[KOR] Super Junior

[-xJackiex-]

BASICS
Also known as 슈주 (SuJu), SJ
Origin Republic of Korea
Genre(s) K-pop, Dance, R&B
Years active 2005–present
Label(s) SM Entertainment, Avex Trax
Associated Acts SMTown

Members
Leeteuk
Heechul
Han Geng
Yesung
Kang-In
Shindong
Sungmin
Eunhyuk
Donghae
Siwon
Ryeowook
Kibum
Kyuhyun

SUPER JUNIOR (Korean: 슈퍼주니어), also known as simply SJ or SuJu (Korean: 슈주), is a large thirteen member K-pop boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2005. The group initially debuted with twelve members on November 6, 2005 with the single, "TWINS (Knock Out)". The initial twelve members, from oldest to youngest, are Leeteuk (the leader), Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kang-In, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, and Kibum. The Chinese member, Han Geng, was chosen among the 3,000 applicants through auditions held in China by SM Entertainment in 2001.
Many of the members had already pursued an entertainment career before Super Junior's debut through acting, DJ-ing, and modeling. On May 23, 2006 SM Entertainment announced the addition of a new member, Kyuhyun, making them the thirteen member group they are today.

PRE-DEBUT
News about SM Entertainment's unprecedented plans of forming a large project group similar to a Korean version of Morning Musume spread over the internet as early as 2004. The members chosen for the group became a popular topic of discussion within netizens after rumors spread that a handful of the members from the group had already made media appearances before. In early 2005, SM Entertainment confirmed rumors and announced that a large twelve member all-boy group will debut near the end of the year, promoting the group to be "The Gateway to Stardom of Asia", and with the name Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior.
Most members have been actors, MCs, models, or DJs prior to debut. Heechul, Siwon, and Kibum made their debuts in dramas and films. Leeteuk, Yesung, Kang-In, Shindong, Sungmin, and Eunhyuk made cameo television appearances and became active DJs or MCs after debut. Han Geng made his first media appearance as a model.
Super Junior 05 made their pre-debut appearance on the Korean channel, M.NET on September 11, 2005. At the showcase, Super Junior performed various styles of hip hop dancing. The group danced to B2K's "Take It To The Floor." Han Geng, Eunhyuk, and Donghae also performed a separate dance away from the group, dancing to Usher's "Caught Up." However, the performance did not air on television until May 16, 2006 as a segment in the Super Junior Show (슈퍼주니어쇼), the group's first television documentary.



DEBUT
Super Junior 05 made their debut television appearance as a group on SBS Inkigayo on November 6, 2005 as a twelve member group. The group performed their first promotional single, "TWINS (Knock Out)." A digital single with "TWINS (Knock Out)", "You are the one", and three more different tracks were released online on November 8, 2005. A CD single was scheduled to be released on November but a more complete album, SuperJunior05 (TWINS), was released on December 7, 2005 instead. Their debut album sold more than 83,000 units and became the third highest selling album of December 2005.
Like all Korean artists, an official fanclub was created for the group, E.L.F., an alphabetism derived from the phrase "Ever-lasting Friends." Netizens term the group's fans as "elfs" (elves) in relation to the name of their official fanclub. Since Korean fans tend to support their idols with a certain balloon color, Super Junior 05's official color became sapphire blue.
To further publicize the company's newest project, after the release of the group's debut album, Super Junior 05 collaborated with another boy band and also fellow senior labelmates, TVXQ. Together they released a winter single titled "Show Me Your Love," a bubbly pop track fit for the Christmas environment. During this time, the two groups were seen on the same shows together to promote their single. "Show Me Your Love" became the highest selling album of December 2005.
Although only three months after debut, major changes and obstacles waved through the group in the year 2006. After "Show Me Your Love" performances and promotions were finished, Super Junior 05 moved onto their second single, "Miracle", a light bubblegum-flavored song that is a huge contrast from their edgier debut single. It was their last single to be promoted from their studio album. "Miracle" was the group's first single to peak at #1 on different music charts of South Korea as well as charts from overseas countries, such as Thailand. As promotions for "Miracle" slowly came to an end, SM Entertainment decided to push the alteration and "graduation" of members into action. Prior to Super Junior 05's debut, Similar to Japan's Morning Musume, SM Entertainment had announced that this group was not intended to be a permanent group, but a rotational project group–how some members from the group would either continue their career as a member or leave the group to pursue on solo activities. New members would come to replace the members that leave and some would also be rotated. The initial plan in forming Super Junior 05 was to create popularity and experiences for each member so they could easily achieve success in the Entertainment industry. After Super Junior 05, Super Junior 06, the second generation, would be debuting, and the label had began to take actions to announce the new members. However, seeing the fans' outragous reactions and how the members' wished to remain together, the label abandoned the initial project. The "05" in the group's name washed away, with the addition of one last member.
On May 23, 2006 SM Entertainment announced the addition of a new member, Kyuhyun, being the youngest member. The new thirteen member group polished a newer look and released their new single, "U" online for free download on May 25, 2006. "U" exceeded 1.7 million downloads. The single was soon followed by the release of "Endless Moment" on May 29, 2006 and "Lovely Day" on June 6, 2006, and the single officially landed on CD stores on June 6, 2006, ultimately selling over 83,000 units. The title song "U" enjoyed the #1 spot for several weeks on music programs for the first time in the group's career, therefore crowned as SBS Inkigayo's Mutizen Song of the week as soon as it was released, the first award for the group since debut. The song had stayed as the #1 song for five weeks and was crowned the Mutizen Song for three consecutive weeks. However, when promotions just began for their single "U", a new single, "Dancing Out" was released on July 23, 2006 as part of SMTown's annual SMTown's 2006 summer album. Super Junior had been frequently appearing on various musical and variety programs to promote both of their new singles thereafter. "Dancing Out" also won SBS Inkigayo's Mutizen Song as soon as it was released, however, unable to defeat "U"'s success of being #1 for over five weeks. Because their single "Dancing Out" was a special summer single, they had their "Goodbye Special" (performing their last singles "U" and "Dancing Out" for the last time) on SBS Inkigayo on September 3, 2006.
With the start of 2007, Super Junior underwent a rough bend, beginning to branch out into different splinter groups and became detached, causing rumors that the group was disbanding. Super Junior-K.R.Y, the first subgroup of Super Junior created in November 2006, began to give separate performances away from the group to promote their new songs. As soon as February arrived a second subgroup, Super Junior-T, released their first single, Rokkugo!!!, and also gave separate performances from the group. Han Geng, who had problems with his visa and was limited to give music performances in South Korea, headed to China and began activities there. On April 19, 2007, four members of Super Junior, Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, and Kyuhyun became victims of a serious car accident. Being the most injured, Kyuhyun was not discharged from the hospital until four months later, therefore unable to participate in the group's semi-comeback, the second single for SMTown, "Full of Happiness", released on July 4, 2007. Nonetheless, the cover from the former boy band H.O.T. accelerated quickly in singles charts in both South Korea and Thailand.
The group's second full-length album was marked to be released on November 2006, but because of Heechul's serious fracture of the femur from a car accident on August 10, 2006, schedules regarding the second album had to be postponed. The April 19 car accident also created more conflicts with the postponed schedule. After several more months of smoothing out schedule conflicts and promoting different singles, SM Entertainment finally announced the official release date of their second album a year later in September, after a year and four months of hiatus from the group. The day before the album released, the label released a list of demonstrative ringtones that would be included in Super Junior's new album. Global pre-orders for the album began on September 14, 2007, and the album, Don't Don, officially arrived at the CD stores on September 20, 2007. Within the first three days of release, offline album sales went past the 11,000 mark, debuting as #1, and in close competition with Lee Soo Young's new release. Don't Don finished the September monthly album sales as #1, quickly selling more than Lee Soo Young's and Wheesung's new albums that were released at least two weeks before Don't Don. Don't Don sold 66,678 units. According to global sales, 60,000 were all sold by the first week of release.
Super Junior made their official comeback on September 21, 2007 with the performance of "Don't Don" at KBS's Music Bank. All thirteen members of the group performed, being the first performance for the group to perform as a complete number of thirteen after a whole year. Also, performing with them featured an SM trainee, Henry Lau who played the violin solo during their Don't Don performance.

OVERSEAS EXPANSION
Since Super Junior's debut in South Korea, the group endeavored to share an equal share of influence across Asia. The group has paid many visits to countries outside of their homeland, especially China and Thailand. Although Super Junior has yet to make an Asian concert tour, there has been speculation where Super Junior will target the overseas markets and hold their own major concerts in 2008.

