Sign Up
..... Connect Australia with the world.
Categories

Posted: 2024-08-26 11:14:42

Perfection.

It's an ideal we all fall short of.

But when you're a K-pop star, perfection is what's expected.

"Sometimes I do enjoy the pressure because it drives me even more to be better as a performer, as an artist, as a writer [and] musician," Blackswan's Fatou says.

"It's difficult, it's hard, but I enjoy it.

"It's like a fire behind my butt."

Bandmate Sriya agrees.

"Sometimes I also enjoy pressure," she says.

"Because for me, there needs to be pressure to become better."

Fatou, Sriya, Gabi and NVee, who make up Blackswan, were speaking to ABC News ahead of the premiere of the Apple TV+ series K-Pop Idols, which follows the group as they experience internal tensions and grapple with a dramatic shake-up.

The six-part series also features K-pop star Jessi as she embarks on her first solo tour, and the group Cravity as they navigate industry pressures.

Seven Asian men who make up Cravity dancing in a rehearsal room wearing casual clothing

Cravity navigates industry pressures in the series. (Supplied: Apple TV+)

And the pressures are immense.

They're expected to be role models.

And yes, perfect — physically and artistically.

It's got to the stage where NVee has come to enjoy burpees, leg raises and push ups, because being in peak physical condition is what gives her the vitality to sustain back-to-back concerts and world tours.

"You have to have a lot of stamina and endurance because a lot of our songs have tough choreography," NVee says.

"And it's not just the dance that needs energy.

"It's also the vocals and your rap. Everything that you need to use your voice for.

"That's also a muscle that you have to prepare and use because if you don't prepare your body, it's going to sound very shaky, it's going to be flat."

Three women dancing on stage, another just off camera. The one in the middle, Jessi, is dressed in blue. The others in pink

Jessi is featured in the series as she prepares for her first solo tour. (Supplied: Apple TV+)

A fly-on-the-wall look at behind-the-scenes infighting

With a camera around 24/7, a few dust-ups are documented.

Fatou doesn't shy away from the emotions she felt in the moment.

"I was grateful that the camera was there," she says.

"I was so filled up with so many words [and] thoughts that I just had to let it out."

NVee says allowing audiences in at times when there is infighting shows they're human.

"You're always seeing an idol or an artist through a camera," NVee says.

"And so, you think, 'Oh, they don't have problems. They just go on stage. They probably have some small bad days, but I'm sure it's not bad.'

"But you get to see we're human, and so we have emotions too, and sometimes you've just got to let it out. And that's how humans deal with emotions instead of bottling it up.

"It's like the camera was a therapist."

Changing of the guard

Fatou is the only original member of the group left. She says at first it was difficult to adjust, but they're now a dream team.

Four women rehearsing, they are an earlier iteration of the K-Pop group Blackswan

Blackswan now has no Korean members. (Supplied: Apple TV+)

"I've gained these amazing three human beings beside me," she says.

"I'm very grateful it changed because if that didn't change we wouldn't have the really, really, really big dream team like right now."

The change in line-up caused a significant shift in the make-up of the group, which was left with no Korean members.

That's right.

A K-pop group with no Koreans.

"At first, when I heard we were going to be an only-foreigner group, I was like, 'Oh, this hasn't been done yet. So, is it going to work?' Gabi says.

"I had that thought, a little bit questioning.

"But at the end, it worked so well.

"We are treated so well here in Korea.

"We are sharing our culture to Korea, and we are showing Korea to [the] outside [world] too.

"So, it's a good give and receive match that we've got."

The group is based in South Korea, they all speak the language, and some of their lyrics are also in Korean.

"At the end of the day, we're a K-pop group," NVee says.

"So, it is what it is."

K-Pop Idols premieres Friday, August 30 on Apple TV+.

View More
  • 0 Comment(s)
Captcha Challenge
Reload Image
Type in the verification code above