When BtoB first emerged at their debut showcase on March 21st, it wasn’t just their impressive dance skills or vocal talent that floored the reporters gathered at the scene, but the honesty in which they talked about their dreams.
Leader and main vocalist Eunkwang stated, “I never thought that I’d be dancing. I started music because I loved singing, and I thought for sure that I’d be singing for the rest of my life. To come to where I’m standing today, I had to dance. I hated it at first since it was so hard, but now that I’ve debuted as an idol dance singer, I’m able to enjoy it more. I’m happy with the end result.”
Unlike idols who give the same recycled answer saying that they’ve wanted to become a singer since they were young, the boys were honest and straightforward. In fact, the members of BtoB weren’t chosen to become idols at first. Eunkwang, Hyunsik, and Changsub first joined as trainees for a band project under Cube Entertainment.
An official stated, “We chose the members of BtoB according to their vocal talent, not their visuals.”
Eunkwang continued, “I said this before at the showcase, but I mean it when I say that I didn’t think I’d be dancing. I was always under the impression that a singer must move the hearts of people through his voice only, and that’s the path that I wanted to walk. I thought about it a lot and realized having to dance and sing at the same time wasn’t an easy task, and definitely something that I had to overcome at my level. And just because I’m in an idol group doesn’t mean I still can’t move the hearts of people.”
When the members were asked to name a characteristic unique to their group, they unanimously replied, “All of the members have strong vocal talent.”
Hyungsik had dreamed of becoming a singer-songwriter and producer, while Sungjae had dreams of becoming a ballad vocalist. Peneil, who grew up in the States, enjoyed rock music, while Changsub always imagined a stage where he stood as a solo singer. Ilhoon wanted a freestyle stage despite being in a group.
It’s hard to believe that such a vocally ambitious bunch came together as an idol group focusing primarily on dance music, but the boys knew what their advantages and disadvantages are as well as what they hoped to achieve.
They concluded, “Before our debut, we discussed at length about what it meant to be a live dance singer. You can’t deny that there is a negative stereotype attached to idol groups, but we figured that if we showed our vocal talent through our live performances, they’d come through. We pay special attention to our live singing, and our goal for this album is to have our talents recognized. Of course, our future goals also include showing different images and succeeding, which we’ll work towards little by little.”
Source + Photos: Kuki Media via Naver
