In global auditions in Canada and the United States last summer, Korean
talent scouts were awed by the number of non-Korean participants. They
expected ethnic Koreans but there were many different ethnic groups and
races including Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Southeast
Asians.
“Non-Koreans made up 60 percent of the participants,”Yang Min-suk, CEO of YG Entertainment,
was quoted as saying by Chosun Ilbo. “We intended to select a range of
new talents with an open mind but it was a surprise that so many
foreigners showed up. They participated in auditions after taking a
possibility into account that they could become international stars
through Korean management companies.”
According to YG
Entertainment, over half of the participants who entered auditions in
Seattle, London, Berlin, and New York in the summer were non-Koreans.
The
phenomenon is attributed to a surge in the number of young foreigners
who wish to become trainees with major Korean management companies like SM, YG, and JYP amid growing interest in K-pop stars such as Psy, Big Bang, and Girls’ Generation.
Miss A, a girl band of JYP Entertainment. Fei and Jia of Miss A are Chinese (photo: Yonhap News). Local
management companies are also considering creating multiracial boy or
girl bands and pursuing related projects. SM Entertainment, a leading
management company, has been regularly holding auditions outside Korea
especially in the United States and Japan.
“The number of
foreign participants in auditions continued to start rising two years
ago,” Kim Eun-ah, a spokeswoman at SM, told Chosun Ilbo in an interview.
“Not only non-Korean Asians but also white, black, and Hispanics
sometimes account for nearly 70 percent of all participants in
auditions.”
SM started global auditions in 2006. Over 30,000
took part in the auditions between January and March. A talent search
manager at JYP Entertainment said until five years ago, Koreans or
ethnic Koreans made up all participants in auditions but their
percentage declined to 60 percent this year.
Foreign talents who
passed such auditions and became trainees account for 20 percent of all
trainees at SM, 40 percent at JYP, and 10 percent at YG. Their
nationalities are diverse, from China, Japan, and Thailand to the U.S.,
Canada, and Australia.
EXO, a 12-member boy band of SM Entertainment. Kris, Luhan, Tao and Lay of EXO-M are all Chinese (photo: Yonhap News). Talent
agencies already are creating boy or girl bands aimed at the global
market. There is a boy band created to specifically target ethnic
Chinese fans in Asia: EXO-M created by SM.
EXO, a boy band with
twelve members, consists of EXO-K and EXO-M. Kris, Luhan, Tao, and Lay
of EXO-M are all Chinese. EXO-K (K means Korean) is based in Korea while
EXO-M (M means Mandarin) is in China. The two groups in EXO wear the
same outfits, dance the same moves, and sing the same songs but in their
respective languages.
“Recently, China’s entertainment market
has developed more and there is a growing preference for those from
their own country and it is not as easy as before for us to export
successful singers in Korea to China,” a SM official said in an
interview. “EXO-M is part of our new strategy.”
Nickhun (center), a member of 2PM, is Thai (photo: Yonhap News). Victoria
of f(x) and Fei and Jia of Miss A are Chinese while Nickhun of JYP is
Thai. They are already famous and have become international K-Pop stars.
Victoria and Kris joined SM through its global auditions in recent
years. “Most of the trainees are Asian but their ethnicity will become
more diverse,” a talent agency official said. “If there are talented
applicants, we are going to train them no matter if they are white or
black,”Jeong Wook, CEO of JYP, was quoted as saying by Chosun Ilbo.
“White or black applicants often lack understanding of K-pop compared to
Asians but there will be strong applicants in the near future.”
Experts
say that amid the K-pop sensation around the world, there is a growing
interest in Korea’s star management system and there would be more
foreigners knocking on the doors of Korean management companies.
“Scooter
Braun, an American talent manager, recruited Justin Bieber and Carly
Rae Jepsen from Canada and Psy from Korea and has had a huge success,”
Yang said. “We are going to produce new stars by signing up talents
regardless of their nationality or ethnicity.”
By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer