6 crazy K-pop idol scouting stories: Exo’s Baekhyun and Shinee’s Key and Taemin got their starts in more unusual ways than most ...
For the most part, K-pop idols enter the industry in a pretty straightforward way. They get scouted, join auditions and pass them. But some stars have more unusual scouting stories. From joining auditions for the opposite gender to disobeying judges and even literally banging on agencies’ doors, here are seven idols who got their foot in the door in very unconventional ways.
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Shinee’s Key
During a guest appearance on Happy Together, Shinee’s Key was asked how he became a star. Key mentioned that, unlike his fellow bandmates and idol colleagues, he was never scouted. Rather, he went to SM Entertainment and caused a racket. He said in the show, “I was banging on the agency door and begged, ‘Please let me in! Just once! I will really do my best!’”
Eventually, they let him audition and he became part of one of the world’s most popular K-pop boy bands.
NCT’s Taeyong
A member of boy bands NCT and SuperM, the singer-songwriter didn’t know anything about K-pop when he was first scouted on the street by an SM Entertainment agent. In fact, according to Soompi, he did not even know which company the agent belonged to!
On an episode of Happy Together, he revealed that when he entered the auditions he had no songs to sing and resorted to singing the national anthem. Needless to say, his performance was well received and he was selected into the agency.
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WayV’s Winwin
NCT and WayV’s main dancer, Winwin was approached by a casting manager while he was outside his school. According to Koreaboo, Winwin revealed the story on an episode of radio show 2pm Date: upon being approached by a stranger, Winwin was wary and gave them the wrong phone number on purpose. But that did not stop the agents from trying to scout him.
After a few more tries, an SM agent walked away with his real phone number and a promise for an audition, which Winwin eventually passed.
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2PM’s Wooyoung
On an episode of Knowing Bros, 2PM’s Wooyoung spoke about how he had auditioned for a girl group called Wonder Girls just because he was adamant about getting into JYP Entertainment. He knew that there was no way he would pass a girl group audition, but he still did it because he wanted to prove himself to JYP no matter the circumstances.
He went on to audition for the company every six months only to be rejected each time. He finally passed in 2007 and debuted with 2PM in 2008. Talk about persistence.
Shinee’s Taemin
During the 2005 audition, the judges told all the contestants to dance behind a line of white tape. While showing off his talent, a 14-year-old Taemin went against the instructions and stepped over of the line. But contrary to the expected reaction, the judges were actually quite impressed and the rest is history.
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TVXQ’s Changmin
A good son, Changmin complied, ending up passing the auditions and becoming part of the legendary TVXQ.
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Exo’s Baekhyun
Baekhyun gave auditioning another chance and ended up debuting with Exo just 11 months later.
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- If Changmin’s mum hadn’t tried to meet Boa, would he have ever joined TVXQ? And did NCT’s Taeyong really sing South Korea’s national anthem at his audition?
- Shinee’s Key caused a racket at SM Entertainment by literally banging on the door, while bandmate Taemin disobeyed the judges at his audition