Pop phenomenon Wonder Girls have made it into the Billboard charts once again with mini-album “2 Different Tears” released in mid-June ranked 21st on the Heatseekers Albums chart.
The Heatseekers chart ranks top-selling albums “by new or developing acts, defined as those who have never been appeared on the top 100 of the Billboard 200″ or the top 10 of other genre albums.
Ye-eun, a member of the Wonder Girls, wrote on her Twitter, “Did you know that we are in the Heatseekers Albums chart? Nobody took four months to get to the Billboard, and this time it took two months less. Thank you everybody.”
Wonder Girls’ U.S. debut song “Nobody” was ranked 76th in the Billboard Chart Hot 100 in October last year. The group is currently on a nationwide concert tour of the U.S.
The all-girl Kpop group The Wonder Girls are making their return to the U.S. this summer. According to AllKpop, the Wonder Girls will be releasing their new album at a May 15th event, with super blogger Perez Hilton hosting the event. Their upcoming album will have songs in both English and Korean. It looks like JYP is trying to further the bridge he created last year by soliciting the biggest concert management company, Live Nation, to organize their summer tour. The girls made a big splash last year by opening up for the Jonas Brothers but the real question will be if they have enough traction in the United States to run solo. We don’t know but it’ll be interesting to see and we hope they’re successful.
Looks like those Kpop girls from South Korea are getting a little lonely in the states. They hang out a lot along Korea town in NY and that’s because the JYP Entertainment headquarters are a few blocks away. You’ll see glimpses of them together eating soondubu but never with a male companion. It sure must get lonely for these pop tarts and they share a little bit from their de facto website WonderfulsWorld.com.
Hollywood hunks like Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, and Robert Pattison have found fans in Korean girl group The Wonder Girls. But men not blessed in the genetics department needn’t fret. These girls are equally open to just about anybody and everybody as Park Ye-eun (better known as Yenny) says, “We don’t really care about races or colours.”
But so far, their love lives have been anything but colourful, “We haven’t really met boys in the states. We are quite busy touring all the states (in America),” she continued to explain.
Currently busy with the promotional activities for their latest English single, Nobody, the girls (Park Ye-eun, Min Sun Ye, Ahn Sohee, Kim Yubin, Yu Hae Lim) have their hands full preparing for the May/June worldwide release of their upcoming music album. It doesn’t help that it will be recorded with songs in three different languages (Korean, English, and Chinese) to “satisfy fans from all over the world.”
They’re the most successful Korean girl group in the US market, but the start before the breakthrough was all but bumpy. They were sent to attend English classes in America and confessed that “the language” was the biggest obstacle” for them.
The girls have had intensive English lessons for less than a year, and while their grasp of the language is far from perfect, there’s already an American accent when they speak. “Except Yubin, we’ve never lived in the US before, so we really needed to learn English very hard. And we’re still learning English very hard [now],” quipped Yenny in crisp American accent.
Despite being far from home, the girls aren’t worried about the increasing competition or losing base with their Korean fans.
“This is just a miracle to be able to do what we are doing now,” Min Sun Ye gushed in response while Yenny the most eloquent speaker of the group, reiterated, “We don’t really try to keep our place on top [of the game]. We just try to deliver our music and try to interact with fans.”
And their game plan for keeping in touch with international fans? Social media networking platform, Twitter.
“To be honest, that’s why we try to tweet a lot. We can still talk to our fans through twitter,” the giggly girls agreed in unison.
The quintet changed the landscape of K-pop in the world with their catchy rifts and signature dance moves in their hit song ‘Nobody’. And despite all that fame and success under their belts, they remained unbelievably humble and grounded when asked to differentiate themselves from other girl groups in Korea.
The group’s leader, Sun Ye, replied with a slight drawl, “Yeah, I wonder too.
“We are really not that pretty, and not that smart. We are not that good at singing and dancing, I think. We are just really grateful that people are enjoying our music, dance, and everything. Yeah, so thankful for that.”
