So I've mentioned before about South Korea's superficialness (if that's even a word) but I've never went into detail about it even though it's the answer to close to everything related to why Koreans act and/or think a certain way. Ideal type, ideal weight, image, and even plastic surgery. Since this blog is mostly about kpop, it's best to keep this confession on topic.
Now the essential question is this: How does the superficial aspect of their culture affect idol life/the entertainment industry?
1.) Plastic Surgery
Everyone already knows about South Korea and their fetish for plastic surgery. One of South Korea's priorities is looking good, considering 1/5 of the population has had it(probably more if they could afford it). They even have to send a photo of themselves when they send in resumes for either schools or jobs. You can probably have a great resume but if you're face isn't that great, that could affect your chances of getting the job.
Of course as idols, they have to look good since people look up to them, usually for their physical aspects. I honestly do believe 95% of idols looked great without plastic surgery but since they have to fit into the beauty standards that Korea has, they feel pressured to get what considers them beautiful. They usually get the double eyelid surgery, nose job, forehead implants(yes, they're real), and a jaw shave. Sometimes, they probably don't even want it but some companies refuse to let some trainees debut if they believe they need it but won't get it.
2.) Training/Trainees
There's many ways to become a trainee. Being street-casted(usually a representative from a company comes up to you and tries to persuade you to audition for the company), actually just go and audition, or win singing, modeling or dancing contests and get signed as a trainee. During trainee life, you train to become the "perfect" idol. Usually, trainees tend to specialize on one thing, which is probably why there are positions such as main vocal, lead dancer, etc. That's probably why there's usually only groups that debut more than solo artists. All of the members come together to form one big "perfect" idol group since none of the individuals are "perfect" themselves. "Yea, he's a great dancer, but his vocals aren't that great." And the "perfect" idols among groups tend to get solo debuts while still promoting with their group (ex. Hyorin of SISTAR, Amber of f(x), and CL of 2NE1).
3.) Artificial Grouping
According to Google, the definition of artificial is "made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, typically as a copy of something natural" with synonyms such as "insincere, forced", and my favorite one, "put-on". Because that's exactly what they're there for-- to put on a show so their company makes money. They even change lineups or disband the group(sometimes even before debut) if the company feels as if they won't bring enough profit or as much as it would if something were to change. There's a obvious reason why so many idols are friends with each other. They've either went to school together or trained at the same company for some time before going to another for some reason. Some were even supposed to debut in some groups but either dropped out or were kicked out. For example, most of BESTie's members were supposed to be in EXID. Sounds crazy right? But no, they were dropped right before debut but luckily they came together with Dahye (who was a former SM trainee) and formed BESTie, my favorite rookie group. That's why a lot of idols have "a former insert company name here trainee" on their profiles.Companies form groups based on what can bring in the most income based off their singing, dancing, rapping, variety skills, or good looks. Which brings us to our next topic:
4.) Positions in groups
Main/Lead Vocalist, Main/Lead Dancer, Main/Lead Rapper, Visual, Face. In western pop and music, we don't have these positions. If we do, they're really subtle and not official. I think all groups regardless of it being from Korea or England has a face of the group. While they have Yoona from SNSD or Suzy from miss A, us westerners have Justin Timberlake, who was the face of NSYNC or Beyoncé, who was the face of Destiny's Child. And now these recent bands like Fifth Harmony whose face is Camilla and One Direction whose face is Harry Styles. Everyone knows it's a smart idea to put the most popular and/or prettiest member in the middle and give them the spotlight. But these positions in groups make them look even more business-like. "You sing and stuff, he'll dance, and I'll make cute winky faces at the camera so the fangirls die. Teamwork on three."
