Girls' Generation

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

For other uses, see Girls' Generation (disambiguation).

This article contains Korean text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hangul or hanja.

Girls' Generation (소녀시대)
The girls performing in BKK (live; February 2009)
Background information
Also known as	SNSD (So Nyeo Shi Dae or So Nyuh Shi Dae), SoShi, Shaonü Shidai
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop, dance-pop, retro-pop & teen-pop
Years active	2007–present
Labels	SM Entertainment
Associated acts	SM Town
Website	Official Website
Members
Taeyeon Jessica Sunny Tiffany Hyoyeon Yuri Sooyoung Yoona Seohyun

Girls' Generation (Hangul: 소녀시대; Hanja: 少女時代; Mandarin Chinese: Shaonü Shidai) is a South Korean nine-member girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2007. Its members include (in order of official announcement) Yoona, Tiffany, Yuri, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Taeyeon, Jessica, and Sunny. They are commonly referred to as SNSD, the acronym of the group's Korean name So Nyeo Shi Dae or So Nyuh Shi Dae (English: Times of Girls).

History

Pre-debut

The members were professionally trained primarily in singing and dancing while a select few were also trained in acting and modeling. Many of the members had already made appearances in magazine ads, television commercials, and small television appearances. For nearly two years, Korean websites speculated about which female SM Entertainment trainees would be placed into the group. The was speculated to be called Super Girls after their counterpart Super Junior.

2007: Debut and first album

In July 2007, Girls' Generation had their first performance on Inkigayo. The song the girls performed was called "Into the New World" (Korean: "다시 만난 세계"), which became their first single. A show documenting the girls' debut titled M.Net's Girls Go To School was filmed during this time. The song had a physical release, which included two other songs, "Beginning" and "Perfect for You", which was later renamed to "Honey" for their self-titled debut album Girls' Generation. An instrumental of "Into the New World" was also included. The group began promoting the single soon after its release. Girls' Generation performed their single on SBS's Inkigayo, MBC's Show! Music Core, and on KBS's Music Bank.

After a short break, the group's first full album was released in late autumn 2007, with the lead single "Girls' Generation" (Korean: "소녀시대"), a cover of Lee Seung-Chul's hit. Promotion for the single started in early November. Marked by dance routines and vocals, "Girls' Generation" was a hit for the group, and the album sold 121,143 copies to date, placing 8th in the year-end charts.^[1] In early 2008, Girls' Generation began promoting their second single, "Kissing You". The music video featured Donghae from Super Junior. This song achieved the #1 spot on three major TV music rankings—SBS Inkigayo, M.net M.Countdown! and KBS Music Bank.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2008, the album was re-released and re-titled Baby Baby. A third single, "Baby Baby", was used to promote the album. A digital EP featuring Jessica, Tiffany, and Seohyun was released on April 2008, titled Roommate. The single from the mini-album is "Oppa Nappa" ("Korean: 오빠 나빠", literally "Bad Brother", although contextually it refers to an older male friend).

Girls' Generation, along with fellow artists such as BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, CSJH the Grace, Zhang Liyin, SHINee and other SM artists participated in SM Town Live '08. The tour expanded its route to South Korea, Thailand, and China.

2008–2009: Other activities, return with mini-albums

It was announced in autumn 2008 that Girls' Generation would be starring in a reality show on M.net. Titled Factory Girl, the show chronicles the girls working as interns at fashion megazine Elle. The program began airing in early October.^[2]

During their absence from the music scene, they appeared in many commercials for MapleStory and Mabinogi.

It was then announced that the group's first EP, The First Mini Album — Gee, would be released in January 2009.^[3] A teaser video was released in January 2009 and the first single "Gee" released soon after. Interest in the song rose after the digital release,^[4] topping Cyworld's hourly music chart on the release day.^[5] The song also went #1 on all major digital music charts within two days.^[6]

The group began its album promotion on January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core.^[7] They sang their new single, "Gee", and "Him Nae (Way To Go)", another track from Gee. Meanwhile, questions were raised when the group did not appear on KBS's Music Bank with "Gee", even after winning #1 on the music chart show.^[8]

"Gee" is the record holder for the longest-running #1 on music portal M.net (for 8 weeks), surpassing the previous record of 6 weeks set by the Wonder Girls' "Nobody".^[9][10] They also set a record on KBS's Music Bank by being #1 for 9 consecutive weeks,^[11] breaking the record previously set by Jewelry's "One More Time, which had 7 wins.^[12] "Gee" also won the "Best-selling Song" award on Music Bank's half-year special, for "Gee". Promotions for the song ended at the end of March.

