Girl bands back with a bang

Girl power: Members of the girl band Lip B, aka Light in Pandora Box, which consists of three Vietnamese and one South Korean, are professionally trained in singing and dance. Photo courtesy of 6SE

Boy bands, which have dominated the music scene for years, are now taking a back seat to the rising female stars.

Girl bands Lip B, LIME and TBC include young, attractive women who are well-trained in both singing and dance. With talent and style, the pop bands have quickly attracted the attention of many young people.

Singer Ông Cao Thắng, director of the Six Sense Entertainment Company (6SE), who manages Lip B, said the company was responsible for establishing the girl band Lip B.

Lip B, also known as Light in Pandora Box, consists of four members, including three Vietnamese and one South Korean, ranging in age from 21 to 23 years old.

They were chosen from more than 2,000 contestants from a nationwide talent search contest called We Need You organised by 6SE last year.

“The band members are trained in singing and dance,” Thắng said. “They also study English, and learn charisma and style so they can be confident in front of audiences and media.”

After one year of training, the group released its debut single Love You Want You in May, attracting 1 million listeners on online social media network ZingMp3 after five days.

The love song was co-written by singer Đông Nhi, young composer Huỳnh Hiền Năng, and producer and composer Đỗ Hiếu, who has written hits for pop stars like Hồ Ngọc Hà and Noo Phước Thịnh.

Its music video on YouTube, featuring images of beautiful school girls, also earned thousands of views.

“Many viewers say that our style is similar to South Korean pop bands,” said Annie, leader of Lip B, whose real name is Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy.

“Young people love their music and style. Many bands, including boys and girls, in Asian countries are trained in K-pop style. Why shouldn’t we follow their footsteps to make our performance professional,” Thủy said.

Last month, the band released its second song and music video Số Nhọ (Bad Luck), another work by Năng, featuring doo-wop music, a genre of music developed in African-American communities in the 1940s.

The song is now still in the top 10 of ZingMp3 music chart, and has had 4 millions views on YouTube.

“We are practising 10 hours a day to improve our performances and voices,” Thủy said, adding that her band was preparing to join a nationwide tour with singer Đông Nhi this year.

Like Lip B, LIME has four girls, who took part in the Ngôi Sao Việt (Vietnamese Star) talent search contest in 2014. The band was organised by V&K Entertainment, a joint venture of South Korea and Việt Nam.

After winning the talent contest, the girls were sent to be Korea for training.

Liz, leader of LIME, whose real name is Phan Kim Cương, said: “We have been trained by Korean instructors for several hours a day to improve singing skills, dance and acting. We also learned Korean to debut in Korea.”.

After one year of training, the band released its debut music video, Take it Slow, singing in both Vietnamese and Korean.

The song is written by Korean composer Kim Do Hoon, with Vietnamese lyrics by LIME. The video has attracted more than 1.8 million views.

“I’m surprised at their performance. It’s professional,” said Trần Thủy Tiên, a high school student in HCM City.

LIME, which now has three members, has released several singles, earning high recognition from young people both Korea and Việt Nam.

The group has taken part in music festivals and TV music shows in both countries.

“The appearance of young and talented girl bands is bringing a breath of fresh air to the country’s music market,” Thắng said.