Wondergirls,K-pop

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History

Korean debut

Wonder Girls performing “Irony” at Hanyang University in May 2007. From left to right: Sohee, Hyuna, Ye-eun, Sunye and Sunmi. The Wonder Girls debuted on February 10, 2007 on Show! Music Core, singing “Irony”, the hip-hop single from their debut mini-album, The Wonder Begins. The mini-album went on to become a minor hit, selling 11,454 copies in 2007. Throughout the rest of 2007, however, the Wonder Girls were beset by various injuries and health problems. On June 25, Sohee was sidelined for a month after tearing a knee ligament falling off a motorcycle during the filming of 뜨거운 것이 좋아 (I Like It Hot). The remaining four members continued performing until late July, when Hyuna was removed from the group due to their concern over her health—in particular, chronic gastroenteritis which had her hospitalized briefly in March and April.

Rise to popularity

On September 5, 2007, Good Entertainment, the talent agency for the popular boy band Shinhwa, sent their trainee Yubin to JYP Entertainment as a replacement for Hyuna. She made her debut three days later in the group’s live performance of “Tell Me” on Music Bank . Their first full-length album, The Wonder Years, was released the following week, on September 13, 2007, with “Tell Me.” Due to the last-minute addition of Yubin, the album version does not contain her part. However, the performance version of the song was reworked to include a bridge with Yubin’s rap. The single was a hit and reached number one on various Korean television and internet music charts, including KBS’s Music Bank. The choreography for the song was simple and widely imitated: by October, many fan performances of the dance circulated on video sharing sites such as YouTube and Daum, including one by a group of policemen who were eventually profiled on SBS’s Star King. Wonder Girls had an extensive promotional schedule for their album and by December 2007, also began performing the second single from the album, “이 바보” (“This Fool”). They made numerous appearances on variety and game shows, sang live on radio, at music festivals, on music shows, and in special joint performances with other groups such as Big Bang. MTV has also aired three seasons of The Wonder Life, a reality TV series starring the girls. In January 2008, however, they ceased promotion of their album to prepare for their concert in United States that was scheduled for March 2008.

Expanding overseas

Wonder Girls at a May 2008 fan meeting in Bangkok. The Wonder Girls have had several showcases in China shortly after their debut in 2007 and have been receiving Chinese language lessons.

In February 2008, the Wonder Girls joined their producer Park Jin-young for his month-long concert tour through Korea and the United States (including New York City and Los Angeles) as special guests, and took the opportunity to film the music video for “Wishing on a Star” while in New York City.[Park had stated that the concerts were also meant to be a showcase for his other protégés, such as Min, G-Soul, and Lim Jeong Hee.

The Wonder Girls held a fan meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in May 2008, attracting over 10,000 fans. Organizers stated that it was one of the most successful events for a Korean artist in Thailand.The group also played at a Chuseok festival in Flushing, Queens, New York on September 21, 2008, joining other artists in the JYP family.

Return to Korea

Wonder Girls performing “So Hot” at the M Super Concert in June 2008.

Wonder Girls performing “Nobody” at the 2008 BICHE opening ceremony in Octoboer. In May 2008, over the course of 5 days a picture of each member, sporting their new “sexy” image, was released starting with Ye-eun and ending with Sohee. Following this a preview track from the upcoming single was released. During this time, there were rumours that past member Hyuna would be returning to the group; JYP Entertainment confirmed that this was not the case. Their new single, “So Hot”, was released on May 22, 2008; the song topped online charts in the next few days. They began their comeback performances on May 31, 2008 on MBC’s Music Core, performing “So Hot” and “This Time”. The full single was released on June 3, 2008, containing the title track, the rap version of “Tell Me”, “This Time”, and “You’re Out”. Due to vocal cord problems, Yubin lipsynched her parts under doctor’s ordersuntil late July. She has since then made a full recovery and continues to perform live. It was announced that promotional activities for “So Hot” would end at the end of July 2008, and that the group would instead prepare for their third mini-album, to be released the end of September. During September 2008, various hints and teasers were put up on their official website, including a teaser trailer that was also put up on JYP Entertainment’s official YouTube account. The full music video was then released on September 22, 2008, with the single, “Nobody”, being digitally released on the same day. They made their comeback the following weekend on Music Core, Music Bank, and Inkigayo.

Member profiles There was a member called Hyun-A, who retired from the Wonder Girls shortly before “Tell Me”.

(March 2008)

Sunye

Birth name: Min Sunye(Hangul: 민선예; Hanja: 閔先藝) Date of birth: August 12, 1989 (age 19) Position: Leader, Main Vocalist Discovery: 2001 Park Jin Young’s Challenge of 99%

Yoobin

Birth name: Kim Yoobin (Hangul: 김유빈; Hanja: 金瑜斌) Date of birth: October 4, 1988 (age 20) Position: Main Rapper Discovery: Good Entertainment trainee

Ye-eun

Birth name: Park Ye-eun (Hangul: 박예은; Hanja: 朴譽恩) Date of birth: May 26, 1989 (age 19) Position: Lead Vocalist Discovery: 2006 audition during the show MTV ‘Wonder Girls Season 1’

Sunmi

Birth name: Sun Mi (Hangul: 선미; Hanja: 宣美) Date of birth: May 2, 1992 (age 16) Position: Sub Vocalist,sub rapper Discovery: JYP Entertainment Trainee

Sohee

Birth name: Ahn Sohee (Hangul: 안소희; Hanja: 安昭熙) Date of birth: June 27, 1992 (age 16) Position: Sub Vocalist, Lead Dancer Discovery: JYP Entertainment Trainee