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There are many times that my friends and I have discussed how some girls are even in some of the more popular girl groups in South Korea. If your singing is sub-par and your dancing is just “okay,” then what the heck do you have to offer? We’re not talking about sentimental “cute” or “image” value here; we’re talking about talent contributions. Here’s my list of the most talent-useless girls in today’s Korean girl groups.

1. Uee [After School]

2. Nana [After School]

3. Sohee [Wonder Girls]

4. Jihyun [4minute]

5. Yoona [SNSD]

6. Sandara Park [2NE1]


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I totally missed this entry so my belated outrage will begin now smile

Cannot speak for any other groups but AS (the only one I pay close attention to).  UEE is probably the most important member (maybe just behind Kahi) of AS.  She is by far the most in-demand member and is directly responsible for many many new AS fans.  Without her, AS would not even be close to where they are today.  (BTW: Uee can dance)

Nana is in the same mode as UEE...while not much in the fame department yet...there are many new AS fan who are fans because of her looks and “cute” look.

In the end, I would argue that Tuc’s original premise is flawed.  Girl groups aren’t really about talent...they are more about entertainment.  If someone is truly “talented”, they would be a solo artist.  With few exceptions (i.e. Taeyeon of SNSD), members of musical groups are “flawed” in some way and thus require other members to balance them out.  Some may be good singer but lack charisma while other are not as good singers but are eye-catching.  For AS, the singers are Raina and JungAh while the eye-catchers are UEE, Nana, and JooYeon. 

The key to a good group is not that everyone is “talented” but rather everyone brings something different to the table so that the group is well rounded.  This way, you can attract a wide range of fans and thus sell records.

For AS, they have singers (Raina/JA), a fierce rapper (Bekah), some eye-candy (UEE, Nana, and JooYeon), and the strong and well-rounded leader (Kahi) (don’t know the where the new girl fits in yet).  You take any one of those elements out, the group would be far less successful.


Lilsparky67 - 03/18/10 10:06 am
compliant - 03/18/10 6:15 am

^
1) uee as a dancer compared to....gahee? bekah? no. as a singer - compared to gahee, jungah and raina? no. sure, she can act, but this article is discussing how she contributes to after school as a musical artist. which she doesn’t, really. same with nana.

2) “she’s part of the group” “at least she tries” -> ....and? if anything, it only solidifies sohee’s status on this list. what musical/dancing talent does she offer that the others do not?

3) same with jihyun. gayoon and jiyoon sing, and - as much as I hate to say it - hyuna and her ass-shaking deal with the dancing. what does jihyun have to offer to the group as an artist that the others do not? I mean, other than “being old”, of course.

4) yoona can dance. right, compared to hyoyeon? yuri? sooyoung? heck...even seohyun! when you’re 4th/5th on that list out of 9, sorry to say, as good of a dancer as you may be, it makes you pretty expendable. (3-4 great dancers are more than enough for most groups as most groups don’t have nine members.) just like the vocalist hierarchy in SNSD - taeyeon, tiffany, jessica, seohyun. where would yoona fit? again, 5th or lower. hence, she has her place on this list. yoona can act, you say? fair enough, but again, see the explanation of why uee, despite her YB acting gig, remains useless.

5) dara contributes to the choreography because, talent-wise, she’s there to fill out the lineup. and just like what you said about her singing. but the truth is, 2NE1’s combined singing/dancing talents minus those of dara would pretty much be the same.



so to re-summarize, this article is about why these members are useless due to the lack of any significant contribution they make to the group in terms of singing and dancing. if a group can do just fine without you performance-wise, sorry, it actually does imply uselessness. because, hey, like tuc said, if your singing is sub-par and your dancing is just “okay,” then what the heck do you have to offer?

You might have read what I wrote, but unfortunately you didn’t get my point. If you want to believe what you wrote down, then go ahead and do that. Each member in a group has a reason to be there. Maybe you don’t feel they bring anything to the table, but that’s a one sided look at everything. Also, every time I mentioned how someone can do something in the group, well you insulted each of them.

Just because someone isn’t better than someone else, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do it too. They work just as hard as the others. This isn’t play time for toddlers, it’s a business of living. Yes, you can enjoy yourself, but most of the time these performers/singers are working 24/7.

