Choreographed sex appeal puts the girls back on top

Wonder Girls

If it feels a little bit like the late 1990s, there’s a reason for it. Just like they did a decade ago, middle-aged male fans are joining teens and 20-somethings as fans of female pop groups.
In the late 1990s, the girl groups Fin K.L and S.E.S had a flock of fans from all walks of life. This time around, however, men are much more open about expressing their adoration for these young female singers.
One reason might be that the men, who were in their 20s or 30s a decade ago, enjoy the nostalgia of the days when young girls were constantly strutting their carefully choreographed stuff.
Today, girl groups are storming the music market like never before.
Earlier this year, the girl groups Baby Vox, KARA and CATS ushered in a new era of young female singers.
However, the two most successful debuts were JYP Entertainment’s Wonder Girls and SM Entertainment’s Girl’s Generation.
Don’t let their girlish looks fool you. The members of these groups trained hard for three to six years before their album debuted. For example, Min Sun-ye, the lead singer and head of the Wonder Girls, won a positive reputation for her appearances on the reality TV show “Park Jin-young’s Special Education for the Gifted,” on SBS TV in 2001. She has prepared for her debut as a group singer ever since.
Girl’s Generation and Wonder Girls boast different charms for their male fans. The former appeals with an innocence while the latter’s music and image is a little funkier and sexier.

Girls’ Generation.

In their hit song, “Tell Me,” the group croons, “Tell me that you love me, you have longed for me and you want me.” Despite their successful debuts, their agencies are struggling to make a profit. The music market has been in a decline since 2001, when singer Kim Gum-mo and the group G.O.D. became the last musicians to sell more than a million records.
jainnie@joongang.co.kr

By Song Won-sup JoongAng Sunday [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]