[ASKKPOP] [Original Feature] 10 Predictions for 2014

2014is already off to an explosive start - fromGirl's DayovertakingTVXQandRainon the charts to members ofGirls' Generationconfirmed to be dating, it looks like we're in for an eventful year! Today,jennywillandcontagionare here with our guesses and open ended questions for what else 2014 might just have in store for us! Remember, this is all just speculation!

1. What's in store for the Wonder Girls?

Even though JYP Entertainment has reassured fans that Wonder Girls will not be breaking up, it's also true that the girls' future plans are pretty uncertain right now. JYPE keeps telling us that the members will be focusing on individual activities for now, and that their future plans will depend on what the girls want to do, but that doesn't do much to ease fans' worries.

The two big factors in play are Sun and Sohee. As everyone knows, Sun is currently happily married with a baby. While Sun's still officially a part of the Wonder Girls, it's difficult to say when - or maybe even if - she'll come back. She and her husband need to take care of a newborn infant, and she's also said she'll be going back to live in Haiti for missionary work. While it's great Sun's living an amazing life, it also doesn't sound like she's got Wonder Girls planned into her future plans.

Sohee is also now a free agent, and has so far not yet decided to renew her contract with JYP Entertainment, which could prove to be another obstacle for the girls if they want to do something together. She's also expressed the intent that even if she signs bak with JYP Entertainment, it'd be as an actress, not a singer.

So what can Wonder Girls do? For the moment, there's not much they can do except go on solo promotions. But that also presents a new opportunity. It's a good time for some of the girls to go out and do what they couldn't do as a group while promoting under the Wonder Girls image.

As for what lies in the long run, it's all up to the girls and how willing they are to work things out. Even if Sohee leaves JYPE, that doesn't mean the end. It's difficult to work out something between different labels and interests, but it's not impossible. The girls will definitely benefit taking a leaf from Shinhwa's book, who have managed to work out everything even when all the members are under different labels.

2. What's next for KARA?

So now that Nicole no longer has a contract with DSP Media and Jiyoung is about to follow suit, what's next for KARA? It's a tough call, but we'd like to take a few guesses.

Nicole is in an interesting position. She's got a lot of buzz going around her name right now, and she could use that public curiosity to help get her solo career off to a solid start. However, that's only if she gets back in the game before the public loses interest, and if she doesn't run into any kind of backlash for leaving her company. She could potentially pull a Sunmi and come back after a long hiatus, but she'll need a heck of a song if she wants to gain any traction.

Jiyoung will probably be gone for a while, as she says she's leaving to study. It's hard to predict how soon she'll be back, or if she'll come back into the spotlight at all. She's seen some success acting in Japanese dramas, and under the right management she might be able to make a Japanese comeback at some point down the road.

Gyuri is widely known to have been an actress before she was in KARA, and the acting she's done since she's been in the group has generally been well-received, so it's likely that she'll continue pursuing acting in the future. She was also well-received as a radio host, so she may return to hosting at some point down the line. Seungyeon, the lead singer of the group, had the most successful solo single from the group's solo album, and it's likely she'll get pushed as a solo star aside from just being in the group. Hara is the group's resident variety idol and DSP will likely push her more to the forefront on variety, with the goal of fixing the damage done to her image by the now-infamous 'Radio Star' incident.

DSP has recently revealed that all three girls will pursue acting for the time being, and the company will decide later whether the group will remain a trio or add new members. Either way, now is the perfect opportunity for DSP to reinvent KARA for a fresh image with the public. All they need is a killer song.

3. Which boy bands are the ones to watch?

Last year,we predicted that B1A4 would make it bigin 2013, and they did! While Baro's acting on 'Reply 1994' took us by surprise (in a good way), Sandeul also made waves in his run on 'Immortal Song', tugging on heartstrings all over the world with his emotional ballads. This year, we think it's going to be VIXX that steps up to the plate and takes over K-Pop. They've already had their first win, and their creepy concept seems to be hitting home runs with fans. The big question is whether they'll keep riding the creepy wave, or if they'll change things up again like they did for "G.R.8.U". Either way, this is definitely a group to keep your eye on.

As far as the other boy bands to watch, we think it comes down to the rookies- the boys of EXO have already established themselves, so we'll leave them out of the running. BTS is still new to the game and are already picking up steam, but coming from Big Hit Entertainment- one of the smaller companies- they've got stiff competition. JYP Entertainment's GOT7 is already making waves with their debut song "Girls Girls Girls" and has been pegged as the successor to 2PM. Meanwhile,YG Entertainment'sWINNER is set to debut later this year- with all the predebut buzz, could they steamroll the competition out of the way? Only time will tell. We'll all be keeping a close eye on these groups.

4. What about the girl groups?

Alongside Girl's Day's meteoric flight to the top, 2013 saw the rise of A Pink, as their song "NoNoNo" took over the charts and brought them out of rookiedom and into the mainstream. WithEunji's acting and guest vocal stars on the rise, Na-EunandBomibuilding up their variety credits, and Bomi making a splash as a guest vocalist, expect even bigger things from this group in 2014!

