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On Wednesday, August 25, EXO's Xiumin appeared during the fifth episode of the ongoing SM Entertainment survival show, NCT Universe: LA START. Given that the trainees were preparing EXO's Japanese track, Electric Kiss, for their next showcase, the idol appeared as a mentor to help them with their upcoming performance.
During his guest appearance, Xiumin not only guided them on how to perfectly execute the choreography but also gave them advice on how to excel as a K-pop idol in general. One of the pieces of advice that stood out the most and was highly praised by netizens was his comment on the importance of vocal skills over dance skills.
"To be honest, dancing isn’t that important. Singing is the most important," he said.
Fans praise EXO's Xiumin for his wise and commendable piece of advice to SM Trainees
SM Entertainment kickstarted its latest survival show, NCT Universe: LASTART, on July 27, 2023, with ten trainees. To create the last subunit of NCT's expansion, four trainees will be chosen to debut under NCT Tokyo, which will function as the Japanese unit of the group.
Each episode includes the members performing already existing K-pop songs. Their performance is evaluated by a panel of judges who are recognized as reputed South Korean artists. The most recent task for the trainees in the fifth episode was to perform EXO's 2018 track, Electric Kiss.
Given that EXO songs are known to be more difficult and powerful, EXO's Xiumin was called the mentor to help the trainees with their performance. Throughout the episode, the idol was highly observant of the trainees and monitored every small movement they made. This naturally had him giving the trainees an extensive mentoring session.
After the monitoring session was over, the idol sat down to talk with the trainees and asked them if they were also practicing singing since the monitoring was highly focused on dance skills. When the trainees answered positively, he explained why focusing more on one's vocal skills is important.
"If you can’t sing well, no matter how good you are at dancing, you won’t look talented," he explained.
While this comment already impressed many fans, the idol gave another commendable piece of advice while praising his fellow EXO member Chen. When one of the trainees, Jungmin, had to take high notes while performing the song, Xiumin expressed his concerns since it might be troublesome to sing while performing an intense choreography.
He told Jungmin that since vocalists' high notes tend to carry the group's performance, he needs to pay more attention to excel in the same. He also recommended Jungmin to watch a few videos of Chen to understand how he handles the high notes.
"Here's why. You're not getting the spotlight. You keep hitting those high notes. A long time ago, CHEN used to support the group too. That's why EXO can't perform without CHEN. You should watch CHEN's video singing high notes and how he managed to pull them off. It will help a lot," he said.
With several pieces of impressive and wise advice, fans' respect towards EXO's Xiumin has only mounted further upon viewing the latest NCT Universe: LASTART episode.
