The Importance of Learning Korean

Hey Guys how’s your life going? Mine’s is going great! It’s Christmas Eve…YEAH!!! That’s means people will be off work, families will come together in time to celebrate the holidays and Santa will be delivering presents to all the boys and girls…But yeah anyway, I wanted to talk you guys because I think it is a topic that is discussed but it should be stressed more; especially if you plan on being a trainee by next year. Today’s topic is going to be about the importance of learning Korean.

I’ve been studying Korean for about 2 weeks now and it’s going great! I’m learning a lot. I am also learning Chinese as well just so I can have another tool under my belt. I am taking Chinese in University and I’m studying Korean myself because unfortantely my university no longer offers Korean TT^TT (sad face) BUT…anyway it’s chill I’ve been doing fine on my own and I can tell you guys more about the product I’m using to learn this language. I think it’s great and it’s also cheaper than Rosetta Stone.

I think learning Korean is VERY VERY VERY VERY important for you guys to learn and here are my reasons why:

1.       Since you do want to be “Korean” Idols you are going to have to learn it someday so why not start now?

a)      The companies are going to have to pay to teach you Korean and that will be one of your very important classes to take but, if you already knew it than they won’t have to spend money on that and you could be taking other useful classes. That would save them some money if you already knew that language.

2.      When you go to auditions it would something impressive to put on your audition profile that you can speak Korean (especially if you are non-Korean).

a)      If you impress the judges with your singing/dancing/acting/comedy or whatever and they asked you in Korean to do something else, it would impress them it you could understand them because they wouldn't have to use the translator to talk to you.

b)      Also I think it puts you on a more intimate level with the judges because if you speak to someone in your language it goes to their head but, you speak to them in their language it goes to their hearts.

c)      Plus, it would show how hard working you are and how much you really want to be a K-pop idol.

3.      Even, if you don’t want to be a K-pop idol it would still be cool to learn Korean because

a)      You wouldn’t need subtitles for every little thing you watched in Korean (Korean dramas, variety shows, music videos, etc…)

b)      If you actually went to Korea you would be able to survive because you can speak the mother language and Koreans would appreciate you more because you took time to learn their language and culture.

c)      Plus, wouldn’t it be awesome to put on resume that you are fluent in Korean? ^_^

d)     And if you have Korean friends you can speak to them in Korean and impress all the Americans or Non-Korean speakers around you ^_^ YEAH!

So now do you see why it is important for you to learn Korean. It’s good to know other languages so that you are more well-rounded as a person and human being. By learning an another language you will able to connect with people in a much more intimate and deeper way. Why do you think Korean entertainment companies go through all that trouble just to teach their artist different languages? They do that so the artist can be well-rounded and have a deeper connection with their fans and show that nation that they do appreciate them and find their culture interesting. And learning another language is really good for your brain!

So, are you ready to start your learning Korean journey? GOOD! NOW!!! I will tell you about some good products out there to help you on your journey.

1.      Living Language Korean is a great product, I am currently using and I’m receiving great results from it and I recommend to any and everyone! Here’s the link to that CLICK HERE

2.      Talk To Me In Korean is a really good website to learn Korean from and it’s FREE! So that’s awesome too right? All you have to do is click on this link CLICK HERE

I really recommend you guys learning from these products. I have wonderful results from using them.

And that’s about it! ^_^ I hope I spark a little fire of inspiration to get you guys going towards learn Korean. And with all that said I’ll see guys later! 안녕!

GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR'S WHOA!!!!

Hey! It’s Me again, here to tell you that there’s only 5 more days until Christmas, WHOA!!! What is Santa gonna put in your Christmas stocking this year? For I’m not worried about what presents I get for Christmas what I’m ready for is the NEW YEAR!!! With the New Year comes an another whole year of upcoming auditions and new events. So I’ve started making my New Year’s resolution list NOW!  And I think it’s time you guys start making yours too, on them I want you to include goals you want to meet (and what you should meet) so that you can show a better side of yourself this year than last year.

