K-POP GIRLS BECOME RM400,000 PRETTIER
SEOUL: Rounder eyes, narrower faces, bigger breasts: a girl band is celebrating the country’s obsession with surgically-enhanced beauty by going under the knife to praise the virtues of “Becoming Pretty”.
All four members of obscure K-pop outfit SixBomb went through plastic surgery, from nose jobs to breast implants, before releasing their new single on Thursday. A series of videos showed the four women visiting a clinic, strutting into an operating theatre and lying on the operating table. Another had them practising dance moves in sunglasses with their heads wrapped in bandages.
“Everyone follows me, they know I’m pretty,” they sing in Becoming Pretty — an electronic dance number with a hook reminiscent of singer Psy’s 2012 global phenomenon Gangnam Style.
The track could be the direct antithesis to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, lyrics: “I’m beautiful in my way/Cause God makes no mistakes/I’m on the right track, baby/I was born this way.”
It has raised questions over the South’s ultra-competitive, looksobsessed society, where physical features enhance social standing and can help secure jobs.
SixBomb’s lead singer, Da-In, had her breasts enlarged and her cheekbones shaved to make her face look smaller.
“We all wanted to get some surgeries done to look prettier... and thought, ‘Why not perform a song about it instead of trying to conceal it?’” she said.
“People will notice it anyway... so we wanted to be open about this reality where many women want to look pretty.”
SixBomb was founded in 2012 and have released five albums, but have yet to become major stars. And with their members now in their mid-20s, time could be running out for them.
The project was funded by their management, which spent 100 million won (RM396,000) for “almost every kind of surgery that could be done on a face” and breast implants, said head manager Kim Il-woong.
“We haven’t committed any crimes. Our only crime would be talking about it in an open manner,” he said, adding that many celebrities go under the knife but do not “come out of the closet”.
A prominent clinic here confirmed that SixBomb’s members had gone through extensive operations “all above the waist”.
None of the four were forced to go for surgery, although rapper So-Ah had to think “long and hard” before having the “double eyelid” procedure.
The stunt has raised eyebrows. “I understand that you guys are desperate for publicity... but did you really need to go this far?” asked one online commentator, while another described it “flatout bizarre”. AFP
She Persisted
AFP
AFP