[ARTICLE] Dara, Bom, CL & More Girl Group Members From Abroad Thrive in K-Pop

Dara, Bom, CL & More Girl Group Members From Abroad Thrive in K-PopAs K-Pop goes global at furious speed, who are the girl group members that are thriving in this fast changing industry?

The recently unveiled T-ara member Dani grew up in America since she was four years old. She’s tall and beautiful and it’s hard to imagine she’s still only a kid. Some netizens have said, “She’s probably 15 years old since she lived in America”, and they couldn’t hide their amazement at how mature Dani looks. She is the latest addition to the girl group members to come from abroad.

In the ‘National Girl Group’ Girls’ Generation there are members Jessica and Tiffany who are from abroad. It isn’t that these girls have American names for style, but these two were actually born and raised in America. Their impact on the team was deeply appreciated when Girls’ Generation officially kicked off their international promotion and the two members were able to lead series of interviews in fluent English.

In Wonder Girls there are members Yubin and Hyerim. Yubin joined the group to replace an outgoing member and she had made a strong impression with her rapping skills in English. Hyerim goes a notch further with her ability to speak Korean, English, Mandarin, and Cantonese fluently.

Group Kara has members Nicole and Han Seung Yeon who’ve lived abroad. Nicole was born in America and early on as a member of Kara she was loved by the viewers of KBS ‘Golden Bell’ for her cute Korean pronunciation. She contributed in a big way to increase the popularity of Kara in Korea.

2NE1 is another group with many members who’ve come from abroad. Out of the 4 members CL, Park Bom, and Sandara Park have lived outside of Korea. Sandara Park was famously known as ‘Boa of Philippines’ before she debuted and CL speaks English, French, and Japanese fluently. CL is always leading the interviews when the group is promoting abroad.

Lastly, f(x) has three members from abroad. Krystal and Amber were born in America and Victoria is a Chinese national. Combined, f(x) members can speak Korean, English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

In a recent broadcast of KBS ‘Win Win’ Boa has mentioned how difficult it was to learn English and Japanese so she could promote internationally. As K-Pop goes global it is only natural that K-Pop groups are made of members of diverse background and having international members can become a big advantage as these groups branch out internationally.

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Source: Nate via kpopfever
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[ARTICLE] Top Girl Group Rankings Based on Fan Club Membership – 2NE1 at #3

Which girl group has the most fan club members?

Recently, a ranking of the most popular girl groups was conducted using the total numbers of fan café members according to Internet portal site “Daum.” The group which came out on top was none other than SM Entertainment’s Girls’ Generation. Girls’ Generation had a whopping number of 284,600 members in their official fan café.

Girls’ Generation and the Wonder Girls have been in polite competition all year. Thus it would come as no surprise to fans that second place was awarded to the Wonder Girls. The Wonder Girls have demonstrated, like Girls’ Generation, that they are one of the ultimate girl groups in South Korea with close to 100,000 members. It is particularly impressive since the Wonder Girls’ activities have been concentrated on the United States and China as of late.

Third place was crowned to the ladies of 2NE1. 2NE1 was similar to the Wonder Girls in the case that their fan café had 90,000 or so members. Considering the fact that 2NE1 debuted in late 2009 their fan base has grown close to 100,000 people in over the span of three short years. Compared to say Girls’ Generation and the Wonder Girls who made their debut back in 2007.

Next was f(x) who took fourth place with 60,500 fans, fifth belonged to KARA with 50,300 members, Brown Eyed Girls ranked in sixth place with a total of 40,200 fans. Both 4minute and miss A were tied for seventh place with 30,200 members.

Most noticeable among the top 10 were the youngest girl group A Pink.  Even though A Pink has been around for just a little over a year the girls still were able to pull in impressive numbers for their fan café. The total members of A Pink’s café were close to 30,000. They were able to gather fans the fastest and thus deserve particular attention. A Pink’s recently released comeback album has led to an apparent rise in popularity.

T-ara was excluded from the fan café ranking due to an error. But under normal conditions fans can be assured that they would rank very high on the list. Lastly, After School rounded out the top ten ranking in at the tenth spot with 20,000 members.

Credit: Soompi

[ARTICLE] 2NE1, BigBang, Wonder Girls, BEAST, and T-ara Plan to Make a Comeback During the Summer

Be prepared for an exciting summer, because all the big groups are planning on making a comeback during the summer. So far, the big groups include Big Bang, Wonder Girls, 2NE1, BEAST, and T-ara.

Big Bang and Wonder Girls will be both making a comeback on June 3.2NE1, BEAST, and T-ara are planning on coming back some time during late June and early July.

This news already has caught the attention of all major music companies since these groups usually take the top spot on music charts. These companies are now trying to gain more information on the concept and style of these groups’ new album.

2NE1 is planning on coming back in mid-June. During their last comeback, five songs from their album, “Don’t Cry” (Park Bom’s solo), “Lonely,” “I am the Best,“ “Hate You,” and “Ugly” took the top spots on the music chart right after they were released. Thus, there is a high possiblity that their upcoming comeback is going to give successful results.

BEAST, a group that is now one of the major idol groups in Korea, is planning on making a comeback in late June. One of their hit songs in their last album called, “On Rainy Days,” stayed on the top spot for a long time along with their other dance and ballad songs in the album.

Following BEAST and 2NE1 will be T-ara. T-ara is planning on coming back on July 7. Their last comeback consisted of the release of “Roly Poly” which is the song that was sold the most in 2011. They also released another hit song called, “Lovey Dovey” earlier this year. It has been announced that Jonte Monani, the person who created the choreography of “Single Ladies” by Beyonce, contributed to the making of the choreography of T-ara’s new song called “Day By Day.” In addition, T-ara now has eight members with a recent addition of the eighth member.

A representative from a music company commented, “In early June, Big Bang and Wonder Girls will be making their comebacks. In mid-June, 2NE1 is planning on making their comeback. In late June, BEAST is planning on making their comeback. In early July, T-ara is planning on making a comeback. With all these huge back-to-back comebacks during the summer, it will be definitely harder for the new idol groups to make their comebacks during the summer.”

Credit: Soompi

[ARTICLE] Dara Ranks First In Arirang TV’s Survey “Which Star Has The Best Appearance”

Arirang TV is broadcasted in 188 countries all over the world. Last month, they conducted a survey with 699 Hallyu fans, and the results from the said survey revealed were interesting.

On the survey question of “Which girl group song do you want to dance the most to?” SNSD’s “The Boys” was the top choice, with 21% of the boys, followed by 2NE1′s “I Am The Best” with 19.5%. Broken down into continents, in Asia, “The Boys” was on top with 23.7% of the votes, while “I Am The Best” got 19% of the votes; however, in North and Latin America there was a slight difference, as “I Am The Best” was on top. In Europe also, “I Am The Best” got 23% of the votes, while “The Boys” got 12%.

The question about looks also garnered different results in the different continents. When asked which star had the best appearance, 2NE1 member, Sandara Park, ranked as number 1, with 24.5% of the votes, while Super Junior member, Lee Teuk, came in second, with 22.2% of the votes. Asia and Europe had the same results, with Sandara Park on top, but in North and Latin America, Lee Teuk came out as the top star, with 23.7% of the votes.

For the “Female Hallyu star with the most perfect body” survey question, 4Minute member HyunA got the most votes with 13.9%, followed by SNSD’s Yuri, and After School’s UEE. In Asia however, UEE and Yuri both got number 1, followed by Yuri, and actress Shin Min Ah was also voted on top. In Europe, HyunA, Yuri, and Sistar member, Hyorin, ranked respectively. On the other hand, for North and Latin America, the female Hallyu Star with the best body was 2NE1′s Park Bom, followed by Sistar’s Hyorin, and SNSD’s Yuri.

