2008 Sm Audition Experiences

[Guest mattysong]

HAHAHAHA i replied to the WRONG thing. hahaha.

anyway. here's my experience at the auditions in oakland:

my sister, husband (yes im old. 22. it's not like that had a marital status box to check on the application! haha), and i went to oakland like super early. and we got there like at 11. to my surprise NO ONE was there!!! i thought there'd be people camping out or something. but i guess not. then we saw two younger girls get dropped off. we asked if they were there for the auditions, and they said yes. so my sister and husband and i decided to go to the wal mart nearby bc i had to seriously use the bathroom. i always get hungry and need to use the bathroom when i perform.

anyway, i decided that it would be a good idea to not stay there too long. so we went back. we were only gone for a good 30 minutes, and there were already people arriving! haha. anyway, my sister and i went to go stand with a group of people in front of the doors (just in case a line formed!). we didnt want to be last.. but also didnt want to be first. i definitely jynxed us. haha.

anyway, i'd emailed sm last week.. but never got a reply back. but my sister said the lady said it was ok to go.. that they'd find my email. so we got in line. and mind you, there werent as many people as i expected! probably about 100 or so people.. it wasnt even 2pm yet. it was barely like 12ish. so then we went in the "emailed applicants" line. so as we got closer to the table to get our forms.. i could feel my heart. it felt like it was going to jump OUT. seriously. haha. anyway. my sister and i got ourselves into the first group up! AGH! how dreadful. hahaha. she was S19 and i was S20.

when it was time for us to walk across the street, i felt like backing out. i knew my age was the number one factor. then it would be my look. even though i knew i wouldnt get it.. it was always something ive wanted to do.. ever since H.O.T. came out with their first album. *sigh* then it was shinhwa. *oh, my dear love.* haha. ANYWAY. i dragged myself into that weird reception-room-looking place. they had a small dance floor with a huge wall of BoA's posters on there. opposite of that was the table for the two korean lady judges.

the judges had numbers 1-10 line up in the front first. *phew* so #11-20 sat and watched their performances. i think everyone did their best. and of course, everyone was nervous. so that had a lot to do with how well they performed. nonetheless, it was a fast and quick performance. it was like, "ok. thank you. next." just like crazyasian said. (sorry, i totally got that wrong). they didnt care for your performance. it was about your looks. so much for singing, right? we might as well just walk up there and have them take a look at us. seriously.

so after the first group went, it was us up! it was nervous bc i didnt decide to come to the auditions until the night before.. and bc of that, i didnt really have my song memorized! hahaha. so we started from #11.. again, everyone did as well as they could. but man. those ladies were tough. you could tell who they liked and who they didnt like. there was a girl that was tall and pretty. she looked young. and according to my sisters, "she had eyelids." hahahaha. when we came to the audition and were waiting outside, we spotted her immediately and told ourselves that, "yeah. they'd like her." well.. yeah. they did. not that she did HORRIBLY bad, but there were better contestants. (sorry). they kept asking her to sing again.. as if trying to find that somewhere deep deep DEEP down inside of her cute little self, she had a good voice. but they were too busy liking her age and looks that it didnt really matter to them.

oh, and i forgot to say.. in the first group were these two little kids auditioning for acting roles. they were called aside after the group finished. im assuming they were chosen to stay and wait for more results. but i did overhear that their half asian. and in our group, this girl that they chose to have stay behind was half korean. they're loving those half breeds. haha. jk. but you can kind of tell what they were looking for.

anyway. after that girl went up, all the performers that followed were just kind of pushed aside. their attention was strayed away since they seemed to be satisfied with that girl. and not to be bias, but my sister did EXCEPTIONALLY well. seriously. she looks like a star. she's tall. she's skinny, slender. and she could definitely sing. she sang alicia key's "superwoman." i thought she would have at least got it out of our group. but nope. at the end of her performance, they kept asking her what her age was. as if trying to say, "just tell us you're really 19 and we'll consider." you know? it was so obvious. of course, they're judges. it's what they're supposed to do. but i could've sworn at one point, they said to the group, "the words dont matter. just sing a song that fits your voice." and that song definitely fit my sister's voice. but when asked for her age (although it was CLEARLY on the application and forms), they were disappointed. being in your 20's is a disadvantage for the korean industry. and it's sad.

whatever. hahaha.

so then my turn came up. i was nervous. and i dont know why. i dont get nervous. but i think it was bc i'd seen all the performances in our group. and was starting to realize that my looks and age had a LOT to do with this audition. and it made me kind of upset. so that got me a bit nervous. usually when i perform, i get nervous until im actually singing. so that's what happened. i planned to sing ill stand by you, the carrie underwood version. like, the whole song. but when it came to, i just did the first verse and chorus. i think i did ok. well..im not sure. you dont know how you're ever doing bc it's you! haha. anyway. they did the same thing. they just kind of shoved my performance aside bc they were so distracted by what they knew they already wanted. and it didnt seem to fair.

in the first 10 that went up, there were two girls that did well too. i thought they were going to at least get it.. but obviously they didn't have the look they were going for. and that was disappointing.

so yeah. my sister and i walked out, and were going to go sit in the waiting hall. the judges just said, "ok thanks." and that's it. so we didnt know what to do. as we were finding seats, one of the staff came up and asked us if we were waiting for someone. we said we'd just finished our audition and that we actually didnt know what to do. so she said, "did they say anything to you?" well. no duh. hahaha. they said, "thanks." so she told us that that would be it. and if they were interested in us, they'd give us a call.

and that was the end of it. i went home disappointed. not so much for me bc i went for the experience, but more for my sister bc she wanted it MORE than anyone i knew. she literally dreamt about the auditions for months! hahaha.

