Pursuing her dream… in Korean

Sarah Costner, 20, of Albany was sitting on a plane heading to
Los Angeles in late September. She had her headset on and was
learning a song for the second round of SBS K-Pop Star, a Korean
music competition similar to American Idol.

Costner heard about the competition online and decided to look into
K-Pop. She quickly found out that she loved the music.

“I heard the song ‘Sorry, Sorry’ by Super Juniors and started
dancing to it,” she said. “I just completely fell in love with
South Korea.”

While she was researching K-Pop, Costner ran across information
about SBS K-Pop Star and decided to compete for a spot in the
competition. She sent in a demo of her singing an English song and
was told she made it to the second round, which was held in Los
Angeles on Sept. 25.

Two days prior to the second round of competition, she received her
song, “Should I Confess” by Soyu of Sistar. She spent those two
days studying the music and exactly how to sing the song in
Korean.

At the competition in Los Angeles, she practiced with someone who
knew the song better than she did.

“I stood up to sing for her one more time,” Costner said. “I
started to sing and everything was completely silent. The sound
echoed throughout the whole entire gym. I felt like I was on top of
the world.”

When she opened her eyes, she saw the camera was pointed to her and
everyone was clapping and singing.

“It was like I was famous for five minutes. It was a Cinderella
moment for me.”

Soon she went in front of the judges and sang her Korean song. They
also asked her to sing a song in English.

“I knew I messed up on the song. The judges told me that I would
have a hard time learning the Korean songs for the show which was
very fast paced,” she said. “They told me to try out for American
Idol or something else where I can sing in English.”

Though Costner didn’t make it past the second round of competition,
she has no desire to give up her love for South Korea.

“I plan to get a teaching degree in English and teach in Korea,”
she said.

She hopes to start studying at LBCC within the next year. She also
spends a lot of time studying the Korean language and talks to
friends she has made in South Korea.

Costner plans to take the advice of the judges and audition for
American Idol next season.