Gwangju’s Got Talent: Following Your Dreams

An Interview with Kim Chan-yang

Interview and Photos by Jarrod-John du Plooy
Interpreter Jayeon Jung

It’s early on a chilly Saturday morning and excitement is already building. The sun is shining and I am on the way to interview a budding young star. All I know about my interviewee is that he has appeared on one of the most watched survival audition shows in the country, Korea’s Got Talent (KGT) and that he sometimes works part- time as a barista at his mom’s coffee shop, Golden Rabbits.

We are scheduled to meet at Golden Rabbits downtown, which is conveniently located just behind the GIC. Upon entering the café one is immediately welcomed by huge banners of the young star bursting with charisma as he smiles from ear to ear. Still cuts from KGT stage show him playing the piano and also showcase various modern dance positions from his most noted performance on that show. The interview stage is also set and I try and figure out what makes this young man tick. What will he be like? A prima donna with an attitude like Nicki Minaj and then some? Will he live up to the persona I feel like already I know?

Enter Chan Yang Kim, a 20-something guy neatly dressed in jeans, a blue shirt and a tousled hairdo that says “I don’t care, but I do”. With introductions complete, I couldn’t have been more surprised by his positive and down-to-earth attitude as he apologises for being a tad late. He initially seems very nervous and shy, but after a sip of coffee he relaxes and we proceed with the interview.

Born in Gwangju in 1992, Kim Chan Yang is the eldest child in his family and started actively learning new skills in the performing arts arena in his second year in middle school. After failing his college entrance exams, he began pursuing alternative methods to achieve his dream of becoming an actor and performer and this is when he decided to enter one of the highest-rated television shows in the country and this gamble seems to have paid off.

At 21, he seems confident and self-assured about achieving his goals which have been fuel-injected by the fact that only three weeks ago he found out that he had been accepted into one of the most prestigious performing arts schools in the country, the Seoul Institute of Arts. The school was established in 1962 and has harbored and harnessed the talents of renowned Korean actors such as Kim Ha Neul, Lee Jun Ki, Goo Hye Sun, Kim Bum, as well as the host of Running Man and Infinite Challenge, Yoo Jae Suk.

The road has not always been the smoothest though, and after having missed the opportunity to audition for performing arts schools last year due to an unfortunate accident, Chan Yang took some time off to re-evaluate and re-motivate himself to better prepare to fulfil his dreams. Chan Yang notes that, “Missing out on the chance to enter performing arts school last year was a huge turning point for me, and after watching the enormous responses to the overseas audition show Britain’s Got Talent, as well as [taking] some guidance from my mentors I decided to enter [the Korean version]”. To his delight, audience members fell in love with him and soon started voting for him in droves. After working hard and making it through the audition process he realized that a much more difficult task lay ahead of him, as unlike many other survival contestants who relied only on singing, his performances depended heavily on highly choreographed dance and fight sequences that always had to be fresh and exciting.
“My driving force was not only to make my family and the audience proud, but to stay true to myself as well”. He thus worked tirelessly in order to perfect his final performances and his efforts were duly rewarded by being placed 1st in the third semi-final of the show with over 30% of the audience votes, a whopping 10% more than the second-placed contestant.

When asked what the scariest part of the competition was Chan Yang replied, “The live shows were very scary. I was always afraid I would make a mistake. And satisfying the viewers’ expectations weighed heavily on my mind at all times. I worked tirelessly to make every performance the best. I even learned ballet and capoeira from scratch. At some points this lead me to have some burn-out, but I loved working so hard. And a funny story is while performing in the semi-final, my mind went totally blank and I had to create freestyle choreography during the last moments of my performance, but the results were amazing”.

Amazing indeed, as Chan Yang is undoubtedly a natural performer and also believes that the essence of an artist is versatility and being able to manipulate performances to suit the occasion or even the mood of the audience or the performer themselves. These days in the ultra-competitive entertainment industry, one ultimately has to be an all-rounder.

Of course, with Gwangju being his hometown, he also astutely notes that, “Gwangju has a great artistic community that believes in the integrity and passion of performing. Unlike the performing industry in Seoul which can be very technical and mechanical at times, Gwangju fosters more well-rounded performers, and focuses on technique, passion and expressing individuality. For now, my biggest motivation is to love what I am doing, work hard at it and make my family, friends and a special lady I have my eye on proud of me”.
This is a great attitude to have, especially for someone who has chosen one of the hardest industries to work in. I asked if he already gets recognized on the street. Chan Yang replied that, “It has only happened once and it was very embarrassing because I’m not used to it. But once I am more well-established and have reputable performances behind me, I am sure I would feel more comfortable with the attention, but for now I’m just a normal guy”.

Yes, from a normal guy, to a finalist on Korea’s Got Talent, to hopefully being on our screens soon, I wish Kim Chan Yang the best and hope that he studies hard and will soon join the ranks of the other megastars from Gwangju, including You Know Yoonho from Dong Bang Shin Gi, Seungri from Big Bang, Minji from 2ne1, Suji from Miss A. as well as multiple award-winning actress Moon Geun Young.

This article also appeared in the March 2012 Gwangju News print edition.