Nizi Project
Nizi Project is a Japanese audition project produced by JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Japan. The name "Nizi" is taken from the Japanese word "Niji" (虹; Rainbow), with the project's mission to "create a group that emits beautiful light with various colors like a rainbow."
The music survival show, originally to begin airing in October 2019 but was pushed back to January 2020, features a group of 26 selected Japanese trainees as they audition and train to debut in JYP's new Japanese girl group.
The second season began airing in April 2020. This season follows the 14 trainees that made it through the first season as they train and compete for six months in hopes of making the final cut. The debut line-up of 9 girls was announced on the final episode of the program. It was also announced the group, named NiziU, would release a pre-debut mini-album in both Japan and South Korea on June 30th. They made their official debut in December 2020.
Information
- Announcement Date: February 7 2019
- Application Requirements: Female from 15 years to 22 years of age by the end of the audition deadline, or those who have graduated from junior high school by the end of March 2019
- Application Period: May 1, 2019 ~ Audition Period
- Audition Period: July 2019 ~ August 2019 (Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Okinawa, Los Angeles, Hawaii)
- Broadcast Period:
- Season 1: January 31, 2020 – March 27, 2020 (10 episodes)
- Season 2: April 24, 2020 – June 26, 2020 (10 episodes)
Season 1
Audition
When you put the letters in "NIZI" together, it forms a square that is divided into four parts (☒). Each participant that passes is given a necklace with a cube pendant that is divided into four hollowed parts.
Below are only a handful of the final qualifiers shown on the program that were selected out of over 10,000 girls who auditioned.
Japan Training Camp
Evaluation Tests
| # | Participant | Star Power Test |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arai Ayaka | Tennis Course TWICE - "Cheer Up -Japanese ver.-" |
| 2 | Ahn Yuna | Acrobatic performance |
| 3 | Ikematsu Riria | — |
| 4 | Ito Rei | — |
| 5 | Inoue Akari | Cheerleading |
| 6 | Oe Riku | Karate Gap Figure 2PM - "Again & Again" |
| 7 | Ogou Mayuka | — |
| 8 | Oguri Kako | — |
| 9 | Ozaki Suzu | Sailor Moon impression |
| 10 | Katsumura Maya | "The Ugly Duckling" Picture-Story Show |
| 11 | Kishida Ririka | — |
| 12 | Sakurai Miu | Mukbang |
| 13 | Sato Ana | — |
| 14 | Suzuno Miihi | Baton performance |
| 15 | Takaya Funa | — |
| 16 | Tanigawa Hina | — |
| 17 | Taniya Kyoka | Cooking tteok-bokki while performing |
| 18 | Hanada Erina | Cheerleading |
| 19 | Hanabashi Rio | — |
| 20 | Hirai Momoka | — |
| 21 | Hillman Nina | DJ Radio Broadcast |
| 22 | Plunckett Mei | — |
| 23 | Marutane Ayane | — |
| 24 | Yamaguchi Mako | Eating lemons with no expression then doing calligraphy |
| 25 | Yamashiro Moeno | — |
| 26 | Yokoi Rima | Plays drums |
Final Evaluation
| NIZI Girls | 5PM | Team DALLA DALLA | miss G | TT Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wonder Girls "Be My Baby" |
2PM "Again & Again" |
ITZY "DALLA DALLA" |
miss A "Bad Girl Good Girl" |
TWICE "TT" |
| Ozaki Suzu | Arai Ayaka | Ahn Yuna | Ito Rei | Oguri Kako |
| Tanigawa Hina | Inoue Akari | Ogou Mayuka | Oe Riku | Kishida Ririka |
| Hanabashi Rio | Taniya Kyoka | Kishida Ririka | Katsumura Maya | Sakurai Miu |
| Hirai Momoka | Yamaguchi Mako | Hanada Erina | Takaya Funa | Sato Ana* |
| Plunckett Mei | Yamashiro Moeno | Hillman Nina | Marutane Ayane | Suzuno Miihi |
| — | — | — | Yokoi Rima | — |
* Sato Ana left before the showcase.
