FROM our “Pambansang Krung Krung” to South Korea’s beloved Dara, Sandara Park had reinvented her career many times over. For most Filipinos, we know her as one of the contestants in Star Circle Quest. We’ve gotten in lines just to watch her movies and we’ve seen her face in print ads and billboards all over the country.
During the period where we thought that she already quit the entertainment industry for good, it appeared that she was already training to be a Korean Pop idol with YG Entertainment. From there, she debuted as a member of the iconic, record breaking quartet, 2NE1. And as they say, the rest is history.
Here are some of the things you didn’t know about Sandara Park as a Kpop Idol:
1. Her contract at Star Magic was not renewed in 2007, she packed up her career and flew back to South Korea with her family.
2. By that time, she was offered a contract with one of Korea’s biggest talent agencies – YG Entertainment.
3. She was among the Kpop stars that trained the shortest. Perhaps due to her past experiences in the Philippines, or her natural talent in entertaining, or her hard work, she only trained 2 years before her debut.
4. She debuted in 2009 with three other ladies, CL, Minzy and Bom of the girl group 2NE1.
Her nickname was Dara.
5. Her transition to the Kpop world was never easy. But her talent and her achievements made sure that it was worth it. In fact, she is the only South Korean artist certified as platinum by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry for her album, Sandara.
6. Because of her growing popularity, she was featured in G-Dragon’s “Hello” single from the album Heartbreaker.
7. “Kiss” which was her first solo single, had been used to promote the beer Cass. In the video, she worked with the equally popular actor, Lee Min Ho. Their kissing scene had become very popular.
8. She again appeared in Taeyang’s, a popular member of the group BigBang, music video. She played the lead role in the video “I Need A Girl”.
9. After she conquered music charts, Sandara Park proved, yet again that her versatility is endless. She worked as a guest DJ for the radio program “Let’s Crank Up the Volume”.
10. She surprised Korean drama fans and Kpop fans when she appeared (as herself) in the famous drama “My Love From The Stars” starring uber popular actors Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun.
11. After the disbandment of 2NE1, Sandara still signed as a solo artist for YG Entertainment. She took in greater role, in an interview, she said she was promoted from being YG’s public relations head to the director.
12. Her appearances in the television also had not been affected. Her hosting skills was put to test when she was chosen to co-host the beauty program Get It Beauty together with Honey Lee and Gugudan’s Kim Se-jeong.
13. Her acting career also benefited. She played the part of Jang Bora in her first big role in the drama Cheese in The Trap.
14. She also appeared as the lead role in the vampire action movie titled 107th Year of the Night by director Lee Won Jun.
15. Her latest work, just this year, is the stage adaptation of the drama Another Oh Hae Young, a musical performance.
Chameleon is what comes into my mind when Sandara Park is mentioned. She is such a versatile talent that she easily transitions from a KPop idol, to an movie actress, to a host, to a DJ and now to a stage musical performer. Doing that all in between two countries and different languages – English, Tagalog, Korean. What a talent she is!
