Starlight Boys contestants perform live in Thailand - who caught our eye?

Twelve contestants from South Korean-Chinese idol survival show Starlight Boys got one step closer to stardom when they performed before the media and members of the public at the iQiyi iJoy Thailand 2025 event last Friday (Nov 1).

AsiaOne was invited by iQiyi to Bangkok where trainees Shao Ziheng, Michael Wu, Wang Kun, Yoo Gwan Woo, Duan Xingxing, Pentor, Phoom, Kris, Han Jeong-woo, Sheng Qi, Hong Sung-min and Min Jae performed their signal song Good Luck live for the first time.

The youths are among 69 trainees from different backgrounds and nationalities, including China, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia and the US. Singaporean actor Yang Yan, 23, is also one of them.

They are mentored by K-pop singers Lee Seung-gi, BigBang's Daesung, Pentagon's Hui, The Boyz's Eric, Stayc's Yoon, Hanhae and Kwon Eun-bi.

In each episode of the ongoing competition, the boys compete for one of the nine seats in the All-Star Zone and selected contestants will ultimately debut as a pop idol group.

At the event in Bangkok last Friday, the trainees started their performance with strong moves. While they were a little uncoordinated at certain parts, their charms and confidence made up for it, with a few catching our attention more.

Who caught our eye?

In the centre position was Ziheng, a Chinese trainee under Warner Music China, who exuded confidence from his powerful dance moves and good looks. In the first episode of Starlight Boys aired on Oct 26, the 19-year-old's solo entrance had one of the mentors, dance choreographer Choi Young-joon, praising him for his good looks, adding that he has the "face of an idol" and a "centre [position] face".

Then, he sang and danced to Super Junior's Black Suit, which had Hui and Yoon squealing in excitement as well as Seung-gi and Daesung praising him for his ending pose. Daesung even added that he had "found a treasure" in Ziheng.

Positioned behind Ziheng to his right in the performance is Gwan Woo, also known as Neil Liu Guan-you, who had previously participated in Chinese idol survival show Youth With You 3 (2021) and debuted in boy band Ixform, which disbanded in 2022.

The 22-year-old Taiwanese was steady in his performance and spoke confidently in an interview after that, where he said he hoped audiences could witness the trainees' growth.

"All of us came from different countries and spoke in different languages, but one thing we have in common is that we are strongly and persistently pursuing what we are passionate about. We are all chasing our dreams and hope that everyone can witness our growth and will continue to work hard," Gwan Woo said.

Joining him on stage is his former bandmate Xingxing, who stood in the third row on his left. The 26-year-old Chinese singer-actor said in an interview after the performance that they had a good experience so far and they aimed for their show to be the best idol survival show this year.

In the first episode of Starlight Boys, Gwan Woo, Xingxing and their former Ixform member Sun Yinghao impressed the mentors with their performance of Ateez's Answer, where they were praised for their professionalism and teamwork. Gwan Woo was also the first trainee to pass the Signal Song Mission challenge in the second episode of the competition.

Pentor also stood out to us for his language skills. The 25-year-old Thai has an established music and acting career in Thailand and is managed under NoonTalk Media in Singapore. During the green carpet and the main event, besides introducing himself in Thai, he also spoke in Korean and Mandarin and helped with translations and pronunciation for the other trainees.

Jeong-woo also displayed powerful dance moves and handsome visuals during the event. The 23-year-old Korean was a former member of trainee group Odd One Out, which was under Universal Music Korea.

In his first performance on episode one of Starlight Boys, he was praised by Daesung for his effort in his dance and expression even when the focus wasn't on him. He was also the first trainee given a seat in the All-Stars Zone.

Starlight Boys will release new episodes every Saturday on the iQiyi website and their YouTube channel.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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