CLC (band)

CLC (Hangul: 씨엘씨) is a South Korean girl group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2015. The group consists of Seunghee, Yujin, Seungyeon, Sorn, Yeeun, Elkie and Eunbin. CLC is an initialism which stands for CrystaL Clear.^[1] CLC made their debut with the release of their EP First Love on March 19, promoting the title track Pepe.^[2]

History

Pre-debut

CLC busking event, June 2015

Sorn is the winner of the first season of K-Pop Star Hunt in 2011 after which she subsequently became a trainee under Cube Entertainment.^[3] Yujin and Seunghee (credited as Cube Girls) was part of a collaborative track entitled "Perfume" by Beast's Yoseob for Cube Voice Project which was released in 2013.^[4] Seunghee together with BTOB's Sungjae released the soundtrack "Curious" for the drama Plus Nine Boys in 2014.^[5] Seunghee also appeared on BTOB's music videos, "2nd Confession"^[6] and "The Winter's Tale".^[7] CLC also participated in G.NA's "Secret" music video and acted as background dancers during stage performances at music shows. Seungyeon, Yujin, and Yeeun were also spotted at BTOB's "Beep Beep" music video as the dancers.^[8]

The group started gaining attention in 2014 for their non-profit street performances to help children with disabilities.^[1][9] It was featured on their first documentary, "CLC's Love Chemistry".^[10]

2015: Debut with First Love, Eighteen and Question

CLC in March 2015

CLC originally debuted with 5 members including Seunghee, Yujin, Seungyeon, Sorn and Yeeun. In March 2015, CLC revealed teasers for their upcoming debut with the track "Pepe".^[11] They held their debut showcase on March 18 at the Acts Hotel in Seoul, performing their debut song.^[12][13] They made their official debut on March 19 with the release of the music video for "Pepe" from their debut album First Love. On the same day, they also made their debut performance on Mnet's M! Countdown music show.^[14] "Pepe" is a track written by Duble Sidekick and Yang Geng, and was made in the style of a retro dance number.^[15] Former label-mate Rain choreographed part of Pepe's choreography.^[16][17]

On April 16, CLC released a special single entitled "Eighteen". On the 17th, the group started their promotions for "Eighteen" at KBS's Music Bank.^[18][19] "Eighteen" was described as song that is about teenage love and has a 60-70s motown feel that is combined with synthpop from the 80s.^[20]

On May 28, CLC made their comeback with their second mini-album Question, promoting their lead single "Curious (Like)".^[21] They held their first comeback stage at Mnet's M! Countdown.^[22]

On October 10–11, CLC held their first overseas promotional tour in Malaysia entitled "First Love Promo Tour in Malaysia". Universal Music Malaysia had specially released an "Asia Special Edition" album version of Question. The album includes songs from First Love, Question and their digital single "Eighteen".^[23]

2016–present: New members, Refresh, Japanese debut, NU.CLEAR, Chamisma

On February 24, 2016, CUBE Entertainment announced that CLC would comeback on February 29 with the mini album Refresh and two additional new members, who were later revealed to be Elkie Chong from Hong Kong and Kwon Eunbin, a Cube Entertainment trainee participating in Mnet's girl group survival show Produce 101.^{[24][25][26][27]}

According to Cube Entertainment, Eunbin originally joined CLC in 2015 but was converted back to trainee status following delays in the group's new album. Due to Produce 101 contractual restrictions, she will not promote the album's single "High Heels" on music shows or other broadcasts and will have her scenes in the song's music video removed. The agency plans for Eunbin to join "High Heels" promotions if she is eliminated from the show or to postpone her CLC activities until after Produce 101 promotions if she is a winner.^[28] On February 29, CLC released a short version of the "High Heels" music video that included Elkie but omitted Eunbin.^[29][30] The full version of the music video that includes Eunbin's parts was released on March 21.^[31] Eunbin was officially eliminated from Produce 101 on March 25.

CLC made their Japanese debut on April 13 with the release of their first Japanese EP, "High Heels". The album includes the Japanese version of "Pepe", "First Love", "Like", "High Heels" and a cover of Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky.^[32]

On May 12, CLC launched their official Naver V App channel, followed by a broadcast of Eunbin's first live appearance with the group.^[33][34] The group released their fourth mini-album "Nu.Clear" on May 30, with the title track "No Oh Oh" written by Shinsadong Tiger. "Nu.Clear" represents "New" and "Crystal Clear", a name that signifies the new change for CLC in music. It was also their first come back as an official 7-member group, and they started album promotions in June.^{[35][36][37][38][39]}

On July 27, CLC released their second Japanese EP, Chamisma.^[40] The EP peaked at number 9 on the Oricon Daily Albums Chart, making it their first release to enter the Top 10 of the Oricon chart.^[41]

Members

• Oh Seunghee (Hangul: 오승희 was born on (1995-10-10) October 10, 1995 in Gwangju, South Korea. She is the main vocalist of the group.^[42][43]
• Choi Yujin (Hangul: 최유진) was born on (1996-08-12) August 12, 1996 in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. She is the lead dancer and sub-vocalist of the group. She graduated at Hanlim Multi Art School.^[42][44]
• Chang Seungyeon (Hangul: 장승연) was born on (1996-11-06) November 6, 1996 in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. She is the leader, main dancer and lead vocalist of the group. She graduated at School of Performing Arts Seoul.^[42][45]
• Sorn (Hangul: 손) or Chonnasorn Sajakul (Thai: ชลนสร สัจจกุล) was born on (1996-11-18) November 18, 1996 in Thailand. She is a sub-vocalist of the group. She graduated at Korea Kent Foreign School.^[42][46] She is the first winner of the competition K-Pop Star Hunt.^[3]
• Jang Yeeun (Hangul: 장예은) was born on (1998-08-10) August 10, 1998 in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi.^[47] She is the main rapper of the group. She is currently studying at School of Performing Arts Seoul.^[42][48]
• Elkie (Hangul: 엘키) or Chong Ting Yan (Chinese: 莊錠欣) was born on (1998-11-02) November 2, 1998 in Hong Kong.^[49] She is a sub-vocalist of the group.^[42] She is one of the new members introduced in February 2016. She is a former child actress in Hong Kong under TVB^[50] and a former member of the Hong Kong girl group, Honey Bees. She studied at Carmel Pak U Secondary School.
• Kwon Eunbin (Hangul: 권은빈) was born on (2000-01-06) January 6, 2000 in South Korea. She is the visual and the youngest of the group.^[51] She participated in the girl-group survival show, Produce 101 and was eliminated in Episode 10.^[52] She was added to the group in February 2016 together with Elkie, but she wasn't able to join the group's promotion for "High Heels" because of her contract with Mnet.^[28]

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Original soundtracks

Collaborations

Videography

Music videos

Music video appearances

Filmography

Documentaries

A list of documentaries that CLC members have participated in.

Variety shows

Drama

Endorsements

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CLC (band).

• Official Cafe (Korean)
• Official YouTube
• Official Twitter