Look up boa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Boa, BoA, or BOA may refer to:

Snakes[link]

• Any member of the Boidae, a family of medium to large, non-venomous, constricting snakes
• Any member of the Boinae, a subfamily of boid snakes
• Any member of Boa (genus), a group of boid snakes
• Any member of the Bolyeriidae, a.k.a. Round Island boas, a small family of non-venomous snakes from Mauritius and nearby islands
• Any member of the Tropidophiidae, a.k.a. dwarf boas, a family of non-venomous snakes found in Central America, South

Technology[link]

• Boa Technology, a securing technology intended to overcome shortcomings of velcro, shoelaces, etc.

Computing[link]

• Boa (web server), a small-footprint web server
• Boa constructor, a cross-platform Python GUI builder

Music[link]

• Bands of America, an organization that arranges and hosts highschool band concert festivals and marching competitions
• Black Oak Arkansas, an American rock band
• BoA, a South Korean singer
  • BoA (album), the eponymous debut English album of the above
• BOA (band), a Croatian and former Yugoslav music group
• Boa (band), a Russian music group in Jazz/Easy-listening/Latino style
• Bôa, a rock band formed in London in 1993
• Phillip Boa, a German musician
• Bloodstock Open Air, a British hard rock and extreme metal festival
• Baroeg Open Air, a Dutch alternative music festival in Rotterdam, organized by Baroeg

Other[link]

• Feather boa, a fashion accessory; a type of scarf
• Luís Boa Morte, a Portuguese footballer
• Boa Island in Northern Ireland
• Boa Esporte Clube, a Brazilian football (soccer) club

Acronym[link]

• Bank of America, the largest commercial bank in the United States
• Bank of Africa, a multinational bank
• Blades of Avernum, a computer role-playing game
• Boliviana de Aviación (BoA), a Bolivian state airline
• Book of Abraham, a scriptural text for some denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement
• Boun Oum Airways, a defunct Laotian Airline
• British Olympic Association, which oversees Britain's participation in the Olympic Games
• Battle of Antietam, a major battle in the American Civil War that ended up being the bloodiest-single day battle in U.S. history
• Bradford on Avon, a town in Wiltshire, United Kingdom
• Born On Arrival (as when a woman in labor gives birth before she reaches the hospital)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

BoA
BoA at a fan signing Event in 2010
Background information
Birth name	권보아 Kwon Boa
Born	(1986-11-05) November 5, 1986 (age 25) Kwon Suong-Dong (F)Sung(成) Young-Ja (M)
Origin	Guri, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Genres	Pop, dance, electropop, electronica, R&B
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, composer, dancer, model, actress, voice actress, record producer, occasional guitar player
Years active	2000–present
Labels	SM Entertainment (South Korea) Avex Trax (Japan) SM Entertainment USA United Asia Management
Associated acts	SM Town, Anyband
Website	Official website Official Japanese website Official US website

This article contains Korean text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hangul or Hanja.

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana.

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

Kwon Boa (Korean: 권보아, born November 5, 1986^[1]), commonly stylized and known by her stage name BoA,^[2] which is a backronym for Beat of Angel, is a Korean singer, active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States and sometimes referred to as the "Queen of Korean Pop Music".^[3][4]

BoA is a Roman Catholic, she was born and raised in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, BoA was discovered by SM Entertainment talent agents when she accompanied her older brother to a talent search.^[2] In 2000, after two years of training, she released ID; Peace B, her debut Korean album. Two years later, she released her debut Japanese album, Listen to My Heart, becoming the first Korean pop star to break through in Japan following the fall of barriers that had restricted the import and export of entertainment between the countries since the end of World War II.^[2]

On October 14, 2008, BoA debuted in the United States with the single "Eat You Up" and released her debut English-language album, BoA on March 17, 2009.

BoA's multilingual skills (she speaks Japanese and English along with native Korean and has recorded songs in Mandarin Chinese)^[5] have contributed to her commercial success throughout East Asia. She is the only foreign artist to have two albums selling more than one million copies in Japan and is one of only three artists to have six consecutive number-one studio albums on the Oricon charts since her debut, the others being Ayumi Hamasaki and Koda Kumi.

Career[link]

2000–2002: Debut and Japanese expansion[link]

At age eleven, BoA accompanied her older brother to an SM Entertainment talent search. Though her brother was the one who auditioned as a break-dancer,^[2] SM talent scouts instead took notice of BoA and offered her a contract on the same night as the auditions.^[2] Her parents initially opposed the notion of BoA's leaving school to enter the entertainment business but eventually consented at her older brothers' persuasion.^[6] She has said that her early influence as a singer was Seo Taiji.^[2]

BoA underwent two years of training (involving vocal, dance, English, and Japanese lessons), and at the age of thirteen released her debut album ID; Peace B in South Korea on August 25, 2000. The album was moderately successful; it entered the Top 10 of the South Korean charts and sold around 156,000 units.^[7] Meanwhile, her Korean record label, SM Entertainment, made arrangements with Japanese label Avex Trax to launch her music career in Japan. She was forced to quit school to prepare^[2] and in early 2001, BoA released her first mini-album, Don't Start Now; it sold around 90,000 units. After its release, she took a hiatus from the Korean music industry to focus on the Japanese market at which time she worked to solidify her skills in Japanese.^[6]

BoA began her Japanese music career singing at the Avex-owned club Velfarre.^[1] In 2001, she released her debut Japanese single, a Japanese version of the song, "ID; Peace B" (originally from the eponymous album). The single reached #20 on the Oricon chart and was followed by "Amazing Kiss", "Kimochi wa Tsutawaru", and "Listen to My Heart"; the last became the singer's first single to enter the Oricon's Top Five. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, BoA recorded the charity single "The Meaning of Peace" with Kumi Koda as part of Avex's Song Nation project to raise funds for charity.^[8][9] From 2001 to 2007, BoA hosted Beat it BoA's World, a radio program on the Japan FM Network.^[10]

Her debut Japanese album, Listen to My Heart, was released on March 13, 2002. The album was a breakthrough in BoA's career: it became an RIAJ-certified million-seller and debuted atop the Oricon, the first album by a Korean artist to do so.^[7][11] A single, "Every Heart: Minna no Kimochi", was released on the same day as the album. After the release of Listen to My Heart, BoA released her second Korean studio album, No.1, a month later. The album sold around 544,000 units and became the fourth-best-selling record of the year in South Korea. Jumping into the World (a Japanese re-release of the mini-album Don't Start Now) and the Japanese single "Don't Start Now" were released a month later on the same day.

2003–2005: Commercial success[link]

BoA then released her seventh single "Valenti". It peaked at the number-two position on the Oricon chart.^[12] BoA released two more singles "Kiseki / No.1" and "Jewel Song / Beside You: Boku o Yobu Koe", both which also peaked at the number-three position. At the end of the year, BoA released her second Korean mini-album Miracle.

BoA's second Japanese studio album, Valenti (2003), became her best-selling album, with over 1,249,000 copies sold.^[13] In support of the album, BoA launched BoA 1st Live Tour Valenti, her first Japanese concert tour.^[14] Later that year, she released two Korean albums, Atlantis Princess and the mini-album Shine We Are!. The former was the fifth-best-selling South Korean record of the year with around 345,000 units sold; the latter sold around 58,000 units.

Her third Japanese studio album, Love & Honesty (2004) was a musical "change in direction": it contained a rock-dance song ("Rock with You") and "harder" R&B.^[15][16] Though the album failed to match Valenti in sales, it topped the Oricon chart for two weeks and became RIAJ-certified triple-platinum.^[17] In support of the album, BoA held a tour, Live Concert Tour 2004: Love & Honesty.^[1] In contrast with 1st Live Tour, which "emphasized exotic Asian design", the Love & Honesty tour had an "outer-space, sci-fi" theme; among the props were a three-story-high space ship and the robot Asimo.^[18] The tour, which started in Saitama and ended in Yokohama, spanned nine performances and attracted approximately 105,000 attendants.^[19] Her first compilation album, Best of Soul (2005), however, sold over a million copies, making BoA the first non-Japanese Asian singer to have two million-selling albums in Japan.^[13]

