SM Entertainment invested $2.6 million dollars to debut singer BoA

Footage of singer BoA when she was a SM Entertainment trainee has been revealed to the public.

A recent episode of SBS TV‘s ‘Oh Jung Chul’s Star – Star, Secret! Rise To Fame‘ introduced the public to the long history and storied career of singer BoA who is currently serving as a panel judge on SBS TV’s ‘K-POP Star‘.

BoA followed her older brother to audition for SM Entertainment when she was in the 5th grade, and was immediately cast while her brother unfortunately wasn’t. SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Manremarked, “We were desperately searching for a talented child who was not yet in middle school. We looked all over the world,” reminiscing of the project that led to BoA’s debut.

BoA who was an elementary school student practiced five hours a day after school on the weekdays and 10 hours a day on the weekends in order to prepare for her debut. The singer also dropped out of junior high in order to focus on her career and displayed some immense talent that drew attention from insiders in the music industry.

“The budget for our new project was about $2.6 million, but our company didn’t have the money at the time and we had to get loans and investments to carry out the project. Thinking back, I can’t believe we did that, but we really wanted to try,” Lee Soo Man continued.

The episode also covered the important moments of BoA’s 12-year music career, including her debut story, interviews, Japanese debut, and more.

Source + Image: seoulntn via Nate