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Project 7 (Korean: 프로젝트7) is a 2024 South Korean boy group reality competition survival show created by JTBC. It followed the process of creating a new global boy group. It premiered on JTBC on October 18, 2024, and aired every Friday at 20:50 (KST). The show ended on December 27, 2024, with the formation of a seven-member boy group named Close Your Eyes.
Production and Background
The program was co-directed by Ma Gun-young and Chae Sung-wook. It was co-produced by Studio Slam and SLL.[1]
On April 20, 2024, JTBC revealed teasers inviting any male to apply for the show. The program will be produced by the creators of Sing Again and will air in the second half of 2024.[2]
The theme song, "Run (Up To You)" (달려(Up To You)) was released on September 24, 2024, accompanied by a performance of the song the next day by the 100 contestants.[3]
Lee Soo-hyuk, was recruited as Project 7 host.[4] The panel also includes Lee Hae-in, Ha Sung-woon, Bada Lee, Hi-Hat Entertainment performance director Ryu D, as well as prominent songwriter and producer Ryan S. Jhun.[5]
There were a total of 200 contestants involved with the show, but 100 contestants, who made it past the Zero Setting Project, have enough data to record. The English names of all the contestants are presented in accordance with the official website.[6]
The voting process for Project 7 is done through the official website and the Weverse app as the primary platforms to vote for the contestants.[7]
Top 7
The top seven contestants were determined through popularity with online voting and audience live voting, and the results are shown at the end of most episodes.
The first voting period for the 1st Assembly Ceremony took place from October 18 to November 2, 2024. The fans, named World Assemblers, voted for their top seven contestants. Alongside voting for their top 7, World Assemblers would also vote for 14 contestants, to assemble a unit, which seemed to foreshadow performances together. Regarding eliminations, the top 70 trainees who received the most points, calculated through votes received through Korea and through the rest of the world, got to continue onto the next round and the bottom 30 trainees got officially eliminated. During the ceremony, 1, 3, 7, or 9-10 contestants would be called up at a time (69–61, 60–51, etc. 10–8, 7–1, 70) and then they would find out which unit they would be a part of, which are labeled A1 down to A5.
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The second voting period for the 2nd Assembly Ceremony took place from November 8 to November 23, 2024. The World Assemblers voted for their top seven contestants. Alongside voting for their top seven, World Assemblers would also assemble five units of seven contestants for each of the new songs introduced, each having their own concept; Neo/Urban (Breaking News), Old School/Retro (KOOL-AID), Fresh/Cool (Merry-Go-Round), Sexy/Bad (Trigger), & Nostalgic/Sentimental (Time After Time). Regarding eliminations, the top half (35) of the contestants who received the most votes got to continue onto the next round and the bottom half (35) of the contestants got officially eliminated. During the ceremony, each pair of opposing teams from the Rival Match, starting from its A1, then 5, 2, 4, and 3, would be called up to find out who is safe from elimination from each unit, excluding the Top 9 contestants, and 35th place contestant. The safe contestants would move to their ranking's seat in the stands for the time being. After ranks 10-34 were confirmed, the 35th place contestant was revealed, through the four candidate method, and then the Top 9 were revealed starting from 9th, then 7th and 8th, and then 6th down to 3rd, and finally 1st and 2nd. After the ceremony, and the eliminated contestants had left, Lee Soohyuk would call up each contestant, in rank order, and give them a number from 1–5, corresponding to 5 different rooms, which would determine each contestant's Assembly for the next mission.
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The third voting period for the 3rd Assembly Ceremony took place from November 29 to December 13, 2024. The World Assemblers voted for their top three contestants. Alongside voting for their top three, World Assemblers would also assemble three units of seven contestants for each of the new songs introduced for the finale; Psycho, Act Up, & Antidote. Regarding eliminations, the top 21 trainees who received the most votes got to continue onto the next round and the bottom 14 trainees got officially eliminated. During the ceremony, each team from the Originals Match, starting from its A4, then 5, 3, 1, and 2, would be called up to find out who is safe from elimination from each unit, excluding the Top 9 contestants, and the 21st place contestant. The safe contestants would move to their ranking's seat in the stands for the time being. After ranks 10-20 were confirmed, the Top 9 were revealed, starting from 9th, then 7th and 8th, and then 6th down to 3rd, and finally 1st and 2nd, and then the 21st place contestant was revealed, through the four candidate method.
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The fourth voting period for the final episode took place from December 20 to December 17, 2024. The World Assemblers voted for their top one contestant. As we have known from the beginning of the show, 7 contestants will debut, and this decides it all. The top 7 contestant will debut, and the bottom 14 will be officially eliminated. During the Final Live, World Assemblers would get another chance to vote for their top contestant, and each vote cast would count for two votes towards the selected contestant. Alongside voting for one contestant, World Assemblers would also assemble their ideal debut group, selecting seven contestants as their ideal final lineup. During the final ceremony, the contestants ranks were revealed, starting from 6th down to 3rd, then 1st and 2nd, and then finally the 7th and final member.
Color Key
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
This show aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC, and EBS).
Aftermath
The final group, Close Your Eyes will be active for 3 years and is managed by UNCORE. The group debuted on April 2, 2025, with the mini album 'ETERNALT'.[14]
Other contestants, other activities
Some contestants returned to their original groups:
Kim Hyun-woo (11th), Yoo Young-seo (17th), and Park Jun-seo (21st) returned to BAE173.
Kang Min-seo (22nd) and Lee Han-bin (23rd) returned to Fantasy Boys.
Ahn Jun-won (16th) signed with Megameta on February 19, 2025.[17]
Lynn Lynn (20th) joined IX Entertainment.
