Review:
Gweon Bo-a (better known as BoA) tells her story of
how she first started and ended up becoming the sensation
that she is today. For all those that are into BoA,
and have been following her success over the past
few years, I can’t stress how great this semi-documentary
is! I first learned about BoA back in 2000 after high
school, and I must admit I was a fan-boy of hers for
awhile, but sadly eventually forgot about her. Fast
forward to today, when the History of BoA is released,
I find myself drawn back into the magic that is BoA
once again.
The documentary is split up into two parts, and each
on their own respective DVDs. First off, we start
with the first part entitled, “Make Her Debut.”
This first segment goes over how she first started
and broke into the singing profession, as well as
many other little known facts. BoA starts out telling
us that she first began training at the age of 10,
and later shares how her brother was called in for
an audition, and at the time, she was just getting
into singing and enjoyed singing songs from bands
like SES. Days later, she was called by the agency
and asked her to work with them instead of her brother.
What’s cool is that her brother supported her
despite being passed over in favor of his sister.
On August 27, 2000, BoA made her first appearance
on television on a music show called SBS. She was
13 years old. Her debut song was ID: Peace B. Imagine
the pressure she had to endure to showcase her past
3 years of training for the 3 minutes on stage. We
find out that during that time, the movie Shiri was
doing very good, and director Kang Je-Gyu directed
the music video for ID: Peace B.
An
observation that I made was that even with all her
stardom, she still manages to speak of and hang out
with her childhood friends whom she knew since elementary
school. She’s a very down to earth girl. And
that, my friends is quite admirable. It’s nice
to see a young pop sensation that fame hasn’t
let it get to their head. All while still managing
to look classy and not trashy.
On her 14th birthday, BoA wins the Best New Female
Singer Music Video Award at the M-Net Music Video
Festival 2000 for her ID:Peace B video. We then get
footage of her birthday party, where she spent it
with a room full of her fan-club called ‘Jumping
Boa,’ who all wanted to wish her a happy birthday.
Fans were brought to tears while she sang her song
“Secret Diary.”
We get a bunch of other little tidbits including the
time she went to Osaka and met Latin sensation Ricky
Martin; her first TV sitcom cameo for the show “Golbaengee;”
and finally how she became a member of SM Town (some
sort of Christmas special), which included, ‘H.O.T,’
‘SES,’ ‘Shinhwa,’ and ‘Fly
to the Sky’ where she hung out, skied, and snowboarded.
Rounding
out the first disc of History, we are taken to January
2001, where Boa held a Goodbye Concert, in which she
announced she was leaving the industry for awhile
so she could better herself and her singing and come
back even better. Once again, she sang her hit song
‘ID: Peace B,’ along with her current
song ‘Sara.” She was very excellent in
this performance, and even manages to rival her older
rival pop sensations. Not to sound like some fan-boy
or cliche’d, but she is ALL that and a bag o’
chips!
The
next part of the special is entitled: “Jumping
Into the World.” After 7 months, BoA returns
with a new image, looking older, more womanly and
more mature this time around. We start out with Boa’s
debut concert in Japan where she received great critical
praise for handling the concert with maturity and
her unique dancing and singing performance. Following
her quick success, she made her entrance as a model
in Japan.
Soon after, BoA became the first foreign singer to
attain rank # 1 on Japan’s “Oricon Chart”
Weekly Record Sales with her chart-topping single
‘Listen to my Heart.’ In response, Japanese
TV stations advertised Boa, and her fame was becoming
an unprecedented event; she was climbing the charts
in record time! Boa. Avex (Boa’s Japanese Agency)
was looking at more than 10 billion yen in sales.
