Uniq (Hangul: 유니크; stylized UNIQ) is a five-member Chinese-South Korean boy group formed by Chinese company Yuehua Entertainment in 2014. The group consists of Zhou Yixuan, Kim Sungjoo, Li Wenhan, Cho Seungyoun, and Wang Yibo. Uniq officially debuted on October 20, 2014 with their debut single "Falling In Love" in both China and South Korea.
On October 16, they had their first broadcast performance on M Countdown. Their debut single, "Falling In Love", was released on October 20 in both China and South Korea. UNIQ was chosen to participate in the OST for the movies TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Penguins of Madagascar. On October 23, they released the song "Born to Fight" for the Chinese release of TNMT. The group released the English adaptation of "Falling in Love" on November 5. On November 10, they released "Celebrate" for the Chinese release of Penguins of Madagascar. UNIQ made their official debut in China on November 25 with their first Chinese fanmeet in Beijing. On November 27, UNIQ commenced their first promotions in Taiwan and held a press conference on December 1. UNIQ's reality show The Best Debut began airing on December 2 on the Chinese online video platform, iQiyi, for three episodes.
2015: EOEO and Japanese Debut
In January 2015, UNIQ became endorsers for Xtep, a Chinese athletic brand. In February 2015, UNIQ began promoting a Chinese beauty shop, Mix-Box, replacing Ko Chen-tung as the official endorser.
UNIQ held their first fanmeet in Thailand in Bangkok on March 7.
On April 6 Yuehua Entertainment formed a partnership with Starship Entertainment where Starship will aide in promotions in South Korea. On April 9, Yuehua Entertainment announced UNIQ's comeback with their first mini album titled "EOEO". UNIQ made their official comeback in South Korea on April 22 and held their first comeback broadcast performance on MBC's Show Champion, performing their title track "EOEO" and "Listen to Me". On April 23, UNIQ made their official comeback in China, performing "Listen to Me" at the KU Music Asian Music Awards. They were also awarded with KU Music Asian Music Awards' "Best New Artist" the same day. On April 24, UNIQ released their mini album and the official music video for "EOEO". After the release of "EOEO", the music video reached number 3 on the YinYueTai Weekly MV Chart.
On May 22, UNIQ released the official music video for their follow up track "Luv Again". UNIQ achieved their first music show award on CCTV's Global Chinese Music on May 23. UNIQ holds the record for most wins on Global Chinese Music Chart with Three wins by non-live voting; Three wins by live voting, beating the record previously held by EXO-M in 2014 (Three wins by non-live voting; Two wins by live voting).
UNIQ held their first showcases in Japan on July 19 and July 20 in Osaka and Tokyo respectively marking their debut in Japan.
In December, UNIQ began to endorse Dr. Bear, a Chinese candy brand.
To commemorate UNIQ's one year since debut, UNIQ released their second digital album, "Best Friend", on October 16. UNIQ announced their 1st Anniversary Tour to be held in Beijing, Shanghai, and Japan. UNIQ returned to Japan in November holding fanmeets across the country in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka before ending the Japan tour in Tokyo. At this time, they released a special Japanese single, Best Friend, which includes the Japanese, Korean and Instrumental versions of "Best Friend." UNIQ concluded the tour in Beijing on November 28. The Shanghai stop was postponed, however a new date was never announced.
On December 7, was launched "Erase Your Little Sadness" for the soundtrack of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. On December 28 UNIQ released "Happy New Year", with labelmate, Cosmic Girls, making a guest appearance in the music video. The song debuted at #4 position in China V Chart.
2016:
UNIQ began Inke endorsements in February, a Chinese live-streaming app.
In February 2016, American magazine Teen Vogue published an article on the group with the title "12 Major Boy Bands to Fill the One Direction-Shaped Hole in Your Heart", Teen Vogue speaks just as glowingly for UNIQ, stating that their song "EOEO" is a "body-roll-worthy jam with punchy rap deliveries and a slick sax." On March 24, 2016, the group released the song "My Dream" for the soundtrack of the movie MBA Partners, debuting at #3 position in China V Chart. Yixuan, Wenhan and Sungjoo went on a two week long roadshow in 14 cities to promote the movie.
On June 25, UNIQ held their first fanmeet in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
UNIQ released a Japanese single in December 2016, "Falling in Love". Japanese versions of "Falling in Love" and "Listen to Me" are included in the single. UNIQ held a Live Meet and Greet in Japan on December 10, and a fan signing and photo event on December 11.
2017:
On January 19, 2017, the group released the single "Happy New Year 2017". The song was written by Zhou Yixuan and brings the freshness of the year that begins. Yibo was unable to participate in the music video and the recording of the song due to scheduling conflicts, but Yixuan, Sungjoo, Wenhan and Seungyoun are preparing to assemble a snowman that represents Yibo.
Members
Yixuan, Wenhan, Yibo, Seungyoun and Sungjoo trained together for a total of 1,400 days before the group's debut.
