#smaudition

Hi everyone!

Three days ago, I went to the 2017 SM Global auditions in Toronto, Canada and I wanted to post about my experience before I forget anything. Just in case some people may need proof of my audition, I’ll post my audition sticker here.

I wanted to share my experience with everyone because before I auditioned, I was extremely nervous and worried about what this might be like. I read countless experience stories but some of them were at least a few years old, and a few (no offence to them) did not seem legit. And even if they were really well written, I found almost no experiences from Canada, so here I am. 

This is going to be a really (x100) long post so grab something to eat and sit tight LOL. 

First off, I’ll start off with some background info. about myself and the audition itself. I’m 19, a Korean-born Canadian, and this was my first live audition EVER. (I actually sent an email audition to SM a year back, but we’ll talk about that later). I sent my email for SM around two weeks (?) back before the actual audition date (April 27) and got my confirmation email a few days later. It gave me the time and place of the audition, while emphasizing multiple times to be on time. My audition was at 2pm, in the Holiday Inn in downtown Toronto. Honestly, I was kind of late and arrived 5 minutes before 2 but that did not really matter because I had to wait for more than two hours for my audition LOL. And when I went there there was a pretty long line up for the audition sticker + my form, and I was not the last one to line up (there was probably two dozens of people that came after me). I was kind of surprised they did not need any ID or proof that I received the email confirming my audition, but I guessed that with the amount of people that auditioned that day, that would take too long. My guess is that they’ll just let anyone audition in a first come first serve basis, regardless if you signed up online or not. 

Anyway, after I got my audition form and sticker, I was told to fill it out and then wait in the waiting room until my number was called. When I went in, they were at least 100 away from my number (so like 15689) so I knew I’d have a long wait. Nevertheless, I went in there and filled out basic information such as my gender, age, name, school year, what I auditioned for, my email address (except yahoo), and our height and weight. For this reason (and many others I will mention later) I would recommend losing at least a little bit of weight for your audition. I unfortunately lost only 1kg (OTL) so I didn’t get any points there for sure. 

Anyways, as I was waiting I realized how I wasn’t really warmed up so I went outside the room and out of the building to practice singing. Btw, on the other side of the sheet we had to sign a waiver that said SM is allowed to upload our audition to their social media and that we aren’t allowed to go to any other place in the Holiday Inn, but thankfully I didn’t get into trouble because I was basically outside the building. 

By the time I was finished practicing it was around 3, so went back in (just in case) and waited until my turn. (I think it was around 3:30). They call up two groups of 10 people and have you line up in a single line and wait until we are called to the audition rooms. As far as I know, there were two different audition rooms, and people are taken every 10-20 minutes. (From this you can kind of guess just how many people auditioned lol). Unfortunately for the other audition room they had to stand and wait while my group was able to sit down. Anyways, we were guided by a person to the audition room, where a person was there to explain what we should do (depending on what we were auditioning for) and things to remember.  For singers, we were told to only sing the highlight of the song because we could get cut off while for dancers they were told to dance behind the line. For models, it was kind of complicated (she admitted it herself) they had to walk up multiple times (like 3 or 4) and do three poses each time or something. And I was unable to see this because model auditions were done after singing. If you want to audition as a composer, you will be asked to give a usb with your composition, introduce yourself, and answer a few question(s). The ones they asked were: “When did you start composing”. I’m able to answer this because the group before us were still dong auditions when we walked in. Unfortunately, I’m unable to answer questions about VJ / acting / CF models because the person did not give instructions on how to do this because there was nobody auditioning for acting, VJ and CF models. 

Now back to the story: when we walked in, the group before us went up first, and the singers were asked to step forward and do their audition first while the dance auditions occurred after them. The judges (1 woman and 1 man doing the camera) asked us if there were any dancers in our group, and they did them together with the first group. While the dance auditions occurred, the remainder of our group had to wait while sitting in chairs at the side of the room. Something to mention here is that they spoke to us mostly in KOREAN. The few times they (the man) spoke english was when asking for dancers in my group, asking questions to the composer, and lastly when they asked us to come up and leave. Any other instruction such as “Yes, next”, “number XXXXX please stay”, and “keep going” (all from the woman) were all done in Korean. I found that kind of odd considering this is a GLOBAL audition done in CANADA. The man repeated the question in english when the he/she did not understand or if they didn’t do what she told them to do. I actually had to help a guy out because the woman’s phone went off in the middle of his singing so she told him to continue but he didn’t understand and stopped because he finished. I used a little body english (aka. moving my hand in rapid circles) because she instructed him in Korean. He actually thanked me after LOL. Thankfully I was second in line and he was close enough to see me quite clearly. 

For the actual audition, they just told us that we’ll go from left to right and to look at the camera while doing our audition (they didn’t say this for the dancers but most of them did). So I went and I was sooo (x1000) nervous that my voice cracked a little bit but I still got my high note. My voice wasn’t in the best condition so it was kind of scratchy :( 

Anyways, the guy that was 2 numbers behind me didn’t look at the camera so the woman told him to, and he was actually the one that was asked to stay behind! He wasn’t the best, but he had a good voice and I think she took note of that because she kept staring him down while taking notes even after he finished LOL. 

One thing that was disappointing was that neither of the two judges actually looked at us when we were singing, except for the guy that wasn’t looking at the camera. So when you do your audition make sure to sing something that matches your voice well so it can catch their attention! I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have caught him not looking at the camera if he didn’t have a nice voice so sing confidently!! One girl messed up pretty badly when she was singing Rolling in the Deep by Adele, but she kept going and this earned her nods from the judges so keep going even if you mess up!!! 

And after this was over, they thanked us and told us to leave, and that was that. Outside the room there was around 6 people still waiting to audition so I was one of the last people to audition. And by the time this ended (it was around 4:30) the Holiday Inn was almost empty. 

And (drum roll please) that was my experience!!! I hope you guys enjoyed reading this far and learned something new. The whole audition was a lot of fun (actually saw someone from my school there LOL and he was in the group before me so I got to see him audition). 

Lastly before I end this, I’ll just give a few tips for you guys: 

1. DON’T wear a lot of makeup. I saw A LOT of girls wearing too much makeup and this didn’t look too good tbh. A girl in the group before me actually wore really long fake eyelashes that just made her eyes look too doll like and unnatural. So wear light makeup (I just did cushion foundation, brows, mascara and a light lipstick, but it wore off since I drank a lot of water). 

2. DON’T dress to impress. Many girls wore shorts and tank tops, and some of the guys did their hair. I mean it was very hot that day, but I think wearing jeans / sweats / leggings would’ve been much better. Also, a lot of the girls wore white t-shirts with the green bomber jacket and the jeans + the black boots LOL. So try to just dress comfortably, especially if you’re dancing. BUT definitely don’t wear pyjamas or something LOL. 

3. TRY to sing a Korean song. There was one girl in my group that was not Korean but still sang Kim Bum Soo’s I miss you and earned a smile from the female judge. Obviously her pronunciation wasn’t very good and she was off pitch and too fast in some places but she still tried, and this shows a lot about your determination. Other than me and her, everyone else sang english songs. OH and nobody was cut off thankfully when we were singing, so that was a plus. 

4. Forgot to mention this, but for dancers, they played generic pop songs such as Ariana Grande and another song that I didn’t know for our group. 

5. If you get really nervous while singing in front of others, then do this trick: Breathe in deeply, and when breathing out, relax your shoulders enough so that they flop down. Don’t do this too much where your shoulder starts to hurt! This temporarily relaxes your shoulders and your neck so you don’t strain them when you sing. 

6. Try to get a good night sleep (at least 8 hours) the night before and don’t practice too much. I made the mistake of sleeping for only 5-6 hours while straining my throat during practice the day before. Drink lots of water and remember to think that you can do it! Because if you already think that you failed, or that you can’t do it before you actually do it, then you’re most likely not going to do well. Mental control is key during stressful situations like this! 

7. Lastly, don’t put all of your hope and dreams into one audition. Why I say this is not because I doubt any of your guys’ talents, but because the chances of getting accepted into SM are very slim. Depending on when you audition, their moods and their viewpoints may be different, and we can’t change that. And by viewpoints I mean what SM is looking for at that time. In groups, the group’s atmosphere and their needed talent is very important so it may differ from the to time! 

