Post by sarahtiu015 on Mar 3, 2009 17:35:54 GMT -12
Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어), often referred to as SJ or SuJu (슈주), is a boy band from Seoul, South Korea, produced and managed by Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM Entertainment. The group initially debuted with twelve members in November 2005, but since the addition of Kyuhyun in May 2006, they have become a super group of thirteen members[1] , becoming the largest boy band in the world.[2] The members are Leeteuk (the leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kang-in, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum, and Kyuhyun. The Chinese member, Han Geng, was chosen among three thousand applicants through auditions held in China by SM Entertainment in 2001.[3]
Super Junior has released and contributed in over 15 different kinds of records since 2005 with varying degrees of success. According to the Music Industry Association of Korea, their most successful album, Don't Don, was the second best-selling album of 2007.[4] Over the years, the group has also been divided into several smaller sub groups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences (specifically the trot industry for Super Junior-T and the Mandarin Chinese industry for Super Junior-M). 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
[edit] 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, Shinhwa, and S.E.S, all of which were created by 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, Yesung was recruited and a year later, Heechul.
In 2001, the company held their first oversea casting auditions in Beijing and discovered Han Geng, who was chosen among three thousand applicants.[3] A year later, Kibum was discovered in Los Angelos under the same casting system. Kang-in, Shindong, Sungmin, Donghae, and Ryeowook sporadically joined SM through SM-sponsored contests and singing competitions between 2001 and 2005.[6]
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, SM Entertainment 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."[7] For a while the group was known to be called O.V.E.R, the acronym for "Obey the Voice for Each Rhythm."[8] Unlike most debuting pop groups that has members with no pre-debut experience, the members in this group were chosen because of their performing experiences as actors, MCs, models, and DJs prior debut. Heechul and Kibum made their first appearances in dramas and films;[9][10] Leeteuk, Yesung, Kang-in, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, and Siwon made cameo television appearances, and Han Geng made his first media appearance as a model. Heechul also became an established DJ and MC after his television drama debut in early 2005.[11]
Before the group settled with their current name, SM Entertainment labeled them as simply Junior, a representation of the members' young ages when they first became SM trainees.[8] However, after the members' showcased their different talents to the company during an SM-sponsored picnic, the company finalized their name to Super Junior. Soon the group became officially Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior.[6] Super Junior was therefore known as the infamous line-up group, a concept being very similar to Japan's girl group, Morning Musume. Intended to be a rotational group, there was to be new members replacing some of the old members each year, forming a new Super Junior generation every time. However, this concept was abandoned when a new member was added in May 2006.[1]
Super Junior 05 made their pre-debut appearance on the Korean channel, M.NET 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.
[edit] 2005–2006: The Super Junior project
Super Junior 05's first promotional image as twelve members.
Super Junior 05 made their debut television appearance on SBS's 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, 2005. A CD single was scheduled to be released in November but a more complete album, SuperJunior05 (TWINS), was released on December 5, 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.[12][c] In that same month, they released "Show Me Your Love," their collaboration single with TVXQ. "Show Me Your Love" became the best-selling record of December 2005, selling almost 50,000 copies in less than thirty days.[12]
After "TWINS (Knock Out)" and "Show Me Your Love" promotions were finished, Super Junior 05 promoted their second single from their debut album "Miracle," in February 2006. "Miracle" was the group's first single to peak #1 in different music charts of South Korea as well as international charts from overseas countries, such as Thailand.[13] It was their last single to be promoted from SuperJunior05 (TWINS).
As promotions for "Miracle" came to an end, SM Entertainment began preparations for Super Junior's second line-up project Super Junior 06, the next Super Junior generation. The company even had a list of chosen members that were to graduate from the group, leaving space for new members to join. However, after the mysterious addition of a thirteenth member in May 2006, the company abandoned the line-up project and the group became known as just Super Junior, without the suffix "05".[14][1]
2006–2007: "U" and breakthrough success
In May 2006, a new member, Kyuhyun (far right), was added to Super Junior, ending the Super Junior line-up project.
On May 23, 2006, SM Entertainment revealed the thirteenth member Kyuhyun, who was discovered through a singing competition in 2005. The newly polished Super Junior 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 CD single "U" with a total of three tracks was officially released on June 6, 2006, eventually selling over 81,000 units by 2007, selling more than their first album.[17] During this time, an official fanclub was created for the group, E.L.F., an alphabetism derived from the phrase "Ever-lasting Friends." E.L.F members have been known t o cause a lot of trouble. They make groundless attacks on other groups and have been known to attack members of other groups. E.L.F members suck![6] Super Junior's official color became pearl sapphire blue.[6][d]
"U" (2006)
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Super Junior's most successful single, achieving over 5 notable music awards.
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The title song "U" yielded number-one spots for five consecutive weeks on two of Korea's top music programs for the first time in the group's career. The song was crowned as SBS Popular Songs Mutizen Song on the second week of release, being the first award for the group since debut.[18] The song then stayed as Mutizen Song for three consecutive weeks on the same program, also simultaneously grabbing two top awards from M.NET's M!Countdown for two weeks. Before promotions for "U" ended, "Dancing Out" was released on July 20, 2006, the group's first single for SMTown's annual summer album. The single grabbed two awards as soon as it was released.[19] "U" gained critical success, and Super Junior collected over seven awards in five of South Korea's top music award ceremonies as 2006 came to a close, winning Best New Group and popularity awards.
As 2007 approached, the group began to branch out to different splinter groups. Super Junior-K.R.Y, the first subgroup of Super Junior that debuted on November 5, 2006, began to give separate performances away from the group to promote their new songs in the latter months of 2006.[20] In February arrived a second subgroup, Super Junior-T.[21] In March, several members of Super Junior participated in an original soundtrack for the first time, singing the opening and ending themes "Success" and "H.I.T" for the Korean miniseries, H.I.T. On April 19, 2007, four members of Super Junior, Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun, were injured in a car accident that deeply affected the group's schedules and progress throughout the year. Being the most injured, Kyuhyun was not discharged from the hospital until four months later, therefore unable to participate in the group's second single for SMTown, "Full of Happiness" (행복) that was released in July. Nonetheless, the cover from former boy band H.O.T accelerated quickly in singles charts in both South Korea and Thailand and soon became a number-one hit in Thailand's international charts a month later.[22][23]
[edit] 2007: Don't Don
Production for the group's second album, Don't Don, was pushed back a year.
Heechul's fracture of the femur from a car accident on August 10, 2006 and the April 19 car accident prevented the group's second official album, Don't Don from being released until September 20, 2007.[24][25] The delayed progress of their second album created more promotion, and 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, and was in close competition with Lee Soo Young's Set It Down and Wheesung's eternal essence of music that were released earlier in September. It finished the September monthly album sales as number one, surpassing both Lee and Wheesung. 60,000 units were shipped by the first week of release and additional copies were printed.[26] After three months of release, Don't Don sold 164,058 copies, making it Super Junior's best-selling album. It was also the second best-selling album of 2007, falling 26,940 copies short of SG Wannabe's The Sentimental Chord.[27][4][c]
Super Junior performed their first performance for the album on September 21, 2007, promoting the first single "Don't Don" at KBS's Music Bank. It was their first performance in which the group performed together as thirteen after a whole year.[28]. The single rose quickly in music charts a week after release, winning its first recognition, the SBS Popular Songs Mutizen Song, on October 21, 2007[29] and later on M.NET's M!Countdown, sharing the #1 song of the week along with "Everyday" by V.O.S in November.[30] Super Junior quickly moved to their second single, "Marry U", in November. However, that single did not meet the achievements that "Don't Don" had set.[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.[31] Super Junior collected two more awards on December 14, 2007 at the 2007 Golden Disk Awards, an awards ceremony based on record sales success.[32] 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.[32]
[edit] 2008–present: Expansion into Asia
On October 2, 2007, SM Entertainment officially announced a third Super Junior sub-unit, Super Junior-M, a subgroup designated for the Chinese market.[33][34] The announcement of the new sub-unit created a controversy between the fans and the management as fans did not support the management to add new members to the subgroup.[e] Since almost half of the group had pursued their goals to China, a fourth Super Junior sub-unit was created that same year to prevent the group from disappearing in the Korean music industry. With five members from Super Junior-T but excluding Heechul and adding Yesung to the group, 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, 2008, lasting for four months. In November 2008, Super Junior-T returned, this time having their comeback as a singing group in Japan, called SuperJunior-TxMoeyan; this group added Moeyan, a famous two-woman comedy group in Japan.[35]
Super Junior's first major tour, Super Show, commenced on February 22, 2008 in Seoul.[36][37][38][f] The tour covered nine different cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, Beijing, and Nanjing.[37][34][39]
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.[5] 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.[5]
Super Junior's third album, Sorry, Sorry, is due for a March 12, 2009 release.[40] Intitial preparations for the album started as early as July 2008 while Super Junior-Happy activities were still active, [41] but recording did not start until November 2008.[42] The first promotional single off the album, "Sorry, Sorry" is a trendy dance song, and a teaser of the album was premiered on March 4, 2009.[43]
Overseas activities
Since Super Junior's debut in South Korea, the group endeavored to share an equal share of influence across Asia. The group has paid many visits to countries outside of their homeland to promote their music, especially to China and Thailand.
