The road to K-pop stardom is long and arduous

The road to K-pop stardom is long and arduous

Editor's Note: A new episode of "The Whole Story: K-Pop: A Star is Made," which follows a group of teenage girls' journey to idol careers, airs Sunday, January 5 at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.

The search for the next K-pop star

Seven girls sit in a room and wait for their names to be called. All are young, slim and beautiful, aged 14 to 20, with shiny hair and flawless skin. Tense anticipation is in the air and nervousness is written on their faces. They are about to find out which of them will join South Korea's newest K-pop group - a dream shared by countless young talents in the country and increasingly around the world as the multi-billion dollar industry grows in popularity worldwide.

A hard road to fame

But the path to this room is long and arduous. The girls have spent months or years honing their skills in singing, dancing, rapping and performing - all while following strict exercise and diet plans. Many have given up their education or left their families hundreds of kilometers behind. In the fast-paced world of K-pop, where stars are young and groups often break up after just a few years, some girls feel like this is their only chance.

"In the idol world, 18 is very old... If I miss this opportunity, I'll worry about whether there will be another place where I will be accepted," said 18-year-old Ah-In Lee, one of the seven final trainees at K-pop agency MZMC.

Insights into the training conditions

CNN reporter Kyung Lah had exclusive access to MZMC's final week of training before the group was introduced to the public for the first time. MZMC founder and CEO Paul Thompson, an American who has written and produced hundreds of K-pop songs, estimated that they conducted thousands of auditions before selecting about 30 girls as official trainees - of which only seven now remain.

The others either dropped out or were excluded during monthly evaluations that checked whether trainees were improving quickly enough. These eliminations are the norm in the massive K-pop industry, which differs from other music industries worldwide in the manner of artist development and production programs. Agencies not only train stars, but also manage their schedules, prepare public debuts, manage media appearances and concerts, facilitate online interactions with fans, and monitor numerous aspects of stars' personal lives.

The pursuit of perfection

The US once had a system similar to Motown, where the label discovered young talent and taught them to perform in the '60s and '70s - but that system disappeared because it was "too expensive," says Thompson. In South Korea, however, things have flourished - MZMC is a relatively small company. Thompson estimated that larger labels hire hundreds of trainees before making a final selection.

One of the seven girls on MZMC is Brittney Jang, a soft-spoken 20-year-old who grew up in the United States before returning to South Korea to pursue her K-pop dreams. The oldest of the trainees, she seemed confident about her chances of reaching the final five - perhaps because she knew what was at stake. If she doesn't get selected, "that means I can't become an idol," she told CNN. “This is my last chance.”

The Reality of K-Pop Training

The girls' daily routine begins with two hours in the gym, followed by a full day of classes that include singing and dancing lessons. Younger members like 14-year-old Liwon Kim only attend regular school for half the day before heading straight to training, which can last until midnight. Some don't even live with their families, but live in dormitories - like 17-year-old Rana Koga from Japan, the only non-Korean trainee.

The pressure can be relentless while their appearance and skills are constantly under scrutiny. Part of this reflects the culture in South Korea, where strict beauty standards traditionally value fair-skinned, slim bodies and hyper-feminine features. Cosmetic surgeries like double eyelid surgery are so common that they are often offered as graduation gifts from parents to teenagers.

The dark side of fame

Appearance expectations are even higher for K-pop stars. “The word is idol,” argues Thompson, the CEO of MZMC. "No one wants to emulate someone who looks like them. You want to look up to someone and say, 'I want to be like that person. Look how flawless and perfect they are.'"

But the demand for thinness can take on dark sides. “Definitely people were excluded from (training programs) because of their weight,” said Amber Liu, a Taiwanese-American former idol who now works as an indie artist. "I developed a very unhealthy habit of just starving myself... I was 16, I didn't know what to do."

The weight expectations that shape the daily lives of MZMC trainees are evident in their daily interactions with diet and body weight.

"I have to eat while reducing the amount of food and calculating the nutritional value and calories. It's a little difficult," said Lee, the 18-year-old trainee, giggling as she listed pizza as her favorite food. "You could say that (looks) are the most important thing for an idol because it's a job where being seen is the most important thing."

Thompson, the CEO, said the agency measures trainees' body mass index twice a month. "We offer them roasted chicken and boiled eggs and things like that... They eat enough," he said, defending the diet as key to the group's "visual aesthetic." He also insisted that the agency does not pressure the trainees to undergo plastic surgery as he values ​​their musical talents first. Nevertheless, this idea remains present in the girls' minds.

The price of fame

Even when a group is finalized and makes its public debut, the pressure doesn't let up - in fact, the stakes rise.

Of all the groups debuting in the saturated market, less than 1% reach the level of global fame now associated with names like BTS or Blackpink, said Woonghee Kim, MZMC's casting director.

Fame also comes with its own limitations. Passionate superfans of high-profile groups often analyze the looks, performances, and Private life of the members. Perceived “bad” behavior such as smoking or drinking can provoke widespread public criticism and lead stars to live under strict rules. Even dating has been a sensitive topic in the past, with angry fans turning against artists who made their relationships public.

Last year, K-pop singer Karina of girl group Aespa was forced to post a handwritten apology online after confirming her relationship with an actor, prompting fans to threaten "falling album sales and empty concert seats." The relationship ended just a few weeks later.

Experts have previously told CNN that this phenomenon is partly because the industry is built around fans, who often make charitable donations on celebrities' behalf or pay for independent promotion of tours or albums. But this extreme loyalty also means that artists and agencies are closely linked to the demands and wishes of fans.

Mental health and the challenge of being idols

“There are certain things we make the girls aware of,” Thompson said. "If you do things like that (dating or drinking) when you're older, you need to be more private about it." Some agencies have relaxed their rules in recent years after a series of cutting-edge deaths have illustrated the psychological burdens on idols.

Yun, the 16-year-old trainee, suffered a panic attack in 2023 after enduring three years of monthly eliminations. Her father told CNN that she was able to take four to five months off of workouts to recover and has not experienced any further attacks since her return.

K-Pop: A Growing Global Influence

Despite the immense pressure of the job, it remains a lifelong goal for many aspiring stars as the industry continues to expand. After K-Pop with Psy's 2012 hit "Gangnam Style." has entered the US market, K-pop has become mainstream worldwide, with Blackpink performing at Coachella and BTS receiving five Grammy nominations over the years. K-pop has always been one of South Korea's greatest cultural exports, and that influence has only increased as other best-sellers - from K-dramas to K-beauty - have swept the world in the wake of the so-called “Korean Wave” conquered.

For the seven girls in this room, the opportunity to become part of this global, culture-making industry lies just on the other side of the door - where Thompson and other MZMC executives will reveal their fate.

One by one, the girls were called in - and reacted with shock, joy and tears. At the end of that day, the new girl group was born: VVS, named after a rare diamond class, which is expected to make its official debut in early 2025.

Lee, Koga, Jang, Kim and the final member Jiu Moon all made it. But the mood was bittersweet as two of her friends were excluded, including Yun. The two excluded trainees eventually found other paths, while Yun instead pursues a solo career as a rapper. But in the unforgiving K-Pop environment, it remains to be seen how far they will make it.

"We're going to achieve some level of success. We're going to find the right fan base and the right people who enjoy our music," Thompson said shortly after announcing the final lineup. “Does this mean we’ll be Blackpink?” he added. “That remains to be seen.”

This article has been updated.