(x)clusive!: Singapore’s Top Korean Pop Artistes in 2012 [RESULTS]

In a span of 11 days, from the start of (x)clusive‘s 3rd Anniversary celebrations on 20th July until 31st July, (x)clusive garnered thousands of votes from Korean Pop lovers to establish the most favourite KPOP artistes in 2012 in Singapore.

This voting even made it as entertainment headlines on local Chinese daily newspaper Lianhe Wanbao, just two days after it ended! Although the main bulk of votes came from Singapore, there were also hundreds of votes coming in from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, establishing the reach of the local Korean Pop scene.

So who are the Top KPOP artistes in Singapore as voted by the local (and neighbouring) fans? Check out the results below!

Most Popular Boy Group in Singapore goes to…

1st Place – Infinite (29%)
2nd Place – Big Bang (17%)
3rd Place – Beast (16%)

Without much surprise the rising boy group Infinite topped the poll with a whopping 29%, beating out Big Bang by a huge gap of hundreds of votes. Infinite’s popularity sky-rocketed since the release of BTD (Before The Dawn) in 2011 and following up with Be Mine, which topped several Korean music charts and won Infinite their first Mutizen Award. Following the success in their music the boys continued to charm many through their variety show “Sesame Player” aired last July, which depicted their daily lives and real characters offstage.

The last and only visit Infinite made to Singapore was in 2010 for Korean Pop Night; the boys who looked fresh from debut with playful boyishness and friendliness then has now transformed into matured artistes with a manly touch. There has been a rumour for the boys to return to local shores with their Concert Tour, but nothing has been confirmed at the moment of press.

Taking second place is none other than the established boy band from YG Entertainment, Big Bang. Unlike Infinite, Big Bang has made numerous appearances at concerts in Singapore such as the Korean Pop Night on 2010, Korean Music Wave 2011 and F1 Grand Prix Concert 2011, and they will be back again for a full-fledged “Alive” concert on 28th and 29th September at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Tickets for both nights were snapped up like hotcakes the minute of release, proving the popularity of these 5 talented men here in Singapore.

In third place is Beast, the star boy group of Cube Entertainment. Beast has shown their popularity in Singapore via their previous concert “Beautiful Show” in Singapore earlier this year, attracting the attendance of more than 3000 fans. Recently they made a comeback to the Korean music scene with the album “Midnight Sun” featuring instant chart-toppers “It’s a Beautiful Night” and “Midnight”, and are currently active in album promotions in Korea.

Full Results:

  1. Infinite (29%)
  2. Big Bang (17%)
  3. Beast (16%)
  4. Super Junior (14%)
  5. SHINee (10%)
  6. U-Kiss (10%)
  7. 2PM (4%)

Most Popular Girl Group in Singapore goes to…

1st Place – 2NE1 (46%)
2nd Place – Girls’ Generation (20%)
3rd Place – 4minute (13%)

2NE1, sister group of Big Bang in the YG Family, nabs the top spot as the Most Popular Girl Group. Votes for the YG artistes have been taking the lead from the start of the poll, but Blackjacks (fans of 2NE1) widened the gap significantly, leaving SM Entertainment’s gem Girls’ Generation far behind.

There also have been rumours about 2NE1 having their solo concert Nolza in Singapore, since Big Bang‘s concert was announced, but no official details have been released yet.

Also known as Korea’s National Girl Group, Girls’ Generation claimed second in terms of popularity in Singapore. This result is quite interesting as the girls previously sold out their 2-night concert in Singapore Indoor Stadium last December, attracting more than tens of thousands of fans. If Girls’ Generation takes second with this amount of popularity, how much more can we expect from 2NE1? Currently the girls are on separate overseas schedules following the release of their latest Japanese single, “Paparazzi”.

Just a few weeks ago, the 5 girls from 4minute graced the Star Concert here in Singapore and had a short fanmeet at Plaza Singapura for tvN Kpop Star Hunt Season 2. 4minute first visited Singapore two years ago for a combined concert with Beast at the Celebratory Concert for Youth Olympic Games 2010, and 4NIAs (fans of 4minute) sure have waited long enough to be able to see the girls again, with a more feminine concept this time round. After the promotions for “Volume Up” ended, the girls have also been busy with overseas schedules and recently Hyuna made an MV appearance on the famous music video “Gangnam Style” by Psy.

Full Results:

  1. 2NE1 (46%)
  2. Girls’ Generation (20%)
  3. 4minute (13%)
  4. Sistar (8%)
  5. Wonder Girls (5%)
  6. T-ara (4%)
  7. KARA (4%)

Most Popular Solo Artiste in Singapore goes to…

1st Place – IU (32%)
2nd Place – BoA (16%)
3rd Place – Kim Hyun Joong (15%)

Soloist IU, also been named as Korea’s Nation’s “sister”, is well-known for her vocal and musical talent from a young age. Her breakthrough song has got to be “Good Day” featuring the “3-octave” note, blasting her to popularity in 2011. Her acoustic covers of fellow Korean artistes’ songs have also been well-loved, such as Girls’ Generation Gee, Super Junior’s Sorry Sorry, Big Bang’s Lies and Tamia’s Officially Missing You. (A compilation of her covers can also be watched here)

Along with Rain, known as the icon of KPOP everywhere else in the world – is BoA. No one can deny the talent of this solo female artist who started out at a tender age of 14 and went on to amaze Japan, the rest of Asia and even in United States. Famous for her singing and dancing skills, BoA was also one of the judges of star audition reality programme SBS Kpop Star, and starred in a Hollywood dance film COBU 3D set to be out in 2013. Just last week BoA released her 7th Korean album “Only One” with the title track written and composed by BoA herself. Her live performances featuring TVXQ’s U-Know, SHINee’s Taemin and Super Junior’s Eunhyuk have been garnering much attention as well.

