T-ARA

T-ara (Often stylized as T-ARA or T♔ARA- Korean: 티아라, Japanese: ティアラ) is a seven-member girl group from Korea; they are best known for their chameleon-like tendency of switching their concept and sound at the drop of a dime. While many praise their ability to adapt a new sound and image with relative ease, others say that it may be a detriment and have complained that the group seems to suffer from an "identity crisis." In their defense, the girls themselves gone on record saying that they STRIVE to be different with each release, and that it is their true appeal. For the most part they seem to be spot on...they are one of the bigger breakout girl groups of the last three years, and are responsible for some of the most addictively catchy pop songs you'll ever hear.

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music. Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri . T-ara was born. Hwayoung, the latest addition to the group, officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she is the designated rapper. It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members will join the group; one member will join T-ara for their upcoming Korean promotions in the summertime, while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, will join the group in December of 2012. This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwan Soo.

Things got off to a rocky start for the group after their debut; while their lead single "Lies" performed decently for a rookie girl group, they came under attack for lip-syncing entire performances for "Wanna Play?" and "Lies" during music shows. Things changed after four of the girls joined forces with male hip-hop group Supernova for the electroballad "TTL (Time To Love)." The song became a hit for both groups, and paved the way for T-ara to smash the charts with the silly-yet-catchy "Bo Peep Bo Peep". Their debut album, Absolute (and subsequent repackage Breaking Heart) were decent sellers. Since then the group has consistently revamped their image and sound. Sometimes it pays off ("Roly-Poly")...sometimes it doesn't ("Yayaya"). Their popularity has been on an upswing, thanks to a more adult sound with their latest mini-album Black Eyes and a successful debut in Japan, making them one of the more well-known and successful girl groups in Korea at the moment.

Discography:

Korean Discography:
- Absolute First Album (2009)
  - Breaking Heart (Repackage) (2010)
- Vol. 2 Temptastic (2010)
- John Travolta Wanna Be (2011)
  - Roly-Poly In Copacabana (Repackage) (2011)
- Black Eyes (2011)
  - Funky Town (Repackage) (2012)
- Second full-length Korean album (TBR in 2012)

Japanese Discography:
- Jewelry Box (2012)
  - Bo Peep Bo Peep (Single) (2011)
  - Yayaya (Single) (2011)
  - Roly-Poly (Single) (2012)
  - Lovey-Dovey (Single) (2012)

T-ARA provides examples of the following tropes:

