do you think T-ara could've been bigger or equal to SNSD if not the scandal?

in south korea , maybe

but overall no since they need to compete with 2NE1 and KARA for international market

"her"? You dont need to censor that hag's name.

Her name is Hwayoung.

its strongly hypothetical but i think it would have been possible at least in some regards.

im not sure if they could rival snsd towards their allready legendary status but in regard of popularity they had in 2011 with roly polly the most succesfull song and grow in 2012 even more. at that time they were as big or even bigger in popularity rankings. of course that also depends on how active the groups are at that time. But if we expect that they would have continued to grow instead of being exiled, i think that could have been possible.

I wouldn't say bigger, but I think at the same level in South Korea maybe Japan

Nope. SNSD was still the more popular group by far, SNSD's members were much more well known than T-ara's, SNSD had TV locked down, mich higher album sales, much more CFs, kick started hallyu and so on. SNSD were in their own legaue.

The only thing T-ara had on over SNSD at the time was digitals but as we've seen that alone doesn't automatically mean a group is more successful or bigger. 2ne1 and sistar also could beat SNSD digitally at given times but obviously they were never bigger than SNSD.

However they certainly couldve been strong contenders for 2nd

Quote from Armedryu

"her"? You dont need to censor that hag's name.

Her name is Hwayoung.

i think she made mistakes like all humans did but i would blame netizens and mbk in first place.

I also think netizens starting hate train against the hag is the last thing t-ara members wish to happen.

Quote from harambelives

Nope. SNSD was still the more popular group by far, SNSD's members were much more well known than T-ara's, SNSD had TV locked down, mich higher album sales, much more CFs, hallyu leaders and so on. SNSD were in their own legaue.

The only thing T-ara had on over SNSD at the time was digitals but as we've seen that alone doesn't automatically mean a group is more successful or bigger. 2ne1 and sistar also could beat SNSD digitally at given times but obviously they were never bigger than SNSD.

However they certainly couldve been strong contenders for 2nd

But their popularity was still strongly growing untill the scandal happend. furthermore they still hat big success in china later. if you look at how powerfull chinese fandoms become today and combine that with not being exiled but even grow more in korea while snsd allready reached their peak. Also their acting careers especially eunjung and jiyeon looked promising untill they got killed of.

i agree that they were never that popular. But there are so many missed "could have beens" that made ops question very reasonable.

Quote from neigl

But their popularity was still strongly growing untill the scandal happend. furthermore they still hat big success in china later. if you look at how powerfull chinese fandoms become today and combine that with not being exiled but even grow more in korea while snsd allready reached their peak. Also their acting careers especially eunjung and jiyeon looked promising untill they got killed of.

i agree that they were never that popular. But there are so many missed "could have beens" that made ops question very reasonable.

Those are what if scenarios that we can't predict what would've happened. Things change even from the smallest events.

China kpop back then is very different to what it is now. T-ara had success in China sure but that didn't translate that much success wise: they didn't have bombastic album sales (Japan was still the go to place for that), they weren't having big tours, being popular in China didn't translate to increased popularity elsewhere like in Korea, Japan or intercontinentally. Now China is the big bucks of kpop world

With acting there's no way we could predict what was to happen. Maybe they might have had better careers than SNSD actresses, may be not. I mean when t-ara was popular in Korea SNSD only had 1 main actress with Yoona. A couple years years later Yuri and Sooyoung started acting full time. In recent years Seohyun is also a full time actor. That's half of SNSD as mainstream actors that regularly get jobs, I don't think many would've predicted that back then.

Maybe in SK or China. T-ARA discography at the time was so unique, it different than SNSD, 2NE1 & Kara. So, they can compete for top spot

They are like second in everything so yes.

Absolutely, they could have been huge huge huge. They were big despite their scandal and that tells you something.

Quote from harambelives

Nope. SNSD was still the more popular group by far, SNSD's members were much more well known than T-ara's, SNSD had TV locked down, mich higher album sales, much more CFs, kick started hallyu and so on. SNSD were in their own legaue.

The only thing T-ara had on over SNSD at the time was digitals but as we've seen that alone doesn't automatically mean a group is more successful or bigger. 2ne1 and sistar also could beat SNSD digitally at given times but obviously they were never bigger than SNSD.

However they certainly couldve been strong contenders for 2nd

I kinda agree, snsd had that charm that just can't be surpassed, they were booked on tv. Show after show.

Absolutely yes. I still resent HwaSnake for what she did.