[INT] 4minute's interview with ELLE girl - Jihyun

[11.03.00] 4minute's interview with ELLE girl - Jihyun

Nam Jihyun
4minute's leader and her pretty smiling face, Jihyun. She has adored dancing for years and regularly went on stage during events at school, but she didn't dream of being a singer. "While I was attending high school, my homeroom teacher asked about how I found the idea of becoming a singer. It was distressful, because I thought that I would have to drop out of school. I didn't give in and decided that I would have to go to university." From Incheon to Seoul, she attended dance hagwons - Korean private cram schools - and, after a very harsh training, she got in Sangmyeong University as a major in dance. The irony is that she then paid attention to a singing career for the first time and, after considering it, tried out for it through an audition. The video of her first and last audition from that day has been circulating on the Internet since the beginning of this year and gained the netizens' interest. "I didn't know that my audition video would become such an 'issue'. It feels great. Because it was pretty much different back then. I thought that if I fail the audition, I would just stick to attend university."

Fortunately, she debuted with 4minute after this audition turned out to be the only one she'd pass. Compared to other aspiring singers who failed auditions so many times and went through wearisome preparations, she came off really well. However, she doesn't feel burdened at all about becoming a group's leader in just 6 months of trainee life spent. "Can I do well? What kind of leader will I be?" after thinking about it what was her conclusion ? " As every team has its own color, the leaders too have their different way to handle things. The members are the type to do well at everything by themselves. And, in anybody's life, a leader is a plus. To sum it up, my role consists in taking the lead and setting an example." The words she say the most often to her members "I'm sorry I couldn't take well care of you" somehow speak for the "gentle in appearance but tough in spirit" leadership the mature leader assumed.

As soon as 4minute debuted, it established itself as a group with the individuality to provide powerful performances. In between her regular activities and scheduled domestic performances, Jihyun was the very first member to get the chance to give acting a go. She made her name appear on the list of "actor-dols" (idols who land acting roles in dramas, etc.) by filming the now-ended SBS drama 'It's Okay, Daddy's Girl'. However, because of her hectic filming schedule she didn't get enough time to prepare her appearances and got back with an unchanged stress. "I was afraid the filming would be disturbed because of me. I didn't get much airtime , so luckily we were able to wrap it up safely. I learned a lot by watching the actors at my side being absorbed in their roles." Being a singer and an actor, the two hares Jihyun is willing to chase and honestly admits it as being greed. Even after the drama ended, she still receives phone calls from the writers who also give her words of encouragement and pieces of advice.
However, the thing that is the most important to her now is the preparations of 4minute's new album. From morning to evening, they record songs and from night to dawn, they practice their dance routines ; this is how they spend their days. After she said she wanted to get 4minute more recognized so even seniors would know about them, we asked her again "Is that greed?". She answered "I want 4minute to appeal to many more people through various activities in the field of popular culture. After some time, I wish that all the 5 members will be 'artists' that are not embarrassed to be called so. Usually, I'm not able to express this. I only write it in my diary." Her youth is ripe like a fruit is well ripe even inside, we root for the dream Jihyun wrote and that packed her diary.

Source : ELLE girl (pictures) + 야루가윤 (scans)
Translating & editing : Meeli & Chris @4-minute.com