The Korea Herald

소아쌤

K-pop Star winner heads to JYP

By Korea Herald

Published : May 22, 2012 - 19:28

    • Link copied

Park Ji-min, the 15-year-old winner of SBS’ TV audition show “K-pop Star” signed a contract with JYP Entertainment led by singer and producer Park Jin-young, the broadcast company said on Tuesday. Baek Ah-yeon and Park Je-hyeong, the two other contestants for the TV shows also signed their contracts with JYP, it added.

“We have concluded that JYP fits very well with Park and the music she plans to pursue,” SBS said in a statement.
Park Ji-min. (SBS) Park Ji-min. (SBS)

The news comes less than a week after Lee Ha-yi, 16, who came in second, and Lee Seung-hoon, 20, who ranked fourth on the show, signed to YG Entertainment, led by Yang Hyun-seok. Yang was a member of Seo Taiji & Boys and one of the three judges for the SBS program.

SM Entertainment, one of the three agencies that participated in the show, on the other hand, officially dropped its bid to recruit any other contestants for this season. SBS plans to broadcast the second season of “K-pop Star” in November.

The singing contest drew much attention as the contestants were trained and judged by the most influential figures in the country’s entertainment scene. Yang, Park singer and CEO of JYP Entertainment, and singer BoA, representing SM Entertainment, were the judges.

In the first season of the show, Park won 300 million won in prize money along with an opportunity to release an album under the agency of her choice among the top entertainment companies, SM, YG and JYP Entertainment.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)