seoulbeats bout beast

7/31/2019 Seoulbeats Bout Beast

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After completing the Big 3 mini-series with JYPE, Seoulbeats Exchange is back

with K-pop group Beast!

If its true that youre only as good as your last hit, then Beast were legends at

the time I entered the K-pop fandom. People were still talking about Fiction

and their album made many Best of 2011 lists (including Seoulbeats), even

winning the inaugural Song Daesang award at the KBS Gayo Daejun last year.

Saying that Fiction was a hit would be a bit of an understatementfew songs

have had this much hype and induce such fervour like Fiction has. To be

honest, whenever I hear about how great Fiction and Fact was, how fantastic

Fiction was and how much Beast had improved in both skill and standing and

all that jazz, I feel Ive arrived in town the day after the biggest party the place

has seen that year: A bit left out. I tried to get into Fiction (first Beast song)

and some of their other songs, and while I enjoyed them well enough, Beast

hasnt yet captivated me.

Then again, its not always easy to get into a group thats on hiatus; I found

myself adoring Hyunseung during Troublemaker promotions from watching

the live performances alone, and I think the same could happen with Beast

when the group starts promotions for Beautiful Night. But I think I should

make more an effort and get to know them a little better as well and meet

them halfway, if you will; so I went and got Bethany, Antonia and Amy to help

me out.

1. Beast didnt have the best of debuts, but had people picked them out to be a

band that would strike it rich, or were they written off based on their less than

stellar start?

Bethany: Beast received quite a bit of attention during their debut because

people considered them to be the rivals of MBLAQ, who were also debuting

around the same time. However with their debuts, it was easy to see that the

two groups had very different and distinct styles and gradually people stoppedassociating one with the other. Most people treated Beasts debut as just

another debut of a boy group, and lets face it: most boy groups who debut

dont fight their way to the top. Not many people knew about their potential

because Bad Girl was a very electronized track and while it was catchy, it

was also formulaic and any other boy group could have produced it. However,

with their later material, their vocal potential was finally revealed and people


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started realizing that Beasts success factor lay in the harmonization of the

members vocals. Either way, Beasts rise to the top did not stem from a stellar

debut.

Antonia: I didnt really get into Beast until way after their debut, so I listened

to superior material such as Shock and Breathe before Bad Girl. However

in retrospect I agree with Bethany there was nothing special about their

debut and had they continued in that vein they wouldnt enjoy the success

they do today.

Amy: I definitely dont think anybody thought Beast were going to be as major

as they are today. And with a debut like Bad Girl, can you blame audiences

for being less than enthusiastic? There was absolutely nothing spectacular

about Bad Girl, and the more important thing is that it was a very safe,

lukewarm, vanilla song, so people were ready to listen, and then write them

off.

2. Apparently Beast sings a lot of sad songs: would you agree? Do you think its

something that really suits them, or can the group work just as well with songs

covering different moods?

Bethany: Beast does do their fair share of sad songs (especially on their last

album), and while I think that the slow R&B style they adopted for Fiction and

Fact was more suitable for songs about unrequited love or bad break-ups, their

upbeat music is great as well. One of the songs I liked off of Lights Go On Again

was I Like You the Best and that song suits Beasts style as well. Beautiful

is another example of an upbeat song that the boys brought a lot of energy to,

and with the release of Midnight from Midnight Sun, I sense more upbeat

tracks for Beast in the future. The lyrics to the songs that they do really depend

on the style they are adopting at the time, so when they have a slower, more

emotional sound, their songs are sadder.

Antonia: Well, often Beast has sad concepts or meaning to songs but the songs

themselves arent particularly emotive. For instance Beautiful could hardly

be considered a sad song, yet the MV for it was rather, even if it was shot in a

colourful, upbeat style. In contrast, Shock was about being unable to move

on yet the song itself sounded powerful. Ive always admired Beasts versatility


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with being able to produce a variety of songs, be they happy, aggressive or

sad. Perhaps because Fiction and the album as a whole was so melancholy

and so successful people have started to associate them with sadder songs

something Midnight may remedy. Really though, I think so much of Beasts

quality come from the ability to change and yet retain a recognisable sound

and flavour so hopefully they will continue to excel in many styles of music(can you tell theyre my favourites yet?)