Ok, I see what all of you are thinking. Because they don’t sing alot in that ONE song does not mean they won’t sing in the future? As LilSparky said, They have members for a point. Not just there for you to discuss and putdown.


^ speak for yourself and lilsparky.

in any case, two girl groups that do things the right way: t-ara and kara.

for those of you who aren’t familiar with t-ara, their most talented vocalists are—in no particular order—eunjung, hyomin, and soyeon....and jiyeon to a slightly lesser extent. those four sing the lion’s share of each released song, leaving boram and qri to fight for whatever scraps may remain.

likewise, in kara, the Older Three - gyuri, seungyeon, and nicole in no particular order - sing most of kara’s songs, leaving hara and jiyoung with about five lines to sing. combined.

and what I like most about these distributions is that the most talented members deservingly get the most parts in their group’s songs, while the talentless ones are left to fight for scraps, and deservedly so.


Fact: This is just Tuc To’s opinion and thus never said they were facts.Love it or leave it.


I’m seeing that the debate here is really on the definition of useless. I don’t think you can look at a band for just the musical talents as singing and dancing isn’t the only thing that can make you successful as a musician. The looks part has a big deal to do with it as there’s very few non-beautiful idols especially in the society that is Korea.

In an ideal world, musical ability - dancing not counting as musical ability - is all you need to be a successful musician. Very few artists are like that.

IMO, if you somehow help sell records and put butts in concert seats, you’re not useless.


Lilsparky, I believe you are missing the point of this article. This post was made based on the actual musical talents that the girls possess (or in this case, the lack thereof). This post disregards all outside group activities or how hard they “try.” “Trying hard” is not a musical talent. When I talk about talent in this post, I mean having talent that is above and beyond. Sure, you can dance well, but a lot of people can dance well. By talent I’m referring to a “WOW!” factor. I will concede that all the listed girls dance “well,” but they’re not the greatest dancers and certainly not the greatest singers. This is why I have deemed them as “useless,” because while they do contribute to the group, their contributions are usually non-musically related.


^ oh, but I did get the gist of your point. people who at least try to contribute in some way should be called “useful”, right? (The key word here, at least for these six girls, is try.)

and no, you’re right, it isn’t play time for toddlers. it also isn’t time to let people sing or dance in girl groups out of pity. (if you can act, go be an actress; what are you doing in a girl group?) because what this post is insinuating is that without these girls, who’ve been given spots in girl groups on the “merit” of anything but their musical talents, their respective groups would just be fine. it’s a matter of hard work for the sake of hard work (e.g. these six) versus girls who are already loaded with talent and are working hard (e.g. taeyeon, minzy, gahee).

you may have an egalitarian attitude towards usefulness in a girl group, but I, and clearly a number of others on this thread, am more deeply rooted in the concept of meritocracy i.e. only those who are the best at what they do should get the credit.


compliant - 03/18/10 6:15 am

^
1) uee as a dancer compared to....gahee? bekah? no. as a singer - compared to gahee, jungah and raina? no. sure, she can act, but this article is discussing how she contributes to after school as a musical artist. which she doesn’t, really. same with nana.

2) “she’s part of the group” “at least she tries” -> ....and? if anything, it only solidifies sohee’s status on this list. what musical/dancing talent does she offer that the others do not?

3) same with jihyun. gayoon and jiyoon sing, and - as much as I hate to say it - hyuna and her ass-shaking deal with the dancing. what does jihyun have to offer to the group as an artist that the others do not? I mean, other than “being old”, of course.

4) yoona can dance. right, compared to hyoyeon? yuri? sooyoung? heck...even seohyun! when you’re 4th/5th on that list out of 9, sorry to say, as good of a dancer as you may be, it makes you pretty expendable. (3-4 great dancers are more than enough for most groups as most groups don’t have nine members.) just like the vocalist hierarchy in SNSD - taeyeon, tiffany, jessica, seohyun. where would yoona fit? again, 5th or lower. hence, she has her place on this list. yoona can act, you say? fair enough, but again, see the explanation of why uee, despite her YB acting gig, remains useless.

