K-Pop fans of India, you have a reason to celebrate! Sriya Lenka is the first Indian from Odisha who has been selected from 4000 applicants worldwide to be a part of the Korean pop band, Blackswan. Gabriela Dalcin from Brazil has been chosen to join Ms Lenka in the group.
BLACKSWAN have officially announced Sriya and Gabi as new members! They have been posting videos of their trainee journey to their YouTube channel as part of the Cygnus series and they are preparing for a comeback!#WellDoneSriya #WellDoneGabi pic.twitter.com/PMul3TSVjp
— The Basement #ThankYouGirlkind (@LetEmOut) May 26, 2022
The announcement was made on Instagram by Blackswan’s label DR Music. In their post, they said, “Sriya and Gabi were finally selected as members of blackswan after participating the global audition program for the last 6 months.”
Blackswan made its first debut in 2020 and consists of six members; Youngheun, Fatou, Judy, Leia, Sriya and Gabi.
Sriya was born in Rourkela in 2003 and is trained in Hindustani classical, Odissi and other forms of contemporary dance. She told reporters that since she had a deep voice, it was difficult for her to find the right vocal trainer. However, her grandmother helped her to find the right one. Ms Lenka’s grandmother took her to a Hindustani classical teacher who taught her twice a week. However, for western songs, she had to rely on online videos and self-training.
When Blackswan’s oldest and fifth member, Hyeme, quit in November 2020, they had to hunt for a new member. In May 2021, DR Music announced a global audition to replace Hyeme. Ms Lenka and Ms Dalcin were the chosen finalist among the 4000 applicants.
While they both will be going to Seoul for practice, they had to undergo an intense training process which included rap, vocals, dance lessons, personal training, language and musical instruments.
References: NDTV
Featured image source: Odisha Bytes
