The Top 10 “A2K” Finalists Who Will Train Under JYP Entertainment In Korea
JYP Entertainment’s girl group audition program A2K recently finished its LA boot camp, and the ten members to train in Korea have been revealed.
Produced by both JYP Entertainment and Republic Records, A2K is an acronym for “America to Korea,” and the show’s purpose is to find members to create a girl group that will debut at the end of 2023. JYPE founder Park Jin Young, also known as J.Y. Park or JYP, described that they are looking for “American talent to create a girl group through a K-Pop system.”
After auditions in Dallas, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, selected members attended a boot camp held in Los Angeles, which lasted six days. Each contestant was tested on four criteria: dancing, vocals, star quality, and character.
Episode 15, which aired on September 1, revealed the final rankings of contestants who will fly to Korea to train under JYP Entertainment.
10. Yuna Gonzales
Yuna is a contestant who does not stand out in singing or dancing, as she did not pass the vocal and dance evaluations. However, she has a charm to her that makes audiences fall for her. She also has a talent for fashion, and her creative fashion show performance of her self-made outfits inspired by K-Pop songs ranked her fifth in star quality. She also placed fifth in the character evaluations after showing a new, confident side of her to JYP, who had only seen a quiet and shy side of her before.
9. Melissa Kadas
Melissa is a contestant with solid vocals, and her cover of Keysha Cole’s “Love” during the vocal evaluations blew JYP away; she utilized the stage and seemed so comfortable on stage that JYP praised her, saying that the “stage was too small for her.” Melissa also ranked first in the star quality evaluation because of the heartfelt original song she wrote about her relationship with her father. Her vulnerability and emotions while singing her story in a song impressed JYP.
8. KG
KG, also known as Kiera Grace, stood out in the competition with her unique vocal tone. She placed third in the vocal evaluations, and her “flaw” was in her dancing skills. However, after hearing JYP’s feedback about her dancing from the regional auditions, KG practiced hard and impressed JYP at the dance evaluation—so much so that she received a dance stone.
7. Kaylee Lee
Kaylee caught many netizens’ attention from her first audition—to the point where some netizens claimed she was already their “pre-debut bias.” She is the youngest contestant at only 12 years old. JYP praised her for being strategic as she analyzed what she had to do during her audition and executed her plans. Kaylee was also praised for her stable singing despite only getting a week of vocal training before the regional auditions.
6. Lexus Vang
With ballet experience and being in a K-Pop cover group, Lexus, also known as Lexi, is a contestant with a forte in dancing. She did not receive a stone for the vocal evaluations, but she ranked first in the character evaluations for her ability to bring the team together. Behind the scenes, she helped the other members, encouraged them, and brought unity to the team, which showcased her outstanding character.
5. Kendall Ebeling
Kendall is an all-rounded contestant who ranked second in dance and fifth in vocals. During preparations for the group showcase performance, JYP asked her to sing a note in a full voice, but she was unable to change her voice from falsetto to a full voice. After many moments of frustration and practice in less than 24 hours, she finally hit the note during the final performance and impressed JYP and the other contestants.
4. Savanna Collins
Savanna is a contestant with a gymnastics background, although she had to quit because of an injury. Her performance of “O.O” by NMIXX during the dance evaluations impressed JYP so much that he said he could “put her up on stage with NMIXX right now.” She placed fourth in the dance rankings. Although she isn’t a strong singer, she impressed JYP with her improvement in singing, and he guaranteed that she could become a good singer if she believed in herself.
3. Cristina Lopez Sandiford
Cristina is a contestant who graduated high school one year early and even started her own K-Pop dance academy. Her entrepreneurial skills shocked JYP at the regional auditions, and she showcased her dancing skills on the show. Although singing wasn’t her forte, Cristina impressed JYP with her vocals and dance in her group’s cover of Wonder Girls’ “Be My Baby.”
2. Gina De Bosschere
Gina is a contestant with experience, as she was a trainee at JYP Entertainment for eleven months before auditioning for A2K. Because of her expertise in training, her discipline stood out. However, she was critiqued for not “being loose enough.” By the last group performance, she had overcome her flaw, and JYP ranked her second.
1. Camila Ribeaux Valdes
Camila was the first to be confirmed as a member to go to Korea. She was the only one who secured her spot before the final group performances. Her performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” during the vocal evaluations blew JYP away, and she blew audiences away by rapping in three languages during the star quality evaluation.
The ten contestants’ training procedure at JYP Entertainment in Korea will be shown in the next episode, which will premiere on September 5 (KST).
