History Music / Tara

[[quoteright:322:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Roly_Poly_2_44.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:322:T-ara come to get down!]]

T-ara (often stylized as T-ARA or T♔ARA- Korean: 티아라, Japanese: ティアラ) is a six member GirlGroup from Korea. They rotate leaders around, with Qri being the leader since July 2013. Their initial premise was their specialisation in ballads and midtempos, as their voices were best suited to that style. While deemed "super rookies", they had a rocky start due to lip-sync. Things changed after four members joined forces with male hip-hop group Supernova for the electroballad "TTL (Time To Love)"; it was a hit for both groups and paved the way for T-ara to smash the charts with the silly yet catchy [[CatGirl "Bo Peep Bo Peep"]].

They have had numerous lineup changes and '''very''' messy controversies that followed. T-ara started with Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae; Soyeon, Boram and Qri were added in after Jiwon and Jiae left before debut for "creative differences". Hwayoung joined the group in 2010 as the lead rapper, and in 2012 Areum joined in the summer while Dani, 12 at the time, was announced to be joining sometime in the future. However that year Hwayoung left the group, which resulted in a ''huge'' InternetBackdraft. This had followed several members[[note]]Eunjung, Hyomin, Soyeon and Jiyeon[[/note]] apparently [[http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/11571/20120727/t-ara-tweets-aimed-at-hwayoung.htm writing nasty tweets towards an injured Hwayoung]] who sat out of a concert. Despite the claims of bullying and "evidence" of varying authenticity that rolled in, what truly happened remains uncertain. This greatly hindered their image, though their following releases "Sexy Love" and repackage album ''Mirage'' performed better than expected. In July 2013, [[http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/breaking-ahreum-leaving-t-ara-for-solo-debut Ahreum also left the group]] in order to pursue solo activities, and so Dani has taken her part in the subunit T-ara N4. However it was announced in early 2015 that Dani would be joining an entirely new group instead of T-ara N4 - and so the original 6-member lineup stands.

Two subunits formed in 2013, T-ara N4 (T-ara Brand New 4) and QBS. T-ara N4[[note]](Eunjung, Jiyeon, Hyomin and Ahreum (now Dani))[[/note]] made their debut in Korea in April 2013 with the single "Jeon Won Ilgi"[[note]]Countryside Diary[[/note]]. While it failed to match their usual success in Korea, they received widespread attention from several noted U.S. artists and producers including Music/ChrisBrown, T.I., and Ray-J. They signed to Empire Records and released five versions of the song featuring a different rapper/singer for their U.S. debut, though they had a poor reception when they were special guests at Chris Brown's "concert" (aka. a swimming pool gig) in Las Vegas and apparently had cultural differences and miscommunications with him[[note]]he interrupted the girls in the middle of the song to promote an upcoming song without telling beforehand, leaving them scrambling around and looking ridiculous[[/note]]. Meanwhile, QBS[[note]](Soyeon, Boram and Qri)[[/note]] debuted in Japan with the single "Like The Wind" in June of 2013 and peaked at number 13 on the Oricon weekly charts with relatively little promotion or fanfare.

*** ''Jeon Won Diary'' (2013)

* BadassNormal: Soyeon in "Sexy Love," where she seems to be a normal person but is completely unbothered by the fact Eunjung comes into her club with a katana and starts a fight. Right there.
** Actually, she seems to give Jiyeon instruction first, then helps distract the blind Eunjung by playing loud, disruptive music.
* BareYourMidriff: Pretty much since day one.
* {{Bishoujo}}: They're considered to be exceptionally pretty among the Korean girl groups.
** Hyomin was a well-known internet ulzzang (people who are admired for their physical beauty) before being recruited for T-ara.

* BlondesAreEvil: Jiyeon in "Day By Day".
* {{Brainwashed}}: In "Day By Day" Jiyeon does this to Dani with unknown means, turning her into Eunjung.
* [[BreakoutCharacter Breakout Star]]: Jiyeon. Eunjung and Hyomin are also quite popular, but it seems like Jiyeon has become the unofficial "face" of the group.
* BreakupSong: "Cry Cry," "Lovey-Dovey," and "We Were In Love."
* CatGirl: Both the Japanese and Korean music videos for "Bo Peep Bo Peep."