Today’s topic is going to be about, K-pop Audition Goals for the New Year’s

Here are list of things that should go on your list.

1.      Participate in at least 1 to 2 auditions this year.

a)      How do you expect to get into a company if you never audition for it? Sure, you can be scouted or have connections but, auditioning is ALWAYS the best way.

i.                    You gain experience and knowledge about auditioning

ii.                  You get to travel, meet new people and make new friends

iii.                You can say you’ve been to an audition for a company in South Korea, and how many people can say that

iv.                And you don’t know you might get picked! and everyone wants to be picked right? ^_^

2.      SAVE MONEY $$$!!!

a)      Let’s face it unless the auditions are held in your city, if you want to go to all these auditions you are going to need $$$. So you should start saving your money and budgeting. If you know for certain you are going to the auditions you should go ahead and plan the trip and look at the cost of transportation, rooming, food, extra activities all of that and add it up and see how much money you need to go to that audition and work to towards that goal.

i.                    If you know someone who lives in the city the audition is held in than you can ask if you can room with them and if they agree than that takes of hotel fees, and if saves more money! ^_^ and who doesn’t like saving money?

3.      Practice, Practice, PRACTICE!!!

a)      You must practice every day for at least 2 hours or more your talents. You must practice your singing, dancing, modeling(optional), languages(optional) and your special skill. Each skill you must practice for at least an hour or 2 and move on to the next one. I can’t stress enough how important it is to prepare for your audition. Besides, you won’t be reading this blog if you weren’t thinking about being a trainee, right? And this is some of what trainees have to do every day so think of yourself as a mini trainee-trainee lol ^_^

i.                    IF you can take a dance class or get singing lessons or even guitar and piano lessons. Or better yet do all of them. The more skills you know the more you have to show the judges and the more impressed the judges will be with you.

4.      Learn KOREAN!!!

a)      Since this is a Korean company you and I are going after, it is important that we learn Korean. I know that you don’t have to know Korean but you would be so AWESOME if you did.

i.                    You will stand out to judges when they know that you know Korean, to them it shows that you took to time to prepare and that you are hard-working, committed and dedicated. Plus, it will impress them.

ii.                  And since you’ll know Korean you will no longer need subtitles for every drama, music video, and show that you watch in Korean, and FUN would that be right ^_^

5.      Caring more about your allover physical appearance

a)      What I mean by this is that, when you look at every K-pop star what do they have in common? All of them are physically good looking and attractive. Idols care a lot about their physical appearances because it is part of their job as an idol since they are always in the public eye.

i.                    I encourage you to start exercising and eating healthier foods every day! You also need to drink at least 8 bottles of water per day and get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep. Taking baths at least twice a day. Also wearing deodorant and clean fresh clothes, and spraying your favorite cologne or body mist (optional). You must start taking care of your body from the inside out so that you can look and feel better altogether and you won’t need make-up to cover up the bags up under your eyes because you have been up all night on AllKpop and Youtube knowing you had to get up early the next day.

ii.                  Start taking an interest in fashion and learning how to dress yourself fashionably. I don’t know about anyone else but I know when I take time to plan what I’m gonna wear the next day I always feel more confident and prettier. Caring about the way to dress is important because I know this shouldn’t happen but people do judge you first by the way you look and looks are EVERYTHING in this type of business that we all want to be in. So looking good and well put together every day is going to be part of your life when you become an idol so why not go ahead and start doing it now, right?

And that’s basically it! Having these goals on your to-do list for the New Year’s will help you in your journey of becoming a K-pop trainee. So Until next time STAY TUNED!!!

The 4 Basic Ways to Get Into the Korean Entertainment Industry

So if you’re on this blog than I’m pretty sure you already know what K-pop is and know some basic facts about it and you already have bias groups and what-not. So I don’t have to introduce K-pop to you because you’ve already covered it. Right? Good. So now after adoring your idols you want to be a K-pop idol yourself but, you don’t know where to start and that’s what this article is going to be about today.

