Who do you think is the greater singer? 6
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BoA, who opened the way for KPop acts to operate outside of K-O-R-E-A (2) 33%
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Lee Jieun, supreme inside K-O-R-E-A, a non-entity outside of it (0) 0%
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I don't know, but I don't think whyknock is the unbiased judge about this matter. (4) 67%
KPop is an expansionary genre which shuns those who are stuck in K-O-R-E-A.
This year's KBS year end show ended with the 4th Gen all singing BoA's No.1
Reaffirming who is the singer the KPop acts ultimately look after.
BoA was the first famous KPop act outside of K-O-R-E-A (excluding pioneers like Cho Yongpil, etc) and she opened the way for many KPop acts to operate in Japan.
She was also the first KPop singer to attempt a presence in USA, although that effort did go to nought.
Meanwhile, IU has the dubious distinction of becoming the #9th ranked singer in the entire world in the year 2021, despite of having zero presence in USA and Europe, because she had battled Korean-based singers who are ranked worldwide.
IU also holds the bizarre distinction of becoming the #1 "KPop" singer in K-O-R-E-A, while she is not #1 in any other country on the face of earth . BTS is the #1 KPop artist in almost everywhere on earth, BlackPink is #1 in some southeast Asian countries, but IU is #1 in K-O-R-E-A and nowhere else.
Her strange style of singing leads to some covers but will not lead to everyone singing her songs in unison.
Lee Jieun's fame in Korea, combined with her complete lack of contribution to KPop's World Conquest and her relentless, indefatigable and unending wish to terminate KPop's expansion and desire to make it return to the vocalist era of 1990s, makes her very hard to place for those who do appreciate KPop since she influenced nobody who is even remotely relevant in the world scene, while doing everything to undermine the internationally famous acts as often as she felt like.
No one invited the former owner of Edam to the year end shows (she only attends them with invitation and without one she doesn't show up), while BoA reaffirmed her mentor status to the new generation to everyone. While inside Korea Lee Jieun will continue to be more highly regarded than BoA and probably every soloist debuting after 2007, her complete lack of significance as far as the world is concerned makes it harder to place her above BoA as far as the i-fans are concerned.