Amy: Im not sure this assessment is that accurate. I dont think its so much

that they sing sad songs as regular pop love songs that cover just as much

about heartbreak and tears as other groups. I think there was a very somber

mood to Fiction, but maybe the popularity of that song is overwhelming

peoples interpretations of Beasts music. I do think that as a group, there is

quite a lot of variety with their music even if there is a distinct Cube style that

is instantly recognizable.

3. Does Beasts success come more from their skills and talents, from their

cohesiveness as a team, or from the attention and resources lavished upon

them by Cube?

Bethany: Beasts greatest asset as a group is definitely their vocal

harmonization. Their vocals were mediocre upon their debut, but over time,

each of the members have developed commendable vocal skills and contribute

significantly to each song they produce (even Dongwoon!). While they may not

be hilariously fun to watch on variety shows and while they do have their

bromance-y moments occasionally, its not a defining aspect, their music

shines. Their live performances never disappoint (I still watch the performance

of Fiction with Lang Lang they did a while back), and because of their vocals,

Cube invests a significant amount of time in creating the perfect song for them

to promote.

Antonia: Its kind of a chicken and egg question really did Cube lavishattention on them because they were good, or did they get good because Cube

lavished attention on them? Im going to say that their talent has a lot to do

with it. Remember that his is the group made up of failed rookies. Taking on

kids who other companies deemed unworthy was going to be risky; Im

assuming Cube must have seen something in them all from the start, it being

their dancing or singing or personality. After all, a company can heap as much


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resources, help, money, and attention on a group, but if the talent isnt there,

all the clever marketing in the world cant hide that fact forever. Luckily, Beast

has the talent and Cube knows how to market it.

Amy: I think it mainly boils down to the fact that Beast as a group is very well-

rounded in almost all aspects of being an idol. Groups that have a huge

inbalance in the talent/popularity ratio tend to work less in sync with each

other, in my opinion. What I mean by that is, groups with members that are

vastly more popular than they are talented have less synergy on stage when

they perform. But Beast is pretty much solid on all fronts and their producers

know how to divide everything up evenly so that everyone works in tandem

with each other. Not everyone in the group are amazing singers, and not

everyone in the group can dance their socks off, but theyre all fairly well-

rounded, which I think is Beasts biggest asset.

4. From what weve seen and heard about Beasts upcoming release thus far,

what are your thoughts?

Bethany: While some of my fellow staff writers have been saying that

Midnight is too gimmicky for Beast, I actually like it. I think that while the

track may not be Fiction-level awesome, it still makes the boys sound great.

Im excited to see their choreography for the track and the styling works for me

as well. Im also hoping for kind of an underdog track that isnt as K-pop-y as

Midnight off of Midnight Sun though, such as On Rainy Days from Fiction

and Fact. Either way, I dont think their comeback will disappoint me (unless

Midnight is the best track from the boys).

Antonia: I love Midnight as a song, but they will need to bring something

stronger for their actual comeback. Beast are known for being a very intense

group but this laid-back sound, something that made Fact and Fiction such a

quality album suits them just as well. As one of their greatest strengths is their

dancing and choreography, I hope they can pull off something spectacular,even if Midnight Sun doesnt feel like its going to be a very dance-focused

album. The hair though, I do not like. At all.

Amy: Cube seems to be getting a little complacent. Ive always liked Beasts

music and I will probably like this upcoming release but will it be Fiction-


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levels of epic? Probably not. And why not? Probably because Cube feels

comfortable with Beasts immense popularity these days and that they can

regurgitate tried and true trends in the market currently without really needing

to reinvent.

5. Beast has come far since their debut, but is there more they could do? What

do you think they could improve on, both with their music and their image and

careers in general?

Bethany: Personality, personality, personality! Id love to see the boys work on

their variety skills and give me more reasons to love them. I want to see them

goofing off together and being weird and all that fluffy stuff. In terms of other

aspects of K-pop-dom, Beast definitely prefers to keep a low profile. It seems

like Cube would rather have them focus on their music, but I know the boys all

have inner goofballs within them (check out this video of their own dance to

V.I.U) and Id love to see that played up more. But if all they do is release great

music that never disappoints me, I can live with that as well!

