Sriya Lenka, an 18-year-old girl from Odisha, has become the first-ever Korean pop artist from India. Ms Lenka has been chosen to be part of the Korean pop band Blackswan along with Brazil’s Gabriela Dalcin.
Members in a group of Blackswan
Blackswan’s label DR Music posted on Instagram saying “Sriya and Gabi were finally selected as members of blackswan after participating the global audition program for last 6 months”. Blackswan made its debut in 2020. The group now consists of six members – Youngheun, Fatou, Judy, Leia, Sriya, and Gabi.
Sriya Lenka was born in Rourkela in 2003. She learned Hindustani classical as well as Odissi and other forms of contemporary dance.
Grandmother helped Sriya
Sriya said, “Since I have a deep voice, I faced difficulty in finding the right vocal trainer. My grandmother helped me find one, She took me to a Hindustani classical music teacher, who taught me twice a week. But, for the western songs, I had to rely on online videos and self-learning”.
Chosen finalist among 4000
The Rourkela girl was selected last year among the finalists to train with Blackswan in Seoul. The hunt for the fifth member started after the group’s oldest member, Hyeme, quit in November 2020. In May 2021, DR Music announced a global audition to replace Hyeme. Sriya Lanka and Gabriela Dalcin were the two chosen finalists from among 4,000 applicants.
Lenka and dalcin will be practicing in Seoul
Blackswan was earlier supposed to pick only one member, but has decided to induct both Ms Lenka and Ms Dalcin. Both girls will be practicing in Seoul for the next two months. The two have been put through an extensive training procedure over the last five months, which has included everything from normal vocal, rap, and dance sessions to personal training, language, and musical instrument lessons.
