“Watching Discarded CDs…” Lee Seung-chul Reveals the 20-Year-Old Memory That Inspired ‘The Scout’ [Exclusive]

Singer Lee Seung-chul has revealed the reason behind planning and producing ‘The Scout: Stars Born Again’.

ENA’s new variety show ‘The Scout: Stars Born Again’ (hereafter ‘The Scout’) has finally been unveiled. Premiering on the 8th, ‘The Scout’ is a growth-oriented music project where top industry experts discover “rough diamonds” who haven’t yet had the chance to fully showcase their talent, offering them new direction and possibilities.

The show highlights the journey of participants who have either challenged their dreams before or have been honing their skills in private. Because it blends various genres and experiences, ‘The Scout’ promises a depth of harmony that differs from traditional auditions. A key point is the growth process, where experts find untapped talent and use a professional, systematic multi-care system to mold them into global stars.

Moving beyond simple skill competitions, the show introduces a “nurturing format” where mentors directly discover and grow a participant’s potential. With mentors established in their respective fields working closely with participants, the focus is on the magnitude of change and potential rather than initial skill, presenting a new paradigm for audition programs.

What’s raising expectations even more is that Lee Seung-chul, a legendary audition judge celebrating his 40th debut anniversary this year, personally jumped into the planning and production. Having spent two whole years on this ambitious project, he is filled with anticipation and excitement.

‘The Scout’ began with a memory Lee Seung-chul had at a broadcasting station about 20 years ago. “At the time, every day at 4 PM, the cleaning ladies would throw brand new, unopened CDs into the trash. As a producer myself, it was heartbreaking to see. Think about how much money and effort went into each of those albums.”

Lee Seung-chul immediately took action. While serving as a regular panelist on a radio program, he had writers bring in random CDs, invited those artists for live battles, and decided the winners via ARS voting. “The message boards went crazy the next day after the ARS voting. Fandoms were formed, and a week later, managers were lining up. The desire to give opportunities to those who had never stood on a stage became the framework for ‘The Scout’.”

Evolving a 20-year-old format for 2026 wasn’t easy. In particular, it took time to establish the “3-No” rule (no elimination, no sad stories, and no age limit) and convince investors. “It took two years just to persuade agencies that didn’t understand the format. Some agencies even tried to deal with me, asking how many rounds they could be guaranteed. Initially, I planned this as YouTube content because I wanted to show the public, who might not know the inner workings of the entertainment industry, the process of how a singer is made. My goal was to have top experts raise the quality to a debut level and then let the public evaluate the result. That is the true purpose of ‘The Scout’.”

As the scale grew, so did the production costs, with over 50 casting writers involved, showing Lee Seung-chul’s passion and sincerity. He refused to compromise throughout the process. “The most unacceptable compromise was compromising with myself. I couldn’t tolerate slightly changing the framework or structure to suit the broadcasting station’s taste, or sacrificing quality to cut production costs. I pushed through with the original plan until the end. We recently finished recording the competitions, and while I was very worried about how it would be implemented on stage, the moment the first recording started, I felt, ‘This is it’.”

This story continues in Interview Part 2.