Debut's Plan
Debut's Plan (데뷔스 플랜) was a South Korean boy group survival show produced by Starship Entertainment, in which the agency's trainees competed for a place in a new boy group formed under the label. Broadcast on YouTube between March 14 and May 4, 2025, the program ended by bringing together the eight members of the group IDID (아이딧).1 • 2
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Producer / network | Starship Entertainment; broadcast on the New Kids on the Starship YouTube channel1 |
| Run | March 14, 2025 to May 4, 2025 (51 days)3 |
| Contestants | 33 Starship trainees underwent a 77-hour evaluation; 21 were selected for the Debut Prep Group1 • 4 |
| Format | Five stages called "PLANS": Plans 1 to 3 used a 2:1 battle format, Plans 4 and 5 a 1:1 individual format4 |
| Judging | Three voting rounds, each a 1:1 weighted combination of Korean and global fan votes, alongside the board's evaluation4 |
| Result | Eight-member debut lineup announced at the May 5 finale; group named IDID2 |
| Final group debut | IDID debuted September 15, 2025 with the EP I did it and the title track "Chan-Ran"5 |
Spoilers
Premise and format
Starship Entertainment announced the project on March 3, 2025 as its first new boy group launch in five years, since the debut of CRAVITY in April 2020.6 The show was part of the agency's "NewKids on the STARSHIP" project, and its stated goal was to transform "imperfect" rookies into "perfect" idols through a series of themed missions.7
Before the first episode, all 33 Starship trainees went through a 77-hour evaluation process, performing the signal song "ImPerfect" and presenting individual evaluations to the Starship board. The board selected 21 contestants for the Debut Prep Group, and the remaining 12 were eliminated.1 The 21 NewKids then competed through five stages known as "PLANS": Plans 1 to 3 followed a 2:1 battle format in which two groups competed per song, while Plans 4 and 5 shifted to 1:1 battles focused on individual performances.4
A distinctive rule set the show apart from other survival programs: the members chosen by viewers and by the agency's board had to align. The show explained that if the seven NewKids chosen by viewers and the board matched completely, the final debut assessment would be their debut stage; if the choices differed, at least 8 to 16 NewKids would advance to the final debut assessment stage.8 Voting took place in three rounds, with results determined by a 1:1 weighted combination of Korean and global votes alongside the board's evaluation.4
The board included Starship's executive producer, artist team, performance team, visual team, recruit development team, production team, and outside professionals.8 Minhyuk of MONSTA X served as MC, and the mentors included the soloist K.Will, Yeonjung of WJSN, and the choreographers Choi Youngjoon, Ingyoo, and Simeez.4
Finale and debut lineup
The grand finale, "Debut's Plan : NewKids" EP.9, aired on May 5, 2025 and announced the eight contestants who made the final debut lineup. In addition to the top five contestants, one member was chosen solely through fan votes and two members were "saved" by the board. Fan votes rescued Jeong Se Min from elimination, whereas the board selected Park Jun Hwan and Park Seong Hyeon. The show also revealed the new group's name, IDID.2
The eight announced members, in final ranking order, were:2
- Kim Min Jae
- Jang Yong Hoon
- Baek Jun Hyuk
- Park Won Bin
- Chu Yoo Chan
- Jeong Se Min
- Park Jun Hwan
- Park Seong Hyeon
The final lineup had been contested by twelve NewKids who survived the pre-debut evaluation: Kim Min Jae, Kim Ji Yong, Park Seong Hyeon, Park Jun Hwan, Park Won Bin, Baek Jun Hyuk, Wu Hao, Lee Tae Geon, Jang Kyu Hyun, Jang Yong Hoon, Jeong Se Min, and Chu Yoo Chan.10
Contestant changes during the run
Withdrawal of Seok June. On April 17, 2025, Starship announced that trainee Seok June, who had consistently ranked among the top contestants, was stepping down from the program for personal reasons and would not participate in the semi-final stage scheduled for the following week.9
After the show
A lineup change before debut. On June 2, 2025, Starship announced that Park Jun Hwan would not be debuting with the group due to psychological stress, and IDID continued as a seven-member group.1 • 11
IDID's debut. The group released the pre-debut song "Step It Up" on July 24, 2025, followed by a stage at KCON LA in August, and officially debuted on September 15, 2025 with the EP I did it and the title track "Chan-Ran".1 • 5 "Chan-Ran" won on Music Bank just 12 days after the debut, and the EP topped the weekly Circle Chart album chart; the signal song "ImPerfect" was also included on the debut EP.5 In December 2025 the group received the Global Rising Artist award at the Melon Music Awards.5
A second group from the show's trainees. Six trainees who did not make IDID's final lineup, Jin Bo Min, Kim Ji Yong, Jang Kyu Hyun, Miyata Haru, Lee Jun Seo, and Suzuki Kaira, were revealed on June 1, 2026 as members of AEN, a seven-member Korean and Japanese boy group produced jointly by Starship and the Japanese company AMUSE. AEN debuted on August 5, 2026 with the EP A New Era Of Now, with every song released in both Korean and Japanese versions.7
Other eliminated contestants also went on to new opportunities: Kang Hyun debuted in N.TOP on August 6, 2025 with the single album We:Disconnect, making him the first eliminated contestant to debut;1 Cho Eunchan debuted in the Modhaus sub-unit itsnot5ver on July 13, 2026;1 and Park Junseong and Shin Jaeha later appeared as contestants on Mnet's survival show Boys II Planet.1
References
- Debut's Plan: Where Are They Now? (Updated!), Kpop Profiles
- STARSHIP's Survival Show Announces Final Debut Lineup + Name Of New Boy Group, Soompi (May 4, 2025)
- Debut's Plan (2025), Kpopping
- Debut's Plan (Survival Show) Contestants Profile, Kpop Profiles
- IDID: members, debut date, fandom WITHID and discography, Kpop Fandom
- Update: STARSHIP's Boy Group Survival Show "Debut's Plan" Unveils Performance Video Ahead Of Premiere, Soompi (March 4, 2025)
- How Debut's Plan survival show trainees became STARSHIP's new Korea Japan boy group AEN, K-Cult
- Starship Entertainment's 'Debut's Plan' airs first episode, allkpop (March 17, 2025)
- STARSHIP Trainee Seok June Withdraws From Boy Group Survival Show "Debut's Plan", Soompi (April 17, 2025)
- '데뷔스 플랜' 김민재·정세민 등 최종 8人 확정…그룹명 '아이딧'(IDID), Sports Today via Daum (May 5, 2025)
- Debut's Plan, Namu Wiki
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Korean and East Asian web series
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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