Among
the things we get to see on this second half is BoA
strolling around the streets of Japan, taking pictures,
and eating lunch, all the meanwhile, fans clamor around
her to get a closer look and pictures. One of the
first people she met in Japan was Japanese superidol
Ayumi Hamasaki. She was recalling how the curfew for
9:00 in Japan and she was not allowed to be on stage/TV
after that, and she was sent home because she was
underage. I thought it was funny, even for her. We
even get a look into her home in Japan, as she talks
about her meeting with Ayumi Hamasaki, being on stage,
and we get to see her cook a delicious looking meal:
Rice cake boiled with hot pepper paste. Yumm…
We
also get a glimpse into other events throughout her
career including another SBS special, a performance
by the Diva herself, with her songs: ‘No. 1,’
‘Listen to my Heart,’ and ‘Amazing
Kiss.’ I went gaga over over BoA’s performance.
She sure does know how to move and sing. She’s
kind of like a Christina Aguilera, but not in a slutty
looking way, something more along the lines of Lee
Hyori from Fin.KL. She’s still classy, she’s
got a voice of a goddess, and boy can she move! Next
we are brought along for the making of her music video
‘Valenti’ in Japan, which is sung in Korean
and Japanese. Shooting began from early morning lasting
til late in the evening. Also notable is that BoA
was appointed ambassador of PR for Seoul, which she
did an ad for tourism to Seoul. It makes me want to
visit Seoul. It’s said that 85% of tourists
visit Seoul, and I can see why. I must admit though
that having BoA featured in the ad helps my judgment
though. As BoA says, “Shopping No. 1, Food No.
1, Tourism Popularity No. 1 ! Welcome to Seoul!”
I’m so there baby!
At
the age of 17, BoA won the Grand Award at the SBS
2002 Awards, the most prominent of awards as SBS.
She does an English performance with Kang-Ta and some
other guys to the song “How Deep Is Your Love.”
I wasn’t too hot on seeing Kang-Ta, but BoA
was great! After this we see their performance of
“You In My Dim Memories” by Hyeon Jin-Yeong,
a sort of hip-hop song.
There
are none who have or come close to the influence and
popularity that BoA has attained in little over 3
years. And there you have it, the History of BoA,
the girl from Guri, Gyeonggi-do who conquered the
music industry with her charm, cuteness, moves and
overall sensationalism! If you’re a fan, I don’t
have to say it, but if you’re not, pick this
up anyway and be mesmerized by that which is BoA.
DVD
1
1. Play The ID:Peace B
2. Chapters
- Program Start
- Before Dubut
- First Stage
- First Music Video
- School, Friends
- Meet The World Star Ricky Martin
- First CF
- Challenge The Korean No.1 Song
- The Best Rookie
- Happy Birthday Party
- Act In Situation Drama
- SmTown Carol
3. Song Clip (Karaoke)
- ID:Peace B (SBS Poplura Song Stage)
- ID:Peace B (Music Video)
- Sara (SBS Populara Song Stage)
- Sara (Music Video)
4. Special Features
- Special Video Jockey Collection in SBS Popular Song
(2000.9.3-12.4)
- BoA`s Documentary (In USA, England)
- BoA`s Photo Gallery
5. DVD Setup
6. Web info
7. Credits
DVD
2
1. Play The No.1
2. Chapters
- Program Start
- First Show Case In Japan
- BoA in Japan
- Health Management, Favorite Food
- Finally, The First Class Of Korean Song
- 2002 Worldcup & BoA
- Music Video Valenti
- Meet The World Star, Westlife
- I Love Seoul
- SBS Korean Popoular Awards, 2002
- Closing
- Staff Scroll
3. Song Clip (Karaoke 16:9)
- Don`t Start Now (SBS Popular Song Stage)
- No.1 (SBS Popular Song Stage)
- Listen To My Heart (SBS Popular Song Stage)
- Listen To My Heart (Music Video)
- No.1 (SBS Popular Song Stage)
- No.1 (Music Video)
- Amazing Kiss (SBS Popular Song Stage)
- Amazing Kiss (Music Video)
- Valenti (SBS Popular Song Stage)
- Valenti (Music Video)
4. Special Features
- BoA`s Documentary (In Japan)
- SBS Countdown Star Rank
- BoA 2002.7.19
- Boa`s 2nd Fan Meeting
5. DVD Setup
6. Web info.
7. Credits
