[Interview] Yang Hyun Suk on "K-Pop Star 2" Finale

YG Entertainment‘s very own Yang Hyun Suk, spoke with Star News for an interview on his thoughts on ending “K-Pop Star 2” and he started off by saying, “When I see how much the kids have grown, I am so proud.”

For the past five months (November of last year to April 7), “K-Pop Star 2” was aired as it showed the top three entertainment agencies, SM, JYP and YG, evaluate young contestants on who would become the next big thing.

Akdong Musician (Lee Chan Hyuk and Lee Soo Hyun) and Bang Yedam took the winner and runner-up titles, respectively. Throughout the competition Yang Hyun Suk, BoA and Park Jin Young offered warm words as well cold ones in order to help the contestants grow and move on toward the next round.

During the interview, Yang Hyun Suk stated, “Just like season 1, when season 2 ended, I felt very relieved but disappointed as well.”

“Preparing for PSY‘s concert, G-Dragon‘s world tour, Lee Hi‘s new single promotions, 2NE1‘s new album production — YG is so busy right now that I even joked and said that I want to run away,” says Papa YG. He continued, “But because ‘K-Pop Star’ is a program where young people come with dreams of becoming a singer, I put my best into it.”

He said, “The reason why I’m doing ‘K-Pop Star’ is because I think it will help the young contestants as well as the many people out there who want to become artists, if they hear the standards and evaluations of our three agencies,” and “Actually, when many people audition for our companies, it’s hard for me or Park Jin Young or BoA to actually critique them ourselves but I wanted to give that chance through this show.”

Yang Hyun Suk also shared his most memorable moment of “K-Pop Star 2.” He said, “When Akdong Musician sang ‘Don’t Cross Your Legs‘ and ‘You’re Attractive,’ I received a new shock. Also when Bang Yedam sang Justin Bieber‘s ‘Baby,’ it was very good.”

YG also spoke about what sets “K-Pop Star” apart from other audition programs. “This audition program isn’t just about picking people who can sing well,” and “Our biggest different is that we highly evaluate the candidates’ potential to grow in the future.”

He continued, “The reason why such young contestants were chosen is because we saw great potential in their futures,” and “Akdong Musician and Bang Yedam showed improvements more toward the latter half of the show rather than the beginning half. I was the proudest when we finally discovered that potential in them.”

He added, “I don’t know how Akdong Musician or Bang Yedam will have changed in a year or two but it will be very interesting to see their growth process.”

When asked about which agency the “K-Pop Star 2” contestants will enter, Yang Hyun Suk answered, “The first thing that matters is the contestants’ choice and they are currently in talks with the staff,” and “Nothing has been decided or confirmed yet. But as you know from season 1, this will probably take about 1-2 weeks.”

He added, “Since this is a decision with their futures in line, we will respect their decision the most.”

Lastly, Yang Hyun Suk talked about the a season 3 of “K-Pop Star.” He said, “I think the possibility of a third season is about 50/50 right now. But if it does happen, I think BoA, Park Jin Young and I need to stick together. I also don’t want the staff to change because we work together so well,” and “But I think we should change up the format a little from the past two seasons and I think the staff will agree with me on this.”

Stay tuned to Soompi for more news on what will happen to the “K-Pop Star 2” winners and contestants in the near future!