Minho Reveals SHINee’s Past Insecurities During Their Debut And More

Their standards were so high… but little did they know that they would soon become the standard.

Today, SHINee‘s Minho appeared on Jessi‘s show, Showterview! As usual, Jessi made sure to tease him a lot and make the environment very comfortable and friendly. She teased him about how bright red his hair was and how big his eyes were compared to his rather small head.

| @SHINee/Twitter

After the teasing, there were multiple interviews! Let’s dive into the “SHINee interview” Jessi prepared for him.

Q: What is your position in SHINee?

He proceeded to say, “rapper, vocalist,” and then pointed at his face, signifying that he is the visual. Jessi cringed really hard when he did that.

Q: How did you join SHINee?

Minho went on to tell his story of being street-casted at a ski resort he was at with his brother. He said that while he was eating tteokbokki, three ladies spotted him and followed him around while he tried to avoid them. Eventually, they gave him a business card and asked for his phone number, which he didn’t have at the time so he gave them his mother’s number.

That was back when there were tons of street-casting scams happening. As soon as I gave my mother the card, she told me it was a scam and ripped it.

—Minho

However, this was not the end, as they kept calling and even showed up at Minho’s school. Eventually, his mother saw their persistence and sincerity and allowed him to train.

Of course, Jessi cracked a joke and said, “If they didn’t let him debut, he would have been so pissed.” Minho had never thought about that and burst into laughter, thankful that he was able to debut quickly.

Q: So, what did you do in SM Entertainment?

Super Junior was just about to debut when he was a trainee, so he often watched them practice. Minho mentioned that he thought that Donghae and Heechul were the coolest. He also fondly recalled Shindong teaching him how to dance.

[He taught me] the moonwalk. It’s much more simple than I thought it would be.

—Minho

Q: First impressions of the members?

Minho shared that the members were often worried about how well they would do as they thought they weren’t prepared enough. They often said to each other, “will we be able to debut?

| SM Entertainment

He stated that because they were debuting after Super Junior, TVXQ, BoA, and Girls’ Generation, their standards were really high. Jessi complimented him by saying she never thought that one of their stages wasn’t good enough. She called them “The Irreplaceable Greatest Group SHINee.”

Q:  Which member do you feel the closest to?

He said that it was Onew, as he lived with him for the longest.

| @SHINee/Twitter

Q: Which member do you not get along with?

Minho stated that all of the members get along now but to no one’s surprise, he mentioned Key.

| @SHINee/Twitter

We have different tastes. I’m a sports fan but Key hates them. There were confrontations caused by different tastes. Since we didn’t get along, we even fought over minor things like meals. Though, after we became a team and bickered, soon we were able to respect each others tastes.

—Minho

Q: Earn 1 billion won (about $903,000 dollars) but you have to listen to Key and let him take the credit OR Earn 1 million won (about $903 dollars) right now?

Of course, they then had to pick on him and ask this question as Minho and Key’s bickering is legendary. Minho immediately chose the free one million won as he said he had a difficult time letting Key take all of the credit.

Q: According to a survey, SHINee has the largest number of catchy songs in the K-Pop industry. Do you agree?

With songs such as “Ring Ding Dong,” “Lucifer,” and “View,” he said he could partially agree to that.

Q: I was told that “Ring Ding Dong” was an infamous earworm during college exams. How did you do on your exam?

“Ring Ding Dong” because infamous amongst Koreans as it got stuck in their heads so much that it was hard to focus on college exams. They revealed that around the same time, Minho was taking his college exams, and called him out on it. He simply answered that he tried hard on the exam. They yelled at him saying, “while you let others ruin their exams?!

They jokingly accused him of trying to get rid of his competitors with the catchy song. The conversation began to get heated as they all laughed as Minho denied.

To all the victims who suffered from ‘Ring Ding Dong’, I’m really truly sorry. I feel like I did something cruel to you. To all the victims who suffered from ‘Lucifer,’ I’m deeply sorry. I want to let you know that we have other catchy songs as well.

—Minho

Watch the full interview below!

SHINee