Pendant Battle
The necklace they received for passing the first audition can now be filled with four triangular jeweled pieces: yellow for dance, green for vocal, red for star power, and blue for personality. The girls who can fill all four pendant slots will be able to proceed to training in Korea.
| # | Participant | Dance | Vocal | Star Power | Personality | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arai Ayaka | Acquired** | — | Acquired* | Acquired | 14 |
| 2 | Ahn Yuna | Acquired** | Acquired** | Acquired* | Acquired | 6 |
| 3 | Ikematsu Riria | Acquired* | Acquired** | — | Acquired | 12 |
| 4 | Ito Rei | Acquired** | — | — | — | |
| 5 | Inoue Akari | Acquired** | Acquired** | Acquired** | — | 11 |
| 6 | Oe Riku | Acquired** | Acquired* | Acquired* | Acquired | 5 |
| 7 | Oguri Kako | Acquired*** | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Ogou Mayuka | Acquired*** | Acquired*** | Acquired*** | — | 13 |
| 9 | Ozaki Suzu | Acquired** | Acquired** | Acquired* | — | 8 |
| 10 | Katsumura Maya | Acquired** | Acquired** | Acquired* | Acquired | 3 |
| 11 | Kishida Ririka | Acquired** | — | — | — | |
| 12 | Sakurai Miu | — | Acquired* | — | — | |
| 13 | Sato Ana | — | — | — | — | |
| 14 | Suzuno Miihi | Acquired* | Acquired* | Acquired* | Acquired | 2 |
| 15 | Takaya Funa | — | — | — | — | |
| 16 | Tanigawa Hina | — | — | — | — | |
| 17 | Taniya Kyoka | — | — | Acquired** | — | |
| 18 | Hanada Erina | — | — | — | — | |
| 19 | Hanabashi Rio | Acquired** | Acquired** | — | Acquired | 10 |
| 20 | Hirai Momoka | Acquired** | Acquired** | Acquired*** | — | 9 |
| 21 | Hillman Nina | — | Acquired* | Acquired* | Acquired | 7 |
| 22 | Plunckett Mei | Acquired** | — | — | — | |
| 23 | Marutane Ayane | — | — | — | — | |
| 24 | Yamaguchi Mako | Acquired* | Acquired* | Acquired** | Acquired | 1 |
| 25 | Yamashiro Moeno | Acquired** | — | Acquired** | — | |
| 26 | Yokoi Rima | Acquired** | Acquired** | Acquired* | Acquired | 4 |
* - Earned during the evaluation test.
** - Earned by being in top rank (top 16 for dance, top 13 for vocal, additional 4 for star power).
*** - Earned at the final evaluation.
Season 2
Missions
The trainees are given various missions to test their skills and improve themselves. They are ranked following each mission, and those who receive the lowest rank two times will be disqualified. The trainees trained for one month in South Korea prior to the start of their evaluations.
Mission 1: Individual Level Test
| # | Participant | Song | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arai Ayaka | TWICE - "Precious Love" | 9 |
| 2 | Ahn Yuna | miss A - "I Don't Need A Man" | 10 |
| 3 | Ikematsu Riria | J.Y Park - "Who's your mama" | 11 |
| 4 | Inoue Akari | miss A - "Good-bye Baby" | 13 |
| 5 | Oe Riku | J.Y Park - "Who's your mama" | 3 |
| 6 | Ogou Mayuka | Wonder Girls - "Like This" | 8 |
| 7 | Katsumura Maya | miss A - "Touch" | 4 |
| 8 | Suzuno Miihi | Wonder Girls - "Nobody (Rainstone remix)" | 1 |
| 9 | Hanabashi Rio | Yubin - "Lady" | 6 |
| 10 | Hirai Momoka | TWICE - "BDZ" | 12 |
| 11 | Hillman Nina | Charlie Puth - "Attention" | 7 |
| 12 | Yamaguchi Mako | Sunmi - "24 Sigani Mojara" | 2 |
| 13 | Yokoi Rima | J.Y Park - "Honey" | 5 |
Mission 2: Team Mission
The trainees are put into four groups to test how well they work together. As an added test, one team must battle against another. Members of the winning team receive pendants. The trainees were given another month to prepare for the mission.
