K-POP Girls Who Shined in 2016

K-POP Girls Who Shined in 2016
2016年をきらめかせたK-POPガールズ

This year, the work of the new and young girls was amazing. TWICE, GFRIEND, and blackpink showed performances beyond that of newcomers. They made a sudden surge and even joined the ranks of the top A-class girls.


Other groups that showed great performances were I.O.I, a limited-time group born from the audition program "Produce 101," gugudan, which has members from that group, WJSN, DIA, and MAMAMOO, who have singing skills beyond that of newcomers.


On the other hand, veteran groups have faded into the background. In the midst of all this, big-name groups such as 2NE1, KARA, and 44Minute have sadly disappeared.


There were also several cases where members did not renew their contracts and left in search of new opportunities because the group activities could not be carried out as they wanted due to members' solo activities.


Perhaps it's also because girl groups have been able to perform for longer.


However, the impression that the creation of a dream-like stage has led to a rush to debut newcomers, spurring them on and pushing them aside is hard to shake.


While the success of girl groups stood out in 2016, boy groups such as BTS, EXO, and BIGBANG also performed equally well.


However, the stronger impression is that the girl groups, starting with GFRIEND, who lit up the beginning of the new year, and MAMAMOO, TWICE, and BLACKPINK, who took up the baton, have been brightening up the K-POP stage throughout the year.


The boy groups have followed the example of the girl groups and expanded their scope of activity by going overseas to places like Japan and China.


The results of this are reflected in Mnet's 2016 MAMA.


The main award winners were BTS and EXO.


In the home of K-POP, TWICE and BLACKPINK are fighting each other to get the final baton at the end of the year.


As expected, it was GFRIEND's perseverance that led to this year's success.


When I look back on GFRIEND's work, I can't help but compare them to KARA in 2010, when they first entered the Japanese market and rose to prominence.


That was the case this year, but it's impossible to predict what will happen to these girls next year.
The situation is completely different from back then.


This is because there are so many girls on the borderline who are aiming for the top.


Soon after KARA's debut in Korea, they were forced to suspend activities after losing their main vocalist. It is well known that Seungyeon worked hard on solo activities such as variety shows in order to revive the group.


But without their main vocalist, they became just another girl group that didn't get much attention.


When they started anew with the addition of Hara and Jiyeon, who had no track record, they may have been seen as nothing more than a group that had their sights set on the future.


You never know where a lucky chance lies. Their stage performance, in which they transformed their singing ability into performance and put their cuteness at the forefront, must have seemed fresh to those who were not yet familiar with K-Pop girl music through YouTube videos.


The comedian "Gekidan Hitori" seems to have been one of them.


Everyone knows what KARA has done since then.


GFRIEND, now a busy A-list girl group, started out following the style of Girls' Generation, and while they were gaining popularity, in 2015 they had an image that was far from that of top-class girls.


However, in 2016, I was looking forward to their growth and transformation.


As I watched them perform their new song "ROUGH," I was moved by the way they grew day by day.


I was moved to think that this was the growth of the girls from that summer until their graduation this year.


After that, I was dragged along by that emotion and watched the activities of various girls.


My impression of K-pop throughout this year has been that the success of girl groups may be providing energy that doubles or even triples the momentum of boy groups.


Unfortunately, I don't have enough information to comment on next year's prospects.
I hope that GFRIEND will continue to be successful next year.


But there is one thing I can say:
If the success of girl groups declines next year, boy groups will also lose their current momentum.


That's how I feel, and right now it seems like they are moving forward together.
I can only hope that they continue at this pace.

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