[OP-ED] The ZE:A Phenomenon
The general idea of this particular op-ed has been buzzing around in my head for awhile, but I've always been hesitant to write about it.Why?Well, mainly because I justknew that it probably wasn't a topic that many people would want to read about. But in the end, I wanted to writeabout it badly enough and decided to go ahead and do it.
I titled this op-ed 'The ZE:A Phenomenon' because in allof my years observing K-pop, I've never really seen a group likeZE:A. There are a fewcases of models on how a group becomes popular:
- The group gets instantly famous immediately upon their debut. Ex: MostSM/YG/JYP groups,B.A.P, etc.
- There is one (or few) famous member(s) who thenpull the rest of the group into the spotlight. Ex:After School(UEE/OrangeCaramel),A Pink(Eunji/Na Eun),4minute(HyunA),MBLAQ(Lee Joon) etc.
- The group has a decent debut, and they keep gettingbetter and grow together until most group members become popular. Ex:INFINITE,B2ST,Shinhwa
- Sadly, the group doesn't make it. Ex:Ah, let's not go there
However, ZE:A doesn't fit into any of these models. They don't even fitinto category #4. It's a pretty special case where one certain member gets popular on a year by year basis.During their debut year of 2010 (and onwards), it wasKwangheeand his adeptnessat variety shows that first brought him to attention. In 2011,Dongjunsteppedinto the scene with his athletics andHan Ga In-esque looks. 2012 was the yearofSiwan, who gained immense popularity from his role in 'The Moon ThatEmbraces the Sun'. The latest trend in 2013 has been an explosive year forHyungsik. Allfour of them are staple faces in the entertainment industry. Like them or not,there's not many people who won't recognize them.
Maybe Hyungsik is theit-manofthe year, but ultimately, Kwanghee is still the topmember in ZE:A. He's the one who single-handedly pulled the group out ofnugu-dom (Who are they?). He came up with quite a fresh character for himself. No idol has evermade 'plastic surgery' their character trait. But even after that, Kwanghee issomething special. The plastic surgery bit got old really quickly, but Kwangheekept bringing something new to the table. Yes, Kwanghee is very loud andsometimes can get very chatty, but that's his strength. I've never seen an idolthat likes his voice as much as he does, but he has something funny ormemorable to say about everything.
But Kwanghee has way too manyfriends to be the jealous stuck-up snob people think he is – he's incrediblyclose friends with pretty much everyone:Taecyeon,Yonghwa,Minho,Park Bom,IU, you name it. And IU previously said that the real Kwanghee is actually someone witha lot of love – so much that whenever she hangs out with him, all Kwangheetalks about are his fellow members. When Kwanghee's on a variety show with hismembers, he's always holding their hand, patting their shoulders, or inducingsome kind of physical contact with them. He's pretty much always thinking aboutthem, and viewers can see that. It balances out with his loud side, making hima favorite to come out on variety shows.
Dongjun was the second ZE:Amember to rise to the public eye. He had a drama special in 2011 with hiskillersatoori, and started his spotlightwhen people noticed he was almost identical to actress Han Ga In. Looking likean already famous celebrity – is always popularity fodder. But not just that,Dongjun stole the title of 'sports idol' fromMinho, beating him out during the'Idol Star Athletics Championship', and also became a permanent member of 'Let'sGo! Dream Team Season 2'.
Equipped with good looks,satoori, and athletics (fans joke theonly thing he's lacking is his height), Dongjun kept on winning over more andmore to his side – and with that, additional knowledge about ZE:A. He's one of the idols that isn't hated on for his acting, mostly because he's actually good at it. His actinghas been praised all the time, and even though he hasn't played any majorroles, he's still got the solid basics that can take him far. Not only that, he'sone of ZE:A's best singers – he's one of the members who has branched out intomusicals.
Siwan took the baton next in2012, shooting up to popularity through 'The Moon that Embraces the Sun',swooningnoonahearts with hisamazing looks. Of course, the drama was incredibly popular, and Siwan rode onthat wave, sweeping hearts everywhere with his killer smile. It was even betterbecause he came out onto variety shows and was the quiet, reserved counterpartto Kwanghee'skkap.
Siwan has been pretty active indramas as well, snagging a role as the young counterpart of one of the leadingroles of the popular drama 'Equator Man'. He's also got a role in the upcoming dramaspecial featuring the drama debut of BoA, which is sure to get a lot ofbuzz. But Siwan also hasn't been neglecting his variety duties. He comes onvariety shows often, even when he's busy with dramas and movies and CFs. He'staken the character of being the reasonable, stable one. By himself, he couldcome off a little boring, and with just Kwanghee, ZE:A seemed a little too loudand hyper. But the combination of them worked perfectly to bring a balance.
