Superstar K is a Korean television
talent show series which is held yearly. Superstar K (SSK) is looking
for a potential superstar who is talented in performance especially in singing. In 2013,
surely SSK had season 5 with high expectation but much to their demise, they did not get much
attention due to the predictability of winners and disorganized programs. After the top 10 were selected, the audience rating decreased fast because the overall level
of participants (compared to last year), was low.
Superstar K
has gained much attention, considered that it is the biggest audition program. However
during season 5, the audience did not tend to watch because they were disappointed
performances. SSK needed to find the way to bring them back. The audience and critics are
waiting Superstar K season 6 to come out with improved and organized programs and a higher sense of unpredictability.
By: Neena Rouhani Edited & Published By: Neena Rouhani Whether in South Korea or the United States, sex sells. This is evident and essential when it comes to the success of music artists, in this case: girl groups. So who made it to the top and plummeted face first? Here's a list.
HIT: Girls' Generation (SNSD)
One
of the most well-known groups of Korean artists throughout the world is Girls’
Generation. This charming nine member, all girl, pop group has earned worldwide
fame through their angelic harmonies and killer dance moves. Girls’ Generation
has been featured on shows around the world, and right here in the U.S., such
as Late Show with David Letterman and
Live! with Kelly and were the first Korean
musical acts to perform on those shows (Wikipedia). Part of their claim to
international fame was their usage of English lyrics within their songs and
their hit song “The Boys” which was released in both English and Korean. They
have done international tours and have been endorsed by various companies such
as Samsung, Christian Dior, and Lipton Tea (Wikipedia). They also have been
involved with charity organizations such as the Make a Wish Foundation of
Korea. It may come as a shock to American fans that the group has been around
for about 7 years with no member replacements or group fallouts.
Girls' Generation's latest track released in Japan, "My Oh My".
MISS: Danity Kane
It
may come as a shock to American fans that Girls' Generation has been around for about 7
years with no member replacements or group fallouts. Many famous American
groups, with the exception of a few, fail to exist shortly after being
established due to internal disputes. U.S. made girl group, Danity Kane is a key example of why the American population has little to no hope for girl groups. DK was a five-member
group created by P. Diddy on the 3rd season of MTV’s Making the Band. The group came up on
top, initially selling over one million copies of their first album and having
three top 10 singles, however after 4 years, the group fell apart. So, where are they now? Aubrey O'Day (far right), has done some modeling for magazines such as Playboy and has been featured on broadway. Despite her plummet from fame, O'Day has been featured in various tabloids for less than desirable reasons. Aundrea Fimbres (center) continued on to be theexecutive producer of J-Live Entertainment's Next Big Thing Talent Show. D. Woods (second from right)left the group shortly after it's establishment. Dawn Richards (far left) went on to pursue a solo career and lastly, Shannon Bex went on to pursue a country career. Over the past week there has been gossip of the return of Danity Kane.
Danity Kane's chart topper "Damaged".
HIT: TLC
On
the other hand, we have groups such as Destiny’s Child and TLC. TLC was a trio including Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapperLisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas thatlasted
fourteen years, and may have continued if it wasn't for the untimely and tragic
death of group member and raptress Lisa Lopes. Prior to Lopes’ death, their fame
was untouched, considering their certified diamond album CrazySexyCool which topped 23 million sales worldwide as well as
their worldwide tour. Their hits included "No Scrubs", "Waterfalls" and "Unpretty", songs that continue getting play today. This year, a movie was released titled "CrazySexyCool" about the life of the three women and their road to fame and the aftermath.
TLC's emotional video for their hit single "Waterfalls".
MISS: 3LW
3LW, another famous trio, also achieved fame however after 4 years, similar to
Danity Kane, stopped releasing music and eventually disbanded. The members included Adrienne Bailon (right), Kiely Williams (left), and Naturi Naughton (center).Their break-up
was not as messy as that of Danity Kane, however there is debate that Naughton was kicked out. Williams as well as Bailon continued on to Disney Channel to become Cheetah Girls and Naughton went on to pursue an acting career in movies including Notorious and Fame.
3LW's first hit, "No More".
HIT: Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child - Version #1
Destiny's Child - Version #2
Destiny's Child - Version #3
Destiny’s Child began as a quartette comprised of Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, LaTavia Roberson and LeToya Luckett. The group’s history was tainted by member swaps, and lawsuits however, this did not affect their worldwide stardom. Their peak of fame occurred when they were three (Williams, Rowland and Knowles), with their album Survivor which had four #1 hits. The group lasted roughly sixteen years and after, Rowland and Knowles went on as solo artists. As we all know, one of those two reigned supreme.
Arguably the most famous Destiny's Child song, Say My Name which peaked at #1.
By: Jeong Yeon Seok & Neena Rouhani Edited & Published By: Neena Rouhani Until now, we have talked about the history of American and Korean
Music. From now on, let’s talk about recent American and Korean Music as well as their similarities.