BoA reinvented her image on her fourth Korean album, My Name (2004); she left the "cute" and "youthful" style that had characterized previous years and presented herself as "sexy" and "sultry".^[7][20] The album was the beginning of a foray into the Chinese market and contained two songs sung in Mandarin Chinese.^[20] The sales of BoA's Korean albums began to decline: the album sold 191,000 units and became the eleventh-best-selling South Korean album of the year.^[21] In September 2004, BoA instigated controversy in Japan when she donated ₩50 million to a memorial project for Korean independence activist and nationalist An Jung-geun.^[22][23]

Her fifth Korean album, Girls on Top (2005), continued her image change. The album portrayed the singer as more "mature and self-confident" and was a "declaration of war on male chauvinism"; the "bohemian" look of the cover photograph represented "freedom and depth", while music videos and album photographs that portrayed BoA in traditional Korean dress brought the "idea of Korean womanhood" into her music. The album also continued BoA's foray into the Chinese market and, like the previous album, contained Mandarin Chinese songs.^[24] The album sold less than the previous album; it was the fourteenth-best-selling record of the year in South Korea with 113,000 units sold.^[25]

2006–2008: Continued success in Japan[link]

BoA at a DoubleUDot (W.) sign event in September 2006

In 2006, BoA was mostly inactive in South Korea as she focused her attention on Japan. Her fourth Japanese studio album, Outgrow, was released on February 15, 2006. The album reached the number-one spot on the Oricon chart for its first week of release, making it her fourth consecutive original Japanese album to do so. With 220,000 copies sold, it became her lowest-selling first-week debut for a studio album at that point.^{[note 1]} "Do the Motion", the first single from the album, reached the top spot, making her the fourth non-Japanese Asian to have a number-one single on the Oricon charts.^[29] "Merry Christmas from BoA" (2005), the album's last single, was the singer's first digital single.

In May, BoA renewed her contract with SM Entertainment until 2012. At the time it was noted that she had a shareholding in the company of 100,000 (Approximately worth $1m USD).^[30] She also voiced Heather the possum in the Korean and Japanese version of the animated film Over the Hedge.^[31] On September 21, 2006, she released her first digital single in Korea, a Korean version of "Key of Heart". In support of Outgrow, BoA launched a special Zepp tour, B0A The Live, on September 29, 2006. The tour, which lasted until October 29, started from Nagoya and contained twelve shows, two in each of the following cities: Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka, Tokyo, Sendai, and Sapporo.^[32] She staged her first Christmas concert on December 7, 2006.

BoA's fifth Japanese studio album, Made in Twenty (20) (2007), continued her transition from a "teenage girl" image to a more mature image. The album, which contained R&B and dance songs as well as ballads, debuted at the top of the weekly Oricon charts, making the album her sixth in a row to do so (including one compilation).^[33] She began using a personal computer for composing one of the songs ("No More Make Me Sick").^[34] On March 31, 2007, she launched a nationwide tour of Japan in support of the album. The tour, which sold about 70,000 tickets, was, according to BoA, "the biggest concert" she had ever given. Two tracks from the singles of Made in Twenty (20) were used as theme songs; "Your Color", from the single "Nanairo no Ashita: Brand New Beat / Your Color" (2006), was used as the ending theme song for the Japanese release of the Xbox 360 game Ninety-Nine Nights. "Key of Heart", from the single "Key of Heart / Dotch" (2006), was the ending theme for the Japanese release of the movie Over the Hedge. She also released an English version of "Key of Heart", which was only available on the first press edition of the single. Later in 2007, Anycall (a Samsung brand) signed BoA, Xiah (of TVXQ), Tablo (of Epik High), and jazz pianist Jin Bora onto "Anyband", a band created specifically to promote Anycall. The band released only one single, "AnyBand".^[35][36][37]

