Odisha's Sriya Lenka joins K-pop band Blackswan
Sriya Lenka may join Blackswan: K-pop all-girls band Blackswan has been on a hunt for new talent that can join the group after their oldest member Hyeme left in November 2020. Looks like Indians are ready to take over the K-pop world as well. Odisha's 18-year-old girl Sriya Lenka became the finalist last year after the auditions were organised by DR Music to find the fifth member of Blackswan. The agency on Thursday, took to Instagram to announce the name of the finalists and said, "Sriya and Gabi are the first generation of Cygnus." Cygnus is a project that trains trainees to become stars. It means a constellation of swans.
Sriya Lenka and Gabriela Dalcin from Brazil were the chosen ones who earned their spot among 4,000 applicants through a YouTube audition. They are the fifth and sixth members of Blackswan, making Sriya the first K-Pop star from India.
Who is Sriya Lenka?
Odisha girl Sriya Lenka has been dancing since she was a kid. She is trained in classical dance and has been learning freestyle, hip hop and contemporary reportedly. She wants to be a versatile dancer. In an interview with Talk Talk Korea, Sriya revealed that she trains her vocal skills with a Hindustani classical teacher. She said, "I dedicated maximum hours to work on my vocals and expand my vocal range. My name was announced after eighteen girls (in the audition’s first round), so I thought I needed to practice night and day to reach the top spot."
Sriya told Bebak Post that she started learning Korean soon after she started auditioning for a place in Blackswan. She also watches a lot of Korean dramas to improve her knowledge of the culture and the language.
About Blackswan
The K-pop band Blackswan made its official debut in 2020. The members of the band are from different nationalities including Fatou, the first Senegalese-Belgian K-pop singer, and Brazilian-Japanese Leia. The other two members are Young-heun and Judy. The oldest member Hyeme left the group in 2020 and the band is on the lookout for her replacement.
