Thursday, 9 August 2007

Ock Ju-hyun



Ock Ju-hyun (옥주현, born March 20, 1980) is a K-pop singer, known mostly for her role as the lead vocal for South Korean girl group Fin.K.L. The group was immensely popular and catapulted all the members into stardom. Although recognized for her vocal talents, Ock received much criticism for her weight, being larger than the average K-Pop star, and for her looks, which were seen as unattractive. Over the years, she attempted to lose weight and conform to what fans' expectations were of her, but she did not fully succeed. Starting her solo career in summer of 2003, she came out with a strong ballad called "난..." (Nan...; "I'm..."), which received a fair amount of airplay and entered the top 10 of Korea's music charts. However, she did not have a follow-up for this single, and promotions for the album were quickly dropped. By her second album, which came out in the fall of 2004, the public was startled by the sudden change in look, as she had dramatic weight loss; Ock attributed to her intense yoga training. Although her second album succumbed to the decline in Korea's music sales, this new look raised her popularity and she was able to perform on various music shows for a lengthy period with her singles "Catch" and "Sweet Rainyday".

In addition to launching two successful albums, Ock has worked as a radiostation DJ for MBC, and as an MC for Korean networks SBS, MBC, and KBS. She has also received an award for "Best Radio DJ" during the MBC awards of 2003. She obtained the main role in the Korean version of Tim Rice's musical Aida, starting in September of 2005. Also, she has released her own yoga video and photo essay, steaming South Korean DVD/VHS/book charts. Ock also took part in Fin.K.L's digital single Fine Killing Liberty in fall of 2005, which was a sexy dance/R&B number; she also participated in the video shoot. Unfortunately, this last single was not promoted, as each Fin.K.L member was busy with their own projects. Ock has continued to further her "yoga celebrity" career, even helping to open up a yoga studio.

In addition to her music career, Ock has also done television work as a permanent member on various variety shows. In addition to being one of the main girls on Heroine 5 (now Heroine 6), she has also become part of Gold Fish, an MBC variety/acting show that she is still part of.

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