With her sixth Japanese album, The Face (2008), BoA took more creative control over her music.^[38] At this time, BoA was influenced by electro-pop.^[38] Additionally, BoA included "happy spring" songs (the lead single "Sweet Impact" and its B-side, "Bad Drive"), a guitar-driven "groovy dance" song (2007's "Lose Your Mind"), and ballads.^[39][40][41] Lyrically, BoA focused mainly on love, though "Be with You." (2008) was about a person's relationship with his dog. The album debuted at the top of the weekly Oricon charts, making BoA one of only two artists in Japan to have six consecutive studio albums top the Oricon weekly charts (the other is Ayumi Hamasaki, who has eight consecutive number-one albums).^[42] On June 9, 2008, BoA and nine other artists from around the world recorded an English cover of Wei Wei's "Dedication of Love". Produced by Roald Hoffmann and Brian Alan, the single was used to raise funds for victims of the Sichuan Earthquake.^[43][44] Korean jewelry brand Ramee also released Ramee by BoA, a line of jewelry designed by the singer herself.^[45]

2008–2010: Foray into America and return to Japanese market[link]

BoA poses in Tokyo in February 2009

On September 2, 2008, it was announced that BoA would make her American debut under a new subsidiary label, SM Entertainment USA.^[46]

BoA's debut American single "Eat You Up," produced by Thomas Troelsen, was released online on October 21, 2008. A physical promotional CD containing dance remixes of "Eat You Up" was released. "Eat You Up" placed at #9 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart.^[2] The remix of "Eat You Up" featuring rapper Flo Rida was slated for release in late November and leaked onto the internet in December.^[47][48] BoA performed "Eat You Up" as well as other songs at YouTube's Tokyo Live concert, and performed in New York City on December 3, 2008, as well as the Jingle Ball at the Anaheim Honda Center on December 6, 2008.^[49][50] She also performed the song "Look Who's Talking" at the event.^[51]

BoA released a triple-A-side single in Japan on February 18, 2009, "Eien/Universe/Believe in Love". On the same day, the Ravex single "Believe in Love" was released, featuring vocals by BoA.

BoA's self-titled English album was released in the US on March 17 and featured tracks by producers Bloodshy and Avant as well as a duet with Sean Garrett.^[52] Her second Japanese compilation album, Best & USA was released on March 18 tying together a compilation of recent hits in Japan with her English-language debut.

BoA stated that "It has always been my dream to debut in America" and was tutored English in LA, but found the language tougher to learn than Japanese. She lived in West Beverly Hills but admitted finding it tough to make friends.^[2]

BoA headlined as a performer for the San Francisco Pride Festival on June 28, 2009 alongside Solange Knowles and The Cliks.^[53] She debuted her next single "Energetic", performing it for the first time in public. She also performed "Eat You Up" and "I Did It for Love."^[54]

On August 31, SM USA released BoA Deluxe, a repackaged version of her debut English album. The album contained two new tracks and the radio edit version of "Energetic".^[55]

With her US career struggling to gain traction, BoA returned to the Japanese market to release a new single entitled "Bump Bump!" (October 2009), which features label-mate Verbal from M-Flo.^[56] BoA then released "Mamoritai: White Wishes" (December 2009) and held a Christmas concert in December.^[57][58]

Her seventh Japanese album, Identity was released on February 10, 2010, but only charted at #4, selling 37,606 copies in its first week. With little promotion from her label, it ended her run of six consecutive #1 albums, suggesting that it would be impossible for her to sustain her career in three territories simultaneously.^[59]

2010-present: Korean comeback and Hollywood film[link]

On March 1, 2010, SM Entertainment announced that BoA would, on her 10th debut anniversary, release a first full-length Korean album after five years.^[60]

