The first foreign champion in Mnet's survival show history

Music

Sunday, April 23, 2023 06:33 (GMT+7)
06:33 April 23, 2023

With the highest number of votes, Zhang Hao officially became the first foreigner to win the top position in the history of the famous Korean survival show.

After more than 11 weeks of competition, the Boys Planet 999 Finale has officially ended with the birth of a boy band named ZeroBaseOne – ZB1. The group will be active for two years and six months under WAKEONE Entertainment. The 9-member lineup was selected based on the total votes of global fans, including Zhang Hao, Sung Han Bin, Seok Matthew, Ricky, Park Gun Wook, Kim Tae Rae, Kim Gyu Vin, Kim Ji Woong and Han Yu Jin.

According to Korean media, this year's program has an upgrade in quality when the overall level of contestants is rated much higher than in previous seasons. Notably, this is also the first time Mnet's survival program has a foreign contestant who won first place, thereby taking on the role of center in the new music group. Previously, this position was taken on by Korean trainees, such as Jeon Somi (IOI), Kang Daniel (WANNA ONE), Jang Won Young (IZ*ONE), Kim Yo Han (X1) and Kim Chae Hyun (Kep1er).

With 1,998,554 votes, Zhang Hao unexpectedly surpassed Sung Han Bin - the Korean trainee who ranked first in the previous 3 rounds of evaluation, to win the championship in the final round. Even before the broadcast, the 10X male star was known to many people as the center of the foreign contestant group in the theme song Here I Am thanks to his comprehensive skills.

According to Naver , the 22-year-old Yuehua Entertainment trainee trained for a year and three months before joining Boys Planet 999. The star, born in 2000, studied at Fujian Normal University, majoring in Music Science Education, and has a teaching certificate. Therefore, the male idol's vocal ability has always been highly appreciated. In addition, Zhang Hao was also accepted into the China University of Geosciences, but he decided to pursue his passion for music.

Zhang Hao was trained in dance throughout his university years. Therefore, the Chinese male idol's dancing skills were always ranked among the top among the Boys Planet 999 contestants by the advisory board. According to Wikitree , the center of ZB1 has appeared in several performance videos with dancers from 1Million - the most prestigious dance training center in Korea that has collaborated with many famous artists from Kpop to Europe and America. Thanks to that, the 10X handsome man has attracted a significant number of fans even before participating in Mnet's survival show.

In addition to his singing and dancing skills, Zhang Hao also impresses with his ability to play a variety of musical instruments such as piano, cello, flute, erhu, etc., especially the violin. In the audition video, he demonstrated his skillful violin playing technique through a cover of BlackPink's Shut Down . In addition, the male idol born in 2000 is also fluent in two languages, Korean and English. In particular, Zhang Hao's Korean speaking ability has been praised many times by the Boys Planet 999 advisory board for his fluency and pronunciation that is not inferior to native speakers.

Thanks to his all-round skills, Zhang Hao has always maintained his ranking in the top 9 since the first round of evaluation. In particular, reaching the top position in the final night is considered a great and unprecedented achievement in the history of Mnet's survival reality show. Accordingly, the Yuehua trainee became the first non-Korean idol to do this.

The Chinese star shared that he started having a strong passion for Kpop since high school. The male idol himself is a passionate fan of JYP Entertainment artists, especially GOT7 - the ideal model that he wants to pursue in the future. With the efforts and impressive results that the Chinese male star achieved in the program, most of the audience expressed their support and expectations for the upcoming activities of the male idol as the center of ZB1.

By winning first place in the final night, in addition to the privilege of becoming the center in charge of important and outstanding segments in the group performances, Zhang Hao also released a solo song as a B-Side in ZB1's debut album. This is an opportunity for him to reveal his own musical color as well as his own unique charm.

On the other hand, ZB1 will debut as a pioneering group for the 5th generation of Kpop. The group will perform at the KCON Japan 2023 event on May 13-14. This will also be the first public debut of the 9 members as a complete group.

First foreign center Zhang Hao ZB1 Boys Planet 999 survival show Mnet