*sigh* i guess jyp's next! hahahahaha jk jk. this is disappointing. it's ok. ill go to american idol next summer. haha.

[Guest ohmydora]

@mattysong: I felt the same exact way. I don't know, I was left feeling very disappointed and whatnot.

[Guest mattysong]

@mattysong: I felt the same exact way. I don't know, I was left feeling very disappointed and whatnot.

yeah. how was your's? im sure you did well too! where did you do your audition?

[Guest flyaway.]

^^ How old is your sister?

But yeah, I felt disappointed too. =/

Honestly speaking, I don't exactly like the judges here very much.

Do you guys know if the judges in LA are the same people?

[Guest chenster1124]

Honestly speaking, I don't exactly like the judges here very much.

Do you guys know if the judges in LA are the same people?

they're different judges on the west coast. the judges there, i heard, are nicer than the east coast judges....

not very fair... =(

[Guest ohmydora]

yeah. how was your's? im sure you did well too! where did you do your audition?

Yeah, I was hella nervous and everything but I felt pretty solid about my performance.

I auditioned at SF/Oakland too.

#46

Ugh, I left so dissatisfied. Hahaa.

@chenster: Really? Reading the experiences people had in New York and whatnot, I felt the judge there was much more interactive and responsive. The one I had was very... cold.

[Guest Crazyasian3119]

sorry i cut your post... but...

did you see me? i was S6. i left disappointed too. but i didn't go in with high expectations either... so it wasn't THAT bad.

i'm gonna take korean lessons, become fluent, get a plastic surgeon to make me an exact replica of BoA (or song hye kyo or lee yeonhee or go ara or some SM artist), get voice lessons, show up and auditions next year and MAKE THEM TAKE ME IN.

just kidding. i wish... but i'm definitely gonna take korean lessons, if anything. maybe even japanese (i started some lessons so i can speak a little... but i stopped because i got too busy with school)...

anyway... yeah, its obvious they want koreans/japanese/chinese... it was even stated on the site. and even though "etc" was included... you KNOW they mentioned those specific three for a reason.

[Guest mattysong]

^^ How old is your sister?

But yeah, I felt disappointed too. =/

Honestly speaking, I don't exactly like the judges here very much.

Do you guys know if the judges in LA are the same people?

yeah me too! but this is my first one. and only one! hahaha. so i cant really compare them. i wish they would've critiqued us instead of giving us the cold shoulder. hahahaha. jk about the cold shoulder part. but it sucked bc it totally felt like they didnt care about your performance.

try again! maybe the judges will be different next time!

[Guest mattysong]

sorry i cut your post... but...

did you see me? i was S6. i left disappointed too. but i didn't go in with high expectations either... so it wasn't THAT bad.

i'm gonna take korean lessons, become fluent, get a plastic surgeon to make me an exact replica of BoA (or song hye kyo or lee yeonhee or go ara or some SM artist), get voice lessons, show up and auditions next year and MAKE THEM TAKE ME IN.

just kidding. i wish... but i'm definitely gonna take korean lessons, if anything. maybe even japanese (i started some lessons so i can speak a little... but i stopped because i got too busy with school)...

anyway... yeah, its obvious they want koreans/japanese/chinese... it was even stated on the site. and even though "etc" was included... you KNOW they mentioned those specific three for a reason.

haha it's ok. yeah, of course! who couldnt forget the girl in the red sweater! i felt bad for you guys bc it was super intimidating on you. seriously, you guys were the first group up, and the rest of us 10 other people were just sitting there. watching you guys! we were lucky bc there wasnt a group sitting there to watch us! haha. but yeah. she totally shoved you off though. you could tell. it's ok, like i said, there's always jyp! haha. and yeah. you should've put down that you were japanese/filipino. i think that's what you mentioned. sorry. bf the only two people that i noticed they wanted were half breeds. one of them was like half korean, half thai (i could tell by her last name).. bc i just HAPPENED to walk by when she said it.. ^_~

[Guest flyaway.]

yeah me too! but this is my first one. and only one! hahaha. so i cant really compare them. i wish they would've critiqued us instead of giving us the cold shoulder. hahahaha. jk about the cold shoulder part. but it sucked bc it totally felt like they didnt care about your performance.

try again! maybe the judges will be different next time!

Haha. I don't think there are going to be different judges next year (if they even come back, that is).

Cus I went for all three years (Yeah, pathetic, I know. Haha. Three years and still no luck.) and I don't think the judges changed.

Well, actually, I don't remember the first year. But I'm 99% sure that the two lady judges this year was the same as last years.

