Girls' Generation's achievement in 7 years, in terms of popularity and awards received, from the time they debut in August 2007, probably exceeded their own expectations and may be even the expectations of some of the senior artistes and predecessors such as FT Island, H.O.T., TVXQ, Super Junior, BoA, Shinhwa, etc.
Whether it is due to aggressive marketing and advertising which started even before the group debut is a moot point; having been first attracted to their lively, energetic and cheerful music. Second, their image as normal, friendly and dorky teenagers which many would agree is funny and refreshing. The third factor which inspired many to become their fans is probably their friendly behaviour and attitude as professional entertainers which are not expected of from a group of teenage girls who are still in high school. The last and fourth factor is probably the strong cohesion which existed within the group, a bond which many recognised to be as strong as and similar to that of a family. All these factors eventually built up hordes of loyal fans at home and abroad. With invitations to appear on US television on Late Show with David Letterman (31 Jan 2012), Live! With Kelly (1 Feb 2012) and the French show Le Grand Journal (9 Feb 2012) following their appearance and performance at Madison Square Garden (Oct 2011), the group had reached the peak with a chapter written with their names in the of history of K-pop.
Credits to the respective owners to which these Youtube are linked to.
Over the past 3 years, riding on their rising popularity, Girls' Generation took the opportunity to meet fans by touring and had performed in many concerts both at home and overseas, with the majority of their tours, in the eastern regional countries. As a result, the group was only able to release a new album a year; 2nd Japanese album Girls' Generation II : Girls and Peace (2012), I Got A Boy (2013) and Mr. Mr. (2014). Although the 3 albums were relatively well received, they did not create the kind of craze "Gee" did in 2009. This is probably because the girls and their music have matured. This is also evidenced by the kind of products the group is endorsing; from mass consumer fashion, entertainment, electronics and food to glamorous and luxurious products.
With the K-Pop industry churning out new idol groups every year, Girls' Generation fan base will become stagnant with the younger generation of fans turning their attention to younger idol groups. Without any new concept or ideas the path and future of idol groups will become quite predictable, even for the successful ones. It is the unforgiving nature of the music and entertainment industry that each generation has its own idols.
Girls' Generation took 3 years to reach the top and another 3 years to remain at the top of the K-Pop industry with the support of their fans, SONE, and Girls' Generation will remain in the hearts and minds of SONE forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment