Sina Entertainment News had the pleasure to interview Korean girl group T-ara. They had just released their 11th mini album So Good and signed a contract with one of the wealthiest man in China, Wang Sicong under his entertainment agency Banana Project. On top of that, T-ara still has many other plans for activities in China.

The love that T-ara has for their fans was also demonstrated through an occurence on the day of the interview. A male T-ara fan and student saw T-ara through the glass window of the cafe where T-ara was having the interview. He mustered his courage to approach them and said, “I am a fan of yours, can I have a picture with you all?”

Just when T-ara’s manager was about to stop him, the members quickly responded, “please wait for us, we are having an interview.” 30 minutes later, the members went to look for the male student and took a group picture with him. They also asked about his school and which grade he was studying in before wishing him good luck and asking him to study hard.

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The transcript of the interview:

Sina Entertainment: After the promotions of your latest album and the China Tour this year, what do you want to do? Will the members stick together or do you all have your own personal plans?

Soyeon: Previously, we went to Europe for a photo shoot together as a group. We were in Europe for about 10 days, but we didn’t exactly have time to walk around much. We have pretty low chances to fly to Europe again but I hope that we can visit Europe together once again for another photo shoot. This time, we want to show a more mature side of us, followed by a group vacation.

Eunjung: If we have the time, I hope that we can appear on a few Chinese variety shows like ‘Hurry Up, Brother!’ etc. Although our Mandarin isn’t fluent, I remember watching Choo Jahyeon appear on a variety show. She went to experience the life of being a daughter-in-law in a Chinese village. If all of us could appear on variety shows filmed outdoors, I think it will be an interesting and realistic experience. Studio-based variety shows are not bad too, but I prefer variety shows where we can show a more personal side of us. Thus, outdoor variety shows would bee better, we can film and play at the same time.

Qri: I want to learn how to play sports like Tennis.

Hyomin: I want to enroll into a university as soon as possible, I want to be a graduate. It’s hard for me now.

Eunjung: Universities and tertiary institutions have very demanding standards. However, if you really have the heart, I believe that there are chances out there.

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Sina Entertainment: You had collaborated with China’s popular duo Chopstick Brothers for ‘Little Apple’ and received great response. Other than this song, what other China singers and Chinese songs do you like?

Soyeon: I had watched Jay Chou’s movie Initial D in the past and became his fan. I also listen to his music and I think his songs are really charismatic. My dream is to be able to collaborate with Jay Chou; he can play the music while I sing. I also like Joey Yung, especially the song ‘Wings Waving Girl’ (literal translation, English version: Proud of You). If there is a chance, I hope I can try covering it.

Eunjung: TF BOYS, although the members are quite young, they are indeed an immensely popular idol group in China. We had previously met them twice at award ceremonies. Their fan base in South Korea is pretty big too, so I really look forward to a chance to collaborate with them.

Hyomin: All the other members had appeared on dramas, movies etc. I really want to collaborate with various Chinese celebrities, be it singing or filming.

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Sina Entertainment: Every member has appeared in dramas, movies, plays, musicals etc. Which member do you all think is the most natural in acting? Or does anyone think that she is better than someone else? How has performing arts helped the members?

All members: Boram is the most natural, she performs with her heart, so it feels very realistic.

Eunjung: There seems to be a fixed standard for acting. When I watch movies, I would think, “I must use this tone to speak if I were to act out this role,” there seems to be this standard that the audience expects. If I were to deviate from that standard, it seems to give off a different feeling, which might not be good.

Soyeon: When I watch television, take an animated film for example, the Little Mermaid. When the Little Mermaid was speaking to Sebastian the crab, a random fish suddenly swam past and spoke in a human voice. It’s this kind of feeling, she (Boram) uses her acting to perfectly express (the character’s) feelings, just like how we would in real life, Boram is like this.

Boram: My thoughts? I think (everyone) is pretty good. Other than myself, the other members have appeared quite a few times on television. Although I have the chance to appear on a web drama this time round, I have not appeared much on television. I had chatted with my mom regarding matters about the other members, we talked about good and regretful things. Their acting are all natural. Because it’s them, I believe that they can do it well. Eunjung has appeared on quite a few dramas since she was young, Qri is very pretty and she acts well, and it is needless to say for Jiyeon. Although Soyeon’s acting is natural too, she did not have much opportunities. Hyomin’s performance has been quite good too.

Soyeon: Hyomin is suitable for comedies. After filming the web drama, I feel that she’s really a comedy queen. She is able to bring humor to the stage too, it’s very good.

Hyomin: There isn’t much to be regretful about – everyone has appeared on television before. If we are not singing, we would be performing on stage, so we don’t really have time to watch each other’s works. It’s very rare we’re under the same studio, which gave us the chance to watch each other’s acting. Although there are some parts of the web drama where we could have done better, sitting together and watching each other’s acting was quite interesting and fun.

