Nicole Jung
| Nicole Jung | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Nicole Yongju Jung[1] |
| Born |
October 7, 1991 Los Angeles, California, US |
| Genres | K-pop, dance-pop J-pop |
| Occupations | Singer, dancer, rapper |
| Instruments | Vocals, violin |
| Years active | 2007–2014 |
| Labels | DSP Media (2007-2014) |
| Associated acts | Kara |
| Nicole Jung | |
| Hangul | 정니콜 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Nikol |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Nik'ol |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 정용주 |
| Hanja | 鄭龍珠 |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Yong-Ju |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Yongju |
Nicole Yongju Jung (Korean name: Jung Yong-Joo), 鄭・龍珠, better known mononymously as Nicole (Korean: 정니콜; Japanese: ニコル), born on October 7, 1991, is a Korean-American idol singer, TV presenter, promotional model, and entrepreneur. She is a former member of girl group Kara formed by DSP Entertainment in 2007.
Biography
Nicole was born on October 7, 1991 in Los Angeles, California to Korean parents. She attended Mark Keppel Elementary School and Toll Middle School in Glendale, California; however, she lived in downtown Los Angeles. Nicole was into the visual and performing arts while in school. She participated in choir, drill team, played the violin for 4 years and took dance classes.[2] She auditioned for DSP by sending a video of her singing an Ivy and Black Eyed Peas song. Her mom was very supportive and told her that it was her decision and whatever decision, she would fully support her. Nicole made the decision to go to South Korea and experienced hardships such as adjusting to the culture and missing her friends terribly.[3] She accepted DSP's offer, her mom moved with her to South Korea and has opened up a successful Korean BBQ restaurant called "Aura The Grill"[4] that is often frequented by Nicole and KARA fans alike.
She was on a show called "KAIST" (portrayed a celebrity's life as a college student) which was renamed to "Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science" in Konkuk University since Nicole would not be attending KAIST.[5] The first episode aired on November 12, 2009. She "graduated" from college in January 2010.[6]
Career
Kara
Kara debuted on March 29, 2007 with "Break It" on M! Countdown as a 4 member group. Nicole was one of the four along with Park Gyuri, Han Seungyeon, and Kim Sunghee. Kara was often compared to Fin.K.L because of their concept and the fact that they are from the same company (DSP Entertainment). In March 2008, Sunghee left the group due to parental pressure. Sunghee had failed her college exams. On July 24, 2008, Kara came back with two new members, Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung. Their new concept was "cute" and "playful".
On December 4, 2008, Kara released their 2nd mini-album "Pretty Girl" and had their comeback starting on M! Countdown with "Pretty Girl". In February 2009, Kara followed up with their album "Honey". "Honey" became the group's first #1 single when it topped the M! Countdown and The Music Trend.[7]
In late July 2009, Kara revealed their second album named "Revolution".[8] Due to the popularity of the songs, Wanna and Mister, Kara's overall popularity increased. Kara currently started promotions with their third mini-album "Lupin".[9] Lupin was a success, it won KBS Music Bank K-Chart on March 12, March 19, and March 26, 2010.
In August 2010, Kara officially debuted in Japan with "Mister". After this, Kara released their fourth mini-album Jumping in November 2010.
On January 19, 2011, Kang Jiyoung, Han Seung-yeon, and Nicole Jung, announced that they were terminating their contract with DSP. On April 28, 2011, the dispute between DSP Entertainment and Kara's 3 members was officially announced as resolved.
Nicole injured her ankle during Kara (band)’s first stand-alone concert in Korea, which was held on February 18, 2012. Nicole was performing a solo performance cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It", when she hurt her ankle while leaving through a lift.[10][11] After she got hurt, she did limp a little during performances but she still finished the concert. Afterwards in the dressing room, she received acupuncture for her injury. Despite her injury, she still performed on the very next day. Afterwards, Nicole’s injury was publicly revealed as she was photographed in airports in a wheelchair.[12] Despite her injury, Nicole still hosted SBS “Inkigayo” with a cast on her leg. The injury forced Nicole unable to performed in group performance choreography during their Speed Up promotion in Japan from March to April 2012. She's also spotted still wear a cast on her leg during several dates on KARASIA Japan tour. She began to fully performed near the end of April 2012, during their concert in Osaka.
Kara (band) has released Kara Collection in 2012, both in South Korea and Japan, an album containing each of the girls' solo songs. Nicole's song was "Lost", which featured close friend Jinwoon.
On January 13, 2014, it was announced that member Nicole would be withdrawing from the group due to the expiration of her contract with DSP Media.[13] Nicole will be flying to the States for two months to focus on improving her vocal and dance skills while preparing to make a solo debut.
