ITZY debuts to intense public attention

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

ITZY, a new girl group managed by JYP Entertainment, officially debuted on Tuesday with an aim to replicate the wild success of groups that came before it, such as Wonder Girls and TWICE, both from the same K-pop label.

The five-member teenage group unveiled their debut digital single, "IT'z Different," to media in Seoul hours before its official release.

The video of the album's main track, "DALLA DALLA," or "Different Different" in Korean, was uploaded on YouTube one day ahead of the band's official debut and had garnered nearly 23 million views as of Tuesday afternoon.

ITZY is the latest girl band formed by JYP, a music label that was established by K-pop star Park Jin-young and has made hits out of all of its three previous girl bands -- Wonder Girls, missA and TWICE. JYP is now one of the big three K-pop entertainment houses in the country.

As suggested by the title of ITZY's debut song, the band composed of five members -- Yuna, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, Lia and Yeji -- is indeed different from its predecessors, especially TWICE which is characterized by its breezy, lovely concept.

With a girl crush concept as demonstrated by the band's bad girl fashion and head-banging dance performance, ITZY is like no other girl bands that are currently active on the K-pop scene.

JYP said "DALLA DALLA" came out of the mold of regular K-pop songs to blend EDM, house music, hip hop and other styles to create a new genre called "fusion groove."

The song's lyrics also highlight the eccentric quality of the new girl band with a message of having to put oneself ahead of the standards of other people.

Some of the five members, whose ages range from 15 to 18, had their names known among K-pop followers with their pre-debut achievement.

Member Ryujin finished as the top winner of the 2018 JTBC idol competition show "MIXNINE" while Yuna impressed viewers with her appearance on the cable music channel Mnet's "Stray Kids." Chaeryeong has also competed in "K-pop Star," a popular talent survival TV show by SBS.

"It would be a lie if we said we don't feel pressure coming out of JYP, dubbed 'the master of girl bands,'" Ryujin said during the press showcase of their digital single. "We will do our best to live up to the fame."

Asked to compare ITZY with TWICE, Chaeryeong said, "TWICE is lovely and beautiful while we show off girl crush (vibes) as well as bright and young energies."

The name ITZY took a hint from "it" as the adjective describing trendy items as in "it bag." The team name also means "all (is) in us," as its name indicates in Korean.

ITZY will surely be one of the few high-profile rookies to hit the K-pop scene this year as many bands, including TOMORROW X TOGETHER, or simply TXT, a boy band by Big Hit Entertainment, the label for BTS, are in the pipeline for a 2019 debut.

The ITZY members aim to earn nicknames like "the star of the year 2019" or "monster rookie" as the band seeks to dominate the K-pop scene this year.

"We are so honored to be able to compete" with so many new rookie groups to debut this year, member Lia said, adding, "However, we still aim to take the rookie of the year award because you can take it only once."




source: Yonhap News

Comments

[donaldjdrumpf.livejournal.com]

If only Somi was in this group instead of Chaeryeong it would be perfect!

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

the redhead in the picture is uncanny valley territory.

[aridnili.livejournal.com]

I’m sorry, but what does it mean?

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

uncanny valley is that unsettling feeling one gets from androids/humanoid robots that look/resemble humans but you can tell something is off

[suggestivepeach.livejournal.com]

What an awful thing to say

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

i dont see how age has anything to do with it, i didnt debut her.
in that picture she looks uncanny valley, but in general her face is unsettling for me.

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

well I wasn't bashing her I just said her face is uncanny valley territory in that photo. You're reading too much into my comment.

Also she's a "public figure" now, you can't really place an embargo on comments because shes 15. Her parents agreed to this and JYP decided this is a good age for a child to debut. Its all exploitative and she's representing an image, so yes, this image can be criticized.

also is "she's gorg" not a comment about her appearance? or is it a one-way street only?

[nefertitii.livejournal.com]

well its unsettling to me and its thanks to whatever image JYP is forcing on her because its unnatural. she's probably a pretty girl irl, this look just isnt working for her. Maybe if JYP wasnt such a predator, he wouldnt be debuting children who havent grown into their faces yet.

but I think youre projecting your annoyance at everyone else bullying her or whatever comments theyre making about her face on to me. Im not part of stan twitter or insta or whatever. Im not attacking her or her stans or itzy. I dont have an agenda. I made a comment regarding this photo as the angle especially makes her look weird.

[kashiyaek.livejournal.com]

theres so much wrong with this comment i don't even know where to start...

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

It’s amazing they debuted only two days ago and already have over 35 million views, but as this post mentions they have members that already had hype. Still that’s incredible, great job girls!!

I think they have some tight competition for rookie of the year, I’m sure that TXT will have a large debut but good luck to Itzy, I’m always for girl groups winning

[hpn88.livejournal.com]

all the shows pretty much do male and female so unless someone comes out of nowhere they have female roty in the bag

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Oh even better! I’m glad to hear that

[aridnili.livejournal.com]

I hope they put up a good fight! Some years ago it was only SNSD and 2NE1 huge enough to compete with boy groups, not counting the other GGs relevant enough too. Now we have TWICE, BP, RV, IZONE, ITZY (that did a great head start), G-Idle, GF winning stuff left and right and actually having SELLING power, so I think it’s amazing to have more girls being recognized. Not to mention solos like IU, Taeyeon, Chungha and Sunmi dominating their own space.

[sciencebottle.livejournal.com]

yes to this! I am so excited to see female idol groups and artists matching boy group records and sales

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with this comment!

[daynr.livejournal.com]

I love the ambitious goal of becoming rookie of the year -- own that drive ladies and good luck!

[bubble-monkey9.livejournal.com]

they're doing pretty good on korean charts. I'm not a fan of the song though.

[accioanime.livejournal.com]

I can't get into the song, its too mishmash for me and doesn't display much vocal ability

With that said, I do keep thinking Somi would've been the center of the group. I also keep thinking about Chaeyeong, and how she fits this concept better than her sister. Chaeryeong keeps giving this really uncomfortable facial expression sometimes, but I do have to give her respect for sticking with JYP for 6 years and finally debuting.

[myungung.livejournal.com]

jype gonna dominate the girl group scene. damn this is a winning time for them

[kenziekinz09.livejournal.com]

This is like Somi’s “Lauren is the girl that didn’t go to Paris” moment like damn

[suggestivepeach.livejournal.com]

They’re doing reaaally well on the charts. Good for them. It’s nice to see a gg be unabashedly ambitious.

[babyjenkski.livejournal.com]

One of the big advantages of a group from the big 3, there's always a lot of hype/interest and instant fans.

I'm also happy to see lots of girl groups dominating and their concepts are not limited to cutesy or sexy.

[shawarmafordays.livejournal.com]

I'm so excited for them.

They seem really cute and I'm glad they're all in similar ages, so no one is stuck doing kidz bop concepts.