ZE:A’s Heechul Star Diary Part 3: “I Was Nervous to Appear on Entertainment Shows.”

Child of Empire will always look back at their Wingcar Concerts and see them as the stepping stones in the making of their careers. They’ve earned themselves the nickname ‘Road Idols’, a name which they now wear around their necks like a medal of honor.
ZE:A’s Heechul, known as the ‘mysterious rapper with an attitude’, takes a look back at January of this year, a time when the 9-membered group shakily got up on stage and showed the audience the results from their hard work. “We were just rookies that had just debuted, but thankfully many people paid attention to us. They liked our song, we shot a CF, we were very happy (laughs).”

Child of Empire made their debut in January of this year with their first single, ‘Mazeltov‘. With their unique lyrics and catchy beats, their song soon became a hot issue. “After we debuted we worked really hard. Looking back, I think all the members worked hard, focusing only on the future without thinking about anything else. Because of that, all of a sudden it was 100 days after our debut.”

“Many people recognized ‘Friday, Saturday, Sunday!~’ Mazeltov and the name Child of Empire. But generally, people had a hard time matching up ZE:A with 9 different faces. I think it’s understandable because we’re rookies. I made a resolution to work even harder.”

It didn’t take long to see how hard Heechul had been working, as he was offered to appear on the variety show Big Show featuring Park MyungSoo as the MC. “I thought the opportunity to appear on ‘Big Show’ was such a great chance. If I was to appear on entertainment shows on top of the music programs, more people would recognize me and when that happens they naturally pay attention to our music.”

Heechul, who felt like he had an obligation to publicize the name ‘Child of Empire’, gratefully accepted the offer.

“Truthfully, I was worried because I was a beginner in entertainment. Whenever I was anxious, members would cheer me on saying I would do well. Seeing the members cheering me on, I thought to myself, ‘I really need to do well’.”

Heechul burst out laughing when asked about the atmosphere at the ‘Big Show’ filiming. “It’s so much fun going on to the film set. MyungSoo hyung, HyungChul hyung, SangChu hyung, HyunHee hyung all really like me as the youngest. They all treat me so well, the mood is bright and harmonious, any day I have to go in and film, I get excited and head straight to the set.”

While members of Big Show are known to be veterans in the entertainment business, Heechul had no problem admitting how long ago he had debuted. “It’s been 3 months since I debuted!” he said proudly as the guests went around saying how long ago their debut was.

“I have a lot to learn from the hyungs. They really have tried to teach me a lot. I want to teach the other members what I’ve learned from the hyungs. These days, other members are going out on entertainment programs, they’ve done well without me teaching them. Especially DongJoon and KwangHee.”

Fans have kept their expectations high ever since they found out about HeeChul’s appearance on Big Show. Being the first member of ZE:A to appear as an official cast member of a variety show, fans gave him the nickname of ‘Jung Tide’. With this nickname, fans meant that Jung Heechul would bring on a tidal wave of ZE:A members on variety shows.

Having now debuted in the Entertainment business after appearing on Big Show, Heechul has a different charm to his personality. “I want to do lots of activities under the name Child of Empire with our members and receive lots of love for as long as we can. I want to work my hardest so that we can always be our best.”

Source: Yoon TaeHee@asie.co.kr
Translation: Julez@kpoplive.com