hi, i did the SM global audition in LA a month ago on May 10th, they said acceptance emails will be sent out a month later, and given that it’s a month later and i haven’t received an email, i think it’s safe to say i didn’t get in and now it’s safe to talk about it publicly lol The application process was really easy, obviously. very self explanatory. i made the dumb choice of applying really close to the date of the actual audition so when they did send out the info i kind of had to beg my parents to buy a flight to LA, which, through much, discussion, they did.
One thing to note. This audition was advertised as being in LA. my dad was looking at flights to LA, and he told me to send him the exact address of the audition, which i did. he proceeded to get really mad at me. why? the audition wasn’t in LA, it was in orange county. they probably use big city names to make it sound more enticing, but the audition was at a SCHOOL in fullerton california. not LA, lmao. had i not sent him the exact address we’d have flown to a totally different city- i didn’t know fullerton wasn’t LA, so it’s good i got his help. but yeah, i’m willing to bet the toronto audition wasn’t even really in toronto, it was probably someplace outside of it. keep this in mind for when you’re applying.
it was insanely hot, and we had like a 30 minute drive to this random school in fullerton from the airport. there was a waiting area outside for parents, and then people who were auditioning would enter by showing them the exact email they received of the address, then given a sticker. i think i was like 2607? idk. you’re sitting in this odd, like mini auditorium area with an open door, carpet floor, and rows and rows of seats- i was placed in the front row (by sticker) and then they would call rows one by one, working their way back and going back to the front- so we still had a while to go.
the audition said it was going to be at 1:30 i think, but i genuinely don’t think i actually was called until, i wanna say 2:45? it was a lot of waiting and stressing out for nothing. they gave us slips of paper to fill out with basic info (performing experience, whether you’re doing singing/rapping/dancing, country of origin, city of origin, parents, email, phone, etc.) and maybe it was the nerves or something but throughout the hour long wait i was subconsciously drawing and poking holes and crumpling parts of my paper. super professional lol. there was a bathroom too where i probably went like 3 times just to fix my hair.
the nice thing was a screen at the front of the auditorium-like room that was just replaying a series of sm artists’ songs. poppop by nct wish, armageddon by aespa, stunner by ten, 1999 and fratskiya by mark, wiwy nct dream, and a minho song. and an irene song. the first round it was fun to see all the different songs, and then they just kept playing. each time i’d hear the 1999 intro again i’d start sweating. there was a loud woman at the front of the room droning and repeating the same speech- “fill out the sheet, only doing one category of performance, emails will be sent out a month from now, blah blah blah” and obviously it was informative the first time, but because i was waiting so long i literally think i heard the speech like fifty times as people filed in.
also people were literally from all over. funny enough, i happened to be sitting next to someone from Redmond, WA, which is crazy ‘cause I’m from Seattle, and most of the people there were just driving over from other cities in cali. there were people from nicaragua, hong kong, and more, which was cool. my dad also conveniently went to get food and left me at the audition meaning i had to keep my duffel and other few bags with me, since i had just gotten off a flight. other people had maybe a water bottle and a phone, i had like a huge bag and a few more things lmao.
so for the actual audition, they called our row, and also told us to take all our stuff since we wouldn’t be coming back. a lady led all of us, by lowest sticker to highest, into this classroom- like a literal classroom, abc posters all around the walls, colorful carpet, like genuinely a child’s classroom, to the point where i wonder why a highly coveted company such as SM was using an elementary school for their famous global audition. but wtv. two women were at the front at a table- one english speaking, one korean, and there was a camera. singers and rappers would go first, and dancers would freestyle in one big group after.
i ended up going earlier than i thought i would because it turns out a lot of the people in front of me were dancing. two boys started their songs, and then it skipped like three people and went straight to the girl next to me. so that was definitely stressful since i thought i had more time. i sang “i dreamed a dream” from les miserables, i didn’t even know the song that well, clearly, because i forgot the words two lines in and asked to restart. they said yes, thankfully, and i sang the full song really well (i’m like a trained singer so it wasn’t really an issue). the other people weren’t amazing, another guy was okay. then after all the singers/rappers (though there were no rappers in my group) finished, they said we could leave and they asked the “okay” boy to stay behind. genuinely objectively speaking i was the best singer there but i’m also not fully asian or the ideal beauty standard, so i respect the grind. and yeah, the dancers stayed, maybe the boy was asked the dance too (?) and the rest of us left with our stuff.
that was it. that was the full audition. over an hour of waiting for a pretty unprofessional and odd setting, but hey, i hope they found a lot of good trainees.
i will say, my one regret is not writing my ethnicity on the paper we were given. obviously anyone of any race could audition, but even the boy they held back was asian, and it was a high percentage of asian people auditioning. i had already turned in my paper to the staff when the lady giving the speech conveniently decided to add in the detail “in the ‘country section’, you can also write your ethnicity.” she had left out this detail the other 49 times she gave the speech. i couldn’t get the paper back, but you have a higher chance of getting accepted if you’re korean or asian, and i’m half korean, but they probably wouldn’t have been able to tell with just seeing me. i doubt it would help my chances that much, but i wish i got the chance to do it.
if you’re considering doing a similar audition, i say go for it, genuinely because it’s so quick and fast that if you do bad it’s fine ‘cause it’s like thirty seconds long. if you’re really passionate about wanting to become an idol then go for it. but to anyone, keep in mind the wait. it was so long. and also the location was a little sketchy. but overall it was like, fine. i’m probably going to stick to online auditions and email auditions from now on also because my parents were really kind getting plane tickets to california and they’re using that as an excuse to get me to do chores and stuff.
i’m also happy to answer any questions you have! i don’t know how much help i can be, but i would like to try.
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