Super Junior (Korean: 슈퍼주니어; Japanese: スーパージュニア) is a South Korean boy band formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2005. The group debuted with 12 members: Leeteuk (leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum and later added a 13th member named Kyuhyun;
they are one of the largest boy bands in the world. As of September
2011, eight members are currently active, due to Han Geng's lawsuit
with S.M. Entertainment which led to him leaving the group (now
pursuing his own singing career in the Mandarin pop entertainment
industry), Heechul and Kangin's temporary leave of absence for
mandatory military service,
Siwon's filming for his upcoming drama Poseidon (in which shooting of
the drama are located at the farthest areas of South Korea, making him
to temporary halt his activities with the group) and Kibum's pursuit of
an acting career. However, the other members have insisted that all
four (Heechul, Kangin, Kibum and Han Geng) are still part of the group,
despite mentioning that they are saddened by Han Geng's departure from
the group.
Super
Junior has released and contributed in 20 different kinds of records
with varying degrees of success Over the years, they have been divided
into smaller subgroups, simultaneously targeting different music
industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as
entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train
their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and
hosting. In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has
earned seven music awards from the Mnet Asian Music Awards, eleven from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after jtL in 2003.
HISTORY
In 2001, the company held their first overseas casting auditions and discovered Han Geng in Beijing, China,
who was chosen from among three thousand applicants. That same year,
Yesung was discovered under Seoul's casting system. Sungmin and Donghae
became trainees after jointly winning the first place in Best Outward
Appearance in an S.M.-sponsored contest. In 2002, Heechul and Kangin
were recruited along with Kibum, who was discovered in Los Angeles,
California. Siwon was encountered in 2003 after being scouted at age
16 in front of his high school, and Ryeowook in 2004, in which the
latter was discovered through the Chin Chin Youth Festival singing
competition. In
2005, Shindong was selected. The last member, Cho Kyuhyun, was then
discovered after winning third place at the Chin Chin Singing
Competition in 2005.
Not long after boy band TVXQ's
debut in 2003, news about Lee's unprecedented plans of forming another
boy band quickly spread on the Internet. In early 2005, Lee confirmed
the news and announced that an all-boy project group of twelve members
would debut near the end of the year, promoting this singing group to
be "The Gateway to Stardom of Asia." Lee announced that that most
members in this group were chosen because of their performing
experiences as actors, MCs, models, and radio hosts
prior debut. Heechul and Kibum were already established entertainers,
and most of the other members had already made various kinds of
appearances on television and media. Highly inspired by the rotational
concept of Japan's girl group Morning Musume,
this group would also experience line-up changes, with new members
replacing some selected members every year to keep the group constantly
young and all-rounded. This concept was then newly introduced to the K-pop market.
For
a while the group was rumored to be called O.V.E.R, the acronym for
"Obey the Voice for Each Rhythm." However, before the group settled with
their current name, S.M. simply referred to them as Junior, a
representation of the members' young ages when they first became S.M.
trainees. After
the members' showcased their different talents to the company at a
picnic, the company finalized their concept name to Super Junior. The
group thereafter became officially Super Junior 05, the first generation
of Super Junior. Leeteuk said on Star Golden Bell
that "at first, Super Junior's name was S.M. Junior, but after Lee Soo
Man saw our performance, he said we have super talent and quickly
change our name to Super Junior".[citation needed]
Super
Junior 05 made their pre-debut on the Korean channel Mnet on September
11, 2005. At the showcase, they performed various styles of hip-hop dancing, where they danced to B2K's "Take It to the Floor". Han Geng, Eunhyuk, and Donghae also performed a separate dance away from the group, dancing to Usher's "Caught Up."
However, the performance did not air on television until May 16, 2006,
as a segment in the Super Junior Show, the group's first television
documentary.
2005–06: The Super Junior project
Super Junior 05 debuted on SBS's music program Popular Song on November 6, 2005, performing their first single, "Twins (Knock Out)". A digital single with "Twins (Knock Out)", "You Are the One", and three additional tracks were released online on November 8. A physical CD single was scheduled to be released the following week but a more complete album, SuperJunior05 (Twins),
was released on December 6, 2005, instead. Their debut album sold
28,536 copies in the first month of release and debuted at number three
in the monthly chart of December 2005. In that same month, they
released "Show Me Your Love",
a collaboration single with TVXQ. "Show Me Your Love" became the
best-selling record of December 2005, selling 49,945 copies that month.
In February 2006, Super Junior 05 began performances for "Miracle",
the second promotional single from their debut album. "Miracle" was
the group's first single to top the online music charts of South Korea
as well as the music charts of Thailand,
drawing interest from international markets. As promotions for
"Miracle" came to an end, S.M. Entertainment began selecting new
members for Super Junior's second line-up project, Super Junior 06. The
company even prepared a list of chosen members that were to graduate
from the group. However, no members were taken out and a thirteenth
member was added instead in May 2006. The line-up project has been
abandoned since then, and the group became known as just Super Junior,
without the suffix "05".
2006–07: U, Don't Don and breakthrough success
On
May 23, 2006, S.M. Entertainment revealed the thirteenth member
Kyuhyun, who was discovered through a singing competition in 2005. They
released their single "U"
online for free download on May 25, 2006, on their official website.
"U" had over 400,000 downloads within five hours of release and it
ultimately exceeded 1.7 million downloads, crashing the server. The physical single
of "U" with a total of three tracks was released on June 6, 2006,
eventually selling over 81,000 units. The single became one of Korea's
most popular songs of the year, yielding number one spots for five
consecutive weeks on two of Korea's top music programs. By the end of
the year, Super Junior collected over seven awards in five of South
Korea's top music award ceremonies, winning the title as Best New Group
of 2006.
Super Junior's first sub-unit, the ballad-singing trio Super Junior-K.R.Y., debuted on November 5, 2006, with a performance of Hyena theme song "The One I Love" on KBS music program Music Bank. A second sub-unit arrived in February 2007 called Super Junior-T. The trot-singing group released their first single "Rokuko" on February 23, 2007, and made a debut performance on Popular Songs two days later.
