Mastering all singing techniques, dancing like a dance machine and looking stunning
like a goddess visual; do you think if one can check-off all these criteria, they will
certainly be a top famous idol making headlines all year round?
Technically speaking, the answer might be a yes since these are all the requirements
entertainment agencies seek when debuting a new idol.
However, reality has proven to be rather contrasty and of all the skills, the most important
and pivotal one surprisingly comes down to the idols’ inherent idol aura, aka the charm
and charisma of a celebrity.
Minji vs. Danielle
Talking of the visual in NewJeans, people often have Minji pop into their heads right
off the bat for various reasons.
One, ever since S.E.S’ Eugene, no one has been referred to as having the visual on the
same par with Olivia Hussey though there were countless stunning visual entering the industry.
However, right at first sight of Minji, people were already star-struck by how not only her
front but side profile also strongly resembled Olivia Hussey.
Two, at the age of only eighteen, Minji has already had a chance to be their ambassador
at up to three branches: fashion, cosmetics and watches and high-end jewelry and while
netizens were extremely doubtful of Minji and Chanel’s synergy, spreading rumors that
ADOR might have used the back-door approached to seal such deals, her legendary visual which
was only seen at iconic beauties of the 80s quickly shut all the malicious comments down.
Ironically, Minji has never been assessed as the most attractive member of NewJeans
and out of the five, the fan-magnet title is often held by Danielle.
By that, it means regardless of Minji’s one-of-a-kind visual and collected manner,
Danielle still stands out to be more attractive thanks to the inherent idol aura.
Her innate allure was easily seen in the debut MVs of NewJeans as the version of her and
Haerin had more views than Minji’s, and also the most viewed version of the act.
The thing is, while it’s a duo version, Danielle’s screentime and unique personality
were so strong that the comment section was flooded with flattering words calling Danielle
the “lowkey queen” who gives off both a fresh teenage charisma and a luxurious,
well-composed manner of a real queen.
What’s even more charming about her is that she never pushes out any dramatic facial expressions
and remains calm 24/7; yet, her mysterious and powerful gaze is still enough to create
a trendy and unreachable image.
While it’s true that Danielle’s visual might never be as iconic as Minji, many believed
the fan-magnet title of NewJeans was still more suitable to Danielle since Minji was
said to struggle in expressing emotions and often sticks with the same soulless expression.
In contrast, Danielle’s charm has already been apparent since NewJeans’ debut and
most recently, she has also frequently gone viral for the doll-like visual, gently yet
swiftly drawing more attention to her.
Gaeul vs. Wonyoung
Despite having the fewest lines in AFTER LIKE, Gaeul still managed to turn her several seconds
into the most memorable moment of the MV and ever since then, people also started to realize
how long they had been sleeping on her visual.
Coming back with blonde hair, the color that no one had ever expected Gaeul to go for considering
her muted aura that was more suitable with a naive image, she effortlessly served visual
for every stage of that era.
People went so crazy for her beauty that some started to call her the “hidden weapon”
of IVE, while before, they were still mistaking her for Leeseo.
The photo of Gaeul casually standing in the elevator also went viral as people said she
gave-off the “successful college senior” vibe that was extremely rare in Kpop as there
were many people with good visual but only a few of them had the aura of a smart, collected
beauty.
However, Gaeul’s superstar glow could only work when she is either on her own, for example
appearing solo on-screen when it was her part in AFTER LIKE because when she was standing
with the group, she was said to be immediately outshone by Jang Wonyoung.
By that, it means while the public recognized her goddess visual, they didn’t think she
had enough of the idol aura to shine when being next to the fan-magnet Jang Wonyoung.
On Pann, there was even a long thread dedicated to discussing how Gaeul was literally the
invisible member of IVE due to her immense lack of the idol aura.
Many also compared her to 4Minute’s Jihyun, a stunning yet forgettable member, and explaining
this, some believed it might boil down to Gaeul’s soulless eyes as well as her lack
of confidence.
In contrast, Jang Wonyoung is said to have all it takes to be a famous, if not the most
famous, idol of gen4 since she has a natural glow that no one could ignore.
Whenever she goes, whatever she does, people still have all eyes on her and more often
than not, they would also make everything related to Jang Wonyoung viral.
Everyone is so in love with her that regardless of how much antifans try to paint her out
as a fabricated idol, she secures her reputation on top of the industry, bags home countless
high-end endorsement contracts, and, to a certain extent, helped IVE strike various
Perfect-All-Kills for most of their tracks.
LOVE DIVE is the epitome of this.
