Wednesday 9 November 2011

SHINHWA 신화

SHINHWA (Korean : 신화, Hanja : 神話) is a popular South Korean boy band and hip hop group. The group has six members (with 3 vocalist and 3 rappers), and debuted on March 24, 1998. It has enjoyed massive success alongside the likes of Sechs Kies, G.O.D, Turbo (group), Fin. K.L., H.O.T, and S.E.S. Shinhwa is the Korean word for myth or legend.
Initially formed under SM Entertainment, Shinhwa signed a new contract with a new record label, Good Entertainment, in July 2003. While still under Good Entertainment as Shinhwa, each of the members have all left the entertainment to start their own to concentrate on their solo activities, from acting to going solo. Aside from singing and performing as a group and individuals as well as acting, the members of Shinhwa are also mentors to the Korean boy band Battle.




HISTORY

Beginnings and debut: 1998-1999

In order to capitalize on the success of boy band H.O.T. and girl group S.E.S, created by Lee Soo Man, producer and co-founder of SM Entertainment. Lee scouted for possible candidates to create another band to match their standards.
The first member scouted was Shin Hye Sung, who attended Granada Hills High School, after a stand-out audition in Los Angeles, California. Andy Lee was then chosen to join the group as he was once a candidate for H.O.T. At that time his parents prohibited him from joining H.O.T because he was too young. Eric Mun joined not long after Andy. Eric attended John Burroughs Middle School located in Los Angeles, CA and Sunny Hills High School located in Fullerton, CA. Following Eric came Lee Min Woo, who was discovered by a SM scout when he won 1st place at a student dance competition. Kim Dong Wan was spotted by a scout on the street and was initially interrested in acting, but joined after he saw a preview video of the existing members. Finally, Jun Jin made it as the final member through an audition backed by his high school friend, Kangta. Among the six, only two had had previous exposure to the media; Eric and Andy were introduced in 1997 as rappers in fellow SM group S.E.S.'s song "I'm Your Girl".
With the formation complete, the six-member group, named Shinhwa, debuted under SM Entertainment on 24 March 1998 with a performance of their first single "해결사" (The Solver) on KM Music Tank. Their second single, "으샤으샤" (Eusha Eusha), is a light-hearted track where they adopted a cute image to match the concept of the song, complete with outfit in white and blue colors. Their third single, "천일유혼" (Sharing Forever) also charted well but was not as successful as the previous two. However, they were accused of being another copy of H.O.T. and were involved in controversy when a tragic water accident occurred, and "으샤으샤" (Eusha Eusha), which was about a fun trip at the beach, was used as a reminder of the accident. Hence, their debut album Resolver did not perform as well as expected and the band almost disbanded.
Shinhwa's second album, T.O.P., was released on 19 April 1999. It garnered considerable success with its title song. The album debuted at #4 and peaked at #3, selling 377,500 copies and charting for 24 weeks on the Korean monthly chart. With the release of T.O.P, Shinhwa began to move away from their "cute" image to an edgier image concept. Riding on the success of their second album, the group received the "1998's Best Music Video from a new male pop group" award from M.Net, their first major music award.



GROUP MEMBERS

 

Shinhwa has six members:
1.     Eric Mun (Korean name: Mun Jung Hyuk 문정혁; 16 February 1979; English rapper) LEADER

      Height: 180 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Siblings: 2 older sisters
Religion: Christian
Hobbies: Listening to Music
School: Dong-Guk University, Theater/Dramatic Arts Major 3rd year
2.     Lee Min Woo (이민우; 28 July 1980; vocalist)

      Height: 175 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Siblings: 1 elder brother & sister
Religion: Christian
Hobbies: Drawing cartoons, Listening to music
School: Dae Jhun University, Music Major 2nd year
3.     Kim Dong Wan (김동완; 21 November 1979; vocalist)

      Height: 176 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Siblings: None
Religion: Christian
Hobbies: PC Tong Shin [internet chatting], in-line Roller-bladding
School: Dae Jhun Busssiness University, Music Major 2nd year
4.     Shin Hye Sung (Real name: Jung Pil Kyo 정필교; 27 November 1979; lead vocalist)

      Height: 179 cm
Weight: 61 kg
Siblings: 1 younger brother
Religion: Christian
Hobbies: Listening to Music
School: Chun An University, English Major, 2nd year

5.     Jun Jin (Real name: Park Choong Jae 박충재; 19 August 1980; rapper & vocalist)

      Height: 182 cm
Weight: 63 kg
Siblings: 1 younger sister
Religion: Christian
Hobbies: Listening to music, watching videos
School: Kyoung-Gi University, 1st year
6.     Andy Lee (Korean name: Lee Sun Ho 이선호; 21 January 1981; rapper)

                 Height: 177 cm
           Weight: 58 kg
           Siblings: 1 older sister
           Religion: Christian
           Hobbies: Basketball, Volleyball, Dancing and Rapping
           School: Korean Kent Foreign School [Senior]
 

  • Hye Sung was the first to join the group, after auditioning in the U.S.
  • Then Andy was chosen as he was already known to SM Entertainment as a once-candidate for another Korean boyband, H.O.T, with his friend and H.O.T ex-member Tony An, though he was prohibited by his parents from joining H.O.T because he was too young at the time.
  • Eric joined not long after Andy.
  • Min Woo was discovered in a dance group by a SM scout.
  • Dong Wan joined after he saw a preview video of the existing Shinhwa members.
  • Jun Jin made it as the final member through an audition backed by his high school friend, Kangta (ex-member of H.O.T).


Awards


Years
Awards
1999
M.Net Awards: '98 Best Music Video from new pop male group award
2000
SBS Gayo Award: Popularity award
KMTV Song Award: Bonsang award
KMTV Song Award: Popular Singers award
2001
KBS Music Award: Bonsang
SBS Gayo Award: Bonsang award
KMTV Gayo Award: 2001 Most Popular Award
Golden Disk Awards: Bonsang
Seoul Music Awards: Bonsang
M.net Music Video Festival Male Group Section Award
2002
Golden Disk Award: Disk Bon Sang
M.net Music Video Festival Award: Best Male Group
Seoul Music Awards: Bonsang
2003
Seoul Gayo Daesang Award: Bonsang
SBS Gayo DaeJeon Award: Bonsang
Golden Disk Award: Bonsang
Korean Music Awards: Singer Of the Year
2004
Korean Music Awards: Singer of the Year
KBS Music Award: Bonsang
SBS Gayo Daejun Award: Daesang
SBS Gayo Daejon Award: Bonsang
SBS Gayo Daejon Award: Music Awards
Seoul Gayo Daesang Award: Daesang
Seoul Gayo Daesang Award: Bonsang
Seoul Gayo Daesang Award: Artist Of The Year
2004 2nd Korea Fashion World Award: Singer Section
M.net/KM music Video Festival Award: "Best Dance Music Video"
Golden Disk Award: Bonsang
Netizen Award: Popular Music
South Korean Image Contest Award: Most Photogenic
MBC Award: Top 10 Singers
Mnet km Music Festival: Overseas Viewer
2005
MTV Asia Awards 2005: Favorite Korean Artist
2006
Mnet Km Music Festival: Overseas Viewer Award
MKMF: "Best Korean Group Overseas"
Golden Disk Award: Bonsang
Golden Disk Awards: Best Korean Gasoo
SBS Gayo Ceremony: Bonsang
Seoul Gayo Daesang: Bonsang
4th SEA music awards: Popular Group Oversea Award
2006 Grand Ceremony of Hallyu's Popularity in China “The top 10 most popular singers”
Shanghai International Arts Festival: Appreciation Award
2007
Japan's 21st Golden Disk Awards: Best Asian Artist
2008
Sohu Entertainment Sohu Han Yu's 2007 Awards: Best Singer Award
Golden Disc Awards: Disc Bonsang


NEW ISSUE
Spy Myungwol Eric

Having gone on a 2-year hiatus due to his military obligations, singer/actor Eric will be returning to TV screens with the upcoming KBS2 drama, “Spy Myungwol”. This is his first drama after “Strongest Chil Woo” in 2008.
During a press call for the drama held at 5pm on 20 June at the KBS Drama Production Center in Suwon, Eric said, “Since it’s my comeback project, everyone is anticipating it, and I’m just as nervous. I’ll do my best to present a fun and interesting drama that the audience will also enjoy.”
He added, “During my long break, I thought a lot about acting. In the past I was concerned with how to make myself stand out. Now I hope that i can make a good drama where my acting can complement and show off the rest of the cast.”
“Spy Myungwol” is a story about a female North Korean spy who is ordered to get married to South Korea’s biggest star and bring him to North Korea. Han Ye Seul plays the titular character.
Essentially a spy/intelligence drama, Eric has a considerable number of action scenes with Han Ye Seul. The cast and crew have just returned on location filming in Singapore, and Eric had only praise for his co-star. “There was a scene in Singapore where we had to run on the beach. I was really tired from the heat but Han Ye Seul remained energetic and continued to run tirelessly. I was really surprised when she managed the wire scenes with ease too.”
Han Ye Seul also expressed her satisfaction with her co-star. “The Shinhwa members are all very open-minded and outgoing so that’s great. When we met for the first time, Eric was more shy and uncomfortable around strangers than I thought, but as we got to know each other better, it’s less like that and we’re more comfortable with each other.”
“Spy Myungwol”, starring Eric, Han Ye Seul, Lee Jin Wook and Jang Hee Jin, is directed by Hwang In Hyuk of “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” fame, and has received much attention and anticipation. The drama is slated to take over “Babyfaced Beauty” and will air its first episode on 11 July.

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