Girls’ Generation (SNSD)
Also known as: SNSD, So Nyuh Shi Dae (Korean), ShōJo JiDai (Japanese), Shao Nü Shi Dai (Chinese), SoShi, GG
Lables: SM Entertainment (South Korea), Universal Music Japan: Nayutawave Records (Japan)
Official Debut: August 5th, 2007 (on SBS Inkigayo)
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Girls’ Generation (Korean: Hangul – 소녀시대; Hanja - 少女時代) is a popular nine-member South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2007. The members are, in order of announcement to be in the group, Yoona, Tiffany, Yuri, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Taeyeon (leader), Jessica, and Sunny. They are commonly referred to as SNSD, the acronym of the group’s Korean name So-Nyeo Shi-Dae or So-Nyuh Shi-Dae, Chinese name Shao Nü Shi Dai, Japanese name ShōJo JiDai. They are also referred as SoShi which is the abbreviation of the groups’ Korean name. The group’s official fan-club is named as S♥NE (소원) pronounced as “So-won” which means “wish” in Korean.
Girls’ Generation had their official debut stage on August 5, 2007 with their first single “Into the New World”. The group has released two albums and various singles, which went on to achieve commercial success. Their 2009 single “Gee” holds the record for the longest-running #1 song on KBS’s Music Bank, at 9 weeks. That year also saw the girls winning various awards, including consecutive Artist of the Year (Daesang) awards at the Seoul Music Awards, Golden Disk Awards, Melon Music Awards, and the Korean Cultural Entertainment Awards.
The members of the group have had various activities as solo entertainers — acting in various video clips, dramas, and musicals; hosting various reality-variety shows; and releasing solo singles for drama soundtracks.
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SNSD | So Nyuh Shi Dae | Girls’ Generation | SoShi
Pre-debut
The members were professionally trained primarily in singing and dancing, while some members were also selected to be trained in acting and modeling. Many of the members already had made names for themselves in the Korean entertainment industry through their participation in magazine ads, television commercials, and small television appearances. For nearly two years, Korean websites speculated about which of the female SM Entertainment trainees would be placed into the group. Before the official release of the group name, Girls’ Generation (Hangul: 소녀시대 | Hanja: 少女时代), it was rumored that the group would be named “Super Girls” after their so-called counterpart, Super Junior. Read their pre-debut roster history >>here<<. 2007: Debut and first album
In July 2007, Girls’ Generation had their first performance on Inkigayo. The song the girls performed was called “Into the New World” (Korean: 다시 만난 세계), which became their first single. A show documenting the girls’ debut titled “M.Net’s Girls Go To School” was filmed during this time. This documentary helped the girls appeal to the Korean audience as they rose to controversy. In August 2007, the single “Into the New World” was released. This single included two other songs, “Beginning” and “Perfect for You” (Korean: 소원), later the song renamed to “Honey” for their self-titled debut album Girls’ Generation. An instrumental of “Into the New World” was also included.
The group began promoting the single soon after its release. Girls’ Generation performed their single on SBS’s Inkigayo, MBC’s Show! Music Core, and on KBS’s Music Bank.
After a short break, the group’s first full album was released in late autumn 2007, with the lead single “Girls’ Generation” (Korean: 소녀시대), a cover of Lee Seung-Chul (Korean: 이승철)’s hit. Promotion for the single started in early November. Marked by dance routines and vocals, “Girls’ Generation” was a hit for the group, and the album has sold 121,143 copies to date, placing 8th in the year-end charts. In early 2008, Girls’ Generation began promoting their second single, “Kissing You“. The music video featured Donghae from Super Junior. This song achieved the #1 spot in the three main TV music rankings—SBS Inkigayo, M.net M.Countdown! and KBS Music Bank. In March 2008, the album was re-released and re-titled Baby Baby. A third single, “Baby Baby“, was used to promote the album. A digital EP featuring Jessica, Tiffany, and Seohyun was released on April 2008, titled Roommate. The single from the mini-album is “Oppa Nappa” (“Korean: 오빠 나빠”, literally “Bad Brother”, although contextually it refers to an older male friend). Girls’ Generation, along with fellow artists such as BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, CSJH the Grace, Zhang Liyin, SHINee and other SM artists participated in SM Town Live ’08. The tour expanded its route to South Korea, Thailand, and China.
2008–2009: Other activities, return with mini-albums
It was announced in autumn 2008 that Girls’ Generation would be starring in a reality show on M.Net. Titled Factory Girl, the show chronicles the girls working as interns at fashion magazine “Elle“. The program began airing in early October.During their absence from the music scene, they appeared in many commercials for MapleStory and Mabinogi. It was then announced that the group’s first mini-album, Gee, would be released in January 2009. A teaser video was released in January 2009 and the first single “Gee” released soon after. Interest in the song rose after the digital release, topping Cyworld’s hourly music chart on the release day. The song also went #1 on all major digital music charts within two days. The group began its album promotion on January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core. They sang their new single, “Gee”, and “Him Nae/Way To Go“, another track from the Gee mini-album. This song is a remake of the song “Haptic Motion” that was used in cellphone advertisements (Samsung Anycall) and is a mix of bubblegum pop and punk rock. Meanwhile, questions were raised when the group did not appear on KBS’s Music Bank with “Gee”, even after winning #1 on the music chart show. “Gee” is the record holder for the longest-running #1 on music portal M.net (for 8 weeks), surpassing the previous record of 6 weeks set by the Wonder Girls‘ “Nobody”.They also broke the record on KBS’s music show Music Bank by being #1 for 9 consecutive weeks, previously set by Jewelry‘s “One More Time, which had 7 wins. They won the award for best-selling song for the first half 2009 for “Gee“. Promotions for the song ended at the end of March.
After a short break, SM Entertainment announced that the girls would be back with a new single and showing a “Marine Girl” concept; the song, titled “Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)” (Korean: “소원을 말해봐”, literally “Tell Me Your Wish”), the mini album was released digitally on June 22, 2009. The mini-album includes a duet between Jessica and Shinee member Onew called “One Year Later”. On May 3, 2009. Girls Generation was starred in their new reality show “SNSD Horror Movie Factory“, with the premier episode receiving a viewership rating of 3.3%. The show was then cancelled after 6 episodes due to low ratings.
Since June 23, 2009, Girls’ Generation are starring Cable TV program called “SNSD’s Hello Baby” of KBS Joy, where they are taking care of a child and somewhat experience how motherhood is like. In that show, they take care of a boy name “Cho Kyungsan” (Korean: “조경산”), and each week they (or fathers, male guests who come out time to time) select “The Best Mom” and “the Worst Mom” among the members according to their work for the day. Despite the late-night time slot, the show received fairly high ratings and had been extended for several episodes. The show ended on November 17, 2009.
On June 26, 2009, Girls’ Generation’s comeback performance was recorded on KBS’s Music Bank.The group then had their return performances on MBC’s Music Core and SBS’s Inkigayo on June 27 and 28, 2009. Girls’ Generation’s 2nd mini-album Genie was released on June 29, 2009.
Their first win for their single “Tell Me Your wish (Genie)” was obtained at the July 10, 2009 episode of KBS Music Bank. Their second award was claimed at the July 12, 2009 episode of SBS Inkigayo. The group finished promotions for “Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)” in August 2009. On October 7, Girls’ Generation, along with label-mate f(x) released a digital single named “Chocolate Love” for the 4th edition of the Blacklabel series LG CYON phone, “Chocolate”. Girls’ Generation sang the “Retro Pop Ver.” of the song while f(x) sang the “Electronic Pop Ver.” In July, selected members, alongside selected Super Junior members, released the song “S.E.O.U.L. Song“. The music video was released as part of South Korea’s tourism initiative. The group also announced its first solo tour, with two Korean dates in December and other Asian locations to follow. The Korean dates sold out in 3 minutes. The concert is titled “Into the New World : 1st Asia Tour“ after the name of their debut single. Due to the success of the first concerts, the group confirmed that they will be holding encore concerts on February 27 and 28. 2010: Second album and Japan debut
In early 2010, the group was chosen to sing SBS’s new logo song “Naeireul Bomnida” (Korean: “내일을 봅니다”, “Looking at Tomorrow“).