How could I talk about ZE:A andleave out its golden boy Hyungsik? Hyungsik actually first became known throughKwanghee. To clarify, Kwanghee never said 'Hyungsik is the CEO's son', but 'Hyungsikis the one of the executive staff's son'. He was actually correct – Hyungsik isthe son of one of the board of directors ofBMW Korea, but as happens often, peoplemisunderstood what was actually said. Since then, both Hyungsik and Kwanghee have beencorrecting people, but that's not the point. The point is, Hyungsik has beenpretty familiar to people already because of Kwanghee, and he shot dramas suchas 'Nine' and came out on 'The Romantic and Idol'.
His big break came this year in2013 when he joined 'Real Men', which would then go ahead to become one of thebiggest hits of the year. He was the hardworking 'Baby Soldier', and goodlooking to boot! His charm point was that he was sincere in everything he did.He was sincerely excited to try out some things, he sincerely didn't want to dosome of them but did it anyway, he was really happy to be eating army food,and he was even okay with the fact that he was 4th in line andit took him almost 4 years to get known at all. As one of the good singers ofZE:A, he also actively promotes ZE:A's songs on 'Real Men'.
These four have now become a stable in the industry, but themath doesn't work out – the sum of its parts is apparently greater than thewhole. Most everyone will recognize Kwanghee, Siwan, Dongjun, or Hyungsik, butnot many react to the name 'ZE:A'. ZE:A has yet to make any kind of impact withtheir songs, floundering badly even beneath many rookies.
Mostly, I'm going to credit this lack of musical impactto their debut title, which was, to put it bluntly, a joke to many K-poppers.When I first heard "Mazeltov", I thought it was a joke, and consequently, didn't botherpaying attention to the rest of their songs... for a certain time period.
However, ZE:A has actually had a collection of prettydecent songs since "Mazeltov". "Aftermath" is one of my favorites (not countingtheir currently-promoting "Ghost of the Wind", "Aftermath" is also the song theboys have done the best with). "Phoenix" was a good dance track, and "BeautifulGirl" wasn't bad, either. The problem? While ZE:A has songs that are 'prettygood', they have yet to get a track that is their table-turner.
Is there hope for ZE:A?I'd say yes. First of all, thefour "it members" are bringing up Star Empireenough so that they don't have to worryabout disbandment. Their most recent "Ghost of the Wind" is their best rankingsong so far. I don't know if ZE:A purposely pushes one member at a time, butobviously the members are doing something right, because every member pushed sofar has been, to borrow a Korean term, prettydaebak. Now only if they get theirdynamic BA(a)Msong.
Who's up next for ZE:A? I don't know, but here are twomembers I'd love to see more of:
Kevinis theEnglish speaker of the group, the main singer, and the oldest, andseriouslytalented. Not many people knowKevin's abilities as a singer because their music isn't very well known and italso doesn't really showcase Kevin. Check out his cover of "Home"!
His newhaircut + dye for "Ghost of the Wind" also makes him stand out more than he didbefore, and hopefully as ZE:A songs perform better, he'll also do better, especially since their mini-album already includes his self-written songs. Kwanghee'salso already started to lay out the base, talking about Kevin and his singingabilities. Kevin's also started to show up, on shows such as 'Immortal Song 2' (with Dongjun, Hyungisk,Minwoo, andHeecheol), and 'The Romantic and Idol'.
Also, if hisAussie accent doesn't make you swoon, I don't know what else will.
Junyoungisthe rare case where the leader of the group has yet to shine (think2NE1'sCL,Big Bang'sG-Dragon,Super Junior'sLeeteuk,Girls' Generation'sTaeyeon,KARA'sGyuri,Wonder Girls'Sun, etc… Leaders tend do well.) Junyoung is well known to ZE:A fans as the 'kindleader', and you can see some of that playing out when the members played ahidden camera on Junyoung, Siwan, and Kevin to see which one would be theleader.
But that'snot to say that's the full extent of Junyoung's talents. He remixed a 'Moon Leader' versionof "Aftermath", and he's also composed some of ZE:A's songs!Also he looks a bit likeJYJ'sYoochun?
That's not to say I wouldn't be elated if 2014 brought forthTaeheon,Minwoo, orHeecheol instead.
Will ZE:A's strategy work? Is it working? I'd like to sayyes. Each new spotlight member brings an influx of new fans who gets to know thegroup better. At the very least, I was snagged by the most recent Hyungsik wave,dug into the group, and started to love Kevin and Kwanghee. And I can't be theonly one starting to see their charms. Perhaps in the future, the ZE:A Phenomenon will be more than just a title.