Bada

I. Introduction

Bada (바다/Sea) is a Korean pop singer and actress. She first debuted as the lead singer of S.E.S, one of the most popular girl groups in K-pop in the 90's. Since 2003 is a solo artist.

II. Career

Choi Sung-hee was born February 28, 1980, her father is Choi Sae-wol, a trot singer with a background in Korean pansori. Due to financial struggle during her childhood, especially after her father fell ill, she lived in a container home provided by a local church for nine years until her debut. In a recent series of lectures for youth, she has addressed her beginning and has encouraged students to not let their background become an obstacle in obtaining their dreams.

Bada was scouted by Lee Soo-man and entered SM Entertainment. She debuted as the leader and lead vocal of S.E.S., the first successful female K-pop idol group.

Bada studied theater at Dankook University.

Bada made her debut with S.E.S. in 1997. The group released their debut album I'm Your Girl on November 1, 1997. The group later became the top-selling K-pop girl group. Since their debut, the group has released five Korean albums and two Japanese albums. The group released a compilation album, Friend before breaking up at the end of 2002. Members Bada and Eugene parted ways from SM Entertainment, while Shoo stayed with SM Entertainment until 2006.

Bada signed an exclusive contract with WoongJin entertainment. In 2003, Bada released her debut solo album A Day of Renew that has sold approximately 130,000 records, according to the Music Industry Association of Korea. Bada became the first Korean idol singer to venture onto the musical stage in 2003 with the musical Peppermint, a love story about a singer named Bada. It was written for her by creator and producer Lee Yuri, who is also responsible for other musical projects such as Typhoon, Mother and Winter Sonata.

In 2004, her second album Aurora was released and has sold approximately 23,000 copies.

In 2006, her third album, Made in Sea, was a big success. In 2007, Bada was cast in the role of Denise in the Korean version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tell Me on a Sunday. Right afterward, she took on the role of Esmeralda as a part of the original Korean cast of Notre-Dame de Paris. Her widely praised portrayal of Esmeralda gained her acceptance as a musical actress and won her the Best Newcomer Actress award and others at The Musical Awards and the Korea Musical Daesangs in 2008; she reprised the role in 2009.

In 2009, Bada released her fourth album called See the Sea which featured both Korean rap group Untouchable and 2PM's Ok Taecyeon. The following year, 200 Pounds Beauty, a musical based on the popular movie of the same name, cast Bada in the titular role of Kang Hanbyul, an overweight ghost singer who aspires to become a star and undergoes extensive plastic surgery. Bada's turn as Kang earned her the Best Actress honor at the third The Musical Awards. She was recast in 2011 for the project.

In 2010, Bada played Peggy Sawyer in Broadway on 42nd Street.

In 2012, she briefly took on the role of Mozart's wife, Constanze, in Mozart! In June 2013, she was cast as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. During Legally Blonde, her mother died. Despite the loss, Bada continued performances for the musical until its final run and famously sang Secret Garden's "You Raise Me Up" on KBS's Open Music Concert just two days after her mother's death. She has since stated that this loss was the reason for her relative inactivity in both her music and musical career from 2011 to mid-2013. She also cast as Marguerite in the first Korean adaptation of Frank Wildhorn's The Scarlet Pimpernel. That same year, Bada appeared as a vocalist for the song "City Life" on American electronic musician Brian Transeau's electronic dance music album A Song Across Wires. She returned as Esmeralda in the 2013 production of Notre-Dame de Paris. She then signed on to depict Carmen in the first Korean production of the musical Carmen.

On May 28, Bada, along with S.E.S. members Eugene and Shoo, attended a charity event, Green Heart Bazaar. Bada released special album title Flower on June 13, 2016 to celebrate her 20th debut anniversary. The single contains four tracks with lead single Flower featuring popular rapper Kanto. She released double music video for Flower on June 13 and Amazing on June 15. A few weeks later, Bada released special summer album title Summertime on June 26. Bada later released collaboration single Cosmic with Super Junior's Ryeowook on September 22, as a part of S.M. Entertainment project SM Station.

In October 2016, Bada, along with Eugene and Shoo re-formed S.E.S. to celebrate their 20 years debut. They started their project of the 20th anniversary debut with released digital single "Love[Story]", a remake of their 1999 single "Love", through S.M. Entertainment's digital project SM Station on November 28 and its music video released on December 29.

In early December 2016, they aired their ten episode reality show "Remember, I'm Your S.E.S.", which broadcast through mobile app Oksusu. To accompany their 20th anniversary debut, they held a concert "Remember, the Day", on December 30 and 31 at Sejong University's Daeyang Hall in Seoul.

On January 2, the special album of their 20th anniversary debut Remember was released. The album consists of double lead singles. "Remember" was digitally released on January 1 and "Paradise" was released along with the album on January 2. They held a fanmeet as their last project of their 20th anniversary debut called "I Will Be There, Waiting for You" on March 1, 2017. In July 2017, she became the vocal mentor for survival show Idol School.

Bada successfully held her solo concert for the 20th anniversary debut "Twenty Steps" on December 31, 2017 at the grand hall of Unjeong Green Campus at Sungshin Women's University.

On October 14, 2019 Wave Nine announced Bada's comeback with a single title "Off The Record" set to release for October 24.

On April 19, 2020 Bada teamed up with 33 singers to release remake song of Yang Hee-eun's "Evergreen" for the medical professionals around the world fighting COVID-19 and also mark the 60th anniversary of the April 19 Revolution.

In May 2024, Bada would perform "Mad" on multiple radio shows and the performance show Zico's Seasons (Titled in the Western territories as The Seasons: Artist with ZICO).

