TLDR: It seems that sometimes just being funny can get you the attention and popularity a company never would have worked to give you otherwise.
For those who may not know: Hyoyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung from SNSD have debuted in a sub unit called HyoRiSoo, born completely out of a parody/ joke. Hyoyeon’s yt channel ran a series called Fake Hyoyeon which is essentially just having her improvise a fake version of herself in the industry. Soon enough it lead to jokes about her, along with Yuri and Sooyoung, forming a sub unit that would “rival” the legendary snsd sub unit: TTS. They now play personas and create all this via improve. With jokes and gags like them being the dance line trying to “outsing” TTS which was all vocal line, them having celebrity disease, running elections to find the main vocal… This parody got so big and gained so much traction that it has become an entire series with guests, variety show appeareances and now a real fully fleshed debut with multiple songs and live performances. Their debut song is called Skibidi, a name intentionally chosen for the humor of it all, and its…. a really good debut song with a choreography made by the same group that created Like Jennie.
I’ve never heard of anything quite like it (maybe Unnies slam dunk but most of them weren’t idols but profesional commedians). If you look at the actual performances they’ve done and the dance video you notice this is not a joke, they perform profesionally and vigorously. In many ways because this is what they have always wished for. Yuri just left SM after years of them giving her no music although she has expressed wanting to (half jokingly but very much a jab at the company). Sooyoung left SM years ago and has been very vocal about not feeling appreciated there and her love of perfoming, she even reached a deal with a japanese company to produce a single for her. These are women who loved to perform and didn’t feel valued by SM. I think they began this as a joke and a good way to keep being in media, but once they saw the popularity the series was gaining they commited to not only make it an official series but a serious debut. At this point every episode they drop gains a million views quickly, and their debut song is trending in searches across Korean music charts. They hyped up this comical series and debut so much that it has yielded more domestic attention than other anticipated comebacks like that of RV (an opinion as a luvie myself).
I’ve seen people express that they think the success of the series is in response to the gap in comedy/variety content in the Kpop space and I agree. Not that current generations are unfunny or that SNSD are the funniest people in the entire world, or to say that this is even something that Kpop requires. Simply that there is no longer as much as a prevelance for these antics in current Kpop and HyoRiSoo saw it as an opening and gave a masterclass of improvistation and entertainment. I think it’s a reflection on 2nd gen where variety was such a big part of their job and a massive way to pull people in.
Hyoyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung really just goofed all the way to a serious debut. Joking in front of the cameras, seriously training behind them, ultimatly getting the chance to perform that they’ve been waiting for years to get. They cheated the system.
Isn’t that fascinating?
submitted by /u/Seohyun_tae
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