How to Become a K-Pop Idol? A Guide for Beginners

Do you want to become one of the K-pop idols from India? For this, you need to have the capability of doing hard work, building and polishing your skills, as well as talent. Indians, including Aria, an Indian K-pop idol, have made their way and guide people on how to be a K-pop idol. If you have that much determination, then for sure you can also be one of them, despite any cultural or other differences.

A Glimpse of K-Pop Idols’ Journey

K-pop idol life and career usually start when people are young (10-14 years old). By doing scouting or auditions, the process continues through the multi-year trainee period (2-10 years). This includes training sessions of 12-20 hours per day, comprising singing, dancing, and languages. The trainees are subjected to so much pressure before finally making their debut, which, in most cases, involves so much sacrifice of personal life and education. 

Skills You Need to be a K-Pop Idol

The K-pop industry has some rules that they prioritize before selecting any candidate. They allow candidates who are between the ages of 12 and 19 years. High skills in dancing are prioritized over singing or any other skills. The height should be around 160–165cm for females. The candidate must be capable of practicing for long hours for a few years. Needs to practice the Korean language. Side by side, many of the agencies make rules like phone bans or no dating rules, continuous health checkups, strict diets, and trainees must adapt to new styles and concepts.

Challenges and Solutions To Become a K-Pop Idol

Some of the challenges that you may face:

• High pressure for training.
• Cultural and language differences.
• High cost of travelling and living.
• The industry has a high focus on beauty standards.

Some of the solutions that may be useful for you:

• Have a high focus on your dancing skills. Additionally, practice singing skills and some additional ones.
• Try to learn the Korean language fast.
• Build your social media platforms by regularly sharing videos of your skills.
• Start applying to companies holding international or online auditions, such as HYBE, SM, YG, and more.
• Make your roadmap and prepare yourself for high pressure and training.

Example of Indian K-Pop Idols

There are many examples of the Indians who are now K-pop idols. They worked hard and gave all their efforts to become K-pop idols in India. Here are a few examples.

Sriya Lenka

Sriya is the first Indian to become a K-pop idol from India. She belongs to the Odisha Rourkela district and was born in 2003. Sriya has made Indian history by becoming the fifth member of the Korean girl group, BlackSwan. She is already a trained dancer from an early age, and learnt some new forms like hip-hop and freestyle. Sriya started her journey in 2020 by giving online auditions and was selected from 4,000 YouTube applicants.

She also says, “Music will always inspire you, it can make your day better, calm you down, or push you forward.”

Aria

Aria is the second Indian to become a K-pop idol and was born as Gauthami. She is from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She started her career at the Bengaluru festival. There, she went as a part of the K-pop five-member girl band X: IN in 2023, making her debut. She used to practice by herself, taking help from YouTube. Before entering the group, Aria was a child actress in the Malayalam films.

Priyanka Mazumdar

She is the first Indian female to join the international group of Z-Girls. Priyanka made her debut in 2019 as a vocalist of the group. She belongs to Assam, and based on her skills, she was selected by many groups. After this, she also started her career as a solo artist.

Conclusion

The road to becoming a K-pop idol from India is the test of your perseverance and ability. Start by getting perfect in dancing and passing online auditions conducted by K-pop recruitment agencies. There are chances of success with stiff competition, cultural adaptation, and long, hardworking routines. Only your talent allows you to influence, choreography, or to enter the booming K-pop industry in India. It is only a matter of time before the next K-pop star in India is you.

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