An Idol's Life

  The word 'idol' first meant an inanimate object of worship, but it has evolved to include modern celebrities. On the Korean pop music scene, 'idol groups' are bands consisting of boys or girls in their teenage years or early 20s. And in recent years they've dominated the music industry. But  these stars aren't built in a day. To become a member of one of these bands, young children go through years of grueling training - all without any guarantee of success in the end. Being an idol usually calls for tough schedules and dance practices, but many have revealed what they’ve done to go the extra mile and get that distinguished ‘oomph’ in their figure. How far do these idols go to obtain and maintain their sexy and fit bodies? 

Actor Lee Jung Jea ate ginseng chicken soup 3 times day for 4 months to help achieve his amazing core

    

   Remember Kim Ah Joong from 200 Pounds of Beauty? She has the sexy, most desired body of the post-surgery Kang Hanna. She, along with Oh Yoon A and Cho Han Sun jump rope about 3,000 times everyday! I don’t even think I can count or think straight once I get that high.

   To train for Ninja Assassin, Rain hired trainers who trained the actors of “300.” He trained eight hours a day for eight months! As for diet, he only ate skinless chicken breast, raw fish, potatoes and salad. If he wanted spice, he would add some black pepper. Occasionally he treated himself to beef cooked in plain water. He cut his body fat from 12% to 5%!

    After Secret’s Zinger showed off her V-line, netizens began looking for the “Zinger Diet.” A supposed diet plan stated, “Morning 1 piece of toast with fat free milk, afternoon 1 sweet potato, evening 1 cucumber.” The menu varied from apples or chicken meat but most of the foods had very little calories and supplements to an insufficient full day meal. Fortunately, Zinger posted these wise words on her minihompy, “The diet plan that was revealed through media is not my daily meal plan. I definitely did not diet that way. You could ruin your health with that diet plan so please don’t follow it. Please lose weight slowly with constant exercise and food intake control. Through hard practice and diet, I will work to be Zinger who shows her good side.”

Well said, Zinger!

    The Wonder Girls , the girl group whose debut became the first by any Korean musicians to make it onto the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, lost a member to the stress of idol life. Sun-mi announced she was leaving to focus on her studies. The 19-year-old's decision came during the group's U.S. tour in 2009.
 "It was such a happy and precious experience for me to be on the tour of 50 U.S. cities and perform on the stage, but I came to wonder, can I go on living like this?' Sun-mi said in a statement later released by the group's management agency JYP Entertainment.
   Sun-mi's announcement not only jolted fans, but also stirred up controversy about the pressure on idol performers - either yet a trainee aspiring to be an idol star or already such a one - to maintain a schedule some say is too hard for a teenager to bear.

    Korean entertainment agencies look out to create idols, which they then also manage, maintain well-ordered training programs. Prospective talents in music or acting register with an agency, then, if accepted, undergo four to five years, on average, of training before their debuts. During that process, the company may require the aspiring star to live in a boarding house with colleagues (or rivals), go on a strict diet with regular weight checks and put in more than 10 hours of practice a day. The trainees under the entertainment label of their choice don't exactly know when they will debut,if that ever arrives

   Jo Kwon(2AM) and Min(Miss A) go way back as they had trained under JYP Entertainment for 8-10 years

 
Park, the manager of Beast at Cube Entertainment, explained, 'When registering as a trainee with our company, the trainee makes an agreement with us that they will comply with a set of rules along with an acknowledgement that we cannot guarantee when they will be able to make their debut as a full-fledged singer." He also discussed the company's special system that, as he put it, 'separates the grain from the chaff.'  'We have an evaluation session at the end of every month. With the company's officials, trainees and their parents present, the trainees are expected to show off how much they have developed over a month. If one shines particularly brightly at the session, he or she wins an advantage over others to make an earlier debut,' he continued

  Sleep deprivation is another concern. The members of the popular boy band MBLAQ said in a recent interview that the hardest part of their tight schedule is the chronic lack of sleep. The five-member boy group came into the spotlight even before its official debut in October 2009 because they were trained by World Star Rain.

   The members of the six-girl group T-ara(Now 7, soon to be 9), which debuted in 2009 and became increasingly popular with hit songs like 'Bo Peep Bo Peep' and various activities including an online shopping mall project dubbed 'T-ara dot-com,' also spoke candidly of their difficulties in dealing with the want of sleep from a tight schedule during an interview.

   'I imagine myself still living as a singer-actor who is also engaged in businesses related to fashion and beauty,' T-ara member Soyeon, said.

 Eunjung, another T-ara member and actor, agreed. 'I think I will keep on with my acting career as I'm also interested in producing as well,' she said.

    As indicated by the girls' answers, it's not uncommon for today's teen idols to become tomorrow's movie and TV stars, eventually developing into the producers who pick out the stars of the future

     The burgeoning field of musical theater is another popular choice, with several former idol stars making their way in that sphere. Ock Ju-hyun from the now-disbanded girl group Fin.K.L has appeared in 'Aida,' 'Cats' and 'Chicago,' while Choi Sung-hee, also known as Bada, from the girl band S.E.S. has performed in 'Notre Dame de Paris.' Most recently, Xiah Jun-su from TVXQ and Jessica from Girls' Generation landed roles in musicals: 'Mozart!' and 'Legally Blonde,' respectively.

    I know how desirable toned and fit bodies are, but everyone needs to watch out for their health. Ayumi Hamasakii has tried a lot of “one-food” diets; there is a rumor that she tried a popcorn diet (which failed). That, along with a few other diets mentioned are ridiculous! Eating from just one food group, let alone one type of food, will not provide you with the proteins, fats, carbohydrates, etc. vital for the body. If you aim to become an Idol stay strong, prepare well, and best of luck! Everybody please be safe. Persevere, Stay hydrated with water, cut back on processed foods, exercise regularly, and get plenty of rest!