ERGHH. I'm just so frustrated. I wish they would critique us too.

Or just tell us straight up why they don't want us, whether it be age or looks or whatever.

I mean, it'll hurt, but at least I won't be in the dark about it and make a fool out of myself year after year.

So if they do come back next year, are you going to go audition again?

[Guest Crazyasian3119]

haha it's ok. yeah, of course! who couldnt forget the girl in the red sweater! i felt bad for you guys bc it was super intimidating on you. seriously, you guys were the first group up, and the rest of us 10 other people were just sitting there. watching you guys! we were lucky bc there wasnt a group sitting there to watch us! haha. but yeah. she totally shoved you off though. you could tell. it's ok, like i said, there's always jyp! haha. and yeah. you should've put down that you were japanese/filipino. i think that's what you mentioned. sorry. bf the only two people that i noticed they wanted were half breeds. one of them was like half korean, half thai (i could tell by her last name).. bc i just HAPPENED to walk by when she said it.. ^_~

uh-oh... why the "who couldn't forget the girl in the red sweater!"? was i that bad?

the halfies... you mean to two little kids before me? i think #3 was their sister or something... was #2 asked to stay too? i remembered thinking, "she'll get callbacks..." and if the little kids stayed, its either becauses they were accepted or they discussed their current contract with some other company because i remember they were asked if they were already under some label... and that she would need to talk with their parents first.

yeah, but see, if i put down japanese/filipino and they find out later on that i'm NOT... they're gonna be really upset that i lied.

[Guest jujubaybii]

Ok... so I also sent an email audition to SM a couple days after I went to the LA auditions... and like an hour ago I just receive an email from SM I was so scared to open it... but I did... and it said thank u for sending us your audition n video through email... we want to give you an opportunity to participate in one of our global auditions... but the audition date haven't been set yet we will let you know the audition schedule when it is set... thanks for your application again....

See the thing that im confused about is I also mention that I jus participate in the global audition... I don't know so does that mean I made it through the first round to the email audition? Im just soo excited thankful and blissful at the same time....

[Guest Crazyasian3119]

Ok... so I also sent an email audition to SM a couple days after I went to the LA auditions... and like an hour ago I just receive an email from SM I was so scared to open it... but I did... and it said thank u for sending us your audition n video through email... we want to give you an opportunity to participate in one of our global auditions... but the audition date haven't been set yet we will let you know the audition schedule when it is set... thanks for your application again....

See the thing that im confused about is I also mention that I jus participate in the global audition... I don't know so does that mean I made it through the first round to the email audition? Im just soo excited thankful and blissful at the same time....

its probably an automated reply... sorry.

[Guest ixsu]

anyone know how long it takes for the NY callbacks? >_>

[Guest jujubaybii]

its probably an automated reply... sorry.

Yeah that was the same thing I was thinking too... I was jus excited cuz I was at my work place eating and my phone went off... hahah but anyway I still wished me the best of luck... and whatever happens I'll still be happy knowing that at least I tried... so I wont have to regret it in the future... an experience I won't forget...

[Guest blah blah blah]

yeah me too! but this is my first one. and only one! hahaha. so i cant really compare them. i wish they would've critiqued us instead of giving us the cold shoulder. hahahaha. jk about the cold shoulder part. but it sucked bc it totally felt like they didnt care about your performance.

try again! maybe the judges will be different next time!

how old is ur sis? just like to know.. thx.

[Guest ilovetosing]

Ok, so my audition just went BAD! In my group there were like 2 peoples that were so good. I was all like man they are going to get a callback at oakland audition. A girl name Lai and Janet. Both korean and sm judges had hella interested in them. I just can tell I wish I can do a re-do for sm now. In my group Lai did dancing and Janet did modeling.Is SM only looking for Koreans?

[Guest iheartxmiyavi]

anyone know how long it takes for the NY callbacks? >_>

There was a poster on the waiting line for auditioning at the door that they would send an e-mal in 4 weeks. iono... but i heard if they didn't call you the wednesday after your audition then you didn't make it in... ugh.. and if that's the case then i hope i get a call in the next few hours

[Guest dbskatiehero]

^^ How old is your sister?

But yeah, I felt disappointed too. =/

Honestly speaking, I don't exactly like the judges here very much.

Do you guys know if the judges in LA are the same people?

i have to agree :/ seems like they didn't know what they were doing. i told them i was auditioning for singing/dancing but then they just told me to start. so i started singing first then next they just skip me and went to my cousin like WTF! yeahh~ i think i want lee soo man to judge me instead of having some judge to tell him how i did and look at the videos. thats just what i think.

[Guest happy619]

i have to agree :/ seems like they didn't know what they were doing. i told them i was auditioning for singing/dancing but then they just told me to start. so i started singing first then next they just skip me and went to my cousin like WTF! yeahh~ i think i want lee soo man to judge me instead of having some judge to tell him how i did and look at the videos. thats just what i think.

first of all, maybe you werent wast they are looking for, just try harder. And also if lee sooman was judgeing u it be ten times harder to get his attention. People he actuall scouted himself were dana, kimbum.