South Korea’s original nationwide audition show, ‘Superstar K,’ is reportedly coming back after 11 years, with Mnet preparing a new season aimed at a 2027 broadcast and open auditions set to begin in November.
According to Korean entertainment reports, the new season carries the working title ‘Superstar K 2027,’ though the name could still change. It will keep its nationwide open-audition identity, recruiting with no restrictions on age, gender, genre or nationality.
The revival has not yet been officially confirmed by the broadcaster. The reports trace back to a MyDaily story on October 26, and Mnet told The Korea Herald that it currently has no official position or comment on the reported revival. It should therefore be read as in preparation, not formally announced.
‘Superstar K’ first aired in 2009 and proved that a large-scale open audition format could work on Korean television. It was an immediate hit for a cable channel, and the season 2 finale drew a record 18.1 percent rating, while songs performed on the show swept the music charts.
Above all, the show’s legacy is the stars it discovered. First-season winner Seo In-guk built a lasting acting and singing career, and later winners Huh Gak and Ulala Session also found lasting success. Non-winners including John Park, Jang Jae-in, Busker Busker, Two Months, Kang Seung-yoon and Kim Feel used the show as a springboard to stardom. The final season, ‘Superstar K 2016,’ was won by Kim Young-geun.
The glory did not last. As copycat auditions flooded the market, viewers tired of the repeated format, and the last season ended with ratings in the 1 percent range. After the show went quiet, the audition boom it started continued through ‘K-pop Star,’ the ‘Produce 101’ series and the ‘Planet’ series, while trot competitions opened the genre to older audiences.
The timing fits a fresh wave of audition programming. SBS recently launched ‘Our Ballad 2,’ TV Chosun is preparing ‘Mr. Trot 4’ and ‘Active King 4,’ and Netflix has announced its own K-pop girl group audition project, ‘We Go High.’ The question now is whether the original can stand out in a market it once created, where finding a lasting star matters more than ever.
If the reported schedule holds, recruitment opens in November. Eleven years after it signed off, ‘Superstar K’ is betting that the format that started Korea’s audition era still has one more run in it.
