Artist of the week - Chun Sang Ji Hee The Grace (天上智喜)

Jun 12, 2007

PROFILE:

Real Name: 김보경 (Kim Bo-Kyung), Stephanie Kim
Stage Name: 天舞 (Tian Wu) Stephanie, Cheon Mu (Dance of Heaven) Stephanie, Stephanie The Grace
Position in Group: Vocal, Dance
Birth Date: October 16th, 1987 (19)
Height: 168 cm
Blood Type: O
Specialty: Ballet, Jazz Dance, Hip-hop, English Conversation, Singing
Favorite Artists: Alicia Keys, Beyonce Knowles
Previous Works: Summer 2004 SMTOWN SUMMER VACATION Track 7 "바램(Fight To The End)"
Info: Stephanie Kim was born on October 16th, 1987. Stephanie, who is called Bo-Kyung in Korean, started studying ballet at an early age. When Stephanie was five, her family moved from Korea to San Diego, California. In the States, Stephanie became a promising ballet star and was a member of a top ballet troupe in Southern California. She was offered a scholarship to the prestigious Boston Ballet University but she turned it down when the famous SM Entertainment came knocking. She was signed after participating and winning the annual Southern California Teen Best Competition in 2004. Shortly after being signed, she moved back to Korea to train before debuting with TSZX in April of 2005. As an American, she is naturally fluent in English.

Real Name: 이지연 (Lee Ji-Yeon)
Stage Name: 上美 (Shang Mei) LINA, Sang Mi (Beauty of Heaven) LINA, LINA The Grace
Position in Group: Vocal, Dance
Birth Date: Febuary 18th, 1984 (23)
Height: 168 cm
Blood Type: A
Specialty: Hip-hop, Chinese Conversation, Singing
Favorite Artists: Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Linkin Park
Previous Works: September 2001 Female Duo ISAK N JIYEON First Album "Tell Me Baby"
Info: LINA (Ji-Yeon) first showed up in the Korean music scene as half of the SM girl duo ISAK N JIYEON. The group, which debuted in 2002, was suppose to be the female version of popular male duo FlytotheSky. However, ISAK N JIYEON was unable to match the other group's popularity. The duo split shortly after the first album but both girls remained in SM Entertainment and are still close friends to this day. Isak moved on to modeling and has been the MC of many music shows in Korea. LINA moved on to modeling and acting as well, starring in many music videos from SM artists. SM Entertainment was not about to let this beautiful vocalist go to waste. In 2004, SM casted LINA as a candidate for the female project group which eventually became TSZX The Grace.

Real Name: 진보라 (Jin Bo-Ra)
Stage Name: 智聲 (Zhi Sheng) Sunday, Ji Sung (Soft Voice of Heaven) Sunday, Sunday The Grace
Position in Group: Vocal, Dance
Birth Date: January 12th, 1987 (20)
Height: 165 cm
Blood Type: O
Specialty: Drawing, Japanese Conversation, Singing
Favorite Artists: Sheryl Crow, Maroon 5, Avril Lavinge, Coldplay, Whitney Huston, Jamiroquai
Previous Works: July 2004 First Japanese Single "リラの片想い", April 2005 Second Japanese Single "ウソツキBOY"
Info: Jin Bora, was first heard of when information was leaked from SM Entertainment in 2002. Initially training to become a solo singer, many people speculated that Bora was the "second" BoA. SM later changed Bora's name to "Sunday", in an effort to stop the comparisons. Sunday debuted in Japan in the summer of 2004, where she was introduced as BoA's sister. However, the single was poorly promoted and was not very successful. Sunday was also featured on the 2004 SMTOWN summer album, along with Ji-Yeon, DANA and Stephanie. Sunday's second Japanese single, ウソツキBOY, was released in April of 2005. The song was produced by M-FLO but once again, was not promoted well. Surprisingly, the single received positive response even with the little promotion it had. By that time, Sunday was already casted as the final member of TSZX. Sunday's budding solo career was put on hold when she debuted with TSZX in 2005.

Real Name: 홍성미 (Hong Sung-Mi)
Stage Name: 喜悅 (Xi Yue) DANA, Hee Yeol (Happiness of Heaven) DANA, DANA The Grace
Position in Group: Vocal, Dance
Birth Date: July 17th, 1986 (20)
Height: 171 cm
Blood Type: O
Specialty: Flute, Chinese Conversation, Singing
Favorite Artists: Brandy, Norah Jones, Ashanti, Radiohead, Brian McKnight, Justin Timberlake, MAXWELL
Previous Works: September 2001 First Album "To The End of The World", October 2003 Second Album "Maybe"
Info: DANA debuted in 2001 as SM Entertainment's second solo artist. Personally chosen by Lee SooMan, DANA was expected to rise as the "next BoA". Prior to debut, she received promotion as an actress in popular boy band H.O.T's Age of Peace movie and in Kangta's "Polaris" music video. In 2001, DANA released her fairly successful first single "Diamond", a pop/dance track featuring Jung YunHo (who would eventually become a member of TVXQ). That same year, she released an album with the same name along with other singles. Her career blossomed and continued with promotion by appearing on variety shows such as X-MAN, as well as playing a main role in the sitcom Nonstop 3. Her second album release in 2003, however, was not very popular and sold poorly. From that point on, DANA disappeared from the music industry (aside from SMTOWN collaborations) until the debut of TSZX. Although she is considered the leader of The Grace, due to her longer involvement in the industry, DANA has stated in an interview that each member has equal status.