** Their latest mini-album Black Eyes qualifies as this, especially since it was released on the back of the very cutesy "Roly-Poly."
*** This is most apparent in the videos for "Cry Cry" and "Lovey Dovey", best described as a "gangster mini-epic".
** And now, behold! Some [[http://www.theprophetblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/T-ara-Day-by-Day-MV.jpg photos]] from their [[http://www.theprophetblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Hyomin-Day-by-Day-e1339745951684.jpg Day By Day]] MV - which is TWENTY MINUTES LONG. (The redhead is Hyomin, and the dark haired girl is Dani.)
* DatePeepers: The T-ara members in "Like the First Time."

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: They got quite a few new female fans after dressing up as men for the Hallyu Dream Concert. "Manjung" and "Manri" were especially popular.
* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcUoFqGNW0E Zombie Version]] of their music video for "Lovey Dovey," one of three videos for the song.

* GirlGroup: Well, duh.
* GlowingEyes: Eunjung's blue eyes in "Day By Day." It's never really explained what they do, but they glow so obviously she has powers of some kind.

* GoodBadGirl: They even have a song called "I'm So Bad."
* GratuitousDiscoSequence: "Roly-Poly," anyone?
** Played straight, as the girls did cite SaturdayNightFever as a major influence.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Hyomin in "Day By Day".

* LetsDuet: Their breakout single "TTL (Time To Love) was a collaboration with hip-hop group Supernova.
** They collaborated with the same group for "TTL 2 (Listen)."
* LighterAndSofter: They go back and forth between this and DarkerAndEdgier all the time.
* MoodWhiplash: The majority of Black Eyes is decidedly darker in tone than their previous albums and minis...then you hear "O My God," a Christmas tune that sounds like it should be on a GirlsGeneration album, and the mood is lost.
** Not to mention in their video for "Lovey Dovey" (which is part two of their "gangster epic"), they go from the main character sitting moodily around thinking about the events of "Cry Cry" (part one), to Eunjung bouncing around in a club to "Lovey Dovey Dovey ah ah ah!", then it takes a turn for the worse.
* {{Mooks}}: Hoards of baddies in both "Cry Cry" and "Day By Day."
** Subverted in both because the mooks manage to accomplish a lot. In both music videos, they seriously injure the T-ara members.

** Hyomin, Eunjung are the the designated rappers of the group.
** Hwayoung was this as well before her departure from the group.
* NewSoundAlbum: Black Eyes.

* ObsessionSong: "I Go Crazy Because Of You" and, arguably, "Roly-Poly."
* OlderThanTheyLook: Boram, so much so that she has been pegged the "visual maknae" by the fandom. She is actually the oldest member in the group.
* PistolPose: Jiyeon in the promotional poster for the "Cry Cry" video.
** It looks like [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou Qri and Jiyeon are about to shoot each other]] in promotional photos for their upcoming single "Lovey Dovey." [[spoiler:This is {{foreshadowing}}, as Jiyeon (the heroine of Cry Cry) gets plastic surgery after she is beaten and becomes Qri for "Lovey Dovey".]]

* TheRival: Pre-Hwayoung-departure anyways, they are constantly compared to girl groups [[Music/{{Kara}} KARA]] and GirlsGeneration, who also popular KoreanPopMusic girl groups that made successful debuts in Japan.
* RuleOfSeven: When Hwayoung was added to the group.

** "I Go Crazy Because Of You."
* TeenIdol: Well this IS Korea we're talking about here.
* TranslatedCoverVersion: The group did this with "Bo Peep Bo Peep" and "Yayaya" when they released them as singles in Japan. It will undoubtedly happen again when they release their third single (and eventually their first Japanese album).
** Taiwanese singer Lotus Wang did a notably horrible remake of "Bo Peep Bo Peep" that went viral and was even featured on CNN. T-ara fans weren't happy about this as no mention was made of the group who helped make the song famous in the first place.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Jiyeon in "Day By Day," mainly to accentuate how evil she is.
* WhoWearsShortShorts: T-ara during promotions for "Roly-Poly."

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Eunjung in "Day By Day" (Part 2), with Hyomin having bright pink/red hair.
** Qri has [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/d91aaf86f3fe4ce45f235425778aad69/tumblr_mufsepKuxE1re3a6no1_500.jpg red hair]] in "Number Nine".
* ZettaiRyouiki: Most notably during the video for "I Go Crazy Because Of You." They were in schoolgirl outfits, after all.

