Wednesday, January 9, 2008

"The Wonder Begins"

Wonder Girls is a newly-formed Korean girl group produced by well-known singer-songwriter, Park Jin Young. The group is signed to his talent agency, JYP Entertainment.

DEBUT, YEAR 2007
The members of Wonder Girls were selected through auditions and Park Ye Eun was the last member to be added.
The group debuted on 11 February 2007 at the M! Countdown, performing the hip-hop song "Irony", which was from their debut mini-album, The Wonder Begins. Throughout 2007, the group has experienced various health problems.

On 25 June, member Ahn So Hee was sidelined for a month after tearing a knee ligament during the filming of "Some Like It Hot" when she fall off from a motorcycle. In late July, Kim Hyuna was pulled off from the group by her parents due to their concern over her health conditions. Kim Hyuna has contacted Chronic gastroenteritis which had her hospitalized briefly in March and april.

On 14 September 2007, the group had a car accident while returning from a performance at Dong-Eui Institute of Technology in Pusan. The van in which they were travelling rear-ended a taxi, killing the driver of the taxi and injuring nine others. The members only suffered minor injuries.

Wonder Girls continued to be a four-member group until Good Entertainment gave their trainee, Kim Yoo Bin to JYP as a replacement in early September. On 13 September 2007, the group released their first album " The Wonder Years," with their hit song "Tell Me" bringing alot of attention to the fans and listeners. Due to the last-minute addition of Kim Yoo Bin, the album version does not contain her contributions. However, the song was reworked for performances, adding a bridge with Kim's rap.

The song "Tell Me" topped the No.1 spot in most of the music charts in Korea for consecutive weeks and the simple dance moves also bring a craze video online. Some celebrities also performed this dance during fan meeting or on various Korean television programs. Due to the popularity of the single, the group extended their promotional schedule to crossover performances on music shows, variety show appearances, and special performances and programs for various year-end music special.


YEAR 2008
Wonder Girls continue to promote the album in January 2008 with the second single, "This Fool." However, the girls plan to cut back on their schedule to prepare for their college entrance examinations. Besides that, Wonder Girls will set to debut in the U.S in February 2008 with their mentor and producer Park Jin Young for his month-long "Bad Concert" as a special guest. Park Jin young plans the concert to be a showcase for his other proteges, such as Min, G-Soul and Kim Jeong Hee. Other famous stars like R.Kelly, Outkast and Will Smith are scheduled to attend the concert.


Below is the performance by Big Bang & Wonder Girls in Musicbank.

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