Singer Heo Chan-mi opened up about her hidden struggles, revealing that she has been fighting prejudices simply because she is a trot singer with an idol background.
On the May 3rd episode of TV Chosun’s ‘Huh Young-man’s Food Travel’, Heo Chan-mi and Lee So-na appeared as guests for a delicious trip to Chuncheon.
Having previously promoted in groups like Nam-nyeo-gong-hak and Five Dolls, Heo Chan-mi transitioned to trot starting with her appearance on ‘Miss Trot 2’ in 2020. She shared, “I felt like I wasn’t being recognized as a trot singer just because I came from an idol background.”
She continued, “I’m truly sincere about trot, but there were prejudices like ‘The trot you sing doesn’t sound like trot’ or ‘Idol-turned-trot singers don’t work.’ It was upsetting to be seen that way, which is why I decided to challenge myself again.”
After attempting auditions four times, Heo Chan-mi finally saw the fruits of her labor by winning runner-up on ‘Miss Trot 4’ last March. She mentioned paying extra attention to changing her singing style after switching to trot, surprising Huh Young-man by performing both the idol version and the trot version of the ‘National Anthem’.
Heo Chan-mi also joked, “When I was in a group, we each had different positions, but in trot, I have to fill the stage entirely on my own, so it consumes more energy. However, if there’s one good thing, it’s that there’s no more splitting things by 1/N!”
Meanwhile, Heo Chan-mi’s parents are Heo Man-saeng and Kim Geum-hee, who were active in the 1980s as the mixed duo ‘Dul-baragi’. She honestly confessed, “My parents were the ones who made singing the hardest for me. Since they are music experts and seniors in this field, I felt a lot of pressure.”
She also shared a cute memory, saying, “When we went on family trips to resorts as a child, there were events at the beach. I used to enter those and win things like electric fans and washing machines, which helped with the household chores.”
