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[officialdispatch]

BREAKING: KBS To Debut Second Idol Project 3 Group; This Group To Follow Format Of Previous Seasons

There’s no doubt in mind that the third season of Idol Project has been one of the best seasons yet, with ratings through the roof and more exciting challenges been thrown at the contestants, left and right. While viewership and hype has been up, though, that doesn’t mean this season has come without it’s share of backlash-- fans have been increasingly upset with the fact that only four trainees are set to debut in the final group-- three less than in past seasons. While Syndicate’s debut was hyped up to the extreme, and they are sure to debut with a lot of support, the fans wanted to see more, and it seems like their feedback has been heard.

Early today KBS and MNet announced that a second group would debut, made up of eliminated contestants from Idol Project 3-- three fan favorites who came so close to reaching the end, and just missed it by a hair. Comprised of Spotlight Productions’ Mercedes, DS Media’s Rey, and 360 Studios’ Yena, the three-member girl group will follow much the same format as Creed and Unity-- they will promote for a few comeback cycles (each comeback produced by a different company) before disbanding and returning to train at their respective companies. 

Their debut is coming soon, too-- trying to ride the continued hype of Idol Project’s finale, KBS announced that their debut (produced by Alpha Records) would happen next week. They stated that the trio were hard at work, learning choreography and recording, and would be ready to wow the fans who fought so hard for them. KBS also gave fans a name-- the trio will be debuting under the name DIVA.

[rvdispatch]

TRENDING: Top 4 Companies Discuss Debut Plans for Second Half of 2020

With the second quarter of the year coming to a close, many of South Korea’s biggest entertainment labels held meetings and conference calls with their shareholders and the media, and as your loyal reporters, Dispatch was there to get the scoop! Here’s what you need to know about debuts for your favorite companies in the months to come!

NEW AGE

Possible the most obvious is New Age Media-- fans are sure they’ll be doing some sort of debut soon, what with their announcement of G-Project and the frequent covers they’ve been posting as of late. New Age officials elaborated a little more on that. 

“With Andy’s successful debut a month or so ago, we’re ready for our next project,” a rep explained. “It will be very ambitious. We don’t want to reveal too much as of yet, but you will see new girl group activities this summer.”

“We have been planning this for a long time,” another representative added. “Before Idol Project and Unity. So we will probably have to rearrange some things, but we are committed to staying on schedule, even with Somi promoting in Unity for the time being.”

New Age did not comment on the size of their new group, which worried a lot of fans, seeing as G-Project revealed the scope of how many trainees New Age really does have. 

About their male trainees, a spokesperson commented, “A huge chunk of our male trainees are currently on Idol Project, which means they are not here for us to plan for for the moment. We also have no idea which ones will make it into the final group, which throws another wrench in our plans.”

Another said, “Our plans for our new girl group and boy group are somewhat interconnected. Again, we will have to shift some things around likely because of Idol Project, but we are committed to debuting both a boy group and a girl group before January.”

SPOTLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

Regarding future debuts, Spotlight remained fairly tight lipped, but we managed to get some information out of them. Spotlight is planning for a boy group and a girl group, though they aren’t sure when those groups would be ready, and aren’t confident with setting a time frame until they are more certain. They also mentioned that they have a big soloist debut coming soon, and that that will be the priority for now.

HIGHER RECORDS

“We want to make sure Rewind has enough time to grow before we move on,” a Higher rep said when asked about future debuts. “They are just starting to find their way, and we want to ensure that we give them every opportunity to succeed. The last thing we want to do is make them seem like an afterthought or something we’ve given up on. This group was our first real debut with trainees from under our roof, and we are determined to get them their first win.”

Higher mentioned that they have trainees whom they are keeping their eye on when it comes to future debuts, but that Rewind is their full priority for this year.

LIBERTY RECORDS

"We have some ideas we’re throwing around,” a representative for Liberty said. “We don’t want to debut a group just for the sake of it, of course-- we want to make sure we have the right talent and the right concept before we go all in.”

“Something we’ve been considering is our Japanese market,” another representative mentioned. “We are very successful in Japan. We are thinking about how we can capitalize on that.”