Debut's Plan

Debut's Plan (Korean: 데뷔스 플랜) is a 2025 South Korean boy group reality competition survival show created by Starship Entertainment. It followed the process of creating their newest boy group. It premiered on March 14, 2025, and aired every Friday at 9:30 PM KST on the show's YouTube channel. The show ended on May 4, 2025, with the formation of an eight-member boy group named Idid.

Production and Background

On July 7, 2024, Starship Entertainment announced that they would launch an audition project called NewKids on the STARSHIP that would go on to form their newest boy group four years after Cravity.

On March 3, 2025, the social media accounts of the upcoming boy group NewKids were opened by Starship Entertainment. Their promotional schedule revealed that the group was going to be formed through a survival show called Debut's Plan, which was set to air on March 14, 2025.

Two performance videos were released prior to the airing of the show; "Balla" and "ImPerfect", released on March 8 and 12, 2025 respectively, with the latter being the show's theme song. The official track for "ImPerfect" was released on streaming services on March 14, 2025.

Cast

• The Board (Judges) Seo Hyeon-ju (Executive Producer) K.Will (Artist Team, Special Trainer) Yoo Yeon-jung (Vocal Trainer) Choi Young-jun, Kim In-gyoo (Dance Trainers) Simeez (Performance Team) Shim Se-ran (Strategic Planning Team) Kim Sun-mi, Kim Dongyoung (Production Team) Oh Yoon-jin (New Talent Development Team) Kang Sang-yoon (Visual Team)
• MCs: Minhyuk (Ep. 4; Special MC) Joohoney (Ep. 8-9)
• Special Trainers Shownu (Ep. 0) Johnny (Ep. 3) Rei (Ep. 3) Liz (Ep. 3, Ep. 8) Soyou (Ep. 3) I.M (Ep. 4) Joohoney (Ep. 7) Gaeul (Ep. 8) Serim (Ep. 8) Taeyoung (Ep. 8) Dayoung (Ep. 8)

Episodes

Contestants

There were a total of 35 contestants involved with the show, but 21 contestants, who made it into the Debut Prep Group, have enough data to record. The English names of all the contestants are presented in accordance with the official website.

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Missions

Debut Prep Group (Episode 0)

Out of the 33 starting contestants, 21 are to be selected to be part of the Debut Prep Group. The 21 contestants of the Debut Prep Group get to move onto the five Plan stages, while the remaining 12 get eliminated from the show. In the order the trainees are brought in, they are immediately requested to self evaluate themselves amongst the rest of the trainees, according to their standards. Each trainee also has a certain color name tag, with each color representing the time range of their trainee period at Starship Entertainment, with Yellow - Beginner (-1 year), Blue - Junior (1–3 years), and Pink - Senior (3+ years). This mission will have all the contestants learn the show's theme song, ImPerfect, from the trainers, and prepare individual evaluations to present to the Starship Entertainment board members, who will select the 21 contestants for the Debut Prep Group. The video evaluations are shot in a one-take format, once the contestants start filming the video, they may not stop recording even if a mistake is made. After watching all the video evaluations, the board members select the 21 contestants to move onto the Plan stages.

Strength Position Assessment (Episode 1-2)

This mission will have the contestants challenge for the position they are the most confident in to prove their worth. The contestants are presented with five songs, three for the vocal position, and two for the dance position. The vocal position receives the options of 'Monster' by Irene and Seulgi of Red Velvet, 'You Were Beautiful' by Day6, and Magnetic by Illit, while the dance position receives the options of two original songs; 'New A.G.K' and 'DWN'. The team compositions start with a random selection of four contestants, who each choose two to four trainees to have on their team, with the six unchosen contestants forming the fifth team. The song selection involves a game of 'Capture the Flag', in which teams for each position have to send up their member with the best physical attributes to charge for the flag placed on the circumference of the stage, while being tied to one another. The contestant who fulfills their position the best in each of the five teams will automatically be part of the top 7 for the Plan, titled 'NewKids7', in addition to one other member from the first place team of each position. The benefits for the members of this Plan's NewKids7 are a performance video for the signal song of the show, and a concept photoshoot.

