I, Niel will receive the baton from Ricky!
It’s finally the start. After going through countless of evaluations, we awaiting for our debut. Ahead of our debut, our company sent us to perform on the stages at amusement parks in order to gain stage experience.
We performed on the amusement park stage every weekend. Those people who came to the amusement park then didn’t know who we were. But still, being able to showcase our efforts we have put in to prepare a song weekly, give us a great sense of satisfaction and purpose. After performing for quite a few times, people started to recognize us slowly. We started to have fans who recognized us. Not just myself, but the other members found it really surprising. We even pasted the first present, a placard we received on the wall of the practice studio.
However till then, the final members were not confirmed. That’s why it felt like it was an exam whenever we stood on stage. Till the last moment before going on stage, we practised our dance and gave it our all to sing. Our company would monitor our performance and tell us what we were lacking in. After which we’ll proceed to discuss what song to perform for the next performance.
We were hard at practice and then our company president called us into his room. This marked the end of the final evaluations. With an anticipating heart, we went to the president’s room. That was when he finalized the members and announced our team name.
‘Teenz on Top’ representing the 10s and bringing refreshing and emotional music; to become the best singer, Teen Top! I think that day we tried saying the name ‘Teen Top’ for tens of times, no, hundreds of times. And how we felt then…. Was unexplainable. That day we gathered at the practice studio and shouted our hearts out~~ Ah ah till now my voice is quite coarse. Haha.
“I’m emotional vocal Niel!, You’re dancing boy Changjo! Since C.A.P hyung is the charismatic rapper you have to strike a more charismatic pose!!” Just like that, we started calling each other by our stage names and practising how we were going to introduce ourselves. The 6 members were confirmed and our practices became much more intense than before.
“Although we’re the youngest idols, we can’t receive comments that our skills are lacking,” “We’re not amateurs, we’re pros”; we thought through what our company president said. With the common goal in mind, we continued with our much tighter schedule than before. Vocal lessons, rap lessons, dance lessons were just the basic, we even had lessons on mining to work on our expressions and poses, acrobatic lessons to learn how to express the diverse choreography… Haha. Days flew by quickly.
It was ‘hell training’ as we prepared for our debut, with the tight schedules of recording and practice. Many people don’t know how much we had to go through to just stand on stage. Before we stood on stage, the countless of times we’ve cried, laughed, shouted, the time we spend doing the same things again and again.
L.Joe hyung had shed tears alone as he went to the hospital for his knee injury. Although ‘charisma rapper’ C.A.P hyung seemed to be the manliest of us all, because of the strenuous work out, he was worn out and in agony. There were times he couldn’t get up after collapsing during work outs. As C.A.P hyung worked out alone, he had to watch what he ate and he had to be more discipline than anyone else. It was the toughest time for him. That’s why we still love C.A.P hyung.
If I were to tell a story of how we became more united because of C.A.P hyung~ After the team was formed, he emphasized to us the importance of “promise and trust” and “to be professional”. And most importantly, “communication” We agreed to talk things out whenever we are faced with any problems and act to resolve it. That faithful day after our debut was confirmed and we were undergoing all the lessons and practising our title track.
There was a need to have a member with the manly appeal, and naturally we pointed to C.A.P hyung. C.A.P hyung did b-boying previously and no matter who sees it, he looks the manliest among us. After which, C.A.P hyung had to go to the fitness centre and control his diet. He had to cut down on carbohydrates and increase his intake of protein. When we were eating right, he would be eating chicken breast on his own, along with salad and cherry tomatoes. But, C.A.P hyung’s favourite food was rice! Despite the tough practices and work outs, C.A.P hyung wasn’t able to eat whatever he wanted. To think about it, that was how he fell into a slump and he even thought of giving up, whether he should continue on this path”. He told us that the word “giving up” appeared in his mind countless of times.
C.A.P hyung’s slump became a time of crisis for us.
The company told us that the 6 of us had to resolve the problem by talking it out. We sat C.A.P hyung, not like the oldest, but like a maknae; we gathered and poured our thoughts to C.A.P hyung.
Maybe it was because of the conversations we had since we were trainees, such that we have great chemistry now. There were no times when we were quiet during practice. Sometimes our manager hyung will tell us “Do you practise with your bodies or with your mouths?” But still after that day, chemistry in our team became a lot of better, which made us feel a sense of satisfaction at that moment.
· Debut, performance and variety shows are difficult for us!
Our debut schedule was finalized and we had photoshoots, music video shoot which made our days busy. The night before our debut music video filming, we were so excited that we couldn’t sleep.
10 July 2010, the first broadcast we had dreamt of! We were amazed at the fact that we were appearing on TV and the fact that we had fans who liked us. After our first album ‘Clap’, we released our second album ‘Supa Luv’. We took a long time to prepare for the performance. But still we had regrets all the time. Because we had to show to everyone that at least on stage, we don’t seem young and are true professionals… Fortunately, after listening to our music and watching our performances, we received comments “it’s refreshing, it’s cool”. Of course “courageous”. These gave us more strength.