Super Junior's second official album was intended for a late 2006 release, but due to several accidental setbacks, Don't Don
was not released until September 20, 2007.Within the first three days
of release, offline album sales for Don't Don passed the 11,000 unit
mark, debuting as number one in all available offline charts. It
finished the September monthly album sales as number one. 60,000 units
were shipped by the first week of release and additional copies were
printed. Although Don't
Don received rather bland reviews from critics, the album sold more
than 160,000 copies by the end of the year, becoming the second
best-selling record of 2007.[28][29][c] The album also found success in Taiwan;
it broke the record for being the highest ranked Korean album on the
G-music Combo Billboard Chart, surpassing the albums of TVXQ and Shinhwa. Super Junior's album also ranked above Taiwanese boy band K One, whose album debuted at number six.
Supported
by the release of Don't Don, Super Junior was nominated in seven
separate categories at the 2007 Mnet/KM Music Festival that was held on
November 17, 2007. Super Junior won three of those categories
including "Netizen Choice Award" and "Mobile Popularity", being the
biggest winner of the night. The group also won "Best Artist of the
Year" (Daesang), termed by many as the highest recognition of the
ceremony.Although defeated by SG Wannabe
in winning the "Daesang", Super Junior won a "Bonsang" and the "TPL
Anycall Popularity Award", which were reported as expected wins for the
group by the media after the success of Don't Dont. Super Junior collected two more awards on December 14 at the 2007 Golden Disk Awards.
2008–09: Beyond Korea and Sorry, Sorry
On October 2, 2007, S.M. Entertainment announced a third Super Junior sub-unit Super Junior-M, a subgroup designated for the Chinese market.
While the creation of the subgroup created a brief controversy between
the fans and the management,Super Junior-M became a success in China, having the opportunity to have two sold-out concerts in Hong Kong,top
weekly ratings with their appearance on variety programs, and becoming
the idol group with the most endorsement contracts in China. With the
absence of almost half of the members in Korea, a fourth Super Junior
sub-unit was created that same year to prevent Super Junior from
disappearing in the Korean music industry. With five members from Super Junior-T and Yesung, they formed the subgroup, Super Junior-Happy. Super Junior-Happy released the extended play (EP) Cooking? Cooking!
on June 5, 2008, and promotions ended on September 7, lasting for four
months. In November 2008, Super Junior-T returned, this time as a
singing group in Japan, called SuperJunior-TxMoeyan; this group added Moeyan, a two-woman comedy group in Japan. ROCK&GO",
a Japanese-language version of "Rokuko", debuted at number 19 on the
Oricon Daily Charts and ascended to number 2 three days later. "
Super Junior's first major tour, Super Show, commenced on February 22, 2008, in Seoul. The tour covered three countries and had shows on six different cities, including Bangkok, Shanghai, and Beijing.From July 8 to July 9, 2008, Super Junior held their first fan meeting in Japan, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo,
as a celebration for the grand opening of their official Japanese
homepage, which was launched on April 1, 2008. 12,000 tickets to the
fan meeting were all sold out in several days. The group released a
compiled Japan single the following day, entitled "U/Twins", which
includes the Japanese version of "U" in the limited release, to
complement the event. The single peaked at number four on Japan's
Oricon Daily Chart in its first day of release, and dropped down four
places in its second. The single broke a new record for being the first
Korean single to have made within top 10 on Japan's Oricon Weekly
Chart. On August 2, 2008, Super Junior expanded their routes to Genting
Highlands, Malaysia, being one of the top guest performers at the MTV Asia Awards 2008 along with other international performing artists such as OneRepublic and the Jabbawockeez.They are the third SM artist to win Favorite Artist Korea at the MTV Asia Awards after Kangta of H.O.T and BoA, and the second musical group to win the award after JTL in 2008.
Super Junior's third album, Sorry, Sorry, was released on March 12, 2009, which was met with acclaimed reviews. The title single of the album, "Sorry, Sorry"
was digitally released on March 9, 2009. In less than a week after
pre-orders were announced, over 150,000 copies were pre-ordered. Sorry,
Sorry was their first album to debut at number one on the Hanteo Charts,
and it sold over 29,000 copies the first day, defeating Seo Taiji's record of 25,000.
Promotions for the album started March 13 with the performance of
"Sorry, Sorry" and "Why I Like You" on Music Bank.Two weeks later,
"Sorry, Sorry" became the number one song of the week on the same
program. During the group's performance on music program Popular Songs
on March 15, ratings went up to as high as 14%, the highest in recent
years. From March to May, "Sorry, Sorry" collected a total of ten
number-one awards with consecutive wins in Korea, having the single
becoming a national and international success.After only a month of
release, the album became South Korea's best-selling album of 2009.
Sorry, Sorry was also a critically and commercially successful hit in
other Asian countries, opting the group to become the only overseas
representative for the second time at Taiwan's annual Golden Melody Awards.
"Sorry, Sorry" was also number one for a record-breaking 37 weeks in
Taiwan. Sorry, Sorry was a best-selling Korean-language album in
Taiwan,Thailand, China, and the Philippines, in which the latter listed
the album to be the first K-pop
album to reach number one in music charts from the country. Super
Junior won three awards in the 1st Mnet Asian Music Awards - Overseas
Viewers Award, Mobile Popularity Award and CGV Popularity Award despite
not attending. On December 11, 2009, Super Junior's Sorry, Sorry won
Daesang at the 2009 Golden Disk Awards, their first in the group's
career.They held their second Asia Tour Super Show 2 start in Seoul on July 17, 2009, and ended in Manila, Philippines on April 10, 2010.