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Weakness Position Assessment (Episode 2-3)

This mission will have the contestants improve in a position they are the least confident in. Using the positions of the previous Plan, every contestants has their position swapped from Vocal to Dance, or vice versa. The contestants are presented with four songs, two for the vocal position, and two for the dance position. The vocal position receives the options of 'Shine With Me' by IVE and Girls by aespa, while the dance position receives the options of two original songs; 'So G.oo.D' and 'I'm OK, You're OK'. The song selections are chosen by the first place contestant of both dance teams from the previous mission, and the first place contestant of the first and second place team vocal teams. The contestant that gets to choose their song and their teammates is determined through another game called 'Ball Keeper', in which the contestants of the same position are pitted against each other to gain possession of a ball placed in the center of the stage within a time limit, with the winner of each matchup getting to select their song and their teammates. Midway through preparations, it gets announced that the teams have the choice to trade one of their members with the other team of the same position. The benefit for the winning team between each matchup is that each contestant receives an additional seven points to their individual score, while the first place contestant in that team receives ten additional points instead of seven. The NewKids7 for this Plan are determined through adding the individual scores of each contestants from both the Strength and Weakness Position Assessments, including the benefit from the Weakness Position Assessment, with the top 7 contestants with the highest scores becoming the members of this Plan's NewKids7. The benefits for the members of this Plan's NewKids7 are another performance video for the signal song of the show, and another concept photoshoot.

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Communication Assessment (Episode 4)

This mission will have the contestants experience how to communicate with fans through language, concepts, and social media. Each of the songs the contestants are presented with have different distinct concepts, chosen by the directors to resonate with the public audience. The chosen songs and concepts are as follows: Chewing Gum by NCT Dream - Boyhood, Case 143 by Stray Kids - Crush, and XO (Only If You Say Yes) by Enhypen - Fantasy. The team compositions start with all the contestants going to the concept room for whichever one they would like to perform, starting with the current first place contestant, and continuing with a random order from there. After every contestant has chosen their song/concept, if any of the three has overflow members, that room would select their best six or seven to stay while the unselected trainees would have to fill in the empty spots in another concept room. After team selections were finalized, it was announced that all the concept songs will partially be in a different language, having Japanese, English, and Chinese as options. Midway through preparations, two hidden missions were announced that were within the main Plan. The contestants would have to include sign language into the second part of their performance, to represent further communication with fans, and a dance break that included tutting. The NewKids7 for this Plan are determined by a vote not only by the board members, but also seventy other Starship judges, with the board members votes being worth ten times the other, with a maximum points total of 140. The team with the most votes becomes this Plan's NewKids7. The benefits for the members of this Plan's NewKids7 are a showcase video for a ballad version of the signal song of the show, and another concept photoshoot.

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Expression Assessment (Episode 5)

This mission will have the contestants audition for roles in Debut's Plan's drama, "ImPerfect Game". The benefit for the members of this Plan's NewKids7 are the lead roles of the drama, the chance to record their voices for the OST for the drama, and another concept photoshoot. The remaining fourteen contestants who are not part of NewKids7 will play supporting roles and extras. The seven contestants to be cast as the lead roles are to be decided by the board members and the "ImPerfect Game" production team through a Casting Audition. The main part of the Casting Audition will be performed in groups of three, with each group acting out a scene from the drama. Each of the groups are self-selected by the trainees themselves. As a benefit for the teams who form quicker, they get to choose which scene they'd like to act out, as each scene has a certain amount of space for the teams. After every team has been finalized with their scene, they are assigned to determine the temporary roles of each person in each team amongst themselves, which are still able to change before the day of the Casting Audition. In the days leading up to audition day, the contestants receive a three-day general acting class from a trained actor, to improve their skills within the field. Alongside the group scene, each contestant will also individually prepare a solo monologue to present after their group scene at the Casting Audition. After all the groups have acted out their group scene, and everyone has acted out their solo monologue scene, the drama producers and the board members simply determine the NewKids7 by determining who's the best fit for each of the lead roles in the drama.

