YG Entertainment will debut a new girl group in 2012 that includes Superstar K2 finalist Kim Eun-bi. Other than this detail, not much else was known about the group until YGE released Kim Eun-bi’s new profile pics, a leaner, fiercer, more stylish Kim Eun-bi–which had the netizens talking. Before they went wild with whispers of plastic surgery, YGE announced that their new girl group has a “No Plastic Surgery” clause in its contract.
The official response from YG Entertainment announced was that:
The new girl group will be comprised of members that had no plastic surgeries. They also included a ‘no plastic surgery’ clause in their contract with Chairman Yang Hyun-suk….Plastic surgeries are good in some ways, but at the same time, it decreases the natural beauty of the members…After seeing so many girl groups with beautiful faces, we started to question what they would look like with YG’s music.
I’m 100% with him on putting talent before looks, but will he be able to succeed without any eye candy in the group? Or is he just giving us a “hint” that all the girls in this group are already naturally beautiful? First, let’s imagine a group with just talent. This doesn’t mean they’re ugly, it just means that they won’t look like Dara from 2NE1. Clearly, there is nothing wrong with that but how they will look compared to the Girls Generations of K-pop? Since K-pop puts more emphasis on looks compared to talent, this announcement is a risky move but if anybody can pull this off, it would be YG.
To be honest, I am glad YGE has announced their “no plastic surgery” contract to the public and that’s how K-pop should function. Sometimes we’re too focused on appearance that we overlook raw talent, or lack thereof. A lot of idols just focus on honing their dance moves and performances — which I agree can be classified as talents — rather than working on their vocals because they are able to rely on autotunes. But as an idol, they should be able to sing and dance well.
Although I’m in favor of this recent development, Gummy’s comments on variety shows (Golden Fishery – Radio Star and I Am Singer) where she mentioned that Yang Hyun-suk told her that she was a great singer but had unappealing looks still lingers in my mind and makes me question his plastic surgery clause in their contracts. Perhaps he had a change of heart since debuting 2NE1 or maybe he’s trying to disprove Gummy’s statements.
Despite YG’s real intentions, I doubt that all the members of this new girl group will be unappealing and it maybe possible that the plastic surgery ban won’t have much effect on the overall K-pop community. What do you think about YGE’s “no plastic surgery” contract? Is it a step forward in talent over looks, or just a lot of something about nothing?
(Osen, Newsen, FrontierTimes)
