The Beauty of Simplicity

`` my daily journey. [#] `-

Saturday, 6 January 2007

Rain Swept (Part 2)

The Calm Before the Storm

Rain did not let his "unfortunate" appearance drag him down though, and he auditioned to enter the JYP Academy. JYP are the initials of Park Jin-Young, a singer-turned-producer/composer and the head of JYP Entertainment. Park himself had debuted in 1994 and was already an established singer, famous for his provocative music and stage antics. After a grueling four-hour singing and dancing audition, JYP gave Rain the okay, later saying that his decision to accept Rain was because he could feel "hunger" within him. Rain commented that yes, he did feel hunger, but the literal, stomach-growling kind of hunger, as his mother had fallen ill and Rain was frequently skipping meals due to his family's dire financial circumstances.

Once JYP took Rain under his tutelage, he plunged him into an intensive, non-stop singing and dancing training schedule that was to last for three years before his protege found himself in the limelight.

Well, sort of.

His initial stage experience was as Park's backup dancer, still anonymous and probably still somewhat hungry. It was during this period, on the eve of the downpour that Rain would become, that his mother died, despite the financial assistance that JYP provided for her treatment. To this day, Rain mentions that it is the memory of his late mother that motivates him to keep pressing ahead.

The motivational power that the memory of mother exerts on Rain today must be tremendous, as he continues to work tirelessly and unrelentingly. His mentor, JYP, once told a radio show that unbeknownst to him, Rain had written down every single piece of advice and reprimand that he had given him on post-it notes, which were plastered all over Rain's walls. Nowadays, as Rain is preparing to release an English-language album in the United States, he has added English lessons to his ridiculously hectic schedule in order to achieve basic conversational fluency.

As impossible as it may seem for the average "Kim" to master a foreign language while also singing, dancing, acting, interviewing, and reigning over most of East Asia, Rain would find few rivals when it comes to self-discipline and drive. JYP told the New York Times that Rain had made a promise to his mother that he would be the best singer in the world, and "that's why he never parties, never drinks, never goes out and practices for hours every day."

While people may have differing opinions about Rain's music, acting, and single-lidded eyes, almost everyone would agree that it was Rain's hard work, above all else, that turned a "reject" into a kind of superhero, achieving unprecedented feats in Korean music history.

Revenge of the "Reject"

A year is all it took after his debut for Rain to sweep up a slew of awards in Korea. In 2002, he received the MBC Top 10 Artist Award, the SBS New Male Performer of the Year Award, and the New Artist Golden Disc Award, in addition to several others. By the end of 2003, two major television networks as well as two music-oriented cable channels honored him as the male artist of the year. In 2004, he proved himself to be just as capable an actor as he is a singer/dancer; his role in Full House won him the KBS Best Actor Award as well as the Popularity Award at the Baiksang Arts Grand Awards. Of course, this success did not slow down his pursuit of musical excellence in 2004, winning top honors at the KBS Music Awards by snatching the KBS Artist of the Year Award.

The year 2005 was a turning point for Rain, as the regional success of Full House became a springboard from which he could launch himself as a truly pan-Asian star, a feat that he then proceeded to accomplish all too magnificently.

So far, It's Raining has sold over a million copies Asia-wide, which resulted in sold-out shows in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Taiwan, among other venues, with tickets being snapped up within minutes of their release. He has been the darling of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese media, just to name a few. He won the esteemed title of "Favorite Artist from Korea," at the 2005 MTV Asia Aid in Bangkok and won the Best Korean Singer award at the 2005 Mandarin Music Honors. He was the proud recipient of the Best Buzz Asia Award at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards Japan and was the only non-Japanese Asian artist invited to perform at the venue, sharing the stage with world-renowned artists such as Ashanti and Mariah Carey.

Just to mention another little accomplishment, last May, Rain was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, coming second after director Ang Lee (of Brokeback Mountain fame) in the magazine's Artists & Entertainers' category. This was the first time a Korean performer attained this honorable title, putting Rain in the same ranks as other Korean power players like Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-Hee and Kim Jong-Il, who were chosen in 2005 as leaders in the categories "Leaders & Revolutionaries" and "Builders & Titans," respectively.

The Importance of Catching the Wave

The importance of Hallyu is considered a major factor in Rain's overseas success, and it certainly cannot be underestimated. The popularity of Korean singers, actors, television dramas, movies, and even fashion throughout East and Southeast Asia is explosive. The export of Korean television shows initially began because of their low cost. However, by 2000, it was no longer the low cost but the impressive quality of Korean movies, music, and performance that found an ever-growing fan base in various Asian nations. It is often said that Korean pop culture combines excellence in quality that can rival that of Western cultural products with an Asian voice and face.

The representative example of the momentous force of Hallyu was the television drama series, Winter Sonata, which caused an unprecedented sensation in Japan. Japanese women became diehard fans, many of them coming to Korea to visit the drama set, buying up countless Winter Sonata-related souvenirs, and pledging their undying love for the leading man, Bae Yong-Joon, who was given an honorific nickname, Yonsama. Other Hallyu fans have made studying the Korean language hip, turned Korean mobile phones and plasma TVs into status symbols, and made fortunes for Korean restaurant owners all over Asia.

Thus, Hallyu was able to turn domestic stars like Yonsama and pop singing sensation, BoA, into regional megastars. However, even among this group of Korean celebrity elites, Rain stands out. Because while BoA conquered Asia with her singing/dancing and Yonsama with his acting, Rain has done so in all of these genres, making him more than doubly competitive and successful than his counterparts. So in one sense, Rain did not necessarily ride the Korean wave, but created a whole new one.

Light my path
2:02:00 am

youdrovemydarknessaway`-//*

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