“Are You Trying To Make The Next JYP?” A K-Pop Fan Leaves JYP Speechless With Her Entrepreneurial Talents

A K-Pop fan and contestant in the new audition show A2K impressed J.Y. Park with her entrepreneurial skills.

On July 18, JYP Entertainment premiered the second episode of A2K, a new girl group audition program in which both JYPE and Republic Records search for “American talent to create a girl group through a K-Pop system.” J.Y. Park (also known as Park Jin Young or JYP) is holding auditions in five states in the United States to find talents who will debut as a girl group at the end of 2023.

At the audition held in Atlanta, there was a 17-year-old contestant named Cristina Lopez Sandiford.

Cristina shared that she had danced since she was three or four years old and sang all her life. It was revealed that her parents were also singers and rappers, so she grew up with music and dancing.

During her audition, Cristina shared how she graduated from high school one year early by taking extra courses, which impressed J.Y. Park. He was even more impressed when he found out Cristina started her own dance academy where she taught K-Pop dances to students.

Majoring in business at her university, Cristina showed her entrepreneurial skills and potential, and J.Y. Park was speechless at the young contestant’s accomplishments at such a young age. He then asked her if she was trying to open up her own label—or the “next JYP.”

Are you trying to make the next JYP or something?

— J.Y. Park

Cristina had recently become a K-Pop fan and started dancing K-Pop choreography. She began teaching them to her friends, but they thought she was a great teacher and encouraged her to open up her dance academy. Now she has a K-Pop dance academy where she teaches K-Pop choreography to around 20 to 30 students per class.

At this rate, it would not be surprising if the young talent did indeed open her own company one day!

Watch Cristina’s full audition on A2K’s second episode.