After a short break, SM Entertainment announced that the girls would be back with a new single and showing a "Marine Girl" concept; the song, titled "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" (Korean: "소원을 말해봐", literally "Tell Me Your Wish"); the mini album was released digitally on June 22, 2009.^[13][14] The mini-album, Genie, includes a duet between Jessica and SHINee member Onew called "One Year Later".^[15]

On June 26, 2009, Girls' Generation's comeback performance was recorded on KBS's Music Bank.^[15] The group then had their return performances on MBC's Music Core and SBS's Inkigayo on June 27 and 28, 2009. Genie was released on June 29, 2009. Their first win for their single "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" was obtained at the July 10, 2009 episode of KBS Music Bank. Their second award was claimed at the July 12, 2009 episode of SBS Inkigayo. The group finished promotions for "Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie)" in August 2009.

On October 7, Girls' Generation, along with label-mate f(x), released a digital single named "Chocolate Love" for the 4th edition of the Blacklabel series LG CYON phone, "Chocolate". Girls' Generation sang the "Retro Pop Version" of the song while f(x) sang the "Electronic Pop Version". The song was not promoted by either group.

In addition to their musical activities, the girls have had various television series, with varied success. On May 3, 2009, Girls' Generation starred in their new reality show Sonyuh Shidae Horror Movie factory, with the premiere episode receiving a viewership rating of 3.3%. The show was then cancelled after 6 episodes due to low ratings.^{[citation needed]} The show was replaced with another Girls' Generation reality program Himnaera-Him! or Cheer Up! in which the girls try to cheer up hardworking people in the midst of an economic slump. The show was canceled after two episodes due to the girls becoming too busy with the release and promotion of their new mini-album, Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie).^{[citation needed]} Since June 23, 2009, the group has been on a reality series titled Girls' Generation's Hello Baby, on cable network KBS Joy, where they take care of a child and experience what motherhood is like. In that show, they take care of a boy named "Cho Kyungsan" (Korean: "조경산"), and each week they (or fathers, male guests who come out time to time) select "The Best Mom" and "the Worst Mom" among the members according to their work for the day. The show ended on November 17, 2009.^{[citation needed]}

The group also announced its first solo tour, with two Korean dates in December and other Asian locations to follow.^[16] The Korean dates sold out in 3 minutes.^[17] The concert is titled "Into the New World" after the name of their debut single.

Member profiles

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Taeyeon

• Birth name: Kim Tae Yeon (Hangul: 김태연; Hanja: 金泰妍)
• Date of birth: March 9, 1989 (1989-03-09) (age 20)
• Position: Leader, Main Vocalist

The leader of the group, Taeyeon has ventured out into DJ-ing for Chin Chin Radio and has recorded songs for various soundtracks, including "Manyakae" (Korean: "만약에", "If") for Hong Gil Dong (TV series), "Deullinayo..." ("들리나요...", "Can You Hear Me...") for Beethoven Virus, and "Sarangingeolyo" ("사랑인걸요", "This is Love") for Heading to the Ground. With Jessica, Seohyun and Sunny, she released a digital song entitled "I Can't Bear It Anymore".

Jessica

• Birth name: Jessica Jung (Hangul: 제시카 정)
• Korean name: Jung Soo Yeon (Hangul: 정수연; Hanja: 鄭秀妍)
• Date of birth: April 18, 1989 (1989-04-18) (age 20)
• Position: Main Vocalist

Jessica was born and raised in San Francisco, California. With Seohyun, Sunny and Taeyeon, they released a digital single entitled "I Can't Bear It Anymore". Along with Tiffany and Seohyun, she released a single, "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: 오빠 나빠) and "Mabinogi [It's Fantastic!]". She starred in Kim Jo-han's music video "Love is Late, I'm Sorry" and also featured in 8Eight's song, "I Love You". In their second mini-album, she sings a duet with SHINee's leader Onew in the track "One Year Later" (Korean: 1년 後). Jessica and Park Myeong-su (Korean: 박명수) released a duet song for Infinity Challenge called, "NaengMyun" (Korean: 냉면). She also appeared in Super Junior-M's music video "Super Girl". She will be playing the main character, Elle Woods, in the Korean production of Legally Blonde - The Musical from November 2009 at the Seoul SamSungDong CoEX Atrium. She is the older sister of Krystal from f(x).

Sunny

• Birth name: Lee Sun Kyu (Hangul: 이순규; Hanja: 李順圭)
• Date of birth: May 15, 1989 (1989-05-15) (age 20)
• Position: Supporting Vocalist

The niece of Lee Soo Man, Sunny was a trainee under a different company before transferring into SM Entertainment. After several months of training in 2007, Sunny debuted as a member of Girls' Generation that same year. With Jessica, Seohyun and Taeyeon, they released a digital singled called "I Can't Bear It Anymore". She was a co-DJ of ChunJi (Korean: 천방지축 라디오, literally Reckless Radio), along with Sungmin (Korean: 성민), of Super Junior until the broadcast ended on the July 30, 2008. Sunny appeared in Super Junior-H's music video for "Cooking? Cooking!". Sunny also sang the song "Finally Now" (Korean: 이제서야), on the soundtrack for the movie Story of Wine. She also co-hosts a music show called The M with SS501's Hyungjoon. Sunny and Yuri are permanent guests in the television program Invincible Youth, as part of G7 (consisting of 7 girls from popular Korean idol groups).

Tiffany

• Birth name: Stephanie Hwang
• Korean name: Hwang Mi Young (Hangul: 황미영; Hanja: 黄美英)
• Date of birth: August 1, 1989 (1989-08-01) (age 20)
• Position: Supporting Vocalist

Born in Los Angeles but raised in Diamond Bar, California, USA, she was discovered in the SM Starlight Casting System 2004 in Los Angeles. Along with Seohyun and Jessica, she released a single, "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: 오빠 나빠) and "Mabinogi [It's Fantastic!]". She was the co-host of Sonyeo Sonyeon Gayo Baekso (Korean: 소년소녀 가요백서), along with Kim Hyesung from November 5, 2007 to June 13, 2008. She sang "Na Honjaseo" (Korean: "나 혼자서", "By Myself") from the Ja Myung Go soundtrack, a duet with K.Will called "Sonyeo, Sarangeul Mannada" (Korean: "소녀, 사랑을 만나다", "A Girl Meets Love"), as well as "Feeling Only You" by the Blue(Kim Min-Jong & Son Ji Chang) with Soo Young. Tiffany and Yuri currently host MBC's Music Core.

Hyoyeon

• Birth name: Kim Hyo Yeon (Hangul: 김효연; Hanja: 金孝渊)
• Date of birth: September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) (age 20)
• Position: Main Dancer and Supporting Vocalist

Hyoyeon was featured in one of BoA's live concerts as a silhoutte dancer way back in 2005. She attended a hip-hop dance school that specialized in waving, popping, and locking. In 2004, along with labelmate Siwon, she traveled to Beijing, China to learn more about Chinese for four months.

Yuri

• Birth name: Kwon Yu Ri (Hangul: 권유리; Hanja: 權侑利)
• Date of birth: December 5, 1989 (1989-12-05) (age 20)
• Position: Main Dancer and Supporting Vocalist

She can play the violin. Yuri also played a part in the sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (Korean: 못말리는 결혼), alongside Sooyoung. Yuri alongside with Sooyoung sang the song "Ggok" (Korean: "꼭") for the soundtrack of Working Mom. Yuri is also the centerpiece of K. Will's music video "Dropping the Tears" (Korean: 눈물이 뚝뚝), and appears in the music video for "JjaRaJaJja" (Korean: 짜라자짜) by Joo Hyun-Mi & Seohyun (ft. Davichi). Apart from her solo works, she is currently the co-host of Korean music program Music Core on MBC alongside Tiffany. Yuri and Sunny are permanent guests in the television program Invincible Youth, as part of G7 (consisting of 7 girls from popular Korean idol groups).