They have had numerous lineup changes and '''very''' messy controversies that followed. T-ara started with Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae; Soyeon, Boram and Qri were added in after Jiwon and Jiae left before debut for "creative differences". Hwayoung joined the group in 2010 as the lead rapper, and in 2012 Areum joined in the summer while Dani, 12 at the time, was announced to be joining sometime in the future. However that year Hwayoung left the group, which resulted in a ''huge'' InternetBackdraft. This had followed several members[[note]]Eunjung, Hyomin, Soyeon and Jiyeon[[/note]] apparently [[http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/11571/20120727/t-ara-tweets-aimed-at-hwayoung.htm writing nasty tweets towards an injured Hwayoung]] who sat out of a concert. Despite the claims of bullying and "evidence" of varying authenticity that rolled in, what truly happened remains uncertain. This greatly hindered their image, though their following releases "Sexy Love" and repackage album ''Mirage'' performed better than expected. In July 2013, [[http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/breaking-ahreum-leaving-t-ara-for-solo-debut Ahreum also left the group]] in order to pursue solo activities, and so Dani has taken her part in the subunit T-ara N4. However she will no longer join the main group - and so the original 6-member lineup stands.

* T-ara N4 (Eunjung, Jiyeon, Hyomin and Dani)

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/06/core-contents-media-reveals-how-t-aras-dani-was-discovered It was revealed]] that [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/06/t-aras-dani-starts-a-new-life-in-korea Dani had grown up in America]], so she plays this trope straight.

*** ''White Winter'' (Extended Play) (2013)

** ''Vol. 2 Temptastic'' (2010)
** ''John Travolta Wanna Be'' (2011)

** ''White Winter'' (Extended Play) (2013)

*** ''Bo Peep Bo Peep'' (Single) (2011)
*** ''Yayaya'' (Single) (2011)
*** ''Roly-Poly'' (Single) (2012)
*** ''Lovey-Dovey'' (Single) (2012)

*** ''Sexy Love'' (Single) (2012)
*** ''Bunny Style!'' (Single) (2013)
*** ''Target'' (Single) (2013)

** ''NUMBER NINE (Japanese ver.) / Kioku - Kimi ga Kureta Michishirube - X'mas Edition'' (Extended Play) (2013)
** ''Lead The Way/[=LAboo'N=]'' (Single) (2014)

** Korean Discography
*** ''Countryside Diary'' (2013)
** American Discography
*** ''Countryside Diary'' (American Version/s) (TBA)
* QBS (Qri, Boram, and Soyeon)
** Japanese Discography
*** ''Like The Wind'' (Single) (2013)

** ''T-ARA Winter'' (Extended Play) (2013)

* DatePeepers: The T-Ara members in "Like the First Time."

T-ara (often stylized as T-ARA or T♔ARA- Korean: 티아라, Japanese: ティアラ) is a six member GirlGroup from Korea. They rotate leaders, with Qri being the leader since July 2013. Their initial premise was their specialisation in ballads and midtempos, as their voices were best suited to that style. While they were deemed "super rookies", they also had a rocky start due to their lip-syncing. Things changed after four members joined forces with male hip-hop group Supernova for the electroballad "TTL (Time To Love)," which was a hit for both groups and paved the way for T-ara to smash the charts with the silly yet catchy [[CatGirl "Bo Peep Bo Peep"]].

They have had numerous lineup changes and some '''very''' messy controversies that followed. T-ara started with Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae, but had Soyeon, Boram and Qri added in after Jiwon and Jiae departed before debut for "creative differences". Hwayoung officially joined the group in 2010 as the lead rapper, and in 2012 Areum joined for their summer promotions while Dani, 12 at the time, was initially announced to be joining sometime in the future. However later in 2012 it was announced that Hwayoung would be leaving the group, which resulted in a ''huge'' InternetBackdraft. This had followed several members [[note]]Eunjung, Hyomin, Soyeon and Jiyeon[[/note]] apparently [[http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/11571/20120727/t-ara-tweets-aimed-at-hwayoung.htm writing nasty tweets towards an injured Hwayoung]] who sat out of a concert. Despite the claims of bullying and "evidence" of varying authenticity that rolled in, what truly happened remains uncertain. This greatly hindered their image, though their following releases "Sexy Love" and repackage album ''Mirage'' performed considerably better than expected. In July 2013, [[http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/breaking-ahreum-leaving-t-ara-for-solo-debut Ahreum also left the group]] in order to pursue solo activities, and so her part in the subunit T-ara N4 has been given to Dani - however she will no longer join the main group, and so the original 6-member lineup stands.

