AleXa: “Not only am I representing my home state of Oklahoma, I’m also representing the K-pop community”

Despite the first episode of the American Song Contest being only days away, we were able to connect with Oklahoma born and South Korean KPop Idol AleXa ahead of Monday’s broadcast. Learn more about her background in dance and choir, the Kpop group that inspired her career, and her favorite thing about being a KPop idol. All that and more in our interview below!

Hello there Alexa – I’m super excited to sit down with you to talk about your work and the American Song Contest! For our readers who might be learning about you for the first time, why don’t you give us a quick introduction as to who you are?

Thank you so much for having me! My name is AleXa, a K-pop artist who was born and raised in Oklahoma for 21 years. I’ve been living and working as a K-pop artist in South Korea for the past four years.

Now you were announced as the representative for Oklahoma, which as a fellow Okie makes me super excited! How has life been for you since the cast announcement was made?

I can’t lie, it’s definitely been fun and interesting! It’s so comforting to see my fellow Okies having my back, but also the K-pop community getting ready to cheer me on!

Every artist has their origin story as a musician, that moment when they realized they had the passion and potential for a career in music. When did you realize you had a love for music, and when did it develop into a career?

Well, for starters, I started dancing at the age of two. Throughout elementary school, middle school, high school, and even college, I had a love for the performing arts. I first discovered K-pop back in 2008, and the rest is history~

I know that you have a background in pom (a version of cheerleading meets dance here in the US), choir, and theater from your time in Oklahoma. How do you feel your background in these areas have helped your career today?

Without a doubt, my background in pom has helped a lot with my flexibility, strength, and memorization skills. Choir helped me learn the technical aspects of singing, and theatre taught me how to express myself on stage.

In a perfect world where you go to pick any artist to open for or collaborate with, who would you pick and why?

There’s so many to choose from, but if I had to name my top two, it would be Doja Cat and Slipknot. Doja has become such an icon, and I would love nothing more than to collab with her on stage. As a bit of a metalhead myself, I’ve been listening to Slipknot for years, so a collab would be dope. And of course, on the K-pop side of the spectrum, I’d love to collaborate with HyunA!!

As you know K-Pop music has become a global phenomenon recently. For our readers who may not know much about KPop artists, who would you recommend they check out and why?

I highly recommend the group that inspired me to pursue a career in K-pop – and that is none other than: SHINee! They are a five member boy group. They’ve had so many iconic songs, choreographies, stage outfits, overall, they are absolute legends.

Speaking of, I’ve never met a Kpop Idol before so I feel like I should ask – what is your favorite thing about being an idol in the KPop industry? What are some of the harder things about being an idol people might not think or know about?

My favorite thing about being a K-pop artist is the aspect of performing. As an extrovert, I am someone who feeds off of the energy of other people. Granted, due to the pandemic, live audiences have been few to none; however, now as a participant on American Song Contest, I am so excited to have an audience to perform for! As for the more difficult aspect, every job has its pros and cons. If I were to be frank, I think having a wonky sleep schedule is the only major downside~

Let’s flip back to the American Song Contest now, as I want to know more about your motivation for participating this year. What made you decide to apply for the contest and specifically represent your birth state of Oklahoma?

When we were first contacted for this opportunity, we knew that we absolutely had to go for it. I am fortunate enough to have a staff member of Swedish descent in my team, and as an avid fan of Eurovision myself, we were elated to give this a shot! Being born and raised in Oklahoma for 21 years, I figured it’s now or never to do my state proud!

And of course we don’t know much about your song “Wonderland”, but I suspect it will be an amazing KPop number. What can you tell us about the songwriting process for your song and will it be mostly in Korean, English, or mixed language?

“Wonderland” itself was a large collaborative effort of many talented songwriters in people within the industry. Not only am I representing my home state of Oklahoma, I’m also representing the K-pop community, so we really wanted to include a few lyrics in Korean~

Based off your TikTok video you promised us an “amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never been seen before AH stage” for ASC this year. Without telling us too much can you elaborate on that statement a bit more?

I can’t give away too much, but I’m hoping to take the audience on a journey with me into my Wonderland~

For our readers who want to connect with you ahead of or after the contest, where can they find you and your music?

If you’re interested in knowing a little bit more about me, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.

Alright, one final question for you – is there a final message you’d like to share with our readers?

Whether you’re just now finding me, or have been with me for years, thank you so much for the unending love and support! I hope to continue to be an artist that brings you inspiration~ Stay safe and stay healthy!

Well AleXa, I want to thank you again for your time today and we wish you the best of luck in the American Song Contest moving forward!

Remember #YOU can catch AleXa on the first episode of the American Song Contest on Monday night, March 21st, at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central. #YOU can also jump into the ASC discussions on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!