‘Kid G-Dragon’s all grown up now.’

Seungri met the other Big Bang members one by one after becoming a YG Entertainment trainee. Though each member left a different first impression on him, Seungri was very surprised to see ‘adult’ G-Dragon, having only seen him on TV as a kid.

“When I got to meet Jiyong hyung and Youngbae hyung, I was really surprised after seeing Jiyong hyung. I knew what he looked like as a kid, but seeing him as an adult was kind of like ‘Whoa, kid G-Dragon’s all grown up now’, kinda like that, you know? Hehehe. ”

“President Yang called the six of us, including Hyun Seung who’s now a member of ‘Beast’, and told us we would debut in exactly a year. And that the process of our debut would be recorded from then on with a camera. He said he didn’t know how many members would be chosen in the end. That it would depend...”

His happiness at being accepted into YG was short lived, as the battle to be chosen as one of the final members began.

“You can tell it was actually ‘real’ if you watch the documentary from the time. We didn’t pay attention to the camera at all, everything was just the way we were. To be honest, we were far too exhausted to even bother acting.”

Their debut process was carried out in a ‘survival’ manner, stirring the competitive side of Seungri.

“I tried my best to sing and dance, but President Yang didn’t know my name. He would call the others by saying ‘Jiyong’ and ‘Youngbae’, but to me he always went ‘You in the red’. I became angrily determined that ‘He remembers the names of the ones who are good, I’m going to try even harder.”

Seungri used his past experiences from being in a dance team in Gwangju. He made his own choregraphy and surprised Yang Hyun Seok.

Maybe he saw that I had potential, cos he started remembering my name after that. TOP hyung’s name is Seunghyun too so he started calling us ‘Big Seunghyun’ and ‘Little Seunghyun’.

A year passed and the day of the announcement finally came.

“Little Seunghyun and Hyun Seung are eliminated. Seunghyun, it’s a singer we’re looking for, not a dancer.” (Yang Hyun Seok)

So it seemed that Big Bang was decided as the four chosen members. But President Yang Hyun Seok gave them one last opportunity.

“I had to go for it like it was a matter of life and death. I thought ‘I have to sing with the exact same voice as this person.’ I sang Tashannie’s ‘Haru Haru’.”.

Seungri was accepted again, and Big Bang was confirmed as a five member group. It was an open highway after that.

“We debuted under the focus of so many people. I thought ‘Oh, being in the entertainment industry is so great!’ Everything was so fun and nice, and the next year ‘Lies’ became a huge hit. Every aspect of our lives seemed to get even better. We filmed a lot of CFs. I think I filmed the most CF’s out of all the celebrities my age, before Kim Yuna appeared that is. Hehehe.”

But as it happens with everyone, the confident Seungri soon experienced a ‘slump’.



Link: http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno...042512011211792
Trans Credits: sjay.x @ BBVIP.net