Just sharing my blessings

Girl's Generation going 'Gee'

Girls' Generation is a South Korean nine-member girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2007. Its members include (in order of official announcement) Yoona, Tiffany, Yuri, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Taeyeon (the leader) , Jessica, and Sunny. International Girls' Generation fans usually refer to the group as SNSD, the acronym of the group's Korean name So Nyeo Shi Dae.

History

Pre-debut

Each member was professionally trained in singing and dancing, but some 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. Before their debut, there were rumours that the group were going to be called "Super Girls", after their male counterpart, Super Junior.

2007: Debut and first album

In July 2007, Girls' Generation had their first performance on M.net M! Countdown. Although this performance was never broadcast on television, many videos were shot by fans and uploaded onto the internet. 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.

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 renamed as 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 (literally Popular Songs), 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 12th in the year-end charts.^[1] 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 megazine "Elle". The program began airing in early October.^[2] 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.^[3] 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,^[4] topping Cyworld's hourly music chart on the release day.^[5] The song also went #1 on all major digital music charts within two days.^[6]

The group began its album promotion on January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core.^[7] 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 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.^[8]

"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".^[9][10] They also broke the record on KBS's music show Music Bank by being #1 for 9 consecutive weeks,^[11] previously set by Jewelry's "One More Time, which had 7 wins.^[12] 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.

"Gee" was a hit in Thailand as well, holding the number one position on the International Chart for six weeks straight. The girls were able to perform it at the Pattaya International Musical Festival, along with "Into the New World" and "Kissing You".

On April 14, 2009, Girls' Generation released a digital single called "Hahaha" (Korean: "하하하 쏭~"), which was produced by Samsung for their "Hahaha" campaign. The song was created with the intention of lifting people's spirits up during hard economic times.

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.^[13][14] The mini-album includes a duet between Jessica and Shinee member Onew called "One Year Later".^[15]

On May 3, 2009. Girls Generation was starred in their new reality show "SNSD Horror Movie factory". The premier episode received a viewership rating of 3.3%. The reality show was then cancelled after 6 episodes due to low ratings. ^[16]

On June 26, 2009, Girls' Generation's comeback performance was recorded on KBS's Music Bank.^[15] 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 "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" was obtained at the July 10, 2009 episode of KBS Music Bank, having set the record of the most points in Music Bank history with 17,995 points, beating their seniors TVXQ who got 16,404 for 'Mirotic' last year. Their second award was claimed at the July 12, 2009 episode of SBS Inkigayo. The group finished promotions for "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" in August 2009.

Currently, the members are carrying on with their solo activities, but SM has revealed that overseas plans are being organized for the group.

Controversy

During the Dream Concert held on June 7, 2008 in South Korea, a silent protest was held against Girls' Generation by various other fan groups, notably E.L.F (Super Junior), Cassiopeia (TVXQ), and Triple S (SS501).^[17]

Additionally, after the cover was released for their second EP Genie, there was controversy over some images used on the cover, including a fighter jet purported to be a World War II Japanese kamikaze fighter jet, as well as a badge that resembled the Nazi swastika (Luftwaffe) and two missiles. Due to the misunderstanding, SM Entertainment delayed the EP until June 29 so that the covers could be redone.^[18]

Member profiles

Taeyeon

Further information: Taeyeon

• Birth name: Kim Taeyeon (Hangul: 김태연 Hanja: 金泰妍)
• Date of birth: March 9, 1989 (1989-03-09) (age 20)

Jessica

• Birth/English name: Jessica Jung
• Korean name: Jung Sooyeon (Hangul: 정수연 Hanja: 郑秀妍)
• Date of birth: April 18, 1989 (1989-04-18) (age 20)

Jessica was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She released two singles with SeoHyun and Tiffany: "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: 오빠 나빠), and "Mabinogi (It's Fantastic!)". She starred in Kim Jo-han's music video "Love is Late, I'm Sorry" and is featured in 8Eight's song, "I Love You". In their second mini-album Genie, she duets with Shinee's leader Onew in the track "One Year Later" (Korean: 1년 後). Jessica and Park Myeong-su (Korean: 박명수) released a duet song for Infinity Challenge called, "NaengMyun" (Korean: 냉면). Her younger sister, Krystal, is a member of F(x), a band under SM Entertainment as well.

