Career
[edit] 2007–2008: Debut and self-titled album
In July 2007, Girls' Generation had their unofficial first stage performance on M.Net's School of Rock where the group performed their first single, titled "Into the New World" (다시 만난 세계, Dasi Mannan Segye). A documentary recording the story of the group's debut titled M.Net's Girls Go To School was filmed during this time, showing the members as they moved into an apartment together and prepared for their performances. The group's first single was physically released soon after, including an instrumental of the group's debut song and two other tracks; "Beginning" and "Perfect for You". The latter's Korean title is "Wish" (소원, SoWon), which later became the name of Girls' Generation's official fan-club, S♡NE. The group's debut officially began on August 5, 2007, first performing on SBS's Inkigayo and then later on MBC's Show! Music Core and KBS's Music Bank. Into the New World achieved No.1 spot on M.net M.Countdown!.The group released their first self-titled full album in late autumn 2007 with the lead single "Girls' Generation" (소녀시대), a remake of Lee Seung-cheol's 1989 song. Promotion for the single started in early November. The album also included the group's first single "Into the New World", "Perfect For You" retitled as "Honey", and 8 other tracks by the group. In early 2008, Girls' Generation began promoting their second single from the album, "Kissing You", which won the group their first k-chart win after getting the number one position on the KBS Music Bank February chart.[4]
In March 2008, the album was re-packaged, re-released and re-titled "Baby Baby". A third single, "Baby Baby", was used to promote the album. During the group's promotions, members Jessica, Tiffany and Seohyun were also featured on a mini-album released by Roommate, a one-man band from Purple Communication. The mini-album was titled Roommate: Emotional Band Aid, and was released on December 1, 2008. The 3rd track from the mini-album was performed by the 3 Girls' Generation members and is titled "Oppa Nappa" (오빠 나빠, literally Bad Brother. The track was digitally released before the album was, coming out in April 2008. The song was performed live on SBS Inkigayo, KBS Music Bank and M.net's M.countdown some time later.[5][6] Later in the year the three members released "Mabinogi" (It's Fantastic!) together as the theme song for the Nexon game Mabinogi, with Tiffany participating in the music video.[7]
M.net's reality show Factory Girl chronicled the members working as interns at fashion magazine Elle Girl.[8] The articles the group worked on were featured in the Korean Elle Girl magazine. The program began airing in early October.[9] In late 2008, the group also participated in the SM Town Live '08 concert along with other SM Town artists.:)
[edit] 2009: Gee, Genie and rising popularity
On December 26, 2008, posters of the Girls' Generation members wearing roller-skates were posted up in various locations around Seoul. SM Entertainment's phone-lines were blocked up by callers asking whether the posters were for sale and the company asked fans to stop taking the posters down for personal use.[10] Three days later on December 29, the group's management stated that the posters were indeed teaser posters and that the group would soon release their first EP, The First Mini Album – Gee the following month in January 2009.[11]A teaser video was released in January 2009 and the first single "Gee" released soon after. "Gee" topped Cyworld's hourly music chart on the release day.[12] The song also went No.1 on all major digital music charts within two days.[13] The music video set a record on release, garnering 1 million views on GomTV in under a day.[14]
The group began its album promotion in January 2009 on MBC Show! Music Core where they sang their new lead single "Gee" and the track "Himnae (Way To Go)", another song from their mini-album.[15] "Gee" went on to become a phenomenal hit, breaking the record for consecutive no.1 wins on Music Bank with 9 consecutive wins, as well as receiving a triple crown on SBS Inkigayo. The track also showed strength on other charts, topping the Mujikon, Melon and M.Net charts for 8 consecutive weeks, the Dosirak chart for 7 weeks, the Muse chart for 6 weeks and the Baksu chart for 4 weeks.[16][17]
After a short break, SM Entertainment announced that the group would be back with a new mini-album sporting a "Marine Girl" concept. The new single was to be titled "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" (소원을 말해봐 (Genie), literally "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)"); with the full mini album being released digitally on June 22, 2009.[18][19] The group started their promotional activities on June 26, 2009, recording KBS's Music Bank.[20] The performance was followed by follow-up comeback performances on MBC's Music Core and SBS's Inkigayo on June 27 and 28, 2009. The physical release of Genie was delayed by SM Entertainment in order to redo the album art, and was released 4 days later on June 29, 2009.[18]
The track proved to be a success as it conquered various music sites like Melon, Dosirak, MNet, Bugs and it was No.1 on the weekly charts and SKT ringtone weekly charts of the first week of July.[21] The mini-album sold an estimated 50,000+ copies in its first week after released (almost double the numbers from the first-week sales of Gee), an unusual feat for any Korean girl group.[22]
Their first No.1 award for "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)" was on KBS Music Bank on July 10, 2009.[23][24] Their second award was claimed on SBS's Inkigayo on July 12, 2009, and their third on the 16th on the same show.[25] The group finished up promoting for Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) in August 2009.