2010: Bonamana, Asian popularity and Hallyu leaders
On May 6, 2010, the teaser for their fourth studio album, Bonamana, was released through S.M. Entertainment's YouTube page. The full music video of the lead single
of the same name was released on May 12 and full album was released
the following day in South Korea. The album was released by the group
with only 10 members, without Han Geng who has terminated his contract with S.M. Entertainment, Kibum who is involved in acting career and Kangin
who had enlisted himself in to the Korean army. Their fourth album had
also broken a personal record for the group by having over 200,000
pre-orders. On May 14, Super Junior had their comeback stage on KBS
Music Bank, performing title track "미인아 (Bonamana)" and "나쁜 여자 (Boom
Boom)".
On May 17, 2010, the music video for the song "Victory Korea", which was used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, was released through S.M. Entertainment's YouTube page.
Super Junior’s World Cup song ‘Victory Korea’ set to cheer the South
Korean team in the top 16 garners interests overseas. A poll was done on
American site ESPN for the Best World Cup Song. There were 11 songs
shortlisted for the poll including Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", K'naan's "Wavin' Flag", Akon's "Oh Africa" etc., to which the song "Victory Korea" by Super Junior was voted number one with over 90% of the poll.
"Victory Korea" features a sample mix from "Sorry, Sorry", with a
similar dance done by the members of Super Junior-Happy in the music
video.
On
June 28, 2010, Super Junior released their repackaged album with three
new tracks—"No Other", "All My Heart", "A Short Journey"—and the
remixed version of "Shake It Up!". "A Short Journey" was composed by Donghae and the lyrics were written by Eunhyuk.
"All My Heart" was composed by Leeteuk and Super Junior-M member
Henry. On July 2, 2010, Super Junior had their first live performance
of "No Other" on Music Bank. The music video for "No Other" was
released on July 7, 2010. According to Hanteo, the album has sold over
200,000 copies to date.
The group embarked on their third Asian tour, Super Show 3 on August 14 and 15, 2010 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. The tour also made a stop in Qingdao on August 28, 2010, Beijing on October 23, 2010, and Nanjing on November 13, 2010.
On September 4, 2010, Super Junior took part in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour along with fellow SM label mates at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This marked the first time SM Town
has performed outside of Asia On September 23, 2010, Super Junior
released their original soundtrack "Angel" for Haru: An Unforgettable
Day in Korea, an omnibus drama that promotes Korea's tourism.[citation needed].
On November 22, Super Junior was honored as National Pop Culture Icon
and received Minister of Culture Awards by the Ministry of Culture,
Sports and Tourism at Pop Culture Art Awards for their role in spreading
the Korean Wave. On November 24, Avex Entertainment, as well as S.M. Entertainment Japan, released a statement about the renewal of contracts of SM artists signed to Avex.Bonamana remained at the top of Taiwan's Music Charts for 62 weeks, breaking their own previous record of the said chart. On August 16, 2011, It was announced that
2011–present: Japanese forays and Mr. Simple
Super
Junior had not taken part in any official promotions in Japan, but
from February 18 to February 20, 2011, Super Junior held their third
Asia tour concert Super Show 3 at the Yokohama Arena in Japan. The ticket applicants for Super Show 3 Japan exceeded 110,000, while 36,000 people came to watch their performance.[68]
The Super Junior Japan 'Super Show 3' Opening Commemorative Album was
released on February 16 ranked in at number two on Japan's Tower Records
online sales charts. Super Junior Japan Limited Special Edition - Super
Show 3 that contained a DVD ranked in second place and the CD was in
10th place. The album also remained at number three spot on the Oricon
Daily Chart for two consecutive days and number six on Oricon Weekly
Chart. On a press meeting regarding the concert leg, Leeteuk expressed
that he and his group members are happy to come in Japan to directly
meet their Japanese fans and that they expressed on their future plans
to release a proper Japanese-language album this year.[69]
On
February 24, Super Junior released a 3D movie from their third Asia
tour, Super Show 3 3D in all CGV and Primus movie theaters.[70] Super Show 3 3D was ranked sixth in box office weekly chart and became the most watched 3D movie in Korea.
The group's first official Japanese single, "Bijin (Bonamana)" was released on June 8, 2011 and debuted at number two on the Oricon
Daily Singles Chart, selling 27,168 copies on its release date. In
addition, the music video for the song, which is a compilation of
videos from Super Show 3 held at Yokohama Arena in February, received
over 300,000 views on the Japanese UCC website, Nikoniko in a day. On June 14, Super Junior's "Bijin (Bonamana)" ranked at number two on the Oricon
Weekly Singles Chart, selling 59,262 copies. They broke the record for
having the highest single album sales for a Korean idol group when
their single albums that were released in Japan sold combined total of
over 100,000 copies (including those sold at Circle K Sunkus and
Mu-Mo),until it was surpassed by fellow label mate Shinee with their debut Japanese single "Replay (Kimi wa Boku no Everything)"
at the same month. To date, Super Junior holds the highest record for
singles released set upon by a Korean group without any promotion in
Japan. Beginning May 16, the song was shown on major Japanese
television channels as the commercial song for Japanese convenience
store chain Circle K Sunkus.
However, despite these success and tie-ups, SM did not see it as their
official Japanese debut and has stated that the group will officially
debut and promote in Japan at a later time.
In June 2011, they took part in the SMTown World Tour Live in Paris with fellow label mates, which was held in Zénith de Paris, Paris, France. On July 11, 2011, American dancer Kenny Wormald posted via his official Twitter
account that he had started the choreography rehearsal for the group's
upcoming new single.Shim Jae Won, choreographer and former member of the
disbanded S.M. Entertainment group Black Beat,
posted on his twitter a picture showing ten cups with the members'
names on it, citing possible formation for the song's choreography, as
well as two pictures of the choreography practice of the group the next
day showing only the lower half of their bodies.
A
teaser photo was revealed on July 20, 2011, with the first photo
featuring Eunhyuk. By 1:21PM GST on the 26th of July, all ten teaser
photos had been released, in the following order: Eunhyuk, Donghae,
Leeteuk, Shindong, Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Ryeowook, Yesung, Siwon and
finally, Heechul. On the same day, it was announced that the upcoming album
would hit South Korean record shelves on August 3, 2011. On July 22,
2011, the group began filming the music video for their new lead
single, with occasional photo tweets of the music video sets from Shim
Jaewon and member Heechul.The filming for the music video wrapped up
July 24, 2011, with Shim Jaewon consistently updating the group's
filming activity. On July 25, Jeon Hoon of Sonic Korea Studio announced
that he is mastering the new album. The group will have an upcoming
press conference at the Seoul Imperial Palace Hotel regarding the new
album, revealed as "Mr. Simple", on August 4, 2011.[83]
The music video teaser for the new single "Mr. Simple"
has been released on August 1, 2011, to be followed by the digital
single on the 2nd (through various Korean online music sites like Melon,
Dosirak and Bugs), the album on the 3rd and the music video itself on
the 4th.
The
group had their comeback performance of "Mr. Simple" and "Superman"
(in which the track was later included on the second release of "Mr.
Simple") at Music Bank on August 5, 2011, followed by Music Core on the
6th, Inkigayo
on the 7th and M! Countdown on the 11th., with their comeback
performance of the song in M!Countdown garnered them their first win.
However, despite being in the middle of promotions for the song, member
Siwon does not appear on some performances due to his filming with an
upcoming drama Poseidon.
On
August 21, 2011, S.M. Entertainment announced that member Heechul will
be enlisting to the army on September 1, 2011. On August 26, 2011, a
music video for the album's supporting single, "Superman", was revealed
via S.M. Entertainment's SMTOWN YouTube page, in which the music video
shows various clips from their Super Show 3
tours as well as the photoshoots and music video making for "Mr.
Simple". Super Junior also attended the SMTOWN Live in Tokyo Special
Edition along with their SM labelmates at the Tokyo Dome
on September 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Leeteuk said that the Tokyo Dome has
been his long-time dream concert place and that he is very thankful he
and Super Junior performed on the said venue before his army enlistment
in which he indicated it to be sometime next year.
SM Entertainment announced on September 5, 2011 that Super Show 4 will commence on November 19th and 20th in Seoul and December 10th and 11th at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.
On September 19, 2011, Super Junior released a repackaged version of
Mr. Simple entitled A-Cha, which comprises all thirteen tracks from Mr.
Simple's B-version plus four new material — "A-Cha", "Oops!!" which
features labelmate f(x),
"A Day" and "Andante". On September 20th, it was announced via the
group's official Japanese website that they will release their second
Japanese single which is a Japanese version of their new album title
track "Mr. Simple", and is slated for a December 7th release in Japan.
In addition, a "Super Show 3 in Japan" DVD will be released on November
16th in Japan.
On
September 23, 2011, SM released the teaser for the music video of A-Cha
on the official SMTOWN YouTube page. That same day, Super Junior also
made a comeback to Music Bank with the said song. The music video was
released on the 26th.
Artistry
Musical style
As
a whole, Super Junior has released five studio albums and one physical
single, including occasional contributions to drama soundtracks. They
are acclaimed for their vocal harmonization and unison as each member
contributes a different position range in their music. Some members are
credited for their vocal belting techniques.
Super Junior works closely with Yoo Young-jin,
who has produced and arranged most of the group's promotional singles
since debut. Yoo's also known for creating the renowned SMP style, a
genre that includes a balanced infusion of rock, R&B, and rap, with
complementing musical elements such as the electric guitar, bass, and other different percussion instruments. Super Junior has prominently used this SMP style in Don't Don.
Super Junior displayed a wide genre concept for each and every albums: they pursued bubblegum pop in SuperJunior05; ethereal and alternative rock in Don't Don; pop and contemporary R&B in Sorry, SorryBonamana; and electropop and synthpop in Mr. Simple. The group has also covered few songs in their albums. Their debut single "Twins (Knock Out)" is a cover of Triple Eight's
"Knockout," which was released in 2003. While the musical style is
mostly maintained as the original, "Twins (Knock Out)" touches closer to
rap rock, with quicker rap and more emphasis on the bass. In most of
their covers, the original titles are kept. Examples include Cape's
"L.O.V.E" and Exile's "Believe." However, most of these covers are re-arranged to different accompaniments, such as H.O.T's "Full of Happiness".
Dance Style
Super
Junior are known for doing performances that are heavily centered
around their choreography, and are acclaimed for their highly
synchronized dances. The group's pre-debut performance was a hip hop
dance and they have also joined B-boy battles and performances throughout their career.
Their
dance styles are widely termed as street dancing, with a majority of
their choreography containing hip hop dance moves such as popping,
waving, floating, and liquid dancing. Dances in the form of martial
arts are widely used in their dance routines as Han Geng and Sungmin
are professionally trained in that area. Shindong was the main
choreographer for "U" and for a majority of the group's other dance
sequences. Eunhyuk choreographed the dance for "Boom, Boom" (Fourth
Album) and also worked with the other members to create the dance
choreography for "Don't Don" and "Marry U", both promotional singles
for the group's second album. The dance for their hit single "Sorry,
Sorry" was choreographed by Nick Bass and Trent Dickens, who has also
worked with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. Nick Bass also
choreographed the dance for "BONAMANA". The dance for "No Other" was
choreographed by THE GEMINIZ, Rino Nakasone
and Maryss From Paris. Super Junior M "Perfection" was choreographed
by Misha Gabriel who had worked with other well known acts and
choreographed Justin Timberlake's "Future Love Sex Show," Pussycat
Dolls' "Doll Domination World Tour," "Dancing with the Stars" and more.
Popularity
On December 8, as the proponents of Hallyu Wave, idol group Super Junior was guested in CNN TV station’s 《Talk Asia》 program. Members Siwon and Leeteuk talked about the secret of their huge popularity and their strategy for advancing into the world music industry.[102][103]
Super
Junior is receiving attention worldwide. Recently they have extended
beyond Asia, gaining popularity in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Argentina, Peru,
Brazil and various other locations worldwide. In the year 2010, Peru’s
Listas put up the top 30 rankings of The Sexiest Men in the World,
whereby all of the members’ names appeared on the list and a Slovenian
newspaper also reported about their agency and album sales. Super
Junior also appeared in a publication of a specialty magazine recently
in Iran that contains a personal interview with all of the Super Junior
members and their individual profiles, which is explained briefly in
Persian. Earlier this year, in a survey conducted by Brazil’s Rede TV,
Super Junior was chosen as the number one Korean singer who should come
to Brazil. The results concluded with Super Junior being the top
artist of choice with 30.9% of the vote. They also won "Must-Follow
Personality" at the Mashable Awards 2010 which was held in Las Vegas. Member Yesung
was the winner of 2010 Cyworld Digital Music Award OST. Recently,
Super Junior was chosen as the most popular Korean singers in a survey
conducted by Mexico's TV Azteca, as well as the various Mexican
communities of this band on the Internet. Also, England’s BBC
Super Junior was picked number one in the survey, the Hallyu star that
you want to travel Korea with. Super Junior received overwhelming votes
from Asia including China, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries as
well as Europe such as France. According to the Korea Cultural
Foundation, Super Junior is selected by Brazilian fans as the Korea best
group. acknowledged Super Junior as the icon noted for creating Hallyu
effect.
Subgroups
Since
debut, S.M. Entertainment has created four subgroups for Super Junior.
Every member was put into different subgroups excluding Kibum,
due to his busy acting schedule. The intentions of the subgroups were
part of SM's strategy to not limit Super Junior's activities, and the
goal was to show that the group could accommodate different musical
genres. However, this strategy was later challenged by critics, as it
has influenced an overwhelming amount of music groups to create
official and unofficial subgroups alike. SM announced that Super Junior
will form more subgroups in the future, and possible focuses of these
subgroups include a variety of genres such as electropop, rock and hip hop. Previous Super Junior subgroups will also return to the industry along with appearances of new subgroups.
Super Junior-Happy
Further information: Super Junior-Happy
Sub-
group of Super junior with six members: Leeteuk( leader), Shindong,
Sungmin, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Kangin Album Title: 요리왕 (Cooking? Cooking!)
[Mini Album] Release Date: June 5, 2008
Super Junior-K.R.Y.
Super Junior-K.R.Y., established in November 2006, is a trio formed by Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung
whose initials make up the K.R.Y. in the title of the group. The
company discovered that these three members developed a particular
personal and subsequent fan-base that was separate from the rest of the
group, and how they also had similar musical qualities. They therefore
grouped these three members together to perform particular songs to
target a more mature audience. Being amongst the most vocally powerful
members of the group, Super Junior-K.R.Y. are credited to singing
mournful, R&B-style ballads, a style that has proven very popular in
recent years.
Super
Junior-K.R.Y.'s first official performance was on November 5, 2006 on
KBS's Music Bank, performing "The One I Love (한 사람만을)." They have
participated in the original soundtrack
of the tvN drama Hyena with a total of three tracks, including the
main theme. The trio also contributed tracks in two additional original
soundtracks, one track in both the soundtracks of Snow Flower and Billy Jean Look at Me.
Unlike Super Junior's other sub-units, Super Junior-K.R.Y. has not
officially released a single or album, and only participated in
collaboration albums and original soundtracks. However, a new album is expected from KRY in the future.
On
August 1, 2010, Super Junior’s sub-unit KRY. made history by opening
their own concert for the first time in Japan, and upon the fans’
request for an encore, more performances were added in Kobe on the 1st and 2 November and later on, 1 and 2 December in Fukuoka.
There were about a total of 22,000 people who watched the 6 sessions
of the performances. The group successfully finished their concert tour
in Japan and Taiwan last year. Due to ardent requests from Korean fans
wanting to see Super Junior-K.R.Y.’s concert, the group decided to
also hold the concert in Korea.
Super Junior-M
Further information: Super Junior-M
Super Junior-M was formed to target the Mandopop
market and debuted in 2008 with seven members: Han Geng (leader),
Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun from Super Junior, plus two new
members added in: Henry (a Chinese Canadian), and Zhou Mi.
In December 2009, Han Geng returned to China to pursue a solo career.
In February 2011, Super Junior members Eunhyuk and Sungmin were added
to the subgroup and resumed their activities with the release of EP Perfection. Currently, the eight active members are: Siwon, Ryeowook, Donghae, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Zhou Mi and Henry.
Super Junior-T
Further information: Super Junior-Trot
Super Junior-T
was formed to sing Trot ( traditional Korean music) with six members :
Leeteuk (leader), Heechul, Eunhyuk, Kangin, Sungmin, Shindong. Album
Title: 로꾸거 (Rokuko) [Single] Release Date: February 23, 2007
Film and television career
Further information: Super Junior filmography
Debut
Prior
to the group's debut, the members had individually appeared in
television dramas, with Leeteuk being the first member of the group to
act; he was an extra as a moviegoer for the drama All About Eve in 2000. Kangin appeared as an extra for The Secret Lovers in 2002, and Siwon made a brief cameo appearance in Precious Family in 2004. Kibum had his acting debut in 2004 as young Han Jung-woo in April Kiss and in 2005, he was given the main role Joo Yeo-myung for the year-long drama Sharp 2, starring alongside Go AraEighteen, Twenty-Nine; Heechul was given a role as a junior chef in Loveholic, and Sungmin starred as young Kang Dong-shin in morning drama Sisters of the Sea. After the group's debut in November 2005, both Heechul and Kibum acted in the sixth season of the sitcom Nonstop from late 2005 to early 2006. Kibum individually starred in Marrying a Millionaire as young Kim Young-hoon in 2005 and in March 2006, Heechul starred as Gong Min in Bad Family. That same year, Siwon was part of the supporting cast for Spring WaltzSnow Flower. In 2007, Heechul starred as Kim Young-soo in the popular drama Golden Bride,
which ended its broadcast in February 2008 after the extension of 14
episodes. Siwon starred as the ambitious Lee Mong-ryong in the
two-episode parody historical drama Legend of Hyang Dan. He later starred as the main character in Oh My Lady! oppositte actress Chae Rim, which received a large audience. Kangin made a cameo appearance in Billie Jean, Look At Me.
The song "It's Just That", sung by Super Junior-K.R.Y, was used as the
drama's theme song. In 2008, Kibum starred in the sitcom Chunja's Happy Events as Park Jung-woo, and Kangin had his first major television role in Romance Zero
as Na Ho-tae in 2009. In August 2009, Heechul played the piano for Lee
Chul in Loving You a Thousand Times. In 2010, Siwon again appeared in a
large supporting role as a data analyst and rookie elite agent in Athena: Goddess of War, which is a spin-off of the popular 2009 series Iris. There is speculation that the series will continue and he shall reprise his role, but with more character advances.
and Heechul. A few months before Super Junior's debut, Siwon starred as
the young Kang Bong-man in and Kibum starred as Ha Yeongchan in
In
2011, members Siwon and Donghae were scheduled in April 2011 to film
Taiwanese drama Extravagant Challenge (traditional Chinese: 華麗的挑戰) with
Ivy Chen as the three main characters (as Ren Tsuruga, Shō Fuwa, and
Kyoko Mogami, respectively). It is a live-action adaptation of the
popular Japanese shōjo manga Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura to be shot
in Taiwan.
In 2010, Siwon again appeared in a large supporting role as a data analyst and rookie elite agent in Athena: Goddess of War, which is a spin-off of the popular 2009 series Iris.
There is speculation that the series will continue and he shall
reprise his role, but with more character advances. On August 1 2011,
Siwon has been confirmed to be the male lead character on a new KBS
drama POSEIDON. According to the production staff, Siwon will take part
as a member of maritime police. POSEIDON will be broadcast in
September to follow up ‘Spy Myeongwol’ as a blockbuster drama which is
about the commitment of maritime police. Siwon has since attended
script-reading sessions and will soon begin filming.
As a group, Super Junior starred in Super Junior Mini-Drama,
a television program hosted by the group that was released in late
2006. The group wrote, produced, and acted in the separate half-hour
mini dramas. The subject matters of the dramas were chosen from viewers.[115][116] In 2008, Leeteuk and Sungmin starred in the one-episode drama act Super Junior Unbelievable Story. Both Leeteuk and Sungmin starred as themselves as a member of Super Junior-T.
Reality shows
Despite
numerous appearances as television actors, Super Junior are still best
known for their reality shows, having participated in popular reality
comedies.
- 2005: Super Junior Show
-
- A show documenting them right from when they debuted, demonstrating their unique talents and abilities along with their funniness and quirkiness that is never ending.
- 2006: Mystery 6
-
- Had Donghae as the main character being haunted by ghosts located within the Super Junior dorm. The show consists of hidden cameras and a narrator that "documents" their journey throughout each day as Donghae and the rest of the Super Junior group deal with the strange things that are happening to them and what also happened to the past tenant of the dorm they are staying in.
- 2006: Super Adonis Camp
-
- Six members of Super Junior (Leeteuk, Kangin, Sungmin, Donghae, Shindong, and Eunhyuk, with the later addition of Han Geng, with the last episode also featuring Ryeowook and Yesung) go to a pension located in the mountains and stay there for about a week. The boys are split into two teams of three and each team is given 30,000 won (approximately $30 USD) to purchase groceries with. During their stay at the pension, the boys must live off their groceries and endure living with a woman who is sort of like the MC for the show, except the boys find her annoying and do anything try and not pay attention to anything that she does. In the end, however, they give the money that they have saved from the leftover food to an orphanage, where they later visited, where the children that temporarily stayed in the pension with them are from.
- 2006: Super Junior Full House
-
- Super Junior starred in their own reality show called Super Junior Full House which was about two transfer students who will be boarding with half of the members of Super Junior, specifically in the dorm where in Heechul, Kangin, Kibum, Siwon, Han Geng and Donghae are staying in. The two transfer students were model Eva and her friend Anya.
-
- The show ran for about 13 episodes and it's running time was only for 25 minutes. It was aired from May 27, 2006 until August 26, 2006. The home stay only lasted for a month prior to its original plan and with the show it presented comedic experiences by Super Junior and the two international female students showing their deep friendship and funny attitudes and or personalities.
- 2006: Super Junior Mini-Drama
-
- A variety game show where the members of Super Junior (with the exception of Han Geng, Heechul, Kibum, and Siwon, who weren't directly in the show but had cameos) could create and produce their own mini-dramas for themselves to star in. The members split up into two teams: Prince Team or Pearl Blue Team and play a game in the beginning of the episode to determine who exactly got the reward for the drama or who got the punishment.
- 2007: MNET Super Summer
-
- A three on one dating game and hidden camera show featuring Siwon, Donghae, and Kibum. The show documents the member's efforts to win dates with model Lee Eun Jung through competing in games. The winner of each episode would get to have a date with the girl, while the other two men would have their own "man to man" date. The show is meant to show the "true intentions of men when it comes to love." Lee Eun Jung and the MC would devise plans to pit the members against each other in order to reveal their feelings. The show was shot in Saipan.
-
- A reality learning show, emceed by Shin Dong Yup and, on several episodes, chosen Super Junior members. It ran for 13 40-minute episodes from November 11, 2007 to February 3, 2008. The show focused on the members and Shin Dong Yup performing experiments on various subjects, such as the sense of taste and the origin of tears. The youngest member, Kyuhyun, was not present until the seventh episode due to the accident, as well as Siwon being absent from some of the later episodes due to having injured his foot in an earlier episode.
- 2007: KM Idol World
-
- Featuring Super Junior T, Idol world presented each episode with a challenge for the group, going from a lie detector test, playing the cat and mouse game, even to just seeing whose friend could show up at the filming location of a house, even though it was already midnight. The games were a wide variety and even during the course of the first couple of episodes, Super Junior T even did a parody of the drama Princess Hours, which they nicknamed Palace T.
- 2008: Unbelievable Outing Season 3
- 2008: Idol Show
- 2009: Human Network Super Junior's Miracle
-
- The boys of Super Junior have another variety show where they try to help teenagers, who have hardships going on in their lives, encouragement to pursue their dreams by finding them a role model that they may look up to in a career profession that they may want to join. They show the teenagers that nothing is impossible and that they can do it, even though it may seem like all of the odds are against them.
- 2010: Super Junior's Foresight
-
- A talk show with four or five Super Junior members (with mostly recurring Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun with the occasional Ryeowook and Yesung) where they would invite their sunbaes, or seniors in the music industry, and try to learn things from them that could help in the future, also, while having fun at the same time.
Hosting
The
Super Junior members were one of the first Korean idols to begin
television presenting and radio hosting. Heechul was the first in the
group to be a selected MC
for the music programs Popular Songs and Show Music Bank. He was also
the first in the group to host radio shows, and co-hosted Youngstreet
Radio ShowM.I.L.K.
member Park Heebon in early 2005. Heechul has also been the MC for the
Dream Concert since 2008. Leeteuk, Kangin, and Shindong made their MC
debut on Mnet's music program M! CountdownSuper Junior Kiss the Radio,
which has become one of the more tuned-in radio channels in the country.
with ex- five days after Super Junior's debut performance. In August 2006, both Leeteuk and Eunhyuk founded their own radio show,
The
group also founded their own reality television program, and on
November 11, 2007, the premiere of Explorers of the Human Body aired on
SBS. The humorous show introduced the thirteen members as regular
guests for the program, answering curious questions and doing
demonstrations involving the human body. The show has been the highest
rating program of the reality line-up every Sunday, but due to Super
Junior's tight schedule, the program ended quickly with thirteen
episodes on February 3, 2008. The popularity of the program had
inspired producers to create a second season, although no announcements
of producing the next season has been announced.
Acting
Attack on the Pin-Up Boys
Twelve members, excluding Kyuhyun, appeared in the group's debut film Attack
on the Pin-Up Boys. The first film released by SM Pictures, it
premiered on July 26, 2007 in Korea. "Wonder Boy", performed by Super
Junior, is used as the theme song of the film. Although the film was
promoted as a typical high schoolcomedy,
the movie gained positive reviews from critics, praising that the
movie had a well-oriented plot unlike most idol films. However, ticket
sales remained low in the premiere month despite its unexpected success
in the sales the first week. The film was a box-office bomb,
failing to attract more than 102,600 admissions and was proven to be a
big loss for SM Pictures. However, both versions of the film's DVD
became a best-selling record and were sold-out in both Korea and
oversea markets, which was more than enough to make up for the
production loss of 8.5 billion won.
Other Films
Siwon
was among the first of Super Junior to have participated in
silver-screen productions, appearing in the Hong Kong historical action
drama film, A Battle of Wits
as the large supporting role of Prince Liang Shi in 2006. The cast
promoted the movie throughout China with a short tour of four cities in
November 2006. While the film received mixed reviews, Siwon garnered
positive notices for his performance. He also received praises from
co-star Andy Lau, stating that Siwon is a wonderful actor and that he "sets a good example for young Hong Kong idols."
In 2007, Heechul, Kangin, and Shindong lent their voices to the three chipmunks in the Korean release of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
In 2008, Kangin had a major role in the Korean-language film, Hello Schoolgirl.
Endorsements
Super
Junior members first began endorsing for various fashion lines in early
2006, notably for Ivy ClubNII Qualified (2007) and Spris (2006–2007).
(2006–2007),
With their high popularity in Thailand, Siwon was contracted to be the main endorser for 12 Plus MiracleAcer
(2007–present) and began endorsing its products with interchangeable
Super Junior members. Siwon also makes several prominent appearances in
Korean brand Spao's catalogues along with SNSD and other Super Junior
members. He also recently endorsed and modeled for the SK Telesys
"Reaction" smart phone, also appearing in the phone's humorous
mock-action commercial. While, On July 2010, Super Junior's Choi Siwon
was appointed as UNICEF Envoy. Acer Computer Co., Ltd. a leading
position in Thai computer market also presented Siwon as a new endorser
for products. He has also been featured in notable magazines
such as Cosmopolitan, Elle, High Cut, and Men's Health, as well as
modeling for large brand names such as Armani, Lacoste, Gucci, and
Burberry.
Currently
Donghae is the brand ambassador for Maxim Colours Contact lens
worldwide. The group are also known for their string of humorous
commercials for Thailand's Yamaha Fino along with several other Thai entertainers, notably Golf & Mike.
Super Junior were also appointed as the Goodwill ambassadors for the
2008 Korea and Thailand 50th Anniversary, honoring the good relationship
Korea has held with Thailand for the past fifty years. Most recently
in 2009, Super Junior have filmed CFs for brands such as Kyochon,
Star Snacks and Happy Bubble. They also endorse a clothing line called
SPAO (2009–present). Super Junior also Spokesmodel for Donate Blood
(2007–present) campaign at the Republic of Korea National Red Cross and
was appointed as Goodwill ambassador for World Blood Donor Day. They
also promote and endorse for Samsung’s marketing of their new
smart-phone Samsung Galaxy S in Singapore. Chicken
Members of sub-group Super Junior-M also starring in commercials for Chinese mobile phones branded OPPO.
They also star in a new commercial show for Pepsi and endorse Chinese
clothing line Semir, reflecting their huge popularity in the Chinese
region.
On
February 20, 2010, Super Junior was named as Taiwan's tourism
ambassador. On March 3, 2011, Super Junior has been appointed by the
Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Korea as the
2011 Honorary Korean Ambassador Foods to promote Korean cuisine all
over the world. Recently, The Hong Kong Tourism Board has officially
invited Super Junior to host a travel show promoting Hong Kong. Earlier
this year, Super Junior was chosen as the CF model for Japan's famous
convenience store company, Circle K Sunkus.
On May 16th, the song was shown on major Japanese TV channels as the
commercial song for Japanese convenience store chain Circle K Sunkus. On
June 17, 2011, Super Junior chosen as the ambassador of Seoul Summer
Sale 2011. Recently, Super Junior has been appointed to be the
ambassadors for Korean tourism.
Other Media
On July 20, 2010, S.M. Entertainment, together with NEOWIZ Internet Corporation, Ltd, released an iPhone
application which features Super Junior's 4th regular album,
'BONAMANA'. The lite app can be purchased for free, while the full app
can be purchased for US$7.99 on iTunes.
Influence and impact
During the course of Super Junior's career, several pop groups were formed similarly extraordinary numbers of members. JYP
Entertainment recruited thirteen boys to be in a boy band, who were all
revealed in the show, Hot Blood Men. Of these thirteen, eleven were
split into two groups that debuted at different times: 2AM, which has four members, and 2PM, which has seven. Together, the two groups form the eleven-member boy band One Day. Ast'1, a boy band under DSP Entertainment,
released a promotional video in March 2008. In the short preview the
boy band expressed that they would "Knock Down Super Junior",
which resulted in a lot of criticism lashed into the group. However,
they clarified that they had no means to create conflict, and explained
the reason why they want to defeat Super Junior is because they see
Super Junior as their answer of success.
Controversies
Expansion to China
After
the subgroups Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Junior-T, on October 2,
2007, S.M. Entertainment announced the birth of another Super Junior
sub-unit project that would begin activities in China starting 2008. Zhou Mi and S.M. Entertainment's new Chinese-Canadian trainee Henry Lau, who was also featured in the music video of "Don't Don", were also members of the subgroup.
The
announcement brought in a huge wave of dissatisfaction and opposition
from fans of Super Junior after the announcement of two new members.
Initially, fans were planning to boycott the company's products,
however, most fans agreed on a silent protest instead. Thousands of
fans from Super Junior's official fanclub E.L.F. silently sat in front
of the SM building and held signs that supported the group to have only
thirteen members.
After
more rumors regarding adding a Chinese member to the subgroup, the
fans decided to gain a legal representation as part of S.M.
Entertainment's stockholders. As of March 20, 2008, Super Junior fans
purchased 58,206 stocks of S.M. Entertainment, holding 0.3% of the
company's entire stock. They released a statement that they will obtain
all chances to prevent S.M. Entertainment from adding new members and
to keep Super Junior as only thirteen.
Conflict with MBC
A time-slot dispute occurred between S.M. Entertainment and MBC
when SM insisted to have Kangin stay on SBS's Explorers of the Human
Body instead of MBC's Sunday Night Dong-An Club (동안클럽) where Kangin has
been a regular host. MBC temporarily banned the rest of Super Junior
from appearing in any future performances and shows hosted by MBC.
Kangin also lost his MC jobs to T.O.P. of Big Bang
for the music show, Show! Music Core and also two more variety shows,
which both soon canceled after Kangin left due to low ratings. MBC
demanded an apology from S.M. Entertainment in order for Super Junior
to appear on shows hosted by the channel again. However, MBC concluded
that Super Junior's ban was never official, but just a decision for
shows' producers to decide.
Han Geng's lawsuit
On December 21, 2009, Han Geng filed for contract termination with S.M. Entertainment,
label company of the group. The following day, Han Geng's lawyer
stated the claimed reasons behind the action: provisions were in S.M.
Entertainment's favour, unlawful 13-year contract length, unfair sum of
money to end the contract, not allowed to request to revise his
contract, forced to do things that were not in his contract, forced to
do things against his will, fined if he disobeyed the company, missed
any events or even was late, and there was uneven profit distribution.
Along with this, it was disclosed that because of S.M. Entertainment's
refusal to give him a day off in over two years, he had developed gastritis and kidney disease.
Han
Geng's current manager, Sun Le, also submitted a statement to the
court of South Korea citing S.M. Entertainment's violation of Han
Geng's rights. Sun Le's statement contended that: Han Geng was forced
to wear a mask due to company's ill handling of the visa issue, company
purposely discriminated against Han Geng and his family, company
refused to cooperate or listen to any of Han Geng's suggestions,
company purposely turned down individual activities for Han Geng
(including Ariel Lin's
"Fireflies" music video, which later starred Siwon and Donghae) and
that the company treated Han Geng's potential endorsers poorly.
On
December 21, 2010, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of
Han Geng. The court stated, “All three contracts – from the January
2003 contract, the altered contract from February 2007, and the
affiliated contract from December 2007 – do not exist.” A representative
of S.M. Entertainment said that they will file an immediate appeal to
reverse the decision and have yet to release official statements
regarding his status.
Conflict during Expo 2010
On May 26, 2010, organized by South Korea Pavilion of Expo 2010,
many Korean pop stars including Super Junior were invited to the
"South Korean classical and pop concert" which was planned to be
launched at Expo Cultural Centre on May 30. As the tickets were not for
sale to the public, visitors who want to enjoy the show could only
exchange the ticket via expo ticket in the west door of the Expo
Cultural Centre on May 30. The total ticket number is 5000, while 2500
of which would be assigned to Korea visitors for free which caused the
actual available number to be 2500. Super Junior fans collected in the
entry of the Expo Cultural Centre, and the strong emotion led to the
occurrence of violence, resulting in casualties. A local armed police
said that this is his first time to see such a “crazy” situation in Expo 2010 since the Expo park was opened.
Members
Discography
Studio albums
- SuperJunior05 (2005)
- Don't Don (2007)
- Sorry, Sorry (2009)
- Bonamana (2010)
- Mr. Simple / A-Cha (2011)
Korean Single Album
- Show Me Your Love (with TVXQ) (2005)
- U (2006)
Japanese Single Album
- 美人 (BONAMANA) (2011.6.8)
- Mr. Simple (2011.12.7)
Live Albums
- Super Show Tour Concert Album (2008)
- 1st PREMIUM LIVE in Japan (2009)
- Super Show 2 Tour Concert Album (2009)
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