4minute who released their first full-length album [4MINUTES LEFT]!
They have always drawn the public’s attention with their powerful songs and performances, the Kpop girl group 4minute released their first full-length album!
Included in their first full-length album released few days after the single ‘Heart to Heart’, the “shadow title track” ‘Mirror, Mirror’, is a song that emphasizes 4minute’s forte, their powerful sexy side. At the moment, the members and the fans, who have shown different opinions on the song to pick as the title track etc, are enthusiastically thinking over it.
With what kind of determination are the 4minute members engaged to fulfill their impending activities for their full-length album? Let’s listen to the girl’s stories and the songs they usually enjoy listening to.
4minute, please greet the Cyworld users.
>Gayoon : Hello, I’m 4minute’s Gayoon! We’re coming back after a year of absence and are very pleased to meet you. You’ve been waiting for us for a long time, right?^^ In the upcoming times, you’ll get to see a good image of us often.
>Sohyun : I’m 4minute’s youngest member, Sohyun. We’re starting our domestic promotions for the first time in one year and the feeling is new. As it’s a comeback after a long time, we’ve packed this album with good songs, and since we’ve improved very much, please love it a lot!
>Jihyun : Hello. I’m 4minute’s Jihyun! We feel thankful towards everyone who has waited for our comeback for a long time. This time, we’ve strived for the preparations in order to show you 4minute’s feminine image and other charms that we couldn’t show you before. Everyone, please anticipate it a lot !
>Hyunah : To all the Cyworld users, hello. I’m 4minute’s Hyunah! Have you been doing well? 4minute has finally come back! We, 4minute, will show to everyone, who has waited and waited for us, a handsome image through our songs and performances that will definitely not disappoint you. Please watch out for us!
>Jiyoon : In charge of the charisma and the cuteness in 4minute, I’m Jiyoon. ^^ While spending this year in a productive way, 4minute prepared this album. This time, everyone will get to see us with songs that can move one’s heart and since we will be fulfilling activities, please be considerate and give us lots of love.
What kind of particularities do the mini album (Heart to Heart) and the first full-length album (4MINUTES LEFT) have?
>Hyunah : In ‘Heart to Heart’, we’re meeting fans in a new way with a girlish fresh and bubbly image different from the strong image 4minute has shown. It seems that many people found it changing and liked it. Before making our comeback, because they have sent us a lot of love, we are also excited and bearing anticipation ahead of our first performance.
>Sohyun : Even if it feels like ‘Heart to Heart’ and ‘Mirror, Mirror’ are poles apart for their concept, in this album, overall, the strongest particularity is that, for the first time, we picked a song talking about love as a title track. It’s about time that 4minute, who has experienced love, makes you listen to a song about a love story.
>Jihyun : While we were preparing this album, except Sohyun, we all ushered in our 20s. And I think that we’ll get to show you a more mature image with our emotional side and music-wise.
>Gayoon : We have improved in order to prepare a music that will enable us to get closer to our many fans; it’s also about living up to the expectations of the fans who have loved our music and performances. While we came to think about how the fans would perceive the melodies, the lyrics, the concept, etc., we aimed for perfection even more. We have upgraded the unchanged established image that we have assumed so far, I hope that you will enthusiastically watch out for all the efforts we made to appeal with images that are totally opposite.
It is known that 4minute’s promotion activities are progressively turning out to be successful, how does it feel?
>Sohyun : We had our first concert in Japan. A lot of fans came to our second concert and filled the venue whereas it happened not a long time after our debut; I then realized our popularity. It was on stage that I realized it the most.
>Jiyoon : Sometimes, when we were walking on the streets in Japan, we were recognized and it felt great. Also, not long ago, at the Japanese Billboard Awards ceremony, we received a good award. Back then, because many people cheered on us and encouraged us, we gained a lot of strength!
If one says 4minute, we think of their powerful performances ! How about the members’ anecdotes from the preparations?
>Gayoon : Since our debut, when we blended music and visuals together, I think that we could truly display our color. A lot of fans also said the same. So, in order to play with music that will entertain your eyes and your ears, we put a lot more of energy into it. We also longed to change our looks a lot and tried out many things.
>Jihyun : Because it is 4minute’s first full-length album and that we had to show an even more enhanced image of us in response to the expectations of many people for our songs and dance routines, we found enough time and practiced hard individually on our own. Because I think that our album and performances will come off as perfect as the members have strived for on their own, we are also anticipating it a lot.
