omonatheydid | 2009 Kpop Girl Group Report Card

Melon.com recently did an evaluation on the current most popular Kpop girl groups. See what 'grade' did each one get!

A group with a somewhat familiarized concept, T-ara: B

T-ara was known for the song "A Good Person" before they debuted, and then came out with the song "Lies" as well as "T.T.L." and "T.T.L Listen 2" with Supernova. Up until "Lies" the concept wasn't anything new. The songs, style, and choreography were a general mass of cliches. While other groups were striving to break the mold, T-ara was outwardly cliched. The result was just not as good as their input.

But after they started "T.T.L" promotions, they gave off a clubber feel and showed off a new image. Now they are promoting with Supernova with "T.T.L Listen 2." This change showed that they aren't just the typical pure girl group image type. In reality, the image change that "T.T.L" brought won't make everyone associate the song with T-ara, but it did bring them popularity. They need more image changes in the future.

The new and intense 4Minute: B+

4Minute debuted with "Hot Issue." To be honest, "Hot Issue" sounded like all the current trends were thrown into the song, so there was nothing new. As the title says, the song could've been a "Hot Issue" but there was no new musical style introduced in the song.

But with "Muzik" things started to change. The strong synthesizer sound, the heart-pumping beat and the strong hook arrangement gave a new sound unheard in most girl groups' songs. As they promoted "Muzik" they became known as "the relatively unknown group that has good songs." They received love, soon becoming #1 in music shows. The recent "What A Girl Wants" has relatable lyrics and a catchy melody that is stuck in many people's heads. If they keep showing their multiple sides, they will advance even further in the future.

The group that lost the fire of "Mister", Kara: B+

Kara was the greatest girl group with their songs in the beginning of the year, "Pretty Girl" and "Honey." For "Pretty Girl," the concept wasn't different whatsoever from before so the popularity was surprising. However, the song had a more listenable melody and easy-to-follow choreography, so through promotions the song became a hit. The dance number "Honey" also received love with its catchy melody.

However, their promotions afterward were disappointing. "Wanna" didn't necessarily fail, but compared to "Mister" and the "butt dance" it wasn't enough. Then when Kara started their "Mister" promotions, the fire had already died out. Both songs didn't get that much hype and the promotions for the album "Revolution" were over. They should have stopped "Wanna" promotions when the reception wasn't that great and switched their title track to "Mister." Even though the "Mister" concept was different, it was popular. Kara would have succeeded had they switched their "cute girl" image to the mature woman image.

Always in the center of attention, Brown Eyed Girls: A

Brown Eyed Girls (from here, BEG) started changing with "L.O.V.E." The song had a smooth melody with sweet electronic beats. "L.O.V.E" was danceable with soft lyrics, perfectly capturing Koreans' emotions. "L.O.V.E" didn't get that much hype but slowly, people were starting to notice BEG. Afterward, they released the hits "How Come" and "My Style" with similar concepts and claimed their spot as one of the best girl groups.

Then, the mysterious song "Abracadabra" came along and became a sensation. The "saucy hip dance" was great, but the shocking yet smooth concept as well as the autotune song was very BEG. Ga-in's smooth voice, the skilled Miryo and the four members as a whole showed off their singing skills as well.

Their newest song "Sign" has them performing again. Even with the poor economy, BEG is overtaking the music charts. Even if they never reach the top, BEG's songs always circulate the charts for a long time. This is because "Sign" is a smooth pop song that is nice to listen to.

Hesitation after "Gee", SNSD: A

Although 2NE1 wins the "how well one girl group did" category, SNSD wins the "which song received most love" category. "Gee" was a huge hit this year. The song, written by E-Tribe, is hard to forget after one listen. SNSD always won with their "happy, endorphin-giving vibe." They had the concept of making people feel happy just by looking at them, which was doubly proved with their song "Gee." The song itself was good, but it was even better because the endorphin-giving SNSD sang it.

But after, "Tell Me Your Wish" succeeded but it was agreed that the song wasn't as good. The quickly changed concept was hard to understand, and the plagiarism rumors and the verbal abuse that entailed ruined SNSD's "endorphin image." Of course, "Tell Me Your Wish" didn't fail by any means. But that was because of SNSD's name value, not because of the song's power. If they keep relying on their name value, the road downhill won't be far. They need a new mega-hit song like "Gee" that agrees with their image.

The best cliche breaker, 2NE1: A+

It's not an overstatement to say this year is 2NE1's year. Out of all the girl groups, 2NE1 is especially remarkable. They got attention even before their debut, and for a girl group that only debuted this year they already have had 3 hits: "Lollipop", "Fire" and "I Don't Care", which has solidified them as a huge success. If you count Park Bom's "You And I" you could even say they had 4 straight hits.
2NE1 started off by breaking off from the typical girl group image. "Fire" was a girl hip-hop song that would be hard to hear from any girl group. The beats were complex and the song could've potentially been buried without any attention.

But 2NE1 took the chance, and "Fire" was met with huge success and had a huge effect on 2NE1's image. Like 2NE1, "Fire" was new, fresh and fierce, so the song had more meaning than just its success. Then, 2NE1 performed the relatively safe melodic song "I Don't Care" which also received much love. The lyrics weren't the typical bubblegum lyrics, but were words that appealed to many girls as the song imagined a girl's thoughts as they talked to their girl friends. Afterward, Sandara Park's "Kiss" also got some popularity as well as "You And I", which became hugely popular without any performances.

Source: Melon.com
Cr: