Kara vs Wonder Girls

[moriganmadison.livejournal.com]

They used to be good…kinda.

Looking at two flourishing girl groups, Kara is about to have their first ever mini-concert on their reality program “Kara’s MetaFriends,” and the Wondergirls are about to have their first official fan meeting and concert in America. Both only debuted in early 2007 and have gained a lot of popularity with catchy pop songs: Kara had “Pretty Girl” and “Honey,” while the Wondergirls had their retro trilogy. Yet, even with all their success, they get a lot of flack for being girly groups with questionably talented members. Surprisingly, they weren’t always that way.

Under DSP Entertainment, Kara used to be just a four member group consisting of Park Gyu-ri, Han Seung-yeon, Nicole Jung, and Kim Sung-hee. Debuting with an image of independent, fierce young women, they were touted as being “Fin.K.L 2” for coming from the same company and their shining potential. Kim Sung-hee really carried the group with her strong vocals, but her participation in Kara was contingent upon her grades. Unfortunately in early 2008, she failed her college entrance exams, so her dad forced her to quit Kara. She was replaced by Kang Ji-young and Gu Ha-ra, and they downgraded their image from being strong females to being bubbly and innocent.

Under JYP Entertainment, Wondergirls consisted of Sun-ye, Ye-eun, Sun-mi, So-hee, and rapper Hyun-ah. They debuted with the song “Irony” from their mini-album “The Wonder Begins” as foxy school girls who won’t take crap from guys, and it did modestly well. Hyun-ah was plagued with chronic gastroenteritis, so her parents pulled her out of the group in the summer of 2007 and the Wondergirls continued performing “Irony” without her. Just before they were about to perform the comeback stage with “Tell Me,” Good Entertainment sent JYPE their trainee Yoo-bin as Hyun-ah’s replacement.

Looking at past performances of the old Kara and Wondergirls roster, all the girls showed more vocal prowess than they do now, especially Wondergirl’s So-hee and Sun-mi. The songs that both groups do now focus on image and catchiness, rather than promoting the actual capabilities of their members.



Old Kara “Break It” Live

Current Kara “Pretty Girl” Remix Special Stage

Old Wondergirls “Irony” live

Current Wondergirls “Nobody” live

Source:popseoul

This is probably old news for a lot of members, but I figured it couldn't hurt to post. With all the 2ne1 hype, I remember several members were discussing Kara's old image. I don't really follow either group, but it was interesting to see the difference.

Comments

[polyurethane.livejournal.com]

IDG why JYP makes the two members who sound the best in lower ranges sing the highest-pitched parts.

This.

They sounded soooooooo much better in the Irony perf because of the fact that they got to sing in their "real" voices. D:

[moriganmadison.livejournal.com]

According to some interview, JYP told the WG they had so stop singing with so much vocal power for songs like Tell Me and So Hot, because the focus of those songs aren't on the vocals.

Ugh, sad.

I was actually impressed with Irony. I didn't like Nobody when I heard it (but I'll be damned, that stupid song still got stuck in my head), so I was surprised when I didn't hate Irony.

[orangeinsanity.livejournal.com]

When I first watched their performance of Irony (which was waay after I had seen their other live performances) I was shocked at their singing. So much better than any other performances I had seen.

[-ochre.livejournal.com]

IDG why JYP makes the two members who sound the best in lower ranges sing the highest-pitched parts.

IKR!? It baffles me. Omg.

[cherise.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, Rain says he likes it but JYP criticises their sound because it's too powerful and not feminine enough.

FAIL. JYP never should've shut them down. I can understand reforming the group's image a bit but like you said, forcing Sohee and Sunmi to sing cute despite their obvious range was a terrible decision. Thanks for making it about the money and fame, JYP. @.@

[pretzel-knot.livejournal.com]

i agree with what you said. when i watched kara's debut mv recently, i was like, woww who is this girl?! damn she can sing. and i was surprised they can actually dance! (i don't know who she is though, but i think she's Sunghee from your comment?) i only knew of the group through their song, Pretty Girl, so you can guess how much i disliked them.

Irony is a really good song. i love sunmi's voice in it.

[canyoucelebrate.livejournal.com]

As far as KARA goes, I love both "versions" or whatever you wanna call them. Sunghee has powerhouse vocals and is hot as hell, but I'm not unhappy that she's not in the group, cause I freaking love Hara to death and I'm glad she's in the group. Jiyoung on the other hand, I don't like at all.

As for the Wonder Girls, despite the bitchy haters, Sohee IS a good singer. Go on youtube and search for Wonder Girls - Love You I Do for proof. The problem is that because she's cute, they force her to sing high-pitched when her range is lower. I think Sunmi is a much worse singer than her. And Hyuna was in a word, forgettable. Yoobin is much better in every way.

[chiroro.livejournal.com]

this.

[kyujong.livejournal.com]

Man, I love Break It. The Pretty Girl performance is cute, but I can't stand the "teehee im cute" crap all the time. I wish Kara had at least gone with a mix of a cute image and a strong girl image, would have been better than full blown girly fest.

[marslover13.livejournal.com]

Not Yoobin. 'tis Hyuna.
Yoobin joined right before Tell Me

[subpain.livejournal.com]

That's Hyunah, not Yoobin ;)

[marslover13.livejournal.com]

I would have more respect for KARA if they didn't have the cute image.