On July 21, 2010, Avex released the "Woo Weekend" single, the lead song of which was used to promote Disney on Ice's 25th Anniversary in Japan.^[61] BoA's official Korean website announced on July 23, 2010 that her comeback sixth Korean album would be entitled Hurricane Venus. Hurricane Venus was released on August 5, 2010 and debuted at No.1, where it stayed for 2 weeks. "Game" charted at No.6. A repackaged version of the album with two new songs under the name of "Copy & Paste" was released in September, 2010. The album won a Bonsang Award from the Golden Disk Awards in 2010, making it the first time in her career to receive the award. On December 6, 2010, Avex released a digital single, "I See Me", for a commercial that promoted Audio Technica headphones in Japan.^[62]

In October BoA represented Korea and performed at the 7th Asia Song Festival, organised by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.^[63]

BoA will have her Hollywood movie debut in the dance film 'COBU 3D', directed by Duane Adler and produced by Robert Colt. It is set for an early 2012 release. BoA will play a character called Aya, while Derek Hough (known from the U.S. TV show Dancing with the Stars) will play the male lead of Donny. Aya and Donny fall in love, even though their families are enemies on the dance scene. Filming began in Spring in New York City and Toronto, Canada.

On October 2011, BoA announced on her Twitter page that she will be releasing a new Japanese single: "Many ppl asking me when I'm gonna release my next single in Japan... I'm preparing my single now. So you'll be able to listen to it soon!". Then on October 6 she wrote: "Heading to the set for my new music video. 今日はPV撮影！！ 楽しみにしてねーヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ." It was later on announced by Avex that she will be releasing her single titled "Milestone" on December 7, 2011. The music video premiered on November 21 through MTV Japan. The single ranked at #4 on the Oricon Weekly Music-DVD charts.^[64][65]

In December, she served as a judge on SBS’s K-pop Star representing SM Entertainment with Yang Hyun Suk from YG Entertainment and Park Jin-young from JYP Entertainment.^[66] And her judging is being favorably reveiwed.

On March 2, 2012, SM Entertainment confirmed that BoA will be making a 2012 comeback. It was eventually verified that BoA's 2012 comeback will be Korean. However, the date of the comeback is still unverified. On March 16, 2012, it was announced that BoA will be releasing a Korean single the next day titled 'One Dream' as the theme song for SBS 'Kpop Star.' The song will also feature SHINee's Key and Super Junior-M's Henry as the rappers. This will be the first Korean song by BoA since 'Copy&Paste' in 2010.

Image and artistry[link]

On the cover of KoreAm, May 2009

	"Valenti" (2002) noicon Many of BoA's songs are dance tunes, such as "Valenti" (2002).
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

BoA lists hip hop as her main musical influence, though she also enjoys R&B. Her favorite musicians are Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Nelly, Britney Spears, Brian McKnight, Justin Timberlake, Pink, and Jay-Z;^[67] as a result, much of BoA's music is either dance pop or R&B. Because she also sings ballads, she is often compared to fellow Japanese singers Ayumi Hamasaki and Hikaru Utada. Her debut album, ID; Peace B, contained urban pop, "slickly produced" ballads, and "upbeat dance tunes". As her career went on, she began experimenting with different styles: Valenti contained mostly ballads; Love and Honesty was an experiment with "harder" R&B and rock music.^[15]

Because the composition and writing of BoA's songs is handled mostly by her staff, BoA has been criticized as being a "manufactured pop star".^{[note 2]} In response to such criticism, BoA said that "if one person were to force their own will on something, then things that should have gone right could easily go wrong" and that she is "not all that unhappy with the expression that [she is] a manufactured star. In a way, that is true. Because SM Entertainment created the environment and all the surrounding conditions, [she is] able to be successful in the way [she is] now."^[6] Though her earlier releases were marked by a "cute" and "youthful" style, BoA began to present a more "mature" image starting from the album My Name. In a Talk Asia interview, Anjali Rao noted that some felt that My Name marked the beginning of BoA's decline in popularity and asked if the public would always see the singer as "Little Baby BoA"; BoA replied, "So while I apologize to those people who still want the baby BoA, in fact, what can I do? I just keep growing up! I can't stop that from happening."^[6]