Solo activities
TV Show
Nicole joined Star Golden Bell on December 20, 2008, hosting a segment called "Level With Me (Season 2)" in which the guests have to guess a term or title from her clues; the challenge comes due to her comparative lack of skill and experience with the Korean language. The popular corner brought many laughs to all the celebrity guests and studio audience because of her odd way of translating Korean sentences, phrases, or words. It made her gained more public recognition, while also helped Kara in their promotions.[14] The segment ended on October 17, 2009.[15]
In August 2009, she and singer Jay Park became part of historical culture variety show Nodaji, replacing Choi Min Yong and Kim Tae Hyun. But the show was cancelled due to low ratings on October 2009.
In November 2009, she joined Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science and Good Sunday - Yeongung Hogeol (영웅호걸, "Heroes") in July 2010.
In 2010, she was the main guest (along with SNSD's Tiffany) in episode 81 & 82 of the popular Korean TV show Family Outing.[16]
Show hosting career
Nicole served as the MC along with Korean entertainer HaHa for the 8th Korean Music Festival on May 2010 at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles.[17]
Nicole and fellow group mate Goo Ha-ra were hosts of SBS's Inkigayo from November 2011 until August 18, 2012, when they announced their departure from the show to focus on promoting Kara's new mini-album Pandora. They have hosted the show alongside Korean idol singer IU and more recently actor Lee Jong-suk.
Nicole served as the MC for 2013 27th Golden Disk Awards in Malaysia on January 15, 2013 along with CNBLUE's singer Jung Yong-hwa.[18] Both received praise from foreign fans for their smooth and capable handling of the evening’s events, where reports in Malaysian press gave the two idols positive reviews, and have even named them as two of the best MCs so far in awards shows.[19]
Collaboration
She was featured on fellow DSP Media artist Sunha's first album Fahrenheit in the song "String" (2008)
In April 2009, she sang a duet with former Noel member Kang Kyun-seong called "Happy And".[20]
In September 2009, she was featured in numerous live performances of Mighty Mouth's single "Love Class". Mighty Mouth later remarked "thanks to Nicole, it feels great when we're on stage. Our other partners have also worked hard, but Nicole has been the most passionate." They also added, "As she suggest ideas to improve ourselves and work hard on our performances is something we find cute and are thankful for." [21]
In July 2010, she sang a duet with Park Myung Soo (Korean entertainer) in his single "Whale" (고래).[22]
She was one of the member of "Dazzling Red", one of the idol project groups for the “2012 SBS Korean Music Festival – The Color of K-Pop” with fellow idols After School's Nana, 4Minute's Hyuna, Secret's Hyoseong and SISTAR's Hyorin.[23] Dazzling Red release a single "This Person" in December 2012.[24]
Endorsement
Nicole received her first solo endorsement for the Vocamastar VM-100 in November 2010. The VM-100 is a very versatile device that can be used as a mp3 player, movie player, e-book reader, and more.[25]
In August 2011, Nicole launched her own cookie line called "Kuki Six" that are sold at Mango Six cafes in South Korea. Nicole’s “KUKI SIX” boasts a new line-up of six bakery goods, including the ‘Choco Cookie’, ‘Chocolate Chip Cookie’, ‘Coconut Cookie’, ‘Earl Grey White Choco Muffin’, ‘Orange Cream Cheese Muffin’, and the ‘Choco Brownie’. It was reported that Nicole was directly involved with the planning and development of the recipes, as well as marketing and promotional methods. As such, Nicole became the first celebrity to engage in the food service industry by providing input into a particular recipe. Plans for expansion into Japan and China are in the works for 2012.[26]
In 2012, she and 2AM were selected by Italian sportswear, Kappa, to be one of their exclusive endorsers. This is the first time that the foreign sportswear brand had signed in Hallyu stars as their models.[27]
Other
In 2011, Nicole appeared as a cameo in the 2011 South Korean war film My Way. Her role is the press information clerk of the athletics federation. Nicole makes her brief appearance in the scene in which Chosun’s marathon hero Son Ki Jung enters on Jun Shik‘s (played by Jang Dong Gun) rickshaw.[28]
She was featured in her junior labelmate A-jax's music video "Hot Game", released in July 2012.[29][30] Previously, she was also noted for visited A-jax's music video set before they debuted with homemade goodies to "cheer on her younger colleagues as they worked hard towards their debut".[31]
Along with group mate Han Seungyeon, she appeared as cameo in their junior label mate Puretty's music video for their debut single "Cheki☆Love" in October 2012.[32]
Nicole was invited to the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan (as the only Korean artist invited that year) on June 22, 2013 and performed her solo “Lost” from Kara Collection[33]
Discography
Kara
Singles
- "Kkeun" - Sunha (Rap. Nicole) (2008)
- "Happy And" - Kang Kyun-seong (Duet. Nicole) (2009)
- "Gorae" ("Whale") - Park Myeong-su (Duet. Nicole) (2010)
- "Lost" - Nicole feat. Jung Jinwoon (2012) - Kara Collection
- "This Person - Dazzling Red (Hyolin, Hyuna, Nicole, Hyoseong, Nana) (2012)
Filmography
| Broadcasts | Informations | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| KBS 2TV | Star Golden Bell 《Level With Me (Season 2)》 |
|
| MBC | Sunday Night 《Nodaji》 |
|
| Mnet | Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science[34] |
|
| SBS | Good Sunday Heroes |
|
Awards
She placed 2nd place in 'Miss and Mister Idol Korea 2012' and member Goo Ha-ra won that competition.
