Shinhwa Reminisces About Andy's Return To The Group

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

Minwoo: Isn't there a period of time where there were only 5 members not 6... The first awkward 5-men show during "Hey Come On" and "Wild Eyes" stage performances...I still remember when Andy appeared, everyone who are waiting for the stage filled by 6 people, that touching moment, the loud cheers, was simply unforgettable, even till death!

Eric: I was kissing small little Andy then. Andy was really small and cute back then... But now...

Hyesung: Although I wanted to kick Eric who kissed little Andy... But in the end I controlled.


The moment they're talking about:

Source: ShinhwaCompany @ Twitter (1, 2, 3)
Translation: forever6 @ allaboutshinhwa
Video: iluvhyesung2 @ youtube

LOL at Hyesung wanting to kick Eric. Did he forget he also kissed Andy? Or did he just want to be the only one? :P

And for those who might not know Shinhwa's history: Andy stopped all activities with Shinhwa during their 4th album promotions because his parents insisted he come back to the USA and finish his education first.

Comments

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

I remember their guerilla concert and they were all sobbing especially junjin. so glad everything worked out with andy, wouldn't have been the same

[setsuna16.livejournal.com]

But Wild Eyes was perfection even without Andy.

I mean, I don't have ANY clue what the hell the point of that video was. But it had a ginger Minwoo jumping on a stool.

So, really, I'm good.

When are they coming back? I thought it was this week because there was a teaser on one of the shows LAST week.

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

That's why he almost didn't come back. They did so well without him that he questioned his purpose in the group. I'm glad they were able to convince him to stay!

Not for another month or so. Minwoo is released March 2nd and the concert is March 24th so they'll either release the album before the 24th or around the 24th.

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

That's why he almost didn't come back. They did so well without him that he questioned his purpose in the group. I'm glad they were able to convince him to stay!

OMG I never knew that! I'm glad they convinced him to stay too.

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was so shocked the first time I read about that.
Here are some quotes where they talked about it:

Eric- “During Shinhwa’s 4th album activities, andy left the group because of school problems and his personal situation.. that was the worst crisis of shinhwa ever faced..”

Andy- “As the members were very busy at that time, contacting them was not easy. As time went by.. I thought.. that even without me, shinhwa with 5 people will do well.. thinking about it brought tears to my eyes.. but even while I was crying.. I didn’t dare to say a word.. I didn’t want to hurt our fans..”

Eric- “At first I didn’t know how to help Andy during that year. But I think it helped when he watched us perform on stage. Why is Andy such an important part of me? Because I love him. He seems to be so cute that way. When he’s singing, he’s like a little girl who you just want to kiss. He seems to be working so hard….”

Andy- “when I became extremely depressed, I was determined to leave the group. However, in the end, standing on the stage of Shinhwa’s Fan Meeting, the members cried while trying to stop me from leaving”

Eric- “If Andy hadn’t come back for our fifth album, there wouldn’t be Shinhwa now.”

[my-faux-pas.livejournal.com]

I admire their genuine love for one another. Screw fanservice, this is the real thing.

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

andy<3333 so glad he came back though.

[dipropylene]

All these Shinhwa posts make me happy :)

Eric: I was kissing small little Andy then.
lol I'm not surprised at all.

[my-faux-pas.livejournal.com]

These men. I admire them so much and I wished my bias group was like them, but kinda too late now.

Eric's so obvious with his love for Andy. I ship them more than Eric-Hyesung. Lol

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

I like RicSung for the hilarity and abuse that results from their interactions:


But I agree, RicDy love is so squishy and precious ♥

[my-faux-pas.livejournal.com]

Hyesung always seems to be the butt of jokes, but he's always so cute about it. Lol. RicDy ftw! They're absolutely my Shinhwa otp. Lol

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

RicDy ftw. ♥

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

Holy Hell Whitney Houston is dead:(

[waterpulse.livejournal.com]

Omfg O__O

[strawberry-efeu.livejournal.com]

I wanted to ask some fans who knew Shinhwa's history: who was the most popular member of the group back before they all started to go to the military?

And instiz (http://www.instiz.net/bbs/list.php?id=realtime) says that the album is also being released on 3/24, but that's subject to change, of course.

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

I think eric was the most popular member, the one who got a lot of cfs, dramas. tbh I personally never understood his appeal, but yeah he was the most popular.

lol I remember on happy together how they would tease andy b.c he was like the least popular at the time.

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

Haha, really? Even my brother says he can totally understand why girls swoon over Eric.

[icedevil0289.livejournal.com]

meh he was never my favorite. I found minwoo more attractive who in fact was my shinhwa bias, guess still is.

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

He's not my favorite either but sometimes he just makes me pause and stare for a while. Plus he rocks as a leader ♥

Minwoo was the first member I really fangirled over. I will never forget the day his concert DVD arrived and I was practically drooling throughout the whole thing *___*

[strawberry-efeu.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's kind of what I guessed :)

[carmendove.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Eric definitely has the most general public appeal. He had the most CFs and his dramas brought in a lot of fans.

They all have their target groups though. Dongwan & Hyesung are popular with the ajumma crowd because of their ballads and Minwoo tends to appeal more to the college-age kids. But that's just my observation, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[strawberry-efeu.livejournal.com]

I see, thank you.

