After many celebrations and award ceremonies, 2007, which belongs to the Korean entertainment industry, really began, and for NRG, 2007 began, and the two most important things for the company were Lee Jun-hee's directorial debut, and one thing was the debut of IU Lee Ji-eun.

Although IU's debut was scheduled for the second half of the year according to the plan, all the work around IU's debut has been carried out since the beginning of the year.

After confirming the upcoming debut, the company's intensive training for IU began, and although Lee Jun-hee recognized IU's strength, as an IDOL, especially as a singer, IU still lacks some necessary qualities.

As IU's teacher, Lee Jun-hee also made up for her last lesson before she started to make the final sprint for her debut, that is, to help IU recognize the true face of the Korean entertainment industry.

At the beginning, Lee Jun-hee was also a little hesitant, for a fourteen-year-old girl who was still in middle school, it might be too cruel to recognize the dark side of society too early.

However, Lee Jun-hee had to do this, precisely because IU Lee Ji-eun was still young, so she should know more about what kind of circle she was about to enter.

Many boys and girls only broke into this circle with a dream of stardom after seeing the scenery of IDOL on the stage, and they broke into this circle like moths to the fire.

In the hearts of these boys and girls who have not yet debuted and have not really seen what the entertainment industry is like, the concept of the entertainment industry is very simple, the stage, fans, applause, flowers, and a little older. In their cognition, there will be an extra amount of money.

But only after they really enter this circle and experience the taste, will they be horrified to find that the entertainment industry is not as beautiful as they imagined.

What Lee Jun-hee has to do now is to make up for this lesson for IU in advance, so that she can prepare earlier. Arm yourself to avoid future harm.

At the beginning, before Princess's debut, Lee Jun-hee also told them about it to help them recognize the true face of the entertainment industry, and now it is IU's turn Lee Ji-eun.

In South Korea, especially in recent years, the media often breaks the news that a well-known artist has committed suicide, and there are so many well-known artists in one country who commit suicide. This may be unique, so what is the reason why these Korean artists take the initiative to go to a dead end?

The first is that there is a lot of pressure on artists, which is unimaginable to ordinary people, so where does the pressure on Korean entertainment stars come from?

In four words, it can be summed up as "fierce competition".

South Korea's close neighbor China has a huge commercial market, and the living environment for artists is also quite relaxed. Even if popularity and commercial value begin to decline, it is rare for a plummeting situation. If you can't occupy the first-tier market, you can still have a good income in the second- and third-tier cities.

In South Korea, such a situation is almost impossible, due to the small market, once the popularity of old artists declines, they will be quickly replaced by new ones. The old man is forgotten by the market, and the new man continues to face the same pressure, and so on, and so on, and so on.

The battle for acting career is beauty and acting skills, which is the so-called idol and powerful faction that people often talk about.

And the idol faction who relies on beauty to get to the top. Especially for actresses, their artistic lives are as fleeting as their youth.

Therefore, as soon as you enter the circle, let alone an acting agency that relies on stars to make money, even the stars themselves will often be in a strong sense of crisis of "the back waves push the front waves, and the front waves die on the beach", and the weight of their psychological load is completely imaginable.

The rapid, excessive, and even unbridled pursuit of fame and fortune means a huge effort beyond the physical and mental capacity.

If you take a closer look at or analyze the life trajectories of those stars who committed suicide, it is not difficult to find that most male stars die in debts or affairs that cannot be resolved, while actresses mostly die in confusion or inextricability after emotional damage.

Maybe ordinary people can easily ask why they can't be more calm about fame and fortune, maybe only those who have stepped into that circle can feel the difficulty of being a star.

In this circle, cows, ghosts, snakes and gods are flocking in, masks and illusions are everywhere, lies and deception abound, scandals and scandals are commonplace, hooligans are directors, gangsters are producers, capital package stars, in the jargon of the circle, "If you are a normal person, it is better not to enter the entertainment industry", unless you are "willingly adaptable or even degenerate", otherwise "there is no mix".

The entertainment industry relies on mixing, not development.

This is a fact that many celebrities are unwilling to listen to, let alone accept, but have to admit it.

Every successful entertainment star has his own well-known and unique way of survival, and as for what means or methods, often no one is interested, active, or forced, and the goal that everyone is eyeing is actually two simple words: fame and fortune.

Therefore, many female artists will suddenly find that it has become extremely difficult to find a man who treats each other with true affection, and many male stars also feel that in addition to flowers and applause, sometimes a real friend has become a luxury.

In short, this circle is very strange and complicated.

