Less than six months after being crowned the winner of popular TV singing competition program “Survival Audition K-pop Star 3,” Korean-American Bernard Park will officially be making his K-pop debut under JYP Entertainment this month.

“K-pop Star 3” winner Bernard Park. (SBS)

According to a press release from JYPE officials on Wednesday, Park is slated to drop his first single, which has been produced and composed by JYPE founder and famed producer Park Jin-young, on Oct. 6.

One week after the release of his debut single, Bernard will then unveil a follow-up single produced by ballad singer Jo Kyu-chan on Oct. 13.

“Through these singles, Bernard Park will able to touch the hearts of his fans and listeners with his unique vocal tone and emotional singing abilities,” said the statement from JYPE.

Best known for his slow, ballad performance on “K-pop Star,” the 21-year-old singer was able to connect with the audience and judges with his non-flashy, yet deeply soulful R&B performances.

Although Bernard was widely considered a strong contender throughout the competition, his singing of Richard Marx’s 80s hit single, “Right Here Waiting,” in one of the last episodes of the show was arguably his most memorable stage performance. It was not only a mere one point shy of a perfect score from the show’s three judges -- Park of JYPE, Yang Hyun-suk of YG Entertainment and Yoo Hee-yeol of Antenna Music -- but the clip of his rendition became an instant viral hit, racking up more than 1.5 million hits on YouTube.

In the show’s finale in April, the singer sealed his victory with his performance of Yoo Jae-ha’s 1980s ballad hit “Because I Loved You” and R. Kelly’s “I Believe I can Fly” -- beating out fellow Korean-American competitor Sam Kim.

As per one of the show’s prizes, Bernard won the chance to select one of the three participating entertainment agencies in which he wished to train under and eventually make his singing debut. In the final episode, the artist decided to sign with JYPE, saying, “I still have so much that I need to learn and I think that judge Park Jin-Young (CEO of JYP) will be able to teach me the best.”

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)



By Julie Jackson