Looks like fans will be in for a surprise this coming May/June. The girls played coy and refused to divulge details of their upcoming new concept. They hemmed and hawed for a few moments before Yenny flashed a cheeky grin and chirped, “No comments!”
The Wonder Girl’s latest music single, Nobody, is available at all leading record stores.
How did an all-girl pop group from South Korea find itself on one of the biggest concert stages in America? They did it by sheer will and ignoring the critics. It also helped that they had JYP working behind the scenes for them. No one would have thought that these young ladies would get noticed in America, but they caught the attention of the Jonas Brothers and there they were on stage all summer with them, opening up for one of the biggest summer concert tours in 2009. Along the way, they made a lot of fans and believers that Korean singers could be successful in the biggest music market. A year ago, they were the cute girls who stormed South Korea with their singing and dancing to “Tell Me.” Fast Forward to today, and they’ve toured all of America with the Jonas Brothers, made numerous appearances at different red carpets, and found themselves singing in front of a nationally televised audience on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” If more Korean artists find their way into the American market, they can thank the Wonder Girls and JYP for figuring out a formula and laying the groundwork for a path across the Pacific. The Wonder Girls sang their hit song “Nobody” all year, but in the end, they became somebody and have sang their way to #6 on our list of top ten most influential Koreans in 2009.
The Wonder Girls opened up the Q102 Jingle Ball concert and stopped by for an interview with a clueless interviewer who didn’t realize that the young ladies had opened up all summer for the Jonas Brothers. Sadly this may have been the worst interviewer that the Wonder Girls have encountered while in the U.S.
Those wonderful Wonder Girls are at it again with a scheduled performance on Fox’s TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance,” on Wednesday evening. They’ll be performing their smash hit song “Nobody.” It’s still impressive that an all-girl Korean Pop band is still showing up on American airwaves. They spent the whole summer touring with the Jonas Brothers and they also made numerous appearances on American radio stations. They even performed on the Wendy Williams show as well. What next? The Today Show? How does JYP do it?
UPDATE: The latest video of their performance
On Wednesday, Dec. 9 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), Season Eight AMERICAN IDOL winner Kris Allen and pop sensations Wonder Girls will take the stage. Allen will perform his newest single, “Live Like You’re Dying,” and Wonder Girls will sing their hit song, “Nobody,” before America’s vote is revealed and Cat Deeley names the six dancers who will perform in the following week’s finale.
Kris Allen won the hearts of America each week on AMERICAN IDOL by adding his signature pop-rock sound to each performance he gave. Allen who hails from Conway, AR, is a pianist and self-taught guitar player. He recently released his debut self-titled album on 19 Recordings/ Jive Records, and his first single from the album, “Live Like We’re Dying,” has received rave reviews and is currently climbing the U.S. radio charts.
Pop sensation Wonder Girls sold over 30,000 copies of their debut single “Nobody” during the week of October 11 earning them the No. 76 position with a bullet on the Hot 100. This is the first time ever a music group from South Korea has debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Already a hit in Asia, the Wonder Girls are striking a chord with a young U.S. audience, having just completed their first U.S. concert tour with the Jonas Brothers.
Koreans are so dramatic and JYP’s music video of his just released song “No Love No More” is a sample of the drama. The guy is still dancing well, even in his late 30s.
Complete with a dance studio, rehearsal stage and a recording space, the JYP Entertainment office in midtown Manhattan — the only Asian record label currently open in the U.S., according to founder JY Park — feels more like an artist’s training camp than a corporate space. But for Korean pop band The Wonder Girls, it’s their home — literally.
For the past few months, the quintet — comprised of Sunye, Ye-eun, Sohee, Sunmi and Yubin — has made a home of the top two floors of the building, which is split up into separate dormitories. Chosen through an audition process and placed in the JYP Academy two years ago, the girls have been honing their skills in singing, dancing and acting as well as mastering several languages in preparation of their as-yet-untitled English-language album — a twelve track set with six of the songs being English versions of their Korean hits, and the rest original English material.