Later in January, SM Entertainment confirmed the release of Oh!, the group’s second full-length album, released on January 28.The lead single “Oh!“, was digitally released on January 25 with the music video being released two days later. The song proved to be popular topping various charts upon release.On January 30, the group started promotions with the recording of MBC’s Show! Music Core.The performance experienced a blackout near the end, to which MBC made the whole performance available online. In the KBS’s music show, Music Bank, the song ‘Oh!’ won the award for best-selling song for the first half of 2010; wherein the previous year they also won the award with their mega-hit “Gee“. Starting from March 11, 2010, photos of the members were released online showcasing a dark concept, so called “Black Girls’ Generation”.The “Black SoShi” nickname is a play on the Korean group name (So Nyeo Shi Dae). A teaser video was released on March 16, with the new single released as a digital single on March 17. The music video for “Run Devil Run” was released on March 17, and the group performed first on KBS’s Music Bank. With the combined sales of both the full album “Oh!” and the repackage “Run Devil Run“, Girls’ Generation sold more albums than any other artist in the first half of 2010.The music videos for both “Oh!” and “Run Devil Run” made it into GOMTV‘s 2010 First Half Top 10 ranking, the group having attracted over 13 million views in 6 months. They have also recently made a new song titled “CABI” to promote The Caribbean Bay with 2PM. Members Yuri, Yoona, and Seohyun were the main actors each being paired with 2PM members Nichkhun, Taecyeon, and Chansung respectively. All the other members made a cameo towards the end in the music video. The song was sung by Girls’ Generation and 2PM. The music video was released on YouTube on May 20, 2010.
Mid-June, it was announced that the group had signed contracts in May, and would begin working under Universal Music Japan‘s record label Nayutawave Records for their Japanese promotions, with their first Japanese single expected to be released in September 2010. Girls’ Generation began promotion in Japan in August. “少女時代到来～初来日記念盤～” (Girls’ Generation’s Arrival ～ First Time in Japan Commemoration Disc ～), a DVD featuring seven of the group’s music videos as well as special bonus footage was released on August 11, with the special edition of the DVD containing a pink glowstick as well as a pass to the Girls’ Generation debut at the Tokyo Ariake Colliseum on August 25. According to Universal Music Japan, the DVD had reached considerable success even before physical release, the pre-orders having sold out.In the first week after release, the DVD sold 23,000 copies, making no.4 on the weekly DVD Oricon ranking and no.3 on the weekly music DVD ranking,making Girls’ Generation the first female k-pop group to make the Oricon DVD Top-5 ranking.Amidst their Japanese activities, the group also participated in the SMTown Live ’10 World Tour alongside their label-mates on August 21 at Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium. And then in Shanghai and Los Angeles on later dates.
On August 25, the group held their first showcase in Tokyo Ariake Colliseum. With an initial 10,000 fans invited, it was reported to be the most large-scale plan for a Korean artist debuting in Japan. However, due to high number of expected attendees, the group’s management announced that the showcase would take place three times in the same day rather than once to accommodate the estimated 20,000 fans. The group sang 5 of their Korean tracks at each of the showcases, the total number of attendees over all three shows estimated to be at least 22,000. At this showcase, the Genie Japanese music video was also revealed publicly for the first time, the teaser having been released a few days prior on August 20.
Their Japanese debut single “Genie“ peaked at the #5 spot on the same day of its release on the Oricon Charts and later rose to the #2 position some time later, earning the group a #4 position on the Oricon weekly ranking The group also hit the number #1 spots on Japan iTunes’ music video chart and both the Rekochoku daily video clip chart and incoming movie daily ranking chart a day later. With pre-orders amounting to 80,000, the single sold an estimated 45,000 copies in the first week after release, breaking the record for foreign artists debuting in Japan. The single also placed high on Japan’s Billboard chart, ranking #4 on the comprehensive Hot 100 chart, #5 on the Hot Single Sales Chart and #1 on the Hot Top Airplay chart. On October 20, 2010, the group released their second Japanese single, “Gee”. Girls’ Generation also had success in Japan with their Japanese 2nd single “Gee“. They took 2nd place and were crowned the first ever overseas girl group to claim this position. On October 26, 2010 it was announced that their Japanese 2nd single “Gee” reaches #1 on the Oricon Daily Chart making them the first non-Japanese Asian girl group to reach number 1 on the daily chart. On October 27, 2010, Girls’ Generation’s label SM Entertainment released the group’s third mini album titled Hoot. The single“Hoot” was released on October 25 at 10am KST through various online music websites. Prior to their comeback, after just releasing “Hoot” on October 25, it took less than 7 minutes for “Hoot” to dominate 7 major Korean realtime music charts, topping every single one of them at #1 include Monkey3, Dosirak, Melon, Soridaba, Cyworld, Bugs and Daum. SM Entertainment released Hoot MV on October 28, 2010 on SM homepage and their official youtube channel. The MV also featuring Super Junior’s member Choi Siwon. In less then 24 hours “Hoot” MV hits more than 1 million viewers on Youtube. They first won their performance on Music Bank on 5th November 2010.
U-Kiss
U-KISS (Korean: 유키스) is a seven-member South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members include Shin Soohyun, Elison Kim (also known as Eli), Kevin Woo, Shin Dongho, Lee Kiseop, Hoon and AJ ( both joined the group in 2011 ). U-KISS stands for Ubiquitous Korean International (Idol) Super Star. They debuted in Japan on August 15, 2008 and in South Korea on August 28, 2008. Later in late 2009, six-member U-KISS was turned into seven-member U-KISS with the addition of Lee Kiseop. When the original members Alexander Lee Eusebio and Kim Kibum's contracts were terminated in early 2011, they were replaced by Hoon and AJ. Hoon was previously known as a solo artist, while AJ is a former member of NH Media's group, PARAN. The group has released one full-length album, five mini albums and various singles. Their first full length album, Only One, was released on February 3, 2010. The members of the group have had various activities as solo entertainers, such as acting in dramas, movies, sitcoms, and musicals and hosting various reality-variety shows and music shows. The group also staged successful concerts outside Korea. Pre-debut
U-KISS was first formed as a six member boy-group in 2008. Kim Kibum and Kevin Woo were former members of the boy band Xing. Kim Kibum left the group in early 2007 while Kevin Woo left the group four months before the debut of U-KISS. The other five members were all individually selected by NH Media through auditions. Debut
U-KISS debuted in Japan on August 15, 2008 at the Power of Atamix 08. The group released their first mini album, New Generation, (N-Generation) on September 3, 2008, with the main track, "Not Young".U-KISS later debuted in South Korea on August 28, 2008, with a performance of "Not Young" on Mnet's M! Countdown and a release of their first music video. New member and mini-albums
U-KISS released their second mini-album on February 11, 2009, called Bring It Back 2 Old School with its title song, "I Like You." On the same day, a music video for I Like You was released with an old-school theme inspired by the 80's. They also performed their carrier single live in various music shows. After their promotional cycle for "Bring It Back 2 Old School", U-KISS starred in their very first variety show, All About U-KISS. In 2009, Kevin Woo joined Arirang's radio show Pops in Seoul hosting the 'All About You' segment alongside co-host Isak N Jiyeon. Shortly after, Alexander was invited to host the show too. In April that same year, Eli also became an MC of MBC's show, Fusion. In late 2009, U-KISS released a third mini-album titled ContiUkiss on November 5, 2009. Lee Kiseop, a new member, joined the group during the promotion of this mini-album with their carrier single, Man Man Ha Ni. This song is often known as U-KISS' breakthrough song as it helped them to make their names known in the Korean entertainment industry. Lee Kiseop appeared in a variety show known as Uljjang Shidae 2 or Ulzzang Generation 2 (Pretty Boys and Girls Season 2) with fellow member Soo Hyun also guest starring in an episode. Dong Ho. the youngest of the group has made many appearances on many variety shows at the end of 2009, helping to promote U-KISS. Such shows include The Invincible Baseball Team and Idol Maknae Rebellion. Dongho is the most active member of the group and has been invited in many other shows. He has been thanked for helping the group to be more well-known. Kevin and Alexander were featured in Brave Brother's song, "Finally." A music video for the track was released a few weeks after. Members Eli and Kibum also starred in the Thai drama Autumn's Destiny. However, the drama was aired in Thailand only. As both Eli and Kibum could not speak Thai, their voices were dubbed. The drama aired its premiere episode on January 16, 2010. 2010 Activities
First full-length album and Other Activities
On January 18, 2010, U-KISS formally opened their official fan club, KissMe with an official color of Pearl Pink.