Is there an aspect that can make you say confidently “4minute is different than the other girl groups !”?
>Sohyun : It’s teamwork !
>Jihyun : Above all, our teamwork is good : I think that it has become our very mainspring; it enables the members to be engaged in the activities in the best condition and with the best mindset possible. Because we know each other very well and because we understand each other, whenever we want to show our best image we help each other, consequently it’s paying off on stage.
> Hyunah : That’s right, teamwork ! Also, 4minute is said to be ‘powerful’ if we consider the 4minute with its strong performances. Isn’t our strong color the thing that differentiates 4minute from the other girl groups and 4minute’s very own charm? Haha
Source : Cyworld STAR BGM Translating & editing : Meeli @4-minute.com
Thanks to uturn for the tip
Introduce the 4minute song you want to make the Cyworld users listen to.
>Sohyun : ‘Calmly and Naturally’. It’s 4minute’s first ballad and a song that shows another image of us, and many people liked it. It played many times on radio stations too. And whenever we sing it we pay even more attention to our voices and our feelings, I remember this because the fans really liked it.
>Jihyun : There are songs, aside from the popular title tracks like ‘Hot Issue’, ‘Muzik’, ‘HUH’, ‘I MY ME MINE’, in which we displayed other concepts with minor changes. There’s ‘What a Girl Wants’ that we used as a follow-up track for the first time. It’s a song that paints the girlish 4minute’s childishness and I think it’s a song that suits spring very well.
>Gayoon : For me, it’s ‘Invitation’. With the other members we liked it so much we wanted to have it as the title track. In particular, while preparing the performances for our Japanese concert, we practiced the dance routine together. When you add the powerful dance routine to the song, it’s a song in which you get to feel its high energy even more. I hope the Cyworld fans will listen to it.
What about the songs filled with stories that are special to the members?
>Hyunah : I recommend G.NA unni’s ‘I Miss You Already’. Lately, while studying lyrics composition, I expressed and wrote a lot of thoughts. It’s a song that I like to listen to when I’m alone imagining things. Even if I’ve always liked G.NA unni, her resonating and tender voice suits very well the sad lyrics.
>Gayoon : I’ll also recommend a G.NA’s song. I covered it with BEAST’s Yoseob. It’s a song that suits the season of love, spring. I’ll recommend ‘The Things I Want to Do Once I Have a Lover (with Rain)’. We, 4minute, also want to brag about the things only lovers can do, like in the lyrics, once we get a lover.
>Jiyoon : It’s a song from the latest rising artist Katy Perry. Even though I like all her songs, among the ones I listen the most, there’s ‘Firework’. I think that her powerful appearance during live stages displays perfectly the energy of this song. It’s an artist, among many others, that I want to learn a lot from.
>Sohyun : It’sKeyshia Cole’s ‘Fallin Out‘. It’s one of the songs I listen to when I’m spending time alone. It’s a song in which her sad voice and the charming melody are very beautiful.
>Jihyun : I’ll recommendBritney Spears’s ‘Lucky’. Even if there are times I feel lonely, I always have to feel thankful towards the fans, as 4minute’s Jihyun. Also, I feel really lucky to have fans who remained with us and who haven’t forgotten 4minute and have kept supporting us while we were away. ^^
Source : Cyworld STAR BGM Translating & editing : Meeli @4-minute.com
Thanks to uturn for the tip
Before 4Minute went on stage for their comeback stage performance for KBS’ Music Bank, Sports Todayhad a quick interview with them and asked about their views and feelings about their long-awaited comeback. The girls answered, “Coming back after a very long time of being in hiatus on the music industry is very worrisome for all of us.” Another member added, “As a matter of fact, it makes us all very anxious.”
When asked to explain further, they said, “Preparing for our comeback release in Korea has become burdensome for us. We’ve seen other idol groups working so hard releasing a lot of albums deliberately, while we found ourselves resting for a year.” “We are worried that our fans might have had forgotten us already,” one said candidly.
4Minute described their album as something they prepared well for their fans, “Through this album, we’re aiming to reach out with our fans so that we could get closer. We made our dance choreography easier to follow so that our fans could dance with us too. We want to offer them the things they’re expecting from us.”
