A man who constansly changed and never stays in one place, Kim Junsu.
He, who attempted at many transformations and is never afraid of them, took his time to be with @star1.
As a JYJ member, a musical actor and also as a solo singer.
A man who is running with no rest and never stops, Kim Junsu.
This is the story of that man, Kim Junsu.
He, who attempted at many transformations and is never afraid of them, took his time to be with @star1.
As a JYJ member, a musical actor and also as a solo singer.
A man who is running with no rest and never stops, Kim Junsu.
This is the story of that man, Kim Junsu.
# UNCOMMITTED
While transforming into a solo singer,
just recently he decided to release an English single album. It has
became such a hot topic as he worked with an international composer like
Bruce Automatic. He experienced a working style which is completely
different from the one in Korea. “While in our country, we tend to focus
only on recording the song, in the US, they try to get to know each
other first through conversations then go on with recording. If the
recording time takes about 4 hours in total, 2 hours would be spent in
having natural conversations about the album with each other. Also, I
feel that they take care of the artist overwhelmingly well. If I want to
rest, they would tell me to rest until whenever I want, they would make
a big deal if my vocal condition is just a little bit unwell. Now I
know what it is like to work with the best staff.”
He also worked with top staff to film a
music video right in the US. He was confused with a whole new way of
filming as they had to film the given situation in only one
long-take. “In our country, the staff would definitely give directions
even on the smallest movement but in the US, they just asked me to ‘sing
like you are flirting with this woman’. Of course, they didn’t decide
the exact movement for me either. Also, they always say ‘Action’ no
matter what. We were told to caress each other right at the first time
we met so I entrusted completely in the actresses. Seriously, like a
fish being released into water, when the music is played, I must get
everything under my control. When the filming started, I thought about
what to do first. I felt the pressure but because of that, we had some
natural unscripted scenes.” They brought a car to a desert, played the
music and he was told to act there. Since it was the very first time he
and the actress met, he couldn’t help but feeling puzzled when he was
told to act like he is flirting with her. Even so, they completed the
filming professionally. A high-standard music video was made. “Because
every staff was looking at me only, somehow rather than feeling
embarrassed, I just wanted to finish the filming quickly. Every staff
that I worked with are popular people and it was also their first time
to work with a Korean artist. Therefore, the responsibility of leaving a
good image to them and the pressure to be good seem to be more severe.
That’s how everything happened.”
From a group of 5 members to a trio, then he transformed to a solo singer.
With that much happened, he was really worried and things are not easy for him at all. Especially in the situation where his TV activities aren’t guaranteed, the pressure on promotion for his solo album is big. The album was decided to be released after hesitating, therefore he wanted it to be in higher quality and be perfect. “Depending on how I set the standard for myself, it could be considered as a success or failure. At least, considering the worries I had in mind before releasing the album, I think it was such a big success to me. To be honest, when my agency first told me to release an album, I told them I didn’t want to. It is because I have thought that promoting an album when I can’t even appear on TV is impossible. On top of that, I did want to make an album with a certain quality that is enough to please me but if that amount of money was invested in but the result couldn’t meet our expectations then that would be just a daydream.” While preparing for the album, he also collaborated with Gecko, DoubleK etc. It seems like he is completing one by one things that he has never tried out before.
“There was a story like this long time ago. Every person has their own color in terms of music. No matter how differently they try to manifest, there is still a boundary that they cannot get over. I think collaboration is a way to break it. Now if I talk about what I want to do, my agency will accept the idea and get it prepared for me. That is what makes me happy the most.”
# ‘Unconventional’ transformation
Releasing an album at the end of agony was indeed unconventional.
He took back the name ‘XIA’ and chose an androgynous concept which he’s never shown before. The decision was more unexpected to come from a boyish person like him. “To be honest, it was awkward. For my personality, doing nails or dyeing my hair to bright color is something I’d never imagined myself would do in the past. I had absolutely no interest to the point that I felt ashamed that one can be called a celebrity just because of their fancy appearance. At that time, in my opinion, because I am a singer, all I must do is singing well and that’s it. I am that type of person who doesn’t go to dermatology ‘cos I found it annoying. That thought was broken when I participated in musical ‘Elisabeth’.”
Kim Junsu played the role of ‘Death’ in the musical ‘Elisabeth’. A mystical and transcendent character like that needs to have a completely different image from normal people. That was the reason why he started dieting. “I felt that I was so different from the role ‘Death’. If I was still active in TV broadcast activities, I would monitor and shape up my style even if no one told me to do so, but during the break, I felt that I had became too ‘loose’. The role ‘Death’ that I must manifest in the musical is sexy and has similar image to the God of Death. When I looked in the mirror, I realized that this was not ‘Death’, that I wouldn’t be able to immersed in the role in this state. I think my role must attract attention of the audience right when he appears on stage so in order to transform my image, I started dieting.”
After transforming himself into ‘Death’, Kim Junsu’s mind has also changed. “It is obvious that singing is the most important thing for a singer. However, I cannot deny the fact that showing appearance is also a part of this job. The visual element can’t have priority over singing but it cannot be overlooked either. I cared a lot about the visual aspect when preparing for this album. For that reason, I did my nails and these days, if I don’t have nail art, I feel weird. My mind has changed to that extent. To me, putting efforts to change, to transform myself is something I should do for the fans. Before, I’d never thought about using wigs but now it they are needed, I will definitely wear them.”
# Solo concert, Asia tour, then World tour
During a 90-minute solo concert, one can feel breathless just by watching him performing continuously intense dance songs.
While performing alone on stage, he has mastered both singing and performance abilities and received favorable comment from audiences.
“After finishing ‘TARANTALLEGRA’, I did think that it would be great if the next song ‘Fever’ wouldn’t start at all, or if the chair that I was sitting on would just be descended into the stage’s bottom. However, wanting to show a perfect image, I arranged dance songs continuously one after one so I gathered all my strength and focused on my stage. The delight and the sense of fulfillment after that are unbelievable.” Now he is starting his World tour. Standing on a foreign stage gives him very different feelings from those he has when being on domestic stage. Is it similar to what a national representative would feel? He doesn’t stop after obtaining popularity in Japan, he extended to Europe, South America etc. He has well prepared as XIA but also as a Korean singer, he has to bear a big responsibility to show a more than perfect stage. “To be honest, near the end, I was too tired that I didn’t know how I have performed in the song ‘Mission’. Also, when the concert has ended, not only I was happy but I also felt stunned. Nevertheless, after every concert, I always have some regrets and also emptiness in my heart, then I promise to myself that I will work even harder next time.”
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