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For a well-known singer to go for a completely different genre or style and succeed is not easy once the public have a fixed image and expectation of the artist. On the Korean scene, it is all the more difficult for a dance music artist to become a ballad singer since the two fields are considered antipodes of each other. But Baek Ji-young faced up to the challenge, and it has come off nicely. The change began with her hit song ¡°I Won¡¯t Fall in Love¡± last year, and she firmly established her ground as a balladeer with the latest album ¡°Sixth Miracle¡±
The album¡¯s title song ¡°Just love¡± has already topped many of the music charts on the Internet. Unfortunately, the song is considered the least creative, almost a copy of ¡°I Won¡¯t Fall in Love¡± from melody and lyrics to sentiment. The finest piece on the album is in fact the fifth song, ¡°Like an old habit,¡± which is completely absorbing and flows like water, all the while fully conveying the pain of a break-up. But the album is full of songs that boast high quality and strong public appeal at the same time.
Baek¡¯s husky yet distinctive tone commands more appeal in ballad songs than dance mixes, as it is easily drowned out by strong beats. In the 1980s, Korea¡¯s then queen of dance music Kim Wan-seon drew some attention with such ballad pieces. Her singing was widely acknowledged as she advanced further into her career, but even so she couldn¡¯t fully break away from the limitations of a dance music artist. Baek, on the other hand, is gaining public acceptance as a ballad singer eight years after her debut, and she did this after making it to the top as a dance artist with such songs as ¡°Dash¡± and ¡°Sad Salsa.¡± Such a smooth conversion is very rare in Korean popular music. Of course, the inevitable break she had to take due to a sex video incident might have provided the opportunity. But one thing is certain: more and more people are drawn to her voice, which is gaining more strength as the days go by.
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Baek Ji-young¡¯s broccoli costume (left) and nine-story cake outfit
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Once known as a fashion icon, she sported lingerie, tiger skin costumes or tassels, fully unleashing her sex appeal. But when she returned after the long absence, we were in for a surprise. Her transition from dance to ballad may have been welcomed, but her outlandish outfits did raise some eyebrows. After her fifth album ¡°Smile again,¡± she flabbergasted audiences with a costume that looked like a giant broccoli, and more recently, she baffled viewers on cable TV program M.net by appearing in a long dress with completely mismatched top and bottom. She didn¡¯t stop there, but went on to appear at several award ceremonies in a chiffon dress that came down to her ankle, repeatedly earning her the ¡°worst dressed¡± title.
She managed to delight her fans once again on M Countdown with a long dress with layers of lace like a wedding cake; fans decided to giver her new nicknames like ¡°nine-story cake¡± or ¡°shuttlecock.¡± It remains to be seen whether her new fashion adventure will be as successful as her musical adventure.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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