This is a review article written after watching the broadcast.
On You Quiz on the Block, Lee Jae candidly spoke about failing to debut with SM.
On the 22nd episode of the tvN variety show You Quiz on the Block (hereafter "You Quiz"), Lee Jae, the protagonist of the K-POP Demon Hunters OST "Golden," appeared and recounted his journey from 12 years as a trainee to becoming a Billboard No. 1 singer.
Lee Jae, who said he spent 12 years as an SM trainee starting at age 11, said, "I lived with Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee and f(x). EXO overlapped a bit."
He continued, "I was the first to arrive at the practice room at 7 a.m. and stayed until 11 p.m. I really worked hard. Looking back now, it's surprising that I worked so hard at such a young age," recalling the past.
Above all, Lee Jae mentioned Girls' Generation's Yuri, saying, "What I still remember is Yuri unnie came in once while I was practicing vocals. She told me, 'You are really going to become something. You work so hard. You will definitely succeed,'" sharing the anecdote that drew attention.
Lee Jae, who was a "practice bug," practiced dance and singing six hours every day and said he eventually fainted. He said, "Senior Choi Kang-chulmin came in and woke me up by sensing someone. I didn't see the fainting, but he asked, 'Are you okay?' and I said I was fine. After the senior left I cried loudly. My dancing was so bad."
Although he trained for a full 12 years from 2003 to 2015, Lee Jae ultimately did not debut with SM. On that, Lee Jae said, "SM and I didn't quite match in ideas. The trend back then favored clean voices. So I tried to change my voice. They said it should be sung cleanly. I couldn't sing well. On top of that, I was too old. I totally understand. I missed the debut timing."
Lee Jae, who ended his trainee life at 23, said, "There are stages. There are trainees and debut-preparation trainees. I was always a trainee," and added, "I also worked hard, so I wondered, 'Why couldn't I debut? Am I that lacking?' I was very disappointed in myself."
He added, "After the contract ended and I took a taxi home, I started crying. I had worked so hard and it didn't work out? The wound was so deep. I thought life is really hard."
Ultimately Lee Jae showed himself choking up with apologies toward his younger self. He said, "What made me sadder than contract termination was feeling sorry for the young Lee Jae who poured so much into this. That much time felt wasted, I hated myself and felt sorry. The disappointment of realizing 'Even if you work hard, it doesn't work out' was immense."
For a while Lee Jae harbored resentment toward idols and K-pop, but he added, "I loved music too much. I discovered genres other than K-pop, and music lifted me up."
Later Lee Jae succeeded as a composer and went on to reach No. 1 on Billboard as the protagonist of "Golden." Lee Jae said, "I cried loudly. My trainee days came to mind. I kept crying remembering the day I was heading back after the contract ended. I thought to myself, 'You worked so hard, you did well.'"
Meanwhile, Lee Jae confessed that he hesitated to sing "Golden" for K-POP Demon Hunters because of a complex about his voice, drawing attention. When Yoo Jae-seok and Cho Sae-ho looked puzzled, he replied, "Isn't it too dark? I felt it as a complex during my SM trainee days. I was afraid because my voice seemed too rough."
He added, "I wanted to break down this wall for a long time. When I was young I heard a lot that my voice was ugly or old, so I worried a lot, but people liked not only the song but my voice, and I gained totally different confidence. I'm so grateful to the fans," expressing gratitude toward his fans.
[Photo] Screenshot of You Quiz on the Block broadcast
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