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Sina Entertainment: Compared to other idol groups, T-ara’s advantage or secret weapon is that every member has acting experience. Furthermore, you all have talent in acting, which is a very good advantage for a celebrity.

Eunjung: We all have our strengths and we know how to utilize them. Because we are usually busy with music schedules, we don’t really have the time to improve our acting. But we’ve been learning since debut because of the chances that we had to appear in plays, while some of us had acting experience even before debut.

Soyeon: Actually, we were preparing to appear on television shows before we gathered to debut together as T-ara. That’s why we are both singers and actresses coincidentally.

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Sina Entertainment: Do you intend to have new activities in South Korea? If there is a chance, would you want to enter the movie industry in China? What kind of media do you really want to appear in?

Soyeon: Eunjung just starred in ‘I Love You From Today’ and the filming just finished not long ago. Jiyeon starred in ‘Encounter’ and will be aired in China soon. Recently, we have just finished the filming of ‘Sweet Temptation’ and will be aired on television and can be streamed on Hong Kong, China, Japan and South Korea’s websites. As such, we had officially debuted in China as actresses and will have chances to appear on various media . Everyone can watch us on Chinese television and we hope to have more chances to appear on Korean television.

Hyomin: ‘Sweet Temptation’ will be aired on South Korean websites next month, SBS MTV will be broadcasting it as well.

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Sina Entertainment: T-ara members have displayed their individual charms through ‘Sweet Temptation.’ Because some of the episodes were rated 15+ and 19+ through various posters, many are looking forward to watch. How are the episodes? Are you all satisfied with the male actors you all were paired with? Would you want to work with them again in the future if there is a chance? (Kim Shi Hoo, Kim Jae Wook, Seo Jun Young, Lee Joong Moon, Jang Su Won, Hyun Woo)

Soyeon: 19+? We had to adjust our acting because we thought about our fans. We intentionally made it less provocative, so the drama will not be like the poster, but it will still be quite sexy.

Hyomin: Kim Shi Hoo is really handsome. When I saw him, I couldn’t help but to be in awe, he’s really too handsome.

Soyeon: Kim Shi Hoo is not your usual handsome man, he is still very handsome in his unique way. I’ve always accepted any roles that was thrown to me, but I hope that I would get an innocent character role in a love drama. I’m looking forward to show my gentle side through the role. The other 5 members are really good in acting but it seems like their images did not fit perfectly into their roles. There is one scene where Kim Shi Hoo stopped crying and looked into Boram’s eyes. I can feel that he was using his eyes and expression very well. I think it would be nice if I get the chance to cast alongside him in a love story.

Boram: I think Kim Shi Hoo, my male lead partner in the drama is the best. I also want to try acting with Seo Jun Young, his acting is really natural, I like that kind of acting.

Qri: Kim Shi Hoo, my reason is quite similar to Soyeon’s. He’s also my age, I really want to partner with someone my age.

Everyone: Has Kim Shi Hoo become T-ara’s ideal man? (laugh)

Eunjung: I want to star in a movie like ‘Two Cops’ (1993) with Seo Jun Young. A romance and action movie, which is also filled with suspense and humor. ‘Two Cops’ has that kind of feel to it. It seems like only Seo Jun Young can pull off this kind of multi-genre movie.

Jiyeon: Seo Jun Young. His acting is really good, that’s the only reason I guess. I felt very comfortable during the filming together too.

Eunjung: Actually I really wanted to act in a love drama with Kim Jae Wook, to feel his love.

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Sina Entertainment: What is T-ara’s secret to taking good care of their body and figure? What is each member’s personal recommendations? And also skin care tips.

Qri: My thighs would swell up because of water retention easily. I would wear tights and elevate my thighs with a pillow underneath. I’m not sure how well this works, but I can see the difference.

Jiyeon: I would massage myself regularly to improve blood circulation and to relax my body.

Boram: Massage and sauna. When there is swelling due to water retention, I would sweat it out first, then massage. That would increase the effectiveness.

Eunjung: I would remove my makeup and rinse my face after schedules. As I get older, I pay more attention to my skin so I would apply facial masks and cosmetic products before I go to bed.

Hyomin: I’m like Qri since we always share the same room when we are on schedules overseas. I wear tights to sleep for 5 years now. I probably don’t wear them for 20 nights (out of the 5 years). I’ll have half body baths, where I would soak my lower body in beer or rice wine. I really want to drink beer but I would get dehydrated easily if I drink right after a half body bath in alcohol. I’m recently into Flying Yoga, hope I can learn more about it.

Soyeon: I’m not born skinny or slim, I would put on weight even if I exercise or control my diet. I don’t like exercising, my blood circulation isn’t good so I constantly suffer from swelling and water retention. My kidneys aren’t in the best shape either, but I didn’t care much in the past. I used to go on unhealthy diet regimes to lose weight and it compromised my health, making my swelling and water retention worse. Later on I decided to plan a proper diet regime, a 6-month plan of low-salt diet, or even not putting salt in my food at all, only a little bit of sesame oil. I stopped fasting but strictly no food at night. I also learned Pilates, which I kind of like. My standing posture improved as a result and I realized that I look better in pictures now.