Sooyoung

• Birth name: Choi Soo Young (Hangul: 최수영; Hanja: 崔秀英)
• Date of birth: February 10, 1990 (1990-02-10) (age 19)
• Position: Supporting Vocalist

Before Sooyoung's audition to Girls' Generation, she made a brief debut in Japan as a singer in the group called "Route φ". She first debuted with Marina Takahashi with the song "Start". She was previously a DJ of ChunJi (Korean: 천방지축 라디오, literally Reckless Radio), along with Sungmin of Super Junior but was soon replaced by Sunny due to schedule conflicts. Sooyoung also played a part in the sitcom Unstoppable Marriage (Korean: 못말리는 결혼), alongside Yuri and was also in the movie Hello Schoolgirl with Kang-in of Super Junior and actress Lee Yeon-hee. Currently, she hosts MBC TV program Fantastic Duo (Korean: 환상의 짝꿍), as well as the DJ for "Starry Night Radio" with 2AM's Changmin. She also featured in "Feeling Only You" by The Blue with Tiffany.

Yoona

• Birth name: Im Yoon A (Hangul: 임윤아; Hanja: 林潤娥)
• Date of birth: May 30, 1990 (1990-05-30) (age 19)
• Position: Supporting Vocalist

She debuted in the 2007 drama series 9 Ends 2 Outs (9회말 2아웃) playing a minor role, then guest starred a few times on Park Jung Geum and went on to co-star as the lead in You Are My Destiny and Cinderella Man.

Seohyun

• Birth name: Seo Joo Hyun (Hangul: 서주현; Hanja: 徐珠賢)
• Date of birth: June 28, 1991 (1991-06-28) (age 18)
• Position: Main Vocalist

She was casted in the 2003 SM Casting System. With Jessica, Sunny and Taeyeon, they released a digital single called "I Can't Bear It Anymore". She had her very first solo single entitled "I Don't Know What is Love Yet", sang it last on 30 December 2007 at the 2007 SBS Gayo Festival. Along with Jessica and Tiffany, they released a single "Oppa Nappa" (Korean: 오빠 나빠), and "Mabinogi (It's Fantastic!)". On February 17, 2009, her duet with trot singer Joo Hyun-Mi (Korean: 주현미) (ft. Davichi), was digitally released, called "JjaraJaJja" (Korean: "짜라자짜") and was nominated for the M.net Asian Music Awards as the Best Trot Music Award of the year.

Controversies

Silent protest

On June 7 2008, during the 2008 Dream Concert, a silent protest was held against Girls' Generation by various fanclubs, notably E.L.F. (Super Junior), Cassiopeia (TVXQ), and Triple S (SS501) by turning off their glow stick and remaining silent during the performance. ^[18]

Marine girl concept

When the cover image for their second EP Genie was released, there was controversy regarding the images used on the cover, specifically the World War II Japanese A6M Zero fighter and a Nazi swastika shaped badge present on the cover. SM Entertainment delayed the EP in order to redo the covers.^[19] The EP was released 4 days later.

Discography

Single

• Into the New World (2007)

Albums

• Girls Generation (2007)
• Baby Baby (2007)

EPs

• Gee (2009)
• Genie (2009)

Reality TV shows

Awards

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

2007

• Cyworld Digital Music Awards [Song of the Month] {"Into the New World"}
• 14th Annual Korean Entertainment Awards [Best New Female Group]
• 22nd M.net Golden Disk Awards [Anycall Newbie Award]
• 22nd M.net Golden Disk Awards [Anycall Popularity Award]
• 14th Annual Korean Performing Arts Ceremony [Best New Female Group]

2008

• 17th Seoul Gayo Awards [High1 Music Award]
• 17th Seoul Gayo Awards [Best New Artist Award]
• M.net 20's Choice [Hot Sweet Music Award] {"Kissing You"}
• 15th Annual Korean Entertainment Awards [Best Female Group]

2009

• Cyworld Digital Music Awards [Song of the Month] (January) {"Gee"}
• Best Digital Song for the First Half of the Year {"Gee"}
• Incheon Culture Day Ceremony [2009 Young Artist Award]
• 16th Annual Korean Entertainment Awards [Best Female Group]
• Bugs: Online Music Awards [Best Girl Group]
• 17th Korean Cultural Entertainment Awards [Teen Musical Artist Award]
• 24th Golden Disk Awards [Digital Daesang Award]
• 24th Golden Disk Awards [Digital Bonsang Award]
• 1st Melon Music Awards [Song of the Year] {"Gee"}
• 1st Melon Music Awards [Artist of the Year]
• 1st Melon Music Awards [Smart Radio of the Year]
• 1st Melon Music Awards [Odyssey of the Year]
• 1st Melon Music Awards [Mobile Music of the Year]

References

External links

• Girls' Generation Official website