이효리
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008Hi guys! It’s been a looong time since my last post, I know. Really big apologies for that, I won’t make any excuses for it but life has really been eating me alive, and I’m having so much trouble balancing everything and finding time for all my obligations and other things. These past two weeks have been especially crazy; I’m still studying so I live with my parents at the moment, and they’ve just adopted two little girls. So two weeks ago they moved in here, and it’s really sucked up a lot of our time and energy getting them settled in and adjusting ourselves to the change. I feel exhausted from it all! But things are settling now, and it’s not so crazy anymore, so my fingers are crossed when I say that hopefully I’ll be able to resume posting regularly here again.
Since the last few posts of mine were about male artists, I decided that today I’d bring you a female one 
And who better than the sexy 이효리 (Lee Hyori)~?
이효리 began her career in 1998 as part of Fin.K.L, one of the most successful Korean girlgroups (and groups in general). When 이효리 began to release solo works in 2003, she enjoyed much of the same success. Her debut album, Stylish…E won several of the 2003 Daesung awards, which was a pretty huge achievement for the singer.
Her music is mostly pop and dance, although later releases have had an R&B edge to them. She’s worked a pretty sexy image in her solo career, which has gained her plenty of attention and of course not all of that attention has been good. In 2007 though, she made a slight move away from her sexy image with the release of Toc Toc Toc, an R&B digital single that let her show a different side of herself.
Some of you may know of the Talk, Play, Love song that was pretty much all the hype a few months back, with BoA, Junsu, Tablo and Jin Bora; it was one of the latest commercials for Samsung’s Anycall cellphone. In 2005, 이효리 was part of a similiar Anycall advertising campaign. The first part was Anymotion, featuring 신화’s Eric in both the song and MV. In 2006, the next part was released, Anyclub. The Anyclub MV featured Eric and 권상우 (Kwon Sang Woo), and the song featured 1TYM’s Teddy. Later that same year, the final MV and song, Anystar, was released and it featured 박봄 (Park Bom) and actor 이준기 (Lee Junki).
이효리 has also delved into acting, like many Korean artists do, co-starring in Three Leaf Clover and a 4 episode mini-drama with actor/singer 이동건 (Lee Dong Gun), If In Love… Like Them.
I personally am not a big fan of female vocalists. I’m pretty picky, and I don’t like voices that are super sweet or that grate on my ears - but 이효리 has a really nice voice, smooth and rounded, it’s definitely nice to listen to (and she’s definitely nice to look at XD;).
Here are some of her MVs for you to enjoy:
Hey Girl This was the second single from her debut album
Anymotion The first of her Anycall commercials
Anyclub The second of her Anycall commercials
Get Ya This was the first single of her second album
Shall We Dance The final single of her second album
Anystar The third of her Anycall commercials
잔소리 From the If In Love… Like Them drama
그녀를 사랑하지마 Also from the If In Love… Like Them drama
Posted by Taliana in Korean Music |
April 1st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I watched the Anymotion video, and was surprised that I have that song on my cellphone– as one of those “push buttons in time to the music” games. It’s one of the ones I like!
I also find it a little, um, strange, that the Anymotion video features black people only as criminals and creeps. Hmm…
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 am
Great post
I don’t particularly like 이효리 over any other singers (mainly because she doesn’t really sing much) but I think she’s a very good dancer 
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:06 am
BTW, wow, now you have two little sisters?
Congratulations! Is adoptation common in America? It’s not very common yet over here. I’ve never known anyone in Korea in person who’s adopted a child.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 am
Daniel: I’d never noticed that! I don’t really pay attention to things like that, haha.
Hyunwoo: I’m in the UK ;D But thankyou! They’re 5 and 10, so the 15/20 year age gap is very painfully obvious at times, and I’m an only child so I’m not really used to dealing with siblings, but it’s going pretty well so far. They stay out of my room and don’t touch my stuff, at least XD;
I’m not sure how popular adoption really is … I think I only know a couple of people personally who have adopted a child, and I know friends-of-friends who have adopted/been adopted, but that’s it.
For this, it’s not quite adoption, but it’s just easier to say that it is - what it technically is right now is long-term fostering, and in a year’s time as long as we are happy with the girls and they are happy with us (it was a very, very long process to be picked as their new family, lots of interviews, lots of applications, lots of board and panel meetings, lots of paperwork) then my parents will be able to recieve Special Guardianship of them. It’s very similiar to adoption, it’s really only a few legal differences.
Fostering is getting more popular here, there are a lot of kids that need looking after, and if you work through an agency then the pay is decent. My parents have both quit their jobs so that they can do this full time, and in a few years, once we have moved to a bigger place, they want to take on 2 - 4 more long-term foster children and make a ‘children’s home’ type place.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:25 am
I’m not a fan of her but she is a great dancer and she has some great videos.
Anyclub - OMG Eric and Kwon Sang Woo!. i love this video and the song. It was the first video i saw of her. Really cool mv!.
Anymotion- Eric !
Anystar- Lee Jun Ki !
May 25th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I like 이효리