When asked why they chose the song: “Heart to Heart” as their title track, they happily answered, “We chose this song for we believe that this shows the real feelings of a woman. This is one way to show how 4Minute wants to make everyone listen to the songs that might describe what they truly feel.” They continued, “This also a sign of change for the group since it is the first time that we’ll have a love song as our title track. On our previous songs, our lyrics would just usually talk about one’s self.”
The interview concluded with a message for their fans and said, “We’re hoping that everyone would accept and love this new concept that we attempted to exhibit. We, 4Minute, will continue working hard to show everyone our unique and manifold colors, and expect to see more of our two different sides whenever we perform both songs.”
Meanwhile, their title track: “Heart to Heart” and their shadow track: “Mirror Mirror” continue to top different music charts proving its popularity.
4minute has been successfully making their round ofcomebackperformances however, they have been gaining some criticisms, thanks to the ‘too sexy’ nature of their ’spread leg’ dance in “Mirror Mirror“.
This ’spread leg’ dance occurs after the second verse, where the five girls are on their knees spreading their legs open and closed in a repetitive manner. While the girls wore leggings in the song’s music video, they wore short shorts in their live performance, making their dance appear to look more provocative. HyunA’s additional sensuous movement’s only added to this impression.
The majority of netizens have criticized, “How could they just spread their legs like that?” “Maknae Sohyunis still underage” “Gives off the feeling of a gentlemen’s club. Are you really singers?” and “It’s awkward to watch“.
Meanwhile, other netizens defended, “Who cares? They look sexy and cool.” “If you put it that way, then Ga-In should not have been able to do her solo ‘Abracadabra’ dance” and “Raina was more severe”
Through their powerful performances of the songs “Heart to Heart” and “Mirror Mirror,”4Minute proves that their Comeback has become successful despite of being in a long-year hiatus in the Korean music industry.
However, on their first comeback stage performance in MNET Countdown, terrible reactions from Netizenshas been exposed. An online bulletin/ forum discussion board has been made for the video of their performance. Hundreds of explosive comments from Netizens came in right after the video has been uploaded in a site.
Netizens reacted on 4Minute’s transformation point between the two songs that they performed. The title song, “Heart to Heart”, gave a funny atmosphere with its cute concept and energetic dance choreography.
However, this atmosphere changed when they performed their other song entitled, “Mirror Mirror” where they have to perform the “floor sweeping” dance movements with their alluring and aggressive facial expressions and acting to overwhelm their viewers.
Meanwhile, right after their first comeback broadcast, the maknae of the group, Kwon Sohyun, immediately uploaded a selca on her Twitter account showing herself wearing a small backpack doing a cute “Mirror Mirror” pose. She tweeted, “MCountdown comeback stage done~ going to do another schedule~ keke It’s mirror dance keke”
This received good comments from Netizens and some of them are as follows: “Full of charisma on stage, but with cuteness on backstage.”
“Remove the high heeled shoes and Sohyun will look like a child going to school ~kekeke”
On the other hand, despite of receiving contradictory comments about their opposing images for the songs “Heart to Heart” and “Mirror Mirror,” the group still continues to receive a lot of admiration and commendations for their powerful performances and stable vocal skills. A comment even said: “This is the sound of real 4Minute.”
Cube Entertainment gives in to considering the modification of 4minute’s ’spread leg’ dance
After releasing a statement earlier to defend their argument in keeping 4minute’s ’spread leg dance’ in‘Mirror Mirror’, Cube Entertainment came forth again to state that they are open to considering the modification of the choreography due to viewers feeling uncomfortable.
On April 11th, Cube Entertainment’s Hong Seung Sung CEO spoke through Star News, “In the perspective of the company or the singer, we don’t believe that the dance of ‘Mirror Mirror’ is provocative at all.”
“The dance for “Mirror Mirror” was created to match the general mood of the song itself. With that being said, we still believe that the dance for this song is not provocative, but if many viewers and netizens have a different opinion, however disappointing, we will seriously consider modifying the dance moves.”
4minute on their kneepads, choreography, and girl group competition
Kneepads aren’t accessories one would normally associate with girl group outfits. When put on 4minute, however, even the most mundane of items turn into something special and eye-catching.
Although they’ve already been put on the chopping block numerous times for their provocative choreography, their powerful kneepad-requiring ’spread leg’ dance not only put their male fans in a frenzy, but still managed to catch headlines and separate them from their peers.