Thailand
"Miracle" (2006)
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Super Junior's first single to hit #1 in both Korea and Thailand.
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Super Junior made their first overseas performance in Thailand on March 9, 2006 at the Pattaya International Music Festival.[44] In effect of their appearance, "Show Me Your Love" moved up to #8 on Thailand's Channel [V] Music Chart.[44] Soon "Miracle" debuted as #1 in the charts on March 21, 2006. "Miracle" was the second song produced by SM Entertainment that topped overseas music charts in Thailand of Channel V after TVXQ's "Rising Sun." The song stayed as #1 for four consecutive weeks.[13] A year later, "Full of Happiness" (행복) debuted as #18 on Thailand's International Channel [V] Music Chart on the week of July 29, 2007. The single jumped to #8 the week after, and on the third week the single advanced to #1.[45] Aside the International Channel [V] Music Chart, which it was #1 for six consecutive weeks, it also made it to #1 on the POP Channel International Chart and the MTV International Chart in Thailand. The single strongly stayed as #1 on the charts for almost a month.[22][23]
Super Junior live at SMTOWN Live in Bangkok
Since 2007, Siwon has been the main endorser for Thailand's 12 Plus Powder. Since 2008, Super Junior has been endorsing Yamaha Fino with Thailand popular duo Golf & Mike. Super Junior was 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.[46]
Mainland China
In April 2006, Chinese member Han Geng visited China for the first time since his debut to promote Super Junior. Since then, he and the rest of Super Junior continuously visited China. On June 12, 2006 Super Junior made their debut performance in China performing "U" and "Miracle." After filming the Hong Kong war film A Battle of Wits in 2006, Siwon heavily promoted the film in China. Along with the rest of the cast of the film, he toured four major cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.[47] On August 8, 2007, Han Geng and Siwon traveled to Changsha to participate in a variety show, being the first K-pop idols to appear on Chinese variety shows in TV history, simultaneously establishing a ratings hit for the program.[48]
Super Junior released a Mandarin Chinese version of "U" on June 15, 2007 and various sources have stated that the group would release a Mandarin-language album.[49] Instead of the entire group, a subgroup was created for the market instead. On April 8, 2008, Super Junior-M, a subgroup that is specifically designed for the Chinese music industry, debuted with their first music video, "U". The subgroup's debut album, Me, was released in different regions of Mainland China in April 2008. The Korean version of the album which has three bonus Korean tracks, was released in South Korea that same month. Me was released throughout the rest of Asia in May 2008.[33] The album debuted as #1 in all major album charts in China.
Taiwan
Super Junior's first visit to Taiwan was on June 16, 2007 as guest performers and presenters for the Golden Melody Awards. They presented the Best Vocal Group and Best Performance Album awards.[50]. They also performed the songs "U" and "Miracle" at the awards ceremony.