| Seaside Fairies | Sun Rise | Heart Maker | Mr. Madonnie | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWICE "Dance the Night Away -Japanese ver.-" |
I.O.I "Very Very Very" |
TWICE "HEART SHAKER -Japanese ver.-" |
J.Y Park "Swing Baby" | ||||
| Hillman Nina (L) | 9 | Suzuno Miihi (L) | 6 | Oe Riku (L) | 4 | Yamaguchi Mako (L) | 3 |
| Ogou Mayuka | 11 | Yokoi Rima | 2 | Ahn Yuna | 12 | Katsumura Maya | 1 |
| Ikematsu Riria | 10 | Arai Ayaka | 7 | Hirai Momoka | 13 | Hanabashi Rio | 8 |
| Inoue Akari | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Winner: Sun Rise | Winner: Mr. Madonnie | ||||||
Mission 3: Team Battle
The trainees are put into three groups to test their image concept. Members of the winning team receive pendants. The trainees were given another month to prepare for the mission.
| IRIS (Emotion) | We bling (Young & Energetic) | 2K5 (Entertainer) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWICE "Feel Special" |
ITZY "ICY" |
2PM "Heartbeat" | |||
| Katsumura Maya (L) | 5 | Yokoi Rima (L) | 6 | Yamaguchi Mako (L) | 1 |
| Suzuno Miihi | 11 | Hanabashi Rio | 2 | Oe Riku | 10 |
| Ahn Yuna | 7 | Ikematsu Riria | 9 | Ogou Mayuka | 3 |
| Inoue Akari | 4 | Hillman Nina | 8 | Arai Ayaka | 12 |
| — | — | — | — | Hirai Momoka | 13 |
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place | |||
Mission 4: Final Missions
The trainees are put into two groups to battle against each other.
Team Mission Song Battle
| Mako Team | Maya Team |
|---|---|
| "Niji no Mukou e" (虹の向こうへ) | "Boom Boom Boom" |
| Yamaguchi Mako (L) | Katsumura Maya (L) |
| Ikematsu Riria | Yokoi Rima |
| Arai Ayaka | Suzuno Miihi |
| Inoue Akari | Oe Riku |
| Ahn Yuna | Ogou Mayuka |
| Hanabashi Rio | Hillman Nina |
| Winner: Maya Team | |
Debut Song Battle
| Mako Team | Maya Team |
|---|---|
| "Make you happy" | |
| Yamaguchi Mako (L) | Katsumura Maya (L) |
| Ikematsu Riria | Yokoi Rima |
| Arai Ayaka | Suzuno Miihi |
| Inoue Akari | Oe Riku |
| Ahn Yuna | Ogou Mayuka |
| Hanabashi Rio | Hillman Nina |
| Winner: Mako Team | |
Overall Rankings
| # | Participant | Mission Rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1 | Arai Ayaka | 9 | 7 | 12 | 8 |
| 2 | Ahn Yuna | 10 | 12 | 7 | 11 |
| 3 | Ikematsu Riria | 11 | 10 | 9 | 12 |
| 4 | Inoue Akari | 13 | 5 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | Oe Riku | 3 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
| 6 | Ogou Mayuka | 8 | 11 | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | Katsumura Maya | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| 8 | Suzuno Miihi | 1 | 6 | 11 | 6 |
| 9 | Hanabashi Rio | 6 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Hirai Momoka | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| 11 | Hillman Nina | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| 12 | Yamaguchi Mako | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Yokoi Rima | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
Pendant Battle
The necklace they received for passing the first audition and the four triangular jeweled pieces they received during season 1 can now be upgraded one stage higher. Four additional rose-gold colored pieces can be attached to the outside of the existing pieces.
| # | Participant | Pendant 1 | Pendant 2 | Pendant 3 | Pendant 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arai Ayaka | Acquired | Acquired | — | — |
| 2 | Ahn Yuna | Acquired | — | — | — |
| 3 | Ikematsu Riria | Acquired | — | — | — |
| 4 | Inoue Akari | Acquired | Acquired | — | — |
| 5 | Oe Riku | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | — |
| 6 | Ogou Mayuka | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | — |
| 7 | Katsumura Maya | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired |
| 8 | Suzuno Miihi | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired |
| 9 | Hanabashi Rio | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired |
| 10 | Hirai Momoka | — | — | — | — |
| 11 | Hillman Nina | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired |
| 12 | Yamaguchi Mako | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired |
| 13 | Yokoi Rima | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired |
External Links
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