BoA has collaborated with high-profile artists. Among the Japanese artists she has performed with are the hip hop group M-Flo (for the single "The Love Bug"), pop singer Kumi Koda, and house DJ Mondo Grosso. She has performed with Western artists: the song "Flying Without Wings" from her album Next World was a collaboration with Irish band Westlife covering the original song; the Bratz single "Show Me What You Got" was performed with Howie D of the American band Backstreet Boys.^[15] She also worked with Akon, singing the song "Beautiful", which was featured on the Japanese release of his third album, Freedom.^[68] Other artists she has collaborated with are Soul'd Out, Dabo, Verbal (of M-Flo), Rah-D, Seamo, TVXQ, Yutaka Furakawa (of the band Doping Panda), and Crystal Kay (for her single After Love: First Boyfriend/Girlfriend).^[69] American rock band Weezer covered "Meri Kuri" on the Japanese version of their album Weezer (The Red Album).^[70]

BoA is a "top artist" in South Korea and Japan; her popularity in the latter is attributed to her linguistic skills (she speaks and records in Japanese, Korean, and English) and a Japanese interest in Korean pop culture started in the early 2000s when the two countries began promoting cultural exchanges.^[71][72][73] BoA's popularity extends throughout East Asia; she has fans in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. She has expressed plans to enter a global market; she stated in an interview, "I will [...] get recognition in the U.S. and Europe to become a world-renowned Diva." In June 2006, the music video of her Korean song "My Name" became the first music video ever shown on MTV K, an MTV music channel directed at Korean Americans.^[7]

Because of her wide appeal, BoA has appeared in advertisements for many brands.^[6] Among the brands she has promoted are Olympus, Lotte, Nike,^[74] L'Oréal, Japanese cosmetic company Kosé, Skechers, Audio-Technica,^[75][76][77] GM Daewoo and L'Occitane. Five of her songs have been used as themes. "Every Heart: Minna no Kimochi" was used as the ending theme for the anime InuYasha;^[78] "Beside You: Boku o Yobu Koe" was used as the opening theme for the anime Monkey Typhoon;^[79] "Key of Heart" was the theme song for the Japanese release of Over the Hedge;^[80] "Your Color" was the theme song of the video game Ninety-Nine Nights;^[81][82] and "Mamoritai: White Wishes" was the theme song of the video game Tales of Graces.^[83][84][85] Her widespread popularity has also made her a "cultural ambassador"; she has represented South Korea in inter-Asian musical events and has appeared in an Oxford University Press-published English-language textbook.^[86][87]

Discography[link]

Tours[link]

• 2003: FIRST LIVE TOUR 2003 -VALENTI-"
• 2004: LIVE TOUR 2004 -LOVE&HONESTY-
• 2005: ARENA TOUR 2005 -BEST OF SOUL-
• 2006: THE LIVE "Ura BoA... Kikase Kei (The Other Side of BoA... Listen)"
• 2007: ARENA TOUR 2007 -MADE IN TWENTY(20)-
• 2007: THE LIVE 2007 "X'mas"
• 2008: LIVE TOUR 2008 -THE FACE-
• 2009: THE LIVE 2009 "X'mas"
• 2010: LIVE TOUR 2010 -IDENTITY-
• 2010: THE LIVE 2010 "X'mas"
• 2011: THE LIVE 2011 "X'mas" -THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION-

Awards[link]

• List of awards received by BoA

Filmography[link]

TV Series[link]

Film[link]

See also[link]

• Contemporary culture of South Korea
• Korean wave
• J-pop

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: BoA

• BoA – Official US website (English)
• BoA – Official Korean website (Korean)
• BoA - Official Japanese website (Japanese)
• BoA on Twitter
• BoA USA's channel on YouTube
• BoA at Allmusic
• BoA at MTV

Super Junior-M, often referred to as SJ-M, is a Mandopop boy band. Formed in 2008 in Seoul, South Korea, the band is the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of both Chinese and Korean descent,^[1] and is the first group produced by Korea's CT (Culture Technology) organization, created through a comprehensive localization strategy.^[2]

Super Junior-M is the third and most successful subgroup branched off from the Korean boy band Super Junior. The group originally consisted of leader Han Geng, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, and two additional members appearing exclusive to the subgroup, Zhou Mi and Henry.^[1] In December 2009, Han Geng filed a lawsuit against their agency SM Entertainment and parted with the group, resulting in the group's temporary disbandment.^[3] Han Geng was later replaced by Super Junior members Eunhyuk and Sungmin, coinciding with the release of the group's second EP Perfection in February 2011.

