Super Junior-M
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Super Junior-M | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | SJ-M 슈주-엠 (SuJu-M) |
| Origin | Seoul, Republic of Korea |
| Genre(s) | Mandopop, dance, R&B, hip hop |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Label(s) | SM Entertainment Avex Asia (Japan, ROC) |
| Associated acts | SMTown, Super Junior, Super Junior-K.R.Y |
| Website | superjunior-m.iple.com |
| Members | |
| Han Geng Siwon Donghae Henry Kyuhyun Zhou Mi Ryeowook |
|
Super Junior-M (Korean: 슈퍼주니어-엠), often referred to as SJ-M, is the third official sub-unit of Korean boy band Super Junior that was established on April 2008. They are the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of both Chinese and Korean descent.[1] They are also the first group produced by Korea's CT (Culture Technology) organization and was created through a comprehensive localization strategy.[2] Super Junior-M contains five Super Junior members, Han Geng (the leader), Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, and two non-Super Junior members, Henry and Zhou Mi.[1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Pre-debut
Responding to Super Junior's rising popularity in China, Super Junior's management, SM Entertainment, decided to compose a new Super Junior sub-unit that is to focus entirely in the Chinese market. On October 2, 2007, an official announcement was released to the media, stating the birth of a third Super Junior subgroup that would debut in China. Super Junior's original member, Han Geng and an SM Chinese trainee, Henry, were stated to be the first two of the seven members representing the subgroup.[3] Five months later, a second Super Junior member, Siwon, was mentioned in news articles to be the third member.[4] However, the confirmed list of members were not released to the public until April.
Starting from April 4, 2008 to April 7, 2008, the seven members were released to the media in a chain of trailer clips on different days, introducing the members' versatility. Han Geng was the first member to be announced on April 4.[5] On April 5, Donghae and Siwon were announced to be the second and third members.[6] On April 6, a new member, Henry, was announced to be the fourth Super Junior-M member, following Kyuhyun as the fifth.[7] Rookie Zhou Mi was announced to be the sixth member on April 7 following Ryeowook as the final member.[8] A trailer with of all seven members was released on the group's debut day, April 8. Super Junior-M's trailer clips exceeded 1.4 million views in less than four days.[9]
[edit] Origin of the name
Before the official name of the subgroup was released, they were often referred to as Super Junior-China. On April 3, 2008, SM Entertainment released the official name of the subgroup, Super Junior-M, with "M" representing the word "Mandarin," expressing the subgroup's ambition to become successful in the Chinese music market not limited to only China.[10] The "M" can also represent a list of other aspects, such as the first letter of their debut album, Me, and also "mi" (Chinese: 迷), which can mean "charismatic" as well as "fan" in Mandarin, the latter meaning referring to their desire to connect with their fans.[10]
[edit] 2008: Debut
Super Junior-M debuted in China on April 8, 2008 at the 8th Annual Music Chart Awards and with the release of their first single music video, "U".[9] Their debut album was released in various provinces in China starting April 23, 2008 and the Korean version with three bonus Korean tracks was releasd in South Korea on April 30, 2008. The album was also distributed in several other Asian countries on May 2, 2008 such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.[11] On May 25, 2008 Super Junior-M won their first award, Asia's Most Popular New Group Award, at the 5th annual Music King Awards in Macau.[12]
[edit] Musical style
- See also: Super Junior#Musical style
Super Junior-M's music style falls into the category of mainstream pop, dance, and R&B, similar to the style of their main group, Super Junior. However, instead of singing in their mother tongue, Korean, the group sings in Mandarin instead. Super Junior-M's goal is to bring the Korean pop influence over to the Chinese market, re-representing the hits in Mandarin.[1]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio album
| # | Title | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Me | 2008-05-02 |
[edit] Controversy
[edit] "Only 13"
