According to longtime fans of SM Entertainment K-Pop idols, there has been exactly 6 idols total so far who have managed to achieve the unlikely odds of debuting through the agency's infamous 'Saturday Open Auditions'.
As many of you know, there are many ways K-Pop idols can become trainees under agencies, such as by being street-cast via agents (after which idols must also go through an audition process), through domestic 'open auditions', as well as through global auditions. Particularly, global auditions have garnered popularity in recent years, as more agencies seek out talented idols who are capable of speaking various languages.
But SM Entertainment's 'Saturday Open Auditions' first began in the late 1990's. They've occurred regularly occurred each week on Saturdays without fail until recently, with hundreds of idol hopefuls coming out to audition at a time. Now, within the 20-year history of these 'Saturday Open Auditions', only 6 young idol-hopefuls have managed to survive the nearly impossible odds of being accepted as a trainee, surviving the rigorous idol training process, and fulfill the end goal of debut.
Here are the 6, below!
1. Super Junior's Heechul
Heechul passed the 'Saturday Open Auditions' in 2002, after arriving at the audition site 30 minutes late. He received a 'pass' after singing the national anthem, mostly because his visuals caught the eyes of the audition judges.
2. Girls' Generation's YoonA
YoonA also passed the 'Saturday Open Auditions' in 2002 with one of the highest scores of all auditioners. She sang WAX's "Please" and danced to Britney Spears's "Oops I Did It Again".
YoonA's audition footage (feat. other Girls' Generation members):
3. SHINee's Taemin
Taemin passed the 'Saturday Open Auditions' in 2005. The story of Taemin's audition is also legendary, as at the time, the judges told all of the auditioners to dance while staying behind a white-tape line. However, Taemin went against these instructions and crossed the line while dancing, which impressed the judges and earned Taemin his pass.
Taemin's famous audition clip:
4. Red Velvet's Seulgi
Seulgi passed the 'Saturday Open Auditions' in 2006 as a 6th grader. She sang Lee Ji Hoon's "Doll". After joining SM as a trainee, Seulgi's reputation as a talented trainee was well-known even by already debuted idols like SHINee, f(x), etc.
A random but adorable pre-debut video of Seulgi:
5. NCT's Haechan
Years later, Haechan passed the 'Saturday Open Auditions' in 2013. He sang Justin Bieber's "Baby" and danced to SHINee's "Sherlock".
6. NCT's Jungwoo
Last but not least, Jungwoo passed the 'Saturday Open Auditions' in 2014. Jungwoo was asked to come to the auditions by a friend, but unfortunately, his friend didn't make the cut. Like Heechul, it's said that Jungwoo only sang the national anthem for his audition.
Honorable mention: Red Velvet's Yeri
Yeri is also known for having auditioned initially through the 'Saturday Open Auditions'. However, it's said that after her original audition, the judges asked her to audition again through one of SM's global auditions, after which she ultimately earned her pass.
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I was surprised to see that this article has so few likes and many dislikes, but kpop fans told me this is because Akp ruined another good article with its poor or biased info.
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Here, the opinion of some k-fans:
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+ Akp should to mention that 'Saturday Open Auditions' ALWAYS was and is The Hardest SM's audition to pass of all times where thousands auditioned but only 6 (and maybe + 1) extraordinary children/teens approved it, and some became great legends.
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+ As always Yoona is NOT akp's fave, Akp forgets to mention that Yoona became one of those 6/7 extraordinary children/teen because being so just a kid she had to improvise her entire audition in just a few minutes that same day 'cause she only went to accompany her friend to 'Saturday Open Auditions', and while yoona was waiting her they gave yoona a number to audition, To be just a kid and without having previously prepared she did good and even better than almost all the participants of that day, which impressed the jury so much that they saw her potential, talents and mental agility, she was an unique and brilliant gem, the jury made a good choice, YoonA became The Most Awarded SM solo artist, the Best SM Female dancer, the Best SM Actress, and the Richest SM gg member of all time and one of the Best & Smartest SM soloist Artists., she is a genius artist.
+ Again akp taking away the credits to the recognition of the hard work and talents of Taemin, his audition wasn’t just because he passed the white line. he really had talent and prepared very hard for this audition and we can see it clearly because he did the best dance audition on that day. taemin is currently one of the best SM dancers and SM solo artists.
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