Before the release of their first full-length album, television station MBC stated that U-KISS would star in a new variety show called U-KISS' Vampire, which later premiered on January 22, 2010. In the show, the members moved into a dormitory that they stayed during the whole duration of filming. They were sorted into groups according to their blood types. Alexander, Kibum, Eli and Kevin were grouped into the Blood Type O group. Soo Hyun and Kiseop were grouped into the Blood Type A group while remaining member, Dongho, into the Blood Type B group. U-KISS Vampires aim was to reveal the true identities of each member according to their different blood types. Their first full-length album, Only One, was released on February 3, 2010. The song "Without You," the title track, was first released on January 27, 2010 as a digital single but later, their managing company decided that they would promote Bingeul Bingeul. It became their highest chart-topping single in the Philippines which resulted in visits to the country with mall shows and a successful first concert. On April 15, 2010, shortly after their successful mall shows in the Philippines, U-KISS started promotions for their follow up song from their Only One album, titled "Mworago" (What). A music video was taped, and a teaser released, but remained unreleased to date, due to unknown reasons. U-KISS also starred in their next reality-variety show titled Chef's Kiss. In this variety show, the members opened a real restaurant which they named U-KISS Steak House. The seven members were split into teams and each week, they competed among themselves to decide which team would be chosen to cook in the restaurant that week. Chef's Kiss aired its last episode on July 30, 2010 and was one of the highest-rated show.
U-KISS in Asian Cities
On June 19, 2010, Geneses Dream Entertainment brought U-KISS to Malaysia for a fan meeting held in Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Later that year, U-KISS returned to Philippines and joined fellow Korean entertainer Rain as guests in his concert, titled "Intensity" in the Philippines at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds on September 11, 2010. This was their third visit to Philippines. On November 30, 2010, U-KISS went to Mongolia to perform a special on Arirang's music programm, M Wave concert. It was held in Mongol Palace Ulaanbaatar. This concert celebrated the 20th anniversary of the friendship between Korea and Mongolia. Due to their success in the Philippines, U-KISS held a concert at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines. The show was originally scheduled on May 29, 2010 but later postponed to June 14, 2010 due to some delays and problems regarding the venue. U-KISS arrived in Manila on June 13, 2010 and had several television guestings. They appeared in a Philippine Sunday Music Show Party Pilipinas and also participated in the celebration of Independence Day in the Philippines where they performed Bingeul Bingeul and Man Man Ha Ni. They also appeared in a showbiz-oriented show, Showbiz Central under GMA Network to promote their group and their new album. The concert was titled U-KISS First Kiss Tour in Manila. U-KISS is the second Korean group to stage a concert in Araneta Coliseum, the first being Super Junior. On August 2, 2010, U-KISS member Alexander and Kevin were nominated once again to host Arirang's M-Wave program in both Korean and English. On November 19, 2010, as part of their fourth mini-album, Break Time promotions, U-KISS visited Singapore to perform at The Kings of Freedom Concert held at the Bedok Reservoir Park. Break Time: The Fourth Mini Album
U-Kiss released their fourth mini-album, Break Time, on October 4, 2010, in South Korea. It included five new songs and instrumental versions of two of the new songs in the album. The album contained a 50-page photograph book and a photo card of either any of the seven members or one of the group. Three days after the release of the album, it topped the Hanteo charts. The teaser for the "Shut Up!!" music video was scheduled to be released on the afternoon of October 3, 2010. But it was later pushed back to October 4, 2010. U-Kiss performed "Shut Up!!," the title track of their mini-album, on Mnet's M! Countdown on October 7, 2010. The full music video was released on October 7, 2010. Japanese Debut
U-KISS became regular hosts as special Wednesday MCs on a variety show in Japan called Made in BS Japan broadcast by TV Tokyo for the Wednesday Korean entertainment segments. They hosted the show from October 6, 2010 until December 22, 2010. This opened opportunities for them in Japan. On December 10, 2010, they released a full Japanese album called 'First Kiss' which was a compilation of all their songs from their debut album up until their 'Break Time' album. 'First Kiss' placed second on Oricon daily charts on the day of its release. 2011 Activities
Members Shin Dongho, Eli, and Ki Seop have been cast for MBC every1’s special new sitcom, titled 'Real School'. Real School is 40-episode long sitcom series, for which they will play three high school students who board at an ‘English Village’ in an attempt to crack their fear of speaking English. Its pilot episode aired on January 10, 2011. Meanwhile, Dongho was cast to act in his ever first drama, "Royal Family" under MBC, as ‘Jo Byung Joon. Dongho has also since played in several films, including the 'Villain & Widow' and 'My Black Mini Dress.' In early 2011, the management announced that U-KISS was planning to debut in United States. The group recorded over 70 tracks to be sorted-out for their upcoming US album. But news regarding this debut vanished as Alexander and Kibum reported to depart from the group. Alexander and Kibum left the band on February 23, 2011. A couple of days after the original members Alexander and Kibum left U-KISS, NH Media introduced two new members, Kim Jae Seop and Yeo Hoon Min. Kim Jae Seop is also known as AJ and Yeo Hoon Min, as Hoon. Before debuting in U-KISS, AJ was a former member of the South Korean boyband Paran. With the two new members, U-KISS made their comeback on March 30th with their new album, Bran New Kiss. They literally became an overnight sensation with the release of Bran New Kiss by placing first on many online music charts. A music video for their single, 0330 was released on the same day. The new U-KISS performed 0330 live, on that same day. The group also performed 0330 on the 2011's Dream Concert on May 28, 2011. They also walked on the red carpet held at the same day on Seoul World Cup Stadium. The performance was televised on June 10, 2011. On February 28, U-KISS began filming a movie with Jay Park, Kim Soo Ro and Park Ye Jin with a working title, Mr. Idol. This will be the group's first movie and will be shown in theaters on August. U-KISS Asia Tour
According to NH Media, the company is planning to bring U-KISS to various cities in Asia to promote Bran New Kiss. This has been clarified but they have not given it a title yet. The tour will start on May before their shows and activities in Japan and will end on February. The tour is planned to kick-off in Brunei on 29th May 2011, being the first Korean Group to visit the island state. The show in Brunei was postponed for unknown reason. This has been also notified by the group's leader, Shin Soohyun is his Twitter account. The group will also visit Taiwan and Malaysia. On May 2011, U-KISS formally signed under Avex Japan for their Japanese debut. They are soon to release the Japanese version of Bran New Kiss on August 24, 2011 while the group's first ever Japanese album will be released in December of the same year.Avex Japan reported that the group will have their first Japan major concert in Osaka on 2012.
Super Junior (SUJU)
Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어), often referred to as SJ or SuJu (슈주), is a popular boy band from South Korea formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2005. The group debuted with 12 members: Leeteuk (Leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum and later added at 13th member named Kyuhyun; they are one of the largest boy bands in the world. As of 2010, 10 members are active, due to Han Geng's lawsuit with SM Entertainment which led to him leaving the group (now pursuing his own singing career in the Mandarin-Pop entertainment industry), Kangin's temporary leave of absence for mandatory military service and Kibum's pursuit of an acting career. However, the other members have insisted that the three (Kangin, Kibum and Han Geng) are still part of the group, the group also mentioned that they are saddened by Han Geng's departure from the group.
Super Junior has released and contributed in 20 different kinds of records with varying degrees of success. Over the years, they have been divided into smaller sub groups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and hosting. In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has earned seven music awards from the M.net Asian Music Awards, eleven from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003.
Pre-debut
In 2001, the company held their first overseas casting auditions and discovered Han Geng in Beijing, China, who was chosen from among three thousand applicants. That same year, Yesung was discovered under Seoul's casting system. Sungmin and Donghae became trainees after jointly winning the first place in Best Outward Appearance in an SM-sponsored contest. In 2002, Heechul and Kangin were recruited along with Kibum, who was discovered in Los Angeles. Siwon was recruited in 2003 after being scouted at 16 in front of his high school, and Ryeowook in 2004, in which the latter was discovered through the Chin Chin Youth Festival singing competition. In 2005, Shindong was selected. The last member, Cho Kyuhyun, was then discovered after winning third place at the Chin Chin Singing Competition in 2005.
