Girls Group Hits All Generations With `Tell Me’
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
``Tell me, tell me, tell-tell-tell-tell-tell tell me~''
There are not many who have never heard the refrain of this Korean pop song, as it is everywhere, from the television to shops, cafes and online video clips made by individuals.
The song ``Tell Me'' by girl band ``Wonder Girls,'' comprised of five teenage girls, has captured the whole nation, bringing real ``wonder.'' Unlike other idol groups, Wonder Girls are appealing to a wide range of age groups ― from elementary schoolboys to middle-aged fathers.
The song, which sampled Stacey Q's ``Two of Hearts,'' has a simple, retro-style melody and a refrain that many say is ``addictive,'' which are the main factors why even older people can easily remember and sing it.
Moreover, the dance, which is a kind of modern version of 1980s' disco with fingers pointing skyward, is producing an explosive reaction and people imitate the easy-to-follow dance to the repeated refrain.
``I put Wonder Girls' music video on my desktop as a screen saver. Although being exhausted from work, when I watch them dancing on the computer, I get dopey and feel at ease,'' Yang Ji-hoon, a manager at TU Media, said.
``The repeated, dreamy and easy melody and dance, and the members' cute but not `too pretty' appearance ― I think those are the reason why the group and the song have become part of my daily life,'' the 36-year-old said.
A housewife who disclosed only her surname Kim said, ``My husband likes the group so much, and I thought it was kind of gross, you know, a 40-year-old man watching and enjoying teenage girls in short skirts dancing. However, I soon found myself humming the song unconsciously and imitating the dance when watching the television.''
The dance, created by Wonder Girls' producer Park Jin-young who was hallyu star Rain's producer, is so popular that people search for video clips on the Internet to learn the dance moves, as well as post footage of their own dancing.
On portal sites' user created content (UCC) corners thousands of video clips in which students, office workers, ballerinas and even soldiers dance to the music have been posted. It is the second time that a dance move has created a fever, following the ``kkokjijeom dance,'' a formation dance literally meaning ``vertex'' in 2006.