Super Junior says "we could go for 20-30 more years

Super Junior says "we could go for 20-30 more years"

Q: There are a few members missing this time. How does it feel?
Heechul: Of course we're sad. I also suffered from a bit of depression because of such incidents and I had a very hard time.

Q: A lot has happened within the team. Shindong, you confessed your love through your new album. How did your agency respond?
Heechul: I think they only let it out because they didn't know what it means. (laugh)
Shindong: If I had written it in Korean, I think they would've asked me to do it next time. (laugh)
Heechul: I had talked about this earlier with Lee Teuk but if a fan had bought an album, saw that Shindong had written a code so crack it to see he had asked someone to marry him... We're lucky if the fan doesn't rip up the album. (laugh) Shindong actually kept apologizing to us before we gave our comeback performance for "BONAMANA."
Lee Teuk: There could've been mixed responses to what he did but we're grateful that there have been a lot of good articles on it.
Shindong: I've become a romantic guy thanks to them. I'm thankful.

Q: Did you all know about this?
Lee Teuk: Heechul did.
Heechul: I agreed do Shindong when he told me he wanted to do this. I told him it's great. A guy should confess when he has to. But when I saw what it [the code] read when it was deciphered... was it a sight to see. (laugh) I didn't know it was going to be that serious.
Lee Teuk: We were doing a photo shoot when he was writing it. He kept looking up something on the computer keyboard.

Q: Do you plan on getting married if for example, the song does well?
Lee Teuk: Like getting married if we sell over one million albums. (laugh)
Shindong: I will if we sell under one million. (laugh)
Heechul: I'll sing the nuptial song. Love so hurts... (laugh)
Lee Teuk: It was only possible because it was Shindong. He's the one who gave our group a friendly image. Everyone else is slim and good looking so there was a distance between the public and us...
Heechul: It sounds like you're dissing Shindong.
Lee Teuk: No, I'm not dissing him. (laugh) I'm just saying that we must have Shindong on our team for his friendly image.
Shindong: I'm grateful that you think of me like that. I'm very grateful toward my group because I hear the word 'pretty boy' wherever we go. (laugh)
Heechul: Now, let's not be too grateful toward each other. (laugh)

Q: The group went through a lot before this album came out so I think you must've felt different preparing for it. How did you feel while rehearsing?
Eunhyuk: Everyone was feeling different. It was great because we practiced with the determination we had when we first debuted. Donghae and I are in charge of the choreography so we had to take the lead in showing that we were going to work really hard this time so we got almost no sleep preparing for the album this time.
Donghae: I was so stressed that I even had nightmares. I was very shocked because I dreamed that we were rehearsing for our comeback performance but everyone snickered at us.
Lee Teuk: Eunhyuk said he had a similar dream too. I was very surprised that everyone was under so much pressure.

Q: Some people are pointing out that your title track "BONAMANA" is similar to your previous song "Sorry Sorry."
Lee Teuk: I know. But I think that's our style. It's an extension of "Sorry Sorry" but also the last word to it.

Q: There's a dance move which looks like you guys are skating.
Lee Teuk: The choreographer said he thinks of skating when he thinks of Korea. (laugh)

Q: The choreography for "BONAMANA" looks like it's more complicated than before. Did you not have a hard time memorizing it? (laugh)
Eunhyuk: It was supposed to be even more difficult. We changed some of the difficult moves so they'd be easier because we had to keep some of the moves which were key to the song. It was so tough every time though. It felt like we were continuously running full speed.
Lee Teuk: Isn't Super Junior great because we can pull off even the most complex choreography? (laugh) The choreographer said our moves this time our energy. The person who came up with the choreography for "Sorry Sorry" came up with our choreography again this time. We're very grateful to him because he was supposed to join the Michael Jackson tribute concert.

Q: Isn't the new song hard to sing because you have to go with the bounce from the start. Especially for the members who are used to singing ballad songs, how was it?
Kyuhyun: In my case, I'm better at singing ballads but it wasn't too bad because I've been a dance singer. I have been practicing constantly. And I think I've been able to show diverse sides to myself through this album because there are a lot of ballad songs too.

Q: How was it singing Yoo Hee-yeol's "Good Person"?
Kyuhyun: I was under a lot of pressure because it's such a classic that I couldn't mess up on it. We talked with the directors for a long time about the song, saying a certain part should be sung with such and such emotions, that we sounded we're smiling too much in another segment, that this is a sad song.
Lee Teuk: We edited the song quite a bit because it's a classic and Yoo Hee-yeol hosts his radio show right after ours so he asked about it too. After our album came out, he said he listened to our version of the song and when we asked "It's not as great, right?" he said it was good so we were thankful.
Yesung: When I heard we would be recording "Good Person," I thought it would be Park Hyo-shin's "Good Person." (laugh)

Q: Haha, Yesung, you must go on variety shows.
Yesung: I am extremely interested in variety shows. (laugh)

Q: Lee Teuk, Eunhyuk, Shindong, the three of you are regulars on SBS talk show "Steel (Strong) Heart." But it must be difficult trying to head a segment of the program for several minutes.
Lee Teuk: We seen quite a number of photographs get ripped up (laugh) but the more it happens, the public wants to see more intense photos while the celebrities want to hide more. We were able to understand what a hard time comedians must have. And it's usually hard to maintain a segment for more than three months. We're into our ninth month now and it's very tough. So I'm thinking we should come up with something different.

