How to pass a K-Pop Audition?

Part 1. Before going for the Audition

1. Sleep: When you sleep less than 5 hours, your vocal cords become extremely dry. Instead of overexerting yourself with practice the day before the audition, it would be good to calm your nerves and have enough sleep, about 7-8 hours worth of sleep.

2. Warm up your throat well: It’s not good to sing with a loud voice and overwork your throat right when you wake up. Therefore, go about your day as per usual for about 2-3 hours after waking up. Drinking water, eating, making light conversation with your family is good. Afterwards, do light stretches for your whole body. You want to loosen up your stiff muscles and warm up with light “lip trills” or vocalisation scales.

3. It's important to get rid of bad habits: Instead of trying to mimic some singer too much or artificially creating a voice, it’s better to show your natural and clean voice. It would be good to fix habits like moving your arm too much or bending your neck etc. when singing.

4. What's a good outfit to wear?: Wear clothes that suit you and highlight your strengths. Neat clothes would look better compared to clothes that are too flashy. Wear something that makes you look like you have good proportions. Shorts or leggings and something that shows your body to an extent is good. Clothes that are too big and baggy can make you look dull.

5. It's important to practice facial expressions: In an audition, they’re not just listening to your singing but seeing your charm aka how confident you are on stage and how confidently you can sing and move on stage. Make sure to not move your eyes back and forth due to nerves. Practice fixing your eyes in one spot and singing on the regular. You can also practice your smiles in advance. A big and bright smile looks good on anybody.

6. Focus more on and prepare what you’re confident in: Practice and prepare what you have more confidence in: song or dance!

Part 2. At the Audition venue

1. Waiting Time: The wait time before your audition can be pretty long. Prepare some water so your throat won’t dry up, and prepare for the weather that day. (For e.g. if it’s winter, prepare warm clothes, if it’s indoors, be careful of the cold air from the air conditioner etc.)

2. Greet in Korean: Prepare a simple greeting in Korean. You will be viewed more positively.

3. Speak Clearly: When first introducing yourself (saying your name) or when answering a question, look them in the eyes and try to speak in a bright tone.

4. When Singing: If you have to sing without a backing track, don’t look flustered but instead count “one, two, three, four” in your heart then start singing. It’ll change the quality of your singing right from the get go.

5. When Dancing: Don’t just practice your movements but practice your facial expressions too. When dancing, it’s good to use make bold facial expressions too. As the 1st round of auditions is extremely short, it’s important to leave a good impression. Maintain a bright smile and clear voice.

Part 3. What songs should I pick for my audition?

1. Pick songs that show off your strengths: In order to do that, you first need to know what your strengths are. We’d normally know what our weaknesses are, but you’d need to know both your strengths AND weaknesses. If you don’t really know what your strengths are, either find a professional to figure it out for you or ask your friends to listen to your singing and ask them what your strengths are. Most people feel similar things so listening to their feedback will be helpful.

2. Pick songs that fit your voice: If you have a mid to low voice, you don’t need to sing songs that have high notes. If you have the confidence to sing high notes, then you should definitely pick songs with high notes. If you can’t really produce falsettos, pick songs that don’t have falsetto sounds.

3. Pick songs that fit your personality and image: If you normally have a bright and outgoing personality, singing an exciting song will show your charms naturally. If you have a cute voice, it would be better to not pick a song that’s too mature or has a dark mood to it. If you have good projection, it would be good to perform a powerful song.

4. Pick a Trendy Song: Instead of singing a song that came out many years ago, it’ll be good to pick a trendy song. K-Pop is a genre that is extremely sensitive to trends. You can get higher scores if you can show that your voice suits trendy songs well.

Part 4. What dance should I prepare for my audition?

1. When preparing your dance BY YOURSELF: If you’re learning to dance with a coach or instructor, you can prepare your dance with them but if not, pick an easy song that doesn’t have hard movements. It’s more important to show your charm and dance lines in an audition compared to showing techniques.

2. Facial Expressions and Confidence: Even if you have zero confidence in your dance, you must show good facial expressions with confidence. Don’t try to dance coolly with fast movements, instead it’s important to look natural with accurate movements. If you’re new to dance, it shows the most when your core is unstable or when you don’t finish off your movements.

3. Lots of Practice: Just like singing, in order to dance well, it’ll be good to practice a lot on the regular. If you lack muscular strength, it’ll be hard for you to connect the fast movements well.