BIOGRAPHY:

Our featured artist this week is the fast rising female quartet from SM entertainment Chun Sang Ji Hee (CSJH) The Grace. Their members are Dana, Lina, Stephaine, and Sunday. Originally, these 4 girls are not put together in the same group. Dana debuted as a solo artist when she was 15 with moderate success. Lina (Ji Yeon) was in the R&B group Isak & Ji-Yeon. They released one album in 2002 with good review but failed on the chart. Stephaine was recruited in the USA by SM entertainment, while Sunday debuted as a solo singer in Japan before returning to Korea.

SM eventually decided that these 4 girls from different backgrounds will put together as a group. After intensive training, CSJH debuted in 2005, not only in Korea, but in Japan and in China as well. Like any other SM artists, CSJH received a lot of attention and marketing help even before debut. Also, since 3 of the 4 members already had previous solo or group works, fans were anticipating their debut as a group.

CSJH were known as an acepella pop group at first with their debut song "Too Good", which was a sweet ballad. Fans were impressed with their vocal skills. However, the song was not considered a hit. In 2006, CSJH started to show off their dance skills with songs like "Boomerang" and "The Club" with more success. They also added "The Grace" to their name. At the end of 2006, they went back to a ballad "My Everything", showing fans that they are good at both up-tempo and slow tempo songs. Up to now CSJH The Grace has released 3 single albums.

Using the same strategy as DBSG and Super Junior, SM entertainment let CSJH The Grace to have enough exposure before releasing their 1st full studio album. That finally happened in May 2007. The album instantly become a hit with good sales figures. The title song "One More Time, OK?" hit number 1 on MNet's M!Countdown. It's the first time since SES that a female group from SM entertainment hit number 1 on the chart. SM certainly will count on CSJH The Grace to record more hits for many years to come.

DISCOGRAPHY:

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX
Title: Too Good
Type: 1st Korean Single
Language: Korean
Label: SM Entertainment
Release Date: April 29th, 2005
Versions: CD
Genre: Ballad
Buy It: Click Here

01. Can't Help Falling in Love
02. Boomerang
03. Too Good
04. 오랫동안 (Your Smile)
05. Boomerang (Instrumental)
06. Too Good (Instrumental)

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX
Title: The Club
Type: 2nd Korean Single
Language: Korean
Label: SM Entertainment
Release Date: March 8th, 2006
Versions: CD
Genre: Dance
Buy It: Click Here

01. The Club Feat. RAIN 비
02. What U Want (Stephanie)
03. The Club (Instrumental)
04. What U Want (Instrumental)

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX The Grace
Title: 열정 (My Everything)
Type: 3rd Korean Single
Language: Korean
Label: SM Entertainment
Release Date: November 3rd, 2006
Versions: CD
Genre: Ballad
Buy It: Click Here

01. 열정 (My Everything)
02. The Last Sentence
03. IRIS (할 말이 있어요)
04. 열정(My Everything) Radio Edit Version

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX The Grace
Title: 한번 더, OK?
Type: 1st Korean Album
Language: Korean
Label: SM Entertainment
Release Date: May 4th, 2007
Versions: CD
Genre: Pop, R&B, Dance
Buy It: Click Here

01. 한번 더, OK?
02. 女友 (그녀들의 수다)
03. 女友 Interlude
04. Sweet Emotion
05. 그 사람… 욕하지 마요
06. RENEW
07. 4월의 첫 날 (April Fools' Day)
08. Dancer In The Rain
09. 아니기를 (Not To Be)
10. 하루만 (Just For One Day) Feat. Super Junior's Kyuhyun
11. Tonight Is On Me
12. Dancing Queen
13. 열정 (My Everything)
14. Boomerang
15. The Club Feat. RAIN 비

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX
Title: Boomerang
Type: 1st Japanese Single
Language: Japanese
Label: Avex (Rhythm Zone), SM Entertainment
Release Date: January 25th, 2006
Versions: CD, CD+DVD
Genre: Dance
Buy It: Click Here

01. Boomerang
02. Do You Know? (Sunday)
03. Boomerang (Instrumental)
04. Do You Know? (Instrumental)

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX
Title: The Club
Type: 2nd Japanese Single
Language: Japanese
Label: Avex (Rhythm Zone), SM Entertainment
Release Date: March 8th, 2006
Versions: CD, CD+DVD
Genre: Dance
Buy It: Click Here

01. The Club Feat. SEAMO
02. What U Want (Stephanie)
03. The Club (Instrumental)
04. What U Want (Instrumental)

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX
Title: Sweet Flower
Type: 3rd Japanese Single
Language: Japanese
Label: Avex (Rhythm Zone), SM Entertainment
Release Date: April 26th, 2006
Versions: CD, CD+DVD
Genre: R&B
Buy It: Click Here

01. Sweet Flower
02. Rock'n'Roll Star (LINA)
03. Sweet Flower (Instrumental)
04. Rock'n'Roll Star (Instrumental)

Artist: 天上智喜 TSZX
Title: juicy LOVE
Type: 4th Japanese Single
Language: Japanese
Label: Avex (Rhythm Zone), SM Entertainment
Release Date: July 17th, 2006
Versions: CD, CD+DVD
Genre: Reggae
Buy It: Click Here