The K-pop wave in India is getting wilder by the minute. Bands like BTS and Black Pink now enjoy a strong fan following in the country. The growing fondness for K-pop has led 18-year-old Shreya Lenka from Odisha to venture into this music genre. The young girl had auditioned for the open spot in the South Korean girl group Blackswan, and has finally grabbed a position in the band. She is now one of the two new members of the band.
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Lenka was one of the two finalists selected from global auditions. Her final competition, Gabriela Dalcin of Brazil was also roped in for the band. The band was supposed to pick only one member but the decided to take both the girl in as the 5th and 6th members of the K-pop group. “With their debut, we will be back with Blackswan,” the group shared on Instagram. The K-pop girl group formed by DR Music consists of Youngheun, Fatou, Judy, and Leia.
Blackswan’s label DR Music had announced the competition in May 2021. They had revealed that they would hold global auditions to fill the position left vacant by Hyemi’s exit from the group. Lenka, the only Indian to qualify, is a trained dancer and yoga practitioner. She performs K-pop dance covers.
Born in Rourkela in 2003, Lenka is also trained in Hindustani classical music, Odissi and other forms of contemporary dance. “Since I have a deep voice, I faced difficulty in finding the right vocal trainer. My grandmother helped me find one. She took me to a Hindustani classical music teacher who taught me twice a week. But, for the western songs, I had to rely on online videos and self-learning,” the teen told Odisha Bytes. She has stumbled upon the opportunity while surfing the internet and immediately applied for the global auditions.
Shreya Lenka was picked up from 4,000 applicants through a YouTube audition programme in June 2021. Sources revealed that the two new members will stay in Seoul for the next few months for practice so that the group brings out their next album.
(Featured Image Credits: Instagram @drenter_official)