Not long after boy band TVXQ's debut in 2003, news about Lee's unprecedented plans of forming another boy band quickly spread on the Internet. In early 2005, Lee confirmed the news and announced that an all-boy project group of twelve members would debut near the end of the year, promoting this singing group to be "The Gateway to Stardom of Asia." Lee announced that that most members in this group were chosen because of their performing experiences as actors, MCs, models, and radio hosts prior debut. Heechul and Kibum were already established entertainers, and most of the other members had already made various kinds of appearances on television and media. Highly inspired by the rotational concept of Japan's girl group Morning Musume, this group would also experience line-up changes, with new members replacing some selected members every year to keep the group constantly young and all-rounded. This concept was then newly introduced to the K-pop market.
For a while the group was rumored to be called O.V.E.R, the acronym for "Obey the Voice for Each Rhythm." However, before the group settled with their current name, SM simply referred to them as Junior, a representation of the members' young ages when they first became SM trainees. After the members' showcased their different talents to the company at a picnic, the company finalized their concept name to Super Junior. The group thereafter became officially Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior.
Super Junior 05 made their pre-debut on the Korean channel Mnet on September 11, 2005. At the showcase, they performed various styles of hip hop dancing. The group danced to B2K's "Take It To The Floor." Han Geng, Eunhyuk, and Donghae also performed a separate dance away from the group, dancing to Usher's "Caught Up." However, the performance did not air on television until May 16, 2006 as a segment in the Super Junior Show, the group's first television documentary.
2005–2006: The Super Junior project
Super Junior 05 debuted on SBS's music program Popular Song on November 6, 2005, performing their first single, "TWINS (Knock Out)." A digital single with "TWINS (Knock Out)", "You are the one", and three additional tracks were released online on November 8. A physical CD single was scheduled to be released the following week but a more complete album, SuperJunior05 (TWINS), was released on December 6, 2005 instead. Their debut album sold 28,536 copies in the first month of release and debuted at #3 in the monthly chart of December 2005. In that same month, they released "Show Me Your Love," a collaboration single with TVXQ. "Show Me Your Love" became the best-selling record of December 2005, selling 49,945 copies that month.
In February 2006, Super Junior 05 began performances for "Miracle", the second promotional single from their debut album. "Miracle" was the group's first single to peak #1 in online music charts of South Korea as well as the music charts of Thailand, drawing interest from international markets. As promotions for "Miracle" came to an end, SM Entertainment began selecting new members for Super Junior's second line-up project, Super Junior 06. The company even prepared a list of chosen members that were to graduate from the group. However, no members were taken out and a thirteenth member was added instead in May 2006. The line-up project has been abandoned since then, and the group became known as just Super Junior, without the suffix "05".
2006–2007: Don't Don and breakthrough success
On May 23, 2006, SM Entertainment revealed the thirteenth member Kyuhyun, who was discovered through a singing competition in 2005. They released their single "U" online for free download on May 25, 2006 in their official website. "U" had over 400,000 downloads within five hours of release and it ultimately exceeded 1.7 million downloads, crashing the server. The physical single of "U" with a total of three tracks was released on June 6, 2006, eventually selling over 81,000 units. The single became one of Korea's most popular songs of the year, yielding #1 spots for five consecutive weeks on two of Korea's top music programs. By the end of the year, Super Junior collected over seven awards in five of South Korea's top music award ceremonies, winning the title as Best New Group of 2006.
Super Junior's first sub-unit, the ballad-singing trio Super Junior-K.R.Y., debuted on November 5, 2006 with a performance of Hyena theme song "The One I Love" on KBS music program Music Bank. A second sub-unit arrived in February 2007 called Super Junior-T. The trot-singing group released their first single "Rokkugo" on February 23, 2007 and made a debut performance on Popular Songs two days later.
Super Junior's second official album was intended for a late 2006 release, but due to several accidental setbacks, Don't Don was not released until September 20, 2007. Within the first three days of release, offline album sales for Don't Don passed the 11,000 unit mark, debuting as #1 in all available offline charts. It finished the September monthly album sales as #1. 60,000 units were shipped by the first week of release and additional copies were printed. Although Don't Don received rather bland reviews from critics, the album sold more than 160,000 copies by the end of the year, becoming the second best-selling record of 2007. The album also found success in Taiwan; it broke the record for being the highest ranked Korean album on the G-music Combo Billboard Chart, surpassing the albums of TVXQ and Shinhwa. Super Junior's album also ranked above Taiwanese boy band K One, whose album debuted at #6.
Supported by the release of Don't Don, Super Junior was nominated in seven separate categories at the 2007 M.NET/KM Music Festival that was held on November 17, 2007. Super Junior won three of those categories including "Netizen Choice Award" and "Mobile Popularity", being the biggest winner of the night. The group also won "Best Artist of the Year" (Daesang), termed by many as the highest recognition of the ceremony. Super Junior collected two more awards on December 14, 2007 at the 2007 Golden Disk Awards. Although defeated by SG Wannabe in winning the "Daesang", Super Junior won a "Bonsang" and the "TPL Anycall Popularity Award", which were reported as expected wins for the group by the media after the success of Don't Don.
2008–2009: Beyond Korea and Sorry, Sorry
On October 2, 2007, SM Entertainment announced a third Super Junior sub-unit Super Junior-M, a subgroup designated for the Chinese market. While the creation of the subgroup created a brief controversy between the fans and the management, Super Junior-M became a phenomenal success in China, having the opportunity to have two sold-out concerts in Hong Kong, top weekly ratings with their appearance on variety programs, and becoming the idol group with the most endorsement contracts in China. With the absence of almost half of the members in Korea, a fourth Super Junior sub-unit was created that same year to prevent Super Junior from disappearing in the Korean music industry. With five members from Super Junior-T and Yesung, they formed the subgroup, Super Junior-Happy. Super Junior-Happy released the EP Cooking? Cooking! on June 5, 2008, and promotions ended on September 7, lasting for four months. In November 2008, Super Junior-T returned, this time as a singing group in Japan, called SuperJunior-TxMoeyan; this group added Moeyan, a famous two-woman comedy group in Japan. "ROCK&GO", a Japanese-language version of "Rokuko", debuted at #19 on the Oricon Daily Charts and jumped to #2 three days later.
Super Junior's first major tour, Super Show, commenced on February 22, 2008 in Seoul. The tour covered three countries and had shows on six different cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, and Beijing. From July 8 to July 9, 2008, Super Junior held their first fan meeting in Japan, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, as a celebration for the grand opening of their official Japanese Homepage, which was launched on April 1, 2008, 12,000 tickets to the fanmeeting were all sold out in several days. The group released a compiled Japan single the following day, entitled "U/TWINS", which includes the Japanese version of "U" in the limited release, to complement the event. The single peaked at #4 on Japan's Oricon Daily Chart in its first day of release, and dropped down to only four places in its second. The single broke a new record for being the first Korean single to have made within top 10 on Japan's Oricon Weekly Chart. On August 2, 2008, Super Junior expanded their routes to Genting Highlands, Malaysia, being one of the top guest performers at the MTV Asia Awards 2008 along with other international performing artists such as OneRepublic and the Jabbawockeez. They are the third SM artist to win Favorite Artist Korea at the MTV Asia Awards after Kangta of H.O.T and BoA, and the second musical group to win the award after JTL in 2008.
Super Junior's third album, Sorry, Sorry, was released on March 12, 2009 with acclaimed reviews. The title single of the album, "Sorry, Sorry" was digitally released on March 9, 2009. In less than a week after preorders were announced, over 150,000 copies were pre-ordered. Sorry, Sorry was their first album to debut at #1 on the Hanteo Charts, and it sold over 29,000 copies the first day, defeating Seo Taiji's record of 25,000. Promotions for the album started March 13 with the performance of "Sorry, Sorry" and "Why I Like You" on Music Bank. Two weeks later, "Sorry, Sorry" became the number one song of the week on the same program. During the group's performance on music program Popular Songs on March 15, ratings went up to as high as 14%, the highest in recent years. From March to May, "Sorry, Sorry" collected a total of ten #1 awards with consecutive wins in Korea, having the single becoming a national and international success. After only a month of release, the album became South Korea's best-selling album of 2009. Sorry, Sorry was also a critically and commercially successful hit in other Asian countries, opting the group to become the only overseas representative for the second time at Taiwan's annual Golden Melody Awards. "Sorry, Sorry" was also #1 for a record-breaking 37 weeks in Taiwan. Sorry, Sorry was a best-selling Korean-language album in Taiwan, Thailand, China, and the Philippines, in which the latter listed the album to be the first K-pop album to reach #1 in music charts from the country. Super Junior won three awards in the 1st MNET Asian Music Awards - Overseas Viewers Award, Mobile Popularity Award and CGV Popularity Award despite not attending. Super Junior's Sorry, Sorry won Daesang at the 2009 Golden Disk Awards.
