SM’s new upcoming new rising star group EXO, after posting a dance video teaser of the new member “Lay” has attracted a lot of attention from the Chinese fans. Turns out “Lay” was actually “Zhang Yi Xing”, the same Zhang Yi Xing who participated in the 2005 “Star Academy” in China and had also won second place. Some reporters had went to interview Yi Xing’s secondary school teacher and had been told a story about his development in becoming a trainee and how he had to train for at least 10 hours a day and had only one meal per day to maintain his body shape and had to go to the gym for at least 3 hours a day. Reporting from China. “He’s the new trainee for SM entertainment!, he’s so cute” After SM had revealed Lay’s teaser on youtube and various portal sites, fans have been suspecting whether he was really Yi Xing. At the age of 14 Zhang Yi Xing (LAY) had won second place in the Hunan’s “Star Academy” by being able to sing, and have proficient ability on both the piano and guitar. A lot of his friends had said that he was just that talented ever since he was young. And in 2008 when he was recruited to join SM Entertainment as a trainee, he had disappeared from the public eye. And only re-appeared later in 2010 for SHINee’s concert where Jonghyun was hurt and was not able to perform a song and Yi Xing (LAY) had to substitute in for him. And thats when a lot of people questioned again: “Who’s this shy boy? And why does he dance so well? Perhaps another trainee?” Having to eat only one meal per day, and has to train more than 10 hours per day. Back when he was still competing in “Star Academy” he still showed some baby fat. But when he re-appeared in the public’s eye again in the teaser a lot of people had responded that he was really handsome but he was too thin. A reporter had asked one of his teacher and this is what his teacher responded “In real life he’s even thinner than he is on the TV. In Korea he had to train for at least 10 hours, it’s very tiring and very hard for him, and he could only eat one meal per day in order to keep his body in shape” Yang teacher also said that in Korea he had to learn dancing, singing, and the Korean language as well. “He once severely injured his back, both me and his mother has persuaded him to rest, but he wouldn’t listen. He said he had to continue to train. Last year was the 105th anniversary of the Hunan University and they had invited back Zhang Yi Xing (LAY) to perform and when he came back he wasn’t as talkative as before, he was thinner, more handsome, and had more professionalism. ” EXO was released by SM to the public on December 22 of 2011, and plans to launch an official debut sometime in 2012. Including EXO-M which will be debuting in China and as for EXO-K in Korea. EXO means to come from outer space, the next big thing from the name EXOPLANET which means coming from the unknown. In Korea, there are always new groups debuting every month but not all of it make it. But in SM, one of the biggest companies in Korea, they have created the most legendary artists known to the Korean Music Industries such as DBSK, SNSD, Super Junior, all of it which had a high level of success. SM Entertainment goes through a round of audition for trainees every saturday, but not all of them make it until debut. Some lucky and talented people may take 2~3 years for a debut and some who has no luck, no one can be sure when they’ll debut. SM Entertainment is very known for being very strict for trainees, one of the most important thing while training is that trainees are not allowed to be in a relationship, they would have to break it off before entering. Also another thing is about wages, there should not be any questions regarding wages inside the SM building. Being a trainee isn’t as easy as everybody thinks, it’s really one of the most tiring phases in your life. Getting less than 4 hours of sleep, having to train to sing, dance, language, for more than 10 hours, then having to starve to stay in shape. It’s really no joke. Credits : Baidu Translated by : rainydays@CODE:EXO TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDIT