Super Junior
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Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어), often referred to as SJ or SuJu (슈주), is a boy band from Seoul, South Korea formed by SM Entertainment in 2005. With a total of thirteen members, Super Junior is the largest boy band in the world.[1] The group consists of Leeteuk (leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kang-in, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum, and Kyuhyun. The Chinese member, Han Geng, was chosen from three thousand applicants, via auditions held in China by SM Entertainment in 2001.[2]
Super Junior has released and contributed in 19 different kinds of records with varying degrees of success.[3] 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.[3] 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.[4] They are celebrating their 4th Anniversary this month.
[edit] 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 Soo-Man Lee in the mid 1990s.[5] 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 overseas 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 with his friend SunChul; 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. [6] 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."[7] 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.[8][9][10] 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."[11][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.[11] 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.[6]
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.[12][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.[12]
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.[13] 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".[14][15]
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.[16][17] The physical single of "U" with a total of three tracks was released on June 6, 2006, eventually selling over 81,000 units.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] A second sub-unit arrived in February 2007 called Super Junior-T. The trot-singing group released their first single "Rokkugo" in February 23, 2007 and made a debut performance on Popular Songs two days later.[21]
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.[22][23] 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.[24] 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.[25][26][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.[27][28]
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.[29] Super Junior collected two more awards on December 14, 2007 at the 2007 Golden Disk Awards.[30] 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.[30]
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.[31][32] 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[33], having the opportunity to have two sold-out concerts in Hong Kong,[34] top weekly ratings with their appearance on variety programs,[35], and becoming the idol group with the most endorsement contracts in China.[36] 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.[37] "ROCK&GO", a Japanese-language version of "Rokuko", debuted at #19 on the Oricon Daily Charts[38] and jumped to #2 three days later.[39]
Super Junior's first major tour, Super Show, commenced on February 22, 2008 in Seoul.[40][41][42][f] The tour covered three countries and had shows on six different cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, and Beijing.[32][41][43] 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.[44] 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.[45] 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.[46] The title single of the album, "Sorry, Sorry" was digitally released on March 9, 2009.[47] In less than a week after preorders were announced, over 150,000 copies were pre-ordered.[48] 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.[49] Promotions for the album started March 13 with the performance of "Sorry, Sorry" and "Why I Like You" on Music Bank.[50] Two weeks later, "Sorry, Sorry" became the number one song of the week on the same program.[51] 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.[52] 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.[53][54] After only a month of release, the album became South Korea's best-selling album of 2009. Sorry, Sorry was also a critically and commercially successful hit in other Asian countries, opting the group to become the only overseas representative for the second time at Taiwan's annual Golden Melody Awards. Sorry, Sorry was a best-selling Korean-language album in Taiwan,[55] Thailand, China, and the Philippines, in which the latter listed the album to be the first K-pop album to reach #1 in music charts from the country.[56]
Notable events
April 19 car accident
On April 19, 2007 at 12:20 am KST,[57] 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.[58]
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.[57][59] 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.[60][61]
Shindong and Eunhyuk, the least injured with only a few cuts, scratches, and bruises, were both discharged on April 23, 2007.[62] LeeTeuk and Kyuhyun recovered faster than expected,[63] and Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007.[64] Kyuhyun was discharged two months later on July 5, 2007, but wasn't fully recovered till Febuary 2008.
Artistry
Musical style
As a whole, Super Junior has released three studio albums and one physical single, including occasional contributions to drama soundtracks. They are acclaimed for their vocal harmonization and unison as each member contributes a different voice range in their music. Leeteuk, Heechul, Hangeng, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Ryeowook are all tenors. Yesung, Kangin, and Siwon are baritones. Shindong, Kibum, and Kyuhyun sing in bass.[65] Some members are credited for their vocal belting techniques, notably Yesung.[g][66] Despite significant vocal contributions by each member, Yesung, Sungmin, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun are labeled as the group's lead vocalists.[67] Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Kibum are the group's main rappers, with Heechul and Donghae consistently rapping as the supporting vocals.[h] Eunhyuk also regularly contributes in writing the group's rap music.
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. Generic pop melodies were used more in SuperJunior05 (TWINS), while R&B and sulty electronica beats were used more in Sorry, Sorry.
Super Junior works closely with Young Jin Yoo, who has produced and arranged most of the group's promotional singles since debut. Yoo's also known for creating the renowned SMP style, a genre that includes a balanced infusion of rock, R&B, and rap, with complementing musical elements such as the electric guitar, bass, and other different percussion instruments.[68] Super Junior has prominently used this SMP style in Don't Don.[69]
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".
Dance style
Super Junior are known for doing performances that are heavily centered around their choreography, and are acclaimed for their highly sychronized dances. The group's pre-debut was a hip hop dance performance and they have also joined B-boy battles and performances throughout their career.[70]
Their dance styles are widely termed as street dancing, with a majority of their choreography containing hip hop dance moves such as popping, waving, sliding, and liquid dancing. Most of their songs usually contain a music bridge where one 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.[71] 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.[71][72] Some of the members also participate 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 worked together to create the dance choreography for "Don't Don" and "Marry U", both promotional singles for the group's second album.
Image
Super Junior are best known to be a youthful, energetic, and humorous group.[73] The group has also remarked that having good teamwork is one of the key reasons to their success. The bonding and friendship between members have been apparent since before the group's debut, when SM arranged all of them to live in one apartment. Heechul has mentioned several times that if it wasn't for his members, he would have left Super Junior to pursue a dedicated acting career.[74]
Musically, Super Junior are known for having many different fabricated images with each new release. Super Junior's debut image leaned softly towards a rock appearance to complement the rap/rock "TWINS (Knock Out)." For "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 headed for an edgy transformation.[75] 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.[76] With their comeback in early 2009, the 13 guys showed the transformation from boys to men. To match the bouncy beats of Sorry, Sorry,they donned stylish and fitted suits with accessories such as: ties, bows, aviators, and leather gloves. Not only did Super Junior return with their "own fashion", they sported hairstyles of natural colors and short-cuts to give off a fresh look. For the It's You promotions, they leaned toward a more casual, but a clean and manly look.
Criticism
Super Junior has been criticized in the past for lip-synching and lack of vocal skills specifically for shaky pitch and heavy breathing,[77][78] 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.[79] 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.[80] 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.[81] Some members have also been performing a cappella versions of their songs.[i]
