WHAT! Hyun Joong at the age of 10.

Just out of curiosity today, I decided to search the numbers of blogs on SS501 and I came across over five million of them. Ha! There goes the chance of a SS501 singer coming across my blog.

No, I have a life. I don't sit in front of my computer searching on SS501 all day long. I have Google Reader and I set it to pull new information daily off the web on topics I am interested it. It is a very cool feature. So I get a daily dose of SS501 ready for me when I open my personalized iGoogle.

Today, when I logged onto my Google home page, one article stood out. It is about Kim Hyun Joong, the leader of SS501. There was also a picture of him when he was in middle school. The article talks about his younger years and his favorite band. Finding article like these are a jewel. Unlike the American celebrities, it is very rare to find information about the past and childhood of Asian celebrities. Or may be I am not searching hard enough *shrug*.

The following picture and information came from Emily's blog at. She mentions that picture was courtesy of DSP Entertainment. Visit emilytheblackpearl.wordpress.com to view full article.

When information like this get posted on the web, I always wonder if the article is true or not. I also wonder where the heck did they get this information from let alone the picture.

One thing new to me is that I did not know Hyun Joong had an older brother. I knew he had a younger brother who is currently studying overseas (Hyun Joong helps pay for his tuition). So Hyun Joong loves Seo TaiJi which is a heavy metal group in Korea. Interesting. I wonder if he listen to any of the heavy metal music in America. Heavy metal is a love hate relationship. You either love it or hate it. Thereh is no in between. I bet Hyun Joong's dream was to follow his idol and have a band of his own. Who knows, may be he will change career. He is still a very young man.

This article also proved me wrong. In Korea, kids do start their own band. I wonder why AXERS was not successful? It would be fun to watch a young Hyun Joong bobbing his head as he is playing the guitar. But, how different things would be if he was a band of a different group. I wonder what SS501 would be like. Hindsight is 20/20. I have heard him play his guitar many times, but I never really thought he was really good. May be I just have a very high standards. May be I thought he would play his guitar like Metallica, but I am sure he is very good, since he started playing at a very young age.

The story about him trying to buy a guitar is so touching and heartbreaking. It makes his success so much more sweeter and worthier. I just hope success and money does not change him and that he remains down to earth. I hope he will have another opportunity to meet Seo TaiJi.

Why I blogged SS501.

So I still haven't explain why I chose to blog SS501. A lot of it has to do with watching them on the MBS program called "Thank You for Waking Me Up". This show goes by some other name too. Rarely do you get to see your idols sleep and watching these young men struggle to get up was funny (because of all the pranks) and heartbreaking. I don't know how much of the show was set up and how much of it is reality, but it is really funny to watch.

Another reason why I chose SS501 is because like the number 501 has a meaning to them, it also has a meaning for me. Not only is 501 my home address number, 501 has a special meaning to me in Chinese. In addition, the boy band started in 2005 around the same time when I moved out of my parents place to the address 501.

Lastly, from what I have seen in interview videos and some reality TV shows, these young men are very down to earth. SS501 consist of very polite young individuals who are very shy. The shiest one being Young Saeng. I think Young Saeng is also the most self-conscious. I don't believe SS501 is the best Korean singers/dancers, but I love their dancing and music. They are still very young and have a lot to learn. But they have improved and changed a lot since their debut in 2005. I wish they will sing something that is completely in Korean instead of combining it with English. It seems very popular in Korea to have a little bit of English in their lyrics though. I don't know why, but it is very hip right now.

I think DSP Entertainment did a very good job promoting SS501. Having them on reality TV shows really help their image. It is unfortunate that their promotion focus mainly on the Asia continent. It would be nice to see them in the US. I honestly don't know what the fan base in US is like, but if people are requesting videos the be English subbed, it can't be small, right? It is also very unfortunate that you can't purchase their CDs/DVDs in the US. Even when I go to yesasia.com, most of what is available is in the Japanese language. I don't know where oversea Korean fans get their music, but I am guessing they download them online. If anyone knows a reputable online site to get music videos, CDs, or downloadable songs online please let me know.

The link below will take you to quainte501 playlist on youtube.com that has a lot of SS501 music video. Enjoy!
SS501 music videos

Who are the SS501 singers?

SS501 is pronounce (double S 501). The SS stands for Super Singer OR Super Star. In Korea, 501 represent the five members as one. This translates to the super star/super singer of five members acting as a whole. I have also saw an interview that super singers is a future state, but I can't seem to remember which member said that.

Members (left to right)
Park Jung Min
Kim Kyu Jong
Kim Hyun Joong -- Leader
Heo Young Saeng
Kim Hyung Joon

The members of this band had to audition with DSP Entertainment to be part of the band. This is very different from the US where a band is form from a group of people playing an after school band together in their basement or garage. I think this is just a culture difference though.

Kim Hyun Joong is the oldest member of this band, hence the leadership role (another cultural etiquette). Born on June 6, 1986, he will be 23 this year. The next oldest member is Heo Young Saeng, followed by Kim Kyu Jong, Park Jung Min, and Kim Hyung Joon. If you wish to know more about these boys, wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS501 is a good place to start.


As of today, February 27, 2009, Kim Hyun Joong is acting in a Korean version of Hana yori Dango. Which literally translate to Boys Over Flower in English. If you are interested in watching Hyun Joong act, you can watch Boys Over Flower at mysoju.com and Park Jung Min is busy starring as Danny Zuko in a Korean version of the musical Grease. The Koreans really love Grease. I think they love it more than we do in America. ;) So where does this leave the other three singers? Heo Young Saeng is temporarily the leader of the remainder three boys (again because he is the next oldest). They have been promoting SS501 through various televised programming in Korea. The three of them released two songs/music video "UR Man" and "Because I Am Stupid". "Because I Am Stupid" is one of the songs in Boys Over Flower Original Sound Track (OST). Both songs can be found on the web. You can also view videos of all three members singing the song. Some people are even nice enough to subtitle it for you. I chose not to create a link for these songs because some videos may be violating copyright laws. I can differentiate which ones are so better save than sorry. Mianhamnida!

Oh! How can I forget, Kim Hyung Joon and Kim Kyu Jong also sang Lonely Girl also an OST. This is one of my favorite song, but it is not as popular on the web. I wonder why?

All five members will become one again in April. Yippee!!!!

Introduction

Dedicated to the five members of SS501.

No, no, no...I am not writing this blog to express my love for SS501 or to tell you how cute they are. Nor am I going to tell you what they did. There are enough information about SS501 on the web that I don't need to contribute. Also, these boys already get enough females telling them how cute they are that I don't need to do that. This blog is just to express my thoughts and feelings on the events and posting about SS501 members that I find worth commenting and discussing. You may find that once in a while my blogs are meant for SS501 singers to read. I know, I know, I am dreaming, but who knows may be one day they will stumble across my blog (but I doubt they will be able to read it). Oh well!

These days, with so many information on the web about actors and singers, it is very difficult to differentiate truth from fiction. The internet allows us to stay connected with our idols whether they are overseas or at home. The internet also allows people to express their feelings. And these are mine...

In my life, I have had plenty of idols (Jang Dong Gun, Rain, Han Jae-suk, Kang Dong Won, etc (just to name some of the Korean ones)). Some have disappointed me (mainly the ones in US) and some I have just lost interest in. I thought with time, I would lose interest in SS501, but to this day, I still find myself searching about them daily on the internet. I even thought about creating an unofficial US website for them, but I can't seem to find contact information for DSP Entertainment to get some details. So here I am, writing my first blog on a very special boy band in Korea, SS501.