2010: Bonamana and vast Asian popularity
On May 6, 2010, the teaser for their fourth studio album, Bonamana, was released through SM Entertainment's YouTube page. The full music video of the lead single of the same name was released on May 12 and full album was released on May 13 in South Korea. The album was released by the group with only 10 members, without Han Geng who has terminated his contract with SM Entertainment, Kibum who is involved in acting career and Kangin who had enlisted himself in to the Korean army. Their fourth album had also broken a personal record for the group by having over 200,000 pre-orders. On May 14, Super Junior had their comeback stage on KBS Music Bank, performing title track "미인아 (Bonamana)" and "나쁜 여자 (Boom Boom)".
On May 17, 2010, music video for the song, "Victory Korea", which was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was released through SM Entertainment's YouTube page. Super Junior’s World Cup song ‘Victory Korea’ set to cheer the S.Korean team in the top 16 garners interests overseas. A poll was recently done on American site ESPN for the Best World Cup Song. There were 11 songs shortlisted for the poll including Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’, K’Nann’s ‘Wavin’ Flag’, Akon ‘Oh Akrica’ etc, to which the song "Victory Korea" by Super Junior was voted #1 with over 90% of the poll. "Victory Korea" features a sample mix from "Sorry, Sorry," with a similar dance done by the members of Super Junior-Happy in the music video.
On June 28, 2010, Super Junior released their repackaged album with three new tracks - "No Other", "All My Heart", "A Short Journey" - and the remixed version of "Shake It Up!". "A Short Journey" was composed by Donghae and the lyrics were written by Eunhyuk. "All My Heart" was composed by Leeteuk and SJ-M member Henry. On July 2, 2010, Super Junior had their first live performance of "No Other" on Music Bank. The music video for "No Other" was released on July 7, 2010. According to Hanteo, the album has sold over 200,000 copies to date. The album Bonamana got the 7th spot on the Billboard's World Album-Chart
On September 4, 2010, Super Junior took part in the SM Town Live '10 World Tour along with fellow SM labelmates at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. This marks the first time SM Town has performed outside of Asia. On September 23, 2010, Super Junior released their original soundtrack "Angel" for Haru: An Unforgettable Day in Korea, an omnibus drama that promotes Korea's tourism. On November 22, Super Junior have been honored as National Pop Culture Icon and received Minister of Culture Awards by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism at Pop Culture Art Awards for their strong role in heating up the Korean Wave. On November 24, Avex Entertainment, as well as SM Entertainment Japan, released a statement about the renewal of contracts of SM artists signed to Avex.
On May 29, 2011, It was announced that Bonamana remained as Top 1 in Taiwan's Music Charts for 54 weeks (more than a year) breaking their own previous record of the said chart. Super Junior was awarded for the Best Selling Album for two consecutive years at the 2010 Gaon Chart Awards, surpassing their labelmate Girls' Generation.
2011- Overseas activities and upcoming album
Super Junior have not as yet taken part in any official promotions in Japan, but From 18 February to 20 February 2011, Super Junior held The 3rd Asia Tour Concert Super Show 3 at the Yokohama Arena in Japan, which is a large-scale performance hall, from the first performance itself, and was able to demonstrate their ticket(-selling) power. The ticket applicants for Super Show 3 Japan were over roughly 110,000,with about 36,000 people came to watch their performance. The “Super Junior Japan ‘Super Show 3’ Opening Commemorative Album” which was released on the 16th of February came in at 2nd place on Japan’s biggest music store Tower Records online sales charts. Super Junior Japan Limited Special Edition - Super Show 3 which contains a DVD came in 2nd place and the CD was in 10th place. Super Junior Japan Limited Special Edition - Super Show 3 also remained #3 spot on Oricon Daily Chart for 2 days in-a-row and #6 spot on Oricon Weekly Chart.
On 24 February, Super Junior released a 3D movie from their third Asia tour, "Super Show 3 3D" in all CGV and Primus movie theaters . "Super Show 3 3D" was ranked 6th in box office weekly chart and is the most watched 3D movie in Korea. Super Junior will show off their first Japanese single album with the release of Japanese version of Bonamana, titled Bijin (BONAMANA) on June 8. Starting May 16, the song will be shown on major Japanese TV channels as the commercial song for Japanese convenience store chain Circle K Sunkus.
On March 31, Super Junior's leader, Leeteuk said during the interview that the group then-untitled fifth studio album will be released this summer. Member Heechul posted on his twitter account on June 2, 2011 saying that the group "may be going crazy with preparations for our fifth album, but when it’s finally released, you’re all going to go mad." This is a response to the success of Bonamana in Taiwan in which it charted at the number one spot for fifty-two weeks in the KKBOX chart. Meanwhile, Eunhyuk and Leeteuk confirmed on their radio show "Super Junior Kiss the Radio" a day earlier, June 1, 2011 that they had begun recording their upcoming fifth studio album that day.
Super Junior's first Japanese single, "Bijin (Bonamana)" was released on June 8, 2011 and debuted at the #2 spot in the Oricon Daily Singles Chart, selling 27,168 copies on its release date. In addition, the 美人 (BONAMANA) music video which is made of videos from ‘SUPER JUNIOR 3rd ASIA TOUR SUPER SHOW 3 in JAPAN’ held at Yokohama Arena in February, received over 300,000 views on the Japanese UCC website, Nikoniko in a day. On June 14,Super Junior's "Bijin (Bonamana)" ranked at #2 spot in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, selling 59 262 copies. This is so far, the highest record for singles released set upon by a Korean group considering Super Junior didn't have any promotion in Japan at all.
Artistry
Musical style
As a whole, Super Junior has released four studio albums and one physical single, including occasional contributions to drama soundtracks. They are acclaimed for their vocal harmonization and unison as each member contributes a different position range in their music. Some members are credited for their vocal belting techniques.
Super Junior works closely with Young Jin Yoo, who has produced and arranged most of the group's promotional singles since debut. Yoo's also known for creating the renowned SMP style, a genre that includes a balanced infusion of rock, R&B, and rap, with complementing musical elements such as the electric guitar, bass, and other different percussion instruments. Super Junior has prominently used this SMP style in Don't Don.
Super Junior has covered a few songs in their albums. Their debut single "TWINS (Knock Out)" is a cover of Triple Eight's "Knockout," which was released in 2003. While the musical style is mostly maintained as the original, "TWINS (Knock Out)" touches closer to rap rock, with quicker rap and more emphasis on the bass. In most of their covers, the original titles are kept. Examples include Cape's "L.O.V.E" and Exile's "Believe." However, most of these covers are re-arranged to different accompaniments, such as H.O.T's "Full of Happiness".
Dance Style
Super Junior are known for doing performances that are heavily centered around their choreography, and are acclaimed for their highly synchronized dances. The group's pre-debut performance was a hip hop dance and they have also joined B-boy battles and performances throughout their career.
Their dance styles are widely termed as street dancing, with a majority of their choreography containing hip hop dance moves such as popping, waving, floating, and liquid dancing. Dances in the form of martial arts are widely used in their dance routines as Han Geng and Sungmin are professionally trained in that area. Shindong was the main choreographer for "U" and for a majority of the group's other dance sequences. Eunhyuk choreographed the dance for "Boom, Boom" (Fourth Album) and also worked with the other members to create the dance choreography for "Don't Don" and "Marry U", both promotional singles for the group's second album. The dance for their hit single "Sorry, Sorry" was choreographed by Nick Bass and Trent Dickens, who has also worked with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. Nick Bass also choreographed the dance for "BONAMANA". The dance for "No Other" was choreographed by THE GEMINIZ, Rino Nakasone and Maryss From Paris. Super Junior M "Perfection" was choreographed by Misha Gabriel who had worked with other well known acts and choreographed Justin Timberlake's "Future Love Sex Show," Pussycat Dolls' "Doll Domination World Tour," "Dancing with the Stars" and more.
Popularity
On December 8, as the leaders of Hallyu Wave, idol group Super Junior was guested in CNN TV station’s 《Talk Asia》 program. Members Siwon and Leeteuk talked about the secret of their huge popularity and their strategy for advancing into the world music industry.
