BHS junior competes in Korean 'Survivor'

Seventeen-year-old Taec Yeon Ok is a pretty typical Bedford High School junior. He was inducted into the National Honor Society earlier this week, plays junior varsity soccer in the fall and throws the discus in the spring, and plan to attend college.

His resume also includes a stint as one of a dozen finalists in a Korean television network's reality show last month -- a contest that Taec says can be translated as "Survivor Superstar," but including elements of "American Idol." He didn't win, but "I thought it was fun... I tried to have a good time."

It was a whirlwind two-week trip to South Korea, Teac's first return visit since emigrating five years ago with older sister Jihyen and parents Kwang Ik Ok and Misook Kim. A relative resided in Bedford, so they settled here.

Jihyen, a BHS senior, launched her brother's show business career during a Christmas gathering with family. Jihyen was surfing the World Wide Web with some cousins when she encountered a promotion for the contest, announcing upcoming auditions in Manhattan. (Don't try to find this at home unless you understand Korean.)

"He was hesitant at first; it was kind of short notice," she related. But, hey, it was vacation week, and "she and I wanted to go to New York anyway, so we decided to go for the audition," Taec added. They headed for the Big Apple on Dec. 27.

About a week later, things moved into overdrive. Out of all the contestants worldwide, "They called me and said I was chosen for the final 35," said Taec. "They wanted me to go to Korea." That news didn't startle some of his teachers and coaches. "He's definitely a unique, charismatic and interesting kid," said Dave Boschetto, BHS social studies teacher and varsity soccer coach. "He has a sparkly personality. He has a very bright smile, very friendly demeanor. He makes a nice impression," added Al Dougherty, track and field coach.

Accompanied by his mother, Taec left for Seoul on Jan.7. He was one of six contestants from North America. The competition, conducted for a panel of judges, took an entire day. "They had different cate- gories - dancing, singing modeling. They allowed anyone to apply for different categories. First I applied for modeling," the 6-2, 160-pound Taec recounted. "Then they told me to try to do singing and dancing." Those, he suggested, are not his strengths. So "when they told me, I just picked out a random (Korean) song that was stuck in my head."

It must have been a good one. He was named one of a dozen finalists - seven girls and five guys, all in their teens. "I was actually surprised I was picked because there were so many more people better than me," he said. "The others were very, very talented. Compared to my skills, they were obviously better. Some of the people there had auditioned 20 times. For me, I just felt like heaving fun. They obviously were doing it for more than the fun."

Now the reality TV angle kicked in. The finalists went to a hospital the next day for physicals, and "they were filming it all." Then the delegation moved to a camp-like facility, "to practice dancing and singing and stuff -- the finalists and the staff and the camera people." Organizers, of course, "tried to make it more interesting" by creating tension among the finalists.

He was there for a week before he was eliminated - one day a candidate for Korean idol, the next day headed back to Bedford High. "Before leaving, Taec made sure he had the assignments for the classes he would be missing," one teacher noted. "When he returned, he came to ask when he could make up a test he missed. Had I not asked about the real purpose of the trip, I doubt that he would have told me. As it was, he was almost embarrassed to say."

Taec was back home on the 22nd. He doesn't even know who won "Survivor Superstar." Broadcasts are scheduled to begin in March for 10 or 12 episodes. Maybe Taec will get some copies; "they wouldn't let us videotape because they wouldn't want us to have a pirated version."

He doesn't feel like a celebrity, though he is getting a lot of support." Everyone thought it was cool that he was in it," said friend and classmate Peter Russo. "Everyone in the school was excited for him," exclaimed Andy McGavern, Taec's friend since sixth grade. "A lot of us couldn't even believe that this really happened. We thought his sister was joking." Jihyen commented, "We think it is exciting to find out my younger brother has such talent that we didn't know about before."

Actually, there were hints. Russo said when his crowd heard about Taec's song-and-dance routine,

"We thought it was funny, because around the hallways he hums songs a lot, and kind of dances."