III. Discography

IIII. Albums

[2003.10.22] A DAY OF RENEW

[2004.09.27] AURORA

[2006.01.26] Made in Sea

[2009.08.06] Barareaul Badaboda (바다를 바라보다; Look at the Sea)

Mini-Albums

[2016.06.13] FLOWER

IIIII. Singles

[2006.11.16] Start

[2007.07.26] Queen

Digital Singles

[2008.01.04] Think About' Chu (Bada & Wind City)

[2009.10.09] Yes I'm In Love

[2010.02.12] Strong World (스트롱 월드)

[2010.07.22] King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo OST Part.4 (제빵왕 김탁구)

[2011.09.16] Nawa Gachi (나와 같이)

[2011.10.14] A Thousand Kisses OST Part.4 (천 번의 입맞춤)

[2012.11.12] Glass Mask OST Part.2 (드라마의 제왕)

[2014.12.19] Winter Ballad Single 'Akkawo' (아까워)

[2016.07.26] Summer Time

[2016.09.23] Cosmic (Bada & Ryeowook)

[2017.11.05] Manyeoui Beobjeong OST Part 3 (마녀의 법정; Witch at Court)

[2019.10.24] OFF THE RECORD

IIIIII. Collaborations/Others

[2002.04.28] Rain - N001 (#8 Like You feat. Bada)

[2004.11.15] Sorry I Love You OST (#5 Next Day)

[2004.11.24] 2004 Christmas Story (#15 Merry Christmas! I Love You)

[2004.12.06] Miracle Vol.2 (#2 My Love, #6 Born to be Loved)

[2006.03.31] Spring Waltz OST (#12 Rainbow)

[2006.08.01] Park Myeong Su - Long Legs (#1 Long Legs (feat. Bada))

[2006.08.22] Famous Princesses OST (#1 Restart (Opening))

[2007.05.28] Dynamic Duo - ENLIGHTENED (#3 Dream (feat. Bada))

[2008.01.21] Notre-Dame de Paris OST Single (#2 Bohemienne, #3 Les Oiseaux Qu’On Met En Cage (Bada & Hyung Ryul Yun))

[2008.04.15] I Love You OST (#5 My Destiny (with Cho Kyu Chan))

[2010.01.08] Shoo - Devote One's Love (#4 With Me (Song For Shoo With Bada, Eugene))

IV. Filmography

IVI. Musicals

[2003.09.19 ~ 10.23] Peppermint

[2007.10.01 ~ 11.25] Tell Me on a Sunday

[2008.01.18 ~ 04.19] Notre-Dame de Paris

[2008.11.27 ~ 2009.02.01] 200 Pounds Beauty

[2010.09.29 ~ 11.21] 42nd Street

[2010.11.19 ~ 2011.03.20] Legally Blonde

IVII. Voice Acting

[2004] Howl's Moving Castle (Korean dub)

Commercials

[2001] Caress

[2002~2003] Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

[2007~2009] Seoul "Dasan 120"

[2009] Seoul Water "Arisoo"

[2009] Seoul "Hope Dream Project"

IVIII. Model/Endorsements

[2004] M•A•C

[2005] GIA

[2005] Christian Ross Eyewear Fashion Show

[2005] Cleo Jewelry

[2005] Burberry Golf

[2005] S/S 2005 Eyewear Fashion Show

[2005] S/S SFA 2006 Pret-a-Porte Fashion Show

[2005] S/S Seoul Collection 2006

[2006] CorCaRoli

[2006] SuperStar T.I STORY

[2006] Palazzo del Freddo

[2006] Axxen

[2006] WITHPLUS

[2006] Sky Fashion Show

[2006] Paris Collection Fashion Show (France)

[2006] Christmas with Woodan Fur

[2007] Hallyu Star Fashion Festival

[2007] Ha Sang Beg Bebe Fatal

[2007] Gmarket Star Shop

IVIV. Public Activities

[2003] Ambassador of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

[2003] Ambassador of M•A•C Asia "Ocean" Market

[2004] Ambassador of Seoul's Catholic Services

[2004] Publicity Ambassador of "Love of Sea & Seafood"

[2005] Volunteer for the World Division in Azerbaijan

[2005] Red Cross 100th Anniversary Promotional Support

[2006] SuperStar T.I STORY Brand Mall Open (with Lee Sun Jin and Lee Jae Won)

[2006] Ambassador of WeAJa

[2007] Special Judge at 5th LOREAL COLOUR TROPHY

[2007] Ambassador of Seoul

[2007] Yeosu Expo 2012, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries "Love of the Sea" Ambassador

[2007] Ambassador of The Salvation Army

[2008] Ambassador of "Save the West Coast" Project

V. Awards Won

[2004] Korean Best Dresser Awards "Best Dresser Female Singer"
[2006] Go News Netizens Entertainment "Best Female Singer"
[2006] 13th Republic of Korea Entertainment Awards "Best Female Performer"
[2006] Korea Fashion World Awards "Best Dresser Female Singer"
[2007] South Korea Model Festival Awards "Popular Female Singer Model"
[2007] Chinese Government Project "Top 10 Public Stars" (South Korea Representation)
[2007] 5th LOREAL COLOUR TROPHY "L'Oreal Diva Award"
[2008] Musical Awards "Popularity Award" (Notre-Dame de Paris)
[2008] Korea Musical Awards "Best Newcomer", "Popularity Award" (Notre-Dame de Paris)
[2009] Musical Awards "Best Actress" (200 Pounds Beauty)