TRC/G December Evaluation - Kim Sejeong covering Pristin V’s Get It
The past couple of times they had met up with the TRC higher-ups about their individual evaluations, Sejeong had had some good fortune. She had been improving as far as dancing was concerned and she had actually gotten praised a bit. They were honest with her, that she wouldn’t be up there with the better dancers of the group, but they seemed to appreciate the fact that she was working extra hard on the things that they asked her to. Getting compliments was way better than the harsh words that she received when the project started, so she wanted to make sure to do exactly what they asked from here on out.
Her last time up, she had chosen a song that was done by an artist who was generally known for her great dancing. While she had done an adequate job, the instructor had asked her to try and tone it down a little this month, find something a little less challenging that would allow her to still show off her improved dancing and her singing that had gotten her into TRC in the first place. This actually proved a bit harder than she had thought. First, she found a song that she thought the dance was less difficult, though still challenging, but it wasn’t a great song to show off her vocals. The second song she checked out was a little closer, but it still wasn’t quite right.
It wasn’t until she was a week in before she found the song that just clicked for her. It was a song that she had loved, but it seemed often to have been forgotten by a lot of people. It had a dance that was a bit more her speed and there was great vocal work on it, which she loved, so she knew it was just right.
She went up when it was her turn, ready to show that she had followed their instructions yet again. When the music came on, she turned on her charisma, giving off the tough vibe that the song called for. She strutted forward once the song kicked in more and began singing along, her voice not taking a back seat to the dancing this time, but instead, the two seemed to compliment each other for a more complete performance than she had been giving to the TRC staff before this point.
It really felt to her that she had finally struck a good balance to where she wasn’t struggling with the dance too much, and her singing wasn’t suffering for it. The song continued on and she had even attempted the rap part, though that definitely needed some more work. Overall, once she had finished, she felt like she had done a good job. She had put in a lot of work again, just wanting to keep on their good side by following what they asked, and she hoped it was enough to make them okay with what she’s done.
The evaluation was something that going in, Sejeong was not sure what to expect. She certainly had not expected to find herself with a group of girls from KT that had all been part of the nationwide MGA events and were obviously amazing talents. A lot of people would have felt intimidated, but Sejeong was always one to jump headfirst into a challenge, so she set herself a goal to one, not embarrass herself (too much) and two, to hopefully show them that she was deserving of her spot in TRC. She knew for this evaluation they didn’t have to dance, so she considered herself getting a headstart in the not embarrassing herself category.
Practices had gone well and she could see why people said that KT training was some of the best out there. The three other members of her group were definitely some trainees she could look up to and to take the stage to do this song together was a great opportunity to show what she could do.
Nervousness wasn’t settling in one bit as they took the stage and started in the song, their voices blending well, each getting their own opportunity to shine while the others made sure to support them with the backing vocals. The extra actions of the bottles they had were luckily in her wheelhouse, as while her dancing wasn’t great, she had great hand-eye coordination from all of those years of playing baseball with her brother and in school. She was thankful that the issues she had moving her feet to music didn’t seem to translate to her hands as well. She was quite pleased with the end result and hoped that she’d see the others around Seocho in the future and possibly work on something again if they’d let her.
Before the winter months hit, Sejeong always liked going out to different places and singing for anyone that would listen. She’d lug along an old CD player that her brother had let her have when he had bought a new one and a microphone, essentially making a makeshift karaoke machine without the lyrics, but she was always good with remembering those anyway.
Today she went by a favorite convenience store, one ran by a little old couple that always liked it when she came by, and they enthusiastically allowed her to set up in front of their store. They even let her have a stool that they had in the back to sit down on if she was out there too long. She thanked them and always made sure that when she did this sort of thing to always mention the store a lot to get more business to come inside.
This particular afternoon she did indeed take a seat on the stool, slightly pulling the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands. The weather was getting colder and sooner rather than later winter would be appearing.
Hitting play on her CD player, a familiar acoustic guitar started playing the strings bringing a smile to her face as they hit her ears. Right on time, she started singing, knowing the song by heart, every beat.
Covering Taeyeon’s 11:11
It’s 11:11
oneuri han kani chae an nameun geureon shigan
uri soweoneul bilmyeo utteon geu shigan
byeolge da neol tteooreuge haji
ni mam kkeutjarakcheoreom chagaun baram
changeul yeolmyeon ontong niga bureowa
i shigani jeonbu jinago namyeon
ibyeori kkeunna isseulkka Yeah
neol da ijeosseulkka
Her voice rang out clear, it was obvious she knew the song well, making it through the first verse with no problem whatsoever. A few people milled about, and she gave them a warm smile as a few others came by and went into the store.
modeun ge jaril chajaseo tteonagago
neon nae modeun geol gatgoseo tteonado
nae mameun shige soge du baneulcheoreom
gateun goseul dugo maemdolgiman hae
Na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na oh
Na na na na na na na na
I believe I’ll be over you
A few more people gathered, slightly swaying with the music as they listened to Sejeong tell the song’s story, a small girl holding her mother’s hand watched shyly behind the adult’s arm and Sejeong gave her a bright smile and a wave.
modeun ge jaril chajaseo tteonagago
neon nae modeun geol gatgoseo tteonado
nae mameun shige soge du baneulcheoreom
gateun goseul dugo maemdolgiman hae
Na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na oh
Na na na na na na na na
I believe I’ll be over you
She hoped that someday soon she’d be able to sing in front of even bigger audiences with professional sound instead of her brother’s hand-me-down boombox, singing songs that would touch people’s hearts.
haru teume geollyeo inneun saebyeok byeolcheoreom
i modeun geon eonjenganeun da jinagago malgetji
modeun ge jaril chajaseo doraogo
naega amu il eomneun deushi utge dwemyeon
neoye ireum han beonjjeum bureuneun ge
jigeumcheoreom apeuji aneul kkeoya
Na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na oh
Na na na na na na na na
I believe I’ll be over you
Na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na oh
Na na na na na na na na
I believe I’ll be over you
As the song came to an end, she began to think about what to sing next, ready to keep the music going, something she wanted to do for years to come.
She still couldn’t believe her luck that she was being given a second opportunity to audition for one of the biggest companies in South Korea, but here Sejeong was, sitting in the waiting area for her chance to audition for Triple Crown, the same company that her roommate, Minah, had just gotten into just a short time ago. The callback asked that they perform their top two skills for the company and this became a slightly stressful situation for her. Trying to come up with something that could showcase two abilities was something she found rather hard to do.
She knew her singing was definitely something she wanted to showcase, but what her second best skill was, well, it was debatable. She knew it wasn’t her dancing, she was self-aware enough for that, and her rapping, while not as bad as her dancing, was still pretty pedestrian. She wasn’t about to impress a panel of judges assigned by a legend in hip-hop like Tiger JK with her current skill level. So, that lead her towards something she had enjoyed while in high school, acting. She knew TRC was highly considered to be one of, if not the most, creatively centered companies out there, so she figured she had to do something creative to show off her stage presence. Obviously, the marriage between singing and acting was a musical, but which one should she prepare a song from? She only had a week to prepare herself, so she had to come up with something entertaining and quick.
Going through a few musicals she knew, she considered a few options, but most boiled down to her mostly just belting out her favorite songs and getting distracted from being able to come up with something that would also let her show off a more showy side of her self. Then it hit her. She had been to a production a few years before that she knew had recently come back to Korea, with SG Wannabe’s Lee Seokhun taking up one of the roles. It was a comedy, but also a horror, and she knew that theatrically, it would fit what criteria she was setting for herself, but would the judges be into it? It was really the first thing that had jumped out at her to be “her”, so she decided to go for it, and hope for the best.
She didn’t have a ton of time to get the costume exactly right, she doubted they were one hundred percent going to be focused on that anyway, so she improvised a bit of it. Trips to a toy store, a used clothes store, and a grocery store nearby and she had piecemealed an outfit and the necessary props she would need. Some further preparation and she was all set to slip into her role.
Soon, the day came and she was quite nervous. There was a handful of other people there for the same audition and she had to wonder if maybe this was a bad idea. She knew the musical she had chosen wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and she just hoped it didn’t come off as her not being serious about her opportunity, because she certainly was, it was just the source material was supposed to be fun and kind of goofy and overdramatic on purpose.
Her long coat was covering the outfit she had prepared, and her bag contained the other materials needed, she just hoped that they would allow her to take one moment just to set up. Hearing her name called, she grabbed her things and headed into the room. She was told to prepare herself and she thanked them for that, taking off her coat finally showing off her outfit as she dug into her bag, reaching into a small container she had brought, smearing something down her face, being very careful not to drop any on the floor.
Kim Sejeong - Starbright ‘17 Audition callback for TRC: Performing “It’s Time” from Evil Dead: The Musical
Korean Production Video (TW: Blood) | English Version | Sejeong’s outfit (TW: Blood)
Sejeong’s outfit was a standard girls uniform that she had bought at a local store. It was smattered with fake blood, which was what she had just applied to her face as well, the excess wiped onto the shirt for added effect. A toy chainsaw, that looked somewhat “realistic” had been cut in the back for her to be able to slip her hand into for the character Ash’s chainsaw-hand. Sure, she wasn’t dressed exactly like the character, but it was enough to get the imagery close.