Sunny

• Stage name: Sunny (Hangul: 써니 Hanja: 珊妮)
• Birth name: Lee Soonkyu (Hangul: 이순규; Hanja: 李順圭)
• Date of birth: May 15, 1989 (1989-05-15) (age 20)

Sunny was a trainee under a different entertainment company before she transferred into SM Entertainment. After several months of training under SM Entertainment in 2007, Sunny debuted as a member of Girls' Generation that same year. She was a co-DJ of ChunJi (Korean: 천방지축 라디오, literally Reckless Radio), along with Sungmin (Korean: 성민), of Super Junior until the broadcast ended on the July 30, 2008. Sunny appeared in Super Junior-H's music video for "Cooking? Cooking!". Sunny also sang the song "Finally Now" (Korean: 이제서야), on the soundtrack for the movie Story of Wine. She also co-hosts a music show called The M with SS501's Hyungjoon. She is also the niece of Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM Entertainment.

Tiffany

• Stage name: Tiffany (Hangul: 티파니; Hanja: 蒂芬妮)
• Birth/English name: Stephanie Hwang
• Korean name: Hwang Miyoung (Hangul: 황미영; Hanja: 黄美英)
• Date of birth: August 1, 1989 (1989-08-01) (age 20)

Born in San Francisco, California but raised in Diamond Bar, California, she was discovered in the SM Starlight Casting System 2004 in Los Angeles. Along with SeoHyun and Jessica, she released a single, "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: 오빠 나빠) and "Mabinogi [It's Fantastic!]". She was the co-host of Sonyeo Sonyeon Gayo Baekso (Korean: 소년소녀 가요백서), along with Kim Hyesung from November 5, 2007 to June 13, 2008. She sang the OST from Ja Myung Go "By Myself" (Korean: 나 혼자서), a duet with K.Will called "A Girl, Meets Love", as well as "Feeling Only You" by The Blue (Kim Min-Jong & Son Ji Chang) with Soo Young. Tiffany and Yuri currently host MBC's Music Core.

Hyoyeon

• Birth name: Kim Hyoyeon (Hangul: 김효연; Hanja: 金孝淵)
• Date of birth: September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) (age 19)

She was BoA's silhouette during a dance break in BoA's "Over the Top" performance at the MKMF Awards in 2005. Hyoyeon attended a hip hop dance school that specialized in waving, popping, locking, and animation.

Yuri

• Birth name: Kwon Yuri (Hangul: 권유리; Hanja: 权侑利)
• Date of birth: December 5, 1989 (1989-12-05) (age 19)

Yuri joined the label when she took 1st place in the 2001 1st SM Youth Best Dancer Contest. She appeared in TVXQ's "Beautiful Life" music video and had a small role as a ballerina in Super Junior's movie, Attack on the Pin-Up Boys. She also had a small role in a television segment, "The King's Boyfriend", which was part of the 2005–2006 KMTV Super Junior documentary, Super Junior Show. Yuri also played a part in the sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (Korean: 못말리는 결혼), alongside Sooyoung. Yuri is also the centerpiece of K. Will's music video "Dropping the Tears" (Korean: 눈물이 뚝뚝), and appears in the music video for "JjaRaJaJja" (Korean: 짜라자짜) by Joo Hyun-Mi & SeoHyun (ft. Davichi). Apart from all her solo works, she is currently the co-host of Korean music program Music Core on MBC alongside Tiffany.