Super Junior is receiving attention worldwide. Recently they have extended beyond Asia, gaining popularity in Slovenia, Argentina, Peru, Brazil and various other locations worldwide. In the year 2010, Peru’s Listas put up the top 30 rankings of The Sexiest Men in the World, whereby all of the members’ names appeared on the list and a Slovenian newspaper also reported about their agency and album sales. Super Junior also appeared in a publication of a specialty magazine recently in Iran that contains a personal interview with all of the Super Junior members and their individual profiles, which is explained briefly in Persian. According to the Korea Cultural Foundation, Super Junior is selected by Brazilian fans as the Korea best group. Earlier this year, in a survey conducted by Brazil’s Rede TV, Super Junior was chosen as the number one Korean singer who should come to Brazil. The results concluded with Super Junior being the top artist of choice with 30.9% of the vote. They also won "Must-Follow Personality" at the Mashable Awards 2010 which was held in Las Vegas. Member Yesung was the winner of 2010 Cyworld Digital Music Award OST. Recently, Super Junior was chosen as the most popular Korean singers in a survey conducted by Spain’s TV Azteca. Also, England’s BBC acknowledged Super Junior as the icon noted for creating Hallyu effect.
Members
Stage Name : Lee Teuk (이특)
Chinese Name : 朴 正 洙 / 利 特 (Pǔ Zhèng Zhū/ Lì Tè)
Date of Birth: July 1, 1983
Place of Birth: Seoul Yeonshinnae (서울 연신내 은평구)
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 59 kg
Blood Type: A
Position: Leader, Vocalist
Nicknames: Teukie, AngelTeuk
Chinese Name : 金 希 澈 (Jīn Xī Chè)
Date of Birth: July 10, 1983
Place of Birth: Hoengseong County, Kangwondo (강원도 횡성군); grew up in Wonju, Kangwondo
Height: 177 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Blood Type: AB
Position: Vocalist, Rapper
Nicknames: Cinderella, Heenim
Korean Name : 한경 (Han Kyung)
Date of Birth: February 9, 1984
Place of Birth: Mudanjiang in the Hei Long Jiang (黑龙江/흑륭성) Province, located in the northeastern part of China
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 66 kg
Blood Type: B
Position: Support Vocalist, Lead Dancer
Nicknames: Beijing Fried Rice
Stage Name : Ye Sung (예성)
Chinese Name : 金 鐘 雲 / 藝 聲 (Jīn Zhōng Yún/Yì Shēng)
Date of Birth: August 24, 1984
Place of Birth: Chunahn in Southern Choongchung Province (충남 천안)(충청남도 천안)
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Blood Type: AB
Position: Main Vocalist
Nicknames: Cloud
Stage Name : Kang In (강인)
Chinese Name : 金 英 雲 / 強 仁 (Jīn Yīng Yún/Qiáng Rén)
Date of Birth: January 17, 1985
Place of Birth: Seoul Seodaemoongoo HongEunDong (서울 서대문구 홍은동) (서울 서대문구)
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 70 kg
Blood Type: O
Position: Lead Vocalist
Nickname: Racoon, Korea's Number 1 Handsome Guy
Stage Name : Shin Dong (신동)
Chinese Name : 申 東 熙 / 申 東 or 神 童 (Shēn Dōng Xī/Shēn Dōng Huò Shén Tóng)
Date of Birth: September 28, 1985
Place of Birth: Moonkyung in Northern KyungGi Province (Kyungbook Moonkyung/경북 문경) (경 기도 일산)
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 90 kg
Blood Type: O
Position: Lead Dancer, Support Vocalist, Rapper
Nicknames: Bobobo, Winnie The Pooh
Chinese Name : 李 晟 敏 (Li Chéng Mǐn)
Date of Birth: January 1, 1986
Place of Birth: Ilsan in KyungGi Province (경기도 일산) (서울)
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 57 kg
Blood Type: A
Position: Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer
Nicknames: Aegyo King, Danhobak (Pumpkin), Ming, Minnie
Stage Name : Eun Hyuk (은혁)
Chinese Name : 李 赫 宰 / 銀 赫 (Li Hè Zǎi/Yín Hè)
Date of Birth: April 4, 1986
Place of Birth: Goyangshi NeungGok (고양시 능곡) (경기도 일산)
Height: 176 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Blood Type: O
Position: Support Vocalist, Main Rapper, Main Dancer
Nickname: Jewel, Hyukkie, Anchovy, Monkey, Dance Machine
Chinese Name : 李 東 海 (Li Dōng Hǎi)
Date of Birth: October 15, 1986
Place of Birth: Mokpo in Southern Jeolla Province (Jeollanamdo Mokpo/전라남도 목포)(전라남도 목포)
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Blood Type: A
Position: Lead Vocalist, Rapper, Lead Dancer
Nickname: Fish, Fishy
Chinese Name : 崔 始 源 (Cuī Shǐ Yuán)
Date of Birth: April 7, 1986 (actual date of birth)/ February 10, 1987 (registered date of birth)
Place of Birth: Seoul Gangnam (south of Han River near Apgujung) (서울 강남)
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Blood Type: B
Position: Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer
Nickname: Simba, Horse, Shisus
Chinese Name : 金 厲 旭 (Jīn Lì Xù)
Date of Birth: June 21, 1987
Place of Birth: Incheon Bupyung Sanggokdong (인천 부평 상곡동)
Height: 173 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Blood Type: O
Roles: Main Vocalist
Nickname: Eternal Magnae, Wookie
Chinese Name : 金 起 範 (Jīn Qǐ Fàn)
Date of Birth: August 21, 1987
Place of Birth: Seoul (서울)
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Blood Type: A
Roles: Support Vocalist, Rapper
Nickname: Snow White
Chinese Name : 曹 圭 賢 (Cáo Guī Xián)
Date of Birth: February 3, 1988
Place of Birth: Seoul Nohwon (서울 노원) (서울)
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 68 kg
Blood Type: A
Roles: Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer
Nickname: GameKyu, KimKyu, KyuMong, Drama Kyu, EvilKyu, Magnae On Top , LiarKyu, Lucky
Discography
Studio Albums
Korean Single Albums
Japanese Single Albums
Tours
Asia tours
Affiliated tours
Subgroups
Since debut, SM Entertainment has created four subgroups for Super Junior. Every member was put into different subgroups excluding Kibum, due to his busy acting schedule. The intentions of the subgroups were part of SM's strategy to not limit Super Junior's activities, and the goal was to show that the group could accommodate different musical genres. However, this strategy was later challenged by critics, as it has influenced an overwhelming amount of music groups to create official and unofficial subgroups alike. SM announced that Super Junior will form more subgroups in the future, and possible focuses of these subgroups include a variety of genres such as electropop, rock and hip hop. Previous Super Junior subgroups will also return to the industry along with appearances of new subgroups.
Super Junior-Happy
Super Junior-KRY
Super Junior-KRY (pronounced 'cry'), established in November 2006, is a trio formed by Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung which makes up KRY.in the title of the group. The company discovered that these three members developed a particular personal and subsequent fan-base that was separate from the rest of the group, and how they also had similar musical qualities. They therefore grouped these three members together to perform particular songs to target a more mature audience. Being amongst the most vocally powerful members of the group, Super Junior-KRY are credited to singing mournful, R&B-style ballads, a style that has proven very popular in recent years.
Super Junior-KRY's first official performance was on November 5, 2006 on KBS's Music Bank, performing "The One I Love (한 사람만을)." They have participated in the original soundtrack of the tvN drama Hyena with a total of three tracks, including the main theme. The trio also contributed tracks in two additional original soundtracks, one track in both the soundtracks of Snow Flower and Billy Jean Look at Me. Unlike Super Junior's other sub-units, Super Junior-KRY has not officially released a single or album, and only participated in collaboration albums and original soundtracks. However, a new album is expected from KRY in the future.
On August 1, 2010, Super Junior’s sub-unit KRY. made history by opening their own concert for the first time in Japan, and upon the fans’ request for an encore, more performances were added in Kobe on the 1st and 2 November and later on, 1 and 2 December in Fukuoka. There were about a total of 22,000 people who watched the 6 sessions of the performances. The group successfully finished their concert tour in Japan and Taiwan last year. Due to ardent requests from Korean fans wanting to see Super Junior-KRY’s concert, the group decided to also hold the concert in Korea.
