Smart, talented and funny; Eric Nam always appears to be a genuinely nice person whenever we see him on TV and we just can’t wait to see him. Oh! If you haven’t heard, the Korean-American singer is set to visit Malaysia for the first time as he will performing at the third “F.Y.I On Stage” series organised by ME Malaysia!
Most people would recognise him as one of the finalists on MBC’s “Star Audition: Birth of a Great Star” but the singer was originally discovered via his cover videos on Youtube. Through the competition, Eric became a solo male singer under B2M Entertainment after impressing the critics with his live performances. Korea’s national fairy Lee Hyori, SPICA, SS501 member Kim Kyu Jong, and Heo Young Sang are some of the artistes who are his label mates under B2M Entertainment.
Eric Nam made his highly-anticipated debut on January 23, 2013 with the title track, “Heaven’s Door” from his debut mini-album, “Cloud 9″. However, the singer has gone a hiatus ever since and made a surprise comeback with a music video for his new single “Ooh Ooh”. The music video featured a number of his singer friends including Infinite’s Hoya (who also rapped for the song), SPICA’s Boa, U-KISS’s Kevin, and Busker Busker’s Brad Moore.
Since he will be making his way to Malaysia soon, let’s give him a warm welcome and get to know more about him through these fun facts!
1. Multilingual
Growing up in Atlanta, Eric Nam learnt how to speak in English since he was young as he was sent to study in predominantly white school. He graduated from The Lovett School in 2007 and studied Bachelor of Arts in Boston College. Through his college program, he also spent a year abroad in Laude Peking University in Beijing. Thus, he can now speak more than 4 languages, including Korean, English, Spanish, limited Mandarin, and Japanese.
2. Part of the Atlanta Boy Choir
Eric Nam developed his passion for music since he was young as he would memorise cassette tapes of Korean folk songs from beginning to end. He started playing piano when he was 4 years old and began singing after switching from playing piano to cello at about 9 years old. In fact, the singer revealed in an interview that he was always singing in his hometown’s church and was part of the Atlanta Boy Choir. Through the choir, he was able to tour in Italy and sing for mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
3. Active member in Soompi community
During an interview with Soompi, the singer mentioned that he used to be active member in the Soompi community. He was only 13 years old when he first joined Soompi. As a Korean who grew up in a non-Korean community, Soompi provided him a platform to communicate with other Korean-Americans as well as those who were interested in the Korean/Asian culture. Thus, it was a life-changing experience for him as he “developed the courage” to upload his own music on Soompi through his Youtube channel.
4. From Youtube to MBC’s singing competitions
As we’ve previously mentioned, Eric Nam has been posting videos of his cover songs on Youtube channel before debuting as a singer in the K-Pop industry. Through Youtube, the singer began to gain small yet humble fans who had been supporting him in the Youtube community.
All thanks to his cover version of 2NE1’s “Lonely”, Eric was given a chance to live audition in South Korea for MBC’s singing competition, “MBC Star Audition: Birth Of A Great Star 2″. From that point onwards, his career in music began to soar further than he could imagine! Eric Nam also recently became the host for the YouTube FanFest in Korea.
5. Part of the project group, Namaste
Eric has garnered high praises from the judges after delivering a powerful performance of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” during his first round of audition for MBC’s singing competition. Lee Seung Hwan, the legendary rock star praised Eric and said that he is “born to make music and sing” and decided to become Eric’s mentor.
He made it into the Top 5 and to flew back to USA to perform at “Kollaboration Boston 2″ ( a talent competition) in April 2012. However, the singer decided to fly back to Korea to join the project group, “Namaste” with former contestants from Star Audition including Choi Jung-Hoon, Han Da-Sung, and Hong Dong-Gyun. The song “The Blue Night of Jeju Island” is said to be a gift from their mentor, Lee Seung-Hwan
6. Active as a co-host and a reporter on TV
Eric has been making regular appearances through various TV programs as well as MBC’s radio show, “Song of Hope at Noon with Kim Shin Young”. He is currently active as a co-host with LED Apple’s Hanbyul in Arirang TV’s popular show “After School Club”.
Through MBC’s “Section TV”, the singer had the opportunity to interview various Korean and international celebrities including Girls’ Generation, Miranda Kerr, Amanda Seyfried, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″ cast, Robert Downey Jr. and so on.
7. Doing charity work since pre-debut era
Before making his debut in the K-Pop industry, Eric was involved with couple of charities such as doing some non-profit work in India. He spent an extensive time aboard to help the underprivileged all over Latin America and India and most recently, he participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to help spread awareness about the amyotrophic lateral sclerosi disease (ALS or Lou Gehrig”s Disease).
8. Work hard, play hard
When it comes to work, Eric made it clear that the whacky personality he has shown on TV is just a role he has to play. Thus, there are times that people were taken aback by his work ethic as he takes his job seriously. However, it is safe to say that when he’s ready to play, he’s willing to let it all out and you’ll see the crazy and fun side of him again!
9. Consultant before musician
Eric already earned a job with a top consulting firm before venturing into music industry. It’s a job he enjoyed doing and his goal would ideally be able to consult top entertainment companies such as YG Entertainment or SM Entertainment for foreign stuff. Before signing to B2M Entertainment as a singer, YG even offered him a consulting job but he rejected their offer. There are times that he wish he could back to his consulting job but singing has always been his passion and he decided to stay.
10. A germaphobe with a bad habit of not cleaning
Eric is obsessed with cleanliness but the singer mentioned in an interview that he wants to be a little bit more hardworking so that he can clean his stuff. When he’s not at home, Eric has a tendency to put things away from where they belong or not doing the dishes. Thus, that’s one thing he’d want to fix to avoid his home from looking like a trash can.
So, that’s all for some fun facts about him! Obviously, there are so much more you didn’t know about him yet but we are saving the best for the last! 
Can’t wait to see Eric Nam this weekend? Well, he can’t wait to see you all too!
Check out his shout-out to Malaysian fans in the video:
For more information about Eric Nam’s showcase in Malaysia, visit ME Malaysia’s Facebook page as well as Eric Nam’s Facebook page.
(Source: 1, 2, 3/ Featured image)