Two subunits formed in 2013, T-ara N4 (T-ara Brand New 4) and QBS. T-ara N4 (Eunjung, Jiyeon, Hyomin and Ahreum (now Dani)) made their debut in Korea in April 2013 with the single "Jeon Won Ilgi"[[note]]Countryside Diary[[/note]]. While it failed to match their usual success in Korea, they received widespread attention from several noted U.S. artists and producers including Music/ChrisBrown, T.I., and Ray-J. They signed to Empire Records and released five versions of the song featuring a different rapper/singer for their U.S. debut, though they had a poor reception when when they were a special guest at Chris Brown's "concert" (aka. a swimming pool gig) in Las Vegas and apparently had "cultural differences" and miscommunication with Chris Brown[[note]]he interrupted the girls in the middle of the song to promote an upcoming song without telling beforehand, leaving them scrambling around and looking ridiculous[[/note]]. Meanwhile, QBS (Soyeon, Boram and Qri) debuted in Japan with the single "Like The Wind" in June of 2013 and peaked at number 13 on the Oricon weekly charts with relatively little promotion or fanfare.

* {{Adorkable}}: Boram is trope personified. She's tiny but eats her weight in fast food and candy whenever she gets the chance. She's also one of the funnier members to watch on their reality shows.

* BigEater: Boram. Boram, Boram, Boram.
** And, to a lesser extent, Jiyeon.

* BreakTheCutie: Many fans feel that intimidation tactics are CEO Kim Kwang Soo's method of keeping the girls in check; after allowing the girls to go on their very first vacation in ''nearly three years'' since they debuted, he then proceeded to release a statement to the Korean media stating that T-ara would be massively restructured, including member changes if needed. The worst part is that the girls themselves found out about it ''only after hearing about it on the news.'' Kim Kwang Soo has always been a bit of a bully though, as he called for the blacklisting of fellow girl group Music/{{Kara}} when they had problems with their label, DSP Media, in 2011; he also blacklisted Jiae and Jiwon, two of the original members of T-ara, which has made it notoriously hard for the girls to find work in the entertainment industry.
** His handling of the Hwayoung affair has this written all over it. He's made a big deal of shifting all the blame for her departure onto her, and indirectly warned her to keep her mouth shut about it. People speculate that things wouldn't have gotten as bad as they did if it hadn't been for his shady comments, contradictions[[note]]His stance about Hwayoung's departure contradicts Soyeon's interview about the same topic.[[/note]], lying[[note]]He inflated Soyeon's accident so that it was believed that Soyeon suffered a neck injury in a car accident after being tossed out of the car and onto nearby farmland... when an accident that bad would probably have killed the victim. Jokes about Soyeon being an Olympic gymnast have sprung up.[[/note]], and otherwise continuously playing the media.
** The aftermath of the Hwayoung incident is this for the other girls. They're being labelled as evil bitches who did nothing but torment poor innocent Hwayoung, and so far have received suicide petitions (and had their parents told that they should kill themselves for raising such evil children), and other, even nastier messages (one particularly awful comment said [[spoiler:that the girls - Jiyeon in particular - should be gang raped, given HIV and then have their "demon babies" ripped out of them, and that they should be made to "suffer"]]). There are also a series of photomanipulations out there of Jiyeon [[spoiler:with a noose around her neck and "Hang the slut" scrawled across it in red writing, and of her with an image of a gun on one side of her head, and a blood splatter on the other]]. People are also smashing their T-ARA [=CDs=] and putting photos of the act on Tumblr and the [=AllKPop=] forums; several ex-fans have even gone so far as to tweet the images to the members of T-ara ''themselves.''
*** Indeed, it's gotten so bad that other celebrities (like rapper e.Via) have spoken out against the "witch hunt" being perpetrated against the girls, and [=AllKPop=] itself posted an [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/08/op-ed-guilty-until-proven-innocent-the-lynch-mob-against-t-ara-and-whos-really-to-blame article]] condemning those who have committed acts like those mentioned above, and revealing that the majority of the "bullying" events that netizens claimed to have found were taken out of context or scripted events. Not that this has stopped any of the "lynch mob" or affected their beliefs.
*** Hell, just read the comments on [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/08/t-aras-soyeon-involved-in-car-accident-sent-to-emergency-room any]] [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/08/t-aras-soyeon-interviewed-about-her-new-drama-hwayoung-incident recent]] article regarding T-ARA. Chances are you'll find death threats on the first page.
*** It's a bit hypocritical of [=AllKPop=], though - they were caught rewriting article headlines to make the girls look worse - for example, they originally posted an article titled "T-Ara's Boram Ruins Hwayoung's Umbrella?", then after the scandal was in full force, they re-posted the article with a re-written title: "T-Ara's Boram Destroys Hwayoung's Umbrella!"