5) dara contributes to the choreography because, talent-wise, she’s there to fill out the lineup. and just like what you said about her singing. but the truth is, 2NE1’s combined singing/dancing talents minus those of dara would pretty much be the same.



so to re-summarize, this article is about why these members are useless due to the lack of any significant contribution they make to the group in terms of singing and dancing. if a group can do just fine without you performance-wise, sorry, it actually does imply uselessness. because, hey, like tuc said, if your singing is sub-par and your dancing is just “okay,” then what the heck do you have to offer?

You might have read what I wrote, but unfortunately you didn’t get my point. If you want to believe what you wrote down, then go ahead and do that. Each member in a group has a reason to be there. Maybe you don’t feel they bring anything to the table, but that’s a one sided look at everything. Also, every time I mentioned how someone can do something in the group, well you insulted each of them.

Just because someone isn’t better than someone else, it doesn’t mean that they can’t do it too. They work just as hard as the others. This isn’t play time for toddlers, it’s a business of living. Yes, you can enjoy yourself, but most of the time these performers/singers are working 24/7.


I’d be so out of place in korea. I mean, how dare I like the members that can actually sing!


if you’re in a girl group, and can’t sing, rap, or dance well, then you really have no business being there.

unless you’re any of these six girls, and your only purpose is to drive popularity, but truthfully, they’re there driving popularity because they didn’t have actual talents to begin with.


i2ayumi - 03/18/10 7:30 am

TTL and TTL2 was recorded before hand with just 4 T-ara members and 3 Supernova members. So I don’t know where’s you’re pulling that Qri only danced in TTL, because obviously not only her but also 5 other members from both groups didn’t sing and only danced…

The only reason why she doesn’t get much lines is because she had absolutely no vocal training before debuting into T-ara. But that’s beside the point, she’s not useless. She has looks, she can dance and she can model… that’s useful raspberry

she was in TTL 2, which involved all 12 of them. so yes, she danced in TTL 2, a detail which, of course, was already noted in my initial post. and those reasons why you outlined that she’s “not useless”...are the EXACT reasons why she’s useless. and no, it isn’t besides the point...that pretty much is the point, and the premise of this entire article. is she adding anything significant to the group musically? NO!

and touché by alexanguyen there.


lizard - 03/18/10 7:13 am

at least yoona has popularity through her drama and bring a lot of popularity for snsd...a few member in this list hold large of fanbase compare to other member.yoona hold second after taeyeon and place 8 among idol group in korea in naver and daum fancafe.without the fan the group is down..like you are singing in the street with no fan..is it was also contribution…

...of course, the article already says, “We’re not talking about sentimental “cute” or “image” value here; we’re talking about talent contributions.” and here you are, talking about how people rank not in talent, not in singing, not in dancing, not in rapping, no. you’re talking about how people rank in popularity.

and what’s this article talking about? talent contributions. not fanbase contributions, not popularity contributions. talent contributions. so, is yoona adding any singing/dancing/rapping talent that any of the other 8 do not already offer at a very skilled level (key word: very skilled)? other than her acting...that’s exactly what I thought your response would be.


^ Just like Leah Dizon raspberry


compliant - 03/18/10 6:20 am
harmonixia - 03/18/10 12:48 am

^ In terms of T-ara, I hear that Boram also does not contribute much? ;O

yup. that’s what I’ve heard too. but her dad is some fairly-known singer, so I wouldn’t hold as much against her as qri. for TTL 2, qri was literally there just...to dance. and not sing. for a collaboration of 12 people, you’d expect everyone to get at least one line. (several supernova members, like qri, did not get anything. again, point.)

harmonixia - 03/18/10 12:48 am

her voice has a distinctly different tone than CL, Minzy, and Bom’s.

you mean light and airy?

TTL and TTL2 was recorded before hand with just 4 T-ara members and 3 Supernova members. So I don’t know where’s you’re pulling that Qri only danced in TTL, because obviously not only her but also 5 other members from both groups didn’t sing and only danced…

The only reason why she doesn’t get much lines is because she had absolutely no vocal training before debuting into T-ara. But that’s beside the point, she’s not useless. She has looks, she can dance and she can model… that’s useful raspberry


at least yoona has popularity through her drama and bring a lot of popularity for snsd...a few member in this list hold large of fanbase compare to other member.yoona hold second after taeyeon and place 8 among idol group in korea in naver and daum fancafe.without the fan the group is down..like you are singing in the street with no fan..is it was also contribution…


harmonixia - 03/18/10 12:48 am

^ In terms of T-ara, I hear that Boram also does not contribute much? ;O

yup. that’s what I’ve heard too. but her dad is some fairly-known singer, so I wouldn’t hold as much against her as qri. for TTL 2, qri was literally there just...to dance. and not sing. for a collaboration of 12 people, you’d expect everyone to get at least one line. (several supernova members, like qri, did not get anything. again, point.)

harmonixia - 03/18/10 12:48 am

her voice has a distinctly different tone than CL, Minzy, and Bom’s.

you mean light and airy?