Super Junior-M
Super Junior-M was formed to target the Mandopop market and debuted in 2008 with seven members: Han Geng (leader), Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun from Super Junior, plus two Chinese members drafted in only for this sub-group: Henry (a Chinese Canadian), and Zhou Mi. In December 2009, Han Geng returned to China to pursue a solo career. In February 2011, Super Junior members Eunhyuk and Sungmin were added to the subgroup and resumed their activities with the release of EP Perfection. Currently, the eight active members are: Siwon, Ryeowook, Donghae, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Zhou Mi and Henry.
Super Junior-T
Film and television career
Debut
Prior to the group's debut, the members had individually appeared in television dramas, with Leeteuk being the first member of the group to act; he was an extra as a moviegoer for the drama All About Eve in 2000. Kangin appeared as an extra for The Secret Lovers in 2002, and Siwon made a brief cameo appearance in Precious Family in 2004. Kibum had his acting debut in 2004 as young Han Jung-woo in April Kiss and in 2005, he was given the main role Joo Yeo-myung for the year-long drama Sharp 2, starring alongside Go Ara and Heechul. A few months before Super Junior's debut, Siwon starred as the young Kang Bong-man in Eighteen, Twenty-Nine; Heechul was given a role as a junior chef in Loveholic, and Sungmin starred as young Kang Dong-shin in morning drama Sisters of the Sea. After the group's debut in November 2005, both Heechul and Kibum acted in the sixth season of the sitcom Nonstop from late 2005 to early 2006. Kibum individually starred in Marrying a Millionaire as young Kim Young-hoon in 2005 and in March 2006, Heechul starred as Gong Min in Bad Family. That same year, Siwon was part of the supporting cast for Spring Waltz and Kibum starred as Ha Yeongchan in Snow Flower. In 2007, Heechul starred as Kim Young-soo in the popular drama Golden Bride, which ended its broadcast in February 2008 after the extension of 14 episodes. Siwon starred as the ambitious Lee Mong-ryong in the two-episode parody historical drama Legend of Hyang Dan. He later starred as the main character in Oh My Lady! oppositte actress Chae Rim, which received a large audience. Kangin made a cameo appearance in Billie Jean, Look At Me. The song "It's Just That", sung by Super Junior-K.R.Y, was used as the drama's theme song. In 2008, Kibum starred in the sitcom Chunja's Happy Events as Park Jung-woo, and Kangin had his first major television role in Romance Zero as Na Ho-tae in 2009. In August 2009, Heechul played the piano for Lee Chul for Loving You a Thousand Time. In 2010, Siwon again appeared in a large supporting role as a data analyst and rookie elite agent in Athena: Goddess of War, which is a spin-off of the popular 2009 series Iris (TV series). There is speculation that the series will continue and he shall reprise his role, but with more character advances.
In 2011, members Siwon and Donghae were scheduled in April 2011 to film Taiwanese drama Extravagant Challenge (traditional Chinese: 華麗的挑戰) with Ivy Chen as the three main characters (as Ren Tsuruga, Shō Fuwa, and Kyoko Mogami, respectively). It is a live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese shōjo manga Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura to be shot in Taiwan.
Siwon was among the first of Super Junior to have participated in silver-screen productions, appearing in the Hong Kong historical action drama film, A Battle of Wits as the supporting role of Prince Liang in 2006. In 2007, Heechul, Kangin, and Shindong lent their voices to the three chipmunks in the Korean release of Alvin and the Chipmunks. In 2008, Kangin had a major role in the Korean-language film, Hello Schoolgirl.
As a group, Super Junior starred in Super Junior Mini-Drama, a television program hosted by the group that was released in late 2006. The group wrote, produced, and acted in the separate half-hour mini dramas. The subject matters of the dramas were chosen from viewers. In 2008, Leeteuk and Sungmin starred in the one-episode drama act Super Junior Unbelievable Story. Both Leeteuk and Sungmin starred as themselves as a member of Super Junior-T.
Reality shows
Despite numerous appearances as television actors, Super Junior are still best known for their reality shows, having participated in popular reality comedies.
A show documenting them right from when they debuted, demonstrating their unique talents and abilities along with their funniness and quirkiness that is never ending.
Had Donghae as the main character being haunted by ghosts located within the Super Junior dorm. The show consists of hidden cameras and a narrator that "documents" their journey throughout each day as Donghae and the rest of the Super Junior group deal with the strange things that are happening to them and what also happened to the past tenant of the dorm they are staying in.
Six boys of Super Junior (Leeteuk, Kangin, Sungmin, Donghae, Shindong, and Eunhyuk with the later addition of Han Geng, with the last episode also featuring Ryeowook and Yesung) go to a pension located in the mountains and stay there for about a week. Throughout the time of staying there, they must only live on a certain amount of money, and live off of groceries that they bought with that money beforehand, also living with another woman who is sort of like the MC for the show, except the boys find her annoying and do anything try and not pay attention to anything that she does. In the end, however, with the money that they have saved from the leftover food that they had, they gave it to an orphanage, where they later visited, where the children that temporarily stayed in the pension with them are from.
Super Junior starred in their own reality show called Super Junior Full House which was about two transfer students who will be boarding with half of the members of Super Junior, specifically in the dorm where in Heechul, Kangin, Kibum, Siwon, Han Geng and Donghae are staying in. The two transfer students were model Eva and her friend Anya.
The show ran for about 13 episodes and it's running time was only for 25 minutes. It was aired from May 27, 2006 until August 26, 2006. The home stay only lasted for a month prior to its original plan and with the show it presented comedic experiences by Super Junior and the two international female students showing their deep friendship and funny attitudes and or personalities.
A variety game show where the members of Super Junior (with the exception of Hangeng, Heechul, Kibum, and Siwon, who weren't directly in the show but had cameos) could create and produce their own mini-dramas for themselves to star in. The members split up into two teams: Prince Team or Pearl Blue Team and play a game in the beginning of the episode to determine who exactly got the reward for the drama or who got the punishment.
A three on one dating game and hidden camera show featuring Siwon, Donghae, and Kibum. The show documents the member's efforts to win dates with model Lee Eun Jung through competing in games. The winner of each episode would get to have a date with the girl, while the other two men would have their own "man to man" date. The show is meant to show the "true intentions of men when it comes to love." Lee Eun Jung and the MC would devise plans to pit the members against each other in order to reveal their feelings. The show was shot in Saipan.
A reality learning show, emceed by Shin Dong Yup and, on several episodes, chosen Super Junior members. It ran for 13 40-minute episodes from November 11, 2007 to February 3, 2008. The show focused on the members and Shin Dong Yup performing experiments on various subjects, such as the sense of taste and the origin of tears. The youngest member, Kyuhyun, was not present until the seventh episode due to the accident, as well as Siwon being absent from some of the later episodes due to having injured his foot in an earlier episode.
Featuring Super Junior T, Idol world presented each episode with a challenge for the group, going from a lie detector test, playing the cat and mouse game, even to just seeing whose friend could show up at the filming location of a house, even though it was already midnight. The games were a wide variety and even during the course of the first couple of episodes, Super Junior T even did a parody of the drama Princess Hours, which they nicknamed Palace T.
- 2008: Unbelievable Outing Season 3
- 2008: Idol Show
- 2009: Human Network Super Junior's Miracle
The boys of Super Junior have another variety show where they try to help teenagers, who have hardships going on in their lives, encouragement to pursue their dreams by finding them a role model that they may look up to in a career profession that they may want to join. They show the teenagers that nothing is impossible and that they can do it, even though it may seem like all of the odds are against them.
- 2010: Super Junior's Foresight
A talk show with four or five Super Junior members (with mostly recurring Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun with the occasional Yesung) where they would invite their sunbaes, or seniors in the music industry, and try to learn things from them that could help in the future, also, while having fun at the same time.
Hosting
The Super Junior members were one of the first Korean idols to begin television presenting and radio hosting. Heechul was the first in the group to be a selected MC for the music programs Popular Songs and Show Music Tank. He was also the first in the group to host radio shows, and co-hosted Youngstreet Radio Show with ex-M.I.L.K. member Park Heebon in early 2005. Heechul has also been the MC for the Dream Concert since 2008. Leeteuk, Kangin, and Shindong made their MC debut on Mnet's music program M! Countdown five days after Super Junior's debut performance. In August 2006, both Leeteuk and Eunhyuk founded their own radio show, Super Junior Kiss the Radio, which has become one of the more tuned-in radio channels in the country.
