Fans of K-pop group Girls' Generation should know the significance of the date 5 Aug. On the eve of this South Korean idol group's fifth anniversary, I would like to show how and why they will become a pop phenomenon, possibly in the ranks of Michael Jackson and The Beatles, in the coming future.
Half a decade ago, nine teenage girls marked their debut by performing their first single "Into the New World" on SBS Inkigayo, a music programme in Korea. Back then, hardly any non-Korean knew about SNSD's existence. Forward to 2012 and countries as far and random as Peru and Belarus have fans of them.
Out of so many girl groups that are jumping on the K-pop bandwagon, how did SNSD manage to manoeuvre out of this mess and find a path of success? The main reason lies in the nine members themselves.
Since their official debut till today, Girls' Generation is still made up of the same old squad of players. In the current K-pop scene, this is definitely something rare. Even their closest rivals, Kara and Wonder Girls, have undergone some changes over the years.
The fact that the group still remains intact shows that their company's confidence in them has barely waned and unity is ever-present. The constant changing of members like After School will only confuse people and display a lack of orientation. Adding an additional member might also displease the existing cast.
There are surely disputes within nine female humans but none of those are serious enough to affect the group publicly. Take Kara for example when four out of its five members wanted to terminate their contracts last year.
It was a serious dent to Kara's image and people may question if Park Gyuri, the only remaining member, was the only one on good terms with their agency. SM Entertainment, Girls' Generation's label, have been very supportive in them and spared no efforts in investing in the group like international promotions.
Another crucial reason why SNSD managed to survive the waves in a sea of K-pop groups is the ages of its members. The oldest, Taeyeon, and youngest, Seohyun, are only two years apart. Two-thirds of the team were born in 1989, two in 1990 while Seohyun's birth year was 1991.
Because of their similar ages, the members are able to bond with each other better. It also makes Girls' Generation look more organized as a group. Others like label mate f(x) have a seven-year difference between the oldest and youngest while miss A have at least a two-year age difference between all its members.
Although the difference in members' ages may not seem significant, it will become a pivotal fact in the long-term. You can try to believe this by asking yourself why do The Beatles always seem more popular than Jackson 5.
There is a Chinese idiom "tiān shí dì lì rén hé" which means at the right time, in the right place with the right people. SNSD and its success prove this saying. The group entered the industry when the Hallyu wave had yet to begin. Together with Kara plus Wonder Girls, who were also formed in the same year, SNSD was part of the pioneer batch of K-wave female groups.
Hence, it was able to slowly garner fans before the craze started and girl groups from a variety of companies started sprouting out one after another. I would say 2009 was when Korean pop music started to become well-known and SNSD gained much popularity at the start of that year with their runaway hit "Gee".
This phenomenal single took SM Entertainment's then newest girl group from average to top act in the entertainment circle and this status has remained unchanged. It was shrewd business strategies which ensured Girls' Generation as a leading artiste.
After the huge success of "Gee", the girls were back in the middle of the year with a new song "Tell Me Your Wish" which featured the unforgettable Hacky Sack dance. Only Super Junior's Sorry Sorry is famous and classic enough to defeat it.
By having two consecutive trademark hits in an important year for Korean contemporary culture, SNSD solidified its place in the music industry. The positive image that SNSD has maintained throughout the years is also an important factor.
Unlike 2NE1, who are equally famous but seem rebellious and unorthodox at times, SNSD tread between the lines of bubblegum pop and electro pop, genres that belong to the mainstream.
It is indeed wise of SM Entertainment to make and maintain Girls' Generation as their most 'normal" group. Label mates SHINee and f(x) have undergone several weird and interesting looks since their debuts. Even Super Junior started to go feminine this year but the nine girls are largely still the same.
When they are uniformed on stage like "Tell Me Your Wish", SNSD adopt similar colours and designs for their costumes to look synchronized but in cases where they are in various clothes like "The Boys", most members don mono-colours like black to keep the group looking neat and compact.
This "safe approach" of SNSD seems to be working very well and as turned out to be their so-called dress code in my opinion.
It only required 17 months since debut for this nine-member team to gain immense (and I mean immense) popularity, a rather short frame for a pop group. Their seniors and label mates Super Junior took 4 years before "Sorry Sorry" went viral while Wonder Girls needed more than two years until "Nobody' became their trademark song.
Achieving such great accomplishment within such a narrow period of time, how can you not recognize them as the next big star on the international stage?
Other factors like the existence of English-speaking members, venture into the American market and the wide variety of talents and features its members possess all contribute to the group's success. In short, SNSD is like a gift package filled with goodies.
Coincidentally, Teddy Riley, the producer of Michael Jackson aka arguably the most famous pop star ever, created SNSD's first international release "The Boys". Now how about that?
This generation of stardom belongs to Girls' Generation. No disrespect for supporters of other groups but this is reality.
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