TVXQ

TVXQ

TVXQ (Tong Vfang Xien Qi) is a Korean boy band. This group is composed of five male members specializing in the areas of dance, acappella, various drama acting, and pop with an R&B vibe. The group has also gained popularity in Japan, Taiwan, China, and other East Asian countries. Currently, it is one of the top pop groups of the Korean Wave (hallyu).

The name is translated to "Rising Gods of the East." The Japanese equivalent of the group's name is Tōhōshinki (abbreviated as THSK). The group debuted in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China in 2004.

Musical style

Initially marketed as an "A cappella" group, most of TVXQ's music is mainstream K-pop. Their debut single "Hug" was a romantic bubblegum pop song, whereas their followup single "The Way U Are" was a dance/R&B number, complete with stylized outfits and heavily choreographed dance moves. Their third major single release, "믿어요" (Believe), in contrast, was a ballad. TVXQ concluded the year with a Christmas album that also had an a cappella version of "Jesus, Joy Of Man's Desiring". With their releases in 2004, the group showed a versatility in style and has managed not to be permanently typecast as a certain "genre style" (as opposed to Fly to the Sky's ballads or Koyote's dance songs).

With consecutive releases, they have not moved from this formula, as their second and third albums have had a similar mixture without moving outside of the mainstream label. The second album's singles, for example, included a dance song (their first release) and a ballad (their followup). As the third album's releases have so far been dance, ballad and pure pop tracks, TVXQ has continued to move from genre to genre while staying mainstream. Although the group has given many a cappella performances, TVXQ has yet to release an a cappella (or an otherwise mostly vocal) single.

History

Pre-fame

Typical of a boyband, the members were separately chosen by SM Entertainment through various auditions. The trainees in the company including members of Super Junior were divided into groups of their peers and received training to find potential talents. The five members of TVXQ were originally the lead vocals of other singing groups.

The first member to join was Kim Junsu (김준수). He enjoyed singing at his church when he was young. At the age of 12 he was brought into the band through a televised talent search in which Moon Hee Jun and Kangta from H.O.T. were judges. His vocals won over the judges and won him through training for the next six years until he debuted as Xiah Junsu (시아준수; Xiah is pronounced Shee-ah in Korean). Xiah was a stage name that Junsu himself chose, explaining to his fans that the name was short for "Asia," as Asia is pronounced "a-shee-a" in Korean. "Xiah" would be a reference to his desire to become not only a star in Korea, but a star recognized all throughout the continent.

The group’s second member, Jung Yunho (정윤호), secured his spot in TVXQ through a dance competition. Prior to this, he accumulated some musical experience as a rapper and backup dancer for Kpop singer Dana in her Diamond video. His chosen stage name is U-know Yunho from his Korean name Yunho; U-know is pronounced "You know" in English. He is the second oldest member in TVXQ and is also the group's leader.

Kim Jaejoong (김재중) left his hometown in Chungnam to audition for SM Entertainment. Having left the shelter of home, he experienced poverty and strife before becoming a celebrity. He debuted under the name a fortune teller foretold years before: YoungWoong JaeJoong (영웅재중). Youngwoong means "hero" in Korean, hence his international name, Hero. Jaejoong was selected from an audition of 5000 people. Jaejoong won first place, both in best looking and best vocals. That made him the main vocal of TVXQ.

Shim Changmin (심창민) was grouped with the youngest participants in the audition. Like Xiah Junsu, he impressed the judges with his voice. He joined the band under the name Choikang Changmin (최강창민; the English counterpart to his stage name is Max). Choikang in Korean means "the best;" "Max" became an international rendition of this name.

Six months before the group’s debut, a final member was added. Park Yoochun (박유천) lived in the State of Virginia for roughly four years. Yoochun's stage name, Micky, written as 秘寄 in Hanja (Chinese characters), means "hidden weapon", which symbolises his desire to become a "hidden weapon" in the music industry. Micky was also his English name as to when he lived in Virginia. As the winner of a talent show, he was granted the opportunity to sign with SM Entertainment in Korea. He now performs under the stage name Micky Yoochun (믹키유천).

