'Mom Is An Idol': 1st-gen idols turned celebrity moms to redebut in K-pop group
While there is no age limit for singers in the rest of the world from Madonna and Cher to Abba and AC/DC, the K-pop industry in South Korea is quite different. Due to the obsessive fans who do not accept dating and relationships amongst their favorite idols, exhausting choreographed performances and physical requirements for promoting on variety shows, a lot of idols retire or fade away after the age of 30. We have very few older-aged idols that are still famous worldwide like Super Junior. But that seems to be gradually changing as we have the show ‘Mom Is An Idol’ ready to re-debut first-gen idols-turned-moms.
We first had 52-year-old Uhm Jung-hwa and 42-year-old Lee Hyori regaining their global fame by joining the project group Refund Sisters along with currently popular idols Jessi and Hwasa. After School had a reunion stage despite the members being mothers or pregnant. Male idol groups are reuniting after finishing their military service as seen with 2PM, 2AM, SHINee, and F.T.Island. And now tvN’s latest program ‘Mom Is An Idol’ is giving a second chance to several older singers and idols.
READ MORE
Is Chansung retiring? 2PM star announces marriage and fiancee’s pregnancy
BIGBANG's Taeyang and Min Hyorin welcome first child, fans say 'Fantastic Baby'
'Mom Is An Idol' contestants
‘Mom Is An Idol’ is tvN’s latest reality show that has cast six women who were idols, singers and actresses before they became mothers. Their aim is to have the contestants carry out several fun missions that showcase their talent, generate viewers who in turn become fans and help them debut in a new project girl group. Previously, ‘Hangout With Yoo’ had helped debut several temporary project groups that became viral in their country like MSG Wannabe, Refund Sisters and SSAK3.
The potential lineup of the project group formed through ‘Mom Is An Idol’ is Sunye, Kahi, Park Jung-ah, Hyun Joo-ni, Byul and Yang Ji-eun. They were all popular artists in the early 2000s but retired to form a new family as mothers and wives. Sunye was part of the popular JYPE girl group Wonder Girls that also had the current soloist Sunmi. Kahi was in After School, the group that went viral earlier this year for having the five-month pregnant member Jung Ah who performed with ease. Park Jung-ah was part of the first-gen group Jewelry where all of the members are now popular actresses.
The remaining three members were introduced in the second episode of ‘Mom Is An Idol’ on December 17. Rock singer Hyun Joo-ni is now known as an actress for her roles in popular K-dramas like ‘Descendants of the Sun’. Byul was a popular ballad singer under JYPE and is now known as a celebrity wife to TV personality and singer HAHA. The last member is none other than Yang Ji-eun of Baby Vox. Baby Vox was one of the first major girl groups of K-pop formed in 1997 and are the pioneers of the Hallyu Wave, being one of the first groups to branch out of South Korea by grabbing the Chinese market.
Watch some of their performances below.
Kahi performs Blackpink Lisa’s ‘Lalisa’:
Sunye performs BTS’ ‘Butter’:
Watch Park Jung-ah’s introduction and performances like that of Taemin’s ‘Move’:
‘Mom Is An Idol’ premiered on December 10 at 8:40 pm KST (6:40 am ET) on tvN’s channel.