WGFTW <3

i agree with someone’s mentioning charice.
do you ever think why asian fans have at least lesser “doubts” for her than for WG???
if you know why, that same reason is the biggest flaw in JYP’s plan IMO =(
all in all, props for JYP and WG for the efforts.

This is NOT by any means to discard or belittle Wonder Girls and their work.

However, I’ve got some frowning with “If these girls are the beginning of asians becoming more prevalent in global media, popular arts, and entertainment industry… what they are doing, what they are attempting, is very important.”
This sentence itself sounds like a conceited statement to me. It’s like Wonder Girls will play an important role for Asian singers in general.

If you mean Wonder Girls can do wonders for KPOP acts to be known more in America, yes, I’ll check it back if I’ve got time or when I’m in the mood for some light-hearted listenning like now.

But if you mean Wonder Girls will do wonders for Asian (“beginning of asians”), I beg to differ and would like to recommend you to go out of Kpop bubble before writing this Op-Ed post. Why?
1, Say hello to Kitaro (among many). He’s the one Americans respect and thus, Asians can be proud of. That is if we are talking about music, talent and “open American eyes about Asians”.
2, Talk about pop music in particular, I would like to say hello to Charice for instant. Hey, she’s Filipino but she’s Asian, ok? Her voice isn’t as matured as Whitney Houston or so, but she’s around the age of Wonder Girls. So if you mean to give time for Wonder Girls to improve English, then give time to Charice to be second Whitney Houston or so too.
3, Talk about kpop, you can put JYP to pedestal for all you want. But when writing an Op-Ed, i would recommend you not to belittle other Kpop crossover attempts and just blissfully put “let’s get behind them and cheer them on… loudly”. As far as I see many Kpop crossovers are still at the beginning. And most of them do not target only teens so far. But that doesn’t mean they don’t work hard and don’t deserve your “cheer loudly”.
If you talk about marketing strategy, yes, this can be a promising one. Teens tend to be easily influenced. So if by “American”, you mean American teens, then yes, it can be a boom. Disney’s got power but that doesn’t mean American audience in general will take Wonder Girls seriously like they show respect for Kitaro (among many above). Don’t talk about Disney’s power on Billboard lately either please. Popularity and thus fame (read: money), yes. And that’s it. JYP wants fame as far as I see by now. So do SM and YG. I don’t see any difference between those 3 in USA invasion attempt. Just that JYP chooses to display his ‘ambition’ nicely (like a true singer, according to your post), SM choose to display brutally and directly his ambition for money while YG chooses to ‘talk big’ (create craze first).

This is by any means to discard or belittle Wonder Girls and their work. They can work in their own ways – whether it’s half-ass or not. I simply listen to their Nobody song when I’m not in the mood for say, rock. I’m Asian but I don’t want to “cheer loudly” for Asian just because they are Asians and having opportunity to expose BIG in America by singing some pieces that I don’t feel touched or moved by it. I give kudo (not cheer loudly though) for YJP for this big exposure business strategy and that’s it.

Sorry for long comment. But I feel quite disappointed by quality of SeoulBeat’s Op-Ed posts lately, which is the only section I visit SeoulBeat (in previous Op-Ed posts, I find you witty, more in-depth but still down-to-earth comparing to other Kpop sites).
I know this is still somewhat a personal blog, but seeing it displays more of teeny-fancy preference in Op-Ed section, I feel pity and painful somehow. Yea, my 5-cent sentimental. Excuse me.

How do you know if they “failed” or not when they haven’t completely stopped their album activities? some artists take more than one time to get recognized. Lady gaga is on her second contract. Some people get lucky some others have to take time and even some years to get big. *GASPS*

I do agree with most points. it’s nice seeing Asians trying to cross over. It’s not nice seeing those who are not prepared completely go at it, though. it’s down right frustrating. Even a month later their english version of NObody could have sounded better. Even witht he preview im already annoyed with sohee’s huge accent.