SHINee

Origin Seoul, South Korea
Genres R&B, pop
Years active 2008 (2008)-present
Labels SM Entertainment
Associated acts SM Town
Website shinee.smtown.com/
Members
Onew
Jonghyun
Key
Minho
Taemin

Shinee (샤이니, stylized as SHINee, pronounced /ˈʃaɪniː/ "shiny") is a contemporary R&B South Korean boy band. Formed by SM Entertainment in 2008, they made their debut on May 25, 2008 on SBS's Popular Songs with their promotional single, "Nunan Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)" ("누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)", lit. "Older Girl, You're So Pretty (Replay)"). The group consists of Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho and Taemin.

Since their debut, Shinee has won numerous awards. They have also starred in their own reality show based on their song, "Nunan Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)". Shinee are considered to be fashion icons having started the "Shinee Trend", which is popular amongst the younger generation.

2008: Debut

In late May 2008 news articles started to surface online about SM Entertainment's new group, Shinee (pronounced "shiny"). On May 23, the group's first mini-album, Replay was released. Replay debuted at #10 on the Korean music charts and peaked at #8, selling 17,957 copies in the first half of 2008.

On June 7, 2008, Shinee participated in the Dream Concert in the Seoul Olympic Stadium along with other high profile Korean stars such as Epik High, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ and the Wonder Girls. The group won their first award, Rookie of the Month, at the Cyworld Digital Music Award on June 22, 2008. Shinee took part in SMTown Live '08, which was held on August 18, 2008. They performed alongside labelmates BoA, Zhang Liyin, Cheon Sang Ji Hee the Grace, Girls' Generation, Super Junior and TVXQ. On August 23, 2008, Shinee attended MNet's 20's Choice Awards 2008, where they won the "Hot New Star" award. Shinee released their full debut album, The Shinee World, on August 28, 2008. The album debuted on the charts at #3, selling 30,000 copies.
Shinee performed at SM Town Live in Bangkok

The first single released from the album was "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)" (산소 같은 너 (Love Like Oxygen), lit. You Are Like Oxygen), a cover of "Show the World" by Martin Hoberg Hedegaard, originally written by the Danish songwriting and production team of Thomas Troelsen, Remee and Lucas Secon. On September 18, 2008, Shinee's "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)" was the #1 song on M! Countdown. A few days later, Shinee received the "Mutizen" award for the single on SBS's Popular Songs. Shinee participated in the "5th Asia Song Festival", where they received the "Best New Artist" award with Japanese girl group Berryz Kobo.

Shinee attended the 2008 Style Icon Awards on October 30, 2008, where they won the "Best Style Icon Award". On the same day, they released The Shinee World as a repackaged album under the name Amigo. Included on album were three new songs: "Forever or Never", a remix of "Sa. Gye. Han (Love Should Go On)" (사.계.한) and the promotional single "A.Mi.Go (Amigo)" (아.미.고). "A.Mi.Go" is a shortened version of the Korean phrase "Areumdaun Minyeorueljoahamyeon Gosaenghanda" (아름다운 미녀를 좋아하면 고생한다 lit. Heart Aches When You Fall In Love With a Beauty).

On November 15, 2008 Shinee won the "Best Male Rookie" award at the 10th annual MNET KM Music Festival, beating fellow newcomers U-Kiss, 2PM, 2AM and Mighty Mouth.At the 23rd Annual Golden Disk Awards, they performed a medley of their songs, "Nunan Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)", "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)" and "A.Mi.Go (Amigo)" and won the award for "YEPP Newcomer Album".
2009: Return to the music scene

SM Entertainment announced that Shinee would make their comeback with their second mini album Romeo on May 21, 2009. On May 18, "Juliette", the first single was released; the song is instrumentally a remake of Corbin Bleu's "Deal with It". It was later announced that their comeback was going to be delayed due to Onew damaging his teeth and the release of the mini-album was pushed back to May 25. Shinee eventually had their return performance on June 5, 2009, on KBS's Music Bank, where they received the award for first place.

