# Build Up: Vocal Boy Group Survival

Build Up: Vocal Boy Group Survival (Korean: 빌드업: 보컬 보이그룹 서바이벌) is a 2024 South Korean reality competition show created by Mnet. It aired on Mnet and tvN, and was broadcast live on Mnet K-pop YouTube channel from January 26, to March 29, 2024, every Friday at 22:10 (KST). It is also available for streaming on TVING in South Korea, and on Abema in Japan.
During the live broadcast of the finale episode, it was revealed that the winning team would debut as the project vocal group B.D.U (abbreviation for Boys Define Universe) and promote for two years. The eventual winner, Team HunMinJayBit, also received a ₩100 million cash prize.

## Concept

The 40 contestants are divided into four type of voice colors: Allround, Soul, Power, and Unique. Through a series of competitions, the goal is to create a quartet with a profound and unique voices. The contestants are anticipated to demonstrate their vocal prowess and offer a range of vocal performances with distinctive singing styles that set them apart from prior vocal groups.
The project vocal boy group will be active for two years.

## Promotion and broadcast

In December 2023, Mnet posted on their social media accounts the logo for their new program called Build Up : Vocal Boy Group Survival (빌드업 : 보컬 보이그룹 서바이벌; Bildeu-eop : bokeol bo-igeurup seoba-ibeol; or simply Build Up) and is scheduled to air in the first half of 2024.
It was announced that CJ ENM, Orca Music and Genie Music co-produced the show.
It was also planned that show would stream through major global and Japanese OTT platforms.
The premiere date of Build Up which is on January 26, 2024, was confirmed along with the official poster. It was broadcast both on Mnet and tvN. It was also livestream worldwide on Mnet official YouTube channel.
In March 2024, Mnet confirmed that the show would be available for streaming on Abema in Japan starting March 18.

### Broadcast schedule

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Time slot |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Time slot |
| 1 | 10 | 2 | January 26, 2024 (2024-01-26) | February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02) | Friday at 22:10 (KST) |
| 1 | 10 | 3 | February 9, 2024 (2024-02-09) | February 23, 2024 (2024-02-23) | Friday at 22:40 (KST) |
| 1 | 10 | 5 | March 1, 2024 (2024-03-01) | March 29, 2024 (2024-03-29) | Friday at 22:10 (KST) |

## Cast
### Host

Lee Da-hee served as the show's host, who also hosted similar Mnet shows such as Queendom and Road to Kingdom.

### Judges

Lee Seok-hoon, Baekho, Seo Eun-kwang, Solar, Wendy, and Kim Jae-hwan served as the panel judges, while Seungkwan and Lim Seul-ong served as the special judges of the show.

### Producers

Pdogg, 1601, and PrismFilter were the producers of the semifinals new song of the show.

## Contestants

There are a total of 40 contestants participating in the competition, comprising current and former idol members, soloists, singer-songwriters, musical actors and individual trainees.
The English and Korean names of the contestants are presented in accordance with the official website.

### Color key (In order of contestant's rank on the show)

40 Contestants :
| Allround ||||
| Seunghun (승훈) | Bit Sae-on (빛새온) | Choi Su-hwan (최수환) | Geonu (이건우) |
| Hwang In-hyuk (황인혁) | Yeo One (여원) | Ji Yeon-woo (지연우) | Jang In-tae (장인태) |
| Jeong Yun-seo (정윤서) | Jeong In-seong (정인성) | Taehwan (태환) | Hong Seong-jun (홍성준) |
| Soul ||||
| Jay Chang (제이창) | Bain (배인) | Lee Dong-hun (이동훈) | Jung Soo-min (정수민) |
| Lee Min-wook (이민욱) | Lim Sang-hyun (임상현) | Park Ju-he (박주희) | Ma Jae-kyung (마재경) |
| Kim Seong-jeong (김성정) | Kang Seok-hwa (강석화) | | |
| Power ||||
| Kim Min-seo (김민서) | Park Je-up (박제업) | Choi Ha-ram (최하람) | Lim Jun-hyuk (임준혁) |
| Yun In-hwan (윤인환) | Hyukjin (혁진) | Jo Hwan-ji (조환지) | |
| Unique ||||
| Sunyoul (선율) | Kang Ha-yoon (강하윤) | Jeon Woong (전웅) | Wumuti (우무티) |
| Kim Seo-hyung (김서형) | Lee Gwang-seok (이광석) | Taewoo (태우) | Neon (네온) |
| Hong Sung-won (홍성원) | Kwon Eui-bin (권의빈) | Lee Hwan-hee (이환희) | |

## Ratings

Average TV viewership ratings (Nationwide) :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea) | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea) |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Mnet | tvN |
| 1 | January 26, 2024 | N/A | 0.539% (54th) |
| 2 | February 2, 2024 | N/A | 0.615% (49th) |
| 3 | February 9, 2024 | N/A | 0.357% (121st) |
| 4 | February 16, 2024 | 0.3% | 0.255% (145th) |
| 5 | February 23, 2024 | 0.2% | 0.25% (145th) |
| 6 | March 1, 2024 | 0.4% | 0.412% (97th) |
| 7 | March 8, 2024 | 0.4% | 0.386% (81st) |
| 8 | March 15, 2024 | 0.4% | 0.384% (80th) |
| 9 | March 22, 2024 | 0.4% | 0.368% (78th) |
| 10 | March 29, 2024 | N/A | 0.243% (171st) |
| Average | Average | — | 0.381% |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes ratings that were not published. This program 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). ||||

## Post-Competition

Genie Music announced that they plan to hold a tour titled "2024 Build Up Concert", with the 12 artists from the three top teams at the BEXCO in Busan on June 8, and at SK Handball Stadium in Seoul on June 15–16. They also plan to hold to tour in overseas regions such as Japan.