The One compliments his former student, Taeyeon

[stopthedisco.livejournal.com]

[Seoul Newspaper NTN Choi Jungjoo Reporter]'Singing Mentor' The One (Jung Soon Won)

Although there are countless singers including TVXQ and Fly to the Sky who became singers after taking his vocal lessons, 'Girls' Generation's Taeyeon,' from their first meeting, has been acknowledged as a 'different student.'

"I taught her before her debut, from 8th grade to 10th grade so I taught her for three years. Taeyeon as a kid? Besides the fact that her singing was outstanding, more importantly her thought was just different from others.

The One explained the difference as follows. While other fellow students came to him with a vague dream of 'becoming a celebrity,' Taeyeon had a clear goal of 'becoming a singer and sing to be on top.'

"Her thought was different in the first place. She was clever and definite. She set up her own standards in learning to sing and showed a clear conviction and desire."

The One gave his young student showing 'future potential' the opportunity to participate in an album for the first time in her life. That is the duet song from The One's 2nd Album, 'You bring me joy,' which was released in September,2004, even before Taeyeon debuted as a member of Girls' Generation.

"It was possible because I was sure that this kid will make it. Well, that she will some day.. I could have sung the duet with a famous and renowned female vocalist, but I wanted to recognize her potential."

The One and Taeyeon sang a duet song 7 years after their first one, showing off their special ties.

In The One's 4th regular album part 1. 'Walking on Heaven' that has been recently released, Taeyeon and The One, by singing a harmonious duet in '별처럼(like a star),' showed a 'beautiful potential,' charing #1 on every single chart(also called 올킬-all kill in Korean)

"What is more valuable than a #1 on charts is that she gave me joy as a teacher once again. As she did before, Taeyeon's attitude and passion towards singing has not changed at all. The willpower of a little kid, even with a hordeolum(kind of an eye infection) because she was so tired, saying '선생님(means teacher), I can do better! I'll do it again better.' It's incredible."

She was probably appointed as a leader of the top girl group Girls' Generation for her enthusiasm, however, The One himself said he 'didn't know that Taeyeon was that Taeyeon(?).' when he saw her on TV, laughing.

"One day I turned on the TV saying 'So what's this Girls' Generation..' and I saw someone like Taeyeon. haha. I was surprised and when I called, she had officially debuted as a lead singer in Girls' Generation. I was so proud of her. I knew she would make it."

Taeyeon did not forget her thanks to her mentor as well. Along with her parents who came all the way from her hometown Jeonju, they had dinner together, and The One gave a couple advice to his student, and told her about future directions.

When asked if his student who became 'the most popular star' had changed, The One shook his head, smiling.

"If something's different, then it would be that her subjectivity has become more clear. While she did before, she became clearer in saying whether she liked something or not. She's a singer who has a passion in singing, not an idol who's easily carried away.'

Would it be a mentor's greed. Taeyeon, from The One's perspective, left a few regrets.

"She's doing idol because she's young. I believe that she can show much beyond that. For genre, rather than dance, ballad that can show her singing skills suits her better. Of course looking at her expanding her own area by releasing her solo songs and working as a DJ, I believe that the stronghold(아성 - i don't know what this is T.T) for the name Taeyeon can grow higher.

The One described this moment in which he can stand on the same stage as his students as 'a gift from heaven and a bliss.'

"Teaching how to sing is like running a marathon. I learned 'how to sing' because I ran a little earlier, and I'm just teaching them. It's not a knowledge but I'm just teaching them the methodology. Not fish but ways to catch the fish."

It's a race that has yet to show its end. The One, as a singer, and a mentor.. is running on the given track with his own pace.

"I will continue to run by myself. While continuing to run and walk, I probably will meet my students running beside me and they might pass me by as well. Then I would tell them. When I went up that hill they had something like this..Isn't it great. Running a marathon together."

Translated by: kwongildong @ soshified.com
Credit: NTN News

For the tl;dr crowd, The One says that Taeyeon's passion and drive set her apart from all his other students. He saw her potential early on and even featured her in a song of his three years before she even debuted. He also says he's surprised she's an idol now, and goes on to say that she's above all of that and should show her true skills by doing ballads.

Comments

[fallenfigure.livejournal.com]

She's doing idol because she's young. I believe that she can show much beyond that. For genre, rather than dance, ballad that can show her singing skills suits her better

waiting for her solo album tbh

[hopeandmemory.livejournal.com]

seriously omg. her voice is fucking amazing.

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Well she does do a lot of ballads. Haven't we had three in a row now? They've been good, but I'm glad she gets do do other stuff on her day job, to be honest.

[hyomona.livejournal.com]

Honestly, she gets the best of both worlds. Pretty fortunate to be an idol and a respected singer in her own right. Many girls in the industry would love to have that.

[fallenfigure.livejournal.com]

and The One is awesome and i hope they get a chance to sing this duet live

[honeyfunnybunny.livejournal.com]

I love her voice sfm, seriously... i wish i could sing like her. and ballad definitely suits her more than dance songs.

