The Life Story of Jeon Somi | NOT A Wasted Potntial

Somi had to go through a lot to be able to live her dream life as a singer, competing in two survival shows and, in the end, changing a label. Obstacles of being a biracial child in South Korea everything will be covered in this video. Here is the story of Somi. In Nick's Somi-Doma, John Somi was born on March 9, 2001, in Windsor, Ontario. To a South Korean mother John Sun-Hee and a Canadian father of Dutch descent, Matthew Doma, her paternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from Harenveen. Somi's parents relocated to Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, when she was six months old because her mother started to feel homesick. Her father had previously resided in the area when he studied Taekwondo before moving back to Canada. She initially attended a school for foreigners before transferring to Seoul Midong Elementary School to practice Taekwondo. She stated that she experienced bullying and discrimination at the school because of her mixed ethnicity and wanted to dye her hair black and get surgery to blend in. When I was a baby, I didn't think too much about it until I transferred to a Korean elementary school. The kids all told me I looked like a doll. It was the first they saw a multiracial person, so they were very nice to me. John Somi then stated that the bullying started soon after. The idol revealed that it was due to her becoming the class president, which was voted on the day after her first day in her school. According to Somi, the students that lost to her on that day would bully her for over three years. They would play with me when they wanted to, but the next day my desk would be in the hall. They would rip my library card and would stuff my indoor shoes with trash. It continually got worse. At the time, I wrote to my teacher about what was happening, and they took the time to listen to me, but I realized that they couldn't do anything about it. I think I just lived day by day. I told my mother I didn't want to go to school. I wanted to look more Korean, so I told my mom that I wanted to get cosmetic surgery done. I thought I was over it, but now that I am talking about it, I'm slightly emotional. I guess I was really hurt. During the second semester of sixth grade, I wanted to turn this situation around. I went to one of the kids in their group, bullies, who was low-key getting bullied themselves and told them that I was suffering a lot and that I didn't know how this, bullying, started, but I wanted to get along with them. After speaking with them one-on-one, the news spread and the kids realized they didn't know why they were bullying me either, and thankfully we were able to make up before graduating. It is really heartbreaking to hear all this, as at that age, school seems to be all your life and what people think about you matters a lot. Gladly she was able to overcome this. She first dreamed of becoming a singer after watching the music video for Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music as a child. At age nine, she was introduced to Korean pop and discovered Park BoM of 2NE1, whom she admired for her unique voice. Beginning in her fourth year of elementary school, Jeon auditioned at various entertainment companies in South Korea. In 2013, as a part of the Seoul Midang Elementary School's Taekwondo demonstration team, she appeared in the Children's Day special for Let's Go! Dream Team Season 2. In August 2014, Somi, her mother and her grandmother briefly made an appearance on KBS2's Hello Counselor among the studio audience. She was also cast in a cameo role alongside her sister in the 2014 film Ode to My Father by director Yoon Jae-ik Yoon, who her father was acquainted with and needed two biracial children for his film. That same year, she auditioned for JYP Entertainment with Lonely by 2NE1 and was accepted. In May 2015, Somi participated in Net Reality Survival Program 16, where she was pitted against 15 other trainees. However, Somi was eliminated in the final round and continued as a trainee. JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young stated she had star quality but lacked preparation. In January 2016, as a representative of her label, Somi participated in the competition series Produce 101 and finished in first place with 858,333 votes. While the show was still airing, a preview of the episode Somi Fighting. People were so curious what was going on. However, when episode 6 aired, fans of the show were shocked to see that Somi's fight was nowhere in sight. But the truth was revealed 5 years later by Somi. I told the director, okay, director. Mr. Director, I'm going to act like I'm going to be mad so please put it in the preview or something, because, it's going to grab attention, so, it was a whole act. I acted it out. Nobody, I had no fights at all. Like, it was just me doing all that by myself and Park So-yeon was just pulling backwards just to make it intense, nothing really happened that day. It was just me with my own show going on, so, I'm sorry if I let you down, but I didn't fight. It just shows how good she is in the entertainment business even at that age. Somi officially debuted on May 4th with the project female group I.O.I and its first extended play Chrysalis. On August 9th, Jeon was included in a sub-unit of I.O.I consisting of 6 other members. The sub-unit released the single Whatta Man, which debuted at number 2 on the JN Digital chart. On January 9th, 2017, it was confirmed that Somi signed a formal contract with JYP Entertainment for her solo activities on television. Somi's activities with I.O.I soon ended following its disbandment on January 29th, 2017. Shortly afterward, she joined the second installation of Sistar's Slam Dunk as a regular cast member. Euni's group released the singles Right and La La La Song. Upon release, the digital singles debuted at numbers 2 and 48. After I.O.I's contract ended, she was expected to join the girl group ITZY. She was even spotted with the members prior to their debut. To everyone's surprise, Somi suddenly announced in 2018 that she decided to leave JYP Entertainment, joining YG Entertainment's subsidiary label, the Black Label instead. She stated that her decision to leave JYP was due to the lack of activity. She revealed that Teddy, the founder of the Black Label, had reached out to her personally to ask her if she would like to join the agency. I can say with certainty that it was the best decision I've made in my life thus far. Her debut single Birthday was released on June 13th with an accompanying music video that surpassed 4 million views in 24 hours on YouTube. And now it stays at 107 million views. With the release of What You Waiting For, Somi signed with Interscope Records and Universal Music Group for representation outside of Asia. On August 6th, 2020, Jeon won her first music show trophy with What You Waiting For on NETSAM Countdown. On March 1st, 2021, Jeon was invited by the Blue House to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Korean Declaration of Independence. The Blue House revealed they selected Jeon as a multicultural representative for her popularity as an idol promoting Korean content worldwide. On August 2nd, Somi released a new single, Dumb Dumb. Its music video garnered 10 million views in under 24 hours on YouTube. The release peaked at numbers 8 and 9 on the JN Digital chart and the Billboard Korea K-Pop 100 respectively, marking her first top 10 single as a soloist. Dumb Dumb also became her first chart entry in the Billboard Global X-Gold US, debuting at number 130. And recently she released Fast Forward which does quite well. So yeah, she is not a wasted potential, she is still only 22 years old and a lot ahead of her. She had to go through a lot to stand strong on the stage, but everything has its reasons and you know what's meant to be that's meant to be. So let's just celebrate that this woman can live her dream life. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and ring the notification bell so you don't miss any of our upcoming K-Drama, K-Pop content. Thanks for tuning in.