Got Questions? Ask Away!

[Guest hyunnitea]

which is more important--charisma or looks? i think of a few celebrities that to me are not THAT handsome/pretty but are just full of stage presence. is that something instructors try to improve?

also, trainees are expected to hold off educational pursuits to dedicate his/herself to the talent, right?

i've always wanted to be part of the industry, but not only am i rather chubby, i can't dance and i'm handicapped/disabled(cerebral palsy). but even though i know the reality of my situation, i can't help but be hopeful enough to be curious...

[Guest Ju Bin]

thanks for answering everyone's questions! so nice of you, it's really appreciated! =)

i have a question as well.

say a trainee/celebrity in Korea is really from Canada/USA/anywhere else other than Korea XD how often can they go overseas to visit their families and for how long?

edit:

also, how much of the profits do celebrities get from their albums selling?

and how much do companies really cover for training expenses?

[Guest S-dawg]

WOW....i've just been reading through the posts and i just want to say that this is really great what you're doing...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

They've all been so well answered i can't even think of a question to ask...!!

BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest daysconfession]

wow like everybody said, your thread is great and i read through everything! so i also have 2 questions

1) i heard that we can do either freestyle or a cover/choreographed dance for the dance audition in SM, so do you think there is a better option? like will the judges prefer to see you do one over the other? cause i was thinking of doing a cover dance and then do freestyle during the "rhythm test." im still thinking about what im definitely going to do though.

and 2) im thinking of going for dancing, CF modeling, and acting. i know i can't sing well so that's why im not trying out for singing, but do you think it's still possible for me to have a chance in getting into the company or any company for that matter by just dancing [and the other qualities] well? or do you think i should also sing and just act like im confident in my skills even if im really not?

thanks for your time!

[Guest BBQLoverz]

Edited Please disregard my post

[Guest mspop]

HII~!

you are so helpful!

i a few have a question!

i am an aspiring actress and my experiences

are like plays sooo sometimes i feel like

my acting is very theatre like is that bad?

would it be harder for me to get in if im not like

all korean star skinny but like normal weight?

Last!

When auditioning can we audition for more then

one category? like acting and blah blah,

if we can do we have to perform both?

THANK YOU SO MUCHOOOS<3

[Guest bbx_Vivii]

Hi I'm just wondering about the education part. If you are from overseas and is accepted to become a trainee, do you go to an international school or something? What do they do about the schooling etc?

[Guest j.adore]

hyunnitea-

That's not something that you can be like.. one is more important than the other. I would say that you need both... you know, not the typical "just a pretty face" sort of person. There has to be something about that person that draws other people in. Trainees are expected to go to school while they train and after they debut. Usually, college does become sort of second after debut but definetly, companies want their trainees to finish high school, at the least.

Ju Bin-

During training periods, it is very rare for trainees to be able to go back to see their family. And even if they do get permission to go back home, the funds are going to be up to you, the company won't pay for personal things like that. And even if you do get permission to come home, it won't be for very long. The situation can change if there is some family emergency but usually, you won't be free to leave training for long periods of time. Or unless this is settled before singing your contract. For example, if a company really wants you to be their trainee but you say, "i have to go home every 6 months for 3 weeks or i won't sign." Then they'll most likely agree. After you debut, and have some say/power in the company, that's when you can be a little more free to do what you want. Profits from albums aren't much... especially if it's your first couple albums. Most of profits for artists come from CFs and others, not from album, especially these days. The company provides 100% of the training fees... so stuff like vocal, dance, acting, etc those lessons, are definetly covered by the company.

daysconfession-

Whatever you do, you don't want the dance to seem so thought about before hand. The key thing is to be natural. I don't really know the preferences of the judges but stick with what you are most confident with. Honestly, if you are going for acting or singing, I don't know why you would go under SM. THey do have some actors under their company but their reputation is mainly for pop music. So if you are serious about going for acting, I would suggest going for other companies. From this question, it seems like you are just trying to get into a company. You have to find what you like more and what you want to do. So are you good at acting? If you are not, it shouldn't be your choice because you aren't confident with your singing skills. You should be good at acting to audition and be able to go under a company for acting.