Their visit to Taiwan helped increase the sales figures of Don't Don which was released in Taiwan on October 19, 2007 under the Avex Trax label. 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.[51][52] The album peaked at #1 in Taiwan's Five Music J-pop/K-pop Chart and the G-music J-pop Chart in Taiwan within the first week of release.[53][54]
Super Junior visited Taiwan a second time on January 5, 2008 for Taiwan's "Music in Harmony" concert as a beginning step to have a closer approach to the Chinese market. They performed in the concert along with Taiwan's Show Luo and Energy. Korea's Baby Vox Re.V and PARAN were also invited to perform. Popularity won Super Junior to have over 500 fans welcoming them at Taiwan's airport.[55] On May 2, 2008, Super Junior-M's first Chinese-language album Me was released in Taiwan, debuting on the charts as #2, with only Sodagreen's new release above theirs.[56]
Japan
From July 8 to July 9, 2008, Super Junior held their first Japan fanmeeting in the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo as a celebration for the grand opening of their official Japanese Homepage that was opened on April 1, 2008.[57] 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.[58]
On November 5, 2008, Super Junior-T released their first Japanese single, "ROCK&GO" in Japan, with the support and featuring of Japanese comemdy duo, Moeyan.[35] The collaboration was the duo's official debut as singers and Super Junior-T's entrance in the Japanese market.[35] The single debuted at #19 on the Oricon Daily Charts] and jumped to #2 three days later.[60]
Notable events
April 19 car accident
On April 19, 2007 at 12:20 am KST,Super Junior and two of the group's managers became victims of a car accident. The driver lost control of the vehicle and the van flipped over on its right side, colliding with the sidewalk.
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. Leeteuk had severe facial scratches, 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.
Shindong and Eunhyuk, the least injured with only a few cuts, scratches, and bruises, were both discharged on April 23, 2007.[66] Leeteuk and Kyuhyun recovered faster than expected,[67] and Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007.[68] 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
"Knockout" (2003)
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The original song by Triple Eight.
"TWINS (Knock Out)" (2005)
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Super Junior's rendition of the original, incorporated with more distinctive vocals and bass elements.
"Don't Don" (2007)
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The first single from Don't Don.
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As a whole, Super Junior has released two 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.[69] Some members are credited for their vocal belting techniques, notably Yesung.[g][70] Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, 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 falls 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" and "Sapphire Blue," but with the release of Don't Don, they began to incorporate a more mature style of composition into their music. The album's first 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.[71] 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."[72] 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" (행복).
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". After the release of their second album, Don't Don, 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.[6] Eunhyuk remains as one of the main writers for most of Super Junior's rap lyrics in the second album.[6]
Dance style
Super Junior has done performances centered heavily around their choreography. The group's pre-debut appearance was a hip hop dance performance and they have also joined B-boy battles and performances throughout their career.[73]
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.[74] Dances in a form of martial arts are widely used in their dance routines as both Han Geng and Sungmin are professionally trained in that area.[75][74] 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 their comeback single, "Don't Don."
[edit] Image
Super Junior frequently changes their image with each musical release. Super Junior's debut image softly leaned towards a rock appearance to complement the single, "Twins (Knock Out)." During their promotion of "Miracle," many of the members displayed a youthful and cute image with their lighter hair color and funny 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.
With the release of Don't Don, the group surprised the media with an edgy transformation.[76] Some members bleached their hair, wore dark makeup, and had temporary tattoos . Kang-in had a hairstyle that was a buzz cut with scratched designs, Sungmin's hair was bleached blond and half shaved, while Heechul, Han Geng, and Kyuhyun sported with bright-colored hairstyles, which were all inspired by punk fashion, as well as modifications of hip hop fashion.[77] Their outfits were also thinner. However the group's image was quickly changed back to a more classic image as promotions began for their ballad single, "Marry U."
[edit] Criticism
Super Junior has been criticized in the past for lip-synching and lack of vocal skills, specifically for shaky pitch and heavy breathing,[78][79] 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 ill singer should not necessitate lipsynching by the entire group.[80] Despite this, they have still remained popular through their large fan base and their album sales have been strong. Pushing back the criticism, Super Junior's second album comeback performance, "Don't Don," was a live performance instead of lipsynched.[81] Out of the thirty-some songs that were performed at the group's first live concert tour Super Show, only six songs were lipsynched, acclaiming positive reviews for the concert.[82] Some members have also been performing a cappella versions of their songs.