Yixuan
Zhou Yixuan (simplified Chinese: 周艺轩; traditional Chinese: 周藝軒; pinyin: Zhōu Yìxuān) was born on (1990-12-11) December 11, 1990 in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, China. His position in UNIQ is Chinese leader and Rap. Yixuan traveled to Sydney, Australia to learn dancing techniques, most notably from Parris Goebel. Afterwards, he returned to China and was scouted by Yuehua Entertainment after his appearance at KOD, a large street dance competition in China. In September 2015, he joined the cast of webdrama "Female President" for which he played a hitman named Leng Feng. He began filming for the webdrama on October 23, 2015 and finished on December 12, 2015. The first season began airing on May 25, 2016 with 40 episodes, while the second season began airing on December 19, 2016 with 38 episodes. He has a supporting role playing Chen Qin Yan in the romantic comedy "Time City" starring Park Min Young. "Time City" was filmed for 3 months beginning on June 6, 2016 and ending on September 3, 2016. Yixuan was cast for his first lead role in the movie "Girl's Memoir" as Qin Xiao. "Girl's Memoir" began filming on October 17, 2016 for one month, ending on November 14, 2016. It is slated for release in 2018. He then began training and rehearsing for the Chinese-language sequel to the Step Up franchise "Step Up 6" (舞出我人生) in November 2016. The movie is a partnership among Lionsgate and China’s Infinity Pictures/CMC and Yue Hua Entertainment Culture Communications with producers Dede Nickerson and Du Hua. Filming began on December 9, 2016 and ended on February 3, 2017. It is expected to be released in 2018. He was then casted for the xianxia drama "The Origin of Love" with filming beginning on February 13, 2017 through March 15, 2017. "The Origin of Love" is a prequel to the drama, "The Legend of Jade Sword," which is based on the web novel, "Desolate Era" by the author, I Eat Tomatoes.
Sungjoo
Kim Sung-joo (Hangul:김성주, RR : Kim Seong-Joo) was born on (1994-02-16) February 16, 1994 in Incheon, South Korea. His position in UNIQ is Korean Leader and Vocal. Sungjoo lived in China before moving back to South Korea to pursue his dreams as a singer. There he attended Anyang Arts School. He was previously a trainee under YG Entertainment for many years before signing with Yuehua Entertainment. In early June 2016, Sungjoo has joined the cast for the Chinese version of Youth Over Flowers (花样男团). In January 2016, he acted in the Chinese drama, Magical Space-Time as one of the main roles. In June 2016, he was cast in the Chinese remake of She Was Pretty, titled Pretty Li Huizhen, playing Choi Siwon's character in the original drama. Sungjoo was the only Korean actor to have been cast in a lead role in the remake, however due to Chinese entertainment restrictions he was not able to participate in the drama. Also in June, he released "Flying At Night" for the soundtrack of the animated film "Sunduck". In January 2017, it was confirmed in the cast of the musical drama The Liar and His Lover. Sungjoo has been cast for the role of Yoo Si-hyun, who is the leader of popular band Crude Play. In addition to being the leader and main vocalist of Crude Play, Yoo Si-hyun has a very close, cousin-like relationship with the genius composer Kang Han-kyeol, played by Lee Hyun-woo. It is set to air in March 2017 and is the Korean drama adaptation of the titular Japanese manga by Kotomi Aoki.
Wenhan
Li Wenhan (Chinese: 李汶翰; pinyin: Lǐ Wènhàn) was born on (1994-07-22) July 22, 1994 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. His position in UNIQ is Vocal. Wenhan has a background in classical guitar and swimming, practicing with Chinese Swimming Olympic Medalist, Sun Yang. While attending high school in America, he auditioned for Yuehua Entertainment and passed. Before debuting with UNIQ, Wenhan had appeared on television in a diving reality show which aired nationwide on JSTV in April 2013. From April to August 2016, he was a fixed cast of the Korean talk show "Ni Hao China," which shared China's culture, lifestyle, tradition, economy, and more in an easily understandable and entertaining manner. From June to September 2016, he was one of the main MCs for a Chinese sports variety program called "The Players," which was a reality program featuring a group of Chinese celebrity contestants who face off in various basketball-related challenges against rival teams including guest stars such as Kim Jong-kook and Kobe Bryant. In October 2016, he was confirmed in the historical drama cast "Hot Blood Academy", playing the prince Li Jingyu. In January 2017, he started filming for the romance web drama "Life Risking Romance" (命悬一线的浪漫) as the male lead.
Seungyoun
Cho Seung-youn (Hangul: 조승연, RR : Jo Seung-Yeon) was born on (1996-08-05) August 5, 1996 in Seoul, South Korea. His position in UNIQ is Rap. Seungyoun previously lived in the Philippines, Brazil and United States and was a member of the Corinthians (a Brazilian soccer team). He speaks fluent in English, Mandarin and conversation in Tagalog as well as Portuguese. He later returned to South Korea and decided to pursue his dreams as a singer. He was previously a trainee under YG Entertainment for many years before signing with Yuehua Entertainment. On August 14, 2015, Jimin announced a project group she had formed with Seungyoun (using the stage name Luizy) and rapper Nathan. Their group name was later revealed to be M.O.L.A (Make Our Life Awesome), and they released their first track "My Way" on August 20. The second song of the group "Trick or Treat" was released on October 31, 2015. In early 2016, he participated in the Show Me the Money 5 until episode 4, when he lost the 1:1 battle round against Flowsik. On July 29, 2016 he released his first solo single, "Recipe" along with Flowsik. The song was composed by Seungyoun, using the name Luizy for his solo promotions. On August 14, he released his second solo single, entitled "Baby Ride", with the participation of Btob Im Hyun-sik.
Yibo
Wang Yibo (Chinese: 王一博; pinyin: Wáng Yībó) was born on (1997-08-05) August 5, 1997 in Luoyang, Henan, China. In UNIQ, he is the youngest member and his position is Rap and Dance. Yibo auditioned for Yuehua Entertainment and became a trainee. He had taken part in IBD National HipHop Dance Contest in Luoyang, China in 2011. In April 2016, he became fixed member of the talk show "Day Day Up". He is cast in the movie Unexpected Love, starring Lay and Krystal, with release date for August 2017. He has ended filming for the drama "Love Actually" in November 2016.
Global Chinese Music
CCTV's Global Chinese Music is Chinese music show
Songs
EOEOEOEO · 2015 Born to FightEOEO · 2015 Falling In LoveEOEO · 2015
