The Korean Cultural Center in Brazil premiered a documentary series in Youtube about the K-Pop idol industry. Released on April 1, the first episode shows a young idol aspirant training in an entertainment academy – a kind of school for these young artists – and others who debuted but no longer follows the career, including one former member from VX, a JJ Entertainment boygroup that got disbanded in 2017.
The episode focuses on interviews with the subjects, telling the different perspectives and experiences. Choi Suri is 14 years old and she isn’t a trainee yet. In the last years, the growth of K-Pop industry demanded not only early training but the agency auditions became more harder with the number of young people who just wants the chance to get signed. After passing an agency test, the aspirant idol keep training more and more until they get the chance to debut in a group.
But the challenges don’t stop. Kim Jee Hee almost debuted, but she decided to be a mukbang youtuber. The ex-trainee tells she loved to dance but the pressure and the psychological cost were too high for her and her group members. It is a very difficult industry where just personal effort isn’t enough.
Kim Jeki became an idol with VX and fulfill his dream, but the group was over after 4 years in activity. Today he works as a music producer and takes his life experience to continue acting behind the scenes. The three cases shows the several variables that these artists are subjected to throughout their careers as K-Pop idols. The balance between the difficult times and personal fulfillment are always subject to the weight of the music market.
The next episode promises to show the routine of Dongkiz, a boygroup formed by Dongyo Entertainment in 2018, with was recently rebranded as DKZ. The group will have three new members after the hiatus of members Wondae and Munik, since a comeback is expected this April.
The series can be watched on the official brazilian KCC channel “Centro Cultural Coreano no Brasil”.
Original posted on: Talk Talk Korea: Reporter Honorary