^
1) uee as a dancer compared to....gahee? bekah? no. as a singer - compared to gahee, jungah and raina? no. sure, she can act, but this article is discussing how she contributes to after school as a musical artist. which she doesn’t, really. same with nana.

2) “she’s part of the group” “at least she tries” -> ....and? if anything, it only solidifies sohee’s status on this list. what musical/dancing talent does she offer that the others do not?

3) same with jihyun. gayoon and jiyoon sing, and - as much as I hate to say it - hyuna and her ass-shaking deal with the dancing. what does jihyun have to offer to the group as an artist that the others do not? I mean, other than “being old”, of course.

4) yoona can dance. right, compared to hyoyeon? yuri? sooyoung? heck...even seohyun! when you’re 4th/5th on that list out of 9, sorry to say, as good of a dancer as you may be, it makes you pretty expendable. (3-4 great dancers are more than enough for most groups as most groups don’t have nine members.) just like the vocalist hierarchy in SNSD - taeyeon, tiffany, jessica, seohyun. where would yoona fit? again, 5th or lower. hence, she has her place on this list. yoona can act, you say? fair enough, but again, see the explanation of why uee, despite her YB acting gig, remains useless.

5) dara contributes to the choreography because, talent-wise, she’s there to fill out the lineup. and just like what you said about her singing. but the truth is, 2NE1’s combined singing/dancing talents minus those of dara would pretty much be the same.

so to re-summarize, this article is about why these members are useless due to the lack of any significant contribution they make to the group in terms of singing and dancing. if a group can do just fine without you performance-wise, sorry, it actually does imply uselessness. because, hey, like tuc said, if your singing is sub-par and your dancing is just “okay,” then what the heck do you have to offer?


Uee can dance and she obviously contributes that. Maybe you might dislike her for getting all the attention, but is it really her fault? If you were offered the same contracts and photo shoots like her, then you would understand it better. Maybe I’m not one of those people, but it’s understandable and yet again, she can dance.

I don’t know Nana too well, but maybe hardly anyone does. All I know is she’s new and pretty. Also, she gets a couple of words, in a few of the songs. We have no idea if she’s capable of something, so I don’t consider her useless. She can always bring something to the table, but they haven’t given her that opportunity yet.

Sohee isn’t exactly “Wonderful”, but at least she tries. She attempts at singing and dancing, so she’s not useless. She’s part of the group and that’s what counts.

Jihyun is the leader of 4minute. Maybe we see her being useless because we don’t see her doing much. How are we to know what she really does behind the scenes? There has to be a reason the group is together. A leader is chosen for a reason, to lead. I am sure she does just that. HyunA and Jiyoon are great assets to the group, but someone needs to lead the powerhouses of the group, so they can be under control.

Last I checked, Yoona can dance! Her vocals aren’t out of this world, but they aren’t one to crack on. She’s an actress, a singer, and can dance. She is most definitely not meant to be on this list.

Dara definitely contributes to the choreography and the singing. You can her voice in every song and see her performing on stage. Yes, her voice isn’t something to go brag about, or that she’s the next top dancer. All that doesn’t matter when you contribute to a group. It’s all part of being part of that group and doing stuff together as one. That’s what contributing is and talent isn’t always the most important.


^ In terms of T-ara, I hear that Boram also does not contribute much? ;O

I kind of like Dara though. She’s not as adept at singing, but her voice has a distinctly different tone than CL, Minzy, and Bom’s.


t-ara’s qri needs to be on this list. likewise, hara and jiyoung from kara.


Harsh! But I see it. Still, these girls are way cuter and taller than me so props to them. Uee did a decent job acting evil in You’re Beautiful. I can’t look at her the same.


talent-wise, I definitely see them as useless.


I agree with most of those. I think Sandara Park is hilarious though. XD



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