“At first it was really tough,” says Sunye (Sunny) about singing in English. “But I think that experience made me grow up and I’m so grateful for that. It really helped me grow as an artist and was a great experience for me.”
The Wonder Girls are already one of Korea’s most popular groups — according to the Korean Music Content Industry Association (KMCIA), they’ve sold nearly 7 million digital singles to date. But it is their Motown inspired song, “Nobody,” that has sparked U.S. interest.
With a catchy hook, retro-look and the signature “Nobody” dance, the track entered the Hot 100 at no. 76 last month, with over 32,000 physical copies sold and over 30,000 digital downloads to date, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This is in part due to the girls opening for the Jonas Brothers during their summer U.S. tour and recently opening for Jordin Sparks as well as an in-store promotional campaign with the U.S. clothing store Justice.
“It’s amazing,” says Ye-eun (Yenny). “We have been dreaming of this for a long-time, and we have grown up listening to American artists and reading Billboard. We just got here to America, so it’s a really great accomplishment for us.”
But it wasn’t an easily-attained feat, says Park, the Wonder Girls’ manager and mentor.
“Watching amazing singers like Hikaru Utada from Japan and Coco Lee from China fail was really hard. I was trying to really analyze why these amazing artists couldn’t crack the Billboard charts. I came to the conclusion that they changed their color when they moved into the U.S. They became too similar to American artists. They hired major American producers like Timbaland, and they ended up losing their true color,” says Park. “I basically wrote and composed the song ‘Nobody,’ and we didn’t change our image or our color coming into the U.S. We remained true to ourselves.”
To create a happy medium and further help crack stateside territories, Park recruited Jonas Group — a U.S. management company owned by Phil McIntyre and Kevin Jonas, father and co-manager of The Jonas Brothers — for a joint-management effort.
“Obviously we were incredibly excited by the chart success, but more importantly, we were incredibly encouraged that The Wonder Girls have a home here in America,” says McIntyre. “We really view this campaign as the first phase of a multiple phase plan. The next step will now be to actually break the group into the U.S. and to launch a record and establish a brand.”
Next, The Wonder Girls are set to go on their first headlining six-city tour, starting January 2011. But for now, the girls are eager to prove they are more than just the latest Asian sensation.
“There are times when we miss Korea and especially all of our fans because we live in New York right now,” says Yenny. “But we think it’s a great opportunity to be able to perform in front of the American people, so we are enjoying it a lot.”
Kpop is hot and you could be the next Wonder Girl, 2PM or 2AM. Park Jin Young (JYP) who is the Korean entertainment extraordinaire is trying to identify his next big talent and he’s going on tour throughout the U.S. and Canada to find that person or group. Could you be it?!
Audition Categories: Singer, Actor, VJ, MC, Model
Qualifications for Audition: Any resident in US an Canada may participate regardless of nationality or gender. Candidates should be born from 1982 to 2000.
Audition Schedule Stops:
October 25th: Hawaii
October 31st: Los Angeles
November 4th: San Francisco
November 7th: Seattle
November 11th: Vancouver
November 13th: Denver
November 15th: Chicago
November 18th: Washington D.C.
November 21st: New York
November 24th: Toronto
How to apply:
Download the application and send it to usaaudition@jype.com. Remember to print out the application form with your registration number and have it present at the audition.
Things to prepare for at the audition:
A. Vocal Part – One minute of singing (without MR)
B. Dancing Part – One minute of dancing to a Music CD
C. Acting / VJ / MC Part – One minute of impromptu or memorized acting (no designated script)
D. Model Part – Posing and Cat Walking
Directions:
A. A list of those who have passed will be announced individually be December 15th.
B. JYPE reserves the right to keep copies of audition footage it has filmed and received.
C. The selected final winner will have an opportunity to be trained by the JYPE Training Program.
You can also register on the day of the audition. For more info, please contact kjstyle7@jype.com
Get ready to dance because this is a very cool remix by Jason Nevins, an American DJ and producer. He takes the oh so popular song “Nobody” by the Wonder Girls and makes a simple but get hoppin’ video remix.
