-often referred to as SJ or SuJu (슈주), is a boy group from South Korea formed by SM Entertainment in 2005. With a total of 13 members, they are one of the largest boy bands in the world. The group consists of Leeteuk, Heechul, Han Geng, Yesung, Kangin, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kibum and Kyuhyun. The only Chinese member, Han Geng, was chosen from three thousand applicants via auditions held in China by SM Entertainment in 2001. As of 2010, only 10 members are active, due to Han Geng leaving SM Entertainment and the group, Kangin's leave of absence for mandatory military service and Kibum's pursuit of an acting career. However, Kangin and Kibum have insisted that they are still part of the group.
Super Junior has released and contributed in 20 different kinds of records with varying degrees of success. Over the years, they have been divided into smaller sub groups, simultaneously targeting different music industries and audiences. Largely due to Super Junior's success as entertainers, other Korean entertainment managements began to train their music groups in other areas of entertainment, such as acting and hosting. In addition to their commercial success, Super Junior has earned seven music awards from the M.net Asian Music Awards, eleven from the Golden Disk Awards, and is the second singing group to win Favorite Artist Korea at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards after JTL in 2003.
MEMBERS:
Stage Name: LeeTeuk
Birthday: July 1, 1983
Position: Leader, Sub-Vocal
Blood Type: A
Height: 173 cm
Birthday: July 10, 1983
Position: Rapper, Sub-Vocal
Blood Type: AB
Height: 179 cm
Birthday: February 9, 1984
Position: Sub-Vocal
Blood type: B
Height: 181 cm
Stage Name: Yesung
Birthday: August 24, 1984
Position: Lead Vocal
Blood Type: AB
Height: 178 cm
Stage Name: Kangin
Birthday: January 17, 1985
Position: Sub-Vocal
Blood Type: O
Height: 178 cm
Stage Name: Shindong
Birthday: September 28, 1985
Position: Rapper
Blood Type: O
Height: 178 cm
Birthday: January 1, 1986
Position: Main Vocal
Blood Type: A
Height: 175 cm
Stage Name: Eunhyuk
Birthday: April 4, 1986
Position: Rapper, Sub-Vocal
Blood Type: O
Height: 176 cm
Birthday: October 15, 1986
Position:Rapper, Sub-Vocal
Blood Type: A
Height: 176 cm
Birthday: February 10, 1987
Position: Sub-Vocal
Blood Type: B
Height: 185 cm
Birthday: June 21, 1987
Position: Main Vocal
Blood Type: O
Height: 173 cm
Birthday: August 21, 1987
Position: Rapper
Blood Type: A
Height: 179 cm
Birthday: February 3, 1988
Position: Main Vocal
Blood Type: A
Height: 178 cm
PRE-DEBUT
In 2001, the company held their first overseas casting auditions and discovered Han Geng in Beijing, who was chosen among three thousand applicants. That same year, Yesung was discovered under Seoul's casting system. Sungmin and Donghae became trainee after jointly winning the first place in Best Outward Appearance in an SM-sponsored contest. In 2002, Heechul and Kangin were recruited along with Kibum, who was discovered in Los Angeles. Siwon was recruited in 2003 and Ryeowook in 2004, in which the later was discovered through the Chin Chin Youth Festival singing competition. In 2005, Shindong was selected. The last member, Cho Kyuhyun,was then discovered after he won third place at the Chin Chin Singing Competition in 2005.
Not long after boy band TVXQ's debut in 2003, news about Lee's unprecedented plans of forming another boy band quickly spread on the Internet. In early 2005, Lee confirmed the news and announced that an all-boy project group of twelve members would debut near the end of the year, promoting this singing group to be "The Gateway to Stardom of Asia." Lee announced that that most members in this group were chosen because of their performing experiences as actors, MCs, models, and radio hosts prior debut. Heechul and Kibum were already established entertainers, and most of the other members had already made various kinds of appearances on television and media. Highly inspired by the rotational concept of Japan's girl group Morning Musume, this group would also experience line-up changes, with new members replacing some selected members every year to keep the group constantly young and all-rounded. This concept was then newly introduced to the K-pop market.
For a while the group was rumored to be called O.V.E.R, the acronym for "Obey the Voice for Each Rhythm." However, before the group settled with their current name, SM simply referred to them as Junior, a representation of the members' young ages when they first became SM trainees. After the members' showcased their different talents to the company at a picnic, the company finalized their concept name to Super Junior. The group thereafter became officially Super Junior 05, the first generation of Super Junior.
Super Junior 05 made their pre-debut on the Korean channel Mnet on September 11, 2005. At the showcase, they performed various styles of hip hop dancing. The group danced to B2K's "Take It To The Floor." Han Geng, Eunhyuk, and Donghae also performed a separate dance away from the group, dancing to Usher's "Caught Up." However, the performance did not air on television until May 16, 2006 as a segment in the Super Junior Show, the group's first television documentary.