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Teamwork Assessment (Episode 6)

This mission will have the contestants use the one-take method to film a "Team Performance Video". The contestants are presented with the one singular song they are tasked with creating the performance video for; an original song, "Balla". It's revealed that all twenty-one contestants are going to be one singular team, who will have to work together to create the performance video. They are given seven days, tasked with creating the choreography from scratch, while having to incorporate various locations around the Debut's Plan Hideout in the video, which tests their producing skills. Then they're told they have one chance to film the video, using the one-take method to film all of it, which prohibits cutting between scenes. Regardless of the outcome of the one chance at filming, the video will be released to the public, including whatever mistakes were made, if any at all. The parts for this Plan are decided by the contestants, based on each contestant's personal skills, as well as their ability so sacrifice for others and understanding, with the voted team leader getting to act as the chief producer of the performance video, who's responsible for managing practices, the performance setting, choreography, and contestant formations throughout the week and during the performance. After the leader was selected, he was able to select two other contestants to be co-leaders, to aid in preparations. From there, the leaders separated the song into parts and assigned other contestants to direct the choreography creation and practice for those specific parts. Midway through preparations, the contestants got to go to teamwork camp, to improve their communication, collaboration, coordination, and cooperation skills. The NewKids7 for this Plan are chosen through vote by the twenty-one contestants themselves once the Plan is over. The benefits for the members of this Plan's NewKids7 are a relay dance performance video of the signal song of the show, and another concept photoshoot.

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Pre-Debut Assessment (Episode 7-8)

This mission is the contestants' final step before heading to the final debut assessment. This mission will have the contestants finally experience performing live, in front of an audience of fans. Also for the first time, there will be contestants eliminated from the show post-performances, although the board members will have the choice to save someone from being eliminated, with the Debut Super Pass, allowing them to continue onto the final debut assessment as well, if they so choose. The contestants are presented with three original songs; 'Step Up - With My Fluttering Heart', 'Sticky Bomb', and 'Password'. Through the first five plans, based on the skills and charms that each contestant has shown, the board members have categorized the contestants into the positions of a standard K-pop group; Vocal, Dance, Rap, Vocal Tone, and All-Rounder. The team compositions are determined partially using these positions. In each song, each position has a capacity of one-third of all the members in one position, to ensure fair distribution of skills amongst the three songs, with any contestant who has been in a minimum of four of the five prior NewKids7's being able to guarantee the song that they want, the Position Save benefit. The contestants are instructed to go to the recording studio for the song of their choice, in a random order, each position at a time. Once all the contestants have chosen their first pick, any positions with overflow members had to decide who to drop from the team, while being required to keep those in possession of the Position Save benefit. Once the teams were finalized, each team had to select their ID their member through a short audition process. The contestants were not directly assessed based on their performances this time around, instead, after the performances, the board members announced their seven contestants picked to move onto the finals, and then the top seven voted by the fans were revealed shortly after.

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Debut Assessment (Episode 9)

This mission is the contestants' final step before getting to debut. The contestants are presented with two original songs; 'Taking Off - Through Your Dreams', and 'Blooming Crown'. This time around, the teams are not decided by the board, nor the contestants themselves, instead, the fans formed the teams by voting each contestant to either song. Each contestant is handed an envelope with a practice room written on it, and they're instructed to head to that room. Once each contestant is in their respective room, the songs for each room are revealed to the contestants in each room. The ID members for each performance were decided mainly by the NewKids themselves, with some aid from the board members. The board members initially chose three candidates for each song, and from there, each of them practiced the ID sections of the songs, with the final decision being done through vote by all of the NewKids afterwards. Again, the contestants were not directly assessed based on their performances this time around, instead, after the performances, the members of the debut group selected through fan voting and board selection were announced.

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Rankings, Voting, and Eliminations

NewKids7

After each Plan, the judges select 7 contestants, in different ways each round, to become NewKids7. The NewKids7 for the first five plans will get a concept photoshoot, and either the opportunity to do a dance or vocal cover of the show's theme song; 'ImPerfect', or receiving acting roles in the drama of the show; 'ImPerfect Game'.

