[TRANS] 140204 - AN INTERVIEW WITH YG’S NEWCOMER, WHO HAS ATTRACTED A LOT OF ATTENTION - WINNER!

Winner, who was the opening act for Big Bang’s Dome tour. They performed for 3 days in a row at the Tokyo Dome, starting from the 21^st of December. We interviewed them on the last day after the performance had ended, and we are here to give everyone a close-up of Winner. 

Let us first introduce Winner, the 5-member boy group who had won on the Korean survival programme ‘WIN: Who Is Next’ and whose official debut under YG Entertainment people are awaiting. Talking about YG Entertainment, it is the big company that Big Bang, 2NE1, PSY and other globally popular artists are under. However, for the 8 years since Big Bang’s debut in 2006, YG has not produced any boy groups. The broadcast of ‘WIN’ has put the lives of 11 trainees on a gamble. Not only is the programme ‘WIN’ popular in Korea, it has also attracted a lot of attention in Japan. 

The opening performance included Winner’s cover of ‘Officially Missing You’ and 

‘Go Up’, the song that Winner sung at the final battle on the programme ‘WIN’. The venue grew dark and the shadows of 5 people, who were silently waiting for the song ‘Officially Missing You’ to begin, appeared on the screen. It surprised a lot of people that Winner, who had showcased their intense dance choreography in the programme ‘WIN’, and who has YG’s hip-hop speciality, would perform that song. Nevertheless, it was obvious that their vocal skills had matured quite a bit since the broadcast of ‘WIN’. The lead vocal, Nam Taehyun, was especially at ease while singing. 

After this, while doing self-introductions, Kang Seungyoon said: “[I want to] become a band that is loved by the public, just like our Big Bang seniors.” The members introduced themselves to the fans in Japanese one by one and talked about their visions for the future. Through this tour, their popularity in Japan has increased, and the Winner fans present at the venue had clapped for them loudly. 

Those who had watched ‘WIN’ would definitely want to listen to ‘Go Up’, which embellished Winner (who was then Team A) in the heart-wrenching final battle. The composer of the song was Winner’s leader, Kang Seungyoon. It could be said that this song captures the passion and spontaneity found in the leader himself. The members moved about the stage and enjoyed themselves during the performance, not at all afraid of the large venue they were in. Yet, Nam Taehyun says, “It was a little difficult (to perform on stage) because we are so used to practicing in the practice room.” And it seems so indeed- there is a gap between the stage and the Winner members. But all this should not be unexpected. After all, Winner is a new group that has not officially debuted yet. 

After this 10-minute opening performance, Winner immediately begins shooting and giving spirited greetings. They seem like excellent youths who are no different from guys of their age. They started out shooting together as 5 people. Listening to the photographer’s instructions, Winner decided on their positions on the spot. Winner understands that ‘WIN’ is still broadcasting and they see comments such as ‘They are so cool even though they are still trainees’ on Korean websites. After the group shootings, they do their individual shoots. While waiting for his turn, Nam Taehyun listens to and sings along to Big Bang’s song, while Kang Seungyoon comments ‘cute!’ and ‘how cool!’ in Japanese to the other members, who were doing the shooting. The eldest of the group, Kim Jinwoo, said that he was the visual and made a pose like that of an actor. 

The interview came after the shooting. Seeing that the recorders of the reporters were blinking, Lee Seunghoon, who is in charge of rap and dance choreography, said ‘how beautiful’ in Japanese, and followed up by using some Japanese words in his interview. Winner’s leader, Kang Seungyoon, seems to be already used to Japanese and he could tell the other members what the question being asked was without the help of a translator. Song Minho, who is in charge of rap, opened his eyes wide and laughed a lot while answering throughout the interview, much unlike the rapper he is on stage, who raps with a low voice and who is full of power, hence showing off his cute image. Winner developed strong friendships and teamwork because of ‘WIN’, which is seen clearly from the words they say. From the things they say, it can be felt that they have a lot of understanding for the other members. 

The members answered the questions in the interview seriously. “We want to debut soon!” said the 5 members in unison. All of us look forward to their official debut in Korea and in Japan, not to mention their presence in Asia! Coming back to perform for their own dome tour as Winner; that is the day the Winner members all are anticipating.

© jisin.jp / translated by fy-winner

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