Bhubaneswar: Just like millions of people across the world, Shreya Lenka was swept by the Korean wave. She dreamt of performing live in a stadium filled with K-pop lovers.
Little did Lenka realise she will also create ripples at being on the cusp of becoming a part of the phenomenon.
The 18-year-old from Rourkela, the steel city of Odisha, can put the state on the Korean popular music or K-pop map if she is chosen from among the two finalists of a worldwide audition to select the fifth member of the ‘Blackswan’ musical group.
“It feels surreal,” she told PTI from South Korea in an email conversation.
“This is like taking a step towards achieving my dream. Though, I still have a long way to go,” she said.
Lenka, who has been a trained dancer since she was 12, was introduced to K-pop by a friend a few years ago. She found the choreography in the music videos very attractive and got hooked onto its “unique style” of singing and dancing.
The teenager got into K-pop because of ‘Exo’ and subsequently fell in love with songs by the ‘BTS’, ‘Stray Kids’ and ‘The Boyz’.
“The list keeps on growing every day as I’m learning something new about K-pop and exploring new songs,” she said.
In 2020, she saw K-pop record labels open online auditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to give it a shot.
“When I seriously started to audition, I found it was necessary to learn Korean. So, I downloaded online applications and started practising,” the class 11 student said.
She also started watching a lot of Korean dramas and began to pick up words from there. Some of her favourite actors are Lee Jong-suk and Song Joong-ki.
The family members have been her pillar of support. When they learnt that she was applying for K-pop auditions, her grandmother introduced her to a classical music teacher. She referred to available online videos or western music.
Lenka has had the privilege of training under noted choreographers in Odisha “who took me under their wing despite my family’s financial constraints just because they saw potential”.
She has a dual advantage – her short stint in learning Odissi helped her improve subtle nuances and yoga benefited her in developing flexibility.
Last year, record label D R Music announced the competition with categories of vocal, rap and dance after Hyeme left the K-pop girl group.
Lenka’s biggest strength is the overwhelming support she had been receiving after qualifying in the first round of auditions. In India, the love for K-pop is growing hard and fast.
In the final round, D R Music has devised a six-month-long basic training programme to evaluate the skills and personality as part of the development in becoming a K-pop artiste.
Korean language education, dance and vocal training are part of the training, which started in December. The firm is expected to announce by May who will become the fifth member of ‘Blackswan’.
Lenka is now up against Gabriela Dalcin from Brazil and the Indian is determined to give it her all in the final round as she knows opportunities like this do not come often.
“After participating in many competitions, I’ve learnt that I usually don’t perform well if I’m just fixated on beating someone,” Lenka said.
Therefore, the woman is focusing on learning new things as even if she doesn’t make it, she would gain valuable lessons that will help her evolve into a better performer.
“The journey is more important for me,” she added.
PTI