[my-faux-pas.livejournal.com]

Eric was the most famous, most definitely. Back then I didn't understand his appeal and teased my sister about her failure in choosing a handsome man (I was a Junjin stan). But watching their interviews, I learned that Eric is one of the genuine-est people in their industry. I have so much respect for him, even more than Yunho tbh

[6rystalis.livejournal.com]

Hi, I was almost~~ there since the beginning, so here are my impressions ^^:

Hyesung (1998-present)- Hyesung is the easiest to talk about. Among Shinhwa fans, it doesn't matter what generation of fan you are, Hyesung is always popular. Other members have up and downs, but Hyesung is always consistently, constantly popular. Probably, outside of Shinhwa fandom, he might not be as well-known to the public as he doesn't do many shows and he focuses on music, etc. Particularly, since he's been focusing more on concerts rather than public broadcast activities. I can say for sure that Hyesung is the most popular member within Shinhwa fandom.

Minwoo (1998-2005)- You can say that from albums 1-6 (their time in SM), Minwoo and Hyesung were the most popular Shinhwa members. There were some articles about him being the most adored member back then. Back before 2006, every other international kpop fan (doesn't matter if they ended up as Shinhwa fans or not) will say their first kpop crush was Minwoo and most likely they got into kpop because of Minwoo fanfics. With 7th album and onwards, he stepped back a bit from the limelight and group stages. After 2005, he did not gain as many fans b/c like Hyesung he focused on concerts and did not do many public broadcast activities. While another member is the most popular with the public, Minwoo and Hyesung are probably the most idolized by the younger idols.

Dongwan (1999 and 2004) - With SM days, Wannie was most popular during the 2nd album. He took a small rise during the 4th album b/c of variety dating show, but did not stand out as much during 5-6 albums because he did not appear outside of Shinhwa activities. With 7th album, Wannie's popularity started to rise because of his wit on Shinhwa's group appearances on shows and because of his major features in Shinhwa's 7th album). While Dongwan has always sang pretty well, Shinhwa's 7th album confirmed it. He also won his acting awards after Shinhwa's 7th. His blogs and views on current events also made a rise in his popularity.

Eric (2004-present) - In the past, he was kind of in the background, but today, Eric is probably the well-known Shinhwa member with the public because of his drama and CF appearances starting around 2003-2004. You couldn't avoid him if you wanted to; he endorsed things like phones, cars, clothes to things like hair color, make-up, ice cream, spam and boilers. It particularly soared when the other Shinhwa members played up his ET personality on variety shows :P He had another popularity soar outside of Shinhwa fandom with DBSK/Hangeng problems with SM. Well, leader-nim is leader-him :P

Andy (2004-present) - Of the members, Andy was probably criticized the most and suffered the most about his role in Shinhwa. There was even some tension between Andy fans and Shinhwa fans at one point, as Andy fans did not think he was getting enough limelight. Andy's popularity started to rise around 2003-ish when he started appearing solo on popular variety shows; it wasn't a great jump, but he was adored. Around 2006, he was criticized by the public for going on variety shows with nothing to promote. I think Andy took that to heart and went crazy from 2007 onwards with solo album, We Got Married, musicals, Teen Top etc. Today, Andy's probably the 2nd most well-known member in public.

Junjin (???, 2008?)- I cannot gauge Jinnie's popularity. Imo, he's the funniest, most adorable and most athletic of all the Shinhwa members. He sings pretty well, raps well, dances well, amazing at sports, has an endless supply of witty replies, etc., but while everyone loves Jinnie, he cannot seem to make people's bias list like the other members seem to. I think it's because, while there is a serious side to Jinnie, it's very hard to physically feel it. I think Jinnie realizes this, so that's why around Shinhwa's 7th, he tried to act more 'serious', but people who do not follow him found him cool and aloof. But because of his regular appearances in We Got Married, Yashimmanman, Infinity Challenge, he's probably the 3rd most well-known member to the public today.

Phew~ that was long. Hope that answered your question.

[strawberry-efeu.livejournal.com]

lol so long! Thank you though, it was an interesting read. I suspected that there might be some parallels with other SM bands as far as popularity, and it's true in some cases, and not so in others.

I also kind of figured that Eric wouldn't have been as popular in the beginning but became popular in his own way.

Junjin was actually the first Shinhwa member I learned about, from Yashimmanman, but yeah, I can see how he would seem difficult to relate to, somehow. Likable, but not the favorite member.

Minwoo reminds me of Jaejoong a lot, actually. As far as fandom goes :P

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

I agree with what you said with Hyesung. Back then, I know more about him through his music activities. Not to mention despite being close to all ShinHwa members, his best friends are Kangta & Lee Ji Hoon. I really hope they gonna make an album together again, I mean group S -- their special album remains one of my favorites till today. :D

[funkaliciousss.livejournal.com]

omg i'm so excited for their comeback!

listening to their first greatest hits and it is amazing (except for those awkward demo sounding tracks)

[tiggie0307.livejournal.com]

I hope the audeinces will be fulled with many of their older fans for their comeback and people my age who fell in love with their songs after the fact.