In this article, Channel-Korea will share stories about K-Pop idols’ stories of how they got auditioned before they became trainees. The usual way idols get cast is by queuing up for an audition and they get to show their talent like singing, rapping, or dancing. But some K-pop idols took slightly different paths to become idols. We’ll get to know their interesting stories. So, stay tuned and keep scrolling down.
BIG BANG’s T.O.P
T.O.P was contacted by G-Dragon, his childhood friend who was already a YG Entertainment trainee. At that time, YG Entertainment was scouting for candidates to create a boy group. As informed by his childhood friend, he sent his recorded several demos to Yang Hyun-suk, CEO of the agency. Even though the CEO was interested in his talent, he was still rejected. The reason was that he was too “chubby” to fit the ideal criteria of an idol. Six months later, he came back for the audition again as he had lost a lot of weight. He lost about 20 kg in forty days. YG then accepted him as a trainee. After years of being a trainee, he finally debuted as an idol together with G-Dragon, Taeyang, Seungri, and Daesung as members of BIGBANG in 2006. He got the stage name T.O.P after debut based on his YG senior advice. “I practiced hard because I really wanted to enter this agency,” said T.O.P as quoted by Bigbangupdates.
BLOCK B’s Zico
Zico began his musical career as an underground rapper. Before his debut, he once auditioned for SM Entertainment when he was a teenager and was supposed to be the rapper of SHINee, but they picked Minho instead. He then became a trainee under Stardom Entertainment right after meeting Cho PD whom Zico thought was his uncle. During his trainee years, he used to train and practice with his brother, Taewoon (formerly a part of the boy group SPEED) but Taewoon didn’t want to debut in the same group as his brother. There, he also met Mino (WINNER) and P.O (Block B) who became one of his best friends. Zico then debuted as the leader of Block B on April 15th, 2011. He did work hard. Good job, Zico!
Henry Lau
Henry was chosen by the 2006 SM Entertainment Global Audition in Toronto, Canada. He then was officially under contract as a trainee in the SM Family. After a long training and the hard work he put up, he got the chance to make his appearance. On September 21st, 2007, he appeared on Super Junior’s 2nd album, plating the violin for the song titled “Don’t Don.” Finally, on April 8th, 2008, he debuted as a member of Super Junior M, the third subgroup of Super Junior, together with Han Geng, Si Won, Dong Hae, Ryeo Wook, Kyu Hyun, and Zhou Mi.
IKON’s B.I
Hanbin, or also known as B.I., joined YG Entertainment as a trainee in 2011 along with his trainee partners, Bobby and Kim Jin-hwan. They made the first group formation of Team B. The group made their first television appearance in 2013 on the Mnet reality program WIN: Who Is Next. In May 2014, B.I. together with Bobby contributed to the rap competition program Show Me the Money. In August 2014, B.I. appeared in another reality program Mix & Match, and finally successfully made it to iKON’s line-up alongside his bandmates Jinhwan, Bobby, Junhoe, Donghyuk, Yunhyeong, and Chanwoo.
