Ella Chen/S.H.E was the reason why SM scouted Amber

grainy

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Now we know for sure that SM's scouting of Amber was inspired by Ella's success and popularity - S.H.E and Ella truly set a precedent for the image of successful women in the idol/entertainment industry & set an incredible example for daring to be oneself. Though of course, Amber herself brought that further abroad & stayed true to herself throughout it all as well.




At 3:20 "... the way that I was hearing from multiple people was that I was scouted, because in China there was - I forgot her name - but there was a tomboyish type of singer in China and she was huge so he kind of wanted to emulate that in Korea as well"

Ella (& S.H.E) Then:






c331279f89cb539db49fd8996d67465e.jpg


Ella's solo work:

 

grainy

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I knew it

Both groups also have songs called Electric Shock

Ayy!! Not only Amber basically being kpop Ella, but also highkey thought f(x)'s early image was quite S.H.E not sure if a good thing because I first thought so re the funky styling






That totally slipped my mind because the Electric Shocks are so different

ohh I can see it. I know ella through the drama work she did long ago. But oh, this makes sense.

Right!! I feel so vindicated because I've always thought this but never had confirmation until now
 

yknok

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Nope

It is far older than that




(From 1988)

The boyish girl is Lee Sang-eun, who came to be known later as a renowned musician. Right from the start she has maintained such boyish look for all these years.

And, the guy giving the award to her is none other than Mr. Sooman. That's where he got the inspiration for a boyish girl in a group but such candidates were hard to find in Korea for quite a while.
 

grainy

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Nope

It is far older than that




(From 1988)

The boyish girl is Lee Sang-eun, who came to be known later as a renowned musician. Right from the start she has maintained such boyish look for all these years.

And, the guy giving the award to her is none other than Mr. Sooman. That's where he got the inspiration for a boyish girl in a group but such candidates were hard to find in Korea for quite a while.


... I mean, I don't know what to tell you, because Amber is truly Kpop Ella in terms of vibe, personality, styling. Furthermore, according to the timelines, S.H.E would have been at the height of their popularity when f(x) was being planned. It fits because SM was looking into Chinese expansion. Amber states in the video that multiple people informed her about a tomboyish girl who was currently huge at the time of her recruitment in china. If Amber was recruited in 2009, S.H.E would have been in their ninth year of selling out albums and concerts around the region. They only truly stopped group activities in 2014, at most there was a lull period in the second half of 2010.

As for Lee Sang-eun... I love her, but is that really boyish?? besides the fact that she has short hair...? Because that was a popular look...? Even if it is considered boyish, she's not an idol, so perhaps it would be more accurate to say Lee Sang-eun inspired Nine9?

I also really can't agree that such 'boyish girls' are hard to find in Korea... (though I would argue ella and amber are androgynous moreso than boyish)

SeSeSe for instance.

 

yknok

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That was 1988, when such looks were really kind of revolutionary. No Korean attempted it again until Jungyeon(Twice) in 2015. It was quite boyish.

Ella is not too well known in Korea except for the small cohort who follow Taiwanese entertainment.

... I mean, I don't know what to tell you, because Amber is truly Kpop Ella in terms of vibe, personality, styling. Furthermore, according to the timelines, S.H.E would have been at the height of their popularity when f(x) was being planned. It fits because SM was looking into Chinese expansion. Amber states in the video that multiple people informed her about a tomboyish girl who was currently huge at the time of her recruitment in china. If Amber was recruited in 2009, S.H.E would have been in their ninth year of selling out albums and concerts around the region. They only truly stopped group activities in 2014, at most there was a lull period in the second half of 2010.

As for Lee Sang-eun... I love her, but is that really boyish?? besides the fact that she has short hair...? Because that was a popular look...? Even if it is considered boyish, she's not an idol, so perhaps it would be more accurate to say Lee Sang-eun inspired Nine9?

I also really can't agree that such 'boyish girls' are hard to find in Korea... (though I would argue ella and amber are androgynous moreso than boyish)

SeSeSe for instance.

 

grainy

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That was 1988, when such looks were really kind of revolutionary. No Korean attempted it again until Jungyeon(Twice) in 2015. It was quite boyish.

Ella is not too well known in Korea except for the small cohort who follow Taiwanese entertainment.

... SeSeSe is a 90s girl group..... But in any event.... if you were to watch the video or read the excerpt.... she literally says huge in China and SM wanted to emulate that in Korea... I don't believe lee sangeun was huge in china in the late 00's.... It doesn't matter whether or not Ella is well-known in Korea, what matters is does SM's market research team and SM know of Ella? It is SM's job to create groups, not Korean citizens'... And if they were researching China and Taiwan, then the answer is definitely so, because S.H.E are the most popular active girl group of their age (18 years, 9 years by 2009) in Asia.
 

yknok

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Sooman is Korean and he stayed in USA for a long time.

His focus was always USA and Japan. China and the sinosphere was an afterthought.

S.H.E. was never really huge in Korea. In there, Ella is only known for some C-drama fans who saw her in dramas.

... SeSeSe is a 90s girl group..... But in any event.... if you were to watch the video or read the excerpt.... she literally says huge in China and SM wanted to emulate that in Korea... I don't believe lee sangeun was huge in china in the late 00's.... It doesn't matter whether or not Ella is well-known in Korea, what matters is does SM's market research team and SM know of Ella? It is SM's job to create groups, not Korean citizens'... And if they were researching China and Taiwan, then the answer is definitely so, because S.H.E are the most popular active girl group of their age (18 years, 9 years by 2009) in Asia.
 

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Too bad she didn't remember the name, but yes I've always noticed the commonalities too and drew the connection.
 

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that's pretty cool, Another possibility could be Li Yuchun (Chris Lee). She's also a tomboy and was really famous around that time. Shes a lot more feminine now tho
 

grainy

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that's pretty cool, Another possibility could be Li Yuchun (Chris Lee). She's also a tomboy and was really famous around that time. Shes a lot more feminine now tho
I know Li Yuchun! I like her songs, was really impressed by this collab recently. I think overall I still consider her a tomboy haha



i thought it was ella mostly because of the similarities between ella and amber tbh! the way they're promoted too. At the time S.H.E was already the most successful Chinese language idol group & Ella was trying to rap also 🤔 so overall i think it leans in ella's favour. But tbh no loss if it was Li Yuchun either, she's got some good music!
 
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