Some of the questions in others' e-mails might be the same questions you have!
Update: Nov. 10, 2012
I heard that other SM trainees bully you if you aren't Korean, and since I'm not Korean, is that something that I should worry about?
Yes and no.
No, because times are changing and I really believe that you won't be bullied just because you aren't Korean. They might get carried away with their national pride sometimes, but it don't think it will be too harsh.
Yes, especially if your skin is darker (even if it's as light as EXO's Kai). In this
video, Taemin states that he sees Kai's dark skin as his weakness. Really? It's a really assy thing to say, but as you can see Taemin doesn't say it to be mean! There is also some evidence that Tao and Kris were thought of as "lesser" by fellow trainees and trainers because they were Chinese.
Overall, I don't think it's something you should worry too much about. Like school, there will always be the possibility of it but it's not something that should stop you from trying your hardest.
-Hara Jun
Update: Oct. 4, 2012
Hello!
1)Is there a specific time when you can apply or is it all year round? I asked that question on Yahoo! Answers and they said that anytime not during the brakes is good, because apparantly that is when everyone is like "I'm bored let's audition".
Breaks actually aren't a good time. While you have free time, so does everyone else. Winter is a great time because more people are occupied with school. Also, avoid times during and the month after a Global or Youth Star Audition. SM will put more energy and attention into those auditions and your audition might be pushed back indefinitely.
2) I live in the US, so do I send my mail audition to LA or Seoul? I am not fluent in Korean but I do know some basic phrases. Would they evaluate my mail in LA or would they send it to Seoul?
LA. :) Their English-speaking staff at their LA office will evaluate your audition there.
Just a note of caution to everyone, always avoid using Korean unless you are fluent. Either they will look at you poorly because of the state of your grammar and spelling (much like employers look down on text speech in applications) or they will assume you are fluent, especially if you use a Korean-speaker to double-check your writing. Of the four languages SM deals in (Korean, Chinese, English, and Japanese), pick the language you are the most fluent in and use that!
3) When auditioning by post/mail, I was thinking of singing the climax of the song I was planning on auditioning with (IU-Mia). Is that okay or must I sing the whole song? The climax really compliments my voice while the other parts really won't "WOW!" the judges, in my opinion.
It's okay! I actually encourage singing only the climax of the song. While on their website they don't give a data limit for the files, the limit for the everysing.com audition file is only 25 MB. That's not a lot of room! It's enough room for either just audio and video or only about 30-60 seconds of video and audio, depending on quality. Also, that's about the length of time you get for a live audition.
-Hara Jun