The group also founded their own reality television program, and on November 11, 2007, the premiere of Explorers of the Human Body aired on SBS. The humorous show introduced the thirteen members as regular guests for the program, answering curious questions and doing demonstrations involving the human body. The show has been the highest rating program of the reality line-up every Sunday, but due to Super Junior's tight schedule, the program ended quickly with thirteen episodes on February 3, 2008. The popularity of the program had inspired producers to create a second season, although no announcements of producing the next season has been announced.
Acting
Attack on the Pin-Up Boys
Twelve members, excluding Kyuhyun, appeared in the group's debut film Attack on the Pin-Up Boys. The first film released by SM Pictures, it premiered on July 26, 2007 in Korea. "Wonder Boy", performed by Super Junior, is used as the theme song of the film. Although the film was promoted as a typical high school comedy, the movie gained positive reviews from critics, praising that the movie had a well-oriented plot unlike most idol films. However, ticket sales remained low in the premiere month despite its unexpected success in the sales the first week. The film was a box-office bomb, failing to attract more than 102,600 admissions and was proven to be a big loss for SM Pictures. However, both versions of the film's DVD became a best-selling record and were sold-out in both Korea and oversea markets, which was more than enough to make up for the production loss of 8.5 billion won.
Endorsements
Super Junior members first began endorsing for various fashion lines in early 2006, notably for Ivy Club (2006–2007), NII Qualified (2007) and Spris (2006–2007). With their high popularity in Thailand, Siwon was contracted to be the main endorser for 12 Plus Miracle (2007–present) and began endorsing its products with interchangeable Super Junior members. Siwon also makes several prominent appearances in Korean brand Spao's catalogues along with SNSD and other Super Junior members. He also recently endorsed and modeled for the SK Telesys "Reaction" smart phone, also appearing in the phone's commercial, as well as Acer products. Currently Donghae is the brand ambassador for Maxim Colours Contact lens worldwide. The group are also known for their string of humorous commercials for Thailand's Yamaha Fino along with several other Thai entertainers, notably Golf & Mike. Super Junior were also appointed as the Goodwill ambassadors for the 2008 Korea and Thailand 50th Anniversary, honoring the good relationship Korea has held with Thailand for the past fifty years. Most recently in 2009, Super Junior have filmed CFs for brands such as Kyochon Chicken , Star Snacks and Happy Bubble. They also endorse a clothing line called SPAO (2009–present). Super Junior also Spokesmodel for Donate Blood (2007–present) campaign at the Republic of Korea National Red Cross and was appointed as Goodwill ambassador for World Blood Donor Day. They also promote and endorse for Samsung’s marketing of their new smart-phone Samsung Galaxy S in Singapore.
Members of sub-group Super Junior-M also starring in commercials for Chinese mobile phones branded OPPO. They also star in a new commercial show for Pepsi and endorse Chinese clothing line Semir, reflecting their huge popularity in the Chinese region.
On 20 February 2010, Super Junior was named as Taiwan's tourism ambassador. While, On July 2010, Super Junior's Choi Siwon was appointed as UNICEF Envoy. Acer Computer Co., Ltd. a leading market position in computer Thailand also present Siwon as a new presenter for Acer product. On March 3, 2011, Super Junior has been appointed by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Korea as the 2011 Honorary Korean Ambassador Foods to promote Korean cuisine all over the world. Recently, The Hong Kong Tourism Board has officially invited Super Junior to host a travel show promoting Hong Kong. Earlier this year, Super Junior was chosen as the CF model for Japan's famous convenience store company, Circle K Sunkus. Starting on May 16, the song will be shown on major Japanese TV channels as the commercial song for Japanese convenience store chain Circle K Sunkus. On 17 June 2011, Super Junior chosen as the ambassador of Seoul Summer Sale 2011.
Influence and impact
During the course of Super Junior's career, several pop groups were formed similarly extraordinary numbers of members. JYP Entertainment recruited thirteen boys to be in a boy band, who were all revealed in the show, Hot Blood Men. Of these thirteen, eleven were split into two groups that debuted at different times: 2AM, which has four members, and 2PM, which has seven. Together, the two groups form the eleven-member boy band One Day. Ast'1, a boy band under DSP Entertainment, released a promotional video in March 2008. In the short preview the boy band expressed that they would "Knock Down Super Junior",which resulted in a lot of criticism lashed into the group. However, they clarified that they had no means to create conflict, and explained the reason why they want to defeat Super Junior is because they see Super Junior as their answer of success.
Controversies
Expansion to China
After the subgroups Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Junior-T, on October 2, 2007, SM Entertainment announced the birth of another Super Junior sub-unit project that would begin activities in China starting 2008. Zhou Mi and SM Entertainment's new Chinese-Canadian trainee Henry Lau, who was also featured in the music video of "Don't Don", were also members of the subgroup.
The announcement brought in a huge wave of dissatisfaction and opposition from fans of Super Junior after the announcement of two new members. Initially, fans were planning to boycott the company's products, however, most fans agreed on a silent protest instead. Thousands of fans from Super Junior's official fanclub E.L.F. silently sat in front of the SM building and held signs that supported the group to have only thirteen members.
After more rumors regarding adding a Chinese member to the subgroup, the fans decided to gain a legal representation as part of SM Entertainment's stockholders. As of March 20, 2008, Super Junior fans purchased 58,206 stocks of SM Entertainment, holding 0.3% of the company's entire stock. They released a statement that they will obtain all chances to prevent SM Entertainment from adding new members and to keep Super Junior as only thirteen.
Conflict with MBC
For more details on this topic, see Kangin.
A time-slot dispute occurred between SM Entertainment and MBC when SM insisted to have Kangin stay on SBS's Explorers of the Human Body instead of MBC's Sunday Night Dong-An Club (동안클럽) where Kangin has been a regular host. MBC temporarily banned the rest of Super Junior from appearing in any future performances and shows hosted by MBC. Kangin also lost his MC jobs to T.O.P. of Big Bang for the music show, Show! Music Core and also two more variety shows, which both soon canceled after Kangin left due to low ratings. MBC demanded an apology from SM Entertainment in order for Super Junior to appear on shows hosted by the channel again. However, MBC concluded that Super Junior's ban was never official, but just a decision for shows' producers to decide.
Han Geng's lawsuit
For more details on this topic, see Han Geng.
On December 21, 2009, Han Geng filed for contract termination with SM Entertainment, label company of the group. The following day, Han Geng's lawyer stated the claimed reasons behind the action: provisions were in SM Entertainment's favour, unlawful 13-year contract length, unfair sum of money to end the contract, not allowed to request to revise his contract, forced to do things that were not in his contract, forced to do things against his will, fined if he disobeyed the company, missed any events or even was late, and there was uneven profit distribution. Along with this, it was disclosed that because of SM Entertainment's refusal to give him a day off in over two years, he had developed gastritis and kidney disease.
Han Geng's current manager, Sun Le, also submitted a statement to the court of South Korea citing SM Entertainment's violation of Han Geng's rights. Sun Le's statement contended that: Han Geng was forced to wear a mask due to company's ill handling of the visa issue, company purposely discriminated against Han Geng and his family, company refused to cooperate or listen to any of Han Geng's suggestions, company purposely turned down individual activities for Han Geng (including Ariel Lin's "Fireflies" music video, which later starred Siwon and Donghae) and that the company treated Han Geng's potential endorsers poorly.
On December 21, 2010, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Han Geng. The court stated, “All three contracts – from the January 2003 contract, the altered contract from February 2007, and the affiliated contract from December 2007 – do not exist.” A representative of SM Entertainment said that they will file an immediate appeal to reverse the decision. and have yet to release official statements regarding his status.
Conflict during Expo 2010
On May 26, 2010, organized by South Korea Pavilion of Expo 2010, many Korean pop stars including Super Junior were invited to the "South Korean classical and pop concert" which was planned to be launched at Expo Cultural Centre on May 30. As the tickets were not for sale to the public, visitors who want to enjoy the show could only exchange the ticket via expo ticket in the west door of the Expo Cultural Centre on May 30. The total ticket number is 5000, while 2500 of which would be assigned to Korea visitors for free which caused the actual available number to be 2500. Super Junior fans collected in the entry of the Expo Cultural Centre, and the strong emotion led to the occurrence of violence, resulting in casualties. A local armed police said that this is his first time to see such a “crazy” situation in Expo 2010 since the Expo park was opened.
