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Girl Groups Gone Wild !

January 28, 2014

Girl’s Day, Dal Shabet, Rainbow Blaxx to scale down facing TV censorship

K-pop girl groups such as Girl’s Day have decided to scale down the level of body exposure and sexy choreography. (Newsis)

Rainbow Blaxx

By Park Si-soo

Three major television networks in Korea are acting as “censors” to tame girl groups going wild on the screen.

Following their demands, K-pop girl groups such as Girl’s Day, Dal Shabet, AOA and Rainbow Blaxx have decided to scale down the level of body exposure and sexy choreography.

The move comes amid escalating criticism of female singers wearing skimpy or overly revealing clothes and giving sexually suggestive performances as a way to lure viewers in the extremely competitive K-pop scene.

Kim Ho-sang, chief director of “Music Bank,” a music show aired by the country’s biggest broadcaster KBS, said he had demanded girl bands “adjust” the concept of their onstage dress and dancing, or face “disadvantages” in programming. Affected girl groups include Girl’s Day, Dal Shabet, AOA and Rainbow Blaxx, he said.

“We will check whether they follow the demands during rehearsals,” Kim was quoted as saying in an article. “If there is too much exposure, we will ask them to change the outfit on that day. When the dance moves are too provocative, we will keep the camera distant.” Two other nationwide broadcasters — MBC and SBS — are employing similar guidelines and asking performers to follow them.

Agencies behind the affected musicians said they will follow the rules.

“We’ve decided to eliminate the part where the girls stroke their legs with feathers,” said Dream Tea Entertainment that manages Girl’s Day in a statement on Saturday. DSP Media, which represents Rainbow, said it’s trying to come up with ways to maintain the band’s attractiveness with conservative outfits.

The group Dal Shabet revised the dance moves where their open palm makes circular motions in front of their chest. AOA also made adjustments on fans’ demand.

Despite producers’ efforts, media experts said it’s a matter of time for girl bands to resume appealing to fans in a sexually provocative manner since there is no rule banning the practice permanently.

“We don’t have any written rules about this, which means different directors have different level of sexiness they can accept on stage,” an SBS TV director said on the condition of anonymity.