K-pop girl group debuts on major American TV networks with “The Boys”
Amidst overseas and domestic press interest in the mainstream appeal of K-pop in the U.S., nine-member girl group Girls’ Generation made their American TV network debut on CBS’ “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Jan. 31 (Feb. 1 in Seoul) and followed it up with an appearance on ABC’s “LIVE! With Kelly Ripa.”
Nine-member South Korean girl group Girls’ Generation made their major American broadcast TV network debut on CBS’ "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, Jan. 31 (Wednesday, Feb. 2 Seoul time) (Photo credit: S.M. Entertainment)
Fans hoping for a lengthy appearance might have been disappointed by the relatively brief showing the popular K-pop idols made on both talk shows.
Sans interview, Girls’ Generation performed the Teddy Riley-produced remix of their U.S. debut single “The Boys” to a live band in the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Decked out in skin-baring black outfits, the girls worked the stage with slinky moves and perfectly in sync choreography. Guest Bill Murray joined them on stage for the closing.
The following morning, the group performed their single on “LIVE! With Kelly Ripa” followed by a brief, casual interview with host Kelly Ripa and guest co-host Howie Mandel.
Ripa appeared pleasantly surprised by the warm audience response to Girls’ Generation, saying: “I’ve never seen such audience participation in my life, congratulations.”
“We were just saying you are such a gorgeous group of women,” Ripa praised the girls.
Guest co-host Mandel had the audience and the girls laughing when he said, “I loved the dancing. Your moves were tremendous. It reminded me of me.”
A representative of Girls’ Generation’s agency S.M. Entertainment said that the talk show appearances were not about targeting an adult audience so much as introducing the group to “general viewers.”
“Those in their teens can learn about Girls’ Generation through various channels like the Internet,” the representative explained over the phone.
According to the representative, plans for an official U.S. debut have yet to be made as well as future plans with their U.S. label Interscope Records.
“I think we will continue to do promotions,” the representative said regarding working with Interscope.
Meanwhile, K-pop continues to hit American TV this week with South Korean girl group the Wonder Girls’ upcoming TV movie, which is scheduled to start airing on TeenNick on Feb. 2 in the States and the following day in Korea.
By Jean Oh
(oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)
<한글 기사>
소녀시대, 美토크쇼 출연..관객 반응 뜨거워
그룹 소녀시대가 미국 ABC TV의 인기 토크쇼 '라이브 위드 켈리(LIVE! with Kelly)'에 출연해 히트곡 '더 보이즈'를 선보이며 한류스타의 매력을 뽐냈다.
2일 소속사 SM엔터테인먼트에 따르면 소녀시대는 1일 오전 9시(현지 시간)에 방송된 '라이브 위드 켈리'에 출연해 지난해 미국에서 발매한 스페셜 앨범 타이틀곡 '더 보이즈'를 라이브로 소화했다.
진행자인 켈리는 소녀시대가 "한국에서 큰 인기를 얻고 있고, 미국에서도 인기 돌풍을 일으키는 그룹"이라고 소개했으며, '더 보이즈' 무대가 끝난 후에는 "너무 멋진 무대"라고 극찬했다.
그는 관객들이 서툰 한국어로 소녀시대를 연호하는 등 뜨거운 반응을 보이자 "이렇게 적극적인 관객들은 내 생애 처음"이라며 감탄하기도 했다.
켈리는 소녀시대 멤버들에게 오디션 절차 및 데뷔 전의 연습 과정 등을 물었다.
이에 멤버들은 "우리는 열 살, 열다섯 살에 연습을 시작했으며, 춤과 노래 등 모든 것을 연습했다"고 답했다.
이날 방송 출연에 소녀시대의 미국 현지 레이블인 인터스코프 레코즈의 날 제이 콥슨 A&R 부사장은 "대단히 성공적"이라고 평가하면서 "이런 훌륭한 통로가 더 많이 생기기를 기대한다"고 말했다.
소녀시대는 앞서 지난달 31일 미국 CBS TV의 간판 토크쇼인 '데이비드 레터맨쇼 '에도 출연했으며, NBC TV의 연예정보 프로그램 '엑스트라 TV'와도 인터뷰했다.
