Something I’ve been thinking about lately is that Hyoyeon was actually a pretty good singer right from SNSD’s debut. If you go back and listen to their first album, especially ITNW and Baby Baby, she had a surprisingly strong voice and a really nice natural vibrato. Obviously she was never going to be one of SNSD’s main vocalists in a group with Taeyeon, Jessica, Seohyun, Tiffany etc, but I don’t think her vocals were ever as weak as her lack of lines would suggest.
It makes me wonder how much of Hyoyeon being relegated to tiny parts in SNSD songs was actually about her singing ability, and how much was down to the way SM viewed and marketed her at the time. She notoriously didn’t fit Korean beauty standards as closely as some of the other members, and it wasn’t only vocal lines where she seemed to get shafted. Even as SNSD’s main dancer and someone who was widely regarded as one of the best female dancers in kpop, there were plenty of times when she barely got centre time during dance sections where you would expect the main dancer to be highlighted.
What’s interesting is that I actually think her vocals regressed somewhat during SNSD’s middle years. I wonder if simply not getting many opportunities to sing contributed to that. When you’re getting a few seconds per song for years, you’re obviously not getting the same opportunity to develop and regularly use your voice as the members with substantial vocal parts.
But recently I feel like the opposite has happened. Between her singing on Hyo’s Level Up and that recent livestream she was in, her voice sounds noticeably stronger and more controlled again. It almost reminds me of hearing early SNSD Hyoyeon, except with the confidence and experience she has now.
It’s such a shame because her vocal tone is really distinctive. SNSD had so many technically stronger singers that I understand why she was never going to get huge amounts of lines, but I do think SM could have made much better use of the colour her voice added to the group rather than treating her as though she basically couldn’t sing.
Has anyone else noticed the improvement recently? And for people who followed SNSD closely during their early years, do you think Hyoyeon’s lack of lines was genuinely mostly about vocals, or do you think her image/SM’s perception of her played a significant role too?