“Lucky Guy” Kim Hyun Joong comes in third in position. From being the leader of boy group SS501 to becoming a successful solo artist with a bright acting career, Hyun Joong‘s charms seem endless on and off-screen. His notable role in Korean idol drama Boys Over Flowers (2009) gained him many fans which also helped establish his fanbase after each of SS501’s members went on with their solo careers, but his warm personality to fans, media and public were also often mentioned. Currently Hyun Joong is engaged with his promotions in Japan and will be returning to the Korean music scene next year with a new album.

Full Results:

  1. IU (32%)
  2. BoA (16%)
  3. Kim Hyun Joong (15%)
  4. G.NA (14%)
  5. Ailee (10%)
  6. Lee Seung Gi (9%)
  7. Rain (5%)

Top Rookie Group in Singapore in 2012 goes to…

1st Place – BTOB (30%)
2nd Place – EXO (26%)
3rd Place – B.A.P (20%)

It seems like Cube Entertainment’s artistes are well-loved by Singapore as their newest boy group BTOB emerged first in popularity as the Top Rookie Group in 2012! BTOB made Singapore their first ever overseas promotional stop back in May and also performed live at Music Matters Live 2012; for their album promotion fansign at Bugis Junction alone, they attracted a 800-strong crowd who sang and danced along to their debut track “Insane”. Previously (x)clusive also had an exclusive email interview with BTOB as well, check it out over here. BTOB has been off the radar since the release of their Asia Edition album with the new track “Irresistable Lips”, leaving fans intrigued about their next comeback.

SM Entertainment’s brand-new sensation EXO has been making waves in the industry – split into two promotional units K and M, the two teams of 6 are to promote the same song and album in Korea and China respectively. Before debut, fans faced an onslaught of dance and song teasers, but the talents showcased by EXO after debut won the love of many and the numbers have been growing since. Their debut track “MAMA” talks about the deterioration of communication in the modern society, and also featured clean yet strong dance moves, with a heavy “cult” concept to match. EXO successfully completed promotions in Thailand a few days ago and will be focusing on their upcoming album release thereafter.

One of the strongest rookie group debuts this year includes boy group B.A.P from TS Entertainment. Their trademark whistling hiphop based music and stomping dance breaks sets them apart – due to their tricky dance choreography, there has been many reports of the members injuring themselves at practice. B.A.P had their first appearance in Singapore as guests at labelmate Secret‘s 1st Fanmeeting in Singapore, receiving positive response and many requests for them to hold their solo showcase in Singapore the next time. Through MTV’s “B.A.P Diary” featuring B.A.P (Episode 2), the boys seemed to love Singapore as much as the fans’ love for them. With their new release “No Mercy”, B.A.P is currently busy with album promotions in Korea.

Full Results:

  1. BTOB (30%)
  2. EXO (26%)
  3. B.A.P (20%)
  4. NU’EST (9%)
  5. JJ Project (8%)
  6. Spica (4%)
  7. EXID (2%)

The Most Wanted KPOP Artiste in Singapore goes to…

Winners for Most Popular Korean Boy and Girl Group, Infinite and 2NE1, both took the first and second position respectively – no surprise on that! Meanwhile Girls’ Generation comes closely after, followed by Beast and then Big Bang. Deducing from the results, it seems that popularity may not be equivalent to the requests of seeing them live – but of course, the immense support from the fans are undeniable.

Notably there were quite a few who brought up all the names of the cast of SBS’ reality series “Running Man”, such as Yoo Jaesuk, Haha and Kim Jong Kook. Also, many very recent rookie groups showed popularity as well, such as JYP Entertainment’s JJ Project and Yedang Entertainment’s C-Clown, and there were even quite a number of requests to see yet-to-debut groups: FNC Entertainment’s AOA and Stardom Entertainment’s EvoL.

More than 150 Korean music artistes were listed in the votes but we’ll only list out the top 25 – check it out below!

List of Top 25 Most Wanted KPOP Artistes in Singapore

  1. Infinite
  2. 2NE1
  3. SNSD
  4. Beast
  5. Big Bang
  6. Sistar
  7. EXO
  8. Super Junior
  9. U-Kiss
  10. B.A.P
  11. SHINee
  12. BTOB
  13. JYJ
  14. Lee Seung Gi
  15. 2PM
  16. Teen Top
  17. B1A4
  18. IU
  19. ZE:A
  20. MBLAQ
  21. CNBLUE
  22. 4minute
  23. G.NA
  24. T-ara
  25. NU’EST

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the voting and do continue following news from (x)clusive (via Twitter and Facebook) as we will be bringing more EXCLUSIVE Kpop content and giveaways to you soon! Watch out for it!

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