Charice’s Profile

Full name: Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco
Nickname: Ming
DOB: May 10, 1992
Birth place: San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines
Profession: Singer

Charice’s Biography

Charice Pempengco, or simply Charice, started singing at the age of four. She took part in ~80 competitions since age seven before making her breakthrough in 2005 (she was 13) when she finished third on Little Big Star, an Idol like talent show in the Philippines.

Charice’s performances were uploaded online by her avid fan in 2007 and received millions of hits, which led to her appearance on Korean variety show Star King where she wowed the audiences with her powerful performances.

Again, her videos were uploaded online by fans and gone viral, making her a global internet sensation.

Her talent soon attracted attention in America and led to her appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and later The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah in particular was mesmerised by Charice’s voice and pledged to support her singing career. Then came in legendary music producer David Foster, who signed Charice and vowed to mentor her to become an international superstar.

Charice’s international fame continued to boom with her guest-performances alongside big names like Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli etc. She’s also involved in Foster’s tribute album Hit Man: David Foster & Friends.

Back in the Philippines, Charice released her debut self-titled solo album in May 2008 with great success. Her subsequent album My Inspiration was released a year later and was a hit as well. She held her first solo concert in June 2009.

Charice released her first American single Note to God in May 2009 on her third appearance on Oprah’s show; the song debuted at #44 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Charice also made her Hollywood debut in December 2009 with a minor role in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

Charice released her second US single Pyramid (ft. Iyaz) in February 2010.

Check her official site and my main blog for more Charice Pempengco news.

The nine members of SNSD are Yuri, Yoona, Tiffany, Taeyeon (leader), Sunny, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Jessica, and Hyoyeon [check their individual profiles].

SNSD made their official debut in August 2007 with single Into the New World. Most of the members have been involved in some projects prior to their group debut, e.g. in magazine ads, TV commercials and music videos etc. A reality show Girls Go To School were filmed in conjunction with the girls’ debut.

SNSD released their self-titled first full album in November 2007; the title track received mixed reviews, but its second track Kissing You became a hit on various music charts in early 2008.

The debut album is re-released as Baby Baby in March 2008 and collectively sold over 100,000 copies by April, an impressive number in Korean music market.

SNSD were involved in various projects in 2008, including a reality show Factory Girl where the members were working as interns for Elle (Korean) magazine. A few of them also worked on solo in other fields, e.g. radio jockeys and TV hosts; with Yoona notably successful with her acting career.

SNSD were back in early 2009 with mini-album Gee; the title song was a huge hit, topping various musical charts and breaking various consecutive #1 records. They released their 2nd mini-album, Tell Me Your Wish in June 2009, with a much talk-about marine girls theme. The album becomes a huge success as well.

As usual the girls were busy with other projects as well, i.e. reality shows Horror Factory and Girls’ Generation’s Hello Baby. HF was cancelled prematurely though due to poor ratings, while GGHB achieved moderate successes.

The girls ended 2009 on high note with their first concert in Seoul; and they were arguably the biggest winners at most of the year end music awards.

SNSD kicked off 2010 with their second full length album Oh! in January. It did well and became the girls’ 4th consecutive albums to achieve 100,000 in sales.

SNSD are also popular product ambassadors, appearing in various commercials, such as Viliv PMP, Goobne Chicken, and LG Chocolate etc.

Related links

Visit main blog for more Girls’ Generation news, videos, pictures and wallpapers.

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BoA’s Profile

Name: Kwon Boa
Korean name: 권보아
Nickname: Kkamshi, Beat of Angel
DOB: November 5, 1986
Birth place: Guri, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Height: 160cm
Blood type: AB
Religion: Catholic
Profession: Singer

[Also known as Boa Kwon, Kwon Bo-ah]

BoA’s Biography

BoA was discovered when she was 11 years old while accompanying her brother to an audition at SM Entertainment. Her brother didn’t make it, but BoA caught the eye of the talent scout instead.

BoA was trained for two-years before releasing her debut Korean album, ID; Peace B in 2000. The result was moderate, but enough to convince Japan’s Avex Agency to make a joint venture with SM to launch her career in Japan.

BoA released a few singles before making releasing her full Japanese album, Listen to My Heart in March 2002. The album was a huge hit; and BoA became the first Korean to top Japan’s Oricon sales chart.

Following Japan’s success, BoA launched her 2nd Korean album No.1 in April, which became one of the best selling albums of the year in Korea. BoA officially stamped her mark as an A-list pop star in the region, and she was just 16.

BoA’s popularity continue to grow across Asia over the years; she is one of only two artists to have six consecutive albums topping Oricon chart. Her popularity in Korea dipped a little though, probably due to her lack of activities there.

It’s also a known fact that BoA is interested in acting. She voiced for Korean version of Animated film The Hedge in May 2006; there were rumours that she would be starring in a full movie, but SM has other plans in mind.

In September 2008, SM announced the plan for BoA’s American debut; she released digital single Eat You Up in October 2008, and her self-titled debut English album in March 2009. A repackaged deluxe album was released in August.

BoA’s latest album is her seventh Japanese album, Identity, which was released in February 2010. It’s also announced that she will be making her comeback in Korea later this year.

BoA’s related links

Visit my main blog for more Kwon BoA news, videos, pictures and wallpapers.

Official | Korean | Japanese | USA

After School made their official debut in January 2009 with digital single AH! and was branded by their company as Korea’s Pussycat Dolls. Their first single wasn’t a real hit, but they garnered attention with their commanding live performances.

New member Uee was introduced in March, making it a six-members group. The new team released their second single Diva in April with moderate success; followed by Dream Girl and collaboration with Son Dambi in Amoled.

AS underwent another reshuffling as So-young left the group – or graduated according to their concept – in October due to health reasons.

New members Raina and Nana were introduced a month later; just in time for the release of Because of You in November 2009 which became their first major chart topper. The ladies also shed their early PCD style with a more sophisticated and classier image which was well received by fans.

The seven current members of After School are Gahee (leader), Jung Ah, Jooyeon, Bekah, Uee, Raina and Nana [check their individual profiles].

Related links

Visit my main blog for more After School news, videos, pictures and wallpapers.

Official | Korean

The Wonder Girls officially debuted in early 2007 with mini-album The Wonders Begin, but they were making headlines for unfortunate incidents, i.e. car accidents and change of members because of health reason.

Their luck changed in September 2007 with the release of full album The Wonder Years. The song Tell Me was one of the hottest songs of the year; its cheeky choreography has became a national dance and gaining international notice.

The girls’ popularity is soaring ever since. They released the So Hot single in June 2008, which did pretty well; and Nobody a few months later, which was again one of the songs of the year with an extremely popular choreography.

The Wonder Girls began their concert tour in early 2009, which began in Bangkok before moving to a few American cities and ended in their homeland by March.

An announcement was made shortly after the end of their tour that the girls were ready to take on the American market in full force with the English version of Nobody. And their company brought in another good news in June that the girls would be joining the Jonas Brothers’ tour as opening act for their concerts.

The tour ended in late August, and it obviously helps the girls to gain popularity in the states, as their English single of Nobody has moved into the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, making them the first ever Korean artists to achieve the feat.

The group underwent their second member reshuffle with Sun Mi leaving to pursue her study in February 2010. Hong Kong born Hye-rim came in as replacement.

Related links

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