Beep. Beep. Beep. An alarm clock nearby rings loudly. It's 5:00 am and five teenage girls are fighting the urge to tune out their alarm and go back to sleep. Reluctantly, the girls finally drag themselves out of bed. While high school students their age sneak another two hours of sleep before getting ready for school, these girls have no choice. They are no ordinary girls. After all, they live the life of a Korean pop star – affectionately known as K-pop.

Starting their day starts at 7 am and ending at 1 am the next morning, the five girls of the new K-pop group, 5Dolls, are used to this daily routine. This hectic routine is a far cry from their days as normal, everyday teenagers that studied, hung out with friends, and attended afternoon schools known as hagwons. It seemed so long ago since these girls left behind these previous lives.

Only three years ago, these five girls passed their final auditions to be admitted as K-pop trainees. As young, energetic girls that were new to the K-pop industry, they were excited about this new opportunity. Originally, the five came from different groups, but they were to form a new girl group. When the girls all met for the first time, the five girls quickly became friends, as they would soon grow up together during their K-pop years.

They have shared a lot of experiences during this time: ramen dinners, many laughing moments, fatigue after dance practice, and tears of pain from the constant pressure and critiques from management. Often times, the girls train seven days-a-week with no down time. When asked the last time any of the girls saw their families, 18-year old Hyoyoung replies, "I haven't seen my family since the Chuseok holidays six months ago." To these girls, their group members are their family away from home.

The girls knew that they would have to sacrifice their youth and freedom. Yet, the tradeoff of being in the spotlight, becoming famous, making money off album sales, and having screaming fans was too hard to pass up. So is living the Korean music dream really worth it?

To the many that tried out in cities all over Asia and the US every year, the answer is a resounding yes. In San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York last year, more than a thousand applicants tried their hand at becoming the next Rain or BoA. In Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Korea itself, thousands more waited long audition lines to show their stuff to the record moguls SM Entertainment, JYP, and YG Entertainment. In their search for the next international star, these three music companies knew that K-pop was the new, big thing. They had no shortage of youthful applicants willing to try out.

Applicants that try out at one of the K-pop auditions go through three auditions. Judged on looks, stage presence, singing, speaking, and choreography, these hopefuls are whittled down from the thousands that started to a mere handful by the end of the 3rd audition. After that, the judges make their decision. For the aspiring K-pop applicants that are handpicked, they are flown out to Korea.

Passing the auditions is the easy part. The hard part for the new trainees is yet to come.

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