References
- ↑ "The Birth of Nicole Jung". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
- ↑ (Korean) 카라, "효리-아이비 언니 보며 포스 배워"
- ↑ (Korean) "Nicole was lonely in Korea"
- ↑ (Korean) "Aura The Grill"
- ↑ (Korean) 니콜, 건국대 수의학과 합격…중간고사에 `눈물범벅`
- ↑ (Korean) "Nicole graduates from College"
- ↑ (Korean) 카라 “소녀시대 게 섯거라” 데뷔 2년만에 TV 첫 1위 눈물 울먹울먹. Joins.com. March 9, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
- ↑ (Korean) 걸그룹 대란속 ‘조용한’ 카라 뭐할까 “업그레이드 카라 온다” (What is "silent" Kara doing during the girl group uproar - "An Upgraded Kara is coming."). Newsen. June 16, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
- ↑ (Korean) 카라, '루팡'-비상구 춤으로 컴백!
- ↑ http://www.soompi.com/2012/02/20/karas-nicole-performs-for-karasia-through-an-ankle-injury/
- ↑ http://www.soompi.com/2012/03/12/kara-nicoles-injured-leg-is-recovering-after-rehabilitation/
- ↑ http://www.allkpop.com/article/2012/03/karas-nicole-spotted-in-a-wheelchair
- ↑ "Nicole prepares to leave for America + DSP Media releases statement". 13 January 2014. allkpop. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ↑ http://newk-popnews.blogspot.com/2009/10/news-kara-nicoles-level-with-me-comes.html#.UdjbB6x36So
- ↑ (Korean) `스타골든벨` 개편, `눈높이를 맞춰요` 니콜도 하차
- ↑ http://www.allkpop.com/article/2010/01/preview-of-karas-nicole-and-snsds-tiffany-on-family-outing
- ↑ http://blog.ningin.com/2010/03/06/nicole-announced-as-one-of-the-mc-at-korean-music-festival/
- ↑ http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/01/performances-from-the-27th-golden-disk-awards-day-1
- ↑ http://en.korea.com/cnblue/board/malaysian-fans-praise-cnblue-yonghwas-and-kara-nicoles-hosting-skills/
- ↑ (Korean) 군입대 앞둔 강균성, 니콜과 듀엣음반 발매
- ↑ http://www.karaholic.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=3264
- ↑ https://en.korea.com/blog/enter/k-pop/park-myung-soo-kara%E2%80%99s-nicole-team-up-for-naeng-myun-version-2/
- ↑ http://www.soompi.com/2012/12/25/new-still-of-dazzling-red-idol-project-group-released/
- ↑ http://en.korea.com/blog/enter/k-pop/sbs-music-festival-releases-songs-of-dazzling-red-and-dynamic-black/
- ↑ (Korean) "KARA's Nicole for Vocamastar"
- ↑ (Korean) "KARA's Nicole partners up with Mango Six for her new bakery line Kuki Six"
- ↑ http://koreanupdates.com/2012/02/05/kappa-karas-nicole-and-2am-selected-as-official-models/
- ↑ http://koreanentspy.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/karas-nicole-to-make-a-cameo-in-my-way/
- ↑ "카라 니콜, 에이젝스 멤버들과 7:1 러브 게임?" (in Korean). Nate. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
- ↑ "니콜, DSP 후배 에이젝스 전폭지원…신곡 '핫 게임' 뮤비 출연" (in Korean). Naver. 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-07-11.
- ↑ http://mwave.interest.me/enewsworld/article/7393?enewsLang=EN
- ↑ http://www.officiallykmusic.com/kmusic-review-purettys-japanese-single-cheki-love/
- ↑ http://en.korea.com/blog/enter/k-pop/karas-nicole-is-invited-to-the-mtv-video-music-awards-japan/
- ↑ "Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science". Mnet.
External links
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