8. (You saw this coming): Try to lose some weight for the audition. Like I mentioned before, I would recommend this because I do believe what they look for during auditions is 70% looks and 30% talent. I’m sure we’ve all noticed this before, but when the MV’s and the SM Global audition messages from kpop starts were being played in the waiting room, everyone was SOO beautiful. (LOL DUH **Facepalm**). But other than the looks factor, another reason to lost weight is because most of us will look bigger on camera. And because we are evaluated through the recorded video, looking slimmer may give you bonus points. Also, I think you’ll win extra points if you’re tall, especially if you’re a guy because the guys I saw there were all pretty short. I’m kind of tall (168 cm) so I saw guys that were shorter / around the same height as me. But of course, there were guys that were a bit taller, but not really taller than me (as in above 180 cm). Korean women love tall guys, so that’s what SM would take highly for their artists. (Take Johnny from NCT for example - he looks like a model everywhere he goes and is known for his ‘physical’).

P.S. If anyone is wondering if I saw anyone hot enough to be in SM’s new girl / boy group, the answer is no, except for this one guy I did see that was half Korean / half white. He had the beautiful big eyes that Koreans love in half Koreans so he was very eye-catching LOL. He’s born in the year 2000 btw (I sat next to him and saw his registration form hehehe). But I mean I can’t really be the judge because my views on what is considered ‘good looking’ may be different from SM’s, so don’t take my word for this!

9. It’s okay if you mess up during your audition. FNC mentioned in a broadcast that what’s important in auditions is not so much how well you do, but your star quality. The judges WILL know that we get nervous, and so we may not be on the beat and we may be a little off pitch. What they’re looking for is the potential for you do be a kpop star and to ‘sell’ (sounds wrong to say this for people) to the audience. And this is why I actually believe that the standards for most entertainment companies is 70% ‘looks’ (or star quality) and 30% talent, because now it’s so important to be funny in variety shows. Because if you have the star quality (the wittiness or that special ‘something’ that catches people’s attention and / or good looks), then you’re more likely to ‘sell’ well. Your aura, personality and poise all play a role in determining your star quality, so don’t be discouraged if you believe your looks aren’t good enough. 

And lastly to finally end this long post, I just want to give a big hug to all of you reading this, trying to figure out / work towards your dream while living life. I’ve been there (still am LOL) and I know how tough it is, trying to do well in school while kpop and social media distracts us. It’s hard trying to maintain a social life and getting a good night’s sleep but I just want to tell you guys that it will all be over one day. And I also want to congratulate you guys for actually reading this because that means you have a dream / interest that you want to work on, and trust me, having a dream (even as big as a kpop star) is better than having no dreams at all (been there, done that). Moreover, although you should know when to give up, you should also know when to work harder and to not give up so easily, especially because of one audition. Truth to be told, I’m probably going to audition again not just for SM, but for other entertainment companies because I’m going to Korea in less than a week (yay!). And I would encourage you guys to do the same because I feel so much more confident now that I have experienced a live audition and know what it’s like. So if you don’t pass your second audition, try again! You’ll do much better the second time and this will help you decide if the K-pop industry is right for you. 

Moreover, it’s heartbreaking to say this as a SM stan, but SM may not be the right entertainment company for you (and me). If we see the current k-pop stars, not only did many of them audition multiple times, but they failed in one company but got into another. This just proves how the standards for each company will be a little bit different from one another. An example of this would be with IOI / Gugudan’s Sejong, where she was recognized as a talent from YG in Kpopstar season 2 while SM gave up on casting her during the casting rounds when they had the priority. YG even mentioned how they have different styles and standards for their company. So PLEASE, if you’re really passionate about this, don’t give up from the first company. 

FINALLY! It’s literally 5:30 AM right now so I’m not sure if my writing makes sense, but Thank you so much for reading this far and I hope this helped you in any way! Feel free to ask any questions / clarifications for anything and remember: Don’t give up on your first try! Even someone as pretty and talented as IU had to audition multiple times before being accepted in Loen. Even if it was not one of the Big 3 companies, she still went in and gained success! Lastly, I hope to see at least one of us here succeed into the Kpop world! Good luck everyone!! 

Getting into the kpop world would make you want to audition for Korean entertainment companies, which can probably range from the famous companies, such as SM and YG to the less popular ones, such as &August and 101 Doors. The huge companies usually broadcast their auditions across the world, such as the SM Global Auditions.