Sooyoung

• Birth name: Choi Sooyoung (Hangul: 최수영; Hanja: 崔秀英)
• Date of birth: February 10, 1990 (1990-02-10) (age 19)

Before Sooyoung's audition to Girls' Generation, she made a brief debut in Japan as a singer in the group called "Route φ". She first debuted with Marina Takahashi with the song "Start". She was previously a DJ of ChunJi (Korean: 천방지축 라디오, literally Reckless Radio), along with Sungmin of Super Junior but was soon replaced by Sunny due to schedule conflicts. Sooyoung also played a part in the sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (Korean: 못말리는 결혼), alongside Yuri and was also in a movie with Kang-in of Super Junior and actress Lee Yeon-hee. Currently, she hosts MBC TV program Fantastic Duo (Korean: 환상의 짝꿍). She also featured in "Feeling Only You" by The Blue (Kim Min-Jong & Son Ji Chang) with Tiffany.

Yoona

Further information: Im Yoona

• Birth name: Im Yoona (Hangul: 임윤아; Hanja: 林允儿)
• Date of birth: May 30, 1990 (1990-05-30) (age 19)

She was the first member to join the group. She made her debut as an actress in the 2007 Korean drama, 9 Ends 2 Outs.

Seohyun

• Stage name: SeoHyun (Hangul: 서현; Hanja: 徐贤)
• Birth name: Seo Juhyun (Hangul: 서주현; Hanja: 徐珠贤)
• Date of birth: June 28, 1991 (1991-06-28) (age 18)

She was a 2004 SMART uniform model with TVXQ. Along with Jessica and Tiffany, they released a single "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: 오빠 나빠), and "Mabinogi (It's Fantastic!)". On February 17, 2009, her duet with trot singer Joo Hyun-Mi (Korean: 주현미), was digitally released, called "JjaRaJaJja" (Korean: 짜라자짜).

Discography

Main article: Girls' Generation discography

Into the New World (다시 만난 세계)

• Released: August 2, 2007
• Format: CD
• Label: Seoul Records
• Producer: SM Entertainment
• Tracks: 4
• Singles: "Into the New World (다시 만난 세계)"

Girls' Generation (Re-released as Baby Baby)

• Released: November 1, 2007
• Format: CD
• Label: Seoul Records
• Producer: SM Entertainment
• Tracks: 11 (14 in re-release)
• Singles: "Girls' Generation", "Kissing You", "Baby Baby"

The First Mini Album — Gee

• Released: January 7, 2009
• Format: CD, digital
• Label: Seoul Records
• Producer: SM Entertainment
• Tracks: 5
• Singles: "Gee"

The Second Mini Album — Tell Me Your Wish

• Released: June 29, 2009
• Format: CD, digital
• Label: Seoul Records
• Producer: SM Entertainment
• Tracks: 6
• Singles: "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)"

Compilations

• November 23, 2007: SBS Drama Thirty Thousand Miles in Search of My Son OST
  • Track 1, "Touch the Sky"
• December 7, 2007: 2007 WINTER SMTOWN
  • Track 7, "Love Melody"
• January 22, 2008: KBS Drama Hong Gil Dong (TV series) OST
  • Track 2, "만약에 (Manyage / If)" : Taeyeon Solo
  • Track 5, "작은 배 (Jageun Bae / The Little Boat)"
• August 8, 2008: SBS Drama Working Mom OST
  • Track 1, "꼭 (Ggok / For Sure)" : Yuri & Sooyoung Duet
  • Track 2, "사랑을 몰라요 (Sarang-eul Mollayo / You don't Know about Love)" : Sunny Solo
• September 17, 2008: MBC Drama Beethoven Virus OST
  • Track 7, "들리나요... (Deullinayo / Can You Hear Me...?)" : Taeyeon Solo
  • Track 13, "Day by Day"
• November 15, 2008: IPTV Movie Story of Wine OST
  • "이제서야 (Ijeseoya / Forever Now)" : Sunny Solo
• March 25, 2009: SBS Drama Ja Myung Go OST
  • Track "나 혼자서 (By Myself)" : Tiffany Solo

Reality TV Shows

Year	Channel	Title	Episode(s)
2007	M.net	Girls' Generation Goes to School	9
2007	MTV	SNSD	10
2008~2009	M.net	Factory Girl	10
2009	MBC	Girls' Generation's Horror Movie Factory	6 Cancelled due to low ratings.
2009	KBS	Girls' Generation's Hello Baby	Still airing
2009	MBC	Girls' Generation's Himnae-ra Him	Discontinued due to schedule conflicts.

