Comment on: Trainees have less than 0,1% chance of debut
Translator/via: Netizenbuzz:
Article: Celebrity trainees... less than 0.1% chance of debut.. What are their futures?
Source: E-Daily via Naver
With the public's attention focused on Park Shi Hoo and his sexual assault case, people have increasingly become more interested in the lives of celebrity trainees.
The woman who filed the lawsuit against Park Shi Hoo is currently a trainee herself and she's not the only one to have been sexually assaulted, as it was only just recently that another company CEO was arrested for sexually assaulting his own trainees.
As far as I know there still is no verdict to Park's case and (up to this point) it is unclear whether he did or not. I don't want to take sides, but since I comment on this article I feel I should point this out.
'K', a 38 year old woman working in the entertainment industry, currently faces a dilemma regarding the future of her 9 year old daughter. Perhaps due to her daughter's beauty, the people around her are often suggesting how easy it would be for her to become a trainee considering that she works in the industry herself.
Although she considered the idea, she's now not so sure. "I know that not all trainees are faced with such problems, but to start, the chance of debuting is already so low, and I don't want to expose my daughter to the potential of such crimes on top of that. Even if there's only a 1% chance that trainees are at risk for sexual assault, that 1% turns into 100% once it becomes your family member who's involved."
Which is why one should check out the company they want to audition at first. Doing so will not extinguish the risk, but certainly reduce it. It's also important to carefully read the contract. Often (& mostly after succesfully auditioning) it is possible to ask trainees that already entered a company about how things are. Not every company offers this, but if requested and reasonable many are willing to.
An article of 2009 (Korean version/Translated version) says that the results of a nationwide survey of 2,200 adult men and women show that 0,2% of the women experienced rape, 0,4% experienced attempted rape, 5,4% experienced sexual molestation.
In the current generation, there are a million trainees with the same dream. Last year, there were 50 new idol group debuts, each with an average number of five members. That means only 250 people made the cut. Even when including the statistics of rookie actors and solo singer debuts, the chance of debuting is less than 0.1%.
I touched on this subject before on several posts (such as Idol vs. Artist, Debut 2011/1996). It indirectly already says it: It's like this on any art: whether it's acting, painting, singing or dancing: Sucessfully auditioning is already difficult, successfully debuting yet is much harder, especially in an industry where the pressure and competition is as high as in the korean entertainment industry.
The problem of the situation lies in the fact that there is no security system for the trainees who aren't able to debut. 2AM's Jo Kwon is largely regarded as a 'legendary trainee', having trained for over 10 years before finally making his own debut, but for the rest of the trainees in the current market, their futures seem dark.
Since the competition is huge and since everyone entering that competition does so on their own behalf, and actually if you are able to enter the competition in an serious manner you should, more or less, be aware of the risks. Who to hold responsible if a trainee fails? The company that already invested in you? Yourself for lacking something (that something doens't necesseraly be talent)? There are many talented people who are not able to debut - or train at all). Many talented people are risking a lot to achieve their dream, while being aware what they are risking. And they are willing (or at least can't help) to accept things other people would never accept to obtain a "job". This difficult matter is also what made people discuss the "slave contracts" - while some said it's a "slave contract" to sign under not so favourable conditions, other said it's not. And in fact "slave" isn't what you can be called if you are willingly signing a contract to achieve your own dream (no matter how unfair this or that contract may seem). It's not like one is expected to sacrifice time, sweat, sleep. But if you don't do, your chances to ever be successful will dramatically drop.
Trainees range in age from junior high school students to people in their early 20s. Most are still students and thus choose to train and attend school at the same time. AOA's Seolhyun, currently a high school student, would attend class and then train at her company starting after school to the very next morning at 7~8 a.m.
Many trainees realise that they should decide to chance their path once they feel that they can't keep up with that kind of schedule. Many trainees accepted by a company will relativly soon leave the company on their own to pursuit another profession/school.
FNC Entertainment's rookie development rep said, "About 3 out of 10 trainees are in the top 20% of their studies but the rest of them are usually more focused on succeeding as a celebrity so they rehearse more than they study."
For those young enough to switch paths before college, there's still a chance that they can study in a different area and secure a future for themselves. Such is the example set by Jang Ha Jin, who entered SM as a trainee in 6th grade and trained until her third year in junior high school. Although she was included in the SNSD line-up, she quit because she wanted to study more and is now a student at KAIST.
Decisions like that are actually very good, because they leaves you with little to no regret. Afterall spending time as a trainee is an interesting experience no matter what.
Other trainees who lose their chance to debut will usually continue chasing their dreams by moving to a different agency for another opportunity. Unfortunately, as time passes, the pressure builds. Once you reach your mid-20s, it's near impossible to hope for a debut.
Those who are considered 'too old' will then switch paths to become vocal or dance trainers or end up in other broadcasting jobs like home shopping channel hosts.
This goes for trainees as well as already debuted idols and artists whose fame vanished. Many of them change their profession.
One company representative said, "I have seen a minority of trainees give up their training and enter adult entertainment because purely to make ends meet. It's impossible for companies to ensure that each of their trainees are able to live proper, healthy lives. It's up to them in the end because it was a choice they made, but there definitely needs to be a system set up so that they're not left completely in the dust when plans foil."
I agree to this: a backup system definitly would help. Below are comments, that I won't comment on, but they give a nice picture of people's reaction towards the industry and trainees.
"The industry blows so much hope into these kids with all the audition shows... and now this is what they come out with?"
"Kids should learn composing and writing lyrics instead of trying to become singers... You make a lot more money that way."
"A dose of reality for the students of today... Is it worth the gamble to risk your futures for that 0.1% chance? How are they going to apply singing and dancing to the real world? By becoming karaoke girls?"
"Well, it was their choice to give up studying to become singers so they'll figure out a way if it doesn't work."
"I find it hard to believe that there are really a million trainees at the moment... That means 1 out of 10 teens are a trainee. I bet the number also includes people who make passing statements about wishing to become a trainee but aren't actually..."
"Even the 70-80% who do make it into college have a difficult time finding jobs in the real world.."
Dreaming of becoming an idol or artist is easy. And even becoming one is comparatively easy to making a living of it. Success isn't only to debut, but also to stay on and not get crushed by the harsh market. There never seems to be an balance of supply and demand. In fact the exact numbers of job placements for art, dance, acting, sport students/trainees are something people don't really like to talk about but often do - since it's a topic confronting anyone entering the "dreamworld" - and making them realise that "having a dream" is a close relative to "hard work". Hard work that in the end might not even pay off.
(Also read: Comment on: The factory girls)
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