AOA’s Chanmi, eliminated from survival show Girl’s Re:verse, on finding her voice with the show, doing what she likes and big agency privilege
- Im Chan-mi, eliminated from the survival show where 30 K-pop singers compete in the metaverse, reveals why appearing in this show was a refreshing experience
- She explains how it allowed her to reflect on the prejudice and bias in the industry and how the virtual platform gave her freedom to create what she liked
By Lee Gyulee
Competing on Korean music survival show Girl’s Re:verse allowed Im Chan-mi, better known as Chanmi of the K-pop girl group AOA, to explore her voice.
The show incorporates high-end technology with K-pop – the contestants hide their real-life identities and, wearing VR headsets and controllers in separate spaces, show off their skills and talents through their virtual avatars. Only the top finalists will make their debut as a new K-pop group in the virtual world.
Im was the singer behind the avatar Dohwa. The singer failed to pass a preliminary round in which the contestants sang one on one.
“When I was doing group activities, it was important to find what suits all of us,” the singer said during a recent interview via video chat. “The focus was on what we all do best. But in the virtual world, my priority was whatever I wanted to do, and what I do the best. Because there was a freedom in creating the visuals [of the performance], I created the character I like and put emphasis on the elements I prefer when making a performance.”