I caught an older performance of Wonder Girls the other day and was surprised when Sohee didn't sound like a mosquito. If you're going to debut a group, let them show off their vocals; don't force them to sing parts that make them sound unnatural and annoying. Thats part of why so many people think Sohee can't sing.

/rant

[fashionbang.livejournal.com]

I think Irony is the only WG song I can remotely stand.

[deazaskia.livejournal.com]

again, i'd say i love Kara's old image a lot better.
and i hope 2NE1 will never change. ugh, pls don't.

[kichi-kawaii.livejournal.com]

Truth to be told, I loved both the groups when they first started out.

KARA's debut song 'Break It' was amazing, and then somehow it all went downhill after that. Not to say I don't like the new KARA, because Hara is simply adorable and I love the girl. But their huge change in music, seriously omg, 'Break It' >>> 'Rock You'. It jumped from a slight edginess to a completely cutesy image.

Wonder Girls, I do love them, but I wish they are able to show their vocal talents a lot more. When they performed 'Irony' I was simply amazed and adored them because I loved it. The retro and more techno aspects of their new images are not bad, since they do sell. But seriously, I cringe at times because of the impossibly horrible high notes that Sohee and Sunmi must sing. I love Yoobin though, simply love the girl.

[subpain.livejournal.com]

I like both generations of both groups. Break It is a great song, and I really like If U Wanna, but the rest of Kara's debut wasn't that outstanding. This article seems like it's blaming the genre change on the members rotating, but that's definitely not the case. Their label obviously made a conscientious decision to change their style, mainly because this style sells better. This is what the Korean market was asking for at that time.

I don't think Wonder Girls have changed that much, and there aren't that many songs for us to tell from besides the retro trilogy. Irony was a very empowering song vocally, but the rest of their debut didn't impress me nearly as much. I'm inclined to wait for the next full length before I judge them further.

It's a Kara topic

[nezumi-kenka.livejournal.com]

I miss Kara like this so f-ing much. As much as I love Jiyoung and Hara I know that Kara will never be as strong as they used to be back then, and it does upset me, but I also know that their image was not what K-Pop wanted in their girl groups at that time and now they're all like "We want our girl groups to be fierce and srs business"

I don't feel like commenting on WG 'cause they were much better back then, but K-Pop liked their image ._.

[oblivionly.livejournal.com]

I've only heard Pretty Girl and Honey a few days ago, and it's catchy and all, but whoaaa Break It sounds amazing *A*

I like both Irony and their newer songs, but I kidna wish they would have a couple songs showing their vocals more :/

[proleptical.livejournal.com]

Wow. KARA went from that to singing freaking 'Honey'? Ugh, someone kill their new cutesy image with fire, por favor. Also, no wonder I always thought Gyuri looked off during most of their 'Honey' performances. She cutesy look doesn't suit her as well as her 'fierce' look in the "Break It" video.

[albeitalways.livejournal.com]

Well that's the way it is. With that kind of image comes tons of sales. And well, let's admit it, profit is still the target here.

That's why I hope 2NE1 will succeed, not because of their hype or Big Bang biz or anything that YG promised [which we haven't much seen. Yet.], but only because it will pave a way for other girl groups to follow. If a group known for its 'different' image is successful they set a trend. Maybe all this cutesy girly-girly stuff can be put to rest.

On a sidenote, I miss the old Kara. Sunghee TT TT Now the only one who really has the vocals is Seungyeon for me...

[fairy219.livejournal.com]

cutesy stuffs sell in korea (just like sex sells in western world). that's probably why both groups ended up changing image.

Look at After School. I think they're awesome but they're kinda under the radar because they have the "strong, powerful and sexy" concept.

[kanaala.livejournal.com]

i love the old KARA but i love the new KARA even more <333 haha~
this is probably because i enjoy cute pop songs the most- also my fave member of them is Goo Hara so i just have to love the new one more =D

as for Wonder Girls i never really cared for them that much or particularly liked them. i only like very few songs of them--
i don't care if they changed their image or sing worse than before.. lol~

[anewsymphony.livejournal.com]

I can't really comment on KARA, but as for Wonder Girls and Irony...I always just assumed that because it was their debut song, they must've put a lot of effort into completely nailing the notes and all that. However, personally I think their vocals in Irony sound pretty forced. They've yet to find a song that really does all of their voices any justice, as they've forsaken all that for the catchiness of their songs. Having said that though, I think many of their voices have become more refined since their first album, especially Sunye and Yeeun (though not necessarily in their songs as such...just judging from lives and radio perfs and stuff). Will not comment on Sohee....lol

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

I haven't followed either group since the beginning, but after listening to Irony and Tell Me, I was a little sad. The Wonder Girls's vocals on Irony were so much stronger and powerful. It's sad that cutesy high pitched vocals are becoming so popular.

[vanillacat.livejournal.com]

What confuses me most about all of this is that Yoobin, if anything, is the epitome of BITCH PLEASE, I'M A POWERFUL WOMAN, I AIN'T TAKIN' NO SHIT, so why did they change their image AFTER adding her to the group?

[quinnsan.livejournal.com]

Damn you youtube, the sound isn't working for me, oh well I'm going to leave it and try again tomorrow~

[moriganmadison.livejournal.com]

ugh, that happened to me once. It was annoying.