Adorkable: Boram is trope personified. She's tiny but eats her weight in fast food and candy whenever she gets the chance. She's also one of the funnier members to watch on their reality shows.
Auto-Tune: They've become quite notorious for their sometimes profligate use of it.
Bare Your Midriff: Pretty much since day one.
Big Eater: Boram. Boram, Boram, Boram.
Bishoujo: They're considered to be exceptionally pretty among the Korean girl groups.
- Hyomin was a well-known internet ulzzang (people who are admired for their physical beauty) before being recruited for T-ara.
Breakout Star: Jiyeon. Eunjung and Hyomin are also quite popular, but it seems like Jiyeon has become the unofficial "face" of the group.
Break Up Song: "Cry Cry," "Lovey-Dovey," and "We Were In Love."
Career Resurrection: After Temptastic and "Yayaya" failed to meet expectations, many wondered what would become of T-ara. Enter "Roly-Poly," which has become one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) hits of 2011.
Catgirl: Both the Japanese and Korean music videos for "Bo Peep Bo Peep."
The Cutie: Boram definitely. She's one of the shortest idols in Korea and looks incredibly young for her age, which is made even funnier when you learn that she is, in fact, the eldest member of the group.
Darker and Edgier: The girls sexed it up for their 2010 hit "I Go Crazy Because Of You."
- Their latest mini-album Black Eyes qualifies as this, especially since it was released on the back of the INCREDIBLY cutesy "Roly-Poly."
  - This is most apparent in the videos for "Cry Cry" and "Lovey Dovey", best described as a "gangster mini-epic".
Date Peepers - The T-Ara members in "Like the First Time."
Department of Redundancy Department: T-ara excels at this.
- Bo Peep, Bo Peep, Bo Peep, Bo Peep, Bo Peep, Bo Peep, Bo Peep, ahhh!
- Roly-poly, roly-roly-poly...
- "Yayaya" from start to finish.
- Lovey dovey dovey!
Europop: Comprises quite a bit of their discography.
Even the Girls Want Her: They got quite a few new female fans after dressing up as men for the Hallyu Dream Concert. "Manjung" and "Manri" were especially popular.
Everything's Deader with Zombies: The Zombie Version of their music video for "Lovey Dovey," one of three videos for the song.
Everythings Funkier With Disco: "Roly-Poly," anyone?
Family Business: Boram is the member of the Jeon family, several members of which are well-known entertainers in Korea.
Genre Roulette: They run the gamut from cutesy, aegyo-styled pop to 2NE1-styled R&B/electro-pop.
Girl Group: Well, duh.
Good Bad Girl: They even have a song called "I'm So Bad."
Gratuitous English: Most evident in a catch phrase they've used often in their songs..."T-ara come to get down."
Grief Song: "TTL (Time To Love)" and its successor, "TTL 2 (Listen)."
Hotter and Sexier: They had already shown shades of this when they promoted "Like The First Time" but they went all-out for "I Go Crazy Because Of You."
Idol Singer: One of the more popular examples in Korea.
Intercourse with You: It's heavily implied in "Like The First Time."
Impossibly Cool Clothes: As with many Korean groups and idols they're often impeccably dressed for performances and appearances.
In Da Club: Most of their music is tailor-made for it.
- The video for "Roly-Poly" features a dance segment in a seventies-styled dance club.
- Likewise, "Lovey Dovey" also features a scene in a club.
Irony as She Is Cast: The girls have caught a lot of flack for not being able to sing well live; this is only made worse by songs like "Bo Peep Bo Peep" and "Roly-Poly," which are either auto-tuned to death or are sang in octaves not within their natural range. The truth is that they actually CAN sing, as evident by a lot of songs from their first album as well as their latest mini-album Black Eyes.
Japanese Pop Music: The girls had a successful debut in Japan earlier this year when their single "Bo Peep Bo Peep" became the first single EVER by a Korean artist to debut at number 1 on the Oricon. That's quite an achievement.
Lady Looks Like A Dude: The group posed as men for posters to help promote the Hallyu Dream Concert. They were convincing, to say the least. Bond, I presume?
The Leader: In spirit it would be either Hyomin or Eunjung as both are two of the driving forces behind the group, but theoretically ALL of them will be leader at some time or another as their CEO wishes for each to spend time in the position to learn and grow individually. Your mileage WILL vary as to how good a job each of the girls have done so far...while Eunjung, Hyomin, and Soyeon seem to be doing a pretty good job, Boram seemed to have issues (she served as the leader during the Temptastic era).
Let's Duet: Their breakout single "TTL (Time To Love) was a collaboration with hip-hop group Supernova.
- They collaborated with the same group for "TTL 2 (Listen)."
Lighter and Softer: They go back and forth between this and Darker and Edgier all the time.
Mood Whiplash: The majority of Black Eyes is decidedly darker in tone than their previous albums and minis...then you hear "O My God," a Christmas tune that sounds like it should be on a Girls' Generation album, and the mood is lost.
- Not to mention in their video for "Lovey Dovey" (which is part two of their "ganster epic"), they go from the main character sitting moodily around thinking about the events of "Cry Cry" (part one), to Eunjung bouncing around in a club to "Lovey Dovey Dovey ah ah ah!", then it takes a turn for the worse.
Motor Mouth: Hyomin, Eunjung, and Hwayoung, the designated rappers of the group.
New Sound Album: Black Eyes.
Nostalgia Filter: A lot of people missed the "old" T-ara from their debut after Temptastic and John Travolta Wanna Be were released.
Obsession Song: "I Go Crazy Because Of You" and, arguably, "Roly-Poly."
Older Than They Look: Boram, so much so that she has been pegged the "visual maknae" by the fandom. She is actually in her mid-to-late twenties.
Old Shame: Possibly one for Jiyeon, who was involved in a scandal in which she allegedly stripped for a guy on webcam. She was only 13 when this reportedly happened. Needless to say the future of the group was called into question, but the whole mess just kind of faded away and not a word has been spoken about it since.
Pistol Pose: Jiyeon in the promotional poster for the "Cry Cry" video.
- It looks like Qri and Jiyeon are about to shoot each other in promotional photos for their upcoming single "Lovey Dovey." This is Foreshadowing, as Jiyeon (the heroine of Cry Cry) gets plastic surgery after she is beaten and becomes Qri for "Lovey Dovey".
Playing to The Fetishes: They rock the schoolgirl look in the video to "I Go Crazy Because Of You."
Record Producer: Shinsadong Tiger is a frequent contributor to their albums, having produced two of the girl's biggest hits: "Bo Peep Bo Peep" and "Roly-Poly." Looks like he'll be producing their upcoming title track "Lovey Dovey" as well.
The Rival: They are constantly compared to girl groups KARA and Girls' Generation, especially since they recently made their Japanese debut (both of the aforementioned girl groups also made successful debuts in Japan recently).
Rule of Seven: When Hwayoung was added to the group.
Scully Box: The girls stand on brightly lit pillars when they perform the ballad version of "Cry Cry." Boram's is noticeably taller than any of the other girls.
Signature Song: "Bo Peep Bo Peep" and "Roly-Poly."
Stage Names: Hyomin's real name is Sunyoung; Qri's real name is Jihyun.
Surreal Music Video: A few examples.
- Both the Korean and Japanese versions of the "Bo Peep Bo Peep" music videos are quite strange.
- "I Go Crazy Because Of You."
Teen Idol: Well this IS Korea we're talking about here.
Translated Cover Version: The group did this with "Bo Peep Bo Peep" and "Yayaya" when they released them as singles in Japan. It will undoubtedly happen again when they release their third single (and eventually their first Japanese album).
- Taiwanese singer Lotus Wang did a notably horrible remake of "Bo Peep Bo Peep" that went viral and was even featured on CNN. T-ara fans weren't happy about this as no mention was made of the group who helped make the song famous in the first place.
Who Wears Short Shorts?: T-ara during promotions for "Roly-Poly."
Would Hit a Girl: The mafia boss and his flunkies in the "Cry Cry" and "Lovey-Dovey" mini-movies. Jiyeon, Eunjung and Qri get pretty banged up by them.
Zettai Ryouiki: Most notably during the video for "I Go Crazy Because Of You." They were in schoolgirl outfits, after all.