After the first announcement of Super Junior-M on October 2, 2007, and the possibility of adding a non-Super Junior member, Henry, to this unit, Super Junior fans immediately voiced out their dissatisfaction and opposition. Immediately, a website was built, called "Only 13", to oppose against SM Entertainment's actions. Through the website, fans of Super Junior communicate and plan out protesting actions against the company. Before legal protests began, many online petitions were made by both Korean and Chinese fans to prevent and convince the label to not add a fourteenth member.[13] Initially fans were planning to boycott the company's products, similar to the actions taken by fans of TVXQ in the past. However, most fans agreed on a silent protest instead. On October 21, 2007 and throughout the week, over 400 fans from Super Junior's official fanclub, E.L.F, silently sat in front of the SM building and held signs that supported the group to have only thirteen members.[14] Situations became worse when SM Entertainment announced through the media that they never stated that Super Junior was a fixed group, although the label announced that Super Junior was a permanent group when Kyuhyun was added to the group in mid-2006.[15] Thousands of fans wrote letters to the company and pleaded them to keep the group permanent, but no answer was returned.[15]
Over one thousand more fans appeared in front of the SM building on E.L.F's third protest on November 3, 2007.[16] Instead of a silent protest, the fans sang various Super Junior songs and shouted "thirteen."[17] Although SM Entertainment's answer to the fans' protest stated that new members in Super Junior-M will not be added to the official group and thus will not affect Super Junior's main career, many fans still held the belief that there will be this possibility of seeing new official Super Junior members in the future.
After more rumors leaked of SM Entertainment sneaking in an extra non-Super Junior member, Zhou Mi, to the subgroup, the fans decided to gain this chance to have a legal representation as part of SM Entertainment's stockholders. As of March 20, 2008, Super Junior fans from all over the world purchased 58,206 stocks of SM Entertainment, holding 0.3% of the company's entire stock.[18] They released a statement through the media, stating that they will obtain all chances to prevent SM Entertainment from adding new members and to keep Super Junior as only thirteen.[18]
After the release of Super Junior-M's official blog on April 3, 2008, over 5,000 comments were posted by Chinese fans in an hour, voicing out their support to keep Super Junior as thirteen members. The administrator resulted in locking the comment box where only those with sohu blog accounts could comment.[19]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c (Chinese) Jinhua.cn. Super Junior debuts today, Han Geng as group leader April 8, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2008.
- ^ (English) Official. [1] Retrieved May 1, 2008.
- ^ (Korean) Mydaily.co.kr. Super Junior China to start activities in China next year Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ (Korean) Hankooki.com. SuJu to tour nine Asian countries February 26, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ (Chinese) Sohu.com. SJ-M’s first member announced: Han Geng April 4, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ (Chinese) Sohu.com. SJ-M members continue to unveil: Donghae and Siwon appears with new image April 5, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ (Chinese) Sohu.com. SJ-M adds new member, Henry; appears along with Kyuhyun April 6, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2008.
- ^ (Chinese) Sohu.com. SJ-Ms last members revealed: Rookie Zhou Mi appears along with Ryeowook April 7, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
- ^ a b (Korean) Nonewsnet.com. Super Junior-M debuts, over 1.4 million views April 8, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2008
- ^ a b (Chinese) Sohu.com. SJ's new China subgroup's name confirmed to be SJ-M, debut in April 8 April 3, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
- ^ (Chinese) G-Music New Product
- ^ (Chinese) Liao1.com. Han Geng reveals Kyuhyun's weird habits, SJ-M wants to perform in the Hong Kong Coliseum May 31, 2008. Retrieved May 31, 2008.
- ^ (Korean) Ivyro.net. [2] Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ (Korean) Bestiz. My name is Fan October 21, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ a b (Korean) Daum.net. Super Junior fans, "Do not increase members" October 24, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
- ^ (Korean) Bestiz. Super Junior protest November 3, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ (Korean) Bestiz. Super Junior protest November 3, 3007. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ a b (Korean) Isplus.com. Super Junior fan club purchases 58,000 of SM's share March 21, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ (Chinese) Super Junior-M's Official Blog
[edit] External links
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This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
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- SM Entertainment Official Site
- Super Junior-M Official Site
- Super Junior-M Official Avex Site
- Super Junior-M Official Blog
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