Antonia: I actually enjoy the fact that Beast arent always shoved in my face, I

can think of a few groups that could spend less time playing it up for the

cameras and more time working on their music. There isnt a lack of them

larking around with Idol Maid, Beast Almighty, and the deeply confusing, not

entirely PC yet deeply entertaining Mystery video (how is Yoseob a prettier

girl then me?) and as they keep a relatively low profile it makes these

moments all the better.However, I do say this more dancing. These guys are

seriously good at it; talent, charisma, swagger they work well together and

have amazing choreography so they need to show it off. Do more ImmaBe

style dances just for the hell of it, team up with Prepix more often and take

over the world with your sweet moves, go on variety shows just to show off,

teach us all how to dougie! I dont care, but get it done.

Amy: The only thing I can think of is that I hope Beast gets to be a little bitedgier in the future. What they have is pretty great as is, but all of it can be in

the safe territory. I want them to be edgy without losing that special Beast

uniqueness that they have, because while I do see some experimentation with

Midnight Sun, its a little too reminiscent of Big Bang and Beast (and Cube!)

can be better than that.


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I dont like Beasts new hair either, but hey, look on the bright sidenew fans

will have an easier time of telling the members apart or it would if they didnt

keep changing it!

Beast may just well be an inspiration to rookiesto show that they too can rise

from the ashes of a not-so-impressive debut and receive acclaim and renown.

Provided they have the talent and material to back it, of course. The members

of Beast specialise in different areas yet are good at what they do, and with

conviction, too. The way they bring everything together in a cohesive manner

is a key part of their success. They do well as a group and with their respective

individual activities, too: for example, Junhyung features on other artists

songs, Yoseob was part of the original cast of Immortal Song while Kikwang

makes cameos in other idols MVs, among other things. Its great to see a

group active in other areas, especially artistic. It reinforces the image that

Beast have of being about the music. That said, I think they could loosen up a

little and go on a couple of variety shows: as long as they dont appropriate

any other cultures, Ill be looking forward to it. Antonias suggestion of more

dancing is a great one, and Inkigayos new format with a greater number of

special stages could be one potential arena in which to do that.

Cube should also be commended for recognising the talent they have on their

hands and doing their best to fully utilise it. Allowing members to develop their

skills individually through solo activities as well as providing them with material

of increasing quality are big parts of Beasts success. But there could be

trouble in paradise. I find myself agreeing with Amys assessment that the

company may be becoming complacent. Cube wants the grandeur and all the

perks that come with having a top tier groupits ambition of becoming a Big 3-

level company has been quite transparent with their Cube Family world tours

and new studiosbut they are lacking the follow through to successfully

achieve these goals. It does seem like the company is depending on goodwill

built from Beasts successes last year to carry the group through, and that isprobably not the ideal way to be proceeding with Beasts career.

Though there is a change in Beasts direction from their previous outing, and to

expect Midnight Sun to eclipse (hehe) Fiction and Fact is more hopeful than

reasonable, I feel like that as a victory lap of sorts, akin to SNSDs Genie,


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Beautiful Night may not be achieving as much as it could be because very

little is being done to ensure success beyond . I may well completely change

my mind once Beast starts giving live performances, but for now the music has

been the only thing that Ive like about this comeback thus farthough, at the

end of the day, the music is what really matters, right?

What are your thoughts on Beast? Were you a Beauty from the start, or was it

one of the groups later efforts that got you hooked? Do you think they should

do more variety as well? Leave your comments below!


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Welcome to another Roundtable!

With the many rumors and half-truths that have abounded from incidents in

the past week, its needless to say that the K-pop audience at large has been


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speculating about what to believe about T-aras current circumstances.

Although the story seems to be changing every day as new pieces of

information emerge, something that can be said concretely about this whole

debacle is that there are definitely going to be some long-term consequences

of the actions of those involved.

Although Dana has already written up a synopsis on the events that have

unfolded (as of earlier this week), I thought it would be a great idea to also get

our authors to chime in on their thoughts, as everyone seems to have strong

opinions about the events that have unfolded. Therefore this week, we turned

to our authors and asked them the big question: What are your thoughts on the

T-ara situation? What do you think was the driving force behind the events that

have unfolded, and how do you think they will shape T-ara as well as K-pop as

a whole in the future?

