And Then There Were Nine

 
  Many of Korea’s top girl groups are singing and dancing in large packs these days. A Pink, Rainbow, Nine Muses, and quite a few others have debuted over the last few years with seven or more members. Of the large groups, three have earned reputations as the best of the best – gaining popularity through promotions in South Korea, Japan and then all over the world. And interestingly enough, they’re about to share something else in common: the number of ladies. How did they arrive at so many? Is there something special about nine idols together in a group? 

   Let’s start with the group that made the number famous: Girls’ Generation.

GIRLS’ GENERATION

SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s “top three” agencies alongside JYP and YG, debuted Girls’ Generation in 2007. At the time, nine was an unusually large idol group – the second largest in SM next to brother group, Super Junior. Most other groups of both sexes at the time were limited to trios, quartets and quintets.
During an interview on Radio Show Ya Shim Man Man 2, members Sooyoung, Yuri and Yoona revealed that the trainee competition to join the group was fierce. Apparently, the original plan was for a three-member group, but was extended to 10 after three extensive line-up revisions. After the departure of Soyeon (who later debuted  with T-ARA), the final roster consisted of leader Taeyeon, Yuri, Sunny, Tiffany, Sooyoung, Jessica, Hyoyeon, YoonA and Seohyun.
 As of April 2012, Girls’ Generation introduced their first sub-group, TaeTiSeo. Though the group name was drawn from the names of the first three members, Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, according to OSEN, representatives from SM stated that the members were interchangeable, so future promotions may include other members of GG.

Girls Generation and TaeTiSeo (Unit Group)

AFTER SCHOOL

After School Debut Members

  Pledis Entertainment took an interesting approach to their first idol group, After School, by declaring from the start that there would be an “admission/graduation” system. New members would be “admitted” into After School, and would “graduate” when it was time to move on to other projects – making member changes appear more natural. Many idol groups cut and add members, but not without much speculation and suggested internal conflict. Announcing from debut that active members are interchangeable took the bulk of negative pressure away from the agency whenever they decided to add to or withdraw from After School’s membership.
  A.S. originally consisted of leader Kahi, Bekah, JungAh, Juyeon and Soyoung in 2007, and admitted UEE, Raina, Nana, Lizzy and E-Young by 2011. Soyoung graduated in 2009 and Bekah graduated in 2011 respectively. Newest member Gaeun was introduced on April 10 in Japan, and will bring the group’s total active members to nine when she joins A.S. for their album release this June. But in an interesting twist, After School’s capacity may come back down to eight soon, as Pledis CEO Han Sung Soo announced through an interview on May 2 that another graduation will take place (StarNews). After School currently has three promoting sub-groups: Orange Caramel, After School Red and After School Blue.

After School Current Photo and New Member Gaeun

 After School Sub-Groups: Orange Caramel (Left), After School Red (Top), and After School Blue (Bottom)

  

T-ARA

T-ARA Debut Members

 

  Core Contents Media formed T-ARA in 2009 with members Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon, Jiwon and Jiae, though it is unclear whether they initially planned to add more. After the departure of Jiwon and Jiae just before their official debut, the group gained Boram, Q-ri, Soyeon and Hwayoung, bringing the current total to seven. Although there have been no sub-groups announced for T-ARA yet, several members have become popular personalities on variety shows and even acted as leads in movies and television dramas.
   CEO Kim Kwang Soo announced earlier this year that two more girls would be added, bringing the total up to the 9 for this group as well. His official statement not only confirmed the member addition, but also served as a warning to members becoming comfortable in their top star position.  “I’ve seen a portion of the celebrities I’ve created become conceited and idle about three years after they’ve risen to popularity. Although T-ARA is working hard, I have decided to make changes to show them that they must continue to try and work even harder onstage and offstage.”  (Kim Kwang Soo, Naver)

Current T-ARA to Add Two New Members

IS 9 THE MAGIC NUMBER?

   Agencies with large groups are well aware of what comes with them – uneven popularity among fans between members, issues of pay distribution and visibility during off-promotion activities. Internal issues aside, it does provide an agency with a larger pool of artists to work with; side projects like sub-groups and acting in dramas and movies is much easier to facilitate when audiences are already familiar with the talent from their high-time in a popular group. Some members may even achieve enough popularity and support to have a second solo career, returning to the group only for group promotions.
   It’s a bit of a reach to say that the number “9″ is specifically the ticket to big success, but as far as we can tell, it seems to sit right in the perfect range. There are enough members to spread out and break down into solos or sub-groups as the agency sees fit, but not too many that fans are put-off by the amount of names to remember and activities to follow. With a wide enough range of personalities and talents, a group of nine has a better chance of appealing to a wider range of audiences.

All Image Credits to Respective Agencies.

What do you think? Do 9-member groups have a better chance at lifting off?