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Sina Entertainment: What would your occupation be if you’re not a celebrity?

Eunjung: I like speaking, so I want to be a news anchor. I like poking around too, so I guess being a lawyer might not be too bad.

Jiyeon: Athlete? I think I will be a Taekwondo player. I can smash 3 boards.

Boram: My dream is to be a kindergarten teacher or a dean of an orphanage, something like that.

Soyeon: My dream in the past was to be a news anchor. When I was in high school, my teacher recommended me to be a news anchor too – I might prepare for a news anchor entrance examination. I have recently liked pets more. I have always loved small animals and am constantly engaged in social work to care for stray dogs, so this is another area that I would consider.

Hyomin: Fashion stylist, or a fashion magazine editor, something along those lines.

Qri: I will continue being a trainee, constantly work hard towards debut.

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Sina Entertainment: It has been almost 7 years since you all debuted in 2009, has there been any changes in terms of performance on stage? Apart from stage performance, what other big transformations have you went through?

Eunjung: The expressions and eye contact that we have with our fans during concerts has become more natural. We didn’t have this kind of skills when we were rookies. We didn’t know if the fans would like it and we were not sure how to pull it off. However, we know that the fans love us. We know that they love our eye contact with them, drawing hearts, dancing etc. The biggest transformation is probably our matured stage presence and charisma. On the other hand, the biggest change that we had made since our debut was our ability to think on our own feet. We needed to depend on others to tell us what to do, when to do it. Now, we make our own decisions and we better understand our fans’ intentions. We received everyone’s love, it’s natural that we have to repay everyone. As a result, we have learned to be more responsible.

Soyeon: Although it is a little embarrassing to say it out, I think I have more self-awareness now. I had debuted at a young age so I didn’t know how to take care of myself and wasn’t self-aware. This is actually very important for a celebrity. In the past, I was very shy to look at myself perform. I should have watched videos of myself more often to know how I could improve. As time passed by, I realized the importance of self-awareness so I started working out.

Hyomin: My long-time dream came true. Although I don’t have a specific goal, but my dream has been fulfilled. Because everyone recognizes and acknowledges T-ara now. Many people like T-ara, they know how to sing our songs, and know how others like us. We have became closer to each other and we want to repay the love from our fans. The biggest change I think, is that I have grown to feel more responsible towards T-ara.

Soyeon: We are at our peak recently.

Hyomin: My biggest goal is for everyone’s memory of T-ara to be beautiful.

Eunjung: We love T-ara and our fans.

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Sina Entertainment: There are quite a few new rookie groups that have just debuted. Which rookie group has caught your attention the most? How is your sister-group DIA?

Hyomin, Jiyeon, Eunjung, Boram: GFriend, they are very awesome and adorable.

Soyeon: Laboum. We were there during the rehearsal before their debut stage. Although they are better than us, whenever I look at them, it reminds me of us in the past. We did pretty well at that time too.

Hyomin: DIA is our younger sister-juniors, please love them.

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Sina Entertainment: What do you all think is the reason for T-ara’s solid and huge fan base in China? Why is T-ara enjoying so much popularity? What do each member think her own individual charm is?

Soyeon: Actually, our seniors had set the foundation of the Korean wave in China very well 10 years ago. They are the ones that created the Korean wave, we are just following in their footsteps. All 6 of us have our own unique strengths, which also mean that we can fit into many different concepts. Although not every one of us have distinctive and outstanding strengths, we are able to create many wonderful things as a 6-member group. Our fans know this very well, that’s why they love us so much. We also think that it is very important to constantly interact and engage with fans, which is why many people are coming to like us, and become fans too. We owe our popularity to our fans and seniors.

Eunjung: Just like Soyeon had said, the Korean wave has always been here. We appeared on television because of the Korean wave trends and managed to boost our reputation. Our music is also tailored to fit the public taste, which is well-accepted by Chinese fans. They really like our music style and concepts. Even if we were to try many different styles and concepts in the future, we will not forget the group’s unique strengths, choreographies, styles. These suit the tastes of Chinese fans. Their population is huge and they like various music styles, this could be the reason why they love us so much – because we are able to meet their expectations of pulling off various styles and concepts.

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Sina Entertainment: When do Boram and Soyeon intend to start their Sina Weibo accounts? Fans are looking forward to it.

Soyeon: I really want to start one, but it feels very difficult. I’m not good with computers and technology. Instagram is much easier – it’s just uploading pictures. Weibo is all in Mandarin so I feel that it’s difficult for me. I really want to try, I intend to start one with the help of my Mandarin language teacher.

Boram: I just started Instagram too. I’m really not good with technology, but I’ll try to start one soon.

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Source: Sina Entertainment