Age Factor
K-Pop Audition/Trainee QuestionsOne big question is "When (age) is it the best time to audition?"
I would have to say that in general, the younger the better (around 12-13). This gives you ample time to train, determine whether this path is for you, and a slight advantage.
Let's say you are a 20 year old (21 in Korea) auditioning and you get accepted. If you are lucky, you might've just entered when the company was planning on debuting a new group. However, if you are not so lucky (or really unlucky in some cases) the company might not want to debut a group so quickly. This means that maybe you'll take about 4-5 years trainning (average trainee time), which means you'll be about 24-25 (25-26 in Korea) when you debut. This isn't an old number in life, but in K-pop this is consiered to be really old.
Now, in the same situation, lets take a 13 year old (14 in Korea). They will perhaps spend 4-6 years training but even then, as they debut, they will be within the age of 17-19 (18-21 in Korea) which is considered the optimal age to debut.
Not only that, but if you are younger, you'll be much easier to train than someone who is much older. You also won't have to spend countless hours dancing in the studio, but you can also focus on schoolwork and determine if this is something that you really want to do.
For now, though, I think if you were born 1993 or later, your age won't impact the decision heavily but if you were born in 1991 or earlier, you will probably be at a slight disadvantage because of your age (unless, it seems as if you age backwards and you look 15 when you are really 20).
So, my opinionated answer to the question would be, it would be best if you auditioned at a younger age, preferably at like 13-16. 17-19 is getting a little bit old but won't negatively impact you that much. 20-23 is starting to get old, but if you are really talented, and you reverse-age, then I would say you have a shot. 24+ is just getting too old to audition.
Keep in mind that these are AUDITIONING AGES and not TRAINEE AGES. I know that there are a couple of trainees who are well into their 20s but my guess is that they auditioned much earlier.
Also, keep in mind that the older you get, the more the judges expect from you. This means that if you are auditioning at you either must be 1) extremely good looking (see Luhan from EXO and Victoria from f(x)) 2) extremely talented (Kang Seungyoon, Lee Seunghoon) 3) extremely lucky that you happen to fit an image the company is planning on releasing (Amber from f(x)).
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