Q: Isn't it difficult getting the guests to display their talents on the show?
Lee Teuk: (Sigh and laugh) It's really difficult. And many of them say they don't want to so we have to keep persuading them.
Eunhyuk: I had never been that interested in variety shows but I started taking part in it little by little because it sounded like so much fun when I listened to it. And then we got to appear on "Strong Heart" but I felt so much pressure to make people laugh. The two led the segment well though. Honestly, I'm doing a lot of freeriding. (laugh)
Yesung: When I see them talk to each other, it really looks like they don't even have time to sleep because they're so busy coming up with what to do for "Strong Heart." Shindong looks at the Internet a lot, Lee Teuk is the one who wraps up the jokes and the segment and Eunhyuk does well in spicing up ... I didn't know they'd do such a good job.

Q: Some of you do musicals. Have the experiences helped in your singing career?
Yesung: They have really helped a lot. I have got to try acting and do more thorough jobs with practicing singing live after doing musicals. I've also gone back to the determination of when I was a new singer after meeting seniors in musicals. There were about 40 people who were older than me on set so I started by going around with 40 cups of coffee to say hello to everyone.
Sungmin: I think I've become more freely on stage after doing musicals. I used to just sing and dance on stage but I have to act and calculate for musicals so when I perform "BONAMANA," I became more comfortable putting on expressions or actions that I never had before. So I want to keep doing musicals.

Q: You said on "Strong Heart" that Heechul almost quit Super Junior. Didn't you guys need time to form some sort of mutual understanding again after having been through so much?
Lee Teuk: We talked a lot while we were on our Asia tour. Everyone usually has a lot of individual schedules to fulfill so we have time to talk before and after our concerts which is when we talk about everything. Heechul and I become very close because of our Asia tour.

Q: Then had you felt awkward around him before?
Lee Teuk: No awkward but we had always told each other that we should only be friends. We didn't talk much about work together. But with what has happened, we ended up talking a lot about work too.
Heechul: Our personalities are completely opposite from each other and we haven't really worked together that much either so that's why we didn't talk much even when we're at home together. We even started having different opinions on issues and after wondering why that was happening, Lee Teuk, Shindong and I said we should go back to eight years ago which was before we had debuted, and just let out everything, cursing and all. That's when things cleared up.

Q: What did you talk about?
Heechul: I just felt much better going back to the days we were friends and talking about anything and everything. Before, I avoided appearing on variety shows with other members of my group because it felt uncomfortable and we had our difference of opinions. We would also have to talk about incidents we experienced as a group but there were many things i didn't know because we were close as friends but not as a teammates working together. But I ended up talking with Lee Teuk and Shindong for about five hours, felt much more comfortable after that, and decided to say what we did on "Strong Heart." I have a lot of fun on variety shows these days.
Lee Teuk: He calls up producers himself these days and sets schedules. (laugh)

Q: Heechul, do you plan to continue appearing on variety shows?
Heechul: I'm considering making appearances here and there starting with the second season of "Family Outing" (laugh) but I know that I have my ups and downs when I make guest appearances. And I don't have that many stories to tell so I know people would get sick of me easily if I go on too many. That's why I'm taking caution to prepare myself as an emcee. I personally would like to host a program like Super Junior's "Super Show." As a joke I tell producers and executives that I want to do a show like that. (laugh) I used to be very anxious. I was under the pressure to achieve something before I go to the army but it felt like I hadn't quite found my place yet. But once I eased myself out of those feelings, I saw myself on a much larger picture. It's my dream to act but I've also wanted to do a variety show with my group.

Q: We heard that Kang-in will be going to the army within the year. What about the rest of you?
Lee Teuk: I think we'll be going next year or the year after that rather than this year. We plan on putting in our best efforts for our careers and go without having any regrets.

Q: You're idols who are now even considering getting married. How do you feel compared to when you first debuted?
Lee Teuk: We're aging with the people who liked us from when we debuted, which I think is amazing. I'm also surprised at how I've been able to last this long. A lot has happened over the years which has helped me to grow stronger so I don't think I'll be shaken up by small incidents anymore. I think we'd be able to last for another 20 to 30 years at this rate. We'll also have to go to the army soon and of course we should go since it's our military duty to. I hope we'll be able to say at the end of the year that we worked hard and have no regrets.

Source: asiae.co.kr - 1 & 2

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Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@. Lee Ji-Hye seven@
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