Artist of the week - Wonder Girls

Jun 16, 2010

PROFILE
Min Sun Ye (leader, main vocalist)
Date of birth : July 11, 1989
Height : 160 cm
Hobbies : Watching movies, listening to music, working out
Talent : piano
Education : Chungdam High School

Ahn So Hee (vocal)
Date of birth : June 27th, 1992
Height : 163 cm
Blood type : AB
Hobbies : Watching movies, listening to music, reading, sleeping
Education : Koryeo University Teacher’s College Middle School

Park Ye Eun (main vocal)
Date of birth : May 26th, 1989
Height : 165 cm
Blood type : AB
Hobbies : Watching movies, reading, reading the bible

Yubin (rap)
Date of birth : October 4, 1989
Height : 163 cm
Hobbies : Watching movies, debate, collecting music
Talents : Swimming, skin SCUBA

Hyerim (vocal)
Date of birth : September 1, 1992
Height : 164 cm
Talents : Dance

Sun Mi (vocal)
Date of birth : May 2, 1992
Talents : Drawing, Saving the earth,

Name : Hyun-ah (real name: Kim Hyun-ah)
Date of birth : Jun. 6, 1992
Height : 164cm
Weight : 44kg
Currently attending Korea Arts School and member of girl group 4minute.

BIOGRAPHY
This week, soompi’s featured artist is the Wonder Girls. This is the teen girl group created by famous singer and producer Park Jin-young. They released their much-anticipated first single on February 13, 2007. This birth of this group began with a national talent show, which aired on a local television station in 2007.

Producer Park found Min Sun-ye through the show and through further auditions, found the other 4 members of the group. Further down the line, the parents of one of the original members, Hyunah (now with 4minute), pulled their daughter out of the group due to health issues. Yubin was then next up in the JYP trainee line to take her place just in time to continue promoting the Wonder Girls’ popular single “Tell Me”.

“Tell Me” was a song off of their first full-length album that also caused what was called the “Tell Me Virus”. The addictive dance to the number one song became so popular that there were viral videos of everyone imitating it. From there on out, the Wondergirls became a household name in Korea, churning out retro style hits after hits, such as “So Hot” and “Nobody”.

The girls then attempted to branch out by debuting in the US with the English version of their single “Nobody” in the summer of 2009. They also opened up for the ever so popular Jonas Brothers for what was initially a total of 13 concerts. They later signed up to open up for the remaining 45 concert dates.

They became the first Korean group to make it onto the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, not to mention “Nobody” also topped the music charts in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Late January 2010, it was announced that another original member, Sun-mi, was dropping out of the group to focus on her academic career. This opened up a spot for Lim Hye-rim, another JYP trainee, to join the group. The girls have been prepping for their first debut English album consisting of half of their older Korean hits re-written in English, and the other half being new material.

Their new single “2 Different Tears”, released in May 2010, has been nothing short of the kind of success that the Wonder Girls have no doubt grown accustomed to.

Currently, they’re on a World Tour in US and Canada that started on 4th June. They have sold out concerts at some venues.

DISCOGRAPHY

* The Wonder Begins (1st single – February 13, 2007) : Irony, Bad Boy, Sorry Heart, Irony (Tae Kwon – Daybreak Remix)

* ~tears~ (Single – April 27, 2007) : Tears (미안한 마음)

* The Wonder Years (1st Album – September 12, 2007) : I Wanna, This Fool (이 바보), Tell Me (Sampling From Two Of Hearts), Friend, Headache, So What? (뭐 어때), Wishing On A Star, Move (Feat. M), Take It (가져가), Good Bye, Bad Boy, Tears (미안한 마음), Irony

* Jjoyo Jjoyo (mini game heaven OST – November 26, 2007) : Jjoyo Jjoyo (쪼요쪼요)

* Army Song (February 21, 2008) : Army Song

* So Hot (3rd Project Album – June 3, 2008) : So Hot, This Time, You’re Out, Tell Me (Rap Ver.)

* The Wonder Years – Trilogy (4th Project Album – September 26, 2008) : Intro, Nobody, I Tried, Saying I Love You, Nobody (Rainstone Remix)

* Anybody (November 18, 2008) : Anybody (Feat. Dynamic Duo, SAN E, J.Y. Park)

Nobody (Eng Ver.) (June 29, 2009) : Nobody (Eng Ver.)

* 2 Different Tears (Single, May 16, 2010) : 2 Different Tears, 2 Different Tears (English Ver.), 2 Different Tears (Remix Ver.), Tell me (English Ver.), So Hot (English Ver.), Nobody (English Ver.)