Here’s How Each EXO Member Was Discovered, And Signed To SM

In January of 2011, SM Entertainment‘s Lee Soo Man announced his plan to debut a new boy group. By December of that same year, SM Entertainment revealed the soon-to-debut idol group would be EXO, from the Exo Planet. EXO debuted April of 2012. While the boys’ out-of-this-world visuals could lead anyone to believe they are in fact from another planet, each member brings an interesting story on how he became one of the nine most beloved K-Pop teammates.

1. Xiumin

Xiumin was discovered through a singing contest, which he later revealed that he entered because of a friend.

In 2008, he sang Emerald Castle‘s “Footsteps” for the “Every-sing Contest”, held by the agency’s affiliate karaoke company. He won second place in this contest, receiving a $1,000 USD prize and a trainee contract at SM Entertainment.

It wasn’t that Xiumin always wanted to become a singer though. On an episode of Life Bar, he shared that he wanted to go to a sports university. Singing had been a hobby of his, until the friend inspired him to test his potential at the contest.

Xiumin also tried out for the 2nd JYP Entertainment Open Audition in 2008 as well. He didn’t pass this audition.

During his training period, Xiumin lost weight as part of the idol prep. He stated through an interview, “Training itself was not difficult. I love eating though, so the weight loss was a struggle.”

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Xiumin got through little over three years of training and debuted with EXO in 2012. He is now out and about enchanting the world with his squirrel fairy magic.