As an American, I was a little confused by the positions at first. I didn't understand why they needed them since they were a music group. All I really cared about at first was the voices and quality of the songs, not how good-looking they were. I had many questions. "Since everyone danced, did there really need to be a main/lead dancer? And if you're not that great at singing and is just pretty, why don't you just go be a model? I can't hear you be pretty on an album." But the deeper I got into kpop, the more I saw how necessary it was. A kpop group only needs four to five members:
- Someone with a powerful voice (ex. Hyorin of SISTAR, Uji of BESTie, Taeyeon of SNSD, Chen of EXO)
- Another who also has a nice, strong voice who could compliment the other's voice(Soyu of SISTAR, Onew of SHINee, Yenny of Wonder Girls)
- Someone who dances really good to make performances more entertaining(Hyoyeon of SNSD, Kai of EXO, Min of miss A, and Victoria of f(x))
- An above-average looking person to make the group look more visually appealing(Yoona of SNSD, Dara of 2NE1, Minho of SHINee, and Hyejeong of AOA)
- And if your group has a more "hip" feel, a rapper as well(Amber of f(x), G-Dragon of BIGBANG, CL of 2NE1, and Yubin of Wonder Girls).
5.) Emphasis on certain parts of their music career
Everyone knows kpop is inspired by the western pop but mostly, the American entertainment industry. They take the important parts and form it to their standards. And I'm pretty sure you're familiar with these parts: Debut, Title Track, Comeback, and Concepts.
- DEBUT- This is the moment. The big break. The time they get to shine. A lot of companies go through a lot of work to build hype for their new solo artist/group. EXO is probably the best example for this. The amount of teasers they had were ridiculous and Kai were in most of them, giving him the nickname Teaser King. Although a lot of debuts are well thought out and cool(Ladies' Code's "Bad Girl"), some are rushed(Red Velvet with "Happiness" to cover up Kris' lawsuit). And a lot of newer groups look up to their sunbaes and their debut is inspired by it. A big example this year is GFRIEND's "Glass Bead". A lot of people argued and said it was too much like SNSD's "Into the New World" from the song, to the dancing, and too the concept(but it didn't actually sound like it though).
- TITLE TRACK- Let's be honest: the only people who care about the other songs on the albums are actual fans of the group and not general fans of kpop. There's proof in the fact that groups only perform their title track(s) and that ONE other really good song on the album(ex. "Gimme" by GOT7, "Exodus" by EXO, and "Adrenaline" by SNSD-TTS). Other than that, they usually just do covers of American songs. Because no one really pays that much attention to the albums, companies tend to only focus on making the two types of songs I've mentioned before and making the rest of the album okay.
- COMEBACK- You know that moment where your favorite artist releases an album or single, promotes it, then drops off the face of the earth for 8 months, then comes back out of no where with a new album? Well, in kpop, we have a word for it--COMEBACK. It's hyped up just as much, if not more than the debut. Especially if the group is more popular.
And with each new comeback, there's a new:
- CONCEPT- The image the solo artist or group is trying to portray. Some might think innocent or sexy or manly and yes, even though those are technically concepts, some concepts are usually just concept based. In the previous gif, girl group AOA portrays a female sports team. This is a concept. SNSD has done a school girl concept for their debut(as did so many other girl groups), a cheerleader concept for "Oh!", a navy concept for "Genie", and a bad girl concept for "Run Devil Run". Concepts change every time to make the artists look fresh and new so the fans won't get bored and usually to target another, or more audiences. Girls' Day went from a cute-based concept group to one of the sexiest girl groups known today starting with "Expectation" in 2013. Yet, there's still girl groups that have a cute concept and are still popular, like APINK. Some concepts stand out so much, they get recognized for it. Prime example: 2NE1's "I Am the Best". They have an edgier concept and look than most girl groups so they were bound to get attention for it.
6.) Music Shows
Ever heard of Music Bank? Show Champion? How about Mnet Countdown? Those silly shows they have every week where they put groups and solo artists against each other? Yea, I hate them. Not because of the artists, but because of those stupid trophies they give to the winner of each week. Superficial Level=Broke my scale. They're honestly cheap imitation of American award shows. The worst part is no matter how great your group's comeback was, the most popular groups are going to win anyway. I mean, look at SNSD. I don't want to offend any SONEs out there but "Party" was HORRIBLE. Yet, it won 7 trophies.
If music shows were based off how talented, genuine, and great a comeback was, I think the trophies would be made out of gold or something, not plastic. Although I'm not a big fan of the award ceremonies, I am impressed when some groups or artists win awards because 1) they're up against bigger idol groups and 2)there are hundreds of artists in the Korean entertainment industry so to win is a somewhat a big deal.
Also like American award shows, these music shows tend to have celebrity MCs and tend to change them every now and then when they get bored of 'em.
No comments:
Post a Comment