mspop-

If your acting is too theater like, it can be a negative for you.. but if you just use your previous acting skills to do well in auditions, it can also be a huge advantage for you. I'm not going to lie, companies do look at bodies so I guess if you had a really good figure, it'd be easier for you to get through auditions but that doesn't mean being normal weight will make it necessarily hard for you to pass auditions. Usually you can apply for only one because there are a lot of people who audition and not enough time to look at everybody thoroughly, especially for more than one category.

bbx Vivii-

Yes you go to an international school. If you are fluent in Korean, you can go to a Korean high school but all the trainees from overseas don't tend to be 100% fluent in Korean and isn't as good in korean as the average korean high shcool student. So companies place their trainees in international schools. If you don't know Korean, at some international students, you don't need to know Korean and can communicate in English... you will learn Korean as well. You are expected to go to school and do well as well during training.

[Guest Paegun]

Alright this is my first post. Anyway, I'm going to go to Korea for a language program in the Winter, and I'm thinking of trying out for some things while I'm there. I'm about only an average height guy but people tell me I have a nice facial structure and nice eyes. I also plan on being extremely cut before I go there so will that be an advantage even though I'm only 5'7"? Also I'm not very confident in my singing because of my deep voice so I'm thinking of acting or modeling even though the last time I acted was in 8th grade. I'm a High School Graduate(18 years old).

Edit: Oh yeah forgot to mention, I'm half-Korean and half-Portuguese, so I'm like pretty hairy.

[Guest aliceamanda]

hi i have a question.

at the audition, are we allowed to sing one of their artist's songs with alternate lyrics? for example, lisa of youtube i think, wrote an english version of the lyrics so i'm just wondering if it's a wise choice. would it be like copyright or something? anyways thanks

[Guest mspop]

thank you so much for answering my question!

i have one more(x

since i am auditioning for acting

i decided to do a famous scene from

a korean drama but it is a crying scene

is it okay for me to do a crying scene?

[Guest YMin]

Hey thanks for this awesome thread, well this is more specifically about the SM auditions but if you know anything about how their auditions go, my question is, is it possible to audition with your friends as a group while doing a dance together that we have practiced on and made?

From the things I've heard, it seems like a solo audition more than anything. Also, what are some tips you suggest that would help us make a good impression on the judges .

[Guest juny]

Do you know of any companies other than SM or JYP that hold auditions in America? I'm looking more for management agencies who are scouting for actors/actresses (SM and JYP seem to focus more on scouting singers).

If no, would you suggest sending them audition material via airmail?

[Guest lassie]

hey i was wondering whether if it would be benefitcial for you to autition lots of times (when your kind of young) even when you know for sure your not good enough because you haven't got the time to practise yet?and like train yourself real hard later and audtiton at the age of 18? or does it not matter at all?

is 18 and too old an age to audtion?

thanks so much for doing all this btw. you're saving alot of soompi-ers lives with dis^^

[Guest ceylonblue]

A question about songs:

From what I understand, it seems like the companies generally choose songs for their artists to record (rather than artists usually writing or at least co-writing some material on each album as in North America). So do they use songs only from staff writers (and if so, how restrictive is the staff writing deal?), or is it also common for them to record songs from outside songwriters who publish under separate music publishers?

I was wondering because I heard that often record labels here pressure artists (who write their own material) to sign to the company`s own subsidiary publishing music companies so that when a single is recorded, they'll get a chunk of the mechanical royalties too. . .

^^Sorry if that's too technical. . . Just been trying to educate myself on the business side of things so I don't get burned.

. . . But yeah, basically where do the songs come from?

[Guest tanakacchi]

Um~~~

hope this doesn't make me sound stupid or something else bad. T_T

Um...well, first I've been reading through the thread, very interesting to read~I see you've helped many. ^^

Anyway, onto my question~

Ah...I know you've answered something similar to this...

about non-asians?

