Chasing the K-pop dream

At Singapore training academy SM Universe, 15 young hopefuls took their first steps towards their pop-star goals

- Joanne Soh

The road to being a K-pop star is extremely challenging, and even after years of rigorous training, one may not even make it past an audition.

Yet, it is not stopping some Singaporean teens from pursuing their K-pop dreams, one baby step at a time.

Qti Tan, 17, and Cherise Sim, 13, were among the pioneer batch of 15 students aged 11 to 19 who underwent an intensive five-day K-pop intermediate training programme conducted by K-pop training academy SM Universe (Singapore). It was held at youth space *Scape in Orchard Road from June 16 to 20.

The youth took dance, vocal, recording and modelling lessons from 10am to 5pm, and were put through the wringer like a real K-pop trainee.

SM Universe specialises in K-pop training programmes. It is a subsidiary of SM Entertainment, one of the "Big Four" K-pop agencies alongside Hybe, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment.

The *Scape campus opened its doors in June and is the only SM Universe training academy in South-east Asia. All the trainers involved in the Singapore curriculum are South Korean industry experts who are part of the teaching pool in the main SM Universe campus.

Qti, who taught herself K-pop choreography from YouTube videos, has always loved dancing and performing.

Joining the K-pop training programme by SM Universe (Singapore) - priced at $1,000 - was "a good chance to learn new things and get proper guidance from real instructors", she tells The Straits Times.

LEARNING FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS

"I also want to experience what it is like to train in a professional environment," adds Qti, who is a fan of Blackpink.

The fashion management and design student at Temasek Polytechnic says her introduction to the music genre was from watching the K-pop girl group's How You Like That music video in 2020 when she was in primary school.