The Making of SNSD

Hellos people!
Okay i read this article in the weekends and find it kind of interesting! So im just sharing it with you fellow kpoppers and u can get to know snsd better!

You guys might have heard how some celebrities said that they were supposed to be in SNSD. The most notable ones are prolly actress Lee Yeon-hee and girl-group member Park So-yeon of T-ara. Well, for Yeonhee and Soyeon’s case, apparently they really were a part of SNSD.

SM Girl Group Project – Showcase 1

Members: Lee Yeon-hee, Hwang Bo-ra, Bae Seok-bin, Zhang Liyin, Jessica Jung, Kim Hyo-yeon, Kwon Yu-ri, Choi Soo-young, Im Yoon-a, Seo Ju-hyun, Kim Ye-jin

Leader: Lee Yeon-hee (1988) Maknae: Kim Ye-jin (1993)

In 2005, SM Entertainment debuted a large boy group Super Junior, and then proceeded to plan a similar large girl group counterpart. SM put together a showcase comprised of internal trainees; most were veteran trainees and the total number of girls featured was 11.

/L-R/ Juhyun, Yuri, Bora, Seokbin (?), Yejin (?), Sooyoung, Liyin, Hyoyeon, Jessica

However, this project group’s line-up didn’t last long. The line-up went through its first major revision. Out of 11 girls, only 6 of them stay in the group.

IN: Seo Hyun-jin, Park So-yeon, Stella Kim, Jang Ha-jin, Lee Hwan-hee

OUT: Lee Yeon-hee, Hwang Bo-ra, Bae Seok-bin, Zhang Liyin, Kim Ye-jin

Interestingly enough, the six girls who stay in the group are Jessica Jung, Kim Hyoyeon, Kwon Yuri, Choi Sooyoung, Im Yoona, and Seo Juhyun. There were more line-up revisions coming, but we all know that those six made it to the final line-up. They pretty much had secured their place in the project group even from the get go.

SM Girl Group Project – Revision 1

Members: Seo Hyun-jin, Park So-yeon, Jessica Jung, Kim Hyo-yeon, Kwon Yu-ri, Choi Soo-young, Stella Kim, Im Yoon-a, Jang Ha-jin, Seo Ju-hyun, Lee Hwan-hee

Leader: Seo Hyun-jin (1985) Maknae: Kim Ye-jin (1991)

There was five new addition to the group; Seo Hyunjin, Park Soyeon, Stella Kim, Jang Hajin, Lee Hwanhee. Prior to the project group, Seo Hyunjin was a main vocalist and maknae of disbanded SM girl group, M.I.L.K. Trainee Park Soyeon was plotted to be one of the main-vocalists of the group. While Korean-American trainee, Stella Kim, was not only part of main vocalists; but she also plotted to be the ‘face’ of the group (along with Im Yoona, that is).

Due to various reasons, SM decided to replaced the oldest (Seo Hyunjin) and the youngest (Lee Hwanhee) members with two relatively new trainees, Kim Taeyeon and Korean-American Stephanie Hwang. At that time, both Taeyeon and Stephanie Tiffany had ‘only’ trained for about two years.

IN: Kim Tae-yeon, Stephanie Hwang

OUT: Seo Hyun-jin, Lee Hwan-hee

SM Girl Group Project – Revision 2

Members: Park So-yeon, Kim Tae-yeon, Jessica Jung, Stephanie Hwang, Kim Hyo-yeon, Kwon Yu-ri, Choi Soo-young, Stella Kim, Im Yoon-a, Jang Ha-jin, Seo Ju-hyun

Leader: Park So-yeon (1987) Maknae: Seo Ju-hyun (1991)

This line-up is probably the most well-known line-up for the so-called female counterpart of Super Junior. At this point, netizens started calling this project group as Super Girls. In fact, SM Entertainment initially planned to debut this 11-member girl group. They even already took group picture of them.

/First Row R-L/ Stephanie, Soyeon, Hajin, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung /Second Row L-R/ Yuri, Yoona, Stella, Jessica, Juhyun

The roster’s line-up had Soyeon as leader (as she’s the oldest among the eleven girls) and Juhyun as the maknae (the youngest). The main vocalists were Soyeon, Taeyeon, Jessica, Stephanie, Stella, and Juhyun. The main dancers were Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Yoona. While the ‘visual line’ (a.k.a the pin-up girls) of the group were Jessica, Stella, Yoona, and Hajin.