Kim Joon-woo (32nd) joined Hiver Lab Entertainment on January 4, 2025.[18]
Some contestants will debut or debuted in new boy groups or released music as solo artists:
Kim Si-hun (8th) who already debuted as a soloist prior to the airing of the show, released his second single 'Fly' on February 25, 2025.[19]
Nam Ji-woon (9th) was revealed as Idntt's 7th member on July 18, 2025.[20] He debuted as a member of Idntt's first sub unit, Uneverm8t with the mini album Unevermet with the title tracks 'You Never Met', 'Storm', and 'BOYtude' on August 11, 2025.[21][22][23]
Kang Hyun-woo (10th) debuted as a soloist with the single album 'Serena-Day' with a title track of the same name on May 22, 2025.[24]
Ahn Jun-won (16th) was confirmed to be a member of Megameta's predebut actor-idol boy group, Asteon on April 1, 2025.[25]
Andy (19th) was added to the lineup of Mystic Story's debuted boy group, ARrC on January 30, 2025.[26] He debuted as a member of ARrC with the EP 'Nu Kidz: Out the Box' with the title track 'Nu Kidz' on February 18, 2025.
Kim Joon-woo (32nd) debuted as a soloist under the stage name Doha with the single album 'Dream In My Bag' with the title track 'Zipper' on July 15, 2025.[27][28][29]
The pre-release track 'That's me', was released on June 18, 2025.[30]
Some contestants left the idol industry or further expanded their careers in the acting, modeling, or entertainment industry:
Ahn Jun-won (16th) became MC for Gogosing's variety show Music Camp, which aired weekly from February 12 to February 26, 2025, featuring Project 7 trainees every episode, with bonus episodes in March and April.[31]
Kwon Yang-woo (52nd) became a model for KPLUS somewhere between December 28–30, 2024 and was officially introduced on February 12, 2025.[32]
Tsujii Ryoma (85th) was a backup dancer for n.SSign's performance of Super by Seventeen at Show! Music Core in Japan on July 6, 2025.[33]
Tsujii Ryoma (85th) was featured as a dancer in the performance video for 'Signal', the solo song for Seongmin of One Pact, on July 7, 2025, for their comeback with the mini album 'One Pack'.[34][35]
Some contestants participated in other survival shows:
Yichen (12th),[36] Binghua (15th; as Xie Binghua),[37] Lynn Lynn (20th; as Zhao Guangxu),[38] and Yeom Ye-chan (45th)[39] are participating in Mnet's Korean survival show Boys II Planet. Binghua was eliminated in the second episode after ranking 85th, and Yichen, Lynn Lynn, and Yeom Ye-chan were all eliminated in the eighth episode after ranking 42nd, 34th, and 40th respectively.
Notes
^Indicates contestants who had never placed in the Top 7 in any prior elimination rounds or ranking announcements.
^ abcdPoints were calculated using this formula: (Number of Korean Votes) + (Number of Global Votes) + (Any bonus points from winning benefits, either team or individual)
^ abPoints were calculated using this formula: (Number of Korean Votes) + (Number of Global Votes) + (Any bonus points from individual benefits)
^Points were calculated using this formula: (4th Global Votes) + (Final Live Global Votes) + (Director's Benefits)
^ abCalculated through this formula: (Live Bias Votes) + (Live Assemble Votes)
References
^Kim, Seon-woo (October 16, 2024). "시청자 참여도 100%"...'프로젝트7' 차별화에 거는 기대 ["100% viewer participation"... Expectations for differentiation of 'Project 7'] (in Korean). JTBC. Retrieved October 18, 2024 – via Naver.
^정, 원희. 아이돌 조립 강화 오디션 '프로젝트 7', 첫 티저 공개…10월 18일 첫방 [Idol Assembly Reinforcement Audition 'Project 7' Reveals First Teaser...The first episode will air on October 18th]. www.celuvmedia.com (in Korean). Retrieved June 3, 2025.
^Kim, Seon-woo (October 16, 2024). '프로젝트 7', 타이틀송 '달려 (Up To You)' 선공개 ['Project 7', title song 'Run (Up To You)' pre-released] (in Korean). JTBC. Retrieved October 18, 2024 – via Naver.
^ abLee Seung-hoon (September 14, 2024). [단독]이수혁, 아이돌 데뷔 돕는다..오디션 '프로젝트 7' MC [[Exclusive] Lee Soo-hyuk helps idols debut. Audition 'Project 7' MC] (in Korean). TV Report. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via Naver.
^ abcdefHwang, Mi-hyun (December 21, 2022). 이수혁부터 하성운까지...'프로젝트 7' MC·디렉터 라인업 공개 [From Lee Soo-hyuk to Ha Sung-woon... 'Project 7' MC and Director Lineup Revealed]. Nate News (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
^참가자 소개 [Introduction of participants]. JTBC (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 29, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
^"Project 7". Spotify. September 26, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
^Project 7 시청률 [Project 7 ratings] (in Korean). Nielsen Korea. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via Daum.
^Kim, Su-jin (March 3, 2025). '프로젝트7 우승' 클로즈 유어 아이즈, 4월 2일 데뷔..글로벌 팬심 접수 ['Project 7 Winner' Close Your Eyes debuts on April 2nd. Global Fan Sentiment Reception]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 7, 2025 – via Naver.
^unname__official (September 2, 2025). "[NOTICE] 언네임 관련 안내". Instagram. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
^Kim, Jisoo (February 19, 2025). "프로젝트7" 출신 안준원, 메가메타와 전속계약 체결 [Ahn Jun-won from "Project 7" signs exclusive contract with Mega Meta] (in Korean). Retrieved February 23, 2025 – via Naver.