Awards

Years	Awards
2007	2007 M.net Golden Disk Awards: Anycall Newbie Award on December 13 2007 M.net Golden Disk Awards: Anycall Popularity Award on December 13
2008	17th Seoul Music Awards: High1 Music Award on January 31 17 Seoul Music Awards: Best New Artist Award on January 31

Super Junior going Super Good on their New Hits

Super Junior , often referred to as SJ or SuJu is a boy band from Seoul, South Korea formed by SM Entertainment in 2005. With a total of thirteen members, they are the largest boy band in the world.^[1] The group consists of Leeteuk (the leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kang-in, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum, and later, Kyuhyun. The Chinese member, Han Geng, was chosen from three thousand applicants, via auditions held in China by SM Entertainment in 2001.

Super Junior has released and contributed in 19 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 four music awards from the M.NET/KM Music Festival, another four from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003.

Musical history

Pre-debut

Since the late 1990s, Korean talent agency and record label SM Entertainment has been holding annual auditions to scout new talents that complemented the success of pop groups H.O.T, S.E.S, and Shinhwa, all of which were created by SM founder Lee Soo-man in the mid 1990s. Leeteuk and Eunhyuk were the first two members of the group to be recruited in 2000 under SM's Starlight Casting System in Seoul.

In 2001, the company held their first oversea casting auditions and discovered Han Geng in Beijing, who was chosen among three thousand applicants.^[2] That same year, Yesung was discovered under Seoul's casting system; Sungmin and Donghae were also selected to be trainees after their appearance in an SM-sponsored contest. In 2002, Heechul and Kangin was recruited along with Kibum, who was discovered in Los Angeles. Siwon was casted in 2003 and Ryeowook in 2004, in which the latter was discovered through the Chinchin Youth Festival singing competition. ^[5] In 2005, Shindong was selected.

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."^[6] 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.^[7][8][9] 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."^[10][a] 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.^[10] 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.^[5]

Super Junior 05 made their pre-debut on the Korean channel Mnet on September 11, 2005.^[b] 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 Songs 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.^[11][c] 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.^[11]

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.^[12] 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".^[13][14]

2006–2007: 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 thousand downloads within five hours of release and it ultimately exceeded 1.7 million downloads, crashing the server.^[15][16] The physical single of "U" with a total of three tracks was released on June 6, 2006, eventually selling over 81,000 units.^[17] 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.^[18] 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.^[19] A second sub-unit arrived in February 2007 called Super Junior-T. The trot-singing group released their first single "Rokuko" in February 23, 2007 and made a debut performance on Popular Songs two days later.^[20]

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.^[21][22] 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.^[23] 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.^[24][25][c] 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.^[26][27]

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.^[28] Super Junior collected two more awards on December 14, 2007 at the 2007 Golden Disk Awards.^[29] 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.^[29]

2008–present: Beyond Korea

On October 2, 2007, SM Entertainment announced a third Super Junior sub-unit Super Junior-M, a subgroup designated for the Chinese market.^[30][31] While the creation of the subgroup created a brief controversy between the fans and the management,^[e] Super Junior-M became a phenomenal success in China^[32], having the opportunity to have two sold-out concerts in Hong Kong,^[33] top weekly ratings with their appearance on variety programs,^[34], and becoming the idol group with the most endorsement contracts in China.^[35] 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.^[36] "ROCK&GO", a Japanese-language version of "Rokuko", debuted at #19 on the Oricon Daily Charts^[37] and jumped to #2 three days later.^[38]