Debut

TVXQ made their first appearance in 2003 during a Christmas time showcase, and their stage debut featured fellow SM Entertainment star BoA; Britney Spears was at this showcase as well. They performed their debut single "Hug" as well as an a cappella rendition of "O Holy Night" alongside BoA. The group eventually released two singles before their first album in 2004. TVXQ reached #1 on Korean music charts in three months after their debut.

For preparation for their first album, the band recorded the single “Tri-Angle” with BoA and The TRAX. BoA’s profound popularity in Japan, alongside The TRAX’s evolvement in said country, helped to promote the awareness overseas of the new boy band.

Going Overseas

Tong Vfang Xien Qi has also released albums and singles in China. SM Entertainment had once even considered adding a Chinese member to the group to help boost popularity within the country. However, SM Entertainment has abandoned the idea due to the overflowing amount of complaints from their fan club Cassiopeia (named after the Cassiopeia constellation near the Big Dipper). TVXQ's fans chose the name "Cassiopeia" for their fan club because the constellation has 5 stars in its galaxy, and TVXQ has 5 members. When traced on a computer keyboard, "TVFXQ" makes the constellation Cassiopeia.

Their title song “Rising Sun” from their second album has enjoyed great popularity in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Singapore. However, promotional activities in Korea were limited as Hero injured his leg during preparation. As a result, many performances were severely altered; in many cases, a dancer wearing a mask was used as a temporary member. When Hero couuld not perform his vocals (which were usually done in a separate area, such as a rising stage), a version with his vocals replaced was used.

TVXQ has toured in concerts, made guest appearances, and participated in numerous commercials throughout several Asian countries.

They recently held up concerts in Malaysia and Thailand. TVXQ was one of the first Korean groups to perform in Malaysia, in the Bukit Jalil Stadium. In Thailand their concert was named "Channel V Thailand & LG Mobile Presents Be my Chocolate concert TVXQ! Rising Sun Live in Bangkok 2006". It was held in the Impact Arena, one of the biggest place to ever held a concert. Impact Arena had been used for several big concerts such as J-ASEAN POP Concert, Shinhwa State of Art, and many others.

Increasing popularity

TVXQ has also gained a significant amount of popularity around Asia. They were the first Asian group to win two Thailand Music Awards for both Best Music Video ("Rising Sun") and Favorite Asian Artist. They are also one of the few Korean groups that can draw 40,000 fans to one concert and have sufficiently secured their place in Japan as well. Their seventh Japanese single Sky reached third place on the Oricon daily charts, making them one of the few non-Japanese artists to have reached the top five; it eventually hit #6 on the Oricon weekly chart. The song was used as the background music for a Baskin Robin's commercial, as well.

TVXQ has reached the second place on the Japanese Oricon Weekly Chart with their eighth single, Miss You. For reference, the first place in the corresponding week was BoA with her new single, Winter Love.

Also, they have topped both the Japanese and Korean charts on the Malaysian radio show "988" twice with their singles "Begin" and "The Fighting Spirit Of The East" respectively. The show has an audience of about 4.2 million listeners, reaching as far as Singapore, who voted for their singles via the internet, as well as other means.

Recently, TVXQ was invited to perform and present an award at the 51st Asia Pacific Movie Awards, in Taiwan.

Third album

The group returned to Korea in late August in order to prepare for their third album. Titled 'O'-正.反.合 ('O' - Jung.Ban.Hap), it was released on September 29, with one edition containing a poster and a photobook and the other with a poster and a special DVD. In the first month of its release, the third album had already surpassed the 100,000 mark in South Korea.

As of November 2006, the group is still promoting their third album. Their current single is called "Balloons" which, in contrast to the heavy R&B/techno beats of "O", is a giddy dance song. The music video features the group wearing animal outfits with balloons and young children who are similarly dressed. Following the video's theme, their live performances have seen them wearing "young" outfits, although they have moved away from animal costumes to simpler costumes.

'O'-正.反.合 was re-released on November 11, 2006, less than two months after its original release date, to coincide with the image change. The new release contains new versions of "Balloons" and "Get Me Some", along with a new track named "네 곁에 숨쉴 수 있다면 (White Lie...)" which was written and composed by TVXQ's Xiah. As with the original release, there were two versions of the re-release, one containing a DVD of their Vacation drama, and the other with a DVD of all their Korean music videos to date.