Background[link]

Name origin[link]

Before the official name of the subgroup was released, they were known by "Super Junior China". On April 3, 2008, SM Entertainment announced their official name to be Super Junior-M, with "M" representing the word "Mandarin".^[4] The "M" can also represent a list of other aspects, such as the first letter of their debut album Me, and also "mi" (Chinese: 迷), the pinyin for "charismatic" and "fan", the latter meaning referring to their desire to connect closer with fans.^[4]

History[link]

2007: Formation and "Only 13" controversies[link]

In October 2007, SM Entertainment announced that a new Super Junior subgroup would debut in China in 2008. Super Junior's original member Han Geng, and a new member Henry Lau, who performed the violin solo of Super Junior's "Don't Don," were announced to be the first two of seven members representing the subgroup.^[5] Some of Super Junior's official fanclub, E.L.F, signed online petitions and held protests to express their dissatisfaction and opposition of adding a fourteenth member to the group, fearing that a new member would mean one of the original lineup would get 'replaced'.^[6] Many fans boycotted Super Junior's products and held silent protests in front of SM Entertainment's main building in Seoul, holding signs of the "Only 13" slogan. ^[7][8]

Over one thousand fans appeared in front of the SM Entertainment building on E.L.F's third protest on November 3, 2007.^[9] Instead of a silent protest, the fans sang various Super Junior songs and shouted "thirteen."^[10] Fans purchased 58,206 stocks of SM Entertainment, holding 0.3% of the company's entire stock.^[11] They released a statement through the media, stating that they would obtain all chances to prevent SM Entertainment from adding new members and to keep Super Junior as only thirteen.^[11] SM Entertainment later announced that they would not add the new subgroup members to the main group.

2008–2009: Debut and commercial success[link]

From April 4 to April 7, 2008 the seven members of Super Junior-M were individually announced to the Chinese media in a chain of short trailer clips. The first member, Han Geng, was announced to be the subgroup leader on April 4.^[12] On April 5, Siwon and Donghae were revealed to be the second and third members.^[13] On April 6, Kyuhyun was announced to be the fourth Super Junior-M member, following the new member, Henry, as the fifth.^[14] Ryeowook and another new member, Zhou Mi, were announced to be the final two members on April 7.^[15] A trailer of all seven members was released on the group's debut day, April 8. Super Junior-M's trailer clips exceeded 1.4 million views in less than four days.^[16]

Super Junior-M debuted in Beijing on April 8, 2008 at the 8th Annual Music Chart Awards, simultaneously with the release of their first music video, "U" on Sohu.com.^[16] They released their debut album Me in selected provinces of China starting April 23, 2008. A Korean version of the album with three bonus Korean-language tracks was released in South Korea on April 30, 2008. A modified version of the album was released in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan on May 2, 2008.^[17] Though a majority of the tracks in the album were Mandarin remakes of Super Junior's previous Korean hits, reviews were generally positive. Hong Kong Cantopop singer, Hins Cheung, critiqued the album favorably, saying that the album contains "international-level music" and that the group is "vocally-talented".^[18]

A month after their debut, Super Junior-M won their first award, Asia's Most Popular New Group, at the 5th annual Music King Awards in Macau on May 25.^[19] They took home another three awards that year. On December 27 and 28, Super Junior-M held their first concert, the Super Junior-M Show, in Hong Kong.^[20]