It's so weird that an artist like Lee Jun-hee, who has debuted for many years, is occasionally at a loss, and it's so complicated that Lee Jun-hee doesn't even dare to let IU Lee Ji-eun, a simple girl, walk in.

The second is the pressure from the outside world, among which the media and ANTI are the worst, and what Korean artists are most afraid of is the sudden scandal of the pervasive media, and the malicious attacks of netizens have always been a major problem plaguing celebrities.

For example, "anit", which is prevalent in South Korea, sometimes even more harm to celebrities than the media. It's easy for Koreans to go overboard and attack a person if they catch on their shortcomings, and they are relatively less tolerant.

What's even more fatal is that Korean celebrities care very much about the evaluation of ordinary people.

On the one hand, fame means one's influence on society, influencing others, that is, imposing one's narcissistic illusion on others, which is what human beings crave the most, and fame satisfies this to the greatest extent, and one's gestures will attract the attention of countless people. It's a very refreshing feeling.

On the other hand, fame also means that you may be controlled by this society.

A celebrity can add his narcissistic hallucinations to his fans, and similarly, a fan can add his narcissistic hallucinations to his favorite celebrities.

When the celebrity doesn't have any problems, or even if they do. But when it is still in line with the mainstream values of this society, there is nothing wrong with the illusion imposed between the celebrity and fans, and once the celebrity is exposed to the problem, and it is not in line with the mainstream values of this society, then his fans will feel that the previous illusion is shattered, and they will feel that the celebrity has deceived or failed him.

In any society, reputation is such a double-edged sword, and this characteristic is even more pronounced in a traditional society like South Korea, which values honor.

Of course. Since it is a double-sided sword, this means that if one side is not so sharp, then the probability of it cutting itself is very low.

For example, if the celebrity is not so hungry for fame, he does not care about superficial fame, but to be his true self, then. No matter how influential he is, the influence of fans on him is relatively low.

If he doesn't care about fame at all. And just want to be himself, then the influence of fans on him is close to zero.

At this time, if someone slanders you, it damages your reputation and even affects your survival, but as long as it does not cause real harm to yourself. A person who is himself doesn't care much.

It's a pity that this quality is obviously lacking in many Korean stars, otherwise there wouldn't be so many people who commit suicide because they are slandered.

In South Korea, once you become an artist, you have to live a life of "great pressure". Korean artists are very successful, but they are completely different in private and in front of fans, they all live very cautiously, and their work intensity is very high, because even the slightest carelessness in speaking will attract a fatal blow, and it is difficult to turn over, and they have to endure the "oppression" of the company, under layers of pressure, every Korean artist is walking on thin ice.

South Korea is the only country in the world that implements the real-name system on the Internet, and the strong pressure of public opinion can sometimes make a person collapse in an instant.

Some artists chose to commit suicide in desperation in order to escape this pressure.

"Ji-eun! No matter what time it is, don't forget your original intention of choosing to take this path, don't put too much pressure on yourself, what you have to do is to enjoy every day as an IDOL, and don't care about other people's opinions, you are living for yourself, not for others! ”

Li Junxi said a lot, there are some things that IU may not be able to understand at this age, but after listening to Li Junxi's words, she at least understands that the entertainment industry in her dreams is not as beautiful as she imagined, and even a little scary.

Seeing that Lee Ji-eun's face changed, Lee Jun-hee smiled and said, "What? Do you regret it now? ”

Li Zhien's expression was stunned, and he shook his head vigorously, looking a little depressed: "OPPA!" Why are you telling me this? People are still looking forward to it, so you gave me a basin of cold water! ”

Li Junxi said: "I'm talking to you now, just so that you can recognize earlier what kind of environment you are about to enter, so that you can have a psychological preparation, and learn how to protect yourself in advance!" ”

Compared with many trainees in Korea, IU Lee Ji-eun is undoubtedly lucky, she has a teacher who cares about her, protects her, her brother, and lives in the relaxed environment of NRG.

If IU was now in another agency, she would never have been able to do it as easily as she is now.

Because compared to NRG, most Korean agencies are vampire-like existences, and in the eyes of those in charge of the agencies, artists are just cash cows and objects of enslavement.

In South Korea, there are many young people, after entering a brokerage company and becoming trainees, the brokerage company they work in instantly becomes their creditor, and from that moment on, they have begun to be financially squeezed by the brokerage company.

During the training cycle, the economic company pays all the expenses of the newcomers, and a large company cultivates a combination, which costs more than 1 million yuan per person per year.

