A Look Back at SNSD Through the Years


The SNSD that we know today is very different from the way they were back in the day. Every time the girls come back after a short break, their looks are completely different, but equally as enjoyable and lovable. In order to fully appreciate how far they have come, let’s take a trip down memory lane and see how these amazing ladies have matured.

Please Note: Only original comeback concepts are included in this post.

2007 - Into The New World


When SNSD first debuted, they wore minimal makeup, their hair was completely natural and they were basically the nation’s little girls. They were so young and innocent looking. Although they looked pretty normal, they shined as soon as they started singing and dancing! Their little skirts and high socks will always be remembered.

2007 - Girls’ Generation


Shortly after their debut, the girls returned with their self-titled song, Girls’ Generation. With hats and ponytails, the girls aimed to prove their talents, despite their young age. This time, their socks were a little higher and they sported red and white jackets, decorated with their names and numbers.

2008 - Kissing You


In 2008, SNSD returned with their super cute, lovey-dovey song, Kissing You. Since the girls were always dancing with candy, they were soon compared to the lollipops they used, due to their colorful, sweet personalities. For this concept, the girls wore all white, all with different hairstyles.

2008 - Baby Baby


Their next released single, Baby Baby, was less jumpy than the previous songs and showcased the ladies’ powerful voices. Cute flats and pale pink outfits were their trademark back then. You can already see the difference between how they looked in 2007 and 2008.

2009 - Gee


In 2009, SNSD came back with a bang. Gee is probably one of their most well-known songs, due to it’s catchy lyrics and crab dance. Between the roller skates, colorful shorts and light shirts, SNSD was on their way to the top! The girls also started experimenting more with their hair at this stage.

2009 - Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)


Later in 2009, SNSD impressed everyone with their marine look. This was their first daring concept, and people of all ages started falling in love with these girls. Displaying their beautiful long legs, with their hacky-sack dance, Girls Generation was becoming one of Korea’s greatest girl groups. We salute you, ladies!

2010 - Oh!


The ladies didn’t disappoint when they returned as cheerleaders for Oh! Once again, numbers were on each member’s shirt. All the colors, combined with the pom-poms and pink boots, secured the girls’ spots as the best girl group.

2010 - Run Devil Run


As one of SNSD’s toughest concepts, these ladies proved that although they’re cute and full of love, they won’t be pushed around. Everybody loved the sexiness that oozed from them in their black, sparkly tights. Yet another concept that succeeded incredibly.

2010 - Hoot


2010 was a great year for SNSD as all of their concepts were extravagantly different. This time, with a retro look, the girls became arrow-shooting spies, with one piece suits and long boots. Although this was a side that was never seen from the girls, that is always the case, so it was definitely a memorable look.

2011 - Mr Taxi


As their first original Japanese concept, SNSD became sophisticated ladies in all black, with bulky high heels. The girls looked sleek and sharp, with maturity that put a smile on everyone’s face.

SNSD will be returning with The Boys soon, and we all know that their concept will be amazing. I know that these young ladies will be successful and popular for many more years to come and considering how far they’ve come, they deserve everything that they get!

The Making of So Nyuh Shi Dae

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. Eleven! A lot more than nine, you guys!



/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

Both Lee Yeonhee and Hwang Bora are now known as actresses. Yeonhee resume including movie ‘Millionaire First Love’, ‘Hello! Schoolgirl‘ (Sooyoung had a role as her bff in the movie), and drama ‘East of Eden’. Hwang Bora starred in upcoming movie, ‘Jumunjin‘ with Super Junior’s Kim Kibum. Zhang Liyin (also known as Jang Ri-in) debuted as solo singer in 2006. While ’93ers Kim Yejin is still listed as SM trainee, she also starred on SHINee‘s A.MI.GO music video. With the exception of Hwang Bora, they are still under SM Entertainment.

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.



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. I think 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 — I really hope this year is her turn to be heavily promoted shine!)

It was said that both Stella Kim and Jang Hajin had quit the project group to focus on their education. This was proven by the fact that both of them are now full-time college students. Stella goes to New York University (NYU) back in her hometown, while Jang Hajin enrolled to the prestigious Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). In 2011, Jang Hajin published an autobiography titled “소원을 말해 봐 (Tell Me Your Wish)”. The book told the stories about her trainee life with SM Entertainment and as a part of the project group, as well as her first impressions and relationship with the SNSD members; which puts the members in a good light. Hajin said that she doesn’t stay in touch with SNSD members.

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 (now is better known as Iconiq) . 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.









/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 two picture are the closest one to final line-up. The second to last picture has nine members line-up, but unlike the final line-up, it’s Chanmi instead of Stephanie (Tiffany). In the last picture, both Lee Hwanhee and Heo Chanmi were being cut from the group. Some source 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 the group. However, two years later in 2009, Park Soyeon finally debuted under MNet’s Core Content Media (CCM) in the girl group T-ara.

Regarding her past trainee days with SNSD, Soyeon explained, “Back then it was tiring. And I iwent through much hardship.” Thus, she dropped out of her training. She also said, “Even now, I’m still in contact with the SNSD members. I’m really happy that SNSD is doing well. Going forward I will try my best as a member of T-ara. Although we’ll be in competition with SNSD, I would like it to be a friendly competition between us.”

It’s quite interesting that after Park Soyeon debuted under CCM, Heo Chanmi also debuted under a CCM “mixed” idol group called Co-Ed (Nam Nyuh Gong Hak) in 2010. Co-Ed is consisting of 5 male members and 6 female members. The female members, including Chanmi, debuted under a sub-group called 5dolls in 2011.

Chanmi, who was once designated as SNSD’s youngest (maknae), spoke her thoughts about being a part of the SM Girl Group Project, “I was a trainee for a long time. I had participated in the recording for SNSD’s title track, and even completed the photoshoot. Since I was young, I was upset at not being able to debut with them.” She continued, “However, I was understanding because I knew that it hadn’t been that long since I started training. I supported the SNSD unnis and hoped for the best.”

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 Joo-hyun (Seohyun),

Leader: Kim Tae-yeon (1989) | Maknae: Seo Joo-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. (Well, anything is better than ‘The Era of Maidens’..) 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.



SNSD first official group picture.

http://snsdkorean.com/2010/01/02/the-makin...o-nyuh-shi-dae/