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omonatheydid
The pop group Sistar
SEOUL--Korean pop idol music groups are making the leap to Japan, adding a new dimension to an already crowded and extremely lucrative field.
As much eye-candy as skilled singers and dancers, groups like Shojo Jidai (Girls' Generation) and KARA have attracted a significant fan base. This year expect to see even more imports scrambling to make it in Japan, Asia's largest entertainment market.
However, success is by no means guaranteed. The idol field in South Korea is fiercely competitive. For every beauty--boy or girl--bouncing about the stage to the sighs of swooning masses, hundreds have crashed and burned.
Starship Entertainment, a talent agency that manages South Korea's hottest four-girl idol group Sistar, is located in an upmarket residential neighborhood in southern Seoul.
Apart from an office, it also has two dance and voice training rooms. In one of the dance rooms, five young men in their teens and 20s dance to upbeat music.
One greets me in Japanese. "How do you do, my name is Kim Dong-hyun. I'm 21 years old." All five are trainees aiming to make their debut this year.
The agency has 15 trainees, of which Kim is the oldest, and a first-year junior high student is the youngest. Most live together in a dormitory, actually an apartment arranged by the agency.
After they finish school for the day, they immediately move on to lessons in singing and dancing, as well as English and Japanese, which last until around midnight. If they're not satisfied with their own progress, they practice through to the morning. On weekends they spend all day rehearsing. One day off per month is standard.
Established in 2008, Starship Entertainment receives e-mails every day from young hopefuls, both male and female, who have discovered the company's website. Auditions are held on Saturdays, always with more than 10 candidates. More than 3,000 have auditioned to date. If the agency sees potential in an applicant's looks, singing and dancing ability, the individual is allowed to join on a provisional basis. After a one-month trial period, that person may sign an exclusive contract to become a trainee.
Sistar, who made their debut in June 2010, is the agency's top act. The group has already released three singles, and even performed in Japan last autumn. Before their debut, it wasn't uncommon for the four members to rehearse until morning.
Their diets are strictly managed, and the only meat they are allowed to eat is chicken breast fillets. Their body fat is measured every three days, and each member shed 5 kilograms every three months until they reached what their managers considered their ideal weight.
Their hairstyles and clothing are also controlled by the agency, which pursues a comprehensive image strategy.
Even now that the group has achieved success, cola and fried foods are strictly forbidden. Nevertheless, the girls say they are happy. They are also studying Japanese in preparation for their Japan debut within the year.
Becoming a pop music idol is far from easy. Only Sistar and one male singer have signed professional deals with the agency. Many trainees end up leaving the agency.
"The success rate in the entertainment industry is probably less than 1 percent," says an agency staff member. Despite this, there is still an endless stream of hopefuls who want to try their luck.
Kim has been a trainee for around six years, including a stint at another agency. "I can't see myself doing anything else. I want to become a singer with a huge influence on teenagers."
In South Korea, talent is cultivated through something called the "incubating system," a process by which stars are hatched like chicks from eggs.
The system was developed partly through the study of Japanese show business techniques by SM Entertainment, an agency which nurtured superstar singer Boa and the five-piece male idol group TVXQ (known in Japan as Toho Shinki).
SM Entertainment's success has led most other talent agencies in South Korea to adopt the same system. "Talent can learn many different things at once, and grow as people. I think it's an effective method," says Starship Entertainment Director Seo Hyun-ju, 38, who herself picked it up from SM Entertainment.
This system is also supported by one characteristic of South Korean society. In the South Korean sports and entertainment world, investment tends to concentrate on certain talented individuals. As a consequence, South Korean entertainers have been branching out into Japan, and athletes have achieved impressive results at the Winter Olympics and other major sporting events.
On the other hand, this has also led to discord. In many cases, talent agencies sign trainees to exclusive long-term contracts to recoup the considerable financial investment they make in them. Some of TVXQ's members objected to being bound by such contracts, and fought their agency in court.
Other unsavory aspects of the idol business have been brought to light. In a study by the South Korean Gender Equality and Family Ministry of around 100 talent agency trainees, approximately 48 percent responded that for more than half of each week, they missed some school lessons. In November 2010, the ministry began to consider measures such as law revisions to "protect young entertainers' human and education rights."
But because the rewards for the few that make it are enormous, don't expect to see a decrease in young hopefuls willing to sign up for a life of virtual servitude any time soon.
Source: Yoshihiro Makino @ asahi.com
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:44 am (UTC)oh?
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:59 am (UTC)NEW GROUP! :D excited!
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Date: 2011-01-12 02:00 am (UTC)by the fact that idols in Korea are trained for some years before debut
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From:THANKS BB...♥same goes to you♥
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Date: 2011-01-12 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 02:41 am (UTC)Jaejoong said that they (DBSK at that time)once only had 3 days off
of the whole year...don't know how they handle all that
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:01 am (UTC)it's funny whenever they say "KARA kara" or something like that....
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:47 am (UTC)I could never be an idol :/ *continues cutting her own hair* And all the rest of what they have to do is just madness. Horrible madness. Then again, I'm one awfully lazy person.
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