* DarkerAndEdgier: The girls sexed it up for their 2010 hit "I Go Crazy Because Of You."

* MotorMouth: Hyomin, Eunjung are the the designated rappers of the group.

* NostalgiaFilter: A lot of people missed the "old" T-ara from their debut after Temptastic and John Travolta Wanna Be were released.

* TheRival: They are constantly compared to girl groups [[Music/{{Kara}} KARA]] and GirlsGeneration, especially since they recently made their Japanese debut (both of the aforementioned girl groups also made successful debuts in Japan recently).

* ShesGotLegs: It is a female K-Pop group, after all.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: While she has yet to debut, [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/06/core-contents-media-reveals-how-t-aras-dani-was-discovered it was revealed]] that [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/06/t-aras-dani-starts-a-new-life-in-korea Dani had grown up in America]], so this trope will likely be played straight.

T-ara (often stylized as T-ARA or T♔ARA- Korean: 티아라, Japanese: ティアラ) is a six member girl group from Korea. They rotate leaders, with Qri being the leader since July 2013. Their initial premise was their specialisation in ballads and midtempos, as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music. While they were decently received and deemed "super rookies" and a "pretty group", they also had a rocky start due to their lip-syncing. Things changed after four members joined forces with male hip-hop group Supernova for the electroballad "TTL (Time To Love)," which was a hit for both groups and paved the way for T-ara to smash the charts with the silly-yet-catchy [[CatGirl "Bo Peep Bo Peep"]].

They have had numerous lineup changes and '''very''' messy controversies that followed the addition/removal of members. T-ara started as five members (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae) but had Soyeon, Boram and Qri added in after Jiwon and Jiae departed just before debut for "creative differences". Hwayoung officially joined the group in 2010 as the lead rapper and in 2012 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean summer promotions while 13 year-old girl named Dani was initially announced to be joining sometime in the future. However that same year it was announced that Hwayoung would be leaving the group, which resulted in a ''huge'' InternetBackdraft. This had followed several T-ARA members [[note]]Eunjung, Hyomin, Soyeon and Jiyeon[[/note]] apparently [[http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/11571/20120727/t-ara-tweets-aimed-at-hwayoung.htm writing nasty tweets towards an injured Hwayoung]] who sat out of a concert, and so claims that members bullied her rolled in; since majority of the evidence provided has been accused of and/or proven to be of dubious authenticity, what truly happened remains uncertain. This greatly hindered their image, though their following releases "Sexy Love" and repackage album ''Mirage'' both performed considerably better than expected. In July 2013, [[http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/breaking-ahreum-leaving-t-ara-for-solo-debut Ahreum announced]] that she would leave the group in order to pursue solo activities, and it was revealed that Dani would be taking over her part in the subunit T-ara N4. Dani will not, however, join the main group - and so the original 6-member lineup stands.

Two subunits formed in 2013, T-ara N4 (T-ara Brand New 4) and QBS. T-ara N4, comprising Eunjung, Jiyeon, Hyomin and Ahreum (now Dani), made their debut in Korea on April 29 2013 with the single "Jeon Won Ilgi"[[note]]Countryside Diary[[/note]]. While it failed to match their usual success in Korea, they received widespread attention from the likes of several noted U.S. artists and producers, including Music/ChrisBrown, T.I., and Ray-J. Afterward T-ara N4 signed to Empire Records in the U.S. and released five versions of the song featuring a different rapper or singer for their U.S. debut single. Promotions were awkward however when they were a special guest at Chris Brown's "concert" (actually just a swimming pool gig) in Las Vegas and had a poor reception and "cultural differences" and miscommunication between them and Chris Brown[[note]]he interrupted the girls in the middle of the song to promote an upcoming song without telling beforehand, leaving them scrambling around and looking ridiculous[[/note]]. Meanwhile, QBS, comprising Soyeon, Boram and Qri debuted in Japan; the trio released their first single, "Like The Wind," in June of 2013 and peaked at number 13 on the Oricon weekly charts with relatively little promotion or fanfare.

T-ara (Often stylized as T-ARA or T♔ARA- Korean: 티아라, Japanese: ティアラ) is a six member girl group from Korea; they are best known for their chameleon-like tendency of switching their concept and sound at the drop of a dime. While many praise their ability to adapt a new sound and image with relative ease, others say that it may be a detriment and have complained that the group seems to suffer from an "identity crisis." In their defense, the girls themselves gone on record saying that they STRIVE to be different with each release, and that it is their true appeal. For the most part they seem to be spot on...they are one of the bigger breakout girl groups of the last three years, and are responsible for some of the [[EarWorm most addictively catchy pop songs you'll ever hear.]]

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon, Boram and Qri, and T-ara was born.

Hwayoung officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she was the lead rapper (until she left). It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members would be joining the group; 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean promotions in the summertime of that year (and has since departed), while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, was initially announced to be joining T-ARA sometime in the future, but was revealed to only be taking Ahreum's place in the subunit "T-ARA N4". This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo.

Things got off to a rocky start for the group after their debut; while their lead single "Lies" performed decently for a rookie girl group, they came under attack for lip-syncing entire performances for "Wanna Play?" and "Lies" during music shows. Things changed after four of the girls joined forces with male hip-hop group Supernova for the electroballad "TTL (Time To Love)." The song became a hit for both groups, and paved the way for T-ara to smash the charts with the silly-yet-catchy [[CatGirl "Bo Peep Bo Peep"]]. Their debut album, Absolute (and subsequent repackage [[UpdatedRerelease Breaking Heart]]) were decent sellers. Since then the group has consistently revamped their image and sound. Sometimes it pays off ("Roly-Poly")...sometimes it doesn't ("Yayaya"). Their popularity has been on an upswing, thanks to a more adult sound with their latest mini-album [[DarkerAndEdgier Black Eyes]] and a successful debut in Japan, making them one of the more well-known and successful girl groups in Korea at the moment.

It was announced that there would be a "[[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/07/core-contents-media-to-make-a-major-announcement-regarding-t-ara major announcement made about the future of T-ARA]]" on July 30 2012 at 1 p.m. KST. Fans were nervous that this would result in members being kicked out, or worse - not made any better with the fact that this followed an incident where several T-ARA members (Eunjung, Hyomin, Soyeon and Jiyeon) apparently [[http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/11571/20120727/t-ara-tweets-aimed-at-hwayoung.htm wrote several nasty tweets towards Hwayoung]], who had been injured and forced to sit out at a concert. The result of the announcement was that that Hwayoung would be leaving the group, effective immediately, and has resulted in a ''huge'' InternetBackdraft. This has resulted in a lot of evidence being discovered that supported the claim of bullying; however, since the majority of the evidence provided has been accused of and/or proven to be of dubious authenticity, care is advised when examining the evidence.

Since the controversy and Kim Kwang Soo's subsequent announcement, the girls have recently released a new single, "Sexy Love", and a repackage of the ''Day By Day'' album entitled ''Mirage,'' both of which performed considerably better sales-wise than expected considering the girls' circumstances at the time. They also held successful showcases in Hong Kong and Malaysia, and EMI Japan seems to have faith in the girls, as they released a Japanese version of "Sexy Love" in October. The Japanese version of "Sexy Love" sold on par with (and, in some cases, better) than some of the girls' other Japanese singles. The Japanese version of "Sexy Love" has signaled a transition of focus from the Korean market to the Japanese market, as T-ara released and heavily promoted their first original Japanese single, entitled "Bunny Style!" in March of 2013. The single was positively received, as it debuted at number 2 on Oricon's physical singles chart and gave T-ara the best first-week single sales of their career in Japan. In any case, the girls will embark on their first Japanese arena tour in July 2013.

