General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Starlight Boys (星光闪耀的少年)

Starlight Boys (Korean: 스타라이트보이즈; Chinese: 星光闪耀的少年) was a 2024 South Korean-Chinese boy group survival show produced by iQIYI International and the South Korean broadcaster SBS, in which 69 contestants from around the world competed for a place in a nine-member debut group.¹ It was iQIYI's first global male idol audition program and was formerly announced under the name Youth With You International (青春有你国际版).² The show aired from October 26 to December 28, 2024, and formed the group POLARIX.¹

Key fact	Detail
Format	69 contestants of various nationalities, signed and independent, competing for a 9-member boy group to promote in both Korea and China¹
Producers	iQIYI International (China) and SBS (Korea); filmed entirely in South Korea¹^•³
Run	Premiered October 26, 2024; finale December 28, 2024¹
Host and mentors	Host Lee Sung-kyoung; mentors included Lee Seung Gi, Daesung (BIGBANG), choreographer Choi Youngjun, Kwon Eunbi, Hui, THE BOYZ's Eric, and STAYC's Yoon⁴
Signature mechanic	A Level Test grading each contestant from zero to three stars; the most-voted contestant becomes the all-star center, dubbed Polaris⁵
Result	The nine-member group POLARIX, led by first-place finisher Shao Ziheng⁶
Group contract	POLARIX managed by Idol Youth Entertainment under a 2-year-and-6-month contract¹

Spoilers

Finale and POLARIX

The finale was held on December 28, 2024, in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, where the top 18 trainees competed in two final stages, "Millionnaire" and "Pretty Dirty Boy," before the MC revealed the results.⁶ The nine winners, in final rank order, were Shao Ziheng, Lee Junhyuk, Xu Shihuan, Xin Che, Pentor, Hangyul, Zai, Yang Donghwa, and Lee Daeul; they debuted as POLARIX.⁶ Shao Ziheng finished first overall, and Hangyul, Yoojun, and Daeul were members of the already-active group BAE173 during the show.⁸^•¹ The group's first fan meeting was scheduled for February 8 in Macau.⁶

Format and judging

The show opened with a Level Test in which each contestant performed individually or in teams and received one of four grades from the mentors, called "guiders": All-Star (three stars), two stars, one star, or zero stars.⁵^•⁷ Contestants also voted on each other's performances, and at the end of the Level Test the contestant with the most votes, regardless of grade, became the "all-star" center, dubbed Polaris.⁵ The first episode, titled "First All-Star Starlight Boy of the first Level Test," showed the contestants entering the Starlight Academy set and taking their seats; the cast included veterans of earlier audition programs such as Youth With You 3 and Boys Planet, as well as already-debuted idols from groups including FANTASY BOYS and BAE173.⁷^•⁴

After the Level Test came the first mission, the Signal Song Test, followed by further elimination rounds.⁷ The first voting round ran from October 26 to November 1, 2024, with 68 contestants eligible, and the second from November 2 to November 16 with 56.⁸

Cast

The host was the actress and model Lee Sung-kyoung.⁴^•⁹ The mentor panel combined Korean entertainment figures: singer-actor Lee Seung Gi, Daesung of BIGBANG, the choreographer Choi Youngjun, Kwon Eunbi, Hui of PENTAGON, Eric of THE BOYZ, Hanhae, and Yoon of STAYC.⁴^•⁷

The 69 contestants came from countries including China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore.⁹ By the show's own statistics, the average trainee age was 21.4 years, with the oldest contestants born in 1998 (26 international age) and the youngest born in 2007 (17).⁸

Relationship to Youth With You

Although the program was widely labeled "Youth With You International," Chinese reporting distinguishes it from the mainland Youth With You series: it was an independent production by iQIYI International with SBS, filmed in Korea and broadcast globally, not a sequel or remake of the domestic show.³ The distinction matters because China's broadcast regulator issued rules on September 2, 2021 barring idol-development audition programs on Chinese broadcasters and streaming platforms, which ended the domestic series after its 2021 third season.¹⁰ Moving the format to an international production filmed in Korea allowed iQIYI to return to the genre.³

Reception and aftermath

Korean press coverage of the first broadcast described the show as praised for its "fresh international scale and colorful stage different from existing audition programs," with episodes streaming live on iQIYI every Saturday at 8 p.m.¹¹ The Japanese trade press reported viewership and view counts surpassing 1.5 million early in the run.⁷ The contestants also performed at the 2024 Korea Grand Music Awards on November 16, 2024, while the show was still airing.¹²

After the finale, POLARIX had limited group activity, and most members returned to their original labels or groups; Hangyul resumed activities with BAE173 before leaving his agency in 2026, and eliminated contestants moved on to other projects, including Mnet's Boys II Planet.¹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Reality and competition franchise editions › Got Talent and other variety talent-show franchises

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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