Veteran divas make a return
Singer Uhm Jung-hwa released a new album “The Cloud Dream of the Nine” late last year, marking a comeback after thyroid surgery. / Korea Times file
By Kim Ji-soo
Just as their male compatriots have done, veteran female bands and singers of K-pop are returning to the stage. One such singer Uhm Jung-hwa — often dubbed as Korea’s Madonna — showed that she still has the music in her.
The 47-year-old veteran singer/actress has returned with a new mini-album “The Cloud Dream of the Nine.” The album featuring four songs — “Oh Yeah,” “Dreamer,” “Watch Me Move” and “Forest of Willows” — was released Dec. 27, 2016. The songs, in particular the “Dreamer and “Watch Me Move” — are jewels that Uhm’s fans can appreciate.
Before her last stage appearance in December, Uhm wrote on her Instagram what it means for her to come back to the stage. She underwent thyroid surgery several years ago, and many wondered whether she could still sing.
“I don’t expect to reclaim my past popularity with this album,” she wrote. "I wanted to show I can still sing new songs and perform well on stage” she said. “I would like to thank everyone,” she said.
Uhm will soon release five more songs, to complete the album, “The Cloud Dream of the Nine.”
Also at the end of last year, original “fairy” girl band S.E.S returned with a new album. The three members, Bada, Eugene and Shoo, met fans with “Remember” at two concerts held on the last days of 2016 at Sejong University in Seoul.
With Eugene sporting strawberry red hair, Bada, chestnut brown and Shoo, blond, the three relished in the joy of their reunion. The members said of their “idol” looks that they went bolder with styling than in their heyday because of the freedom they have now.
The three members of the girl band S.E.S. seemed to travel back in time for their reunion concerts held at Sejong University Dec. 30 and 31. The popular 1990s band, the members of whom are in their 30s, also released a special album “Remember.” / Courtesy of SM Entertainment
Why not? Sechs Kies, a popular boy band of the late 1990s, returned with success by dropping “2016 Re-Album” in December.
“The three of us, we’ve always talked about it. We did not want to force it, though, and wanted it to be at the appropriate time and occasion,” Eugene said at a news conference held before the concert.
The girl group debuted in 1997, and disbanded in 2002. Since then, Bada has been active in musicals and music, Eugene in acting and Shoo in variety shows.
Bada added that it was good that the girl band’s Green Heart bazaar had a chance to turn into a concert this time. Parts of the proceeds from the concert will go to charity cause.
The members now in their 30s prepared more than 20 songs for the show, including “Paradise,” a special song to mark the 20th year of their debut “Remember” as well as their hits such as “I’m Your Girl” and “Just a Feeling” and “I Love You.” Bada mentioned how the album itself was an opportunity for the three members to travel back to one of the most brilliant times in their lives, but also lets the listener in on their lives and memories of the late 1990s.
One fan, Lee Ji-yoon, 25, a salaried worker in Seoul, has been a fan since her kindergarten years. She came to the Dec. 30 concert by herself.
“I used to pretend, with two of my friends, that we were the three members of S.E.S,” Lee said. She does not keep in touch with those friends anymore, but she purchased the 110,000 won ticket to come to the concert. Other fans, at random shouted “noona” (a boy or man’s older sister) or “eonni (a girl or woman’s older sister), as singers and fans relished the reunion.
The three performers said that they could not believe how well their voices suited and complemented each other this time.
For the “Remember” album, S.E.S included six new songs, an English version of the title track and others. “Remember” was released on New Year’s Day, and “Paradise” on Jan. 2. “Paradise” was written by S.M. Entertainment’s hit producer Yoo Young-jin, who has written S.E.S songs since their debut.
Ahead of recording, in a meeting with producer Lee Soo-man, the three members said that they discussed the possibility of not having a distinctive title song. But they were lucky to have got good songs.
“Producer Lee reminded us how hard it is to find good songs, and he also told us an incident about how he found our song Dreams Come True,” Shoo said. While the three hinted at physically taxing practice sessions, they did not mention it ahead of the concert.
Shoo who is a mother of three children said that she found great courage in receiving support from family members. Eugene, who is not filming anything nor has other engagements, said the timing could not be better for her. Bada, the only unmarried woman in the group, thanked the other members for working for both the album and their families.
Meanwhile, sexy diva Lee Hyori, 35, who signed up with a new agency Kiwi Media Group, is working on an album with a possible release date in March or at the latest May.
It was reported initially that she would return as early as January but the date was pushed back. It is reported that she is writing the lyrics for all the songs on the album. Lee has been enjoying married life on Jeju Island since her fifth album “Monochrome” in 2013. She debuted as a member of the girl band Fin.K.L. in the 1990s and went solo in the 2000s with the popular song “10 Minutes.”