The group released their third mini-album, titled 2009: Year of Us, on October 19, 5 months after the release of Romeo. SM Entertainment stated that this EP would showcase the group's vocals and demonstrate their unique qualities. The lead single "Ring Ding Dong" was released digitally on October 14; the group had their comeback stage on October 16, on KBS's Music Bank.
Image and artistry

Shinee is known for their fashion style, created by designer Ha Sang Baek (하상백), which features high-top sneakers, skinny jeans and colorful sweaters. Their style has created a fashion trend amongst students which the media dubbed the "Shinee Trend". This has led to product endorsements, and the band has promoted Smart, Korean cosmetic company Nana's B, and Reebok.
Other activities

Shinee was the topic of a mini-series reality show Shinee's YunHaNam, which was hosted by MNet. The show ran from August 8, 2008 to October 16, 2008, with a total of twelve episodes. Each episode featured the band members going on a date with an older woman, after which she would chose one member for a solo date. The group also recorded a song, "Stand By Me", for the Korean drama adaptation of popular manga series Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio. In addition to promoting Smart, Shinee recorded a song titled "Blue Pink Song", to further promote their product. Shinee recorded a digital single "Bodyguard" to promote Samsung's Anycall mobile phone. They have also recorded a song titled "Countdown" for drama series Dream and "Fly High" for Prosecutor Princess.

In January 2010, Shinee starred in the second season of KBS's Hello Baby, taking care of a 3 year old boy Jung Yoogeun.
Members

Lee Jinki (이진기), born December 14, 1989 (1989-12-14) (age 20), better known by his stage name Onew (온유) was born in the city of Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do. The leader, one of the main vocalists and oldest member in the group, he was discovered at the "2006 S.M. Academy Casting".[37] Onew collaborated with Lee Hyun Ji, former member of project group Banana Girl, for his song "Vanilla Love" and with label-mate, Jessica of Girls' Generation for the song "Il Nyeon Hu" ("One Year Later") (Korean: 일년後" (One Year Later)") .

Kim Jonghyun (김종현), born April 8, 1990 (1990-04-08) (age 20), commonly known as Jonghyun, is one of the main vocalists in the group. He was born and raised in Seoul. He was discovered at the "2005 S.M. Casting System". Before debuting with Shinee, Jonghyun sang a duet, "Wrongly Given Love" (交错的爱), with Zhang Liyin for her debut Chinese album I Will.


Kim Kibum (김기범), born September 23, 1991 (1991-09-23) (age 18), better known by his stage name Key (키), is one of the rappers and vocalists in the group. He was born and raised in Daegu. He was a gifted varsity water-skier at Dae Gu Young Shin Middle School. He was discovered at the "2005 S.M. National Tour Audition Casting". Before debuting with Shinee, Key appeared in Super Junior's Wonder Boy MV as an extra dancer. Key was featured in label-mate Xiah's solo "Xiahtic". In 2010 Key was featured in the song "치유 (Healing)" on label-mates TRAX's first mini album "Trax Mini Album Volume 1". Later, it was also announced that Key would have a small part in Girls' Generation's song "Hwaseongin Virus (Boys & Girls)" (Korean: "화성인 바이러스 (Boys & Girls)") on their second studio album Oh!.

Choi Minho (최민호), born December 9, 1991 (1991-12-09) (age 18), commonly known as Minho, is the other rapper in the group. He was born and raised in Incheon. He was discovered at the "2006 S.M. Casting System". Before debuting with Shinee, Minho modeled for Ha Sang Baek's "Seoul Collection F/W 08-09" in March. He has appeared in Girls' Generation's music video "Gee". Minho is also a permanent cast member in KBS's Dream Team Season 2.

Lee Taemin (이태민), born July 18, 1993 (1993-07-18) (age 16), commonly known as Taemin, is the lead dancer of the group.[39] He was born and raised in Seoul. He is the youngest member in group. He was discovered at the "2005 S.M. Open Weekend Audition Casting ". Taemin debuted as an actor in the sitcom Taehee-Hyegyo-Jihyun! (Korean: "태희혜교지현이!").
Discography
Main article: Shinee discography

Studio albums

* 2008: The Shinee World

Extended plays

* 2008: Replay
* 2009: Romeo
* 2009: 2009, Year of Us



Promotional singles

* 2008: "Nunan Neomu Yeppeo (Replay)"
* 2008: "Sanso Gateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen)"
* 2008: "A.Mi.Go. (Amigo)"
* 2009: "Juliette"
* 2009: "Ring Ding Dong"
* 2009: "Jo Jo"

Awards

2008

* Cyworld Digital Music Awards (May Rookie of the Month)
* MNET 20's Choice Awards (Hot New Star)
* Asia Song Festival (Best New Artist)
* Style Icon Awards 2008 (New Icon Award)
* 15th Korea Entertainment Arts Awards (Best Newcomer)
* M.net Korean Music Festival 2008 (Best Male Rookie)
* 23rd Golden Disk Awards (YEPP Newcomer Album)

2009

* 18th Seoul Music Awards (Best Newcomer)
* 24th Golden Disk Awards (YEPP Popularity Award)

2010

* 19th Seoul Music Awards (BonSang Award)
* 2nd Singapore Entertainment Awards (New Generation Artiste)