South Korean pop star BoA has announced she is going to break into the American music scene with the release of her first English language single:
South Korean singer BoA plans to soon release her first album in the U.S. featuring the single «Eat You Up. The pop diva said Wednesday that her Japan debut in 2001 taught her that successful adaptation to a new market makes all the difference.
BoA debuted as a singer in South Korea in 2000 at age 13 before crossing over to Japan, the world’s second-largest music market. Now she’s going for the world’s biggest market.
Her first album in America will be released online through iTunes and MySpace on Oct. 7 and in stores on Nov. 11. [PR-Inside via Japan Probe]
You can watch a video of BoA’s English language single below:
This is shockingly bad. If she thinks this is going to allow her to compete with the J-Lo’s, Shakira’s, and the Beyonce’s of the American music industry she will learn a hard lesson just like Rain did.








8:07 am on September 14th, 2008 1
Even singing such minimal lyrics, her English voice sounds forced and unnatural. What next – will Hyori try to take her latest hit about “gulls” stateside?
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12:29 pm on September 14th, 2008 2
who cares.
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3:05 pm on September 14th, 2008 3
If she makes money on itunes and myspace from this, then I’m going to round up the juicy’s and my buds to sing “I’ve Got Friends.”
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5:08 pm on September 14th, 2008 4
She needs breast augmentation or she needs to leak a home made porn video. She just doesn’t seem special and I don’t see why anyone would want to listen to her. Her promoter here in Korea must have plenty of money to waste because it sure ain’t an investment.
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7:24 pm on September 14th, 2008 5
Ahh. Korea never ceases to amuse me.
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5:13 am on September 15th, 2008 6
There will be burst of sales initially as all Korean-Americans buy the CD out of patriotic duty. The Korean media will have a chance to roll out headlines like ‘BOA Conquers America!”
And for the rest of America it will be as memorable as the whole Rain tour of last year.
If an Asian makes it big in music in the west, it will be an Asian-American/Canadian/Brit/etc. with absolutely no connection to the music companies based in Asia, not the latest zero-talent marketing clone made for the tastes of pre-teen Asian fans.
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9:21 am on September 16th, 2008 7
It really is something to consider BoA’s American move against the track record of limited success Asian performers have enjoyed in the American music scene. I have to agree with the general comments thus far, that based on this video clip and the little information available about her preparation and the marketing strategy behind it all, BoA will likely enjoy only a limited success. And without a much different approach or appeal, not much prospect for any enduring career in the American music industry, another one album wonder for niche collectors twenty years from now…
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9:26 pm on September 16th, 2008 8
I think she needs a new agent.
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10:25 pm on September 16th, 2008 9
I think her agent needs a new talent.
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4:11 pm on September 30th, 2008 10
[...] for “looks Asian.” Nonetheless, I really like her song “If you were here tonight.” Anyway, HT to ROK Drop, your #1 source for K-pop news. *cough* sorry. More from YeinJee’s Asian Journal and Japan Probe. [...]
11:06 am on October 27th, 2008 11
[...] You can view the music video of BoA’s single “Eat You Up” here. [...]