Nicholas: Theres not too much a doubt that the fault lies with CCMs boss, Kim

Kwang-soo. This is definitely a case of too many wrongs and none of them

making a right. Yes, there was bullying and its a action I do not condone, but it

could also be the original girls feeling threatened.

And while Hwayoung was not the most talented member and did not doanything the rest could not do, I could see she did improve with time and try to

get lines that made her more relevant.

This incident would probably sink T-ara for a long long time. As for other

groups, their group dynamic would probably be a fair bit more scrutinised.

Whatever it is, it would probably be the worst time to wash dirty linen in public.

Salima: You bring up a good point about it being Kim Kwang-soos fault,

Nicholas. My friend and I were talking about this last night. She brought up

something I thought was pretty spot on. She said that a lot of these idols didnt

grow up with their parents, so the only parents they have are their staff and

CEOs. If the girls are pit against each other and treating each other badly, its a

reflection of how their companies have, in essence, raised them.


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Amy: For the people who follow T-ara enough, honestly: how much did/does

Hwayoung contribute to the group? And then, compared to that, how much

does/do the new girls contribute?

Nicholas: I am mixed about Hwayoung. While she was not indispensable, like

say Eunjung or SNSDs vocalists, she was not exactly there to fill up numbers

like, say, some in A Pink or Sistars Dasom. Like, in later albums it was obvious

Hwayoung sang a fair amount (at the expense of others, heh).

And Salima, thats a rather good point. From what I inferred

Eunjung/Hyomin/Jiyeon joined CCM when they were rather young, so it could be

said the boss did play a big role in their formative years.

Jasper: As a resident T-ara fan, I was so confused about this whole situation. I

still am confused to an extent at what to think especially with more and more

news coming out, and with some of them being so contradictory. But I

definitely agree with Nicholas and Salima that a majority of this mess is CCM

and Kim Kwang-soos fault.

Honestly if it werent for the shady actions attempting to cover up those

actions claiming all of them were simultaneously hacked of all excuses, Iwouldnt have immediately seen the implications, whatever they were, behind

those tweets. And all of a sudden releasing these claims of Hwayoungs bad

manners virtually out of no where? While we can never fully know the full story,

something smells really fishy there and CCMs handling of it only makes things

worse.

And while I dont condone bullying either, Im under the impression that

whatever turbulence was going on in T-ara, a major reason for it was due to

frustration brought upon to the girls by the company and its demands. Kim

Kwang-soo even mentioned himself that the addition of the new members was

meant to add competition to the girls, to know their positions werent safe. So

if the members did end up lashing out at each other, while in now way do I

excuse their actions, I can at least guess where theyre coming from. Every

story has more than one side after all. And while I can relate to both Hwayoung

and the other girls of T-ara, Ive having trouble understanding Kim Kwang-soos

logic.


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Salima: Smear campaign would be the perfect term to describe this situation. I

just dont believe half the things CCM says. Ree tweeted yesterday, If

Hwayoung threw a tantrum in front of reportersthen why did no one report

it? Fair question.

Gaya: Very fair question. There are just so many things that dont add up with

this companys story: first they say that everyones twitter accounts were

hacked, but in the full press release it states that the tweets were not about

Hwayoung at all. So, either someone hacked the accounts of five T-ara

members at the same time to leave inflammatory comments against

Hwayoung, or those tweets were sent by the members themselves and had

nothing to do with Hwayoung. Pick one excuse, CCM, and stick with ityou cant

have it both ways. This flip-flopping about is highly unprofessional, and, going

with the parenting theory mentioned earlier, the company seems to have

passed it on to their talent as well.

Ambika: Adding to all things bizarre in CCM, I havent quite understood why T-

ara doesnt have a fixed leader. Of course Ive heard the shtick that everyone

is getting the valuable experience to lead a team and take it in new directions,

but its never stuck right with me. If T-ara had a consistent leader, someone

who steps in during arguments and was focused on the well-being of the group,

many of these issues might have been resolved. But no one seems to want to

have that responsibility, despite Soyeon being the leader at this point in

time. I guess this goes back to how KKS has created that festering environment

for T-ara through introduction of competition. Not only are they competing to

prove their worth every second of the day, but they have no time to worry

about the group, not that that fact condones their bullying towards Hwayoung.

