminated on the ninth round
- Himena, Jeemin, Jeongeun, and Jiwoo, were eliminated on the tenth round, leaving Iroha, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, Youngseo, and Yunah as the winners.
It was only on the seventh round where the finalists of the show (Himena, Iroha, Jeemin, Jeongeun, Jiwoo, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, Youngseo, and Yunah) all get to perform together rather than by themselves. They performed the show's theme song, R.U.N by Bae Suzy.
Later, all of the twenty-two contestants came back together to sing a song, which was Given-Taken by Enhypen, Fearless by LE SSERAFIM, or Attention by NewJeans.
IV. Winners
At the end of the show, the winners of the survival show were announced: Iroha, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, Youngseo, and Yunah. They were chosen to be the members of the girl group ILLIT, but Youngseo left before the debut of ILLIT for an undisclosed reason, which left disappointment as she was the second-most popular trainee among all the contestants. The survival show established the girl group ILLIT, with Iroha, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, and Yunah as the members of ILLIT.
ILLIT debuted on March 25th, 2024.