Bada (singer)

Bada
Native name	최성희
Born	Choi Sung-hee (1980-02-28) February 28, 1980 Bucheon, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Other names	Bada Sea
Occupation	Singer Actress
Musical career
Genres	K-pop R&B dance
Years active	1997—present
Labels	S.M. Entertainment (1997–2002) Woongjin Entertainment (2003–2004) 知人 Management (2005–2006) Raemon Entertainment (2007–2008) PL Entertainment (2008–2009) Frog Muzik Company (2009–2012) The Pro Actors (2012–2013) The Ocean Entertainment (2013–present)
Associated acts	S.E.S. SM Town

Choi Sung-hee (born February 28, 1980), better known as Bada or Sea, is a South Korean singer and musical actress. She is a member of South Korean girl group S.E.S.. Bada has currently released four studio albums, one mini albums and five singles. Bada won Best Actress at the 3rd The Musical Awards and has starred in ten musicals to date.^[1]

Early life

Choi Sung-hee was born February 28, 1980, her father is Choi Sae-wol, a faceless trot singer with a background in Korean pansori.^[2] Due to financial struggle during her childhood, especially after her father fell ill, she lived in a container home provided by a local church for nine years until her debut.^[2] In a recent series of lectures for youth, she has addressed her beginning and has encouraged students to not let their background become an obstacle in obtaining their dreams.^[3][4]

Bada was scouted by Lee Soo-man and entered SM Entertainment. She debuted as the leader and lead vocal of S.E.S., the first successful female K-pop idol group.

Bada studied theater at Dankook University.^[5]

Career

1997–02: S.E.S.

Bada made her debuted with S.E.S. in 1997. The group release their debut album I'm Your Girl on November 1, 1997. The group later became the top-selling K-pop girl group. Since debut, the group release five Korean album and two Japanese album. The group release compilation albums Friend for the last before breaking up at the end of 2002. Members Bada and Eugene parted ways from SM Entertainment, while Shoo stayed with SM Entertainment until 2006.

2003–08: A Day of Renew, Aurora, Made in Sea and Musical acting

Bada sign exclusive contract with WoongJin entertainment.^[6] In 2003, Bada release her debut solo album A Day of Renew has sold approximately 130,000 records, according to the Music Industry Association of Korea. Bada became the first Korean idol singer to venture onto the musical stage in 2003 with the musical Peppermint, a love story about a singer named Bada.^[7] It was written for her by creator and producer Lee Yuri, who is also responsible for other musical projects such as Typhoon, Mother and Winter Sonata.^[8] In 2004, Her second album Aurora was released has sold approximately 23,000 copies.

In 2006, her third album, Made in Sea, was a big success. In 2007, Bada was cast in the role of Denise in the Korean version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tell Me on a Sunday.^[9] Right afterward, she took on the role of Esmeralda as a part of the original Korean cast of Notre-Dame de Paris.^[10] Her widely praised portrayal of Esmeralda gained her acceptance as a musical actress and won her the Best Newcomer Actress award and others at The Musical Awards and the Korea Musical Daesangs in 2008; she reprised the role in 2009.

2009–13: See the Sea and Musical acting

In 2009, Bada released her fourth album called See the Sea which featured both Korean rap group Untouchable and 2PM's Ok Taecyeon. The following year, 200 Pounds Beauty, a musical based on the popular movie of the same name, cast Bada in the titular role of Kang Hanbyul, an overweight ghost singer who aspires to become a star and undergoes extensive plastic surgery.^[11] Bada's turn as Kang earned her the Best Actress honor at the third The Musical Awards. She was recast in 2011 for the project.

