Park Gyu-ri

Park Gyuri
Park Gyuri in 2014
Born	(1988-05-21) May 21, 1988[1] Seoul, South Korea
Occupation	Singer actress radio personality
Years active	1995–present
Website	Park Gyu-ri on Twitter
Musical career
Genres	K-pop R&B
Instruments	Vocals piano
Labels	DSP Media (2007–2016) Universal Sigma EMI Records Japan Warner Music
Associated acts	Kara
Signature

Park Gyuri (born May 21, 1988 in Seoul) is a South Korean idol singer, actress and radio personality known for being the former member and leader of girl group Kara, formed by DSP Media in 2007.

Biography

Prior to her singing career, she was a child actress. Her first appearance was on Today is a Nice Day in 1995 where she played the girlfriend of Kang Ho-dong's brother. She later appeared as the teenage version of Kim Jung-eun's character in Ladies of the Palace in 2001. She is the only daughter of popular voice dubber Park Sohyun. She's the one who came up with the name Kara which comes from the Greek word chara (χαρά, lit. "joy"), which was interpreted to mean "sweet melody".^[2][3][4]

Career

Kara (2007-2016)

Kara debuted on March 29, 2007 with "Break It" on M! Countdown as a four-member group. Gyuri was one of the four along with Nicole Jung, Han Seungyeon, and Kim Sunghee. Kara was often compared to Fin.K.L because of their concept and the fact that they are both from the same company (DSP Media). Sunghee left the group in March 2008 due to parental pressure, just when Kara intended to make their comeback. Sunghee failed her college exams and left the group. On July 24, 2008, Kara came back with two new members, Goo Ha-ra and Kang Jiyoung. Their new concept was "cute" and "playful".

On December 4, 2008, Kara had their comeback on M! Countdown with "Pretty Girl". In February 2009, Kara released their second mini-album "Honey". "Honey" became the group's first number 1 single when it topped the charts on M! Countdown and The Music Trend.^[5]

In late July 2009, Kara revealed their second album named Revolution.^[6] Due to the popularity of the songs "Wanna" and "Mister", Kara's overall popularity increased. Originally having auditioned as a rapper, Gyuri rapped for the first time in the song "Mabeob" (Korean: 마법, "Magic") with Nicole.

In March 2010, Kara started promotions with their third mini-album Lupin.^[7] The album was a success, and won first place on the KBS Music Bank K-Chart on March 12, March 19, and March 26.

In August 2010, Kara officially debuted in Japan with "Mister". After their successful debut in Japan, Kara released their fourth mini-album Jumping in November 2010.

On January 19, 2011, the other Kara members released a statement announcing they were terminating their contract with DSP Entertainment. Park Gyuri was the only one remaining with the management company. Later that day, Goo Hara discontinued her involvement with the suit and rejoined the company. The contract dispute was later resolved, and Kara released their third Korean studio album titled Step, on September 6.^[8][9] The album's title song, "Step", immediately topped various music charts in South Korea hours after its release.^[10] By the end of 2011, the album has sold over 100,000 copies in South Korea.^[11]

On February 18, 2012, Gyuri and the rest of Kara embarked on their first headlining Asian tour, Karasia. The tour drew around 150,000 people, with every seat for each concert being sold. The last concert was broadcast live through streaming in sixty different theaters throughout Japan, and all the tickets to the theaters were sold out as well.^[12][13]

On August 3, 2012, DSP announced that the group would release their fifth mini-album in South Korea at the end of August and would aim to show their matured charms through its concept.^[14] On August 6, their agency revealed the album's title, Pandora, based on Greek mythology. The mini-album along with the music video for the title track, "Pandora", were released on August 22.^[15] By the end of September 2012, the mini-album had sold over 70,000 copies.^[11]

On January 6, 2013, Kara held a special New Year's concert at the Tokyo Dome in Japan called "Karasia 2013 Happy New Year in Tokyo Dome". The concert was a complete success; selling out all 45,000 tickets within five minutes and becoming the first female Korean artist to hold a concert at the Tokyo Dome.^[16]

Solo activities

Upon Nicole's segment ending on Star Golden Bell, Gyuri was appointed as a permanent guest.^[17] She was supposed to have her own segment on the show, but the producers did not follow through.

She featured in a duet titled "Day After" with Hong Kyung Min on his tenth album Special Edition, released on February 4, 2010.

On April 21, 2010, it was announced that Park would take over the position of DJ alongside Shindong on ShimShimTapa after Kim Shinyoung left. Their first broadcast aired on May 6, 2010. On September 26, 2011, Park announced that she would no longer DJ the show due to her busy schedule.^[18] Her last broadcast was on October 2, 2011.^[19]

Park was the voice of Kate in the Korean dub of Alpha and Omega, released in February 2011.^[20]

On May 7, she gave an hour-long lecture at Seo Woon High School in Incheon. Park was invited to speak because of a survey which asked Seo Woon High School's students to name their No.1 career choice; overwhelmingly, they all replied that they hoped to become celebrities. As a senior in the industry, Park was able to give a lecture and answer any questions the students may have before jumping into it. Park commented, "I was first recommended for the lecture through my professor, and I rejected it because I didn't think I was someone worthy to give a lecture on the topic. I decided to change my mind when I realized that I had my mother to ask for advice while I was contemplating the career, but that these students probably didn't. It must be so daunting for them, so I changed my mind. I hope that I'll be able to help them in some way."^[21]

Gyuri was cast as the lead actress in a drama entitled Nail Shop Paris,^[22] and she played a woman who works undercover as a man at the titular nail salon.

Musical theater

On July 15, 2011, Park joined the cast of 200 Pounds Beauty Musical, which was shown in Japanese theaters.^[23] On October 12, DSP Media revealed that KARA‘s Park Gyuri's achieved smashing success with her first musical performance of '200 Pound Beauty'! From the October 8–10, Park kicked off the musical as the leading female, selling out all three performances in Osaka. Audience members of all ages, from teens to the elderly, filled the hall and responded enthusiastically to the show, requesting for an encore after it was all over.^[24]

Park was diagnosed with vocal cord nodules in November after the performances and rehearsals for the musical seemed to have taken a toll on her throat. Although the hospital called for absolute rest, Park refused to rest and continued to practice for the musical.^[25]

The musical kicked off in Korea on December 6 and ran through the December 17 for a total of six performances. According to the show's production company, Show Note, Park brought in over 50% male audience members. The average audience for musicals is said to be made up of 25% to 40% males, making 200 Pounds Beauty significantly higher in male audience members than average.^[26]

Show host

Park has been offered various hosting jobs in Japan. She co-hosted the 26th Golden Disc Awards in Osaka with Super Junior's Leeteuk. She also co-hosted "Korean, Japanese Fashion Event KISS" with the famous Japanese model Uri Ebihara. The Golden Disk Awards is a major music awards event in South Korea. Each year, idols of various K-pop groups are chosen to host this important event.

In Hallyu events she hosted the "Music Bank in Tokyo K-Pop Festival" on July 13, 2011 and "Seoul-Tokyo Music Festival 2011" on November 9.

She is often approached by numerous Japanese companies to serve as a host for events because of her fluency in Japanese, her fluid way of hosting, and also her skill at talking.^[27] She hosted Yang Yang K-Pop Festival at Naksan Beach on February 23, 2013 ^[28]

Park also hosted SGC Super Live 2013 in Tokyo, Japan on June 2, 2013.^[29]

Elegance, refinement and professionalism are the hallmarks of Gyuri, when it comes to conducting an event brands. This is true not only for awards, but also in variety and entertainment programs. Her most recent work was in the program The Show, alongside Seungyeon as MC.

Personal life

Vocal cord surgery

On February 20, 2012, Kara's agency DSP Media reported, "Park Gyuri will be undergoing surgery on February 21st to remove nodules and polyps that have been found in her vocal cords. In her situation, she needs to get surgery or else it will be difficult for her to be working as a singer. Park has been working hard and the situation has piled up. Park has been active promoting domestic and overseas. Although Park knew about her condition, she postponed her surgery in order to perform in musical '200 Pound Beauty' in which she played a leading role, and to perform at KARA’s first independent concert 'KARASIA'. She has been flying to and from Korea and Japan and now are having their first ever Asian Tour, with their very busy schedule, a surgery needs to be done." DSP Media continued, "Gyuri's priority is to focus on rehab to ensure a speedy recovery. KARA has an Asia Tour that kicks off in Japan this April, so we are going with a special rehab program that will allow Gyuri to fully recover before then."^[30][31]

Discography

Korean singles

Japanese singles

Featured singles

Guest appearances

Filmography

Film

Television drama

Variety/Reality shows

Other Works

Award shows hosting

Events shows hosting

Musical theatre

Radio shows

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Park Gyu-Ri.

• Park Gyuri on Twitter
• Park Gyu-ri on Instagram
• Park Gyu-ri at HanCinema
• Park Gyuri at the Internet Movie Database