Eunjung, Jiyeon, Hyomin and Ahreum made their debut in Korea as a subunit under the name T-ara N4 (which is meant to stand for T-ara Brand New 4); the subunit debuted on April 29, 2013. Their debut single, "Jeon Won Ilgi" ("Countryside Diary") has so far failed to match the same levels of success as T-ara's past singles in Korea, possibly in part due to the song's very confrontational lyrics, most of which are directed at their detractors. Nonetheless, the group has received widespread attention from the likes of several noted U.S. artists and producers for the song and video, including Chris Brown, T.I., and Ray-J; on May 20th, 2013, T-ara N4 announced via press conference that they had been signed to Empire Records in the United States and would begin promoting in the U.S. by releasing an "American" version of Jeon Won Diary as their debut U.S. single; five versions have been commissioned for release, each version featuring a different rapper or singer. They began their promotions by performing as a special guest at Chris Brown's "concert" in Las Vegas, actually just a swimming pool gig, which was not received very well; their label has claimed there was some miscommunication between them and Chris Brown, and that there were "cultural differences" that added to the miscommunication (Chris Brown interrupted the girls in the middle of the song to promote an upcoming song - without telling the girls he would be doing so, leaving them scrambling around and looking ridiculous).

Shortly after T-ara N4 began promotions for "Countryside Diary" it was announced that Soyeon, Boram and Qri would debut in Japan as a subunit; the trio, which was called QBS, released their first single, "Like The Wind," in June of 2013 to moderate success; the single peaked at number 13 on the Oricon weekly charts with relatively little promotion or fanfare.

July saw the return of the group as a whole with the release of their next Japanese single, "Target," which was released in promotion of their second full-length Japanese album, ''Treasure Box.'' "Target" peaked within the top twenty of the Oricon charts; ''Treasure Box'' managed to debut at number one on Oricon's daily album chart but has ultimately failed to match the success of T-ara's first album, more than likely due in part to the decreased level of interest in the Hallyu Wave in Japan.

In early July 2013, [[http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/breaking-ahreum-leaving-t-ara-for-solo-debut Ahreum announced]] that she would leaving the group in order to pursue solo activities, and it was revealed that Dani would be taking over her part in T-ara N4, who have announced further plans to attempt entry into the American music market by releasing brand new, English language music. Dani will not, however, join the main group. Core Contents Media announced that plans for a new Korean album from the group are currently in the works, and that the group will promote as the original six for the time being, but nothing concrete has been determined as representatives have stated that they are still searching for the right song for the girls to promote. T-ara will also release and promote a new Japanese single, "Kioku~Kimi Ga Kureta Michishirube" from the soundtrack to the movie ''Jin X!,'' which Hyomin also starred in.

Qri has been the leader of the group since July 2013.

* ScullyBox: The girls stand on brightly lit pillars when they perform the ballad version of "Cry Cry." [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wP2btrtPV94/TsXLoMzKh4I/AAAAAAAAG7c/6ZOZE-XWF50/s1600/tara+cry+cry+ballad+%25281%2529.jpg Boram's]] is noticeably taller than any of the other girls.

*** It's a bit hypocritical of [=AllKPop=], though - they were caught rewriting article headlines to make the girls look worse - for example, they originally posted an article titled "T-Ara's Boram Ruins Hwayoung's Rmbrella?", then after the scandal was in full force, they re-posted the article with a re-written title: "T-Ara's Boram Destroys Hwayoung's Umbrella!"

** The aftermath of the Hwayoung incident is this for the other girls. They're being labelled as evil bitches who did nothing but torment poor innocent Hwayoung, and so far have received suicide petitions (and had their parents told that they should kill themselves for raising such evil children), and other, even nastier messages (one particularly awful comment said [[spoiler:that the girls - Jiyeon in particular - should be gang raped, given HIV and then have their "demon babies" ripped out of them, and that they should be made to "suffer"]]). There are also a series of photomanipulations out there of Jiyeon [[spoiler:with a noose around her neck and "Hang the slut" scrawled across it in red writing, and of her with an image of a gun on one side of her head, and a blood splatter on the other]]. People are also smashing their T-ARA [=CDs=] and putting photos of the act on Tumblr and the AllKPop forums; several ex-fans have even gone so far as to tweet the images to the members of T-ara ''themselves.''
*** Indeed, it's gotten so bad that other celebrities (like rapper e.Via) have spoken out against the "witch hunt" being perpetrated against the girls, and AllKPop itself posted an [[http://www.allkpop.com/2012/08/op-ed-guilty-until-proven-innocent-the-lynch-mob-against-t-ara-and-whos-really-to-blame article]] condemning those who have committed acts like those mentioned above, and revealing that the majority of the "bullying" events that netizens claimed to have found were taken out of context or scripted events. Not that this has stopped any of the "lynch mob" or affected their beliefs.

