when yinuo heard she was being called back for another audition she wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so she prepared a little bit of everything. a new dance, something to sing. will they want her to rap? she better practice that too. will she have to act? model? recite poetry? she frantically prepared it all, not wanting to be caught off guard during her one and only chance to make a good impression on axis labels’ talent scouts.
what she didn’t anticipate or prepare for was probably the easiest and most obvious of them all: questions.
“let’s get started, shall we?” the interviewers ask, and yinuo almost follows up with start with what? until she realized that this is the audition, this interview. her eyes widen for a moment as she realizes what exactly she’s gotten herself into, her mouth rounding into a small ‘o’ before she manages to mask her surprise with a classic bright yinuo smile. “let’s go!” she responds instead, enthusiastically agreeing to the one thing she did not prepare at all for.
“how do you think you can achieve your dreams of being an idol?”
yinuo wants to be intentional with her responses, not just blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. it’s like a job interview, trying to make her best impression and convince the interviewers that she’s the best possible selection for their open position. she takes a breath in slowly, buying herself some time to think. even a second is precious.
“i know it’s hard work,” she begins. “dedicating my time, my energy, every waking moment to being the best performer i can be. i need to be able to take criticism from mentors and internalize and apply it, which is always much easier said than done.” she pauses for a short laugh, more out of nerves than anything actually humorous. “i’ve already left my family and home behind to get this far. i had a stable future secured there, so you know i’m not just doing this for the money. it’s something i really want to do, so it’s something i’m willing to sacrifice anything else for.”
she hopes that’s a good answer. of course they couldn’t start with an easy question.
“what can you bring to the table that other candidates can’t?”
“well, what do they have?” she questions, perhaps speaking a little impulsively this time. “i just mean, i don’t know who the other candidates are. i don’t know what exactly differentiates me from them. i can tell you that i’m chinese, that i could offer the company the opportunity to use me to break into a huge market. i can tell you that i was a trainee before, a while ago, so i have a little bit of experience that others may not. oh, i was too young to debut in their group back then, i didn’t fit the concept. not that i was kicked out!” maybe she put her foot in her mouth that time. oh well, she can’t take it back.
“i’m not afraid of any challenge,” she asserts. “and i’m stronger than i look. i don’t know what everyone else is telling you, but i think i could outwork any of them. i’m the best when it comes to giving it everything i have.”
“how will you keep your confidence in the face of criticism? how do you handle it?”
ouch, are they preparing to tell yinuo something she’d rather not hear? is this also a test? “it depends,” she navigates this one slowly again. “who’s the criticism coming from? like i said, from a mentor, it’s my responsibility to internalize it and apply the necessary changes to my actions or performance. but from some random username on the internet? what do they even know? i try not to let things that people can’t say to my face bother me. if i know i’m doing my best every day, i can fall asleep satisfied with myself every night.”
“it’s not like mean comments never get to me though,” she admits. “i’m human too, i want to be recognized for the things i do well and work hard on. but i try not to get my validation from people who don’t have my best interests at heart.”
“how important is self-expression to you? what about on stage?”
“um, you might have guessed this, but i find it really hard to try to be anyone other than myself.” yinuo’s laugh this time is a bit sheepish. she knows this isn’t necessarily the right answer this time, but she’d rather be honest. “it’s not that i’m consciously thinking about how i want to express myself, it just… happens. i don’t know who else i would be. i suppose i could take acting classes and learn to be someone else, but i think me would slip through after a while… it’s not like the cameras ever really stop rolling like they would on a film set.” she ponders this for just a moment, suddenly examining her own character with this question.
“on stage though, it’s important to be the performance. it’s not about me, it’s about the group, and the song, and whatever story we’re telling together, or the concept we’re selling. i know how to put my ego away for the good of a team. because the staff and everything, they’re part of the team too. our success is all dependent on one another doing our very best.”
“please rap a verse from your favorite song for us.”
finally! something yinuo actually prepared for! she beams wide. “my favorite song changes a lot, but recently i heard this song called filter and i haven’t been able to get it out of my head! the rap goes like this…”
she takes a breath in preparation. is it truly a rap? well, the second part definitely is. the beginning is a little melodical, which is honestly more comfortable for yinuo to start with, but the bright and bubbly feeling of the song fits her well, she thinks. it’s why she practiced this one so many times, over and over again until she can get through it without stuttering once, even in front of such a high-stakes audience.
“yeah,” she wraps up the mini-performance with another bright smile. “it’s fun, isn’t it!”
“imagine yourself on stage: how will you keep the audience’s gaze on you?”
the girl hums as she ponders the question, pressing her lips together and tapping her index finger against them as she thinks. “ah, well, if i’m the only person on stage, that’s not hard. humans are hard-wired to look at other human faces. but i’m guessing that’s not the case, it can’t be that easy. i want to say i’ll just win everyone over with my bright personality, i have to show you how i’ll do that, right?” she tilts her head, all big eyes and innocence. “i can act cute, or maybe i’ll do a little dance, be a little sexy… i think i can appeal to a lot of different people who like different things.”
“but really, i think the key is to just be engaging,” she grins. “i’ve kept your attention on me for this long, right? even though i feel like i’ve just done a lot of talking. so i must be at least a little bit interesting, i guess!”
she’s not sure how the interviewers will take that. does she come off as arrogant? conceited? well, yinuo was just being herself, as she always is. whether they decide she’s someone they want or not is entirely up to them.