[edit] 2010: Oh!/Run Devil Run, Japanese debut and Hoot
Later in January, SM Entertainment confirmed the release of Oh!, the group's second full-length album to be released on January 28.[26] The lead single "Oh!", was digitally released on January 25 with the music video being released two days later.[27] The song proved to be popular topping various charts upon release.[28] On January 30, the group started promotions with the recording of MBC's Show! Music Core.[29] The broadcast of the performance experienced a blackout near the end, to which MBC made the whole performance available online in response.[30] With 'Oh!', the group went on to win 5 consecutive K-charts on KBS Music Bank, as well as achieving a triple crown on SBS Inkigayo.[31] 'Oh!' also went on to win Music Bank's half-year K-chart, coming in at 2nd on Hanteo's first half album sales chart,[32] and also winning the end-of-year K-chart.[citation needed] The music video became ranked as the number one most viewed YouTube video in Korea by the end of 2010. It was also No.1 in Hong Kong and made the top 10 in both the Taiwan and Japan rankings.[33]Starting from March 11, 2010, photos of the members were released online showcasing a dark concept, dubbed "Black SoShi".[34] A teaser video was released on March 16, with the new single Run Devil Run being released as a digital single on March 17.[32][35] The music videos for both "Oh!" and "Run Devil Run" made it into GOMTV's 2010 First Half Top 10 ranking, the group having attracted over 13 million views in 6 months combined.[36]
Mid-June, it was announced that the group had signed contracts in May, and would begin working under Universal Music Japan's record label Nayutawave Records for their Japanese promotions, with their first Japanese single expected to be released in September 2010.[37][38][39] Girls' Generation began promotion in Japan in August. "少女時代到来～初来日記念盤～" (Girls' Generation's Arrival ～ First Time in Japan Commemoration Disc ～), a DVD featuring seven of the group's music videos as well as special bonus footage was released on August 11, with the special edition of the DVD containing a pink glowstick as well as a pass to the Girls' Generation debut at the Tokyo Ariake Colliseum on August 25.[40] According to Universal Music Japan, the DVD had reached considerable success even before physical release, with the pre-orders having sold out.[41] In the first week after release, the DVD sold 23,000 copies, making no.4 on the weekly DVD Oricon ranking and no.3 on the weekly music DVD ranking,[42] making Girls' Generation the first female k-pop group to make the Oricon DVD Top-5 ranking.[43] The sales for the group's first photobook, “少女” (So Nyuh) were estimated to at 1.6 billion won even before release.[44]
Amidst their Japanese activities, the group also participated in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour alongside their label-mates on August 21 at Seoul Jamsil Olympic Stadium.[45] They participated in the subsequent Shanghai, Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo stops as well.[46]
On August 25, the group held their first showcase in Tokyo Ariake Colliseum.[47] With an initial 10,000 fans invited, it was reported to be the most large-scale plan for a Korean artist debuting in Japan.[40] However, due to high number of expected attendees, the group's management announced that the showcase would take place three times in the same day rather than once to accommodate the estimated 20,000 fans.[48] The group sang 5 of their Korean tracks at each of the showcases, and the total number of attendees over all three shows were estimated to be at least 22,000.[49] At this showcase, the Genie Japanese music video was also revealed publicly for the first time, the teaser having been released a few days prior on August 20.[50]
Their Japanese debut single "Genie" debuted at the No.5 spot on the same day of its release on the Daily Oricon Charts and later rose to the No.2 position on the Daily Charts some time later, earning the group a No.4 position on the Oricon weekly ranking.[51][52][53] The group also hit the number No.1 spots on Japan iTunes' music video chart and both the Rekochoku daily video clip chart and incoming movie daily ranking chart a day later.[2] With pre-orders amounting to 80,000, the single sold an estimated 45,000 copies in the first week after release.[54][55] The single also placed high on Japan's Billboard chart, ranking No.4 on the comprehensive Hot 100 chart, No.5 on the Hot Single Sales Chart and No.1 on the Hot Top Airplay chart.[51] On October 20, 2010, the group released their second Japanese single, "Gee".[56][57] Japan iTunes named the group the "Rookie Album of the Year" while BigGlobe Music Awards gave them the "Best Single Award" from .[58][59][60][61]
A week after the release of their Japanese single, the group released their third Korean mini-album, Hoot on October 27, 2010, consisting of five tracks.[62] The music video for the lead single, "Hoot", was released on October 28.[63] Girls' Generation commenced their promotional activities with a comeback stage on KBS's Music Bank on October 29.[64] "Hoot" quickly rose to the top of the charts and received the No.1 spot numerous times on music shows, proving to be another successful release for the group.[65][66][67][68] The group simultaneously promoted "Hoot" and "Gee" in Korea and Japan respectively, participating in Japanese music broadcasts such as the FNS Music Festival, where they performed their two Japanese singles, "Gee" and "Genie" on December 4.
