Youth With You 3 is a variety show, an idol survival program from China by iQiyi with the ultimate aim to debut a nine members boy group at the end of the program. The third season of the idol program which previously debuted UNINE in 2018 and THE9 in 2020. The program first started off as Idol Producer which debuted NINE PERCENT.
The third/fourth season gathered 119 trainees and only 9 of them will make it to debut at the end of the entire show on 8 May 2021.
Native title: 青春有你3
Original network: iQiyi
No. of episodes: 24
Mentor line-up, we have Blackpink’s Lisa as the Dance mentor, Li Rong Hao as the Vocal mentor, Wil Pan Wei Bo as the Rap mentor. Chris Lee is the PD (producer) for the third season. And their senior Esther Yu from THE9 as the Youth Tutor.
The Beginning
New surprises every season. The first round of meeting is not with the mentors but the trainees have to face the harsh reality of the media. 20-30 representatives from the media is their first challenge.
Mentors’ performance
The ritual is back to hype up the hall with the performance by each of the mentors and their youth tutor. Apart from Blackpink’s Lisa who recorded the performance, the rest of them performed live in Episode 1.
First appraisal
This season, there are only 3 classes, A, B, and C. With Grade C being ‘just pass’, they have open another grade N which defines as Newbies. The performance by different trainees are showcase from later half of episode 1 to half of episode 3 which will be happening soon.
Here are the trainees that have caught my eyes right from the beginning.
Position Evaluation Stage
Position evaluation is divided into three main categories, Vocal, Dance, and Rap. Class A, B, C trainees are separated from Class N (for Newbie). The 8 trainees from Class A have the priority to choose their ideal song and the rest are sorted based on the draw and selection of the 1st trainee.
The 18 stages are spread across 3 episodes (4, 5, and 6). Here are some of my favorite stages amongst the rest.
‘I Want’ Stage
In the 2nd performance evaluation, 118 trainees are split into different groups based on their age group. The twist in this season is where the production team behind the program gives the trainees the right to create the stage and entire performance.
20 – 22 years old, five stages. All five stages are aired in episode 9 and the rest are in the subsequent episode. 18 – 19 years old, two stages. Above 26 only one stage and from 23 – 25 years old there are 3 stages.
Theme Song – We Rock
Yes! The traditional theme song is finally here, after 2 rounds of competitions, the trainees finally welcome their Theme Song stage.
First Ranking announcement
After 2 stage performances and one theme song challenge, they face their first ranking announcement and only the Top 60 can continue the journey. Check out the list of trainees here.
Best Team A vs B stages
In episodes 11 and 12, we will have the Team A vs Team B stages. This is the first stage that really tests the trainees in a boy group setting where everyone has their own prominent part. E.g. Center, Main Vocal, Main Dancer, etc.
Studio Evaluation Battle
After their 3rd performance battle stage, the 60 trainees regroup into 12 groups for the same 6 songs. Audiences from that day picked their most desirable battle between two trainees and they will get head to head for a battle for the studio version.
The list goes like this and without a single double, Tony Yu Jingtian and Luo Yi Zhou are at the top of the list that even the mentors want to see them battle.
- History: Tony Yu Jingtian vs Luo Yi Zhou
- Okay: Lian Huaiwei vs Sun Yihang
- Tou Tou: Liang Sen vs Liu Jun
- Cinderella: X Duan Xingxing vs Neil Liu Guanyou
- Stop Sugar: Waston vs Kachine
- Stand: Trainees who are not picked by the above members will be sort into 2 teams.
Good news to international fans like us. We are able to vote for our bias through the site directly. You are able to vote for a maximum of 9 trainees per day for the normal account. For iQiyi’s VIP members, you are able to vote 2 times per day.
New episodes will be out every Thursday and Saturday. International fans are able to catch it through iQiyi’s website.