But Im also curious if there was anything else about Hwayoung or her addition

that caused such a vehement reaction in some T-ara members. Ahreum

doesnt seem to be having that problem, though I supposed time and netizens

will tell.

Nabeela: Okay, first and foremost, SCREW Kim Kwang-soo and SCREW Core

Contents Media.


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Well, now thats off my chest, here are my honest opinions. Nicholas is

absolutely right in saying that this is going to put T-ara under by a mile. The

impending addition of the two new members Dani and Ahreum already had

plenty of people disappointed in CCM, and not to mention people already were

well aware of how the members were being overworked to the point of

frequent exhaustion and injury. In the past couple months, theres also been alot of bad press surrounding T-ara and their company despite the groups rising

prominence. Unfortunately for a while now, it seems as if T-ara has been

heading for more of an implosion as their company became more and more

involved with the press.

In regard to Amys question, Ive been following T-ara since their Absolute First

album, and even after Hwayoungs addition, Ive always felt she had little to

offer to the group other than another body. I dont have anything against her,

honestlyGayas right in saying that Day by Day and some of their othermore recent releases features Hwayoung delivering more lines with sharper

skills; however her progression seemed long overdue in the grand scheme of T-

aras music. By the time T-ara had an established name, it seemed as if their

sound didnt really require the likes of a rapper. And in my opinion, I never

even really noticed Hwayoung, which leads me to believe her skill set was

never properly applied in the first place.

Bethany: Ive never been a serious fan of T-ara (only occasionally enjoying

their songs and Eunjungs stint on WGM), but this whole debacle is shaping upso that I dont ever think Ill be a serious fan of T-ara. Hwayoung deserved in

no way to be treated in such a way by the rest of the members, even if it is K-

pop and highly competitive between the girls. However, the correct way to

create a strong K-pop group isnt to create tension between the members of a

group because they need to support each other, but to compete with other

groups. The backlash T-ara is receiving for this is deserved and its easy to see

that CCM is scrambling to keep their favorite girl group from tumbling any

further, but the damage is already done. Im just sad, like the rest of my fellow

staff writers, that Hwayoung wont be able to go solo a la Jay Park, because she

simply doesnt have the raw talent.

Jasper: I agree with Nabeela in that Hwayoungs addition ended up a bit

useless in the grand scheme of T-ara. Sure, she was able to shine albeit

belatedly through Day by Day, but she wasnt ever that essential to the

group, or at least not as essential as the likes of the three main vocalists. When

she was in T-ara, whatever talents she had were basically being wasted as not


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Nicholas: A bigger problem now would probably losing all that money from

withdrawn endorsement deals, especially with Eunjung losing all her contracts.

Kim Kwang-soo is a master of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Gaya: Nicholas, I know you said that T-ara are in it deep, and now their

endorsement deals are at risk, too. Would you (and everyone else, too) say

that this is the end of T-ara? Or can they still come back? People are comparing

this to the 2PM-Jay Park scandal to say that T-ara can come back, but arent

the two scandals too different from one another for comparisons to be viable?

Nicholas: It might not the end if their new song is stunning. After all, people let

the Big Bang and Tablo scandals slide for what they were worth. The music is

what mattered most.

However, the issue now is how such a group split has shaken one of the

greatest core beliefs in K-pop that people coming from such diverse

backgrounds could work together closer than siblings for success.

Ambika: Gaya, I think the scandals are pretty different. The 2PM-Jay Park

incident perhaps better-named the JYPE-Jay Park incident involved much

less mudslinging (as far as I can recall, correct me if Im wrong), and though itdid cause an outrage, it was left peacefully with both sides not pushing the

matter. Jay Park has some formidable talent and he was able to make it solo;

2PM similarly took off on their route.