Of the 2013 crop rookie groups, Ladies' Code has the potential to really make it big in 2014, as each of their singles did remarkably well last year. Of the older girl groups, Nine Muses had a breakthrough year in 2013, and while we're all still sad over the news of Lee Sem and Eunji's departures, we think 2014 could finally be the year they get the recognition they deserve. And in the middle, we have SPICA, who saw a spike in personality with "Tonight" due toLee Hyori's support- hopefully that momentum carries through with "You Don't Love Me!" and beyond.

5. And the soloists?

When Sunmi announced her comeback (or solo debut, depending on how you want to phrase it) in 2013, the response was excited but unsure. Could Sunmi really make it as a soloist? What about just putting Sunmi back in the Wonder Girls? Is this really a good idea?

But as it turned out, it was a very good idea. Sunmi's "24 Hours" became one of the hottest and most-parodied songs of the year. She was praised both for her vocal and dance performances, and she distinguished herself even more when she stood on stage barefoot while all her girl group friend stood on sky-high kill heels. She definitely proved herself, and her success also proved that J.Y. Park still had his touch. The real judgement to cementing her success will come in her next single, where she has to show that her success wasn't just a one-time fluke.

On the male side, we have the ever-so-quirky Jung Joon Young. While he was introduced to the public through the singing show 'Superstar K4' and he even went on to place in 3rd, Jung Joon Young is now more familiar to the crowd as an amazing card on a variety show. He hasn't even debuted for a year, and he's already secured himself a permanent space on not just 'We Got Married' but also '1 Night 2 Days'.

As I already said in the '13 Breakthrough Stars of 2013', Jung Joon Young is one to watch on variety shows because of his hilarious way of thinking. He's the epitome of 4-D thinking, where his reactions and word choices are just really quite unique. His personality just may be unique enough to keep him lasting in 2014 as well.

6. What year will we "Reply" to next?

With 'Reply 1997' and 'Reply 1994' becoming so incredibly popular and giving the limelight to stars that hadn't been too famous beforehand, there are (still unconfirmed) rumors that a 3rd season to the 'Reply' series is coming soon.

If the sequel comes, it could go in either direction - either go further back in time, or fast forward a little closer. One rumor that's been flying around is that we might get a 'Reply 2002'. 2002 may seem a little too close (It's in the same millenium as we are!!!) but it's still 12 years ago. It's also an amazing year for Koreans to remember fondly, as it was the year of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup.

It also helps that the 2002 World Cup gave way to a bunch of soccer celebrities, well-known even to this day. In fact, players like Ahn Jung Hwan and Song Jong Kook are active in the entertainment world, which means 'Reply 2002' (if it happens) can even get fun cameos.

7. High hopes for SHINee

While SHINee gives us great songs and even better performances, for some reason they are magnets to danger and harm. It all started when a music broadcast show set fell on top of Onew, and then after that, it seemed like the SHINee members kept getting hurt left and right. During "Ring Ding Dong", the majority of the members succumbed to swine flu. Minho got hurt during 'Let's Go! Dream Team' and then later again during 'Idol Star Olympics'. More recently, Jonghyun was missing for almost the entirety of the "Why So Serious?" promotions because of his car accident, and Onew couldn't dance during "Everybody" because of a neck injury.

The boys have always had amazing choreography and are flawless on stage, so here's to hoping they finally get a promotional cycle - a full one - without getting any of the members hurt in any sort of way.

8. U-KISS will win on a music show

While Dongho's departure last year was sad news for all of us, the group seems to have taken the opportunity to change up their sound and try something new. Since AJ's going to be out of the game for a while to head back to college, now's a perfect time for U-KISS to venture into the world of subunits again and try to raise their profile through variety shows.

Yes, yes, we predicted a win on a music show last year, but what can we say? jennywill and contagion are still your resident U-KISS stans here at askkpop, and we're still pulling for them.

Military enlistment is a touchy subject for K-pop artists and celebrities alike, but it's also an unavoidable topic for Korean men. With Yesung in the army already and Leeteuk slotted to be discharged on July 29th, 2014 (only 6 more months to go!), it looks like Super Junior may be sending another member off to the army this year. Super Junior has been maintaining a fairly steady stream of members entering the army each year while the rest of the group keeps the group going, and up this year in terms of age are Shindong and Sungmin.

With that said, other celebrities born in 1985 and 1986 such asTVXQ'sYunho, JYJ's Jaejoong and Yoochun, Kim Hyun Joong, and others are also at the age where fans have to brace themselves for enlistment. Lee Seung Gi (1987) has also been saying that he'll be leaving soon. We may also get a bunch of surprise enlistments this year, just like last year with Song Joong Ki and Yoo Seung Ho went without saying much beforehand. In terms of 'normal' age, anyone who's over 20 is fair game to go.

10. f(x) will finally get a fanclub

C'mon guys, it's certainly been long enough. It seems like everyone's got an official fan club except for f(x), and it's high time SM Entertainment gave the fans what they want. This year, chances seem higher than ever- with EXO's fandom chomping at the bit for something official, it'd only make sense for SM to finally give an official fan club to their senior group first.