But if there was something that we found the most difficult, it was “variety shows”. When we appear on broadcasts, maybe it’s because of our young ages; we can’t hold conversations very well. On variety shows, we need to show our personal talents and our sense of humour but for the young us, we pretty much had nothing to say. It was really difficult. The broadcast appearances we managed to secure toughly, no matter how much effort we put in to prepare for it, it seemed like whenever we go to the recording studio, we couldn’t seem to showcase what we have prepared. We were always edited out.
To think that we’re not a par, when we have secured variety show appearances, we would look at one another and hope that the other members who appear on it, we even postponed it? When we have the opportunity , we should appear on it and let as many people know about rookie singers Teen Top; going on variety shows was a difficult task for our team. There was once Chunji hyung and I had an opportunity to go on a variety show to represent our team. We prepared our personal talents but we totally screwed up the actual thing and made many mistakes, which was why we were edited out completely. Rookie singers make many mistakes because of their nervousness, we were comforted that it’ll get better but we really wanted to dig a hole and hide. We felt apologetic towards the other members and when recording ended that day, Chunji hyung and I sat in the car, looking out of the window, without talking to each other.
· The stars we’re grateful to for bringing light to our music videos!
Shall I stop talking about the tough times and talk about something happy? I’m reminded of all the stars we’re grateful towards for bringing light to our music videos. After School Lizzy sunbaenim who appeared in our first debut track music video ‘Clap’ Shinhwa’s Eric sunbaenim who appeared in the music video of our second single ‘Supa Luv’.
Park Siyeon sunbaenim who allowed us to earn the nicknames of “the in-trend younger guy’ ‘handcuff-idols’ by appearing in our ‘No More Perfume On You’ music video, and 4minute Kwon Sohyun sunbaenim who appeared in our ‘Crazy’ music video. So many people have helped us for our music video. Really thank you to the seniors! Delicious ice cream for us anytime ^^
I remembered when we were filming the music video with Eric sunbaenim, we were all amazed at his aura and we even clapped. And Chunji hyung acted as a couple with Park Siyeon sunbaenim in the music video. It was his first time acting but he acted as lovers with a huge senior like her. During the interview, Park Siyeon sunbaenim said that he was too young so it was hard for her to look straight in his eyes but in front of the camera she surprised with her great acting and led Chunji in acting. We only managed to enjoy it through the monitor screen ^^
L.Joe hyung and 4minute Kwon Sohyun sunbaenim acted as a couple. The subject of our young jealousy, L.Joe hyung was able to showcase his outstanding emotional acting with his diverse poses and received continuous praises from the director. But after the filming of the music video, we started to make fun of L.Joe hyung’s “Would you be my girlfriend” line in the music vdeo. L.Joe hyung! If you want to act, you have to practise more!!!
· From younger-guy idols, handcuff-idols to in-trend idols… We’re not young anymore!
Maybe it was because we debuted as the youngest idols but many people say that “they’re young” when they think of Teen Top. Although in the early days of our debut, being young was our strength, but it also became an inferiority complex to us. We’ve been in the industry for 2 years and we have junior singers but maybe because we’re young, we’re always like the maknaes. Many people in the industry also always only think that we’re young and cute.
Actually, there are times when we greet the people who debuted later than us, and we think that we’re the juniors^^ Although we’re still in high school but in the future, we’ll be reborn as true man. We’ll display our manly and tough stage mannerisms and become true professionals!
The hyungs tell maknaes Changjo and Ricky “You guys are still too young”, we joke we them that they’re still far from growing but in actual fact it seems like the youngest people are the hyungs. The real maknae Changjo is now a ‘giant maknae’; he’s the tallest and his body became really good. Maybe it’s because of the growth spurt; he has the appearance of a true ‘man’. Ricky is able to bring up the team atmosphere when it’s down and when practising, he would take the initiative and with his bright watery eyes, he would give it his best.
Ricky, Changjo and I (Niel) are high school students and are still young^^ But, at least on stage we don’t look young, Teen Top! We’re also real man!
· The K-POP fever, beyond Asia to the world!
As we promoted, we performed at a wide variety of countries. Because K-POP is well loved by people overseas, we were lucky to have a fans from a wide range of countries liking our songs and performances from Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia etc.. Not just in Asia, but we were given the opportunity to perform in Canada. Despite the language barrier, they are able to sing along to our songs and support us which we find really amazing and are thankful for. Although we have yet to go to France, Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Australia we were introduced on the broadcasts, received fan letters and had requests for performances. It was something we couldn’t have imagined during our early days.
The next part will be on our stories on overseas performances. After the end of our fanmeeting in Thailand, Teen Top’s overseas performances stories! Coming soon~~!!
Written by: Teen Top Niel
eng trans: @oursupaluv
source: Naver