Jang Minho
Jang Minho (, born 11 September 1977), also spelled as "Jang Min-ho" (or "Jang Min Ho"), is a South Korean singer. He competed in the TV Chosun audition show "Mr. Trot", placing in the top sixth. He is also a model, dancer, and TV presenter. Career. 1997 - 1999: Boy band. Jang started his musical career as a leader of the Korean idol group U-BeS in 1997, at that time he used his birth name Jang Hogeun. He spent a year before debut as a trainee for practicing singing and dancing with his group members. The group released  two regular albums but disbanded due to poor album sales and disagreements with the agency. Later He revealed in an interview that they were beaten by the head of the agency. U-BeS' official time of disbandment has never been announced officially however the interview with CJ net reported it was 1999. 2004 - 2005 : K-pop duo. After five years of hiatus, he formed a k-pop duo Baram (meaning 'wind' in Korean) with Seo Woo in 2004. Baram released the album "Just like a wind". He used the stage name Jang-goon. Son Dam-bi before her debut appeared  in their music video "To Love" (사랑하다). Baram wasn't successful in Korea though they received some attention in China. 2011–Present : Trot Singer. Jang was enlisted in 2007 and was released in 2009. He graduated from graduate school (Performing Arts Major in Dankook Graduate School of Cultural Arts and Design), and tried to get a job as a steward in a foreign airline with his Chinese skills. Jang met his current manager in grad school, and was persuaded into making a comeback. In 2011 after a year of preparation he released his trot debut single, "Love you, Nuna" using  his current stage name Jang Minho. His first trot single failed. In 2012 he participated KBS's audition show '' and won the contest along with singer-songwriter, LEN as a duo. Despite Jang and LEN won the contest, KBS hasn't done any support as they promised for the show's final winners. 2 months after the contest Jang released EP album "The Man Says" (남자는 말합니다). Although the album didn't get much attention as released, the title song "The Man Says" began to gain popularity and became his signature song. The song earned him a nickname "omtongnyong"(a compound  word of mom and president). 2020–Present : Mr. Trot and Popularity. In 2020 he was a finalist on the Mr. Trot reality television show, placing sixth. Mr. Trot surpassed a 30 percent viewership rating, highest was 35.7 percent and over 7.7 million text message-based votes were cast during the two-hour program, a record for TV audition shows. Owing to his popularity after the competition, he won first place in a survey to "Pick the best trot singer," with 294,730 votes. Also, he ranked 15th of Singer Brand Reputation July, 2020. The same year he created his YouTube channel  and gained over 20,000 subscribers in 2 hours. He is an advertising model and spokesperson. According to Ildong Foodis, they increased the product sales 7.8 billion KRW the first half of 2020 by hiring him as a model. In early 2022, Ildong Foodis announced "Himmune", known as Jang Minho Protein, has accumulated 130 billion KRW in cumulative sales. Beginning in May 6th 2022, Jang embarks on the concert tour "'Min-Won satisfied"' with . Tickets for the concert, performing in four cities, were sold out all 16,000 seats as soon as they opened. Ho Entertainment announced, Jang releases the digital single  'Hoechori' on May 1, 2022. Personal life. Jang was born in Busan and moved to Incheon while he was little. He is the youngest one of three siblings. He has a brother and a sister. When he was a high school student, he went to acting school in Seoul from Incheon and did modeling for various TV commercials. He was born September 11, 1977 but celebrates his birthday by the lunar calendar which is July 28. Fans often misunderstand and also get confused because the lunar calendar changes the date every year. He received a master's degree in Performing  Arts from Dankook University Graduate School of Culture and Arts. Jang is fluent in Chinese. Others. Jang has been sponsoring three children through Compassion Korea (한국컴패션) since 2009. Also he is active member of Compassion Band since 2006. He writes lyrics and composes songs. He wrote the lyrics for his fellow singer Namgoong Moonjeong's song "Goodbye my youth" (잘있거라 내청춘) with the songwriter JMStyle. He wrote the lyrics and co-composed one of fans' favorite songs "You know my name" () thinking of his late father. On March 21, 2021, his fans celebrated the 10th anniversary of his trot debut . They posted congratulatory advertisements on the billboards of bus stops, subway stations, and shopping malls, etc. In particular, his overseas fans even sent congratulatory videos to Times Square in New York. Gallup Korea has revealed the results of its annual survey of the most loved artists and songs of the year. Jang ranked the eighth as the most influential singer with 8.5 percent of the vote in the over-40 age bracket. Discography. Compilation albums. Ppongsoongah School albums All Album info <> Romantic Call Centre albums Romantic Call Centre released a digital album every week. Jang participated all albums. All  Album info <> Mr. Trot albums TV Chosun's survival audition show Mr. Trot released 9 albums including 2 instrumental albums. Five of the seven albums contain his songs. Other compilation albums There are countless various albums containing Jang's hit songs. Writing credits. All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database. Filmography. Audition show. Judge Contender Concerts and tours. The 1st solo concert tour '"Drama"' (Oct. 2021 ~ ) Mr. Trot concert tours