The members of TVXQ have appeared on numerous variety shows, including X-Man and Heroine 6, both separately and together. Due to the group's strong and devoted fan base, hosts and other participants were, at times, jokingly careful not to harm them or otherwise show them in a negative light, making it seem as if the band members were given special treatment.

As the album has been released in seven Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and China), the group is planning to perform in these countries eventually, although no date has been set for international promotion. SM has released a statement, though, saying that the album has done well in Taiwan, and that the lead single has topped the Asian singles chart and is #5 overall

At the 2006 MKMF Music Festival, the group won four awards, including Best Group and Artist of the Year.

At the 16th Music Seoul Festival, which was held on the 1st December, the group won a total of 3 awards which included "Daesang," equivalent to Artist of the Year award.

Scandals

Cyanoacrylate drink incident

While the group was filming a variety show in October 2006, U-Know was rushed to the hospital from drinking a beverage given by an anti-fan. Although the container was visibly open, U-Know unsuspectingly drank from the bottle. As a result, he was quickly instructed by his manager to vomit immediately after drinking it. The cyanoacrylate also caused his lips to stick to the container, which significantly damaged his lips.

The female suspect, whose surname is Ko, apprehended on October 16, was a member of an anti-TVXQ website for over two years. In a threatening letter to U-Know, the letter states

You watch your mouth! Ever since the debut you people (members of TVXQ) were so stuck up. (middle fingers) You people won't last after a couple years... You would be forever seen as some teen idols not real singers. Do you know your limit? [The limit is that] Only little kids like you!...I really want to kill you.

Despite the culprit's confession, the incident still leaves many unanswered questions, such as why U-know drank from the open container, and how the culprit managed to enter the building of the broadcast station. Yunho called the police personally to request them not to press charges because "he has a little sister who is almost the woman's age." Because of his request, she was not charged.

Yunho's friend Hee Chul of Super Junior reacted to this event by posting on his Cyworld that the anti-fans are mean-spirited and told them to come after him instead. Following Hee Chul's post, TVXQ's anti-fans promised to make him and his close friends in Super Junior, Han Kyung and Kim KiBum their next targets for further violence.

As a result, TVXQ continued with its promotional activities as a 4-member group until their performance on KBS's Music Bank on October 22, Yunho's first since the incident. Since then, the tensions have seemingly died down, and TVXQ is back doing performances around Korea to promote their third album.

Custody battle over Hero

On November 21, 2006, a man by the last name of Han filed a lawsuit against Hero's current legal guardians. Han is claiming that he is the biological father of Hero.

Han cites the reason for the lawsuit against Hero's legal guardians as "for not going through the proper procedures before registering [Hero] in [the legal guardians'] custody." He divorced Hero's biological mother in late 1980s, and gave up his custody over his child, leaving him under Mrs. Han's custody. However, he has lately found out that instead of staying under his mother's custody, Hero had been adopted by a third party. A DNA test is to be performed in order to prove validity of Han's claim. Many legal consultants comment that since the adoption had taken place correctly according to the corresponding law, no legal change will be involved regardless of the outcome.

The first hearing was to be held in Kongju, Hero's hometown on November 29, 2006. The fans of TVXQ were generally appalled by this news, questioning why Han did not privately contact Hero regarding this and why he did not keep in touch with his son before he rose to fame.

On November 22, Han dropped the charges against Hero's legal guardians. Han said that he originally intended to solve his biological son's military duty conflicts after being informed of dual citizenship by Ministry of Military Affairs, which involved verifying the fact that he is the biological father. He did not expect his intention to lead to such a scandal, and states that he was scarred by speculations that he wanted to take advantage of Hero's fame. Han also claims that his son was living in the United States with his biological mother until now.

In reaction to the matter, Hero uploaded a journal entry on his official fanclub website, and said that he was informed of the existence of separate biological parents by his mother two or three years ago, and was quite a shock to him. With his current mother's support, his biological mother has been able to keep in touch with him, and to meet occasionally, but whereabouts of the father had been unknown.