I applied for the global auditions that was going to be held in New York City. (February 21, 2016) Honestly, it was a fun and exciting experience, despite me screwing up in front of the camera. For some basic information, the SM Global Audition in New York took place in the Radisson Martinique on Broadway. It’s at the edge of Koreatown, which is pretty much self explanatory. 

The audition time I received was 2PM, as I did apply pretty late. I convinced two of my friends to come with me since I didn’t want to go alone. (I applied on Wednesday night, and the audition was on Sunday) This left me barely any time to prepare, and I would surely apply earlier for the next audition. I kept practicing for it, changing the endings of the song and mixing it In the end, I decided to sing Rolling in the Deep by Adele, but I mixed it up by doing the iKON version. (Does that make sense?) One of my friends, let’s refer to her as A decided to sing Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars and the other friend, B, dropped out the morning of the audition because she wasn’t prepared for it. 

I got there with A an hour early, and it was pretty easy to spot honestly. The bright pink SM sign was on the door of the Radisson Martinique, and the second we walked in, the doorman went like “Auditions? This way,” as if he was used to the process by now. The moment I entered the waiting room I could tell why. There was already roughly 500 people there. On the way, I had received half a sheet of paper, which consisted of the basic information. Name, birthday, weight, height, school, grade, address, contact information. I also received a sticker that said “10991 S.M Entertainment” I was told to place it on my upper left chest. 

After filling in the form, a Korean lady collected it, and me and my friend basically sat down and started talking about how nervous we are, and how we might screw up..etc. I use the bathroom a lot when I’m nervous, and since I was sitting in the middle of the row, I think the people who had to get up when I was rushing to the bathroom got annoyed by me. 

So to briefly describe the waiting room, there was a huge presenter in the front of the room, and SM music videos were on repeat the entire time, with an advertisement for a music app from time to time. There was probably 50 rows of chairs, with around 24 chairs in each row. These seats where separated in the middle, and there was a pathway in between them. However, even with each seat filled, there was still a bunch of contestants who had to stand in the back. There were many Korean workers who were scrambling to get everything done, screaming at people to sit down and to pass their paper up. 

We sat there for around 4 hours, with me fidgeting with my phone most of the time, annoyed by the amount of time it took. (I was also starving so..) So my row was finally called up (It was a group of 10 people) and we were led into another waiting room. This one was smaller, and didn’t have much seats. There were around 40 people inside that room, and they were split into half, 20 of them would audition in Room A and the rest would audition in Room B. 

We waited approximately 10 minutes before entering our audition room. (Room A) During that time, we could hear singing from inside the audition rooms, they weren’t soundproof. When we finally got inside, there was 2 people, one acting as a judge, and a cameraman. The judge was sitting with a huge pile of papers facing down in front of her, and the cameraman was standing to her left, adjusting the camera angle. The cameraman then told us to look at the camera while auditioning, and not at the judge. 

This time, our group of 10 was separated into 2 groups of 5. The first 5 would stand in a row in front of the camera while the second half would sit on chairs on the side of the room, watching. I was part of the first 5, and I had to go 4th. We actually messed up the order at first, we lined up in a column due to our nervousness and I swear you could have heard our heartbeat if you listened hard enough. There was a huge pink poster behind us, filling up the wall. It said SM AUDITIONS 2016 on it, with pictures from current artists. 

At that point, me and A were so nervous we were grasping each other’s hands tightly.The first person started to audition. She was an Asian, and sang a Korean song. I’m not quite sure what the song was, but it sounded like K. Will or Eddy Kim. When she stopped singing, the judge said thank you, and placed the girl’s application in the huge pile in front of her. The second girl went after, singing a song by John Legend. She was decent, like the one before her, and also got eliminated. (Going into the big face down papers) My friend, who was before me, sang in a loud clear voice. The judge was looking down at her phone, probably due to boredom, but looked up after the first note. Soon after, she also went into the reject pile. Finally, it was my turn. I practiced a ton between Thursday and Sunday, and my voice got sore. Screwing up the first note, I also went into the huge pile. However, the lady still let me continue through the song until I was done, like the contestants before me. The fifth girl, who was a nonAsian singing a Korean song, barely got through 3 lines before the lady told her to stop. 

