Pop+Idol+Culture+CK

East Asian "Idol" Celebrities

__Introduction:__ Entertainment plays a big role in defining a country's culture and this is no exception for the three East Asian countries: Korea, China, and Japan. Each of these countries' music/film cultures posses their own unique characteristics that makes it distinct from each other but a common feature that unites all three countries is the prevalence of "idol" celebrities. "Idol" celebrities refer to singers who are usually young and form a group with other like celebrities to entertain through various means such as dancing, acting, and singing. They are dubbed "idols" for their features which their fans might look up to whether it be appearance, acting skills, or singing skills. __BLAH BLAH BLAH__

Korea: In the late 1990s, Korea was first introduced to the concept of idol celebrities through the debut of Seo Taji & Boys, a boy band comprised of three members, in 1992. After the group's immense success, Korea saw a sudden surge in the number of idol celebrities. However, the prevalence of idol celebrities in Korea plummeted by the early 2000s, mainly due to the separation of many popular idol groups at the time such as S.E.S, HOT, and Sechs Kies.

Nonetheless, by the mid 2000s, idol celebrities have returned stronger than ever, beginning with the debut of T.V.X.Q. in early 2004. Many other idol groups such as Super Junior, SS501, Wondergirls, and FT Island followed after T.V.X.Q.'s success. However, the real breakthrough for idol celebrities came in 2009 with the incredible of success of idol celebrity group, Girl's Generation, with its song Gee, which had topped Korean music charts for nine weeks straight. Shortly after, numerous idol celebrity groups, both boy bands and girl groups, appeared, all with the hope of emulating Girl's Generation's or T.V.X.Q.'s success.

Today, idol celebrities in Korea make up a vast majority the entertainment industry as not only singers but also actors/actresses, dancers, MCs, and trend setters. Some of the most popular idol celebrities include Girls Generation, Super Junior, T.V.X.Q., Wondergirls, B2ST, Kara, Shinee, and Boyfriend. The members of these groups are especially young, some members even being in middle school. Therefore, the activities of idol celebrities in Korea are limited to around the age of 30, when they must become another type of entertainer, such as an actor/actress. However, when they are still young, these idol celebrities are more well-known and popular to the public than other entertainers and are undeniably the most influential entertainers in Korea. They especially maintain a heavy influence over teens and those in their twenties or perhaps the early thirties, who are the idol celebrities' main supporters. In fact, in a survey conducted in December of 2010, 28.7% of Korea's teens showed that they respect entertainers/idol celebrities the most in comparison to while a mere 4% answered with politicians and 12.7% with teachers. Moreover, the number of Korean teens wanting to become idols have considerably increased with over 45,000 members in a Naver Cafe for these teens (http://cafe.naver.com/only777). In response, the number of entertainment agencies for these Korean teens wanting to form new idol celebrities groups have also increased, and the numbers of new idol celebrities have grown exponentially.

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China: __Although China has been late in its__ _, it has recently seen a _ in.

Defining Characteristic

__Japan:__ Of the three East Asian countries mentioned, Japan was the first to experience the era of idol celebrities. It began in 1985 with the debut of Shonendai under the all- boy's entertainment agency Johnny's Entertainment and reached it's peak during the mid to late 1990s with the booming popularity of the idol celebrity girl group Morning Musume. Along with Morning Musume, numerous boy bands from Johnny's Entertainment, such as Kinki Kids, came to fame. Naturally, Japan's early successful idol culture heavily influenced the entertainment culture of nearby country Korea, and this accounts for why early Korean idols in the 1990s seem rather strikingly similar to Japanese idols.

Today, due to Johnny's Entertainment's success to appeal to the public, it dominates the idol culture of Japan. Therefore, the most popular and influential idol celebrities in Japan are male who are affiliated with Johnny's Entertainment, such as idol groups, SMAP, ARASHI, KAT-TUN, and Kinki Kids. However, female idol celebrities such as AKB48, Morning Musume, and Amuro Namie do exist and are still very popular and influential but mostly not to the extent of Johnny's male idol celebrities. In the case of male idols, it is very different from Korean idols in that they are able to continue their career as an idol celebrity well past their thirties. For example, a member of one of Japan's most prominent idol groups, Kimura Takuya from SMAP is thirty-nine as of 2011 and even has a daughter. However, the case is different for female idol celebrities in which the length of their idol career is similar to that of Korean idols' and even the slightest whisper of a scandal may jeopardize their entire idol career.

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International Relationships & Influence:

__Conclusion:__

Sources: 1.http://www.nihonreview.com/forum/index.php?topic=1513.0 2.http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2009/12/143_57170.html 3.http://www.dkpopnews.net/2011/05/news-new-concept-sm-idol-group-to-be.html 4. http://blog.animeinstrumentality.net/2011/06/thoughts-on-the-east-asian-idol-culture-part-1/ 5.http://www.yourdiscovery.com/web/hip-korea/about/facts/

__ Self-Evaluation __ 1. What did you contribute specifically to your project? 2. How successful do you think you conveyed your research to your audience? 3. What would have made your presentation more successful?: If I researched about more than two musicians for each country, it would have been better for people to understand the indie musics of each country. However, I wanted to explain each band specifically, so choosing only two was the best choice. 4. How successful do you think your technology-based materials were in conveying your research? 5. What would have made your technology-based materials more successful? 6. What did you learn from this project? Submit any other comments after this question.