The new addition, Kim Taeyeon and Stephanie Hwang both scouted by SM in 2004. Taeyeon won the Best Singer Grand Award on 2004 SM 8th Annual Best Contest. Park Soyeon, too, scouted after won the same contest in 2005.

Despite the plan to debut this project group, SM decided to add more people to the line-up. In the other hand, Stella Kim and Jang Ha-jin ended-up being cut from the group. There was a rumor that it was because of their lack of dancing skills. As for Stella, some also said that her parents refused to let her debut before she get a degree. The later is more plausible as Stella Kim is supposedly one of most prominent and famous SM trainee, along with Jessica, Yoona, and Hyoyeon (yes, the current ‘least popular member’ Hyoyeon was known as one of the prominent one thanks to her dancing skills, nice vocals, and long time of training)

IN: Lee Soon-Kyu, Lee Hwan-hee, Heo Chan-mi

OUT: Stella Kim, Jang Ha-jin

SM Girl Group Project – Revision 3

Members: Park So-yeon, Kim Tae-yeon, Jessica Jung, Lee Soon-kyu, Stephanie Hwang, Kim Hyo-yeon, Kwon Yu-ri, Choi Soo-young, Im Yoon-a, Seo Ju-hyun, Lee Hwan-hee, Heo Chan-mi

Leader: Park So-yeon (1987) Maknae: Heo Chan-mi (1992)

The third roster revision had Lee Soonkyu, Lee Hwanhee, and Heo Chanmi as the newest addition. Soonkyu was recruited thanks to the rave recommendation from SM Towner Ahyoomi. Prior to her audition to SM Entertainment, Soon-kyu trained in Wheesung’s company. Unfortunately the company went bankrupt. Lee Hwanhee was re-recruited to the group. Heo Chanmi joined the group as the youngest one.

This line-up has 12 members, unlike the initial plan of 11 members. At this point (somewhere around mid 2006), the group went a lot of trials to decide who got cut out from the group. Sites like Naver and Daum had posted this >>line-up prediction<<, with Lee Soon-kyu being the “mysterious trainee”.

The 12 members /1st Row L-R/ Chanmi, Soonkyu, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Soyeon, Hwanhee, Stephanie /2nd Row L-R/ Taeyeon, Juhyun, Yoona, Jessica, Sooyoung

/First Row L-R/ Hwanhee, Hyoyeon, Taeyeon, Jessica, Soyeon, Chanmi /Second Row L-R/ Juhyun, Soonkyu, Yoona, Yuri, Sooyoung

/First Row L-R/ Stephanie (Tiffany), Taeyeon, Jessica, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung /Second Row L-R/ Soyeon, Yuri, Yoona, Soonkyu (Sunny), Juhyun (Seohyun)

As you can see, the last picture is the closest one to final line-up. Both Lee Hwanhee and Heo Chanmi were being cut from the group. Some people said that SM actually planned to debut the group with this 10 members line-up. Unfortunately, one of the main vocalists and ‘leader’ Park Soyeon decided to quit due to ‘harsh’ training. She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. You may have heard about how Kim Taeyeon, too, had thought about quitting. She even had runaway for one day before coming back to the training process.

As we have known, this project group debuted under the name So Nyuh Shi Dae (SNSD) in 2007, shortly after Soyeon, Chanmi, and Hwanhee left. However, two years later in 2009, Soyeon finally debuted under MNet’s girl group, T-ara.

IN: —
OUT: Park So-yeon, Lee Hwan-hee, Heo Chan-mi

SM Girl Group Project – Final Roster
Members: Kim Tae-yeon, Jessica Jung, Lee Soon-kyu (Sunny), Stephanie Hwang (Tiffany), Kim Hyo-yeon, Kwon Yu-ri, Choi Soo-young, Im Yoon-a, Seo Ju-hyun (Seohyun),

Leader: Kim Tae-yeon (1989) Maknae: Seo Ju-hyun (1991)

Well, we are all know very well who made it to the final line-up. The group of nine girls then named as ‘소녀시대 (So-nyuh Shi-dae)‘ which literally means ‘The Era of Maidens’. No joke. Even the girls themselves were taken aback by their old-fashioned, grandeur name. When the group name was announced, Koreans bewildered and amused at the odd choice of name. Thankfully, they have ‘Girls’ Generation’ as their english name instead of the literal meaning. The name itself was taken from Lee Seung-chul’s 1989 hits… ‘So Nyuh Shi Dae’. I found it interesting how the song was a hit in year 1989, the very year where most of SNSD members were born. And who would have thought that they managed to live it up to their name, leading the pack of girl-group domination, two years after they debuted.