And that was my SM Entertainment Audition experience. It was fun, and nerve wreaking, but I would love to go again. Below, I will list some tips and things I wish I knew before the SM Audition. If you plan on auditioning for SM or any companies soon, I wish you the best of luck. Just go up and have fun. 

SM Audition Tips:

-Bring a Bottle of Water (In case you get a case of hiccups or end up practicing in the bathroom before the audition. Staying there for a long amount of time would also get you dehydrated if you don’t consume enough water, so make sure you bring at least one!)

-Don’t Practice Too Much (This contradicts the idea that “Practice makes perfect.” However, if you were to get a sore throat before the audition, you wouldn’t be able to give it your all.)

-Bring Earbuds / Headphones (Not all 500 people have the same taste in music you have. Bring earbuds allow you to listen to your music without having to worry about the people around you judging your taste.)

-Wear Comfortable Clothing (If you’re dancing, just wear a loose shirt and some sweatpants with sneakers. If you’re singing / MCing / VJing, wear a sweater and some jeans. If you’re modeling, make sure your clothing isn’t really revealing. Your fashion choice won’t really matter during the audition, so don’t worry too much about it.)

-Choose a Backup Song (If you decide on a popular song, chances are, there are other people who are going to sing that exact same song. Picking a song that is unique but still fits your style allows you to stand out, and not in a bad way.)

-Bring a Pen (When they ask you to fill in that half sheet of paper, they don’t give you a pen to use. Bringing a pen is extremely important in these occasions, since there probably won’t be enough pens to go around.)

-Don’t Fangirl / Fanboy (This one is sorta hard to explain. Don’t go in singing a song that the company produced. They don’t want another Super Junior wannabe. Plus, they probably heard the song a thousand times, and they might be tired of it. During my audition, I saw a guy who was wearing an EXO sweater. While I adore EXO, wearing a company’s clothing shows how desperate you are, and can lower your chances of getting in.) 

-SMILE SMILE SMILE (Even if you mess up lyrics, or fall down in the middle of your dance performance, SMILE. Don’t ask for another chance, or bow and say sorry over and over again. Even idols can mess up lyrics from time to time. During Taeyeon’s audition [SNSD / Girls Generation] she forgot the lyrics, and just stood there and smiled.)

-Have Fun (Despite all the nervousness you might be feeling, loosen up. There are so many people who are having the same fear at that moment, who are right there with you. Make some new friends, exchange contact information, joke around. When you audition, go and give it your best.)

“If you don’t give up your hopes and dreams, then there’ll always be a good ending.” (Minho, SHINee)

For you guys who are scared shitless, I’m here for you.

I was terrified. We got to L.A at around 11, giving us time to walk around and shop. (Signed AOA album really lifted my mood) After we went to eat, we started walking to the building. Keep in mind that Wilshire is like 80 miles long probably, so as were walking, we were dying. Having done auditions before, I knew pretty much what to expect, and it made me scared to the point I was shaking. I don’t know why, but when my friend’s dad said we made it, I expected a bit more. I don’t know why. The building was tall but very small looking width wise. Nobody was outside really, but we noticed girls eventually walking in. We shoved our merchandise into our bags and went in.

Holy shit.

I stuck out like a sore thumb. Well, me and my friends did at least. I was shaking again, and we faced the door in plain fear. Lucky for us there was a 8x11 hallway thing that was between a window and the door so I got to practice before hand. These girls came up to us and comforted us, saying it wasn’t so bad and it gave me confidence. Plus this girl walked out saying she had danced the worst she had danced in her life, which also helped me out. Problem eventually arose that we had to go to the bathroom. They were all locked. So we worked up the courage to go inside to ask for the key, and opened the door together. I didn’t really get a good look around because we REALLY needed to use the bathroom. So once we walked back outside, I SPRINTED to the bathroom and unlocked it. There were 2 stalls, and apparently one of the doors didn't work. I was in that door. My little group of 3. My friend stayed outside the stalls and was brushing her hair into the mirror- Until she realized my door was open. I didn’t notice until 4 seconds after, and i panicked and quickly closed it shut, asking for my friend to hold it.

