When local actor-singer Yang Yan joined iQiyi's idol survival show Starlight Boys in 2024, he got the bonafide K-pop trainee experience.

The 24-year-old told AsiaOne in a recent interview: "I went for about three rounds of audition, and afterwards when I was shortlisted, they sent us to this bootcamp in South Korea, where it was just intensive training for a few weeks before we went into the programme."

And once they got into the Chinese-Korean reality show, the 69 contestants from around Asia, the United States and Canada were housed in a dormitory with minimal contact with the outside world — they were only allowed to go on convenience store runs "once every one or two weeks" and call their family or managers occasionally.

Yang Yan, who was the only Singaporean contestant, said that they had a couple of months before Starlight Boys aired, where a typical training day would last from 10am to 8pm, with some of the contestants staying back to hone their skills further.

"Sometimes I would even go back at 12am after supper just to practice," he said. "You're in an environment where everyone is trying to do their best for the show, for the performance, and for themselves as well.

"So I would say it was a high-stress, high-workload environment every day. We were just doing the same thing all over and over again. And you get so disconnected from the world."

Having been to National Service (NS) in Singapore, Yang Yan was prepared for the isolation, but he said it was still tough.

"Although it wasn't as physically draining as NS, I think it was more mentally draining," he said.

"One week without connection with the outside world, your friends and your family members is fine, but when it becomes a month or two, and when all you do is wake up, dance, eat and dance, focusing on one thing, eventually it takes a toll on you."

The ways the men kept each other sane during their isolation was through chats over instant ramyeon, and their shared love for music.

"My roommate was this guy called Syo, he's Japanese-American and he speaks English, so we became very close friends there," Yang Yan said. "When he called his manager, they let him send a ukulele to the dormitory for him, so he played music and stuff.

"I think music was one way for us to just relax and forget everything, to entertain ourselves. And socialising by talking, those were the two key things we had."

'It was an opportunity for me to grow'

Yang Yan didn't go to Starlight Boys with a desire to win — readily admitting to us that he was at the beginning of his career while some contestants had already made their debuts or been in other competitions — but to develop as an artiste.

He said: "When I heard about the show, it didn't matter to me whether it was K-pop, Thai pop or C-pop. It didn't matter to me where it was, but that it was an opportunity for me to grow as an artiste, a person and a performer."

Yang Yan made it through a respectable five episodes before being eliminated, but he told us that he wouldn't return to another music competition in the near future until he feels his "skill set is enough".

"I went in as an actor, as a brand-new trainee to work from the ground up," he said. "I went there to learn something new, so I tried really hard to perform my best there.

"And if I were to go back to something similar, it'll probably be when I feel like my abilities match the requirements of the show."

With mentors and judges like BigBang's Daesung, Lee Seung-gi and Kwon Eun-bi, Yang Yan ended up learning a lot from his time there.

"During one of our vocal performances, Lee Seung-gi gave us advice, like where to sing and how to massage [vocal cords], actual vocal advice," he explained. "As for the other mentors, like Daesung, I think they prioritised our mentality more.

"They were strict but very respectful, trying to ingrain in the trainees that whatever we were doing there had to be great, so we could respect the culture, the environment and the industry they were in."

Yang Yan was also impressed with the work ethic in Korean showbiz.

"Every day we would greet each other, bow and all that," he recalled. "And I remember, a non-Korean trainee once wore socks and slippers to vocal training, because it wasn't dance, and afterwards, I think one of the Korean trainees went to tell him that it was actually quite disrespectful to not wear shoes.

"So it's like a different culture. I think they're very respectful and work-focused."

During his traineeship, Yang Yan turned to songwriting, releasing his new single I Think That I Like You on Valentine's Day after his return from Starlight Boys.

With several more songs written during his time there, he wants to release an extended play (EP), and maybe even collaborate with the other Starlight Boys on an album.

Among local musicians, he also wants to work with Benjamin Kheng — "I've always seen him as the Prince of Music in Singapore" — and R&B singer Rangga Jones.

But for now, Yang Yan is returning to acting, taking on small roles in upcoming dramas to "get back into the groove".

"After coming back from South Korea, I'm focusing a little bit more on acting right now, because I spent a huge chunk of my time last year — nearly half a year — on performance and music," he explained.

"I do really like both equally, and I hope that I could do both together in the long run."

Starlight Boys can be streamed on iQiyi.

drimac@asiaone.com

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