EXPANSION IN THAILAND
Super Junior made their first overseas performance in Thailand on March 9, 2006 at a music ceremony. In effect of the appearance, the group's new single with TVXQ moved up to #8 on Thailand's Channel [V] Music Chart. Soon afterwards, "Miracle" debuted as #1 in the charts on March 21, 2006. "Miracle" was the first song produced by SM Entertainment that topped overseas music charts in Thailand of Channel V. The song stayed as #1 for four consecutive weeks. Siwon was also chosen to be the endorser of 12 Plus, and filmed several comercials in Thailand. During Super Junior's performance at the Academy Fantasia in Thailand on July 14, 2007, several hundred Thai fans were crowded around the stage to watch the group perform. Some fans even fainted due to excessive heat and limited space while many others were injured due to the heavy amount of shoving and pushing.
The group's third single for SMTown, released in the 2007 SUMMER SMTOWN - FRAGILE album on July 5, 2007, debuted as #18 on Thailand's International Channel [V] Music Chart on the week of July 29, 2007. The single jumped to #8 the week after, and on the third week the single advanced to #1. The single was a remake of H.O.T.'s "Full of Happiness" (행복). Aside the International Channel [V] Music Chart, which was #1 for six consecutive weeks, the single also made it to #1 on the POP Channel International Chart and the MTV International Chart in Thailand. The single has been staying strong as the #1 position on these three charts.

EXPANSION TO THE CHINESE MARKET
Along with performances of Kangta & Vanness, Super Junior made their debut performance as a group in China on June 12, 2006, performing "U" and "Miracle". After the performance in Qingdao, Super Junior became the most frequently reported Korean artist from the Chinese media.
Prior to the group's Qingdao performance on April 2006, Super Junior's only Chinese member, Han Geng, visited China for the first time since his debut to promote Super Junior. Since then, Han Geng and the rest of Super Junior gave continuous visits to China. On June 2006, Super Junior made their first visit to China as a group. The group has made over ten visits to the country since April 2006. In Han Geng's recent visit to China on mid-July 2007, close to 300 fans welcomed him at the airport. After filming the Chinese film A Battle of Wits in 2006, Super Junior's other member Siwon made frequent visits to China to promote the film. Along with the rest of the cast of the film, Siwon toured four cities in China, the stops including Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. On August 8, 2007, Han Geng and Siwon visited China again and traveled to Changsha to participate in a variety show that was suppose to be held earlier on April but was postponed because of the April 19th accident. Over 700 fans were at the airport to welcome the two.
On July 18, 2007, Super Junior arrived in Shanghai to attend a 2007 Cyworld event. Due to previous chaos and confusion caused by the amount of Chinese fans at the airport, and also because of a tight schedule, the organizers for Super Junior decided to lead the group to exit the airport through the VIP section instead of meeting the fans through the main entrance.
Due to continuous visits to China, sources say that the group has serious intentions to target the Chinese market, with a Chinese version of "U" released in the Chinese editions of the single, U, on June 15, 2007. It is also said that the group will record as well as perform more Chinese singles in the future, and will also release a Chinese album. Super Junior announced that they will hopefully hold their own concert in China by 2008.
Super Junior made their first visit to Taiwan on June 16, 2007 as guest performers and award announcers at the prestigious Golden Melody Awards, also known as the Taiwanese version of the Grammys. Super Junior announced the Best Vocal Group and Best Performance Album awards. They also performed the songs "U" and "Miracle" at the awards ceremony. The group also broke a record at the ceremony, having the most amount of people to announce the awards. However, only eleven of the thirteen members attended the event. Heechul could not attend due to a schedule conflict. Kyuhyun was still resting due to a previous car accident.
Media outlets had termed Super Junior as "The Most Popular Group" after walking the red carpet at the Golden Melody Awards. It is said that their popularity at the ceremony even exceeds Taiwan's own artists. Over half of the fans present at the red carpet event were fans of Super Junior and over one hundred and fifty reporters rushed to the group to interview them.