Today I will be discussing how to get into or qualify to be in a Korean entertainment company.

There are 4 basic ways to get into a company.

1.      AUDITIONS

a)      This is the most common way of how many K-pop stars became trainees. Thousands of hopeful aspiring K-pop artist flock to auditions hoping they will one day be like their idols.

There are many ways to audition for Korean entertainment companies.

I.                   GLOBAL AUDITIONS

Global auditions are when companies host auditions world-wide. When companies host global auditions they usually host them in US, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Korea. But sometimes out of the blue moon they may to unexpected places like China, UK, New Zealand, etc…

I have been to a couple of Global auditions. I went to YG entertainment 2012 Global Auditions in New York and SM entertainment 2013 Global Auditions in Washington D.C. So I know I think or two about what to expect.

The big three companies usually have a global audition yearly. I know SM host a global audition yearly.

II.                WEEKLY/MONTHLY LIVE AUDITIONS

These are auditions that are host live auditions in strictly in one area. This is different from the Global auditions because with the global auditions the companies come to you whereas with a weekly/monthly audition you have to go where the companies are located.

Ex: SM entertainment’s 2013 global audition’s in the US were hosted in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Seattle. Their monthly audition is in LA on certain dates.

Also, another thing about the weekly/monthly auditions they are held year-round so you can go to each one if you want whereas, with the global auditions it’s like a only chance thing. Plus, I think with weekly/monthly auditions you have a better chance at getting in because there won’t be as many people at a weekly audition as at a global audition. So the judges will seem less irritated because they didn’t have to sit through hundreds of terrible auditions and plus because there’s not that many people than you will also get more time to showcase your talent.

III.             POST/E-MAIL/ONLINE AUDITIONS

These are all auditions where you send the companies video clips of you showcasing your talent. This is an opposite method from the live auditions because the judges don’t get to see you in person. IF, you live far away live away like in Antarctica or Madagascar or any other place where Korean entertainment companies don’t host auditions or rarely host auditions than this is the second best way to get seen by a company than buying a plane ticket to Korea. Not everyone can go to live auditions so the companies have these ways of hopefuls sending their auditions to them.

The Post Audition is just when you send your audition video by mail. This one is going to cost a bit because you do have to pay for packaging and overseas shipping and handling. But I think it’s that best out of the three ways because you’re giving the companies something physical that they can see and hold; and to me it’s more personal. E-Mail/Online Auditions are where you send your audition video through the companies special e-mail address for auditions or go on their audition website and send it to them through there. This method is completely FREE! But, can be the hardest because thousands of people post their auditions everyday so there is a little chance that the judges will even get to your video. It’s competitive but, not impossible.

2.      CONTEST

a)      There are endless list of contest that aspiring trainees can participate in to get noticed by company. There are plenty K-pop idols that where picked up by companies just because they participated and the companies got to see their talent.

Ex: Cube solo artist, Roh Jihoon, was on Birth of a Star and got scouted. Kang Seung-hoon, Leader of new YG rookie group, WINNER, was on Superstar K2 and took 4^th place and was contacted by YG staff. YG entertainment solo artist, Monster Rookie, Lee Hi, was a contestant

on K-pop Star Season 1. She didn’t win but was picked up by YG entertainment because of her amazing soulful voice. And there are many more.

There are all types of contest out there to become a trainee. They have TV programs, Dance cover contest, singing contest even beauty contest dedicated to finding new talent.  

There are also Ulzzang(best face) Contest where the winner of the contest gets to become a trainee of the entertainment company that hosted it. Plenty of K-pop artist became trainees simply because they are good looking.

Ex: Eden, Rapper of LC9, became a trainee with Nega Networks after winning their Ulzzang Contest.

3.      GETTING SCOUTED

a)      Getting scouted is one of the one of the harder things to do but not impossible. Many K-pop stars were scouted by companies. Scouting is when the staff of the companies go on the prowl to find new talent. Scouting is the most random method of getting discovered because you never know when it’s going to happen, IT JUST HAPPENS. Usually the staff goes to open contest or they watch a lot of competition shows like K-pop Star and Superstar K and they watch the contestants and see which ones they like that really spark their interest or would fit the best in company. They also don’t just scout for talent, they also scout for looks as well. Ulzzang who are famous on social websites usually get scouted to become models or K-pop idols. Companies will also go up to random people who they think are good-looking and will ask them to audition for their company.

Ex: Nichkhun, vocalist/rapper of famous JYP boy-group, 2PM. Most of EXO members were scouted on the street doing normal things not even trying to be noticed.

4.      CONNECTIONS

a)      This is the music industry and also a BUSINESS so like any other the business the more people you know the better chance you have of getting your foot in the door. This can only be accomplished if you personally get to know not just the artist but, the staff, the managers, the trainers, the directors, EVERYBODY! This is the absolute hardest one to accomplish as it requires you to be a social person but not a stalker person, there’s a difference. You are going to have to make all the right friends in the right places. There are plenty of people who do this tho, why do you think most of the K-pop stars know each other and were friends before they debut or were even in a company? It’s about who you know not what you know.

Ex: Zico, leader/main rapper/producer/composer of boy-group, Block B was good friend with Park Kyung, rapper of Block-B, and when Zico got into a company he asked Kyung if he wanted to be in the company too and Kyung agreed and was also signed. GRAY, new rookie solo artist of, AOM (Jay Park’s entertainment company) was a composer for Jay and he got signed. Zion.T aka “Skinny Red” was signed to Amoeba Culture because artist, Jerry K., who knew Zion.T introduced him to Simon D, Korean Rapper.

Many K-pop artists were signed to companies because they had friends who were part of that company.

So, whew…that’s a lot of information in one day but I think you guys get the idea of it. There you have it all in a nutshell pretty much how to get into the industry if you really want to be in it.

 There is also a blog where a lady has become friends with multiple staff, artists, trainers, etc…in Korea and she shares how to do this I will post link here à CLICK HERE

So, whew…that’s a lot of information in one day but I think you guys get the idea of it. There you have it all in a nutshell pretty much how to get into the industry if you really want to be in it.

If you really want to get into the industry and it is your dream…the way to get into the industry is to try and do all 4 of these ways. The more you expose yourself to the industry and the more exposure you get in Korea; you will get a better chance at becoming a K-pop idol. I can stress this enough, if you really want to do this and this is your dream, you MUST and HAVE to work it. Some people will just get lucky and get discovered and not be even trying to get discovered at all but the majority of us have to work at it. K-pop artist constantly worked hard to get where they are at now and if you want to be a K-pop idol you must be willing to forth the effort.

I hope this helped you guys get warmed up to the ideas and I will post more articles shortly so keep in touch! 

Introduction

Hey! DazzinglingDreams here, this is my first post ever on this blog…WHOA! I didn't really know what I wanted this blog to be about, but I knew I wanted it to be inspiring and encouraging and all that motivational stuff. I also wanted to be something I’m passionate about and I thought why not K-POP! My ultimate dream is to become a successful K-pop idol and I know that many people also share that dream so I wanted to make a blog about it. After all, all of the current k-pop idols were once like me and many other people were aspiring trainees and hopefuls who had dreams of singing on stages as well.

This blog is going to incorporate topics regarding Upcoming auditions, Tips for a successful audition, articles from trainees in the companies, Information and articles about the company itself, styling/fashion/make-up tips, experiences, dieting/exercising, etc…

I am planning for this blog to be really fun and exciting and I hope everyone who is reading this post is also excited as well. I will keep it updated and posted in the future. So stay in tuned ^_^ and I’ll see you guys later…안녕! =^_^=