When the song was first released, the public reaction wasn’t good but after Jang Wonyoung
revealed that she had convinced Starship Entertainment to make this the title song, it was put on
repeat so much that it became the Song Of The Year and IVE also bagged home Daesang
within a short span of time.
Most recently, there was even a trend called “Jang Wonyoung syndrome” where girls would
give themselves princess treatment.
Later, when Wonyoung created the GoPumpChallenge for Innisfree, her video alone rocketed to
3.5 million views while the channel’s normal range was from 600 to 10,000.
People also hopped on this challenge so fast that until now, it has been officially a trend
with over 240 million views on TikTok.
All of the above is enough to prove Wonyoung's extreme influence as an idol with the charm
and aura of a superstar.
Sullyoon vs. Haewon
Being referred to as the most doll-like idol of Kpop when this photo surfaced on the Internet,
Sullyoon has since risen to the brightest stardom reigned by idols with top-notch visual
of Kpop.
While NMIXX is among the late-comers compared to other famous gen4 girl groups, Sullyoon
didn’t take long to get her visual widely recognized and now, when talking of the representative
visual of Kpop, Sullyoon would always be there with top visual like IVE’s Jang Wonyoung,
ITZY’s Yuna, and aepsa’s Karina.
From preening occasions, for example when she performed at weekly music shows or had
a full-glow dress up at ISAC 2022, to daily moments, like when Sullyoon got home from
work, casually walked at the airport with her mask on or accidentally fell asleep while
having makeup done, she would always have people talk nonstop about the visual as perfectly
as CGI-generated.
Ironically, regardless of how gorgeous Sullyoon is, her reputation ranking in the act is still
downgraded by Haewon as many believed the NMIXX’s visual’s aura was rather bland
and dull while Haewon, despite obviously not having the same recognition for her visual,
is a fan-magnet effortlessly pulling in attention with her quirky, cute vibe yet also mature
and savage.
Haewon’s massive popularity is easily seen through how her Shorts has up to 9 million
views and in the video, she was literally living in her natural habitat.
In the DICE era where Sullyoon’s visual peaked, Haewon’s individual fancams views
still overshadowed those of Sullyoon by a very great distance, about three to four times,
and sometimes even eight times, more views.
Thanks to the immense charm, Haewon’s visual quickly draws attention and according to netizens,
she is actually on the same par with Sullyoon appearance-wise.
With the puppy visual uniquified by the big doe eyes and cute, chubby face, Haewon is
believed to soon be among the most-recognized idols of Kpop regarding both her appearance
and aura.
Minju vs. Sakura
Being the only member in IZ*ONE whose visual was once said to rival Red Velvet’s Irene
and TWICE’s Tzuyu, it’s no doubt that Minju was the prettiest member in the act.
Throughout her era in IZ*ONE, Minju also frequently made headlines for her stunning appearance.
Even after the members split ways due to the contract expiration and Minju also shifted
away from the idol limelight, topics discussing her visual have still been heated.
Just a few months ago, netizens still excitedly talked about how her visual was literally
on the same par with SNSD’s YoonA and while they were regretful of her not choosing to
be on stage anymore, they were also happy to see her visual was best complimented in
the model industry.
The thing is, Minju is often said to have been pretty much of a scentless flower and
while she is famous visual-wise, when it comes to the overall reputation and a solid fanbase,
she was, and still is, hardly in the top of Kpop.
Instead, in IZ*ONE, this kind of spotlight has always been in favor of Sakura and throughout
the act’s active span, Sakura has always been the most famous member despite not being
the most beautiful one.
When all members witnessed their reputation ranking fluctuate from time to time, Sakura
remained at the top with her solid fandom and after IZ*ONE contract expiration, she
has still been the most popular one with a total votes for popularity ranking of about
17,500, leaving Minju far behind with only 220 votes.
Even when making another debut with LE SSERAFIM, Sakura’s reputation didn’t cool-off.
In fact, she was the life vest not only saved the group from being completely eradicated
from Kpop due to Kim Garam’s bullying scandal but also helped them achieve record achievements
due to her huge army of fans that she has been collecting since the HKT48 and IZ*ONE
eras.
Explaining such hype, many said it was her continuing popularity in Kpop as a Japanese
idol boiled down to her inescapable charms and interesting personality; for example,
she will say relatable and quirky things like this in chill situations but when it’s time
for work, she will be extremely thoughtful and mature with words.
It can be said that Sakura is one of the few female idols to maintain a spectacular attraction
despite being in the entertainment industry for over 10 years.
So, do you also believe that the idol aura is the make-or-break factor for an idol’s
reputation?
Additionally, do you agree that merely being pretty is not sufficient to possess this quality?