Probably The Only Idol Group To Ever Get Scolded After Winning A Prestigious Daesang Award

Sandara Park (also known as Dara) has been just one of the many legendary 2nd generation K-Pop artists to appear on Kim Jaejoong‘s variety show JaeFriends.

Sandara Park (left) and Kim Jaejoong (right) | uhmg/YouTube

Throughout his show, Jaejoong has met and reunited with second-generation artists such as INFINITE‘s Sungjong, TEEN TOP‘s Niel, Girls’ Generation‘s Sooyoung, and 2NE1‘s Dara. Jaejoong debuted with the legendary K-Pop group TVXQ in 2003, while Sandara Park debuted in 2NE1 in 2009. The two famous idols had met each other before 2NE1’s debut when they both auditioned for and trained for a role in the same movie.

The two friends caught up with each other and discussed their days promoting during K-Pop’s second generation. Although they were friends before 2NE1’s debut, it was difficult for them to acknowledge their friendship at the time due to the “rivalry” between SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment.

Jaejoong pointed out how impressive 2NE1’s debut was, acknowledging the fact that the then-rookie group swept the year-end award shows in 2009. Among their many awards that year, they earned a coveted Daesang award for “I Don’t Care” at the 2009 MAMA Awards (formerly known as the Mnet Asian Music Awards).

(From left:) 2NE1’s CL, Minzy, Dara, and Park Bom at the “2009 MAMA Awards”| TV Daily

Jaejoong noted that winning a “Song Of The Year” Daesang award as a rookie group was impressive, even for current-day artists. Sandara Park revealed that the group didn’t realize the scale of their accomplishments at the time due to the fact that they had just debuted.

Even though they impressively won many awards after their debut, Sandara Park revealed that their company, YG Entertainment, scolded the group because they didn’t cry on stage. YG Entertainment compared the group to SM Entertainment’s groups, saying, “Why won’t you cry like groups from SM?”

Sandara Park clarified that “everything was too new” for them at the time and that they cried once they were backstage. Jaejoong added that it’s easy for artists’ minds to “go blank” when receiving their first awards, understanding why 2NE1 didn’t cry on stage.