[INTERVIEW] Boy band TEEN TOP - Part 2

Interview with boy band TEEN TOP

TEEN TOP member Niel [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

My name is Niel. My real name is Ahn Daniel.
I was born on August 16, 1994. I am the second eldest out of three boys and my older brother's name is David while my younger brother's name is Bo-sung. Many people ask why our names are so unique and even my oldest cousin's name is Joseph and the second is named Suk-jeong after a king while the youngest is called Bo-ing. Bo-sung has a similar name since he was born around the same time as Bo-ing.
I used to love playing soccer when I was in elementary school but I became lazy about going out onto the field and took up singing instead. I think if I continued to play soccer I might have become like famous soccer player Park Ji-sung.
I went in for an on-the-spot audition at Lotte World because of my mom. I didn't want to take part in it because all I wanted to do was have fun on the rides but my mom said I should try it so I sang NeYo's "So Sick." I think my mom just planned to take me to Lotte World for the audition!
My first impression of L.Joe was that he looked like a cold person. His name was Lee Byung-hun and he looked chic as well! But once I became close with him, I found out that he is someone who likes to joke around and has a bright personality. Even the fans think that L.Joe is extremely chic when actually he's not. (Ricky: L.Joe likes to hug us while we are sleeping and acts coquettishly. Chunji: He also likes to kiss me!)
None of the members have ever tried cooking. Ah, C.A.P once made us soup when we went on a workshop and the taste... everyone told him that it tasted good...(L.Joe: It was good but I didn't even touch it.)
I really like veteran singer Nam Sang-mi. I tried to come up with ways to meet her and I thought that when I became a famous singer we should have her star in our music video. The storyline will be that she plays the teacher and I play the student and L.Joe can write the song.
I passed the preliminaries and made it into the finals for the chin-up event for MBC's "Idol Star Athletics & Swimming Competition." I came in seventh place out of the seven competitors. I felt that I was the smallest and undersized compared to the other singers who were built and tall. (Chunji: Our agency told us that if we came in first place, we would get to move into a different house but since our preliminary scores weren't that great we were told to at least place within the top three. But we came in last...)
Shinhwa member Eric who starred in our music video for "Supa Luv" said that we are like brothers... But honestly it was really hard to approach him since he is a veteran singer. (laugh) It's also hard to approach Andy as well!
I had a hard time understanding the lyrics to song "Clap" so I asked the composers a lot of questions about the songs. I know what emotion to think about for "Supa Luv" but... I still don't know.

TEEN TOP member Changjo [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

My name is Changjo. My real name is Choi Jong-hyun.
I was born on November 16, 1995. I have an older sister who will be graduating from high school. She has no interest in my singing activities but lately she's been asking what I will be doing and about my upcoming plans. I think that my sister's friends are the ones who are curious, not her.
Ricky and I will be entering high school this year. It's great that I will get to meet a lot of new friends but I'm sad that I will be missing a lot of time from school.
I wanted to become a bodyguard before I learned how to dance. I am level 4 if you combine my experience in taekwondo and jeet kune do but I'm still afraid of walking around at night. I think that I would get hit before I get a chance to defend myself in a real fight. (laugh)
Chunji and I competed during MBC's "Idol Star Athletics & Swimming Competition" but we were eliminated during the preliminaries. The rate at which we run is similar... we just tried out because we wanted to...
I think I grew about five centimeters since I made my debut because I hit puberty or maybe it's because I jumped around a lot for our dance sequence for "Supa Luv." (L.Joe: I think I stopped growing. Chunji: That goes for me as well! C.A.P: When you hit eighteen you've already grown. Niel: I still have time to grow!)
We have gotten close to members of INFINITE. We both focus on our group's choreography and we talk and listen to one another on how we synchronize our moves. I feel that we have a lot in common with them.
My hobby is to come up with choreography. I want to create a powerful dance number with a song written by L.Joe if we were to hold a concert. It is important that the song is good. So please L.Joe don't plagiarize. (laugh)

TEEN TOP member Ricky [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

My name is Ricky. My real name is Yoo Chang-hyun.
I was born on February 27, 1995. My hometown is Sillim in Seoul and I have a brother who is four years older than me. Everyone says that I look like my brother but he is gentler and nicer.
I am known as the 'lovely' and youngest member of TEEN TOP. I feel like I go with the 'lovely' image but when I grow and say that I am 'lovely Ricky' I'm sure people will say "He still thinks he is lovely?" I want to change my image into someone that is more manly, like a beast! Something like that.
I was working as a child actor and after being cast in rocker Seotaiji's music video "Human Dream," I wanted to become a singer. I joined a talent agency when I was in middle school.
If there is one thing that I can say that has changed about myself after 200 days of our debut is that I know how to spot the camera. I used to stare straight ahead and only now do I notice where the cameras are coming from.
We haven't made our official debut in Japan yet so I felt really good when a fan shouted "It's TEEN TOP!" when we arrived at the airport there. I thought that no one was going to be there and I don't know what it will be like the next time. I don't have high hopes though...
I can't eat cucumbers. I take out of the cucumber whenever I eat sushi and take it out from my black-bean-sauce noodles. I just can't eat any green-colored vegetables.
I was very fond of and continued to believe in Santa Claus because of the present I received when I was in pre-school but the other members thought I was weird for believing in him. That was when I realized he wasn't real.
I feel that I look the most handsome when I look at myself in the mirror after taking a shower. It feels as though I look cleaner...
I was really nervous when I danced to singer Rain's song "Rainism" on a variety show so I want to practice and perform it if we get a chance to hold a concert. I want to emulate the stage presence and powerful image of Rain's.
It will be my birthday soon and I have expectations that the agency will throw me a big birthday party. Niel celebrated his birthday during our fan meeting and I will be satisfied if it is on the same scale. Or they can rent out a buffet restaurant with a sign that says "Ricky's Birthday" with all sorts of meat.

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Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@
Reporter : Lee Seung-Han fourteen@
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@