In order to prove that this investment can be recovered, the contract period between the company and the artist is quite long, as little as five years, and ten years of contract is very common. For example, superjunior, who is now popular in the music industry, has a contract with S.M for 13 years, and some are even dead.

After their debut, the economic company's percentage of the artist's income is quite high, generally 73 or 82, and even many artists can't get money at all in the first few years of their debut.

A lot of young people who want to become famous. At first, I didn't have a concept of money, but after a long time of fame, there will be conflicts between the distribution of interests and the brokerage company, and if you want to leave the company, you must pay a high amount of liquidated damages, and the astronomical liquidated damages often discourage artists.

In addition, there are organizations such as the Singer Association in South Korea, and if a singer's contract has not yet arrived, he wants to change jobs, even if he can afford to pay liquidated damages. The singers' association will also ask other companies not to sign contracts with this person.

While being squeezed financially, the freedom of many artists is completely in the hands of the agency, and in order not to be forgotten by the public, those stars who have become popular must work hard as hard as they can.

There are hundreds of variety shows in South Korea, and Korean entertainment programs are well-known and famous. In addition to completing normal work such as recording records and shooting film and television dramas, celebrities also have to accept the company's arrangements to participate in these variety shows, usually in a row, and some are even in the nanny car in order to catch up with the announcement.

Do artists not feel tired?

Of course not. Artists are also human beings, and they naturally have physical limits. But in order to survive, in order to be able to continue struggling in this circle, they had to accept the arrangement of the agency and be an obedient entertainer.

Korean companies generally use Confucianism as a management method, and in the company, the relationship between seniors and juniors is very clear. And if any member of the group is disobedient, it is normal for the big team member to punch and kick the junior team member as the elder brother.

In South Korea, if an artist wants to be popular, he must be "obedient", if he does not obey. The company will impose a blocking order.

For example, if you get fat, the company requires you to lose weight, and if you can't do it, you have to be refrigerated.

In addition to the company, the Korean Singers Association will always pay attention to the performance of artists, and if there is any behavior that violates traditional Confucianism, it will be banned.

For example, Liu Chengjun, in 2001, he became an American citizen for military evasion, which made him in the Korean music scene at that time prosperous by all walks of life in South Korea, and his career has plummeted since then.

In fact, entertainment stars are also ordinary ordinary people, with seven emotions and six desires, ups and downs, and they also need oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, but they just have an artificial halo on the trajectory of their lives.

Many times, people only see the bright hall exposed outside the surface, but ignore the unsolvable shadow hidden in the corner, long-term depression but can not find a channel for catharsis, the imaginable ending, or crazy, or autistic, or depressed, and even all kinds of cruel ways to commit suicide to end their lives.

IU listened carefully, and couldn't help frowning: "OPPA!" Do I really want to live like this in the future? ”

Li Junxi smiled when he heard this and said, "No!" Don't forget, you are my student, I will ~~~~~~ protect you, and I will tell you this, just so that you can see the reality clearly, as a fourteen-year-old girl, you should have dreams and visions, but you must always stay calm, for your current grade, I ask you to recognize everything at this time, maybe it is difficult for some strong people, and you say this, just to let you have a more real understanding of the entertainment industry, not rely on your own imagination! If you live in fantasy all the time, it will hurt! ”

When IU heard this, he was puzzled and said, "Didn't OPPA just say that it will protect me?" ”

Looking at IU's naïve appearance, Lee Jun-hee smiled and rubbed her little head and said, "How can a person who dreams of success always expect others to take care of him?" You look at Princess, they have always been under my protection, but I have sheltered them from all the wind and rain, how can they grow up, so I let them go to the United States, to a place where the competitive pressure is greater than that of South Korea, where they want to win, they have to rely on themselves, maybe it will be very uncomfortable at first, but look at now, they have succeeded, everything they get now is the result of their own efforts, such success is meaningful! ”

IU's expression was a little dazed, well, as Lee Jun-hee just said, at her age, it is the time when she likes to have fantasies about the future, she only saw the glamorous side of the entertainment industry, and she didn't notice it at all, the dark corners of that circle, in the same way, she couldn't feel that it would be more meaningful if she really succeeded with her own efforts.

Lee Jun-hee didn't expect IU to understand all of a sudden what the specific meaning of these words to her today was, after all, IU hadn't really debuted yet, and before he really entered that circle, no matter how much he said, IU might not understand.

In short, there are indeed many good sides in the entertainment industry, but it is not as beautiful as imagined.

Lee Jun-hee is a person from the past, and in this circle, he has seen too many dirty things, and his feelings are naturally much more than that of young people like IU. (To be continued.) )