[TRANS] http://bit.ly/2uQ024a [SNSD 10TH ANNIVERSARY ①] All 8...Why Did Only 'Soshi' Survive

"The road SNSD walked will become history for K-POP girl groups."

SNSD will be celebrating their 10th anniversary on August 5th, the nation's longest-running, active girl group. SNSD is living up to their name as the nation's top girl group by being listed as the number 1 group in Billboard's top 10 list of 'K-Pop Girl Groups of the Past Decade (Critic's Picks)'.

2nd generation groups that debuted in 2007 divided into three parts with Wonder Girls and KARA alongside SNSD, but only SNSD survived.

SNSD was ambitiously put forth by SM Entertainment, the company who discovered the representative group for first generation idols, H.O.T. The history of idols in Korea goes back over 20 years following H.O.T's debut in 1996, and SNSD occupies half of that.

Professionals agree that SNSD is an unprecedented group, as girl groups do not last a long time, and that is considered matter of fact.

Pop music critic Kim Yoon Ha said, "SNSD is a rare group in K-POP, where girl groups are considered to having a short lifespan. Contracts between the company and artist lasts for a maximum of 7 years. Maintaining this for 10 years has meaning and is symbolic."

Editor-in-chief for idol webzine 'Idology' and pop music critic Moon Yong Min also stated, "There are almost no girl groups that celebrate their 10th anniversary. Being able to carry on the 'girl' title until their late-20s in itself has a deep meaning."

-Why did only SNSD survive

Regarding SNSD, SM confidently said, "This is the nation's first completed girl group, brought together by all of SM's planning from casting-training-producing-management.

In order to bring each member's singing, dancing, acting, and language all together, members received various training, at the longest, 7 years, and for an average of 5 years. We put our heart and soul into this from the stages of forming the members."

Professionals also agreed with these things. Critic Kim Yoon Ha said, "Korea's biggest entertainment company, SM, also plays a part in SNSD's 10th anniversary. The quality control was done well."

SM's producing also stands out. SNSD's debut single 'Into the New World', released on August 5, 2007, was assessed as having maximized the image the general public has for girl groups in terms of music, performance, and visuals.

Their self-titled official album, 'Girls' Generation', released the same year in November, was also the same. Remaking Lee Seung Chul's big hit from 1989, which also has the same name as their group name, 'Girls' Generation', was brilliant.

Critic Moon Yong Min said, "The fact that girl group idols who put forth the 'girl [image/title]' reached their 10th anniversary hold a deep meaning. Each and everything that SNSD promotes from now on will become history for K-POP girl groups."

One thing that's different between 2nd generation girl groups, like SNSD, and 1st generation girl groups, like S.E.S and Fin.K.L, is the former took on the role of Hallyu advancement.

SNSD gained lots of popularity in Japan with their 'alpha girl' image from, not only their visuals and musical capabilities, but also from their confidence and enthusiasm.

Critic Moon Yong Min chose the title song from SNSD's 4th mini album, 'Mr. Mr.', released in February of 2014, as one that had that image compressed into it the most. The narrator is a girl in love, but it's a song that has the active demeanor of leading a guy.

Critic Moon stated, "If you compare SNSD with girl groups who debuted around the same time, they have a strong image of an ambitious, confident female college student who grew up comfortably. 'Mr. Mr.' seems to praise and flatter the guy, but it's actually about telling the guy to become someone who suits the girl."

They don't just put forth their visuals and performance, but their music also plays a role. 'I Got A Boy' from their 4th official album, released in January of 2013, had a really complicated structure and was judged as an innovative song at the time.

Pop music critic Lee Dae Hwa stated, "It's amazing that they've been able to keep their place on top for 10 years with dance music, when those trends change quickly. They weren't the best every time, but the music itself was good and they put out a good concept along with it. There was a girl group craze starting at the end of 2000, that contributed to the flow going on for a long time."

Of course, there was also a crisis. In 2014 Jessica left the group and they had to reorganize as from 9 members to 8. However, because "the members had strong desires to uphold the group" (critic Moon Yong Min), they were able to tie things up well.

In her interview with W magazine, which SNSD decorated the August cover for, Sunny said, "Everyone had their own slumps like when they went through puberty, and and we experienced group difficulties together. I think the thing that helped at times like that was each other."

-The 8 members' growth

SNSD was able to become a long-running girl group because of the group as well as how each of the members have developed. Each were able to take advantage of their own personalities and positive traits, each of the 8 members were able to gain big recognition.

With her superior singing skills, main vocal Taeyeon had her solo album and took part in various drama OSTs, making a place for herself as a strong artist. Sunny has been showing her talents on variety shows with her cheerful charms.

Tiffany, whose eye smiles is one of her charms, is active with her language skills and global music sense. Hyoyeon has her great dance skills and hearty personality. Yuri's innocent and cheerfulness appeals to both men and women.

Sooyoung has good sense and is thought of as a new fashionista. Yoona, who is beautiful to the point of being called the standard of girl group centers, is active as an acting-[i]dol in her drama 'The King Loves'. The youngest, Seohyun, received acknowledgement for her singing and acting through the musicals 'Gone With the Wind' and 'Mamma Mia!'.

SNSD also attempted quite a few things with things like the TTS unit group with their vocals, Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun, doing music with a different color from SNSD's.

SM said, "When the members are doing their group and individual activities, their personalities are clear, and SNSD appealed in various areas. That played a role in SNSD being able to go on for a long time."

SM said they carefully watched over them during their singing, dancing, acting, and language training before they debuted.

"We picked up on what each member was particularly good at during that process. The vocal member focused SNSD-TaeTiSeo unit promoted successfully. When the members released their solo albums, we took each of their vocal styles, performance skills, and visuals into consideration.

For members who had a talent in acting, we let them build up their acting experiences through lessons from their early debut days. We're going to continue showing good appearances of the members individual advantages through musicals, variety shows, and other things."

Critic Kim Yoon Ha said, "Each of the members characters are unique and their abilities were expressed well. This was refined individually and as a group the past 10 years."

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