* ShoutOut: To SailorMoon, of all things, in "Number Nine": "(neombeonain) neon naui teoksidogamyeon/ (Number Nine) You are my Tuxedo Mask".

* T-ara N4 (Eunjung, Jiyeon, Hyomin and Ahreum)

** ''Lead The Way/LAboo'N'' (Single) (2014)

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri, and T-ara was born.

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri . T-ara was born. Hwayoung officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she was the lead rapper (until she left). It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members would be joining the group; 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean promotions in the summertime of that year (and has since departed), while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, was initially announced to be joining T-ARA sometime in the future, but was revealed to only be taking Ahreum's place in the subunit "T-ARA N4". This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo.

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri . T-ara was born. Hwayoung officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she was the lead rapper (until she left). It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members will join the group; 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean promotions in the summertime of that year (and has since departed), while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, was initially announced to be joining T-ARA sometime in the future, but was revealed to only be taking Ahreum's place in the subunit "T-ARA N4". This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo.

Since July 2013, the leader is Qri.

In early July 2013, [[http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/breaking-ahreum-leaving-t-ara-for-solo-debut Ahreum announced]] that she would leaving the group in order to pursue solo activities, and it was revealed that Dani would be taking over her part in T-ara N4, who have announced further plans to attempt entry into the American music market by releasing brand new, English language music. Dani will not, however, join the main group. Core Contents Media announced that plans for a new Korean album from the group are currently in the works, and that the group will promote as the original six for the time being, but nothing concrete has been determined as representatives have stated that they are still searching for the right song for the girls to promote. T-ara will also release and promote a new Japanese single, "Kioku~Kimi Ga Kureta Michishirube" from the soundtrack to the movie ''Jin X!,'' which T-ara member Hyomin also starred in.

Qri is the current leader of the group as of July, 2013.

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri . T-ara was born. Hwayoung officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she was the lead rapper (until she left). It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members will join the group; 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean promotions in the summertime of that year, while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, will join the group sometime in the future. This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo.

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri . T-ara was born. Hwayoung officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she is the designated rapper (until she left). It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members will join the group; 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean promotions in the summertime of that year, while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, will join the group sometime in the future. This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo.

** Actually, she seems to first give Jiyeon instruction, then helps distract the blind Eunjung by playing loud, disruptive music.

On October 10, 2013, they released two new songs ("Number Nine" and "I Know The Feeling"), as well as their latest EP, "Again".

** His handling of the Hwayoung affair has this written all over it. He's made a big deal of shifting all the blame for her departure onto her, and indirectly warned her to keep her mouth shut about it. People speculate that things wouldn't have gotten as bad as they did if it hadn't been for his shady comments, contradictions[[hottip:*:His stance about Hwayoung's departure contradicts Soyeon's interview about the same topic.]], lying[[hottip:*:He inflated Soyeon's accident so that it was believed that Soyeon suffered a neck injury in a car accident after being tossed out of the car and onto nearby farmland... when an accident that bad would probably have killed the victim. Jokes about Soyeon being an Olympic gymnast have sprung up.]], and otherwise continuously playing the media.

T-ara started as a five-member vocal group (Hyomin, Eunjung, Jiyeon, Jiwon, and Jiae); their premise was that they would specialize in ballads and midtempos, [[IronyAsSheIsCast as the girls' voices were best suited to that style of music.]] Everything seemed to be going well for the group; they had been pegged as "super rookies" because they trained for three years before their debut, nearly a year longer than most groups. The girls were instantly pegged as a "pretty" group due to their physical beauty. Jiwon and Jiae departed just before their debut citing "creative differences". Enter Soyeon and Boram and Qri . T-ara was born. Hwayoung officially joined the group shortly before promotions for their mini-album Temptastic began; she is the designated rapper. It was announced in April of 2012 that two new members will join the group; 18 year-old Areum joined T-ara for their Korean promotions in the summertime of that year, while the second, a 14 year-old girl named Dani, will join the group sometime in the future. This has caused some friction in the fandom as when the addition of new members was announced it was unknown if they would simply be additions to the group or if they would replace existing members; the possibility of established members leaving the group remains a possibility, according to CCM CEO Kim Kwang Soo.

*** '' Kioku~Kimi Ga Kureta Michishirube''