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Voting

The voting process for Debut's Plan is done through the . Voting is permitted once daily, which consists of the selection of a certain number of NewKids to be selected for the final debut assessment. There will be three initial voting periods, cumulative towards the total for the final debut selection, with the first and second being worth 25% each, and the third one being worth 50%. The final voting period consists of the selection of seven NewKids, to form the debut group.

Top 7

The top seven contestants are determined either by the judges themselves or through popularity with online voting, and the results are shown at the end of most episodes.

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First Voting Period

The first voting period, worth 25% of the cumulative total for the final debut assessment, took place from March 14, 2025, to April 3, 2025. The public audience would vote for their top seven contestants.

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Second Voting Period

The second voting period, also worth 25% of the cumulative total for the final debut assessment, took place from April 4, 2025, to April 17, 2025. The public audience would vote for their top two contestants.

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Third Voting Period

The third voting period, worth 50% of the cumulative total for the final debut assessment, took place from April 18, 2025, to April 24, 2025. The public audience would vote for their one-pick contestants.

Pre-Debut Plan Results

The contestants who would get to move onto the final are decided by a combination of fan votes, board members' selections, and a potential Debut Super Pass. The top seven contestants in fan votes are automatically going to the final, their scores being cumulative of the initial three voting periods, alongside the members of the NewKids7 chosen by the board members, with room for contestants in both categories to overlap. After however many contestants have been chosen under these two criteria, the board members can choose to use their Debut Super Pass to save one contestant who didn't qualify for either criterion, and they will be able to go to the final as well.

Final Voting Period

The final voting period took place from April 26, 2025, to May 3, 2025, which would decide the members of the debut group. The public audience would vote for their ideal final line-up, consisting of seven contestants. The top five members of the group would be decided using these votes, and the board members' scores, each worth 50% of the total score. The other two members of the group would be decided with Save votes, during the final episode livestream. The contestant with the highest vote count, excluding the top five contestants from the previous voting period, would be added to the debut line-up, alongside another contestant chosen by the board members. During the final livestream, after the original seven members were announced, the board members revealed that they would be adding another member to the group with their save vote, resulting in a final group of eight members instead of seven.

Discography

The theme song "ImPerfect" was recorded and performed by the contestants. It was released on March 14, 2025 on digital music platforms.

Singles

Post-Competition

The final group, Idid is managed by Starship Entertainment. The group released their pre-debut single 'Step It Up' on July 24, 2025, and debuted on September 15, 2025, with the extended play 'I Did It'.

• Park Jun-hwan (7th) left the group on June 2, 2025.

• Some contestants returned to their original groups: Kang Hyun (22nd-33rd) returned to N.TOP.
• Some contestants left Starship Entertainment and joined new companies: Wu Hao (12th), Jo Min-jae (17th), Jeon Jun-seo (20th), Park Jun-seong (22nd-33rd), and Shin Jae-ha (22nd-33rd) all left Starship Entertainment. Wu Hao joined Modhaus. He later left in the second half of 2025. Jeon Jun-seo signed with ABM Company. Park Jun-seong joined Jellyfish Entertainment.
• Some contestants will debut or debuted in new boy groups, released music as solo artists, or released music under their groups: Wu Hao (12th) debuted as a soloist with his first digital single Me on February 21, 2026, following the pre-release 'Rise to the world'.
• Some contestants left the idol industry or further expanded their careers in the acting/entertainment industry: Jeon Jun-seo (20th) seems to be working toward a career as an actor under ABM Company. Kang Hyun (22nd-33rd) debuted as a member of NYH Entertainment's boy group, N.TOP with their first single album We:Disconnect with the title track 'Stay With U' on Augsut 6, 2025.
• Some contestants participated in other survival shows: Park Jun-seong and Shin Jae-ha (22nd-33rd) participated in Mnet's Korean survival show Boys II Planet. They were both eliminated in the second episode after ranking 133rd and 122nd respectively.

Notes

External links