So after being embarrassed out of my mind, we walked back into the application room. The (very pretty) girl handed us our application, and we filled it out. She didn’t look at me weird, which really made me feel better. It had general identity questions, height, weight, ethnicity, background culture, english/chinese/korean name, etc., and also had questions as to why you deserve to be a trainee. I simply put that my dream was to make people smile with my performances and dances. I turned the paper over and read the privacy policy, signed it, and handed it back. I finally got a good look at the room. There was a tv playing mvs, a giant henry cutout, a glass case of like 8579894 albums( not really but it was alot ), and little plaques and posters covering the room. I didn’t look for long though. We were called in immediately.

I was next to a girl named Wonru, my friend Cassie, and my friend Gabby was last. We walked in order to the door, and the judge inside gave us our numbers. My shirt was lower than the other people, so she was like: “ Is it okay if this is like half on your shirt and half on your skin? “ I laughed and said yeah. 

First up was her introducing herself. I never got her name but she called herself the LA judge. I later decided to call her Juju, so lets go by that. Juju is one of the nicest judges you’d ever meet. Even the company knows shes the nice judge. She told us what was expected of us and she joked around alot, and she was very pleasant to talk to. Tip: TALK TO THEM. Get into the conversation. Compliment them. Smile. SMILE. Back to the story. So, she told us to do our introductions, and if we were singers, to just start. Wonru went first, introducing herself in English and Korean, and oh my god. I just about had my heart leap out of my chest and run away, or just simply asked her to punch me in the face. She sang beautifully. Apparently she was rejected by SM 6 times. Step up your game, SM. She sang once in Chinese, and then she was asked to sing in Korean. Then it was my turn. I did my English and as much of the Korean introduction I knew, and I was allowed to wait until the end for the Rhythm test. My friend Cassie was next. She did her English introduction, but she doesn't know Korean, so she awkwardly just said hello. She went to start, but she forgot her lyrics. So they moved on to Gabby. Gabby also did her English intro, not doing the Korean intro, and then went to start. She also forgot the lyrics. Apparently the mvs in the main room threw them off, so they forgot their lyrics. I tried to sing a few lyrics of the song as quiet as I could that she did know so that shed remember, but she shook her head and said she couldn’t do it. She started suggesting that we could try out for other things. Not meaning to pinpoint people, she pointed at Wonru as she said: “ Acting, modeling, “ Then pointing at me, “singing, “ In my head I said “” Shit. She heard me.” And then just looking at Cassie and Gabby as she said “ dancing.”

 Juju turned to me and said, “Would you rather have them be in here, or do it alone?” I shrugged and said, “ While it would make me feel most comfortable doing it alone, I’d have to get used to dancing in front of people anyways. “ This honestly seemed to take her aback. She smiled and said that she’d give me the privilege of doing it alone. They walked out, and Juju told me to stand on an ugly spot on the floor and told me my distance maximum. She told me I’d dance for about 20 seconds and then she’d stop me, and then she started the song. I knew about 6 seconds of the song from vine, but the rest was new to me. I don’t even remember what I did honestly, but I noticed I was dancing a bit long, the longest 20 seconds of my life. I later found out she kept me going for an entire minute, a thing judges do when they like what they see. She told me to stop, and I bowed. She asked if I had questions, and I nervously asked how I did. She smiled and said this word for word and I’ll never forget it: “That’s confidential....but you definitely did not do bad.” I got extremely happy from this, and bowed and said my thank you, leaving. I immediately ran into my friends’ arms, crying. I was, and still am EXTREMELY proud of myself.We ran into Wonru outside, and she told my friends to audition next time and once again I would’ve let her punch me. We said our goodbyes and I told her good luck, and we got on the bus to go back. Getting off the bus, we ran into Wonru AGAIN, and we all laughed and said our final goodbyes.

SM AUDITION 2014 in Indonesia (Cerita Pengalaman)

Annyeong haseyo! 

Udah lama gak ngeblog, ato nulis FF, ya karna waktu dan sekarang M.Wordnya gak bisa dibuka jadinya gini:( /curhat. oksip lupakan, kita lanjut ke topik diatas wkwkk

Kalian pasti tau dong ada apa di tanggal 21 – 23 Februari 2013, especially kalian nih para Kpopers? Yap betul sekali, SMENT mengadakan audisi di Indonesia untuk pertama kalinya! *yayy* tepatnya di Manhattan Hotel,…