Thursday, May 7, 2009

Shinhwa's Story 신화의 이야기


PROFILE:

Real name : Jeong Pil-kyo
Date of birth : November 27th, 1979
Education : Department of English, Cheonan University
Physique : 179cm, 65kg
Nickname : Sonic
Blood type : A
Religion : Christianity
Hobbies : Listening to music, driving
Talent : Taekwondo (officially approved 3 dan)
Motto : I can do it!
Favorite food : Flavorful food with sesame seeds and oil
Favorite colors : Black, white

BIOGRAPHY:

Shin Hyesung moved to the U.S. when he was in his third year of junior high school in Korea and spent his high school years there. In junior high school, he liked playing sports such as soccer but he especially enjoyed basketball. Although he has enjoyed singing since he was a child, he never dreamt of becoming a singer. But, when he was in the U.S., he entered a singing contest at a Korean festival in L.A. and he really enjoyed it. He auditioned in America through Brothers Entertainmen and was the first member to be placed into Shinhwa. Since then, he has been the lead vocalist of the band. Together with Shinhwa, he has released 9 albums.

Now it's been eleven years since Shin Hyesung first created waves with his groundbreaking debut as a member of Shinhwa. Since then, going from the main vocalist of Shinhwa, to a member of the trio singing group called S (with good friends Kangta and Lee Jihoon), Shin Hyesung's career has been marked with both brilliance and success. But his passion for music doesn't just stop there. He released his solo album in 2005 and took on a different kind of music by becoming a ballad singer.

Hyesung's first solo album titled "The Love of May" was very successful. It produced a No. 1 song "Same Thought", and another 2 top 20 hits "Don't Leave", and "Mirror". Also, his duet with veteran female singer Susie Kang, "Buen Camino", also received good reviews. These songs were all ballads which were very different from Shinhwa's music, but were able to better showcase Hyesung's vocal.

Despite his many experiences with being onstage and in front of the camera, Hyesung still gets nervous and tense as if it is his first time. He wrote five of the 14 songs on the 1st album. These songs are about love and heartbreak. He has had his fair share of loving someone and breaking up with them. He thinks those experiences are the source of his inspiration. Also, he has a habit of writing down good lyrics on his cell phone and saving them whenever he thinks of something.

In 2006, Hyesung re-united with his Shinhwa members and released Shinhwa's 8th album, which featured the No. 1 song "Once In A Lifetime", one of the songs dedicated to Korea's 2006 World Cup soccer team.

In 2007, Hyesung re-started his solo works. First, he released a duet "After...Love" with Lyn from a music drama of the same name. The song became a top 10 hit. Then he participated in songwriter Cho Young Soo's project album "All Stars" with many other famous artistes. Finally in August 2007, Hyesung released his 2nd solo album. Again, he worked with Cho Youngsoo and the first single titled "첫사람" (First Person) which is a gentle ballad, went to No. 2 in our music chart. His album also spent 2 weeks on top of the sales chart. Overall, Hyesung has outdone Shinhwa teammates Kim Dongwan and Lee Minwoo this time, as all three has released their solo albums in the same period.

In late 2008 and early 2009, Shin Hyesung had released his 3rd full length album with two completely different genres of songs. In Side 1, "Live and Let Live" he showed his powerful vocals through his attempt in british rock while in Side 2 "Keep Leaves" he showed the public what he does best: ballads. Side 2 was a album filled with Shin Hyesung's gentle yet unique vocals. He had showed two different sides on him as a singer through his 3rd full length album.

As usual, he was able to top monthly sales charts in Korea.

Over the years, Hyesung has undergone a lot of transformations in his music: from Shinhwa's pop dance hits in the early days, to his wonderful solo ballads now. Hyesung has grown up a lot in front of all the fans. He's not afraid to try out new things, and fans will continue to travel along with him in his musical journey.

Currently he has embarked on his 2nd Asia Tour, "2009 Shin Hyesung Keep Leaves Tour which will bring him to Busan, Taiwan, Singapore, Shanghai, Osaka and Tokyo and will end in late August.

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PROFILE:

Name : Andy (real name: Lee Seon-ho)
Date of birth : January 21st, 1981
Physique : 175cm, 62kg
Nickname : Bogus
Blood type : Type O
Hobbies : Playing the piano, basketball, listening to music
Favorite food : Kimchi
Favorite sport : Basketball
Favorite color : White
Favorite musicians : Boyz II Men, Yoo Young-jin

BIOGRAPHY:

Andy Lee is the second member to join Shinhwa. He originally planned to be a member of H.O.T. (another Korean boy band) with his friend, Tony An. However, his parents pulled their support for him joining H.O.T. because they thought he was too young. Nevertheless, he continue to stay with the management of H.O.T. and was even featured as a rapper on female group S.E.S.'s single "I'm Your Girl" along with Eric Mun (Eric would later join Andy in Shinhwa as lead rapper).

When Andy was older, his parents let him join Shinhwa. Andy would continue with Shinhwa until the group's fourth album when Andy took some time out to study in U.S.. He later return for their fifth album, "Perfect Man" and has since then been with the group, releasing with them their later albums and singles.

In 2003, when the members of Shinhwa began doing solo activities, Andy surprised everyone by being an actor on various dramas, most notably the drama "Lovers In Prague". Although he had a very minor role in the drama, it gained many viewers because of his role as a completely different, serious person. He began appearing in many banjun drama as well alongside former Fin.K.L member Lee Jin. The two acted together in numerous other banjun dramas as well as a couple for 6 months, longer than any other couple or actors/actresses did on the show segment for which they gained a lot of popularity due to their perfect match and chemistry. Andy was also an MC on SBS Inkigayo and MBC Goldfish, though in January 2007, he step down from being MC on both SBS Inkigayo and MBC Goldfish in a period of 3 days (SBS Inkigayo on January 28 & MBC Goldfish on January 31).

In 2007, Andy left his group's management to set up his own company, ND (New Dream) Entertainment, concentrating on his solo career. As Shinhwa was on hiatus, Andy return to acting in September 2007 to act as the lead role in a musical "Music In My Heart (Season 3)", a type of project that none of the Shinhwa members have tried to pursue yet. After finishing performances for the musical, Andy released his very first digital single, titled "Irrelevant [or Extraordinary] Imagination" on November 30, 2007, a cover from the group Rollercoaster's song. Due to the help of Park Jin Young (also known as JYP; CEO of JYP Entertainment and Yoobin of Wonder Girls, Andy was able to have a successful single. Yoobin rapped while JYP wrote the lyrics for the rap part in the song. With the help, Andy was able to attract a lot of attention for the single. By releasing the digital single as well, Andy became the 5th member in Shinhwa to go solo behind Lee Minwoo, Shin Hyesung, Junjin, and Kim Dongwan, leaving Eric Mun as the only member to have not yet pursue a solo singing career. Subsequently, he had released his first full length album "The First New Dream", which was well received by the public.

Andy was involved with MBC's reality show "We Got Married" where he was a couple with singer Solbi to act out the lives of newlyweds. Solbi and Andy made their official exit from "We Got Married" on October 5, 2008. However, through this reality show, Andy has been labelled as "Anseobang" and "Korea's best husband" as he became a heartthrob with his caring actions. Andy has taken an active career in stage such as playing as playing a 19-year-old in the musical "Polaroid" in August 2008, as well as live concerts throughout September and October.

Andy has recently produced a talented two member boy band called Jumper under his company ND Entertainment. They have released two singles titled "YES!" featuring Eric and "눈이부셔" (Sparkling Eyes) featuring Kang Jiyoung of Kara.

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