Artist of the week - DBSK/DBSG/TVXQ/Tohoshinki/東方神起

Dec 21, 2008

DBSG

☆ dong bang shin ki (동방신기)

Also known as: Tohoshinki, 東方神起, TVXQ
Debut: December 26^th, 2003
Company: SM
Fanclub: Cassiopeia (Korea) or Bigeast (Japan)
Balloon Colour: Pearl Red
Site: Korea l Japan

☆ members

Shim Changmin (심창민)
Stage Name: Max
Birthday: February 18^th, 1988
Height: 186cm
Weight: 61kg
Blood Type: B
Hobbies: Gaming & Eating
Education: Kyunghee University
Vocal Position: High

Kim Jaejoong (김재중)
Stage Name: Hero
Birthday: January 26^th, 1986
Height: 180cm
Weight: 63kg
Blood Type: O
Hobbies: Cooking & Weight Training
Education: Graduated from high school, but no information as to university.
Vocal Position: Lead

Park Yoochun (박유천)
Stage Name: Micky
Birthday: June 4^th, 1986
Height: 180cm
Weight: 64kg
Blood Type: O
Hobbies: Composing & Piano
Education: Kyunghee University
Vocal Position: Mid-Low

Kim Junsu (김준수)
Stage Name: Xiah
Birthday: December 15^th, 1986
Height: 178cm
Weight: 60kg
Blood Type: B
Hobbies: Soccer & Gaming
Education: Myongji University
Vocal Position: Mid-High

Jung Yunho (정윤호)
Stage Name: U-Know
Position: Leader
Birthday: February 6^th, 1986
Height: 184cm
Weight: 66kg
Blood Type: A
Hobbies: Dancing & Writing
Education: Myongji University
Vocal Position: Bass

☆ biography

We saved the best for last. This is the final artiste of the week for 2008 and we are proudly featuring Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK), one of the most well-known k-pop groups in the world. Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK) debuted alongside BoA on Dec 26th, 2003 by singing their single Hug, and then O Holy Night with her. They released two singles, Hug & The Way U Are, and later released a full-length album Tri-Angle in October 2004. DBSK were very well received, winning multiple New Group awards. Unfortunately, there was some fear in the beginning of them being a rotation group with a focus in the Chinese market. However this was later abandoned.

Instead, SM decided to have DBSK set their focus on Japan. They released Stay with me Tonight on April 27, 2005. They did start to release more singles in Japan, but came back to Korea later in the year for their new album Rising Sun. This helped them win Artist of the Year at the Mnet KM Music Video Festival. During this time Jaejoong suffered a knee injury, which happened during rehearsal and made him sit out activities. After this they embarked on the Rising Sun Tour, visiting Malayasia, China, Japan and others.

DBSK then released a third Korean album "O"-正.反.合. on Sept 29, 2006. This was later re-released with the added track of Balloons portraying a new cute image for the band. They worked hard during this time, releasing a drama DVD Vacation and appearing on a variety of shows such as Love Letter & X-Man. The end of 2006 turned out to be hard as they faced the return of Jaejoong’s birth parents in a custody battle and an anti-fan spiked Yunho’s drink with super glue.

Then they set out to do activities abroad. First, they started with the second Asia tour concert for "O"-正.反.合., and then new activities in Japan. By then they had continued their Japanese studies to the point where they were now fluent in Japanese. They had the album release of Five in the Black along with a lot of singles. This also led to a Five in the Black tour. One single that brought them a lot of recognition was Summer Dream. They also started a radio station called Bigeast in Japan.

Into the new year of 2008, there were a lot of new singles such as Purpline Line & TRICK, which involved a solo from each member. There was allso the T album, and a tour. Purple Line became the first single by a foreign male group to top the Oricon weekly sales. On May 17, 2008 DBSK came to LA, California, to attend the Hollywood Bowl Korean Music Festival, showing their popularity had expanded beyond Asia.

They embarked on a new image for Sept 26, 2008 as DBSK returned to Korea with a big comeback album Mirotic. So far this has sold 466,814 copies. It landed them the MKMF Best Album of the Year & the Golden Disk Awards Daesung. However there has been an issue with a lyric change by the Youth Commission raising some controversy. The C repackage of this album featured some of their own written and composed songs, such as Yoochun’s Love Bye Love & Jaejoong’s Don’t Cry my Love.

It appears as though DBSK will reside in Japan for 2009 with a variety of fan meetings in January, along with the new single, Bolero. The Japanese public will have a heightened awareness of DBSK from their appearances in the Kouhaku & Japanese Record Awards. This mean, however, that they cannot attend the end-of-year festivals in Korea. Jaejoong has also been working on a new drama called Heaven’s Postman in which he will play the lead, starring opposite actress Han Hyo Joo.

To find out more about their past, or current, activities you can go to their Soompi thread.

☆ discography

Korean Albums
Tri-Angle – October 13^th, 2004
Rising Sun – September 12^th, 2005
"O" -正.反.合. – September 29^th, 2006
Mirotic – September 26^th, 2008

Korean Singles
Hug – January 14^th, 2004
The Way U Are – June 24^th,2004
Hi Ya Ya 여름날 – June 23^rd,2005
Fighting Spirit Of Dong Bang (Fighting Spirit Of the East) – June 01^st, 2006
여행기 (Traveling) – October 19^th, 2007