No One Expected ALPHA DRIVE ONE to Steal KCON Japan 2026

When ALPHA DRIVE ONE walked onto the M COUNTDOWN stage at KCON JAPAN 2026 and opened with a cover of Wanna One's iconic ballad "Beautiful," the crowd of 120,000 fans gathered at Japan's Makuhari Messe was not ready for it. The group, known for its high-energy performances and powerful stage presence, chose a completely different direction — and it worked. Clips of the performance have been spreading rapidly online, with fans calling it one of the standout moments of the entire three-day festival.

Now, fans who missed the event or want to relive it have something to look forward to. Mnet has released sneak peek previews confirming that the full M COUNTDOWN broadcast from KCON JAPAN 2026 will air in three separate episodes on May 29, 30, and 31, each featuring the performance mashups from each day of the festival.

KCON Japan 2026: A Festival That Broke Records

KCON JAPAN 2026 took place from May 8 to 10 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, drawing approximately 120,000 fans across three days. Organized by CJ ENM, the festival featured 33 artists across 36 performances, making it one of the most packed lineups in the event's 14-year history.

The annual event, which first launched in the United States in 2012, has grown into one of the most important global platforms for K-pop and Korean culture. This year's edition expanded beyond music to embrace a wider "K-lifestyle" concept, featuring more than 300 experience booths organized around the theme "Walk in SOUL CITY" — a concept designed to let visitors feel as if they were strolling through Seoul.

Samsung Galaxy returned for the third consecutive year as title sponsor, alongside major Korean brands including Olive Young, Bibigo, and Tving. The K-COLLECTION program, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, brought 50 smaller Korean companies onto the global stage to promote their products in beauty, food, fashion, and lifestyle categories.

ZEROBASEONE's Sung Han Bin served as the event's inaugural KCON Global Ambassador, opening the M COUNTDOWN Stage each day. It was a historically significant role — no artist had held the title before, and Sung Han Bin's charismatic stage presence set the tone for what became a landmark edition of KCON.

ALPHA DRIVE ONE's "Beautiful" Moment That Fans Cannot Stop Talking About

Among the many performances across three days, it was ALPHA DRIVE ONE's cover of Wanna One's "Beautiful" that generated the most buzz after the event. The group, which debuted in January 2026 and made history by achieving million-seller status with their debut mini-album on its first day of release, chose the May 9 M COUNTDOWN Stage to show an entirely different side of themselves.

Rather than leaning into the intense, powerful aesthetic they had built their reputation on, ALPHA DRIVE ONE delivered a lyrical and tender interpretation of "Beautiful" — originally released by Wanna One in 2017 and still regarded as one of the defining songs of the third generation of K-pop. The contrast between what fans expected and what they witnessed was stark, and the reaction was immediate.

Fans flooded social media with praise. Comments ranged from "I didn't know they could do this" to "This is their best stage yet" and "I see infinite potential in them." The performance prompted the group to release a choreography practice video shortly afterward, filmed in casual denim-and-white-shirt styling that softened their image further and drew even more attention.

Japanese media and major entertainment publications also took notice. Multiple outlets ran features on ALPHA DRIVE ONE following KCON, highlighting both the "Beautiful" cover and the group's collaboration stage with global group JO1. The combination of their debut-album milestone and their KCON performances has quickly positioned them as one of the most-watched acts of 2026.

The group's upcoming activities add to the momentum. They are scheduled to release a prologue single titled "No School Tomorrow" on May 26, ahead of their first fan concert tour — "2026 ALPHA DRIVE ONE FAN-CON TOUR [STAR ROAD]" — and a second mini-album slated for August.

izna, hrtz.wav, and the Rising Stars Who Brought New Energy

ALPHA DRIVE ONE was far from the only act to leave an impression. izna, the eight-member girl group making their third consecutive appearance at KCON Japan, delivered a performance package specifically designed for the festival. Members Choe Jeong-eun and Coco staged a special collaboration performance, while their M COUNTDOWN stage featured a cover of BOYNEXTDOOR's "오늘만 I LOVE YOU" — a choice that delighted fans of both groups.

izna's continued presence at KCON Japan speaks to the group's growing global footprint. Their YouTube catalog recently surpassed 500 million views, a milestone that CJ ENM cited as part of the reasoning for their third consecutive invitation to the festival.

hrtz.wav (also romanized as Hartz Wave) brought a different kind of energy as first-time international performers. The group had debuted only one month prior to KCON JAPAN 2026, making the Makuhari Messe performance their first-ever overseas live stage. Despite their limited experience on international stages, they held their own across both the M COUNTDOWN Stage and the X Stage, earning enthusiastic responses from a Japanese audience encountering them for the first time.

The broader lineup also included collaborative stages between artists, audience-participation choreography segments, and multi-generation cover performances that covered K-pop hits spanning more than a decade of the genre's history. Actors Park Seo-ham from tvN's "The Universe Gives" and Lee Chae-min from "Tyrant's Chef" also appeared on-site, bringing an additional wave of fan excitement from the K-drama community.

When and Where to Watch the M COUNTDOWN Broadcast

Mnet will air the M COUNTDOWN KCON JAPAN 2026 specials across three consecutive evenings, each starting at 6 PM KST. The schedule is as follows:

Day 1 Broadcast: May 29 (Friday), 6 PM KST — Performance mashup from KCON JAPAN Day 1
Day 2 Broadcast: May 30 (Saturday), 6 PM KST — Performance mashup from KCON JAPAN Day 2
Day 3 Broadcast: May 31 (Sunday), 6 PM KST — Performance mashup from KCON JAPAN Day 3

All three episodes will also be available to international fans through Mnet's global streaming platforms. The sneak peek clips released ahead of each broadcast — including the ALPHA DRIVE ONE "Beautiful" performance preview — have already accumulated significant views on the Mnet K-POP YouTube channel, suggesting strong audience interest in the full broadcasts.

For fans who attended KCON JAPAN 2026 in person, the broadcasts will offer a chance to relive moments that were spread across multiple stages simultaneously. For those who could not make the trip to Makuhari Messe, it will be the first chance to see the festival's biggest moments — including the Wanna One tribute that nobody expected, and the moments that made 120,000 people remember why they love K-pop.

CJ ENM has already confirmed that KCON will continue its global expansion with a Los Angeles edition planned for August 2026.