He vigorously expressed his will to live by the name of "Jaejoong Kim" not by his birth name "Jaejoon Han", and promised to be loyal to all four of his parents. He also lamented the fact that his family history was exposed to the public due to this incident.

Despite the termination of this issue, many still question why Han decided to drop his plan for a lawsuit after only a day, and what truly motivated him to change his mind.

Solo work

Although there has not been much solo work by TVXQ members, a few of them have been able to work apart from the group. Xiah did a duet with labelmate Zhang Li Yin on her debut single "Timeless", which was supported with live performances on various music shows. Xiah also had a solo piece titled "Beautiful Thing" which was included in the soundtrack for their first movie Vacation. Hero has contributed the song titled "Insa" (Hangul: "인사" English:"Greeting") to the soundtrack of the film Millionaire's First Love starring Hyun Bin and Lee Yeon Hee; the song is considered to be Hero's first solo piece. In addition, U-Know has announced that he will act in a Japanese movie expected to be released next year. The Japanese romance/drama will consist of several famous Japanese actors as well. TVXQ's youngest member, Max, was supposed to act in the recently on-going Korean drama 'Snow Flower' alongside Go Ah Ra, but had to pull out due to TVXQ's tight schedule. He was replaced by Super Junior's Ki Bum.

Acting

Banjun Theater

In 2005 and 2006, TVXQ released Banjun Theater, which aired on Korean television station SBS, that featured the boys as budding actors. They have acted in their own one- or two-episode dramas titled First Love (Parts 1 and 2), The Masked Fencer, King And The Clown, Yunho's Tokyo Holiday, Dangerous Love, Finding Lost Time, Uninvited Guest, and The Most Unforgettable Girl in My Life.

Theatrical TV Drama

• VACATION

• The main poster for the drama, VACATION.
  The main poster for the drama, VACATION.

VACATION consisted of four episodes and a special: Cassiopeia (U-KNOW), Beautiful Life (Xiah and Max), The Way U Are (Hero), and Eternal (Micky), which were first shown at Yonsei University from July 7 to August 8, 2006, and were later released on the third (C) version of their third album "O"-正.反.合. as a separate DVD. For this drama, the band recorded an original soundtrack which consisted of two tracks (and their instrumental versions).

• DATING ON EARTH (Release date unknown)

Member profiles

File:Jejung.jpg	HERO JaeJoong Stage Name : HERO | YoungWoong JaeJoong (영웅재중 or 英雄在中) Real Name : Kim JaeJoong (김재중) Birthdate: January 26, 1986 Birthplace: Chungnam (충남 or 忠南) Position: Main Vocals
File:UknowYunho.jpg	U-KNOW YunHo Stage Name : U-KNOW | U-know YunHo (유노윤호 or 瑜卤允浩) Real Name: Jung YunHo (정윤호) Birthdate: February 6, 1986 Birthplace: Gwangju (광주) Position: Baritone, Leader
File:Yoochun.jpg	MICKY YooChun Stage Name : MICKY | Micky YooChun (믹키유천 or 秘奇有天/秘奇有仟) Real Name: Park YooChun (박유천) Birthdate: June 4, 1986 Birthplace: Seoul (서울) Position: Bass-baritone
File:Ebook6en3.jpg	XIAH JunSu Stage Name : XIAH | Xiah JunSu (시아준수 or 细亚俊秀) Real Name: Kim JunSu (김준수) Birthdate: December 15, 1986, though his parents registered him on January 1, 1987 Birthplace: Gyeonggi (경기 or 京畿道) Position: Baritenor
File:MaxChangmin.jpg	MAX ChangMin Stage Name : MAX | ChoiKang ChangMin (최강창민 or 最强昌珉) Real Name: Shim ChangMin (심창민) Birthdate: February 18, 1988 Birthplace: Seoul (서울) Position: Tenor

Discography

Further information: TVXQ Discography

External links

• TVXQ Official (Korean)
• Tohoshinki Official (Japan)
• TVXQ Official (Chinese)
• VACATION Drama Official