Seungyoun of the Korean boy band UNIQ is one of the more prominent Hallyu pop stars right now. The 20-year old star is famed for being a rapper and is also known for being trilingual as he also speaks Mandarin and Portuguese. But with his fame, who would have known that he was rejected 50 times in his auditions for the big entertainment studios like YG, JYP and SM.
The boy group, made up of Chinese and South Korean members Yixuan, Sungjoo, Wenhan, Seungyoun and Yibo, first became popular two years ago with the debut single, "Falling In Love." While UNIQ did not really become the mainstream crossover success like its other contemporaries like EXO, the boy band still earned a dedicated following.
When interviewed about his initial failures, Seungyoun told All Kpop that he persevered hard to get a job in the entertainment industry. "SM holds weekly auditions, and I went once in 2 weeks," he said. "SM always told me to stay after the audition, but I never made it. I'm still curious as to why they told me to stay."
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According to Soompi, Seungyoun might also have steady work outside UNIQ soon. Just a few months ago, Seungyoun will be collaborating with Flowsik. This, however, does not mean that he will now be pursuing a solo career fulltime.
UNIQ and Seungyoun's latest song and video was released earlier this year and is titled "My Dream." The song was lifted from the official soundtrack of the Chinese romantic drama film "MBA Partners." KPop Starz will be posting more news and updates on UNIQ and Seungyoun in the coming weeks.
What are your thoughts on the story of Seungyoun of UNIQ's rise to stardom? Will he be going solo soon? Fire away in the comments section. Meanwhile, watch the music video for "Falling In Love" by UNIQ below.
