BLACKPINK’s Rosé Spills On How Training To Be A K-Pop Idol Was Drastically Different From What She Expected
In a recent interview on Vogue Australia‘s YouTube channel, renowned Australian film director Baz Luhrmann sat down with BLACKPINK‘s Rosé to talk about her experience of moving from Australia to South Korea to pursue her passion for music.
Rosé explains that while she always felt passionate about pursuing music, she never really had any guidance on how to achieve her dream.
In Australia, being also Korean, I loved music but I never thought it was a dream that I could really grasp. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I just have to go and audition.’ I was not informed or educated in any form or shape of how to get to my dreams.
-Rosé
And she believes that her ability to pursue her dream as a K-Pop idol was achieved through pure luck.
It was all by chance.
-Rosé
Baz Luhrmann specifically asks about Rosé’s experience training in Korea since she wasn’t sure what to expect.
And I’m just wondering, when you went to Korea, the whole training system, the discipline, you know, the artistic level, the quality, the whole idea that you ahve to give your all to reach a very high standard… Is that something that you went through? What was that experience like for you?
-Baz Luhrmann
Rosé explains that initially, she assumed she knew what the K-Pop training system would be like.
I thought I knew what I was up for. They were like, ‘As soon as you get there, you have to practice hard. Have you ever danced before?’ And like, I’ve never danced in my life except for being silly in class with my friends.
-Rosé
But despite everyone warning her that she would be “really, really busy,” Rosé felt up to the task… Until she saw the training system in action.
So I was like, ‘Oh, of course, yeah I can do it.’ Because back then I had been watching a lot of K-Pop videos and [listening to] Korean music. For me, it was just like, ‘Oh, it sounds like fun.’
[But] I get there, and I notice that there are like 12 other girls who have been training day and night for about like five years ahead of me. And I had just gotten there, I’m 16. I came from Australia. I just went to school thinking I’m just going to be a normal art teacher at school or something.
And so when I got there, I was like, ‘Ok, so this is quite intense.’
-Rosé
Rosé realized that to become a K-Pop idol, she would have to give her absolute all to the training.
It seems as if I don’t catch up, I’m going to be cut and sent right back to Australia where I’ve told all my friends that I’m dropping out of school and I’m going to [be] working on my music…
I didn’t want to fly back without having achieved anything. So I ended up fighting for my life, training for my life. Because I couldn’t accept the fact that I’d just be cut and sent back. So I had no time to slack off. And I remember I took every minute and every second to work on my craft so that I will make it.
-Rosé
Looking back on the difficult training period, Rosé still views it as a positive experience that helped her achieve her dream.
And I think it was a good drive. Just the fact that I had flown all the way from Australia gave me more strength or determination to strive for what I was doing.
-Rosé
