Lee Hyori
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- This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
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| Lee Hyori | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Born | May 10, 1979 (age 27) | |
| Origin | South Korea | |
| Genre(s) | K-pop | |
| Years active | 1998–2002 (with Fin.K.L) 2003–present (solo) |
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| Lee Hyori | |
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| Hangul: |
이효리
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| Hanja: |
李孝利
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| Revised Romanization: | I Hyo-ri |
| McCune-Reischauer: | I Hyo-ri |
Lee Hyori (Korean: 이효리, also romanized as Lee Hyolee and officially E Hyo-lee), born on May 10, 1979, is a popular South Korean singer and actress. She started off as part of the successful K-pop girl group Fin.K.L, but has since become a solo artist. Her first album was very successful, winning many "Daesangs" (a Korean award equivalent to "Artist of the Year") for that album. Her second album, due to a plagiarism controversy, was not as successful. She has since become the highest-paid female singer in South Korea.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Beginning in Fin K.L.
Lee started her career as part of the Korean pop girl group Fin.K.L. Lee Hyori, who would become the group leader as she was the oldest member, was discovered while taking sticker pictures with her friends and was actually the last to join the group, just before their launch in January 1998. Fin. K.L. debuted officially on May 22, 1998 with their first single "Blue Rain." It was received quite well, but it was not until their second release from their first album: To My Boyfriend, that Fin. K.L. truly proved their popularity. "To My Boyfriend" became the first of their numerous number one hits. Fin K.L. became one of the most popular and successful Korean groups of all-time and rivaled with fellow popular girl group S.E.S..
[edit] Establishing a solo entertainment career
Following Fin K.L.'s fourth album Forever, Lee branched out into television, becoming an MC for Time Machine and Happy Together; she is still a part of Happy Together: Friends to this day. Her solo album was released at the end of 2003, and was titled Stylish... E. The singer nearly swept the 2003 Daesangs, the most prestigious South Korean music award, winning more than seven of them, including three of the four main ones. Stylish... E sold over 153,590 copies in South Korea alone, according to the Music Industry Association of Korea.[1] Her popularity in her various activities eventually was dubbed as the "Hyori Syndrome" in South Korea, and the Korean Media nicknamed 2003 "The Year of Hyori" as she was rarely out of the news all year.[2]
Lee Hyori has also appeared as the lead female actress in the SBS drama Three Leaf Clover co-starring opposite Ryu Jin, Kim Jung Hwa, Kim Kang Woo and Lee Hoon. However, the ratings were continually low, and it ended after 16 episodes. On August 8, 2005 she co-hosted the annual Korean Music Festival for the second year running.
In February 2006, Lee released her follow up album, Dark Angel. The first single, "Get Ya", featured heavy choreography and sexually suggestive attire, which has become Lee's trademark. However, there was controversy over the single as the songwriters of Britney Spears' single "Do Somethin'" accused the "Get Ya" songwriters of plagiarism (Lee did not contribute to the song). After media attention increased, Lee and her record company quickly stopped all promotion for the single, taking a short break to prepare for "Shall We Dance", her followup single. Due to the negative attention, both the single and album were not successful, and promotions were stopped. "Straight Up" was released as a final single, but it was not promoted by Lee.
In November, it was revealed that Lee has verbally agreed to sign with M-Net Entertainment for ₩1.5 billion, becoming the highest paid female singer in South Korea[3]
Lee Hyori has released her first physical single containing four tracks (one of which is a remix). She had her comeback on SBS Inkigayo on February 25, 2007, performing all three main tracks from the single. The lead song will be "Toc Toc Toc". Although "Toc Toc Toc" is a sexy R&B number like her previous efforts, the single also gave Lee an opportunity to sing ballads and to slowly move her image away from the "sexy superstar" that she is known to be. This may be in response to comments such as an editorial by Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, which stated that she should downplay her oversexed image as she is "facing an image crisis".[4] The single, although initially given a digital-only release, will also have a limited retail release; only 30,000 copies will be made[5].
[edit] Acting
Even though Lee Hyori's previous drama Three-Leaf Clover was a flop, Lee has prepared a new "mini-drama" during February 2007[4]. Her current project If In Love...Like Them is a new one episode drama running approximately 70 minutes. Alongside Lee will be popular actor Lee Dong Gun. This drama is scheduled to be released on March 23. Previews on the new drama can be viewed at Mnet.com.
[edit] Endorsements
Although Lee has done many endorsements for various companies (including Dole), her most prominent commercials were made for Samsung Anycall. In late 2004, Lee signed an advertising contract with Samsung, for which she would make three musical commercials and songs for their Anycall cell phones. The first commercial and song, "Anymotion", were released in early 2005, featuring Eric Mun from K-pop group Shinhwa. In early 2006, the followup commercial "Anyclub" was released in two parts; this also featured Eric Mun in addition to Korean actor Kwon Sang Woo. The songs from the commercials served as singles for Lee in between her albums. The final commercial was released in December 2006, titled "Anystar". The commercial differed from the first two in that it featured mostly dialogue. The commercial starred Korean actor and singer Lee Jun Ki and also YG Family trainee Park Bom.
Lee Hyori finished her contract with Biotherm early February 2007. Lee is no longer a Biotherm representative. She was recently chosen as first ever Asian-wide model for Calvin Klein Jeans, modeling for the "Pure Calvin" Collection[6]
[edit] Singles
- 10 Minutes
- One Two Three 'n' Four
- Hey Girl
- Remember Me
- Cleopatra
- Anymotion (ft.Eric)
- Anyclub (ft.Teddy)
- Get Ya
- Dark Angel
- Shall We Dance
- Straight Up
- Anystar (ft.Lee JunGi)
- If In Love Like Them
[edit] See also
- List of Korea-related topics
- List of Koreans
- K-pop
- Contemporary culture of South Korea
- Korean music
- Del Monte Mango
[edit] References
- ^ Last known sales data from MIAK's February 2004 listings. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
- ^ Lee Hyori Not performing in 2004
- ^ Chosun Ilbo. Lee Hyo-lee Becomes Highest Paid Female Singer. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
- ^ a b Chosun Ilbo. Is Sexy Girl Lee Hyo-lee Facing an Image Crisis?. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
- ^ http://www.bjunkyard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17371
- ^ Park, Hyong-ki. Top Sexy Stars Promoting Global Brands. The Korea Times, February 26, 2007.
- Kim, Sangho (2006). "이효리 '겟 차' 활동 중단, 당분간 휴식기". Retrieved Mar. 24, 2006.
- Park, Sunyoung (2006). "이효리의 '겟차' 부분 표절". Retrieved Mar. 24, 2006.
