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Shinhwa


Shinhwa (신화) is perhaps the most popular Korean boy band still active.

Shinhwa made history in Korean music when they released their sixth album, becoming the longest running boy-band in existence. They also have one of the largest active fan-clubs, suitably named "Shinhwa Changjo" (신화창조 meaning to create legend) numbering over sixty thousand official fans alone, and even more unofficial fans.

The six-member group debuted on March 24 1998 with their first "Hae Gyul Sah" performance at KM Music Tank. Shinhwa was formed under the management of SM Entertainment, and in July 2003 signed a new contract with a new company, Good! Entertainment.

Shinhwa have released seven regular albums, one 'best of' album, and two special albums. Their song genre has changed throughout their career, creating a variation of music for fans and general K-pop listeners. Their past styles have included rock, rap, pop, ballad, and R&B. Another reason that has brought Shinhwa to their current fame is their ability to mesmerize the audience with their dance moves, which most of the time accompany their performance.

Shinhwa consists of six men with different talents:

Hye Sung was the first to join the group, after being auditioned in the US. Then Andy was chosen as he was supposedly join another Korean boyband, H.O.T, with his friend and H.O.T ex-member Tony An, but was prohibited by his parents because he was too young at the time. Eric joined not long after Andy. Min Woo was discovered by SM scout when he was in a dance group, making him the fourth to join the group. Dong Wan joined after he saw a preview video of the existing Shinhwa members, and lastly Jun Jin made it as the final member through an audition introduced by his high school friend, Kangta (ex-member of H.O.T).

On December 10 2004, Shinhwa was awarded Daesang (Best Artist of The Year) for the first time, taken place during Seoul Gayo Daesang Award. Members and fans alike are thrilled for the recognition, the first after seven years of Shinhwa's career. Several weeks later, on December 29, Shinhwa was awarded their second Daesang at the 2004 SBS Gayo Daejun. Overall, Shinhwa was also the singer to recieve the most amount of awards in 2004 with a total of thirteen awards from the m.net KMTV Music Video Festival, Seoul Gayo Daesang, Golden Disc Awards and MBC,KBS,SBS Gayo Awards. The awards other than Best Artist of the Year included Best Male Artist, Best Dance Artist and Overseas Choice Award.


Shinhwa is not only extremely popular in Korea, but internationally as well. They have performed in countries all over the world, including the United States, Australia, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan. Although Shinhwa holds fans all over the world, for now the group is choosing to take focus on Asia. However a world-wide tour is currently being planned. In their first visit to Singapore October 2004, for an entire week Shinhwa was the most searched artist in the Yahoo Singapore search engine, becoming the first Korean artist to do so. Furthermore in their most recent concert in Japan in January 2005, they held the largest Korean artist concert after singer BoA, with thirteen thousand of their concert tickets sold out within a week - despite having never officially promoted or engaged in any activities in Japan. In July 2004, Shinhwa was selected to represent Korea in the MTV Buzz Asia Awards with the likes of Amuro Namie for Japan and F4 for Taiwan. Shinhwa was also selected to perform the highlight of the awards - the ending performance. In August 2004, Shinhwa became the first Korean group to hold a Korea-China-Japan summer camp (Shinhwa Summer Story 2004) dedicated entirely for their foreign fans, where hundreds of foreign fans flew to Korea from all over Asia for the opportunity to spend a few days with Shinhwa. Shinhwa has also been chosen by internationally renowned Swiss watch brand Rado to represent Asia as models in January 2005 due to their vast popularity all over Asia unlike no other.

Contents

Group activities

Throughout the years with SM Entertainment, Shinhwa participated in the annual special album along with other singers under SM Entertainment, famously known as SMTown.

  • 1999 Christmas in SMTOWN
  • 2000 Winter Vacation in SMTOWN
  • 2001 Winter Vacation in SMTOWN
  • 2002 Summer Vacation in SMTOWN
  • 2002 Winter Vacation in SMTOWN
  • 2003 Summer Vacation in SMTOWN

The group has given four main concerts so far, including a tour around major cities of South Korea as well as a concert in Japan. In each concert, aside from performing as a group, each member is also given the chance to show his individual talent.

Discography

  1. 해결사 (HaeGyeolSa): 5 May 1998 (SM Entertainment)
  2. T.O.P: 4 April 1999 (SM Entertainment)
  3. Only One: May 2000 (SM Entertainment)
  4. Hey, Come On!: 28 June 2001 (SM Entertainment)
  5. Concert — Shinhwa 1st Live Concert 2001: April 2001 (SM Entertainment)
  6. Best Album — My Choice: January 2002 (SM Entertainment)
  7. Perfect Man: 29 March 2002 (SM Entertainment)
  8. 너의 결혼식 (NeoEh GyeolHonShik; Wedding): 26 December 2002 (SM Entertainment)
  9. Concert — Everlasting Mythology: 27 July 2003 (SM Entertainment)
  10. Special — Winter Story: 30 December 2003 (Good Entertainment)
  11. Brand New: 27 August 2004 (Good Entertainment)
  12. Special — Winter Story 2004-2005: 20 December 2004 {Good Entertainment)

Individual activities

After signing the contract with Good! Entertainment, the group members went to do solo activities individually. However, despite of all the rumours, they did not break up. Members Andy, Jun Jin, Eric, and Dong Wan chose to do acting in different TV series and movie. Jun Jin acted in KBS drama "Kumiho Waejon", Andy acted on MBC sitcom "Nonstop IV", Dongwan was the main character for movie "Spin Kick" and Eric was one of the main characters of the highly successful and acclaimed drama "Firebird". Min Woo released his first solo album (choosing a different solo stage name: "M"), entitled "un-touch-able". While Hye Sung collaborated with his close friends Kangta and Lee Ji Hoon, forming a project group named "S". The vocal-oriented trio released a project album, "Fr.in.Cl".

Follow up on Shinhwa's solo activities: Minwoo had just released a new single "If You..." in March 2005, which is topping charts and outselling other artists' albums even if it's just a single. He is now working on his second solo album which is anticipated to be released soon. Minwoo also has an online clothing store.

Shin Hyesung is also releasing a solo album in May of 2005. Very highly anticipated by many fans because Shin Hyesung is one of those blessed with a great voice and vocal ability. Shin Hyesung's solo first album also ranked number one on the HMV Pre-order sales chart in Japan in February 2005. Both Shin Hyesung and Lee Minwoo are planning solo concerts in Japan due to their high popularity and demand in Japan.

Eric and Kim Dongwan have also returned to acting with Kim Dongwan set to star in a new KBS drama as the main character in May and Eric currently starring as the main character in new MBC drama "Super Rookie" which is rapidly gaining high success.

Discography

  • M (Lee Minwoo) Un-touch-able: 22 November 2003 (Good Entertainment)
  • Group ‘S’ Fr.in.Cl (feat. Shin Hyesung) 25 September 2003 (SM Entertainment)
  • Single — M (Lee Minwoo) If You...: 10 March 2005 (Good Entertainment)

See also

External links

Last updated: 08-29-2005 10:07:24