from: allkpop
Idol groups share many things in common, they can sing, rap,dance, and they usually have a lot of members. But one other thing theyshare in common these days is having one or more international groupmember/s in their respective groups.
In
After School, you have
Beka (Korean American). In
Super Junior, you have
HanGeng (Chinese). In
2pm, you have
TaecYeon,
JaeBeom (Korean American), and
NichKhun (Thai / Chinese). In
SNSD, you have
Tiffany,
Jessica (Korean American),
SooYoung (Korean lived in Japan), and
HyoYeon (Korean lived in China). In
Wonder Girls, you have
Yubin (Korean lived in San Jose, California). In
2AM, you have
ChangMin (Korean lived in Canada). In
2NE1, you have
Sandara Park (Korean lived in Philippines), and
Park Bom (Korean studied in Boston, Massachusetts). In
Epik High you have
Tablo(Korean and lived all over the world, famous for graduating fromStanford with a degree in English Literature and a Masters). There aremore including
Victoria (Chinese) and
Amber (Chinese grew up in Orange County, California) from new SM group,
f(x).
There are so many to name, I can't even name them all here. I still haven't mentioned
Nicole (Korean American) of
Kara,
MickyYooChun (Korean lived in America) of
TVXQ,and the list will still go on and on. There's only a few groups I knowof that doesn't have international members off the top of my head:
SHINee,
4minute, and
Big Bang.
From the above list, you might have read some names that may havesurprised you. That is because people think America when you think ofinternational idol group members. But there's a wide variety now;China, Japan, Canada, USA, the Philippines, and Thailand. People maythink of the big and populated places such as the USA and Japan but nowthey come from everywhere. For example, Sandara Park comes from havinga career in the Philippines. This shows the K-Pop industry expandingits horizons in terms of accepting new people into the music scenelandscape.
Now you might wonder why there are so many of them. Entertainmentcompanies want international members because they have internationalknowledge and if they come to Korea, they will also carry a Koreanfeeling which will appeal to the audience. Another reason is language.Language is a huge barrier for Asians trying to make it in anothercountry.
Boa, Se7en, and the
Wonder Girlsall had to study English very hard and though they have improved,they're still not perfectly fluent. TVXQ had to learn Japanese to makeit in the J-Pop industry. By having someone who is already fluent inthe language, you know they will lead the group if the group everdecides to debut / crossover over to other countries. Not onlyregarding traveling to a different country but just connecting withfans in general is easier when you know more language(s). SooYoung ofSNSD knows Japanese where as HyoYeon and HanGeng know Chinese. Nichkhunrepresent 2PM whenever they visit Thailand. This all helps the groupsget more known in Asia and the rest of the world.
These international members help bring KPOP music to the rest of theworld. International fans will find it easier to accept once they findsomething in common with the group, once they know they share ahometown, or speak the same language. So all this is only a good thing.
Check out some idol stars speak their second language:
SNSD's Tiffany
2PM
Sandara Park
SNSD's Jessica
SNSD's Jessica and KARA's Nicole
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本帖最後由 SHEKSHEK118 於 2009-9-6 13:54 編輯 ]
