[★EDITORIAL] Hello Venus has a radical concept evolution

The ladies of Hello Venus are currently in the midst of their comeback performances for their latest title track, “I’m Ill.” The song’s lyrics and concept follow the current “sexy” concept, but the group debuted with an innocent concept back in the day.

Hello Venus debuted as a joint project between Fantagio and Pledis Entertainment. Four of the members were from Fantagio, Alice, Nara, Lime, and Yooyoung. Two of the members, Yoo Ara and Yoonjo, were from Pledis Entertainment. Their debut track, “Venus,” portrayed the girls as innocent, cute, and charming with their pastel colored hair and clothing.

The girls kept this innocent theme with their next two title tracks, “What Are You Doing Today?” and my ultimate favorite Hello Venus song, “Do You Want Some Tea?” All three title tracks were full of cute and innocent charm, where the members showed off their aegyo and bright personalities.

Unfortunately, with the influx of idol groups that have debuted in the Korean music industry, long absences between album promotions, and poorly timed comebacks, Hello Venus did not do as well as expected. By mid-2014, the companies officially announced the end of their joint project. Fantagio Entertainment then took over all of the managing duties, while Yoo Ara and Yoonjo left the group to pursue careers in acting under Pledis Entertainment.

With a lack of presence in the Korean entertainment industry, Hello Venus did what most girl groups do: they resorted to the “sexy” concept. With the addition of members Seoyoung and Yeoreom, Hello Venus came back in November 2014 with their 4th single, “Sticky Sticky.” In addition to the original music video for “Sticky Sticky,” the group also released a school girl version of the music video. Hello Venus also gained attention after their dance cover of Jason Derulo’s “Wiggle” in skin-tight clothing went viral.

Fans were completely shocked at this drastic transformation. Their previous innocent concept was thrown out the window for a more mature and sexy concept that included skin tight, short clothing and provocative choreography.

Fortunately, Hello Venus’s sexy concept grasped the public’s attention. Their dance cover of Jason Derulo’s “Wiggle” has gathered more than 3.76 million views. As of July 25th, “Sticky Sticky” has just over 2.15 million views, which is just barely more than their previous two comeback tracks combined (“What Are You Doing Today” – 0.98 million views and “Would You Like Some Tea?” – 1.05 million views).

These days, many top groups hit 1 million views within a few hours of the video’s release (GOT7, Girls’ Generation, BTS, EXO), however, it has remained a struggle for Hello Venus to increase their view count.

In January 2015, Hello Venus made a cleverly-titled comeback with the track, “Wiggle Wiggle.” Once again, the group gained attention for the track’s choreography, which consists of mainly twerking and popping. The lyrics to the track basically describe the choreography that they perform, which may have hurt the popularity of the track in the end. The music video for “Wiggle Wiggle” is their first music video that has a 19+ rating, confirming their sexy concept transformation. Despite the popularity of their dance cover, the music video for “Wiggle Wiggle” failed to gain even half a million views (currently just over 468,000 views).

Earlier this month, the group made their comeback with their fifth mini-album and title track, “I’m Ill.” The track was produced by Brave Brothers and features an upbeat tempo with club-like beats. The concept and choreography are a slight step backwards from their last 19+ rated music video, but still convey a mature theme. The lyrics of the song certainly fit the sexy concept well. Unfortunately, their performance version music video which was released on July 22nd had just over 326,000 views three days after its release on YouTube.

Overall, Fantagio has definitely stepped up their publicity game by posting sexy, eye-catching dance videos and the company can’t really go wrong by having Brave Brothers produce their new songs. With their title tracks improving with each comeback, Hello Venus is definitely a group to look out for.

Source: Bugs

Disclaimer: As an editorial, this article does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Koreaboo, but rather the views of the authors. Outside collaborators: CJ C.