[2009.02.16] Popular Girl Groups Have 'Foreigners'.. Why?


monica kim

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These days within popular girl groups there is a common factor. It's that within the team there are members who grew up in foreign countries or studied overseas.

9 member girl group SNSD who is receiving lots of popularity with their new mini album title song 'Gee', members Tiffany (20) and Jessica (20) are from overseas. Tiffany and Jessica grew up in the States and to fulfill their dreams of becoming singers during middle school and high school, they came to Korea.

5 member girl group Kara's member Nicole (18) is from overseas. Kara's entertainment company DSP Media informed on the 16th '' Born in America, Nicole came to Korea around the age of 15 after living there to become a singer."

New and superior girl group After School's youngest Baekha (20) also came from overseas from Hawaii in America and before 1 year and 6 months ago, lived there since.

In popular girl groups, after being born in Korea, there are members who traveled overseas to study in America, Japan and China.

Wonder Girls' Yoobin (21) went overseas for a year and 2 months after her family's business moved to the States and came back to Korea.

Jewelry's HaJuyeon (23) also studied overseas. Jewelry's entertainment company Star Empire informed "Ha Juyeon graduated in U.S.A, L.A's Granada High School and while going to a college there, came back to Korea to become a singer."

Kara's Han Seungyeon (21) attended one of America's top high schools, Tenafly High School in New Jersey for about a year and 6 months. Han Seungyeon told Star News saying "I didn't graduate from Tenafly High School, in the middle I wanted to become a singer and came back to Korea." After returning from America, Han Seungyeon graduated from a high school in Korea through a G.E.D and after studying hard in 2008 was accepted at Kyunghee University for Theater and Drama.

SNSD's Sooyoung (19) and Hyoyeon (20) studied overseas during their middle school days separately in Japan and China. SNSD's entertainment company SM Entertainment revealed "Sooyoung studied in Japan and Hyoyeon studied in China for over 1 year" and "The two went overseas to study during middle school and after living there has become very familiar to the language."

Then why are the popular girl groups these days have members from overseas as if it's a given? About the topic, entertainment officials say "It is because the members provide multiple benefits to the team and selling overseas."

There is also the positive factor that the foreign members could naturally digest the English raps to songs when looking at the team internally.

One entertainment official said '' Within girl groups, the members from oversea are fluent in English" and "These days, girl groups' songs having English raps are common, its comfortable for the foreign members who are used to English and could express it better, making it a positive point." Wonder Girls' rapper Yoobin and Jewerly's Ha Juyeon is an exception.

In general, during oversea activities, the members give a lot of help to the team. Of course in Asia and America, when promoting, the members who are comfortable with English, Japanese and Chinese are responsible for the role of introducing themselves to fans and local media members.

SM Entertainment informed "When SNSD met with fans from China and Japan, Hyoyeon and Sooyoung who are used to the culture are the one who mainly interact with the fans" and explained that "In English interviews, Tiffany and Jessica are a big help."

Translations by juhyun ♥@ soshified.com/forums or monica kim@ karaholic.com/forums

Article by Reporter GilHyesung @ Starnews

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yeah haha i noticed this, too.

it's cool. but i think it's just a coincidence lmao.

the fact that SY or nicole studied in the states doesn't make me love them any more than Gyul or Hara or Jing. Except it's really cool to see your favorite idol speak that language that you're most fluent in, lmao. (:

thanks monica! (:

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hmm might not be a coincidence.. maybe auditions from people that speak English would especially be looked at..

but i think foreigners do help like they say... some people relate more to those members thus then gaining in interest into the group :D it's kinda funny how bigger of a deal they make Seungyeon's out to be.. but Nicole..eh she went to school in the U.S. done lol...

probably b/c you can already tell with Nicole and SeungYeon it's much more of a surprise :P

thanks for translating :(

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that`s funny how the writer tries to add seungyeon in and then spend that many lines just to explain it is not really as it turned out XD LOL yub it`s the trend as many entertainments tend to aim at overseas market. Yahhh reading this i cannot calm myself but so exicted to imagine one day KARA visits USA & Nicole could be the group`s speaker XDDD

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It's so true that there is a lot of members who come from oversea or has spent some time abroad. But I'm pretty sure It's more a coincidence than a trend. SM or JYP for exemple with their global auditions favorise the number of trainees who are from oversea. But I think It's really cool because as the article said It's always better to have a member who can speak and represent the group in front of the media abroad.

Edited by Solin
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I have to agree with the article about how knowing more languages is an advantage and that by living in another country for a certain amount of time, a member of a group can relate better to the fans since they know more about their culture and lifestyle. Another reason why popular or not as popular bands have fans from all across the world is because there are many others out there who likes the differences. The entertainment from every country is different and when we happen to "click" with the music genre, television humor and such, it attracts people to start liking other form of medias from other countries. This is exactly one of the biggest reasons why the internet is so important to everyone since it makes people more naive and aware of the world, rather than stick to what they know about their culture and country.

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when there are foreigners in a group, they have an advantage esp. when the members are fluent in English.... it is the universal language and I think when they go outside Korea, it will not be too hard for them to communicate... it would be awesome too if you know more than 2 languages...

anyways, thanks for sharing..

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Well I think the majority of Korean groups in general have foreigners. Most of who come from America. There are many Koreans and non-Koreans who want to make a debut in Korea kekeke. Nicole was lucky to be chosen by DSP :lol: Thanks for sharing~!

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Personally i don't think being a foreigner has significance in a group.

Sure, they are able to speak english, chinese or any other language and that can attract certain fans or whatever.

But in the end it all comes down to their singing and talent.

It's just the fact that all these companies are spreading their search for great potential in the music industry.

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Of course it's supposed to appeal a wider audience. Especially the international fans.

I think recruted foreigners is good for the foreigner's, the band's and then the company's image. Because when the band makes its debut, people are often impressed by how fast he/she learnt the language. So : more fans !

The sad thing is : why only America or other parts of Asia? I've never heard about a European debuting in Korea =_=

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