In 2010, Bada played Peggy Sawyer in Broadway on 42nd Street^[12]

In 2012, she briefly took on the role of Mozart's wife, Constanze, in Mozart!,^[13]

In 2013, she was cast as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.^[14] During Legally Blonde, her mother died.^[15] Despite the loss, Bada continued performances for the musical until its final run and famously sang Secret Garden's "You Raise Me Up" on KBS's Open Music Concert just two days after her mother's death.^[16] She has since stated that this loss was the reason for her relative inactivity in both her music and musical career from 2011 to mid-2013.^[17]in 2013 she was cast as Marguerite in the first Korean adaptation of Frank Wildhorn's The Scarlet Pimpernel.^[18] That same year, Bada appeared as a vocalist for the song "City Life" on American electronic musician Brian Transeau's electronic dance music album A Song Across Wires.^[19][20]

She returned as Esmeralda in the 2013 production of Notre-Dame de Paris.^[21] She then signed on to depict Carmen in the first Korean production of the musical Carmen.^[22]

2016–present: Flower

Bada released her first extended play, Flower on June 13, 2016 to celebrate her 20th debut anniversary. The single contains four tracks with lead single Flower featuring popular rapper Kanto. She released double music video for "Flower" on June 13^[23]and "Amazing" on June 15.^[24] Bada released her fifth digital single Summertime and its music video on June 26. Bada later released collaboration single Cosmic with Super Junior's Ryeowook on September 22, as a part of S.M. Entertainment project SM Station.^[25]

Discography

Albums

• A Day of Renew (2003)
• Aurora (2004)
• Made in Sea (2006)
• See the Sea (2009)

EPs

• Flower (2016)

Singles

• "Start" (2006)
• "Queen" (2007)
• "With Me" (2011)
• "Precious" (2014)
• "Summertime" (2016)

Collaborations

• "Cosmic" (with Ryeowook) (2016)

Soundtracks

• I'm Sorry, I Love You O.S.T. – "One Day Passes" (2004)
• Spring Waltz O.S.T. – "Rainbow" (2006)
• Famous 'Seven' Princesses O.S.T. – "Start Again" (2006)
• I Love You O.S.T. – "My Destiny" (2008)
• Baker King Kim Tak-goo O.S.T. – "Only One Person" (2010)
• A Thousand Kisses O.S.T. – "Sweet My Love" (2011)
• Glass Mask O.S.T. – "It Hurts and Hurts" (2012)
• Goddess of Marriage O.S.T. – "Stay" (2013)

Musical soundtracks

• Notre Dame de Paris O.S.T. – Original Korean Cast Recording (2009)
• Carmen O.S.T. – "If I Could" (2013)

Featuring

• Rain's Bad Guy – "Like You" (2002)
• Dynamic Duo's Enlightened – "Dream" (2007)
• Windy City's Think About' Chu – "Think About' Chu" (2008)
• Infinite Challenge's Seo Hae-An Highway Music Festival – "A Song Only I Can Sing" (2011)
• BT's A Song Across Wires – "City Life" (2013)
• ZoPD's Golden Goose Part. 1 – "Candy" (2015)

Concerts

• Showman aLIVE (2006)^[26]
• Varacon (2009)^[26]
• Varacon Encore Concert (2010)^[26]
• Varacon X-MAS Special (2010)^[26]
• Alive Show Vol.1 (2014)^[26]

Filmography

Television

Musicals

Awards

• 21st Korean Best Dresser Award – Female Artist (2004)^[1]
• Mnet KM Music Video Festival – PD Special Award (2005)^[1]
• 13th Korean Arts Awards – Female Dance Artist (2006)^[1]
• 4th Korean Fashion World Awards – Best Dressed Artist (2006)^[1]
• Korean Model Awards – Popular Artist (2007)^[1]
• 2nd The Musical Awards – Popular Female Actress (2008)^[1]
• 14th Korea Musical Daesang – Popular Star (2008)^[1]
• 14th Korea Musical Daesang – Best Newcomer Actress (2008)^[1]
• 3rd The Musical Awards – Best Actress (2009)^[1]
• 15th Korea Musical Daesang – Popular Star (2009)^[1]

Honorary ambassador

• Yeosu Expo Sea Love (2007)^[55]
• City of Seoul (2008)^[56]
• Save the West Coast (2008)^[57]
• We Start Recreation Headquarters (2008)^[58]
• Catholic Life Committee (2009)^[59]
• 3rd The Musical Awards (2009)^[60]
• Tour de Korea (2013)^[61]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bada.

• Bada's Official Site (Korean)
• Bada on Twitter