Kevin Woo

Kevin Woo
Native name 우성현
Born Woo Sung-hyun
(1991-11-25) November 25, 1991
San Francisco, California, United States
Occupation

Musical career

Genres K-pop
Instruments
Years active 2006–present
Labels
Associated acts
Korean name
Hangul 우성현
Revised Romanization U Seong-hyeon
McCune–Reischauer U Sŏnghyŏn
Stage Name
Hangul 케빈우
Revised Romanization U Kebin
McCune–Reischauer U Kebin

Woo Sunghyun (Hangul: 우성현), (born November 25, 1991), better known by his stage name Kevin Woo (Hangul: 케빈우) is a Korean-American singer and television host currently based in South Korea. In 2008, he became a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS.[1] He is a co-host alongside Jimin Park and Jae of Day6 of the popular Korean music talk show After School Club, which is conducted in English so as to appeal to foreign fans of Korean music. He is a former member of boy band XING.

Early life

Kevin was born and raised in San Francisco, California,[2] where he lived with his parents and elder sister. After auditioning in Korea during a holiday trip, he was scouted and thus decided to be a singer. At the age of 15, Kevin moved to South Korea with his mother to pursue his dream.

Career

U-Kiss at the press conference for Dream Concert 2013

XING (2006 to 2008)

Kevin made his debut in the four-member group XING alongside Marumir (now also known as Kim Kibum), Yume and Cheon Hyesung. The groups first single, "In Your Hands," was released on December 14, 2006. Their popularity quickly rose and they were dubbed as the teenage SG Wannabe. After the release of T-Express in April 2008, Kevin withdrew from the group.

U-Kiss

Main article: U-Kiss

Kevin redebuted in the six-member group U-KISS. They debuted on August 15, 2008 in Japan at the Power of Atamix. The group released their first mini album, N-Generation, on September 3, 2008.

In December 2009, Kevin and Alexander, a fellow U-KISS member, released the single "Finally". The song was composed by Brave Brothers.

On October 12, 2011, it was revealed that Kevin and Eli of U-KISS would collaborate with Avex artist JAMOSA for her single "Together". The single was released on December 7 and the trio held release events at Lazone Kawasaki Plaza (December 9), Osaka Senri Selcy (December 10) and Asunal Kanayama (December 11).[3] The song "Together" was then selected as the theme song for BeeTV's "sweetTV".[4]

In 2012, Kevin and Soohyun sang "Remember", a song originally by the group UN. It was used in the soundtrack of the drama series Syndrome.[5]

uBEAT

In 2013, Kevin and fellow U-KISS members Eli and AJ debuted as uBEAT, the first U-KISS sub-unit. The sub-unit released their debut mini-album I Should Have Treated You Better with a title track of the same name. The title track was composed by hit-maker Brave Brothers, who Kevin had previously collaborated with on "Finally". uBEAT had their debut stage at Mnet M!Countdown’s special global edition in Taiwan.[6]

Acting

In July 2010, Kevin alongside his bandmates Soohyun, Kibum, Kiseop and Dongho were announced to be part of the drama I Am Legend,[7] acting as a rock band. This marked their acting debut, where the members would get to show their musical talents by playing instruments rather than just singing; Kevin was to play the guitar. Fans were surprised when they did not appear in the drama. No official report has explained the issue.

On January 5, 2011, Kevin participated in the musical On Air Live as the lead actor. He acted in a total of 26 shows, his last stage coming on February 14, 2011.

In April 2013, Kevin alongside bandmates Soohyun, Eli and Kiseop participated in the drama KPOP The Ultimate Audition, having small cameo appearances in three episodes as a senior idol group to the main cast.[8]

In April 2013, Kevin and Soohyun were selected to appear in the Korean adaptation of the musical Summer Snow alongside Super Junior's Sungmin, Supernova's Sungjae, SS501's Heo Young-saeng and FT Island's Seunghyun. Their appearances lasted from April 2013 to June 2013. This was Kevin's second musical.[9]

Variety show hosting

Kevin has several MC credits to his name. In February 2009, he joined Arirang TV's[10] radio show Pops in Seoul to host the "All About You" segment alongside co-host Kim Isak. U-KISS bandmate Alexander later joined the duo as a host. U-KISS bandmate Eli joined them as the new co-host in early 2010, replacing Kim Isak. In August 2010, Kevin and Alexander were selected as the new MC's for Arirang TV's music show The M-Wave.[11]

On March 17, 2011, U-KISS' Kevin, Eli, and Alexander quit MCing for Arirang's Radio School due to the loss of U-KISS members Alexander and Kibum from the group. After the release of a U-KISS album in the same year, Arirang replaced Radio School with an alternate program.

In mid-2011, Kevin was selected to MC the Korean Music Wave in Singapore alongside Miss A's Min,[12] as well as Korean Music Wave in Malaysia with fellow U-KISS member Dongho.[13] In November 2011, Kevin and bandmate Eli were selected as MC's for Mnet's English-language version of M!Countdown, US MCountdown.[14]

On May 1, 2013, Kevin was a guest on popular music talk show After School Club and, beginning with episode 43, became a co-host alongside Eric Nam and Park Jimin.

Personal Life

In a Japanese survey through popular fortune-telling site Cocoloni, Kevin was ranked as the number one luckiest Hallyu star for 2012. 100 fortune-tellers participated in the survey, predicting the stars' fortunes through zodiac, blood type and other methods. When Kevin received the news, he stated: "I'm honored to be ranked first. I want to make this really happen this year. U-KISS will go on a Japanese tour and we will also release our album. Please keep supporting us and help us rank first on the Oricon chart." [15]

Discography

Main article: U-KISS discography

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Sales
JPN
[16]
Japanese
"Make me/Out of my life" (faet. K) 2011 7

Filmography

Television dramas

Year Title Network Role Notes
2010 I Am Legend SBS Kiss band member Supporting
2015 About Love NaverTV Cast Kevin Web-drama; Main role
Let's Eat 2 tvN Himself Cameo
2016 One and Only You Chosun TV Hong Suk Main role

Television shows

Year Title Network Role Notes
2010 The M-Wave Arirang TV Host
2011 US MCountdown Mnet Host
2014—present After School Club Arirang TV Co-host

Musical theatre

Year Title Role Notes
2011 On Air Live
2013 Summer Snow
2014 On Air Live

References

  1. ↑ KBS World. U-KISS. March 13, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  2. ↑ Song Woong-ki (March 30, 2010). "U-Kiss to bring back `80s kitsch". The Korea Herald. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ oricon. JAMOSA, U-KISS First Collaboration. October 12, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ musicman-net.com. JAMOSA+KEVIN&ELI(U-KISS), "Together" Selected as BeeTV's Theme Song. December 19, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ korea.com. U-Kiss releases a beautiful ballad, “Remember”. February 29, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  6. ↑ "유키스 유닛 유비트, 오는 25일 대만서 첫 무대 '기대↑'". m.news.naver.com. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  7. ↑ Nate News. U-KISS become acting idols, 5 members to debut in drama. July 27, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  8. ↑ news.nate.com. "KPOP Ultimate Survival" U-KISS. April 22, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  9. ↑ http://u-kiss.jp/news/20130220.html
  10. ↑ Arirang. Arirang. February 8, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  11. ↑ MSN News. Alexander & Kevin chosen to be Arirang TV Music Show's MC's. August 2, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010
  12. ↑ Kevin's Twitter Kevin's Twitter Update. June 12, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  13. ↑ viki.com Lineup announced for Korean Music Wave 2011 in Malaysia. August 30, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ @US_MCountdown. US_Mcountdown.
  15. ↑ korea.com. Japan predicts luckiest Hallyu stars for 2012. January 18, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Make me/Out of my life". Oricon. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  17. ↑ "2016 Orion Chart - July Week 2". Oricon Chart. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
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