APRIL 19 CAR ACCIDENT
On April 19, 2007 at about 12:20 AM (Korean time) four members of Super Junior, Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun, and two managers were injured in a car crash. The driver lost control of the vehicle as the van flipped over on its right side.
Kyuhyun, who was sitting behind the driver's seat when the accident occurred, was severely injured with a fractured hip, pneumothorax from fractured ribs, and facial scratches/bruises. Leeteuk had a successful operation removing the glass shards in his back, and received a total of 170 stitches on his face and his back.
Shindong and Eunhyuk, least injured with cuts and scratches, were both discharged on April 23, 2007. Leeteuk and Kyuhyun recovered faster than expected, and Leeteuk was discharged from the hospital on April 30, 2007, and Kyuhyun was discharged two months later on July 5, 2007.

MUSIC STYLE
Of the two studio albums and two singles Super Junior has released since 2005, the majority of their music is of the mainstream K-pop label. Super Junior's debut single, "TWINS (Knock Out)" was an edgy, rock-influenced release, and also a cover of "Knock Out", a song by a British boy band, Triple Eight. However, their follow-up single, "Miracle", was a light-hearted, bubblegum pop love song, a clear target for the younger audiences. The rest of the tracks in their first studio album, Super Junior 05, mainly consisted of pop love ballads and also R&B-influenced dance tracks with rap and fast drum rhythms. The title song "U" from their first CD single released in mid 2006 was more focused on urban contemporary, having a more R&B approach to the music. Their latest 2007 release, "Don't Don" however, is a rock track with an R&B vibe. The violin bridge in the middle and the rich usage of guitar riffs, drum beats, and also varying dynamics of the song heightens the song's musical essence. Nonetheless, most of Super Junior's promoted singles and main focuses are songs that fall into the dance category.

LYRICS
More known as performers, many songs performed by Super Junior are not written by them. Since debut, Yoo Young-jin (유영진), Kenzie, and Kim Jo-han (김조한) has been the group's main lyricists and producers. However, Heechul, Shindong, and Eunhyuk are sometimes credited for writing the rap lyrics in some of their tracks such as "Show Me Your Love". Eunhyuk was also the main contributor for the rap lyrics in the group's single, "U". However, after the release of their second album, Don't Don, more members began to contribute in writing, and a majority of the lyrics in the album are written by the members. Leeteuk, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, and Donghae wrote the lyrics to the pop track, "I am."
"Love" (Korean: 사랑) has been a popular concept for lyrics in their music. Their debut single, "TWINS (Knock Out)", although subtly mentions the word, sends messages regarding a magnanimous controlled relationship, despite the main theme being a support of courage and dignity instead. Their second title single, "U" involves desiring love. However, the group's recent contributions in music is slowly evading from the cliched topic. Their comeback single, "Don't Don" revolves around hypocrisy, and how money has changed the world into a devilish place to live.

DISCOGRAPHY
Albums
1. SuperJunior05 (TWINS)
2. Don't Don
EPs
1. "U" Taiwan EP edition
Singles
0. TWINS (Knock Out)
1. Show Me Your Love
2. U

Super Junior - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[littlemonkey_3000]

Oh i love Super Junior. I think I think I like the song Haengbok they best out of all the songs that they recored. Its just so cute.

[starlightcece]

My second fav boy band group from Korea!! They are such talented guys!! Singing, dancing, MCing, acting, DJ's, comedians!!! I love their songs, espeically "U", "Rockugo!" and "Haengbok"!!! And most of all, they're like best friends with DBSK =P

[gemsq2]

suju is one of my fav. korean group along with dbsk
they are all so cute and humorous

[love-drugged]

HAHAA! Yes yes! Suju's my 2nd fav kpop boyband toooo!! And yeah db's first! xD

OMG o.o They dont..look very.. appealing in that picture. :X
But I like donghae's hair there! IT'S SO GIRLY! Hahaha. Pretty boyyy.

Anywhos, my fav members are Teukkie, Chullie(heenim/cinderella), Minnie, Kang In, Wookkie & Si Won(Simba). lmao their nicknames are adorableee! ((x

[4everyours]

SuJu is one of my fav. boyband. And I can't will till they gone release there second album. There first album was so good..so I hope the second will be the same ore even better!!!!!

[Vinegar Omelet Salami]

First, I like Han Kyung and Si Won but now I started to like Sung Min, he so cute in the 2 latest music in SM town (I just noticed)

[redchoi91]

SUUUJUUU~ FOREVERRR.
슈주슈주! ㅋㅋㅋ
I love them they are my favorite. <3