She began on one knee and started the music, the soft piano intro pulling her into the character more as she started singing, putting into it the emotions of someone who had been through a lot, had lost people that were close and was finally recognizing what they had to do to try and make things right.
She slowly made her way up to her feet, giving the words the clarity her normal voice would bring, so they could get a good idea of her capability, though they had seen her in her original audition as well, so they likely knew her normal singing ability, so she made sure to play up the slight bravado that Ash’s character starts getting as he wearily makes his way to his feet, as she did to hers. Using her acting, she staggered forward slightly to stage right and continued singing until striking her ending pose, the chainsaw hand and her other one up in the air, knowing she couldn’t go into the next verse without going over her one-minute time limit. She thanked them for their time with her brightest smile and grabbed her things, only then remembering that they were told they were to wait out int the waiting room for results.
Stepping into the waiting area, now with fake blood on her, she gave a sheepish grin before taking a seat, knowing she had to make a joke. “It’s a tough room.”
The more she was working, the more burnt out Sejeong was feeling. She really needed a night out to just relax, take some time to herself. Since getting news of her mother’s layoff, and once she informed Nova she couldn’t become a trainee with them as of just yet, Sejeong had thrown herself into working, easily putting in seven days a week work over several of the departments that Lotte had to offer. She was doing everything from cooking to selling t-shirts to being an attendant for the rides, just anything to keep her busy and the money rolling in to help keep her family afloat until her mother could get back onto her feet.
The fact that she had to turn down a company offer still stung, of course. A company actually thought she had enough talent to make it and she had kept it a secret from everyone. She didn’t tell anyone that she had made it, not her friends, not her roommate, not her family. She didn’t want any of the pity that would come from the fact she couldn’t take it.
Her mother, for whom she was doing this for, was the one to tell her to get out and live her life first. She knew how hard her daughter was working for her, even though she didn’t ask her to, but she insisted that Sejeong go out, at least for a little bit, and relax. She was apprehensive about it at first, but her mother finally convinced her to go.
A nearby cafe was where she stopped that evening, pausing in front of the door when she heard people singing. Her eyes found a sign saying that they were doing an open mic night and she thought that she’d at least go in and check it out, though or the first time in her life that she could remember, she really didn’t feel like singing.
That soon changed while she watched the other people go up one by one as the night progressed. Not everyone was great at it, but everyone was having fun and if she were to be honest, she hadn’t been having fun at all recently, so it was a nice change of pace. After applauding for the most recent singer, the emcee of the night called up to do the first duo of the night, and she couldn’t stand it any longer, she had to get up there, the need to perform was too much for her to keep just sitting around.
Quickly she got up and volunteered to do the duet and was joined onstage by a male that she hadn’t seen sing yet, so she introduced herself kind of awkwardly, but was quickly interrupted by the emcee saying who got what part. The song was actually one she really liked, having been a fan of the artists involved and she had even wanted to do a cover someday, but she hadn’t really had a lot of rappers on her channel and she wasn’t fully prepared to do it on her own just yet.
When the song started up, she sang clearly into the mic, letting the words carry her right through into the song, feeding on the emotion of the lyrics. Once it got to the male’s turn, she gave him a supportive smile and was quite pleased to hear that he was good, a lot better than a lot of the people that had been up on stage that night and she was very glad that she was doing this with him.
They took turns with their parts, voices complimenting each other well, and then at the end, he finally joined in to harmonize with her, their voices meshing well too. She ended the song with the last few words and gave a smile as the crowd started applauding for the two of them. She gave the complimentary bow to them as well as a wave to him and went back to her seat.
She knew after that, more than ever, that she couldn’t give up on her dreams, not yet. She loved singing too much. Yes, it wasn’t the right time for Nova, but someday, she would make it back to the companies and show that Nova wasn’t wrong for issuing her the contract offer.
Nervousness had settled into Sejeong’s stomach again, a reminder that she was doing something that she had never done before. It was an exciting nervousness, though. It had worked to her advantage during the talent show, enough so that she got this opportunity, so why not welcome it again with her Nova audition?
She had arrived with her roommate Minah, who had also gotten an audition after the talent show, and went over the details in her mind again, thankful that they hadn’t wanted to see their dancing skills “They wouldn’t take me for sure then, unnie,” she had said back at their apartment with her usual loud laughter following it up. It did honestly make her feel better that they didn’t want to see it, but what if she got accepted and made it to Nova? They had tons of great dancers in their history, would they send her back as defective once the saw what she could do?
