! Sandara Park: "Did I do something wrong?"

Asiae E reporter Lim Hye Seon paid Sandara Park a visit and sheds a little bit of light on the 2NE1 member who originally started her career in the Philippines.

Asia E reporter Lim Hey Seon:
It’s hard being an idol living in the ‘World of Variety”. This is due to it being hard to gain popularity just by being a good singer. To survive in the extremely competitive entertainment industry, one must be good at singing and dancing, AND witty as well. They have to show some laser-like charisma on stage, but are also expected to connect with viewers on variety shows by being frivolous and funny.
I realise something one day while watching TV. On some variety show’s ‘Girl Group Special’, all the famous female idols groups like Girls’ Generation, Kara and Brown Eyed Girls were present, but 2NE1 was nowhere to be seen. Upon looking back, I then realised that I had never seen 2NE1 on any broadcasts except for music shows.
This made me curious. What could their secret be? How does 2NE1, a girl group that does not do ‘variety’ shows, manage to walk their own path, and still stand their own ground against all their competition?
So we now open the diary of 2NE1’s Sandara Park, the self proclaimed ‘publicity gainer’ for the group. The single most famous example of a Korean artist debuting in Korea after being active in a foreign country’s entertainment industry, Sandara Park made her TV debut through “Human Theatre”, which is neither a music or variety show. 4 years and 5 months on, Sandara and her fellow 2NE1 members took the Korean Music industry by storm.
When I first met Sandara for the first time in their practicing room, she was just as calm and collected as I had expected her to be. Her clean skin and looks that made her look so much younger than her age made me jealous as a fellow female. She approached me looking fresh and with the absence of any accessories.
Asia E News will sift through the course of Sandara Park’s life through 12 segments. From Sandara, the ‘lady-like’ child; all the way through to Sandara the ‘overseas breakthrough artist’. We will reveal Sandara Park’s thoughts and feelings through her ‘Star Diary’. We will also find out 2NE1’s secret to big popularity.
“Did I make some mistake? Have I done something wrong? I’m pretty sure I haven’t…”
Sandara Park widened her already large eyes in surprise, when I told her I was interviewing her for “Star Confession”:
“I thought you were making me confess to some huge mistake that I had gone and made without realising it. When you said “Star Confession”, my heart started pounding; I was so confused (laughs)”.
As I held in my laughter at her naïveté, I said, “You were that surprised? Let’s call it ‘Star Diary’ then.” With this, the smile on her face returned. So the follow up interview [to G-Dragon’s] ‘Star Confession’ has now become ‘Star Diary’.
“Sandara, while you tell me about yourself, just think of it as if you’re playing and just having fun, okay?”
The Sandara on stage is exuberant. Her bright features, refined individuality as well as her freedom and pureness really make her stand out. The music she expresses is also like that. There are no unnecessary adornments but it is still powerful and shows individuality.
Underneath all the flashy outfits and thick eyeliner, Sandara shows off a completely different face and charm off stage.
Her face free of makeup and modest clothing showed no signs of pretence. She was honest but dignified. When she wasn’t being cute, Sandara Park’s words increased my trust in her and also caused much laughter.
“When I meet someone for the first time, I don’t really talk much. I’m quite shy. That’s why I find it hard to be on variety shows. Especially ‘Family Outing’; making just a single guest appearance was horrible. I felt it first hand.”
In the middle of November last year, along with girl group After School’s UEE, Sandara Park appeared on SBS’s ‘I like Sundays- Family Outing’. There was even a controversy about ‘unfair treatment’ as the show seemed to be focusing more on UEE than on both girls equally:
“I could tell after filming that people would focus more on UEE. I just stayed quiet all throughout filming, being the total opposite to UEE who was being really cute. I didn’t say a word. I thought to myself: ‘This isn’t the place for me’”.
This side of herself upset Dara a bit, but she accepted that she couldn’t keep up with ‘variety’ and let it go:
“President Yang Hyun Seok (YG) and the members consoled me after they watched ‘Family Outing’. Did you know what they said? President Yang said: ‘Dara, it’s okay. It’s because you did so bad’; and the members said: ‘You were so cute, you looked so little just sitting there beside them’…that is consolation, right? (laughs)”.

Translation credits to: sjay.x@ YGLadies.com// Source: asiae.co.kr
Source:omgkpop