No K-pop dreams: Cambodian Princess Jenna, 12, ‘does not, and will not become an idol trainee’ despite hailed as next Lisa from Blackpink

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Jenna Norodom is no ordinary 12-year-old.

The Cambodian royalty is the great-granddaughter of the late Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia’s former king.

She had her first taste of showbiz at just six years old, acting in several Khmer television dramas — and last month, she won the Best Newcomer Actress award at the second Cambodia-Asia Film Festival for the Cambodian horror film, The Night Curse Of Reatrei.

Jenna has studied opera at the Music Arts School in Phnom Penh, and can speak French, Khmer, Thai, Chinese and English, reported South China Morning Post.

Her talent saw her being signed up by K’ve Entertainment, a K-pop entertainment agency in Cambodia at the age of 10, two years ago.

Her dance covers of girl group aespa’s Next Level and Blackpink’s Pretty Savage has garnered half a million views on YouTube and she has also performed a Kpop style song she wrote, The First Day Without You, at a Korea-Cambodia music festival.

Her 2022 cover of At My Worst by American singer Pink Sweats attracted 23 million views. Another, while the cover of Chinese song by Qu Wanting, You Exist In My Son, drummed up almost 300,000 views.

Which is no surprise, considering she has already amassed close to three million followers on TikTok, and another million on YouTube.

Jenna enjoys celebrity status in China after performing a repertoire of Chinese songs on state broadcaster CCTV in late 2023.

Her Weibo account opened just last month, has already attracted more than 20,000 fans.

With her impressive achievements at just 12, it was no surprise when Taiwan’s SET News on October 14 reported her next move to be a Kpop idol trainee, which led to South Korean media suggesting Jenna could potentially become the next Lisa of Blackpink, who was born in Thailand.

Her management team however has since denied that she is eyeing Kpop fame.

In a now-deleted Weibo post on October 15, her team said Jenna had received an invitation from a Korean entertainment agency in 2023, but had declined the offer and does not, and will not become a Kpop trainee in South Korea.

The royal teen reportedly said she loves music and is working on her first Mandarin album apart from focusing on her studies, with no plans to pursue being a Kpop idol in South Korea.