RIIZE 1st, Hearts2Hearts Last: Average Ages of 5th-Gen Idol Groups Stir Heated Debate Online
As K-pop enters its 5th generation, a recent comparison of average member ages across recently debuted groups has sparked online debate about what age is “ideal” for debut, and whether younger always means fresher.
In particular, a topic titled “5th generation male and female idol group average age” was published on the Korean forum Instiz on April 29. The topic ranks the average age of 5th generation K-pop group as below (please note that this is by Korean age, which is often 1-2 years older than international age):
- RIIZE – 23.16
- ZEROBASEONE (ZB1) – 22.40
- KISS OF LIFE – 22.20
- BOYNEXTDOOR – 21.16
- NCT WISH – 20.30
- TWS – 19.66
- ILLIT – 19.60
- KickFlip – 19.20
- IZNA – 19.00
- MEOVV – 19.00
- BABYMONSTER – 18.70
- KiiiKiii – 18.40
- Hearts2Hearts – 17.30
According to this, RIIZE leads the list with all members being adults upon debut, while despite also being from SM Entertainment, Hearts2Hearts debuted with several minors. In fact, most 5th generation groups made their debuts while there are still underage members, posing questions about the mental and physical strain on young idols. Ultimately, it was pointed out that RIIZE has appropriate debut ages and yet was still able to embrace refreshing concepts, many netizens questioned if it is truly necessary to debut underage idols.
Below are some comments from netizens:
- If the average age is 17, then they are literal babies… Why the early debut?
- The gap between RIIZE and Hearts2Hearts is extreme
- These groups are truly all babies
- It’s sad that there’s no people born in the 1990s debuting anymore since companies prefer younger faces
Ultimately, it depends on the companies to choose whether or not to debut minors, with many supporting such a decision, citing that young idols have a longer promoting time and career compared to those who debuted later in life. However, many argued that debuting adult members will make the group more versatile in terms of concept and will be better for the idols, both mentally and physically, in the long run.
