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On 'Pinggyego,' Super Junior's Kyuhyun said one company wanted money from him up front. His year as an SM trainee went very differently.
Before Super Junior's Kyuhyun was ever a trainee, a company tried to charge him for the privilege. On the October 24 episode of the YouTube show Pinggyego, he said a company that approached him before his debut asked him for KRW 100 million, about USD 70,000, allkpop reports.
In K-pop, a trainee is a would-be idol who trains under an agency before debuting. Kyuhyun's winding route to becoming one is this week's clearest case study.
Host Yoo Jae Suk could hardly believe it, according to allkpop, and pointed out that KRW 100 million would have been a particularly huge amount back then.
A trainee is the "before" picture: the singer an agency has taken in and is preparing for a debut. Kyuhyun's own stint lasted roughly a year at SM Entertainment, and he debuted as a member of Super Junior in 2006, allkpop reports.
The word comes with a spin-off: the trainee evaluation. Kyuhyun performed at a year-end one, and allkpop notes that future members of Girls' Generation and SHINee were in attendance. That is a crowded room for a nervous kid.
allkpop: Super Junior's Kyuhyun on the KRW 100 million request. The story recounts his Pinggyego appearance and the long way he took to SM, and it is the reason the word is on our list this week.
allkpop: KYUHYUN to kick off Asia tour "CONTINUE" in Seoul this December. Twenty years after his debut, the onetime SM trainee is opening a tour of his own in Seoul.
Kyuhyun's Pinggyego episode brought the pre-debut years back into conversation this week. As allkpop recounts, someone scouted him outside his school more than 20 years ago. He went to an audition and was told on the spot that he had passed. Then came the payment demand.
His road to SM had its own twists. SM offered him an audition, but he first turned it down because he wanted to be a ballad singer, allkpop reports. At that point he had won a gold prize in the BuddyBuddy Star Contest and had an offer of training from singer and vocal coach Park Sun Joo.
The ballad plan stalled when he lost touch with Park Sun Joo. Kyuhyun went back to his contract and found it could be ended if nothing happened for several months, according to allkpop. He got back in touch with SM and was given a second audition.
"Kyuhyun was an SM trainee for about a year before he debuted in Super Junior in 2006."
"Imagine performing at a trainee evaluation with future Girls' Generation and SHINee members watching."
"He almost skipped being an SM trainee because he wanted to sing ballads."
Keep the line Kyuhyun's story draws. His year of training happened at SM, and the KRW 100 million request came from a different company before any of that, as allkpop reports.
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About a year. He trained at SM Entertainment before debuting with Super Junior in 2006, allkpop reports.
He described it as a company that approached him before his debut: it scouted him outside his school, told him he had passed its audition, then asked for the money, according to allkpop.
He hoped to become a ballad singer, allkpop reports.
Future members of Girls' Generation and SHINee attended the year-end evaluation where he performed, according to allkpop.
He opens his Asia tour, "CONTINUE," in Seoul this December, allkpop reports.
First Read lands Monday at 7 a.m. ET with the week's biggest stories. The Weekend Lexicon rounds it all up on Saturday.
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