So basically, it’s:

<The world’s best-looking star>

International response:
1st place – 2NE1 Sandara Park (24.5%)
2nd place – Super Junior Lee Teuk (22.2%)

Asia:
1st place – 2NE1 Sandara Park 
2nd place – Super Junior Lee Teuk

Europe:
1st place – 2NE1 Sandara Park 
2nd place – Super Junior Lee Teuk

North and Latin America:
1st place – Super Junior Lee Teuk

Check out the rest of the survey questions and results after the cut!

[ARTICLE] Rolling Stone – The 10 K-POP Groups Most Likely To Break In America

YouTube’s most-watched Korean pop music video, Girls’ Generation’s “Gee,” has earned 74,000,000 American views alone, even though most mainstream U.S. music fans have never heard of it. The song and video – a calculated, colorful, choreographed affair that sees the nine-member girl group smiling and winking for the camera in flirty outfits as they change formations and soloists without a hitch – epitomize how Korean pop music (K-Pop for short) has been able to break language barriers and captivate a passionate U.S. audience. More recently, acts have begun turning the interest into profitable American tour stops and announcing plans to officially release music stateside. And as if to officially christen the genre’s U.S. crossover potential as an internet phenomenon, Google will host a multi-act K-Pop concert at their California headquarters on May 21st, which will be livestreamed on their YouTube Presents channel.

In the past, popular Korean acts (like BoA and Se7en) made unsuccessful American debuts likely due to the fact that they were molded by American record labels to be presented in a way they saw best to break into the notoriously difficult market.

Yet K-pop has garnered a strong following without the help of any major American backing. K-Pop is a mixture of trendy Western music and high-energy Japanese pop (J-Pop), which preys on listeners’ heads with repeated hooks, sometimes in English. It embraces genre fusion with both singing and rap, and emphasizes performance and strong visuals.

Never very racy, K-pop could easily slide into America’s Top 40 market if correctly targeted at children and teenagers. The following are the 10 acts most likely to successfully crossover to America – as long as they’re allowed to keep the same sounds and concepts that made them popular in Asia.

2NE1

One of South Korea’s most notable acts, 2NE1 stands out for the wide array of sounds heard in their latest EP that includes the club banger ”I Am The Best,” the slick electro-pop/hip-hop ”Hate You,” and the emotionally charged ”Ugly.” 2NE1’s genre-hopping and large personalities bring Nicki Minaj’s rap/singing approach to mind. Without any push into the U.S., the group caught the eye of will.i.am, who signed on to work on their American debut rumored to be released later this year. Listeners can get a sample of what a will.i.am/2NE1 production sounds like with the track ”Take On The World,” currently being used for a promotional video for Intel. The foursome’s fierce fashion even caught the eye of designer Jeremy Scott who has styled for the group. Several of the members have strong English skills, and the group won the award for “Best New Band In The World” for MTV Iggy, an MTV initiative that showcases music from all over the world.

Click the link below to see the 10 K-pop groups:

[Article] 2NE1 at #11 on Complex Music’s 25 Sexiest International Singers You’ve Never Heard Of

These days, American radio is saturated with Carly Rae Jepsen, Rihanna and other female superstars who are probably under the age of 25. Not that we’re complaining, but once you find yourself mouthing the lyrics to “Call Me Maybe,” you know you need to start listening to something else.

After witnessing Yuna perform at SOBS for Hot 97, we knew just where to look for new material: overseas. After days of trolling the web for other sexy female artists to switch up our playlist, we compiled our own collection of new (at least, to most of us) music. If you’re looking to broaden your musical horizons, check out our list of the 25 Sexiest International Singers You’ve Never Heard Of.

11. 2NE1

Country: South Korea

Since the four-girl pop group—consisting of CL, Minzy, Dara, and Bom—formed in 2009, they’ve already received a number of accolades, including “Song of the Year” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards for “I Don’t Care” and “I Am the Best” and “Best New Band” by MTV Iggy, before they could even put out their first full-length album. In March 2012, however, the cutesy foursome finally released their first LP, Collection, which features their second Japanese single, “Scream.”

Click the link below for the full list:

[News] Members of YG’s “Mysterious Girl Group” Represent Each of the 2NE1 Members?