Korean-American singer wows TV audiences with her powerful
voice, energetic and confident stage performance

This is part of a series featuring new hallyu stars. ― Ed.


Someone’s age or experience on the stage seems to no longer be an issue when it comes to the music industry. Britain’s Adele jumped to stardom at only 19 and U.S. singer Rihanna debuted at 16, instantly drawing international attention with her amazing voice and performances.

So too, Korea’s Ailee has wowed the TV audience here with her surprisingly powerful voice and strong appeal. Although she has a long way to go compared to those global stars, Ailee knows how to sing and how to touch someone’s heart when compared with other “pretty face” idol stars.

Debuted only five months ago, the 22-year-old singer mesmerized many with her performance on the music survival show “Immortal Song Season 2.” Ailee has been competing with other experienced and popular singers like Hong Kyung-min, Sonya and Im Tae-kyung, yet, she won the weekly show twice ― first with Park Jin-young’s “Don’t Leave Me,” and then Lee Seung-chul’s “In Yeon (Fate).” When asked how she did it, the singer gave an unexpected answer: “A good heart.”

“Even though you are good at singing, if you don’t have a heart then there is no message being told. So I try to be as understanding as possible, to be as patient as possible and as humble as possible,” Ailee, whose real name is Amy Lee, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview.

“I am really thankful, I was given the opportunity to get so much attention. I am really happy too because I worked so hard for it,” she added.

Born in Denver, Colorado, Ailee was raised in New Jersey under parents who were strict about being a Korean. She started singing by listening to songs by Beyonce and Whitney Houston who had a big influence on her R&B-based vocal. However, she decided to debut in Korea, out of her love of K-pop.

“I wanted to work both in Korea and in America, but I started in Korea because I felt it was right. I’ve loved K-pop since I was a young girl,” she said at a caf in Seoul.

Before coming to Korea, Ailee was an artist under Muzo Entertainment, an independent agency based in New Jersey, but she became quite famous after she started uploading videos of her singing on YouTube. Her videos were being watched by more than 10 million viewers, which was enough to draw attention from Korean entertainment agencies like YMC Entertainment, a sub-label run by famous trot singer and producer Tae Jin-ah.

“I didn’t go through the typical Korean training program, but I did a lot of music underground before and after the YouTube videos in the U.S., starting when I was 15,” she said.

Ailee, who speaks four languages including Spanish and Japanese, said she wants to make an international debut after expanding her fan base in her homeland. In fact, she has released just one song “Heaven” with her debut in February.

“I don’t think it is the time yet. Even though I’m very jealous when seeing others performing overseas, I would rather focus on building my music career here by releasing more of my songs,” she said.

Ailee plans to release her mini-album, perhaps containing 5-6 songs, next month.

“I put a little more edge in my vocal, not like power vocal. It is kind like mid-tempo ballad,” she said.

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