Here, mud was thrown from the first day Hwayoung entered T-ara. It seems to

have continued being thrown (at least from the supposed incidents of bullying

and potential misbehavior of Hwayoung) to the point where no one knows what

to think but everyone is disgusted that its happening. While CCM is trying to

show dirt on Hwayoung, popular opinion seems to be working against T-ara,

and it wasnt so for 2PM. In order to come back, enough time has to pass for T-

ara to stop being forcefully associated with bullying or scandal and to

completely rework their image. But these issues are rather touchyespecially

the bullying in Japanso itll be curious to see how they choose to act.

Salima: Ive also seen the 2PM-T-ara comparison being made. However the


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difference lies mainly in the structures of how the stories were presented to

fans. With T-ara, the narrative (though not terribly clear) is that T-ara bullied

Hwayoung and she was kicked out of the group. Of course, things are never

that black and white but since fans are able to hold on so strongly to that

narrative, it makes it easier to dislike the other members of T-ara. With the

2PM-Jay Park scandal, fans werent able to create a narrative because theydidnt know what happened! No one could say for sure why Jay Park left the

group. So T-ara has it worse because fans already strongly believe in their own

versions of the story.

Nicholas: I still like to say that I will not judge the girls, simply because

everybody can be right or wrong, depending on the perspective one looks at

things. Also, the narrative is just one of chronic lying from mostly Kim Kwang-

soo. Talk about fail PR, Kim Kwang-soo; now you just turned one of the nations

most watched and beloved groups into the most hated.

Kimberley: Im with Nabeela on this. I havent been a steady fan of the girls

and my experience with their music has been pretty superficial no WGM,

minimal music-show appreciation, but I paid slight attention to Hyomin from

season one of Invincible Youth. That said, I knew about Hwayoungs addition to

the group but by then it hadnt made much of an impact on the image I had of

T-ara. Despite all this, it came as a bit of a shock to hear of her discrimination

and then subsequently, Kim Kwang-soos blatant accusations. Ive seen a bit of

the post-debacle revelations and this makes me think that Mr. Boss doesntreally know what hes getting at. As much as the people whore invested in K-

pop/entertainment are going to be the ones to please/answer to (since theyre

the ones oiling the larger K-pop machines) its not going to work. Look at the

mess thats Kristen Stewart.

Considering what could happen in the long-term, this whole episode steeps

Korean pop culture even deeper in the invasive nature that living the K-pop

dream is now.

Johnelle: I think that anyone who was even a moderate fan of T-ara like myself

could see something like this coming. The root of the problem is the poor

management of T-ara by CCM and Kim Kwang-soo just being a horrible human

being, let alone CEO of a company. Many times it seemed as though CCM really

didnt care about the members of T-ara apart from their worth as their


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companys cash cows. The poor treatment of the group was seen through their

grueling schedules, which often led to fatigue and fatigue-induced illnesses and

injuries.

To answer Amys question about Hwayoung and her contributions to the group,

I agree with most that her contribution was minimal only in the last

comebacks was her presence even identifiable. That being said, why did CCM

even add Hwayoung to T-ara? I think they would have been fine as a six

member group. I think CCM and Kim Kwang-soo added Hwayoung to T-ara in

part as a punishment to the group for any complaints they had been sharing

with their fans regarding their management which led to a seven way split of

the share instead of six. Although I dont condone their actions, its

understandable that the core girls of T-ara would feel a resentment towards

Hwayoung. Its due to poor management and lack of group leadership that the

resentment and bullying (if it did exist, which to some extent I believe it did)wasnt nipped in the bud and worked out.

This whole T-ara debacle is just a comedy of PR errors on the part of CCM. I

also think that the members of T-ara should have known better than to take

their internal struggles to the Twitterverse. The only reason that I can think of

why they would do such a thing is the age old idol downfallthey began to

believe their own hype and thought of themselves and untouchable. Its hard

not to do when youre constantly being called an idol, but what one must

remember is that to their fans they must be kept in that ideal idol echelon.Once you lose that status youre just as human as everyone else and youre

just as open to ridicule. Thats what is happening with all the netizen induced

whiplash that T-ara is now experiencing. Do I believe they deserve it? No,

because they are only human and their behavior is probably not much worse

than other girl groups, but those other girl groups didnt wash all their dirty

lingerie in public. So while my opinion of T-ara has slipped a few notches, Im

not going to join the witchhunt and will still continue to be a fan if they are able

to weather this storm.