Super Junior's first major tour, Super Show, commenced on February 22, 2008 in Seoul.^{[39][40][41][f]} The tour covered three countries and had shows on six different cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, and Beijing.^[31][40][42] 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.^[43] 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.^[44] 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.^[4] They are the third SM artist to win Favorite Artist Korea at the MTV Asia Awards after Kangta and BoA, and the second musical group to win the award after JTL in 2003.^[4]

Super Junior's third album, Sorry, Sorry, was released on March 12, 2009 with acclaimed reviews.^[45] The title single of the album, "Sorry, Sorry" was digitally released on March 9, 2009.^[46] In less than a week after preorders were announced, over 150,000 copies were pre-ordered.^[47] 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.^[48] Promotions for the album started March 13 with the performance of "Sorry, Sorry" and "Why I Like You" on Music Bank.^[49] Two weeks later, "Sorry, Sorry" became the number one song of the week on the same program.^[50] 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.^[51] 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.^[52][53] Sorry, Sorry was met with critical success in other Asian countries, opting the group to become the only overseas representative for the second time at Taiwan's annual Golden Melody Awards.

Notable events

April 19 car accident

On April 19, 2007 at 12:20 am KST,^[54] four members of Super Junior (Shindong, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun and Leeteuk) and two of the group's managers were involved in a car accident. The driver lost control of the vehicle and the van flipped over on its right side, colliding with the sidewalk.^[55]

Kyuhyun, who was sitting behind the driver's seat when the accident occurred, was severely injured with a fractured hip, pneumothorax from broken ribs, and deep scratches and bruises.^[54][56] Kyuhyun also kept slipping in and out of consciousness for the next few days after the accident occurred. Leeteuk had severe scratches on his back and face, and had to receive stitches. He had a successful operation removing the glass shards on his back, and received a total of 170 stitches on both his back and face.^[57][58]

Shindong and Eunhyuk, the least injured with only a few cuts, scratches, and bruises, were both discharged on April 23, 2007.^[59] Leeteuk and Kyuhyun recovered faster than expected,^[60] and Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007.^[61] Kyuhyun was discharged two months later on July 5, 2007.

Artistry

Musical style

See also: Super Junior discography

Further information: List of Super Junior covers

As a whole, Super Junior has released three studio albums and one official single, including contributions of songs in the soundtracks of H.I.T and Attack on the Pin-Up Boys. They are acclaimed for their vocal harmonization and unison as each member contributes a different voice range in their music.^[62] Some members are credited for their vocal belting techniques, notably Yesung.^[g][63] Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Sungmin, Donghae, and Ryeowook sing within the stretch of a high baritone range to the tenor range, while Kang-in and Siwon sing in a lower baritone range. Shindong's, Kibum's, and Kyuhyun's vocals lie in the bass range. Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Kibum are also the known rappers of the group due to their rhythmic vocals and quick tongue. Heechul and Donghae consistently rap as the supporting vocals.^[h]

Super Junior's music mainly fall into the category of mainstream Korean pop. Songs of this genre are usually mixed with different branches of electronic instruments, with heavy emphasis on urban contemporary, dance pop, and rap. Super Junior has been notable for their light, bubblegum pop dance mixes, such as "Miracle", "Dancing Out", and "Full of Happiness", although a majority of their promotional singles incorporate mature music and lyrics. Don't Don's first promotional single "Don't Don" includes a balanced infusion of rock, R&B, and rap, along with other musical elements like the electric guitar, bass, and other different percussion instruments, adding to a mixed genre labeled as SMP.^[64] Classical instruments are also woven into their music, such as the violin in "Don't Don" and the African djemba and Indian tabla in "A Man In Love."^[65] They have also released songs that are solely focused on rap and hip hop. An example is "One Love", a song that Eunhyuk wrote for their first concert.

Super Junior has covered quite a few song 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 instruments. 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".

