"Produce 48" Will Only Allow Korean Viewers To Vote For The Show's Debut Members

The production team of Produce 48 revealed how the voting system for the show will take place, at the recent program production conference.

Third of the “Produce” series, Produce 48 is a collaborative TV auditioning program, by Korean producer An Joon Young and the Japanese AKB48‘s producer Yasushi Akimoto. The show includes 48 Korean contestants and 48 Japanese contestants, who will battle for twelve finalist spots that will debut as a Korean-Japanese global girl group with a contract of two and a half years.

Producer An Joon Young represented his goals to incorporate self-recorded and other videos of the trainees, so the viewers can get a better sense of the potential that each trainee has.

“Like for the past seasons, we will share self-recorded and other videos of the trainees online. This will allow the viewers to see the potential in each trainee that the production staff might have overlooked. We will, as we always do, focus more on the trainees who are desperate and work hard.” — An Joon Young

The voting system will remain similar, according to the producer, except for the number of finalists that are being selected.

“There won’t be any drastic changes to how we take votes. We are looking for 12 finalists, instead of 11. As for the plans after the finalists are chosen, the production team is still discussing possibilities.” — An Joon Young

Contrary to what many fans expected, the final debut group of 12 members has no nationality requirement. Many fans expected the final group to have 6 Japanese and 6 Korean members, based on earlier leaks.

“The top 12 trainees will be selected, regardless of nationality. There were articles about having a quota on the number of trainees from each nation, but it will be the 12 trainees most loved by the nation’s producers.” — An Joon Young

Director of Mnet channel Kim Yong Beom added that, while this season includes Japanese trainees and will be airing in Japan simultaneously, only Korean viewer votes will be taken into consideration.

“The voting system is a separate matter. We will only take votes from Korean viewers. The trainees from AKB48 already have an incomparable level of popularity in Japan, so the competition would not be fair for the Korean trainees. We want to start at zero, so we will only be accepting Korean votes.” — Kim Yong Beom

The production team shared excitement and anticipation for the third season of the show, as both Korean and Japanese trainees have been working hard to prove themselves worthy of debut.

“The Japanese trainees don’t come with a lot of training experience. We look forward to showing how each trainee learns and improves. They are enchanted by the training system, as they have been hungry for professional mentorship. The Japanese trainees even enjoy the intense and stressful situations. The Korean trainees are also highly satisfied with receiving training from professionals in the field.” — An Joon Young

Produce 48 features singer Lee Seung Gi as the show host, along with singers Lee Hong Gi and Soyou as the vocal trainers, rapper Cheetah as the rap trainer, and dancers Choi Young Joon, Bae Yoon Jeong, and May J Lee as the dance trainers. Fans look forward to seeing not only the trainees, but also the trainers hard at work.