"To My Best Father"
G.NA, the recent singer who debuted, wrote a letter of thank you towards the president of Cube Entertainment, Hong Seungsung (46), as soon as she received her debut album. The first statement from her letter described Hong President as a “father.” This is the same for 4minute and BEAST who are also members in the Cube Family. While other stars called their company president “President,” stars in this entertainment refers to him as “Father.”
How did Hong President end up having 12 children? When we met him recently at the Seoul Kangnamkoo Chungnamdo Cube office, he had on a happy smile. “Suddenly the kids started to call me father. It wasn’t a usual thing, so I was surprised as well, but I think it was possible because we stay together opening up our hearts. I wanted to play the role of a father by myself, but I think the kids helped me to realize that as well.”
▶ "Thousand times more the feeling of accomplishment making ‘second place’ idol to first”
-When was CUBE Entertainment established?
“Since it was established in early 2008, it will almost be 3 years in counting soon.”
-So in about 3 years, you debuted 4minute, BEAST, and G.NA. It seems like a pretty fast growing speed.
“Since I have the know-how from 20 years before, I have to be fast. Hahaha.”
Hong Representative had worked for 10 years under a music company, and after meeting the singer/producer Park Jinyoung, he ended up joining JYP Entertainment (JYP) as a representative and helped to raise Rain, Wonder Girls, 2PM, 2AM, and more.
- You even made 4minute, BEAST, and G.NA as popular stars as well. They all seem to have a common background of being in a different group at first.
“4minute’s Hyunah had been from Wonder Girls and G.NA was the leader of the group ‘Five Girls’ that had failed even before debut. Kikwang from BEAST had been in solo activities before, and Hyunseung was eliminated from becoming the final member of Big Bang. Doojoon was eliminated in a choosing for 2PM and 2AM members. These kids basically had the ‘second place’ tag on their tails. If I look at kids like that, my heart starts to hurt and I feel that I need to care for them. But of course there are reasons behind their elimination, and they might be lacking something. However that can all change when you change the point of view you are looking at them from. They might not be able to fit well there, but fit well here. After being in the entertainment business for more than 20 years, I learned that it isn’t all about the skills. You need the passion. Kids who have faced the pain earlier have a different attitude towards the future, and because they already faced a hard point in their life, even if they hit rock bottom, their strength to fight it off is stronger. They are a bit sturdy than others.”
- Is that why you purposely collected the ‘second places’?
“Of course. There are some that I have brought into the company because it was hard looking for someone with potential first starting up the company, but that isn’t all. I thought that the kids in second place will have thousand times more the feeling of accomplishment if they hit first place. I also had trust in that these kids were going to place first as well. In reality, the kids in second place tend to take care of themselves well. There might be a singer that can’t care for themselves as well, but there isn’t an artist that can’t care for themselves. If you can’t take care of yourself, there is a certain limit for you.”
There were times when the ‘second place’ trainees came to find him, but most of the times he went to find them himself. This goes for Jang Hyunseung and G.NA. “Hyunseung received a lot of pain because the process of him being eliminated from Big Bang was all aired through a cable channel program. So I had to find him myself and after convincing him and convincing him again, I was able to recruit him. This was the same for G.NA because the debut of ‘Five Girls’ was called back, and because she stayed as a trainee for JYP too long, she was about the head back to Canada where her parents were. I had G.NA’s parents and G.NA in front of me and had to convince them that this was the last chance so we should try again.”
However, not all ‘second places’ are given a second chance. Hong President stated, “They are all kids who were near me” and revealed that he didn’t have a special requirement. “I think I feel caring towards the kids that I have a destiny with, or kids that I have been introduced to. Hahaha.”
▶ “Stars who do not have basic foundations built cannot lead the crowd”
-Then that means that the trainees who were under different companies can make their debut right away.
“Even if we put them out there right away, they have nothing to lose. It’s just that the reason their debut was later than we thought since we gathered kids from different companies and it wasn’t easy for them to get along with one another. It took a lot of time for them to get over their personal struggles and pan. I think it takes about a year for them to get along and work together. Also, the fear of if they’ll be able to debut takes a long time also.”
Rep Hong said, “That is why we have set up a counseling system.”
“Any methods of calming their heart down, relieving stress, or other techniques are set up if they seem helpful for the kids. We set up personal counseling for them also. They’re kids who gather to become artists but once they debut, they’re in an environment which is completely different and sometimes, they can’t become accustomed to it which leads to depression sometimes. In educating them of those matters, we’re prepared beforehand. After their debut, we continue to educate them. We educate them on how to behave as a public figure and we change the curriculum in basing it on their personal situation. Also, once a week we have courses on building their personality, sexual education classes, and charity.”
