Which Female Idol Has Changed the Most?

Jan 24, 2012

Many female idols underwent many transformations to become who they are today. Who do you think has transformed the most since their debuts?

We will first start off with f(x)’s Krystal. Her real name is Jung Soo Jung. Born in San Francisco on October 24, 1994, little Soo Jung came to Korea in the year 2000. Even before she and her sister Jung Soo Yeon (also known as Jessica of SNSD) had the chance of getting used to their new environment, they both got cast by one of Korea’s most prestigious agencys, SM Entertainment. After years of training, Krystal started to work on some CF’s and also played a role in Rain’s music video “Still believe” in 2006. Finally, in 2009, Krystal made her debut as a member of the girl group f(x).

Check out her CF for Lotte Chaurin Green Tea (2002), in which she worked together with actress Han Ga In.

Seo Joo Hyun, better known as SNSD’s Seo Hyun, was born in Seoul, Korea on June 28, 1991. In 2003, the 12-year old Seo Hyun was cast on the street (actually in the halls of the subway station) by SM Entertainment. After four years of intensive training, she made her debut as the youngest member of SNSD. The pictures below reveal that even when she was a little child, she had her big sparkling eyes.

Third is Lee Ji Eun, better known as IU. IU was born in Korea on May 16, 1993. She performed a couple of songs in her first year of middle school and from that moment on she knew that she wanted to be a singer. She started to do many auditions, starting with JYP Entertainment where she did more than 20 auditions. However, she did not manage to get a contract. On top of this, she had a harsh time, living in a small unhygienic room with her grandmother and her sibling, she could not get in touch with her parents. She lived with some other relatives, but they saw her as a burden, since they saw her as a child who did not want to study, but only sing. Luckily, in 2007, she managed to get a contract with her current agency LOEN Entertainment and with just one year of training, she made her debut as a singer in 2008.

Moving on to another member of f(x), Sulli. Sulli’s real name is Choi Jin Ri. Born in Busan, Korea on March 29, 1994, Sulli had a relatively normal childhood. However, from 2004 onward, her career started to accelerate quickly. She started to attend the MTM Academy for Actors and one year later she played a role in the popular series Seo Dong Yo (produced by Lee Byung Hoon). She quickly moved on and did an audition at SM Entertainment and made her debut with f(x) in 2009 after several years of intensive training.

This CF in which Sulli stars is for Lotte Peppero (2007).

Next up is Sohee of the Wondergirls. Her real name is Ahn So Hee and was born in Korea on June 27, 1992. She did an open audition at JYP Entertainment and immediately managed to get a contract. After about three years of training, she made her debut as the third member of the Wondergirls on February 10 (2007) and gained much popularity since then. She also has a very cute nickname “mandu” (which means dumpling in Korean), because the shape of her head resembles that of a dumpling. As the pictures reveal, her cute features from her childhood are still with her.

Now, we are moving on to miss A’s very own Suzy. Bae Sue Ji was born in Korea on October 10, 1994. Her family consisted of her father, mother and two other sisters. Her parents owned a simple eatery and she went to school as a normal child. However, she had great singing and dancing skills, and also looked pretty, and thus became very popular in her own neighborhood. Her first appearance on television was through MNet’s “Superstar K” for which she auditioned. The managers of JYP Entertainment were immediately interested in this young talent and contacted her while she was on her way to the bathroom, saying that she could be a trainee. This is why some say that her story can be described as a “Cinderella story.”

In 2010, she made her official debut as a member of miss A. It was originally planned that miss A would consist of only three members (Fei, Jia and Suzy). However, the American trainee of JYP USA, Min, gained much popularity and was added as a fourth member to the group. A fun fact to know: the idea behind the name of the group (miss A) is having the greatest skills in all fields (class A) and being the best of Asia.

Last but not least is Kara’s Kang Jiyoung, who was born in Korea on January 18, 1994. Jiyeong was not an original member of the group. One member of Kara had left the group. Jiyoung, who was 15 years old at that time, decided to do an audition and sang SNSD’s “Kissing You.” DSP Entertainment liked what they saw and in June of 2008, she joined the group. One month later she made her debut with their first mini-album “Rock U” on MNet’s “M! Countdown.”