Let me start off with American Music. Firstly, as we have advanced in
computer technology, music software technology has also advanced. This means that some
programs for music creation also have been developed. As a result, many electronic music is coming out to the world. Secondly, most of recent American
music is being led by idol stars or teenage singers. Justin Bieber is an example of a successful teen singer. He had humble beginnings as a
Youtube star. He uploaded his cover version of “So Sick”, Ne-Yo’s song, and Bieber slowly began to grab the attention of the public. His song, “Baby” was released
2010 and his music video hit 934,303,860 view which is 2nd highest
viewed video on Youtube. Another American style of music is a music that makes people laugh. The most recent one is “The Fox” by
Yivix. This song is a innovative song which is not common, unlike songs that mainly
talk about love, memory, social criticism; that is why “The Fox” gained popularity.
Now, let’s talk about recent Korean music.
Korean music also is being led by idol stars same as American music. And
these many idol stars started to advance abroad with their music. We Koreans,
call this situation “Hallyu”. For example, an idol group Super Junior placed
1st for 110 weeks in Taiwan's music chart and Kara which is a
girl group, took the first place on Japanese Oricon music chart. Also Wonder
Girls enter the US Billboard Hot 100 music chart with their song “Nobody” as
the first Korean group ever. After Wonder Girls, there came a now worldwide superstar from S. Korea whose hit was heard all
over the globe. He goes by the name of PSY. His video on Youtube
for “Gangnam Style” collected over 1,826,494,555 views. The reason
why this song became so famous is because of its comedic nature and feel good rhythm, and of course no one can fail to mention the “horse riding dance”. His fame became widespread and he was featured on many international talk shows, such as The Ellen Show.
Although geographically, South Korea and the United States are thousands of miles apart, musically, they go hand in hand. Western influences have spread throughout the east and in turn, Korea has also given back through its newly found fame in the fashion, film, and music industry. Who knows, maybe sometime in the future we will see Justin Bieber and PSY get together to make musical magic! Sources:
By: HanShin Koh Edited & Published By: Neena Rouhani The history of American music
contains various styles of popular, classical and folk music. The most popular
and well known genres of American music are rock-n-roll, blues and country
music. The music history started by the original people, the Native Americans
who populated North America. Their music was formed mostly for their own religious purposes.
The large number of people from
European countries such as England, France, Spain and Ireland invaded North America. Not only had they brought in their traditional features but also
their music styles. This music included Christian choirs, musical notation, and the music of
African slaves. The Africans played diverse instruments such as
drums and string instruments. The Spanish people also had a similar instrument called
Bandora.
As America became more
populated with immigrants and started to expand to westward, music became
more diverse. During that time, the United States became exposed to
Cajun and Creole music of Louisiana, the Polynesian music of Hawaii and Tex-Mex
and Tejano music. Not only that, but also the Asian immigrants started to spread their own musical style. The United States became
the land of global music at this time.
The two greatest contributions to American music are Gospel music, which was brought by Scotland and
Ireland, and blues and jazz. Gospel music had influenced mostly the America’s southeast region with their music and culture. In the late 19th century, African
American and Scottish music had greatly impacted the American pop music.
The rural blues of African-American people from the southern states and the jazz of black
urbanites were the earliest forms of American pop music. At first they performed the
music given by the publishers and companies and not with their own materials.
However during the 20th century, the blues grew popular and jazz had
developed various fields such as bebop and scat. The African Americans started
to express their own music.
In the mid 20th, Rock
n Roll settled as the most popular music in America. Gospel music evolved as a
secular music. In the late 20th, through Rock, country, and soul,
produced other styles of music; ranging from punk rock to heavy metal. At this
period, the urban African Americans in New York City started to perform their
own lyrics on the beat. This genre is known as hip hop music. Since then until
now, the genre hip hop became the most influential music style and has spread
globally to the other countries as well.
By: Joon-Sup Kim Edited & Published By: Neena Rouhani
The history of Korean music exemplifies the formation of art through combining vocal/instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression. It is also influenced by the Chinese and the Mongols and religious inspiration through Buddhism. Korean music also worked as a bridge between China and Japan since Korea is located just between these two countries. In the Ancient era, which is also known as Koryo era, Korean music represented Shamanism which was a long-lived transition in Korea. It was also developed in the agricultural area since the majority of the population was working in farms. People used music to pray for a good harvest for the year. Ancient Korean music always used musical instruments such as Pyongjong, Saeng, Piri, Taegum, Komungo, Haegum, etc. However, as histpry progressed into the modern period, vocal music became more popular than instrumental. People started to write and perform music based on their emotions, feelings, and wills. Western cultural influences especially boosted the Korean music market. After the Korean War, western investments started entering South Korea and lots of genres such as R&B, jazz, ballad, rock, and rap flourished. The 1990s is considered the turning point for Korean music. The world became interested in Korean music and it was increasingly gathering fame. The 90s were also a successful period for vocal groups which were popularized in western culture. During the 21st century, the K-pop genre began spreading out to other regions of the world as part of the global Korean wave (Hallyu). Since the mid-2000s, a huge portion of the East Asian music market has been dominated by K-pop idol groups. Currently, Korean music has began influencing Western markets as well. For example, Psy’s Gangnam Style became one of the top tracks on the Billboard Hot 100 and Youtube. In the past, Korean music was more ritual and traditional that tribes or small groups of people used to share their emotions and time with; nowadays, however, music became one of the most useful ways to communicate and influence one another in Korea and globally.
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