On April 30, the press conference for Mnet's 'Produce X 101' took place at the 63 Convention Center in Seoul.
At the event, producer Ahn Joon Young mentioned BTS and said, "They have paved such an amazing path. I want K-pop to continue its global influence." He added, "The producers also want to create a group that will be active on Billboard," and shared he decided to broadcast the show on YouTube and V Live on top of Mnet to reach a wider audience all over the world.
MC Lee Dong Wook also commented, "I believe they can reach Billboard. It's good to dream big."
The first episode of 'Produce X 101' is set to air on May 3.
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Although he is praising BTS and I appreciate that, it's good to point out that:
A) Koreans don't wish to have their votes affected by international audience. This means that this will be once again a Korean-voted group that has little to no reflection of what people outside of Korea would have picked. Not the best way to warm up to your global audience when they have no say in nothing.
B) BTS never targeted "Billboard", they always aimed for a Daesang award. Their success was natural. Their failure was visible for the fans to see. Their improvement was incredible. Their music is of utmost importance to them and they are so invested in the creation process. In their own words "Rankings and charts are all good but enjoying our music matters a lot more." We support them and value their work for all the above and a lot more. Most importantly though, we enjoy their music -- even their rough early pieces.
So creating a group for the mere purpose of ranking on some xenophobic chart that heavily relies on sales and fan support when the group itself is so unnatural (and most likely won't be in charge of their own music) is just a big NO. Good luck though to the hard working idols.
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