11 K-Pop Male Idols Who Almost Debuted in Another Group

Behind the colorful and exciting glow of K-Pop, the road to stardom for many of your favorite idols has never been easy.  Although, I think these challenges, made them earn respect from fans all over the world and also seemed to have led them to their fated group. Here are some of the male idols I know who were supposed to be part of another team other than their current groups.

 B2ST Hyunseung - Bigbang 

 Block B Jaehyo - B2ST

 B2ST Doojoon - 2AM

Doojoon was part of Mnet's reality show called Hot Blooded Men (Ep.1). The program was like a documentary- reality search kind of show for the debut of JYP Entertainment's male idol groups 2AM and 2PM.

 N-Sonic Minki - B1A4

Fans said he was a WM Entertainment trainee and was supposed to debut as B1A4's leader. 

 Block B B-Bomb - Infinite

 A-Prince Woobin - BAP

If you check girl group Secret's music video for Starlight Moonlight (Link), Woobin is actually one of the boys in the background together with other BAP members. He also joined other BAP members as back up dancers during the promotion of the said song (Link).

 BAP Himchan - CNBlue

 C-Clown TK - BtoB

Before he became TK he was Lee Min Woo. He was set to debut as part of Cube Entertainment's new boy group, BtoB. He was one of the casts of JTBC's I Live in Cheongdamdong (Ep.11 BtoB cut) together with 4 current BtoB members Eungkwang, Minhyuk, Ilhoon and Hyunsik.

 BAP Youngjae - GOT7

Winner Minho -  Block B

Minho did not just train together with Block B members before, he actually already debuted as a member of the vocal group BOM before, together with 2 current BTL members Jisu and YuA. Even before he is already know for his impressive rapping skills. 

Top Dogg Nakta - VIXX

Nakta took part of the search of members for Jellyfish Entertainment's very first idol group later on called VIXX. The search was broadcasted as reality show on Mnet called Mydol. He was using his real name Yoonchul at that time. (Mydol Ep.1)

Do you think they are in the "right" groups already? Can you imagine them to part of other groups? I'm sure there are still many of them out there. If you know some please comment below. The K-Pop idols' community is relatively really small. Almost all idols know each other because they were co-trainees at the same company/ies before. Although they have to part ways to chase their dreams. 

A-PRINCE paparazzi photos

I was in Hongdae covering a K-Pop related event when A-Prince member Seungjun called me saying they're also in the area having a photoshoot for a magazine. So I went looking for the place. As expected A-Prince members were "shining brightly" in the streets of Hongdae. kkkk Like if you also happen to be in the area you'd probably make a stop and also take pictures. Since I had my camera with me, I've decided to take some shots and it came out like paparazzi photos because these were taken from a relatively far distance to be discreet.

Siyoon

The rest were fine with smoky make up I guess except for Siyoon. Siyoon's smoky make up was a bit too much... that it made him look like someone else.... Just sayin kkk 

Seungjun was still blonde that time.

Minhyuk

Woobin

Sungwon

They told me the name of the magazine is Hallyu Magazine, a US based magazine about Korean entertainment and culture. A-Prince fans out there should grab their own copies because A-PRINCE is the main cover! Check the online version HERE. You can purchase your own copy online HERE

C-Clown on After School Club (May 8th)

The six boys of C-CLOWN were special guests on Arirang TV's After School Club last May 08. If you haven't seen the episode you can check the Video on Demand section of After School Club's website. You might as well check the other episodes too.

I am close friends with C-CLOWN members especially Barom. Every time we see each other backstage in music shows or events it's like meeting old friends. hehe. Barom is probably one of the nicest idols out there. I know some diva idols and Barom is the total opposite. He's very down to earth. He is also very motivated and really a passionate person. He told me to tell international fans that he's reading all your mentions, messages so just keep it comin!

I have talked to everyone in the group already several times and based on that I could probably give some insights on their character. TK is surprisingly fun to talk to. At the start he would tend to be really quite and shy but when he gets to know you he'd say a lot. He even utters lots of English words with good pronunciation. hehe Ray on the other hand is very bubbly. Every time I take a photo of him he'd give suggestions on how he want it to appear. Like he'd say can you make this one cute? The last time he told me to take a "sophisticated man type of photo" of him. So I was like...how'd I do that? lol

The youngest member Maru was carrying an English book with him the last time we meet so I was testing his English. He said he'd study more and next time he'll talk to me in English. Siwoo is a little bit quite in front of people but not when he's with the other members. Kangjun I'd say is also very bubbly who appears to joke a lot too.

