K. SUPER JUNIOR. Can I embed youtube videos here? Aha!
*satisfied grin* And now some pictures, so I can ramble all fan-like for as long as I please (you see, I'm a little addicted to these guys). They're a band - a boy band, I admit - from South Korea. There are currently 10 of them, kinda (between 10 and 15 anyway, depending on how you count). ^^ They're poppy and upbeat, extremely entertaining, and so so sooooo... I wanna say 'addictive' again, but I can't. They're like candy. Delicious, happy-making, eye-catching sweet yummy stuff. There's a whole 'idol' culture in Korea that churns out talented, good-looking, well-behaved singer/dancers by the score, and these guys are (in my view) the best of the best. They can do everything. Everything! ❤ Without further ado...
1. YESUNG
Should have started with Leeteuk, as he's the leader - but Yesung's my favourite. He's a dork and a singer, one of the three main vocals in the group... Ack, it's late and I have to be up early tomorrow morning! And when it comes to Suju, 'late' really means *late* - in the past (read: two days ago) I stayed up watching variety shows on youtube til almost dawn. xD Candy, right? That was my simile? Well, they're really, really good candy. Turkish delight fudge-like candy. Or maybe coffee-flavoured... Anyway. For the last *checks time* hour and a half, I've been saying to myself 'just one more song, and then I'll go brush my teeth' (the crucial point being that while brushing my teeth, I have no music) - and now it's late enough that my stomping around and door-closing might annoy the landlord. I almost care... Seriously, just like candy! ^^
... Continued. I am now awake again.
I realised I missed out some vital statistics: the Suju members are between 22 and 27 years old (or 20 and 27, again with the debateable counting), and have many and varied talents: music composition, choreography, song writing, TV show hosting, stand-up comedy, acting in dramas and musicals, playing the violin/guitar/drums/piano and making very cute 'puppy sneezing' sounds. They're most well-known for the song 'Sorry, Sorry' which came out in 2009 and stormed to the top of the charts all over Asia (it's still there now). In the Philippines, 3000-odd orange-jumpsuited prisoners did the song's famous dance en masse and posted it on Youtube.
Suju have also formed four sub-groups: 1) Super Junior K.R.Y., a trio making the most of their damn amazing voices, 2) Super Junior H (Happy), six guys singing the bounciest, most sugar-coated pyjama pop you could ever wish for, 3) Super Junior T (Trot), with a switch in genre to old-fashioned Korean music more popular with "the previous generation", and 4) Super Junior M (Mandarin), which added two extra members and focused on the Chinese market.
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Onwards! Now I wanna continue my rant about Yesung. Just one more thing. If on watching that (points up the page) you found yourself going 'Ahhh, too many people! My brain cannot handle facial recognition on such a scale!', first I say: neither could mine. xD And this next video (the title track) is even harder.
At least in No Other they've got distinguishable colour schemes! Aiya. o.o To demystify:
From left to right, with singing and entertaining as assumed talents: Heechul (actor, DJ), Sungmin (actor, martial artist), Leeteuk (leader, DJ, TV presenter), Donghae (dancer, composer and Prince Charming), Kyuhyun (good at everything), Yesung (musical actor, presenter), Eunhyuk (dancer, DJ, lyricist), Ryeowook (composer), and Shindong (comedian, dancer and choreographer).
You probably haven't noticed, but that's only nine. The others are Siwon (actor, model, UNICEF ambassador), Kangin (presenter and DJ, currently fulfilling military obligations), Kibum (actor, currently acting rather than singing), Zhou Mi (songwriter, presenter and part of SJ-M), Henry (violinist, SJ-M), and Hangeng, who remains a part of the group in spirit but is in the process of terminating his contract. Hangeng's Chinese citizenship created many legal issues during his stay with Suju because of ridiculous entertainment laws in Korea. He's got a solo album out now. ^^
Waaaaah! Is it time to talk about Yesung? Why yes it is.
1. YESUNG - for real this time.
Why do I like this guy so much? Because he's got an absolutely gorgeous voice, he's sweet, and he's a complete dork. Seriously.
Exhibit one:
"It Has To Be You" live (low quality, but it shows him off!)
"The Trap of the Red Gate" for historical musical epic NamHanSanSung
"Your Eyes" (with Kyuhyun, who I know is amazing: more on him later) :P
(links go to youtube)
Exhibit two:
... that was right after imitating the puppy sneezing. ^^
First impressions: honestly, Yesung was the Suju member I liked the least. I hardly noticed him in the music video just above, except to think that he looked arrogant.... Though actually, the only ones I really picked up then were Siwon (because he's so good-looking, damnit), Donghae (his voice), Leeteuk (the only one with blonde hair!) and Kyuhyun (because he's tall...?). Anyway, back on topic. :) In Exploration of the Human Body, a frickin' funny variety show they shot a couple of years ago, he was always such a show-off. Too loud, I thought: too insecure. Way too annoying. xD
But now, oh, now... Well, my hyperness speaks for itself, doesn't it? He's gorgeous. He tries and he tries - which means he fails sometimes, and it's always hilarious. He's so emphatic, so passionate, and very weird. I love weird! Some variety shows make a big deal of his being '4-dimensional', which I think means odd - he's always 'that person'. I love that person. I love odd. Ergo, Yesung ❤❤❤! He's also very good to his mum. :P Definitely my bias.