Her name was finally called, and she turned to her roommate, giving her a nervous grin. “Wish me luck, unnie~” Following the person that called her name, she was led to the room where she would do her audition. “Hello, I’m Kim Sejeong, I’m twenty-one years old, and I’m here to sing part of ‘I Love You Boy’ for you.”
She gave one last smile and took a breath in before singing the song, her voice soft and clear, the gentle jilting of the words at the beginning, her pauses hitting the right spots. Her voice suited the song well, as it had a good range of lower notes and higher ones as well. She was able to put her emotions into the song, letting them add the ‘story’ the words provided.
Almost as soon as her two-minute section had started, it ended, with her giving another smile and a bow of thanks to the people overseeing her audition. She knew she had tried her best, though she hoped that her singing another ballad was okay. She knew she had done that at the talent show they scouted her at as well, so she hoped the fact that she didn’t take a chance on a more upbeat song wouldn’t hurt her.
Hongdae Talent Show - Kim Sejeong, Singing Yoon Mirae’s - Always
There was something different about standing onstage in front of a crowd of people than singing on a Youtube channel in front of more viewers. It was probably the fact you weren’t seeing them face to face that was the biggest one, anyway. Sejeong didn’t usually get nervous, but seeing the crowd out there for the Hongdae Talent Show, she was getting butterflies.
There were people of all ages, all talents, and suddenly Sejeong was feeling a bit overwhelmed as well. She wasn’t going out there and dancing around, she wasn’t singing some pop song, she was singing a ballad. Maybe she should have reconsidered her song choice, but she knew it had been fairly popular at the time of its release, as the OST for the drama it was from was in high demand. She was about to change her mind before she was handed a microphone and ushered out onto the stage.
“Hi, I’m Kim Sejeong, and I’ll be singing for you today.”
Taking a deep breath, she began singing with a soft, but clear voice, her words floating through the air. It’s obvious that she has practiced singing, especially with her emotions as the song is rife with them.
By the time the chorus comes in, she’s hit her stride. She might not be the strongest one out there yet, but she loves to sing and that much is obvious from her tone. She’s putting every ounce of feeling into the song she can, hoping that maybe it will be enough to do well. No matter the outcome, she’s happy that she at least tried it, as she would have regretted it later had she not.
I love you Deutgo issnayo
Only you Nuneul gamabwayo.
Barame heutnallyeo on geudae sarang
Whenever, wherever you are
Whenever, wherever you are
Ohohoh I will love, love, love
Eojjeoda naega neol saranghaesseulkka Mireonaeryeo haedo nae gaseumi neol arabwasseulkka
I love you Deutgo issnayo
Only you Nuneul gamabwayo.
Modeun ge byeonhaedo byeonhaji anha
Neon naui, nan neoui sarang
Geudae jogeum doraondaedo
Dasi nareul seuchyeojinadeorado
Gwaenchanhayo geudael wihae naega yeogi isseulge
I love you Ijji marayo.
Only you Nae nunmurui gobaek.
Barame heutnallyeo on geudae sarang
Whenever, wherever you are
Whenever, wherever you are
The song ended, in what seemed like two seconds to Sejeong, who took a bow and waved to the crowd as she went off stage, her eyes brimmed with tears after getting caught up in the emotional outpouring of the song, but a brilliant smile underneath. She was quite happy with her performance, even if she didn’t end up winning.
As the music starts, the camera fades in to show Sejeong in her room, and she starts dancing to the music as it comes on, her face full of just kind of having light-hearted fun. She knows she’s not a great dancer, and she isn’t trying to be, so it just comes off as the Youtuber having fun in her room. She has various cuts to her in different spots in the room, as her own voice covers the song over the instrumental of it.
When the first “Neol joahae” came on, she rushed to the camera and made a heart over her head, before the video cut back to her dancing a bit more to the chorus, in different places in her room. When the verse came back in, she was now shown sitting in front of the computer, leaning on her desk and smiling as she sang the lyrics. It was quite obvious that she was enjoying herself quite a bit, feeling the music.
Eventually, it gets to the rapping section of the song and Sejeong, well, she does her best. She is honestly better than expected at it, but it’s obvious that she is also not a rapper, just as much as she is not a dancer. She powers through it though and gets back into the singing, with more clips of her dancing around her room, even occasionally attempting to emulate the actual choreography to the song.
Once the song starts slowing down at the end, it shows her getting into her computer chair and spinning around to face the camera, giving a wide smile and a loud laugh as it cuts from the pre-recorded audio back to the camera’s audio, and she waves a final goodbye as the annotations asking people to subscribe pop up on the video itself before fading out.
