Nosebleeds To No Sleep: XG Reveal Their Korea Trainee Experience
XG, a girl group with only Japanese members, has been gaining a lot of attention on social media for their latest songs, “SHOOTING STAR” and “LEFT RIGHT.” The group comprises seven members: Jurin, Chisa, Cocona, Hinata, Maya, Juria, and Harvey. Recently, the girls all sat down with The Korea Herald to talk about their trainee days in South Korea.
XG’s official debut was on March 18, 2022, under XGALX, an agency affiliated with Japanese company Avex. Despite being Japanese, the members of XG all trained following the K-Pop training system, moving between Japan and Korea for five years.
The K-Pop training system is known for its ruthlessness, with such difficulty levels being considered essential to create a group good enough to debut. Once the group officially debuts, it’s up to the members to make it in the industry by having near-perfect singing, dancing, visuals, and behavior.
Due to this ruthless system, we often hear idols share stories of difficulties or incidents they faced during their trainee times. For instance, Red Velvet‘s Irene and Seulgi shared their experience as the only female trainees left in SM Entertainment.
Seulgi said she and Irene used to go to the rooftop and cry while looking at the Han River when they were trainees bcs they were the only trainees left 😭😭😭😭 @RVsmtown
pic.twitter.com/wpddmB9KwE— Mena | has no thoughts (@_kimmina96) July 22, 2020
XG members, too, have their share of incidents to tell. Member Harvey, 20 years old, shared she had a nosebleed while training but continued to work with tissues in her nose to stop the blood from coming out.
During training, aspiring idols have to face many evaluations in different categories to make it to debut. For XG, the number of evaluations proved to be a significant difficulty. The group’s leader, Jurin, shared that the members sometimes had four evaluation tests within a month. This left them with little time to practice.
At the toughest of times, we had four evaluation tests a month. We had to cut down on our sleep to practice.
— XG’s Jurin
Another member, Chisa, revealed that at one point, Jurin had to memorize five sets of rap for one evaluation test, sacrificing sleep by “staying up until 5 in the morning to practice.”
I literally memorized the lyrics in my sleep then.
— XG’s Jurin
Even though the members faced such difficulties and trying times, they remained humble and determined. Jurin considers them “experiences to learn from.”
We’re here like this right now thanks to those events.
— XG’s Jurin
All of their hard work is thankfully being rewarded by XG’s fans. They are loving their latest singles and the group’s powerful performances — with online communities being full of praise for their stage presence and dancing.
the fact ‘let’s go alphaz’ wasn’t planned just shows how xg are real performers. they always have fun on stage and u can feel their genuine excitement interacting with their audience u can just tell they belong on stage. pic.twitter.com/aqWYJdR19M
— ✮ (@XGiscertified) February 28, 2023