On December 22, 2010, "Hoot" was repackaged with additional tracks from previous albums and released in Japan. The release rose to the No.2 position on the Oricon charts and selling 21,000 copies on the first day, faring surprisingly well considering that all the included tracks were entirely in Korean.[69]
On December 9, 2010, the group attended the Golden Disk Awards, being awarded three awards including the Disk Daesang (Album of the Year) for their 2nd album Oh!. The group also became the first ever girl group to have both a Disk Daesang and Digital Daesang, having received the latter in 2009 for their hit "Gee".[70] On December 15, 2010, the group attended the Melon Music Awards winning the Best Dressed Singer award, Hot Trend Song award for their latest song, "Hoot", as well as the Artist of the Year award. This would be the 2nd consecutive 'Artist of the Year' award for the group. They topped the Hanteo annual Singer Award chart for 2010.[71]
They were named on Asia Today's list of 50 Korean power leaders for 2011 at the No.44 spot, being the only idol group from the list.[72] Girls' Generation was designated "Artist of the Year" by Dosirak, Soribada, Korea Gallup, Hanteo and Sport Korea and also won Best Song of The Year with "Oh!" at Monkey 3.[73][74]
[edit] 2011: MR. TAXI and First Japanese Album Girls' Generation
Hoot was certified Gold by Record Industry Association of Japan.[75] At the start of 2011, the group prepared a new song titled "Visual Dreams", as part of their endorsement efforts for Intel's Core Processors throughout Asia.[76] The music video for "Visual Dreams" was released on January 17, and various promotional campaigns included new music, 2D and 3D music videos, internet sites, photos, and PC store displays.[77]In latter half of January, it was announced that the group would be returning to the Japanese market through the release of their Japanese version of "Run Devil Run" as a digital single, scheduled released on January 25, 2011.[78]
On January 20, at the 20th Seoul Music Awards, the group received an Artist of the Year award, a Bonsang prize, a Popularity award and a Hallyu award. In doing this, Girls' Generation became one of four artists in Korean music history (the others being Seo Taiji, Jo Sungmo and H.O.T.) to win two consecutive Artist of the Year awards at the Seoul Music Awards. The group also became the only girl group in history to receive Artist of the Year awards for Seoul Music Awards, Melon Music Awards and Golden Disk Awards for two consecutive years.[79]
Girls' Generation were ranked by Forbes Korea as Korea's No.1 power celebrity.[80] They also performed at MBC's 50th anniversary concert Korean Music Wave in Bangkok in Thailand on March 12, 2011, which was their first performance in Thailand since the Pattaya Music Festival in March, 2009.
On March 8, SM Japan updated their official website with information about the release of Girls' Generation third Japanese single and their first Japanese tour. It was stated that on April 27, Girls' Generation would be releasing their third Japanese single "Mr. Taxi/Run Devil Run", which included their first original Japanese song "MR. TAXI".[81] and the Japanese remake of their song "Run Devil Run". A portion of their revenue from their upcoming Japanese single, "MR. TAXI/Run Devil Run" would be donated to Japan's Red Cross in order to provide assistance to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[82] On April 9, the Japanese music video of "Run Devil Run" was released.
It was also announced that the group would embark upon a Japan-wide tour titled The 1st Japan Arena Tour which would start at Osaka on May 31. A total of 14 concerts in 6 cities would be held over a period of one and a half months.[83]
On June 1, 2011, they released their first full-length original Japanese studio album Girls' Generation. This album contains 12 songs including the singles "Genie", “Gee”, "Run Devil Run", "MR. TAXI" and a Japanese version of "Hoot".[84] The album's sales surpassed 100,000 within just two days of release, breaking fellow Korean girl group Kara's record, Kara having surpassed sales of 100,000 in Japan in 2010 only after a week with their first original Japanese studio album Girl's Talk.[85]
The album sold 231,553 copies[86] in the first week, vaulting it to the top spot on Oricon's Weekly Album chart and breaking the record previously set by BoA's album for top selling foreign artists.[87][88] Girls' Generation was certified Platinum by Record Industry Association of Japan on June 14, 2011.
It was announced that as of June 26, 2011, Girls' Generation had achieved record earnings of 2.6 billion yen in total sales from the first half of 2011 in Japan.[89]
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