Following their debut performance in April 2008, the group made a few successful guest appearances in many chains of entertainment variety shows to promote their album. They appeared in an episode of the second season of TVB and HunanTV's collaboration show, Strictly Come Dancing, which made the show's ratings increase to 5.01%, ranking it the third most watched show ever in all of China.^[21] Super Junior-M's appearance in the talk show Behind Story (Chinese: 背後的故事) also increased ratings. The show had the highest ratings during their time slot, with a strong 4.05%.^[22] Separated into several weekly episodes, the group's appearance in their first episode on the challenging game show Bravely Going Forward (Chinese: 勇往直前) in early August gave the show the highest ratings during that time slot as well.^[23] In August 2008, Han was casted in the idol television drama Stage of Youth, a mini-drama dedicated to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Han portrayed Xia Lei, a youth who aspires to be a famous dancer. Other members of Super Junior-M gave cameo appearances in the final episode.^[24]

In September 2009, Super Junior-M released their album album, the EP Super Girl. The album garnered them a nomination for Best Vocal Group at the 21st Golden Melody Awards.^[25] The EP's title single "Super Girl" is Super Junior-M's most critically successful song to date, winning numerous accolades for its composition and performances.

2010–present: Lawsuit and lineup changes[link]

In December 2009, Han filed for contract termination from SM Entertainment, claiming that the provisions of his contract were unlawful, harsh, and against his rights.^[26] Super Junior-M immediately canceled all of their future activities and performances in China and Taiwan. They returned to Korea to begin preparing for Super Junior's fourth studio album. Han, however, stayed in China and signed under a new management, releasing his debut solo album Geng Xin in July 2010.^[27] Although Super Junior-M remained largely inactive for most of 2010, they won several accolades for their song "Super Girl" at China's 2010 MusicRadio TOP Awards, including Most Popular Group, Golden Melody Award (Top 15), and Best Composition.

In December 2010, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Han. However, SM Entertainment announced that they will file an immediate appeal to reverse the decision. In September 2011, Han and SM Entertainment officially came to a mutual agreement regarding Han's contract, closing the case. Although Han will not continue his exclusive contract with SM Entertainment,^[28] the agency has yet to release an official statement regarding his status in Super Junior and Super Junior-M.

In February 2011, Super Junior-M resumed their activities with two new members from the main group, Eunhyuk and Sungmin, with the release of EP Perfection. A track in the album, "Love Is Sweet" is written by Jay Chou with lyrics penned by Chou's lyricist, Vincent Fang. Perfection was first released in Taiwan on February 25, followed by a Korean release two days later in South Korea. Hong Kong, Singapore, and selected provinces of China released the album on March 4. It debuted at number 2 on Taiwan's G-music chart,^[29] and stayed on the chart for four weeks.^[30] The repackaged version of the album was released on April 29, debuted at number 2, and stayed on the chart for 10 weeks.^[30] In March 2011, Siwon and Donghae were cast as the main leads in the Taiwanese idol television drama Skip Beat!, a live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name. The drama premiered on December 18, 2011 on Formosa TV. In this drama, Super Junior-M performed the drama's opening theme "S.O.L.O.", and Donghae wrote and performed the ending theme, "That's Love", featuring Henry.

Super Junior-M stayed in Taiwan for over two months to promote Perfection. The album won them several awards at the 2010 HK Asian-Pop Music Festival, including Best Song Performance and Best Stage Performance. They won Most Popular Group at the 1st Annual Global Chinese Golden Chart, and Best Group at the 2011 Singapore HIT Awards.

In 2012, Zhou Mi was casted in the drama When Love Walked In. Henry is currently filming an unnamed movie that is to be released in 2013.

Members[link]

Endorsements[link]

Super Junior-M and Taiwanese singer Show Luo replaced Hong Kong entertainers, Nicholas Tse and Twins, for the 2008 summer season endorsement spots of Semir, a Chinese clothing brand.^[31] They were acclaimed to be sunny, young, and passionate; thus their image was suitable to endorse the brand.^[32] They were also the 2009 endorsers of Pepsi and OPPO Mobile.

Discography[link]

Award and nominations[link]