Now, to bring in some comparison:
2. KYUHYUN
Kyu is a maths whiz, a gaming geek and a talented actor with very good Chinese pronunciation and an incredibly strong, clear voice. He's also a little bit evil. Kyu and Yesung are two of the three lead vocals in Super Junior (with Ryeowook, whose voice is higher). Fan forums are split over which of the two is the better singer: Kyu usually wins by a little bit. The consensus is that Yesung has more emotional power, though - and for me, Kyu's voice is beautiful, amazing, incredibly impressive, but not my favourite. Huskiness for the win! ^^
This is, in keeping with the undeniable girliness of this post, a very girly song: 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin, with Charice Pempengco. Even if that seems too sugary, don't skip it. His voice is too good to miss. This was his first performance after recovering from a car accident that punctured his lungs and nearly claimed his life - see Kyu talking about it here.
A little more:
1. Solo song from Baking King soundtrack
2. Love's Family: Kyuhyun and Sungmin spend a day at an orphanage. After seeing this, he gets so much more appealing. :P
3. LEETEUK
The leader, the oldest, the angel without wings: "Teukie Teukie Leeteuk!" He's the willpower behind Super Junior: what holds them together. He works his butt off.
As an entertainer, Leeteuk's best-known for two things: talking - as in talking, talking and talking some more, in true show-hosting fashion - and laughing. His laugh is amazing. I'll stick it in the youtube clip below. :) Teukie's a DJ at Super Junior's Kiss the Radio (Sukira) in Korea, along with Eunhyuk. He's also a regular on Strong Heart, a celebrity variety show (I *love* that about Korea), as a member of Teuk Academy with Eunhyuk and Shindong. They're comedians; they prepare a skit each time, and ambush the stars with embarassing pictures of them when they were little. Without any doubt, though, the best thing about Leeteuk is his love for Suju. He's dedicated to the members, heart and soul.
Introductions:
[Leeteuk and Yesung singing live at a Super Junior concert]
[Leeteuk hosting the Super Junior Show - Episode 18: Going to Sleep (subtitled, 2005)]
The embedded video is from Sukira a couple of years ago. Teukie (right) and Eunhyuk (left) are introducing a song by Beyonce, among other things. Their mangled English is hilarious. ^^
"REARRY?" Ah, I love it. Leeteuk starts laughing at 0:50 - the deeper 'huh huh huh' just after is Eunhyuk. Here's Teukie's laugh made more obvious, and Kangin's and Yesung's too because they made my stomach hurt.
4. EUNHYUK
The best dancer in Super Junior by popular acclaim. He used to be known as 'Anchovy' because he was so skinny, but since recording the group's fourth album Bonamana he's buffed up. Now he's a lionfish, or something. xD Eunhyuk's the lead rapper in Suju and writes his own lyrics. When Kangin, one of Super Junior's oldest members, left to begin his military service (compulsory for all able-bodied males in South Korea), Donghae and Eunhyuk created the song "A Short Journey" together: Donghae as composer, Eunhyuk as lyricist. It appears on Bonamana, as a farewell gift and a promise that Kangin has a place to come back to.
About the clip above: the idea is that after 10 seconds, fly swatters will come flying out and whack you in the calves. To avoid this, you have to time your jump absolutely perfectly. Eunhyuk uses dance moves. Impressive, no? Nobody else was anywhere near this good!
5. SUNGMIN
For Sungmin, I have lots of videos. He's definitely the all-rounder of Super Junior, talented in all sorts of different ways. There's an extremely cute, sweet and romantic side of him: see here, or here and here with guitar (and/or English), and there's the wacky skills collection: staff, magic, bending over backwards (and walking like that o.o), pizza tossing, dancing, and burping babies (see Love's Family link up in Kyu's description).
I want you to click on all of those.
For the main one, I'd been flicking back and forth between a martial arts cut and this clip of him singing live. Sungmin is rated fourth for vocal ability in Suju (behind K.R.Y.) but I'd never heard him sound like that before. He's amazing.
Watch, watch! The candles thing is especially cool. ^^
[one-piece]
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More happy-making, bubbly goodness: Yesung (in yellow), Ryeowook (in pink) and Eunhyuk (in blue) performing "Candy" by 90s Korean superstars H.O.T. I love the fuzzy mitten things! ^^ (A note to the sceptical: they're playing, not performing to the height of their skills. It's a bit like covering Wham.)
