Girls Planet 2027 Opens Auditions at KCON LA, Targeting a Western Audience With Republic Collective
Producers of the K-pop talent competition series Girls Planet held open auditions at the Los Angeles Convention Center on August 14–15, 2026, during the three-day KCON festival, looking for contestants for the next season, Girls Planet 2027. The auditions were a "Fast Track Audition" held on the KCON LA Festival Grounds in partnership with Republic Collective, according to Mnet Plus, the show's official platform (Mnet Plus). KCON, the sprawling K-culture convention produced by CJ ENM, ran from August 14–16 in downtown Los Angeles (Deadline).
Kim Sinyoung, the chief producer of Girls Planet 2027 and the three previous seasons of the Planet series, told Variety that the biggest shift this season is the partnership with Republic Collective, a music-industry company, to directly create a girl group aimed at the U.S. market (Variety). CJ ENM, which produces Girls Planet and owns Mnet — the South Korean network where the show originates — also produces KCON, making the festival a natural staging ground for the search.
The Planet competition series has already found audiences outside Korea, airing in markets including Thailand and Japan, where it streams on Abema, a free streaming platform (Variety). The new season's U.S. focus is a step beyond that existing reach.
Each season of Girls Planet begins with roughly 100 contestants and narrows the field to about 20 across 10–12 weekly episodes, culminating in a live finale (Variety). CJ ENM press representatives said no decision has been made yet on how many members the final group will have (Variety).
More auditions are coming. The producers plan to hold in-person auditions in New York and London later in 2026, and Kim Sinyoung intends to return to Los Angeles for a scouting trip (Variety). Forbes, reporting on August 4, listed all three cities — New York, Los Angeles, and London — as stops for in-person auditions planned for early November 2026 (Forbes).
The global audition is also open online through Mnet Plus at mnetplus.world, where anyone can apply (Mnet Plus). The criteria are broad: applicants must have been born before January 1, 2013, and the call is open to all experience levels — including people who have never trained in singing or dancing (Mnet Plus). Applicants may submit their registration first and send videos later. The audition is open to girls, she/her, and they/them applicants (Mnet Plus).
For anyone who has followed the Planet franchise, the ambition is clear: a competition show that built its name in Korea and across Asia is now building a group for Western listeners from the very first audition. The results will play out on Mnet when the season airs.
