SPECIAL TRIBUTE: U-KISS
Photo by Zephyrance Lou
12 Volume 02 / Issue 04
2008: Pre-debut
U-KISS was first formed as a six member boy-group in 2008. Kim Kibum and Kevin Woo were members of the boy band Xing but left the group in early 2007. The other four members were all individually selected by NH Media through auditions. U-KISS debuted in Japan on August 15, 2008 at the Power of Atamix 08. The group debuted in South Korea on August 28, 2008 with a release of their first mini album, New Generation, (N-Generation) on September 3, 2008 and a live performance of their first song Not Young on Mnet.
Even though they are new comer in the industry, U-KISS was considered for Japan-Korea collaborative project. A popular entertainment company, Yoshimoto Group in Japan, invested 150 billion KRW to groom U-KISS as an internationally known group. The reason behind this is their quality as a group with multilingual members: Alexander can converse in seven languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean and English; Eli is fluent in English, Korean and Mandarin; the maknae Dongho can talk in Korean and Mandarin; Kevin in English while Kibum can speak Japanese.
2009–10: Only One, variety shows and first major concert
U-KISS released their second mini-album Bring It Back 2 Old School on 2009 with its title song, I Like You which made them popular in Thailand. The third mini-album titled ContiUkiss launched Lee Kiseop as the seventh member of the group. The title track "Man Man Ha Ni" was released following a change in their line-up. The fourth mini album Break Time was released on 2010, along with their title track "Shut Up!. The group's first full-length album, Only One, was released on February 3, 2010 spawning their highest chart-topping single in the Philippines, Bingeul Bingeul. The album also topped Hanteo Charts, Hot Tracks, Syn-nara Records and Evan Records in just one day. U-KISS then played in Malaysia, Mongolia and Japan to promote the album. U-KISS promoted the album in the Philippines through series of mall show, wherein they sold more than 1,000 copies in one day which breaks the record of the highest sales in a launch, earning them a million pesos. Due to the said success, the group had their first major concert in the Philippines dubbed as U-KISS First Kiss Tour in Manila.
Aside from their music career, U-KISS also starred in their own variety shows, All About U-KISS , ‘’UKISS Vampire’’ and ‘’Chef Kiss’’ while the members also appeared on other shows. Kevin Woo and Alexander Lee Eusebio joined Arirang's radio show Pops in Seoul hosting the 'All About You' segment and were also featured on Brave Brother’s song, Finally. Kim Eli also became an emcee of MBC's show, Fusion. The new member Lee Kiseop appeared in a variety show known as Uljjang Shidae 2 (Pretty Boys and Girls Season 2) . Shin Dongho also made many appearances on shows, The Invincible Baseball Team, Idol Maknae Rebellion and My Black Mini Dress. Kibum along with Eli, also starred in the Thai drama Autumn's Destiny wherein their voices were dubbed due to the fact that they cannot speak Thai.
2011–2012: Japanese career, Neverland, Tour and DoraDora
A US album was cancelled due to member termination of contract. Alexander and KIbum left the band on 2011, and were replaced by former ‘’Paran’’ member Kim Jae Seop ( AJ) and a former solo artist, Yeo Hoon Min(Hoon). The new U-KISS released their fifth mini-album, Bran New Kiss, and a new ballad song, "0330". U-KISS released their second full-length album, Neverland, in September with their singles "Neverland" and "Someday". A DVD, U-KISS Days in Japan, debuted at No. 8 on the Daily Oricon Chart published in March 30, 2012.
A compilation album called First Kiss placed second on Oricon daily charts on the day of its release. They also released the Japanese version of Bran New Kiss on August 24, 2011. The group released their first Japanese album, Tick Tack, and their second Japanese album, Forbidden Love, simultaneously with their first Japenese full-length album, A Shared Dream. The album peaked at No.6 and No.2 respectively. On 2012 they participated in the Music Bank concert held in Paris, France. The group became the first K-Pop group to perform in Colombia in line with the celebration of 2012's Los 40 Principales along with international star Shakira. The group had their sold-out concert tour dubbed U-KISS 1st Japan Live Tour 2012 in March that was held in Zepp Hall all over Japan. The tour lasted from March 2, 2012, to March 25, 2012.
In the second week of June, two additional shows were sold-out.
Continued on next page