These six members are really close to each other like a family. So to all CROWNs out there continue to support them. During this episode of After School Club, Siwoo said he wants to ride on a plane. He said they haven't been outside of Korea.

Well it's a shame because I know the group has many international fans. Hopefully, they'll be able to travel soon. In case you wanna invite them, you can shoot me an e-mail and I'll try my best to connect you with them (if you're a promoter).

After School Club airs live every Wednesday on Arirang TV at 5pm. You can chat with your favorite Korean stars/ idols so the format is really unique. It's all in English to especially cater to international fans!

Heo Young Saeng and MIB on ASC

ASC's MCs Hanbyul and Eric Nam and the special guests

Arirang TV's very own idol variety real-time show After School Club's (ASC) second guests were SS501's Heo Young Saeng and rap group MIB. I wasn't really able to stay during the whole recording so I will just show you some pics I took when I was at the studio.

ASC's special guests Heo Young Saeng and MIB

MIB (5Zic, Sims, Cream, Kangnam)

 MCs Led Apple's Hanbyul and Eric Nam

MIB or Most Incredible Busters is famous for having good music (yep personal favorite). During the show SIMS was asked how he feels being the maknae (youngest) in the group but at the same time because of his mature appearance people usually think of him as the oldest. When that was asked I thought maybe he'd received such question a million times already. LOL I've encountered MIB many times. I even interviewed them for like 10 minutes before haha. The first one was during their debut. Originally I didn't have a good impression of the group because of their angry looking manager at that time. But now, they've changed a lot. They're very friendly and I don't see that angry looking manager anymore, although there is one more now but he's kinda ok. haha. When Kangnam saw me the other day he was like "We've met before right?" in Japanese. So I said, yeah a couple of times. I actually interviewed you before. So he was "Oh hahaha"

Heo Young Saeng's like...Why am I doing this? kkk

Now, every time we meet at the hallway in any music shows or events we act like we know each other. Haha. They're very nice. So far I've only talked to Kangnam. I usually call him by the name Takuya, not because it's his real name (no idea what's his real name though) because he looks like Takuya the famous Japanese singer and actor. I've also met Heo Young Saeng many times already but wasn't really able to talk to him. But I have a good impression of him because of the last picture (see above). I told him to hold his CD and I will take a pic and he said sure! hold the his signed CD, smiled and posed. Then we shook hands and he even tapped my back. Like cool fwends! kk

For more details about After School Club go and check their official accounts here : Facebook, Twitter, Website. The good thing about this show is international fans can participate. Check the website for the instructions. You can also watch the previous episodes on the VOD list.

A-Prince Joins Gangwon in Reviving Korean Traditional Market

I had a chance to join A-Prince in one of their most recent activities. We went to Gangwon Province last May 5th to attend a charity concert. The concert aims to revive people's interest and hoping that more and more people in the community would patronize local products in the market. A-PRINCE got invited as ambassadors and also the first K-Pop group to grace the said event for this year. Last year B1A4, U-Kiss, Chi Chi also attended the said event.

 Seungjun

 Minhyuk

 Siyoon

 Sungwon

Woobin

The members said they're really honored to be invited for such event. Before the concert started they were given a chance to roam around and enjoy the market. So they bought products being sold there like rice, noodles, vegetables just like Korean ajummas ^^. Woobin said they'll be bringing it back to their dorm.

A-PRINCE performed their hit singles Hello and You're the Only One. They also did a cover of One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful. They ended their performance with PSY's Gangnam Style and Gentleman which was received by the people with a massive applause and a lot of giggles from girls.

Vocal group 7942 CGSE Introduces New Member

It seems that Eungjoo will have to vacate his throne as the maknae of CGSE (7942) and become one of the hyungs. The new rightful owner of the maknae crown is now the new member named Alvin. He was officially introduced during the group's visit in Osaka, Japan last April 12-13th for a performance.

I am close friends with the members of this group ever since their debut last year. Although I haven't personally met Alvin yet Haenghun already told me about him. Alvin seems to have a very impressive record. He was born in 1992 (in Korea year of birth is one of the most common questions you'll get) and has studied in Singapore. Now he is currently a student at Kyunghee University (yes there are many celebrities at this school like Rain and Lee Hyori for example). He is also a multilingual person. Aside from Korean he could speak English and Vietnamese too. Impressive right?

For more about the new member you can follow his Twitter Alvin. Follow the rest of CGSE's Twitter accounts too Eungjoo, Haenghun, Jonghyun, Hoon and 7942 Official Facebook. The group just celebrated their 1st anniversary too so don't forget to send them your chukha tweets.