Heechul, Shindong, and Eunhyuk are credited for their rap lyrics in their co-single with TVXQ, "Show Me Your Love". Eunhyuk is also the main contributor for the rap lyrics in the group's single, "U" and as well as the majority of the rap lyrics for Super Junior's later albums. After the release of their second album, more members began to contribute in writing. Leeteuk, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, and Donghae wrote the lyrics to the pop track, "I am," a song talking about the ordinary man in a celebrity's life.^[5] Ryeowook also composed and co-wrote the lyrics with Sungmin to "Love U More", a track released on their 3rd album's repackage.^[5]

Dance style

Super Junior are known for doing performances that are heavily centered around their choreography. The group's pre-debut was a hip hop dance performance and they have also joined B-boy battles and performances throughout their career.^[66]

Their dance styles are widely termed as street dancing, with a majority of their dance choreography containing hip hop dance moves such as popping, waving, sliding, and liquid dancing. Most of their songs usually contain a music bridge where two to six members from the group do a dance performance. Han Geng, Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Donghae are reportedly the most skilled dancers of the group, where the four of them are usually seen leading group dances and also performing solos.^[67] Dances in the form of martial arts are widely used in their dance routines as both Han Geng and Sungmin are professionally trained in that area.^[67][68] Some of the members also participated in creating their dance choreography, such as Shindong who was the main choreographer for "U" and for most of the group's other dance sequences. The members were also responsible for the dance choreography of "Don't Don." Super Junior's dance for "Sorry Sorry" was widely acknowledged, and just like the the album itself, the dance seemed mature and suave.

Image

Super Junior are best known to be a youthful, energetic, and humorous group.^[69] The group, however, is also known for having many different fabricated images with each new musical release. Super Junior's debut image softly leaned towards a rock appearance to complement the rap/rock "TWINS (Knock Out)." During their promotion of "Miracle," many of the members displayed a youthful and cute image with their lighter hair color and cute dance style. The group soon transitioned to a more mature, preppy style with "U", where the members changed their hair to a darker color and wore darker, more flamboyant outfits.

For the release of Don't Don, the group surprised the media with an edgy transformation.^[70] Their outfits became more revealing and many members bleached their hair, wore dark makeup, and had temporary tattoos. Kang-in had a hairstyle that was a buzz cut with scratched designs, Leeteuk's and Sungmin's hair were bleached blond and half shaved, while Heechul, Han Geng, and Kyuhyun sported with bright-colored hairstyles, which were all inspired by punk fashion and modifications of hip hop fashion.^[71]

For Super Junior's 3rd album, Sorry Sorry, the group showed their mature and suave side. Their image were more natural and manly - which fitted the whole concept of their third album.

Criticism

Super Junior has been criticized in the past for lip-synching and lack of vocal skills specifically for shaky pitch and heavy breathing,^[72][73] The criticisms worsened in July 2006 when they lipsynched on Show! Music Core of MBC, a show that guarantees all live performances. Though fans have defended them saying that Heechul was ill, their critics do not accept this explanation. They argue that since the band contains thirteen members, one singer should not necessitate lipsynching by the entire group.^[74] Despite this, they have still remained popular through their large fan base and their album sales have been strong. To lighten the criticism, Super Junior's first performance of "Don't Don," the lead single off the group's second album, was live and not lipsynched.^[75] Out of the thirty-six songs that were performed at the group's first live concert tour, Super Show, only six songs were lipsynched, a feat that earned positive reviews.^[76] Some members have also been performing a cappella versions of their songs.^[i]

Discography

Further information: Super Junior discography

Extended plays

• 2007: U (Special Taiwan release)

Tours

• 2007: 2007 SMTOWN Summer Concert
• 2008: The 1st ASIA TOUR, Super Show
• 2008: SMTOWN Live '08
• 2009: The 2nd ASIA TOUR, Super Show 2
• 2009: SMTOWN Live '09

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,^[77] 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.^[78] 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 rock and hip hop.^[79] Previous Super Junior subgroups will also return to the industry along with appearances of new subgroups. ^[79]

Super Junior-K.R.Y

Super Junior-K.R.Y, established in November 2006, is a trio formed by Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung. The company discovered that these three members developed a particular persona 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-K.R.Y are credited to singing mournful, R&B-style ballads, a style that has proven very popular in recent years although stagnation in the style's development is causing it to lose its once fresh evocative power.