Gayoon revealed, “We decided to wear kneepads a day before our first broadcast. We never even thought of it until then; how foolish of us (laughter).”
MaknaeSohyun added, “We actually thought of wearing long pants instead because our legs were already so bruised from rehearsals. All we wanted to do was show our best, so we really didn’t feel any pain.”
Their “Mirror, Mirror” comeback, although controversial, has captivated fans with 78 repetitions of the term ‘mirror’, and of course, their ’spread leg’ dance. The members themselves, however, claim that they had not anticipated the controversy.
HyunA commented, “It’s sexy. Definitely not anything cute (laughter). I was so into our performance that I didn’t know why people were raving over it at first.”
Jiyoon stated, “I think our female fans feel vicarious through our powerful and confident images. They’re our biggest strengths, but with our recent comeback, I feel that we’ve gotten a lot more male fans. I should be happy, right? (laughter).”
On the topic of fans, the girls have garnered a formidable fanbase overseas through their frequent international promotions. Through the experience, they’ve returned with confidence and with a stronger sense of teamwork.
HyunA stated, “We had two tours in Japan and ranked well with each of our singles. Seeing more and more fans of powerful music makes us realize that music truly has no boundaries.”
The year they’ve been gone has been one of the busiest year for girl groups though, and that flood is still unending. There’s a slew of new junior girl groups benchmarking 4minute, and the market competition is fiercer than ever.
The girls revealed that they do feel more competitive now with more girl groups on the market, but assured fans that they’re more than ready to compete, as long as they had herbal medicine to keep their stamina up.
Jiyoon commented, “With more and more performance oriented girl groups debuting, I feel that we can’t just crumble at this point in our careers. On the other hand, I am proud because it feels like we’ve become role models. There may be a lot of similar girl groups, but I’d rather succeed through something only we can do.”
Jihyun concluded, “Before we began our promotions, we were worried as to whether we’d be able to pull it off. Now that we’re going through things one by one, we feel alive. We may be foolish in obsessing over the more difficult and complex performance styles, but that’s who we are.”
4minute to replace their controversial ’spread leg’ dance
4minute has officially put an end to their ’spread leg’ choreography controversy by announcing that they will no longer be performing it.
On April 12th, CEO Hong Seung Sung of Cube Entertainment spoke through Star News and stated,“We have decided to change a portion of the choreography for ‘Mirror Mirror.”
He continued, “We will be taking out the part where they kneel on the floor and instead replace it with something else.”
As previously reported, Cube Entertainment had considered editing their choreography due to the controversy surrounding the dance. KBS later went ahead by banning the ’spread leg’ dance altogether from their music program, “Music Bank.”
4minute will be showing off the edited choreography for their future performances.
IU, TVXQ, 4Minute, CNBlue and other idols to appear on MBC ’1004 Marathon’ celebration show
In light of the “Disability Awareness Day” in April, MBC is celebrating its 50th anniversary by hosting its ’1004 relay hope marathon’ as an opportunity to raise awareness among the non-disabled about disabled people and to convey a message of hope to Korea’s 2 million disabled people, by providing a stage where the disabled and non-disabled can work together in harmony.
A welcome ceremony will be held at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul upon the arrival of the athletes. At 7:30PM KST, many singers and disabled performers will open the stage for MBC’s 50th anniversary special ’1004 marathon’ celebration show, ‘Sharing Hope, Giving Love’, to spread the message of hope to everyone.
At this concert, MBC’s announcer, Oh Sang Jin, and talent Park Jin Hee will meet everyone, together with Kim Jang Hoon, Jang Su Ra, TVXQ, CN BLUE, K. Will, Lee Hyun, Yangpa, 4Minute, IU, Sin Mun Hee, Lee Sang Jae clarinist (visually impaired), as well as other great singer idols and disabled performers who will be participating.
Also, on this day, Park Ma Lu a disabled singer who has polio will perform “Heaven’s Daughter” for the opening stage, IU will perform “A Goose’s Dream” with the Sign Language Club and Lee Sang Jae professor will be giving a clarinet performance.
This show will be broadcasted on April 20th at 2:40PM KST.
(Note: Details about the marathon and attending the event were left out of this translation)
Translation: squishyblob @ WeHeartIU
Source: Unionpress
Original article:CLICK HERE
Post time 7-4-2011 10:56 PM
Author
my bagel girl
