Originally a five-member group, they released their first song "Good Person" for the soundtrack of the Korean drama Cinderella Man in April 2009. In June 2009, members Jiwon and Jiae left the group, delaying the group's debut. The next month, T-ara regrouped to become a six-member group with the addition of Boram, Qri, and Soyeon, and released their debut single "Geojitmal" (거짓말, "Lies").
In July 2010, T-ara introduced a new member, Ryu Hwayoung, to become a seven-member group. T-ara uses a rotating leader system, and has a different member of the group elected as leader each year, in order to give both the group and the individual members the opportunity to grow in a new direction.
In 2011, T-ara signed a $4.3 million contract with management company J-ROCK for their Japanese debut, the highest out of all the girl groups debuting in Japan. Their major record label is EMI Music Japan while their management and promotional marketing takes place under J-ROCK. The group's first single, a remake of their 2009 hit "Bo Peep Bo Peep", debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly charts with 49,712 copies sold, the first for a debuting Korean girl group ever in history.
2012: Funky Town, group changes and Jewelry Box
T-ara released their drama music video for "Lovey-Dovey" (a continuation of their "Cry Cry" music video) on January 2, 2012. Their repackage album of Black Eyes titled Funky Town was released digitally on January 3, 2012. "Lovey-Dovey" immediately grabbed the top spot on various Korean real-time charts after its release.
In February, Forbes Korea, in celebration of their ninth year of establishment, reported this year's list of the Top 40 "Power Celebrities". T-ara ranked on the list at number seventeen, thus making them as the third most powerful girl group and the seventh most powerful female celebrity. 'Celebrity' refers to an individual who is widely known by the masses, and Forbes takes a hundred of these celebrities and ranks them based on income, influence, fame, and professionalism. They use the same format as Forbes in the United States uses for their 'Celebrity 100' list, which is reported on an annual basis.
The group's third Japanese single "Roly-Poly" was released on February 29. The songs "Geojitmal" (거짓말, "Lies") and "Apple is A" from their debut album Absolute First Album was included on version A and B of the single respectively, with the former receiving a music video.
T-ara is planning to release their first Japanese album in June, before their first Japanese concert tour T-ara Japan Live Tour kicks off in Nagoya on June 19. The tour is expected to bring up to 40,000 fans. It's also been confirmed the group will release their second full-length Korean album in July.
In March, T-ara's song "Roly-Poly" was announced to have topped the Gaon Top 100 Digital Singles for 2011 with a staggering 364,153,533 points. Their song "Cry Cry" made it on the charts as well, coming in at number forty-eight.
Rumors of the group possibly switching their members and the overall concept of T-ara surfaced online on March 14. Kim Kwang-soo, the CEO of Core Contents Media was quoted as saying, "It is true that we are planning to make big changes to our group in April in order to take T-ara up another level. This change could of course possibly include member and overall concept changes." and continued with, "We will make the official announcement regarding T-ara's change on April 7. It could be an upgrade in the overall concept, musical style, or member change. We are doing our best to bring positive change to the group." On April 5, 2012, their agency announced that two members who were previously trainees under the label will be added to T-ara's line-up in July, transforming T-ara into a nine member group.
On April 6, Core Contents Media reported through a press release that, "We have plans to switch out any prideful members who are not working to their full potential, causing the other members to suffer as a result." showing a possibility for not only an addition of two new members but a exchange of old members as well. Due to this new member change there has been much debate on whether it is the right move for Core Contents Media by fans and entertainment media personnel.
T-ara will release the Japanese version of "Lovey-Dovey" on May 23. The single will come in two editions, with one that will include a DVD with a music video. The singles will also include lottery tickets that can help reserve tickets for T-ara's Japanese tour.
Members (current)
| Stage name | Birth name | Date of birth | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romanized | Hangul | Hanja | Romanized | Hangul | Hanja | |
| Boram | 보람 | 寶藍 | Jeon Bo Ram | 전보람 | 全寶藍 | March 22, 1986 |
| Qri | 큐리 | 居麗 | Lee Ji Hyun | 이지현 | 李智賢 | December 12, 1986 |
| Soyeon | 소연 | 素妍 | Park In Jung | 박인정 | 朴仁静 | October 5, 1987 |
| Eunjung | 은정 | 恩靜 | Ham Eun Jung | 함은정 | 咸恩靜 | December 12, 1988 |
| Hyomin | 효민 | 孝敏 | Park Sun Young | 박선영 | 朴善英 | May 30, 1989 |
| Hwayoung | 화영 | 花英 | Ryu Hwa Young | 류화영 | 柳花英 | April 22, 1993 |
| Jiyeon | 지연 | 智妍 | Park Ji Yeon | 박지연 | 朴智妍 | June 7, 1993 |
The Former
| Stage name | Birth name | Date of birth | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romanized | Hangul | Romanized | Hangul | ||
| Jiae | 지애 | Lee Jiae | 이지애 | August 6, 1987 | Main Vocalist |
| Jiwon | 지원 | Yang Jiwon | 양지원 | April 5, 1988 | Vocalist |
No comments:
Post a Comment