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

she has an amazing voice imo and I do hope for a solo album in the future.

[vizallati.livejournal.com]

The whole album doesn't have to be all ballads. I'd want a solo album from her because I want to listen to her sing.

[hopeandmemory.livejournal.com]

yeah i don't like ballads very much but if they're composed and sung right they can be really nice. i'm sure she wouldn't do an entire album of them, i think she'd get bored, too. xD

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

I love ballads and I would be thrilled if Taeyeon had a solo album full of them. Her voice is gorgeous. ♥

[baboboy.livejournal.com]

again? oh ok

[sol-superstar.livejournal.com]

You don't just have to do ballads to show off your voice... I find most ballads kinda samey and dull :/

[funkaliciousss.livejournal.com]

same. i don't really like ballads they usually end up being background music. lol.

[cagallisakura.livejournal.com]

I feel like with all of Taeyeon's solos and duets recently, SM is hinting at a solo album. I will go insane when this happens. It doesn't have to be full of ballads, just songs that show off her vocal ability. FREAKING TAENY AND TAENGSIC DUETS PLEASE.

[drownamydrown.livejournal.com]

Wow. The tone in this post is completely different from the tone in the Luna post,and really, Taeyeon has nothing on Luna's voice.

The praise she gets for her voice is really disproportionate to the actual talent that she has.


SM is really a master at promotion and marketing. They know if they say something often enough, pretty soon a good amount of people will start to believe it.

[stopthedisco.livejournal.com]

lol but this is a teacher praising his student, whereas that luna post was her auditioning for a panel of judges and her getting a little constructive criticism. they probably said some good stuff too, but that article focused on one negative comment.

[jactay14.livejournal.com]

I love her first duet with The One! She was so young but so good already. :D

[faister.livejournal.com]

i prefer upbeat songs more than ballads, but like a star was an exception.

[violetrosie.livejournal.com]

I was hoping to be in before people started making comparisons and debating whether or not Taeyeon deserves the praise, but I'm a little late :3

IMO Taeyeon's voice--control, tone, technique, etc.--is really extraordinary and a level above a lot of the other singers in kpop right now. She's not perfect, but damn the girl has pipes.

[jonghyunf.livejournal.com]

wow rofl somebody is extremely butthurt

always got a couple of these handy

[kakkoi-x.livejournal.com]

[silvaesedai.livejournal.com]

I was going to comment to the effect that her voice is wasted on 95% of SNSD's songs (I love ballads my opinion is invalid, I know), but really? I'm more butthurt about the fact that SNSD choreos are usually so taxing they only end up singing a third of their songs live. And that third is usually unpleasantly breathy for their stronger singers and just pitchy for the others. I know 반짝반짝 choreography looks good, but maybe we could at least pretend to balance our priorities? ^^;

[miki-chan08.livejournal.com]

Taeyeon was spectacular from a young age. Her vocals are amazing, and I think she deserves every one bit of praise she gets. :)

[yumi-maki.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that her voice was best suited for ballads. I'm sure she'll do something like that in time but for now the idol thing works and gets her out there and SNSD needs her so it's not a bad path to becoming a singer, imo.

It's nice to hear such good things about her from someone who knows her so well though.

[yumi-maki.livejournal.com]

Also serious question: why does everyone seem to be so intent on her releasing a solo album so soon? SNSD are at the top of their game right now and Taeyeon is incredibly young and with the foundation and exposure that she'll get from being in SNSD, she can go on to have a major solo career as a ballad singer in a few years time, I'm sure - but every time, I come into posts about her, all everyone talks about is wanting her to release a solo album. I just don't understand why you think SM would allow her to release one any time soon. She clearly won't have the time to properly promote it right now and she probably needs some time to rest her voice beforehand. In addition, there are a lot of great singers in SM besides Taeyeon who could also probably make it as a serious solo artist/ballad singer so why do you think that SM would focus on putting her out there as a soloist at this particular point in time?

[ababobaby.livejournal.com]

Getting to hear her sing their songs, ballads and others, I understand how her voice is given much recognition. I mean, she really sounds amazing and I see the development of her voice hearing her sing in radio shows from before.

[cruel-disorder.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I've doubted all the praise showered on Taeyeon myself at one point or another in the past. But in the end, I decided it was deserved because of two things:

1. Yes, she doesn't have as wide a range as other singers her age. However, with the range she's got, she knows how to utilize it well. She's got the technique down and when she sings songs that is fit for her range, she's spectacular (i.e. that duet with Park Hyoshin was a baaaad idea, Taeng, lol)

2. She's got an appealing tone. It's strikes a good balance between low and high, it's neither husky nor nasally. I find that I don't tire of her voice very easily.

She certainly doesn't lack in emotional depth in her singing either. So yeah, she's not the most amazing singer evar, but she can definitely hold her own imo.

[funkaliciousss.livejournal.com]

i agree with you but her range is definitely big enough. not as big as say jessica but she has one of the biggest range in kpop right now. no one can sing her line in kissing you like she does!