But...let's say there is a non-asian and she has a great passion for korea~she has spirit for korea, and she's willing to learn and accept their culture and ways. plus, she's just a nice & down to earth, talented person. and say, if she could even look asian from a certain angle...and wants/is a singer

would korea be more accepting of her? because, they're very...all korean & not yet too open to others, but if she is truly going with their culture and understands & respects their culture and such, does that help at all?

i'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, or if i am...perceiving (?) korea wrong. ^^;;

[Guest Renie]

which entertainments in Korea are mainly for actor/actress? Do they accept non-koreans also?

[Guest happy619]

which entertainments in Korea are mainly for actor/actress? Do they accept non-koreans also?

star m, yedang, lobe, sidus hq, bof ent, and namooactors etc, and no they dont accept non koreans unless if like really great looking like daniel henny altough he's half korean

[Guest j.adore]

Hey guys... sorry I haven't been on here in so long... I've been busy with school since the new semester started and I'm taking more credits than I should be... ><;; I'll try to answer your questions within today or early this week!

[Guest j.adore]

Paegun-

Well, so what's your question? Haha... if you want me to tell you your chances of making it, then I really can't. It's the judges who are the expert and who can tell you. And your looks aren't everything either so I would definetly practice singing/dancing/acting until auditions.

aliceamanda-

It wouldn't really be copyright but I think it'd be best to stick to the originial...? It won't be too important to decide whether you make it or not; it's more on how well you sing the song.

mspop-

Yes, crying scene is fine. If you do it very well, it'll be a huge chance to show the judges your acting abilities.

YMin-

From what I know, all auditions are individual unless you are going to one of those big auditions in Korea... then it might be a different story but even then, if you are doing open auditions then there is going to be a lot of people and judges don't have time to evaulate everyone one by one. So they have groups of people just dance individually and just pick the best out of the group. So there's not that much time for choreography and such... that can come in later when you've made it through several stages of auditions but for the first stage, just prepare to be on your own. As for tips, just be polite and have confidence but don't be cocky and just do your best. Make a good first impression.

juny-

I don't know much about other companies having auditions here... if you don't have any other choice, turning in auditions via email/mail isn't a bad idea. Either way, you would technically audition for them and they would see your audition.

lassie-

Start practicing hard NOW. It is a good practice to go through a lot of auditions so that you build more experience and you don't get stage fright but it doesn't hurt to start practicing real hard now than later... I don't see why you should wait to practice hard til you are 18. 18 isn't an old age to audition but it's not exactly young either but you still have a very good chance age wise.

ceylonblue-

If the artist is skilled at writing his music, the company generally lets the artist have some songs on their record upon hearing it of course. I don't know too much about royalty business b/c I never dealt with singers or this kind of business... Companies may have some staff writers but a lot of the famous writers are usually on their own and so they are free to deal with many companies. It is a little too technical for me to answer just b/c I haven't dealt with it... maybe after next summer of working somewhere else I can provide more information...

tanakacchi-

I mean usually no one is going to go to Korea and try to be a singer and be disrespectful or doesn't seem passionate about learning about Korean and etc. Korea is just a very closed society although it has been getting better. It is still going to be very hard for a nonasian person to make it big in Korea, it will probably happen some day but within couple years? I'm not sure. The reason why Korean companies aren't as accepting of non-Asians despite talent and such is because they don't believe that it is worth it to try with the current Korean society. Perhaps when the mass audience's views change, companies will be more accepting but til then, it's going to take a while and a lot of effort.

Renie-

Happy619 seemed to have gotten the big major companies for acting. Also, a lot of actors start at private acting schools and just start knowing people in the business through that and get in companies that way too. And a lot of acting companies don't accept non-Koreans simply because of the language issue. Although stars like daniel henney and dennis oh have gotten big, they still have a hard time landing in big roles b/c of the language issue. To land on big roles in a lot of dramas and movies, you need perfect Korean... so if a non-Korean with good talent has good Korean, they may accept you but other wise, it'll be hard.