Super Junior-K.R.Y's first official performance was on November 5, 2006 on KBS's Music Bank, performing "The One I Love (한 사람만을)."^[80] 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-K.R.Y has not officially released a single or album, and only participated in collaboration albums and original soundtracks. However, a new album is expected from K.R.Y in the future.^[79]

Super Junior-T

Main article: Super Junior-T

Super Junior-M

Main article: Super Junior-M

Super Junior-Happy

Main article: Super Junior-Happy

Film and television career

Further information: Super Junior filmography

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. Kang-in 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 and Kang-in 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 Kang-in had his first major television role in Romance Zero as Na Ho-tae in 2009.

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, Kang-in, and Shindong lent their voices to the three chipmunks in the Korean release of Alvin and the Chipmunks.^[81] In 2008, Kang-in had a major role in the Korean-language film, Hello Schoolgirl.^[82]

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.^[83][84] 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.

Despite numerous appearances as television actors, Super Junior are still best known for their reality shows, having participated in popular comedic reality shows such as Super Junior Show (2005–2006), Super Junior Full House (2006), Super Adonis Camp (2006), and Explorers of the Human Body (2007–2008). In contrast, the group released a horror documentary, Mystery 6 in early 2006 that tells a story of a ghost. The members also starred in various music videos of artists under SM Entertainment. The most notable performance was in Zhang Liyin's debut music drama video, "Timeless" (2006), featuring Han Geng and Siwon.

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. Leeteuk, Kang-in, 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. Kyuhyun, who was recovering from a car accident during the first half of the show's filming, joined the show in the later episodes.^[85] 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.^[86]

Attack on the Pin-Up Boys

Main article: 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.^[87] "Wonder Boy", performed by Super Junior, is used as the theme song of the film.^[87] Although the film was promoted as a typical high school comedy, the movie gained positive reviews from critics^{[citation needed]}, 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.^[88] 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.^[89] 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.^[89]

Influence and impact

Super Junior is credited as literally the biggest boy band in the world and the largest group SM Entertainment has ever created.^[1] During the course of Super Junior's career, several pop groups were formed with similarly extraordinary numbers of members. JYP Entertainment also 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.^[90] 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",^[91] 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.^[92]

Endorsements

Super Junior and their individual members first began endorsing for various fashion lines in early 2006, notably for Ivy Club (2006–2007) and Spris (2006–2007). With their high popularity in Thailand, Siwon was contracted to be the main endorser for 12 Plus and began endorsing its products since 2007 with interchangeable Super Junior members. The group are also known for their string of humorous commercials for Thailand's Yamaha Fino along wih 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.^[93] Most recently in 2009, Super Junior have filmed CFs for brands such as Kyochon Chicken, Star Snacks and Happy Bubble.

Controversies

Super Junior China

For more details on this topic, see Super Junior-M.

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. Along with Han Geng, SM Entertainment's new Chinese trainee Henry Lau, who was also featured in the music video of "Don't Don", was said to be one of the core members for the subgroup.^[94]

The announcement brought in a huge wave of dissatisfaction and opposition from fans of Super Junior after the announcement of a new member. 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.^[95]

After more rumors regarding adding an extra 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.^[96] 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.^[96]

MBC vs. SM

For more details on this topic, see Kang-in.

A time-slot dispute occurred between SM Entertainment and MBC when SM insisted to have Kang-in stay on SBS's Explorers of the Human Body instead of MBC's Sunday Night Dong-An Club (동안클럽) where Kang-in has been a regular host. MBC temporarily banned the rest of Super Junior from appearing in any future performances and shows hosted by MBC.^[97] Kang-in 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 Kang-in left.^[98] 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.^[99]