-Is there a reason as to why you enforce character building and sexual education?
“Idol group members are becoming lower in age. At a young age, they have good listening skills so if the company can become a good parent role, then they can be raised up right. As much as the parents leave their young children, not only do we have to raise them into celebrities but at the same time, we have to raise them up as human beings. That’s why we’re trying to raise them up respectfully. We teach them that even if they’re busy after their debut, from the time they wake up to the time before they head to bed, it’s a given to call their parents. Also, since they’re minors, we can’t forget sex-ed. The things they can’t do as a younger person, why they can’t, and other things we teach as we also find solutions to if they have ‘crossed the line’.”
-Having a company doing charitable activities is a surprise.
“From trainee days, we embed charity in them. If they want to truthfully do this from the heart, it has to become a habit first. Right now we’re having them help out in neighborhood cleanups or perform at hospitals. If this becomes a habit, then we think that they’ll be able to pick up a piece of trash on the streets willingly without having anyone to tell them to do so. The final thing we want from them when the kids become stars after having made a lot of money is to give it back to the society. As they have received the love of the public and had made money from it, we want them to be able to give back the same.
-Has there been any success to educating them?
“If we compare from the beginning, there is a big, definite change since they’re young.”
We asked to pick a member in which educating them was the most successful as Rep Hong thought for a while. “They’re getting better overall,” he said as he smiled. He chose BEAST’s Lee Kikwang and Jang Hyunseung. “The longer the time of struggle, the better the effect for the child,” he explained.
-What if their skills are good enough but their character is lacking?
“We will give them enough education and if they still lack character the next time we give them a chance, then we take them out. That is why some kids who have been removed went to various companies and made their debut there. If they don’t have an upright character, then they could bring up problems any time. Even if they have outstanding skills, there are times when they don’t make a debut. I feel that our kids will never be disrespectful or change when standing on stage anywhere. Stars who do not have basic foundations built cannot lead the crowd. With one word I say, many fans can change directions as I have to have responsibility.”
▶ “The relationship between artists, parents, and fans start from communication.”
-We know it as CUBE holds an explanation meeting with the trainees and parents.
“There is a problem if there is no communication between the company, artist, and parents. If we don’t communicate, there’s bound to be a problem in the shoes of an artist that they don’t know what they’re doing. Also, the parents will just be afraid. That is why we reveal everything of the company: what types of education the children are receiving, how they’re practicing, how much is spent in the music making, the cost of their stage outfits, etc. If they are to go appear on a program, we explain why they are doing so. Then, despite being a hard schedule, they hold it in and follow.”
-Amongst fans, we heard you are referred to as ‘Hong Cube.’ They say that this is the first time in which a company has listened to the opinions of the fans and that they like it a lot.
“The standards of the public have become higher and their criticisms are exact. Most of the time, the answer is there. Truthfully, fans believe anything in what the artist does and don’t believe the company. That is why we try to let the fans know in what the company is doing. Honestly, in the position of the company, fandom is a big strength. Of course we look over the fans’ responses and talk to a lot of them every day.”
-Do you really take the fans’ suggestions into consideration?
“Yes. Especially in the time of comebacks, we monitor the responses of fans a lot. During their activities, if they changed their hair style or concept, maybe even change the performance, we’re seeing the responses of the fans. Hahaha. Since my judgments aren’t 100% correct, we’re trying to fix it.”
Currently, there are 28 trainees in CUBE. Although he has the ‘Midas Hand’ in making those of 2nd place to 1st, not all 28 trainees will be able to make their debut. Rep Hong doesn’t deny it either. His alternative that he chose was “judging fast.”
“First off, we’re trying to reduce the children who have been rejected. Even if they get rejected again, we’re trying to make the pain less. In the shoes of a company, we can’t have kids who have no talent make their debut so we have to choose fast and reduce the amount of pain. It’s not like we can make them practice for a long while and not have them go anywhere else either. We try to choose within a year. That is why every month when we make choices, we talk to the parents and children. If we only inform them once, they could be hurt and so we try to give them monthly reviews and give them time which is like another chance. We talk to them and if they step onto the next stage, they won’t be as hurt.”
CREDITS: DONGA NEWS (SOURCE); aoistars & seoulfoood @B2ST RISING (TRANS)
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