Sexy or obscene?
After School members perform using the pole with their latest single “First Love.” / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Kim Ji-soo
Pole dancing has made inroads as a fitness trend, but there is still a whiff of a strip club to it.
Taking advantage of this duality, K-pop girl group After School has introduced pole dancing into center stage of K-pop with their latest single “First Love.” Seven girls on stage perform in harmony to their latest song about the pains and memories of first love.
The K-pop girl group landscape has largely been bifurcated into the sweet and cute groups versus the sexy groups. After School has always stood out for its sexy image and powerful performance on stage, where the members once strutted around playing drums.
The latest pole dancing move however raises the “sexy” gauge higher for both the group and the K-pop scene.
The group appeared on the weekend entertainment program “Star King,” along with two professional pole dance lecturers to drive home the point that it is much a fitness trend nowadays.
The four members of SISTAR feature a healthy sexy image and catchy melody with their latest single “Give it to Me.” / Korea Times
Admittedly, the dance moves seemed toned down. While appearing on the entertainment program, the members disclosed the bruises they obtained while practicing pole dancing for six months. However, the sexiness sizzles in their performance because the song Love” is a slow R&B number, and the members pull it off with near-professional moves. The members — Jung-ah, Joo-yeon, U-ee, Raina, Nana, Lizzy and E-Young and Ka-eun — ensured that they surmount other K-pop girls groups and singers in the barometer of sexy.
The heralder of this summer sexy was Lee Hyo-ri who did not fail to demonstrate her sexy prowess with “Miss Korea,” despite its acoustic sound. Lee in the music video wears a swimsuit, flanked by two women dancers also wearing the same swimsuit. The three-women line-up is reminiscent of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” where the three including Beyonce dressed on one-piece bodysuits show off powerful dance moves and vocals.
CL, leader of 2NE1 in her recent solo single “Baddest Female” wore white briefs, causing a slight stir in the industry for its brevity.
The four-member SISTAR, who returned recently with “Give It to Me,” shows off corset-like dresses or pants combined with powerful dance moves with hand-touching the body and a ring performance. The song “Give it to Me” delivers the powerful voice of Hyori and other members and looks likely to be the summer’s hottest song.
But also making the headlines with the latest album is the members tanned physique and robust silhouettes.
In a way, Korean female entertainers have become not afraid to assert their sexuality. Lee Hyo-ri has said that she wasn’t afraid to wear a swimsuit on stage. Fellow female singer Ivy, who has returned to stage with a new song “I Dance,” said on a recent entertainment news program that aired on June 12 that she would like to show off her body as she is still confident of her physique.
It’s a long way from August 2011 when Hyun-a of 4minute came out with a solo song “Bubble Pop,” a bubble-gum pop song that featured such dance moves as fast hip-grinding ones that the Korea Communications Standards Commission deemed as provocative for teens. The singer and her agency Cube Entertainment dropped broadcast promotion of the song.
Yet at the same time, it cannot be good news for the music industry when groups albeit coincidentally go down the path of sexy.
“The sexy concept is not singular or distinctive (to K-pop). The K-pop girl groups don’t have a broad range of options in their musicals styles because they have to appeal or rather provoke,” said Lim Jin-mo, a music critic.