Nicholas: Hear hear, Johnelle. Props to you for not appropriating blame (except

on Kim Kwang-soo) unlike most of twitterverse.

Salima: Sorry Johnelle, but I cant agree that T-ara doesnt deserve the

backlash theyre now getting from fans. If its true that they were bullying one


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of their group members (and if the narrative of the defenseless Hwayoung

against her groupmates is also true) then they should absolutely face the

consequences. It does not matter if other groups do it. You could say the same

about driving drunk. Although other idols might do it once in a while, it didnt

mean that Nichkhun was off the hook.

These girls are human, yes, but theyre also grown enough to know how to

treat their fellow human beings. The excuse theyre only human cant be

used when its something thats been going on for years. And if they get off

with neither the backlash nor a thorough discussion about their actions, then

theyve learned nothing.

Maryse: I agree with Salima on this; I cant agree that T-ara doesnt deserve

the backlash too. Even if Hwayoung has done something wrong against the

members, or as Johnelle has said, that their behaviours attributed by KKS and

CCM, it still doesnt entitle them the right to bully or outcast her, be it privately

or out in the public. Bullying is a social issue that cannot be condoned.

Anyway, it seems like this T-ara saga has come full circle, with Hwayoung

apologising and looking like shell rejoin the girls. Just why oh why did you

choose to walk back into the Lions den, Hwayoung?

Johnelle: Let me clarify my previous statement. I agree that they should be

getting some backlash for their actions because frankly they were acting like a

bunch of spoiled brats. I also do not condone bullying their new member

because whether or not they wanted her in their group it wasnt their choice

she was in, so they shouldve helped her out. If they had good management or

a good group leader they should have made the transition for Hwayoung into

the group smoother, but alas this must not have been the case.

I do not believe however, that they should be getting calls to get kicked off

their solo activities (like Eunjung being asked to leave We Got Married) or that

their careers should be over because of this. Its a bit much for their largest fan

cafe to have closed down, etc., but again that was that persons choice to do

so. To have netizens search for every little bit of dirt that they can about T-ara:

past pics of them with old boyfriends, supposed pics of them bullying

Hwayoung, etc. is just another case of a cyber witch hunt. No one knows the


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truth of what happened other than those involved so who are we to make

judgments that would ruin their careers over hearsay? Do they really deserve

to have their careers over because of squabbles within the group? If that were

true, shouldnt every girl group and boy group in K-pop be disbanded then?

Theres been tons of rumors of bullying within K-pop groups for YEARS Im

not saying its right, but it happens. T-aras major fault was that they werefoolish enough (or arrogant enough to think it wouldnt hurt them) to let their

internal conflict become public.

Jasper: Im gonna have to agree with Johnelle in this. While I agree that having

some backlash is necessary as bullying is such a serious matter that really

should never be condoned, some of the things being thrown out there is just

going too far. Losing endorsements, having activities halted, losing some fans,

or having a project tank; those punishments I would have seen as justified and

would have served as good enough warnings for T-ara to re-evaluatethemselves and see the consequences of their bullying. But threatening

physical or emotional violence or wishing for the end of their career as I see

some doing is just going way, way too far. I dont know it its just me, but I

consider those acts as bullying towards T-ara. I acknowledge that the people

doing these acts may just be a select few and that not everyone wishing for a

punishment supports this mentality, but I just see all the collective-hate as

counterproductive. Theyre putting T-ara in the same hateful environment as

they supposedly put Hwayoung, and at the end of the day, its not going to do

much but spread more hate and ruin even more individuals careers.

Dana: To answer Amys initial question, I never thought that Hwayoung

brought anything to the group. At all. As Ive stated many times, Ive always

thought T-ara would be just fine if there were only four members; if I was

sitting across from Qri on the subway, Id probably have no idea who she was.

Similarly, I dont think the two new members add anything, either. Dani cant

even speak Korean properly, and the addition of another main/sub-vocalist is

unnecessary because Eunjung, Hyomin, and Soyeon already render Ahreum

superfluous.

Can the girls recover? I honestly dont know. At first, I wondered if this wouldnt

turn out to be similar to the KARA scandal that broke some time ago. I never

thought that KARA would recover from that, but to say that theyre not thriving

would be a mistake. However, the public airing-out of T-aras dirty laundry

really hasnt done them any favors. Whether or not the initial tweets were

malicious indicators of bullying is almost irrelevant at this point, because the


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damage has been done. Nobody wants to believe that their idols are catty

bullies, and even the slightest association with such an identifier is enough (in

the K-popiverse) to justify the backlash. Personal threats are never warranted,

but I do understand why T-ara are suddenly being dropped left and right from

all of their endorsements.

Nicholas: Dana, I believe the context was different in the Kara case. In their

case it was some bad advice by some inept lawyers to split with DSP against

their wishes. The public stopped blaming them at least, after DSP and

lawyers specializing in entertainment law intervened.

Nabeela: Id have to disagree with JohnelleI love T-ara, but they, and CCM, got

what was coming. If CCM thinks they can pull Hwayoungs contract and career

out from under her feet based on Hwayoungs poor performance behind the

scenes, base off the testimony of her staff, why shouldnt endorsement deals

and other outside contracts withdraw their commitments in the face of CCM

and T-aras brazen unprofessionalism? It may be cruel, but an eye for an eye.

Johnelle: I think its ridiculous to try and pass judgement on T-ara when we all

do not know what truly happened. Theres all this outcry over T-aras bullying,

but arent those protesting about their behavior bullying T-ara now? I dont

believe in an eye for an eye because it never solves anythingit just makes

everyone blind to the root of the problem. I believe more so in the saying, let

he who is without sin cast the first stone. Hopefully T-ara will have the

opportunity to learn from this and become a better group.

Gaya: I completely agree with you, Johnelle. Barring any explicit statements

made by any of the parties involved in this mess, Im reserving my judgement.

Sponsors and endorsers are going to sever ties with T-ara, but theyre only

doing this because of fans in Korea demanding that they do so. And really, its

all CCMs fault: if they had issued the press release sooner rather than waiting

for the weekend to be over, then fans wouldnt have had all that waiting timeto spend collecting evidence of T-aras alleged bullying based on T-aras

reality TV appearances and work themselves up enough to completely explode

from outrage when Kim Kwang-soo announced Hwayoungs departure on

Monday.


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What irks me most about this whole affair is that the CEO is spending more

time giving out exclusive interviews than he is doing damage control on the

careers of the T-ara members who are still signed to his company. From the

perspective of whats best for his company, Kim Kwang-soo should be spending

more time meeting and trying to smooth things over with advertisers and less

time publicly slandering Hwayoung and contradicting himself at the same time.If anyone deserves scorn in this drama, it has to be Kim Kwang-sso and his

companys gross mismanagement of this whole affair (and the company itself,

really).

Ambika: I agree with both Johnelle and Gaya. Its appalling how horribly CCM

has been handling the issue, so its no surprise that theres bad sentiment built

up. And T-aras fault is that they were unprofessional and let internal conflicts

become external.

But a note on the evidence: its presented in an awfully convincing manner

screencaps of variety shows, fanaccounts, just information compiled from since

Hwayoung joined T-ara. But its important to remember that everything is not

only taken out of context, its also been edited to show specific content. We

can look at a variety show like Hello Baby and see an hours worth of

interactions, but thats a specifically chosen amount of material that isnt

representative of everything that happens behind the scenes. And also, with

shows like these, idols are putting on an image whether its the bad guy, the

immature one and so forth. In MBLAQs season of Hello Baby, its probablypossible to point out a multitude of instances in which Lee Joon could have

been perceived as being bullied, that doesnt come up. SHINees Onew isnt

following fellow member Jonghyun and vice versa on Twitter. Should we

assume they arent on good terms? Im sure every idol group, after isolating

certain incidents, could be seen as having internal struggles, even overly

targeting members, but that isnt always the case. Its a bit hasty to jump to

conclusions about what is actually happening with anything that can truly be

called evidence, especially some proof like fanaccounts are lacking solid

identities behind their creations. For all we know, Kim Kwang-soo could be

releasing Hwayoung from T-ara so she can be successful in CCMs subsidiary

with all this newly-found support. We just dont know.


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