Featured Artist: Tenjochiki / CSJH The Grace / TSZX

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Official Site: Japan, Korea

Who: Tenjochiki is a Jpop group that comprises Korean members Dana, Lina, Sunday and Stephanie whom are part of the roster of talents developed by SM Entertainment. The members were precisely chosen to form a group in counterpart to then SM's new generation of national legends TVXQ a.k.a Dong Bang Shin Gi (The Rising Gods of the East). It is an idol group that best represents Kpop to the world and has the respect of the Kpop community due to their hard earned status in the industry. Meanwhile, SM entertainment is a prominent company for launching the careers of some of the phenomenal idols and artists in Korea such as BoA, H.O.T, SHINHWA and TVXQ to name their most successful ones.

What: In Korea, the said group is called Cheon Sang Ji Hee that first debuted in 2005 and while the rest of the SM artists promote in Asia, the group was then given another name in China which is Tiān Shàng Zhì Xǐ. In 2006, they were sent to venture the Japanese music market to which they were officially introduced as Tenjochiki. They were provided with the right material to prosper in their music career, proper training and most importantly, told of their potential to penetrate the said market. Hence, even without properly establishing their name in the Korean music industry during that time, they needed to follow what their career was asking from them which includes: studying Nihonggo and the its culture, as well as spending more time in Japan than in their home land Korea. Unfortunately, despite of the humongous effort that they were to offer, the audience wasn't prepared to embrace their music. 

Whereas when you compare the situation of Kpop idols now in Japan, they get the recognition by only associating themselves with Kpop, which over the years has become a popular brand worldwide. Therefore, the timing of their debut and exposure was one of the factors that led to their failure as a market and of why they didn't achieve much success in terms of sustenance and progress in their career. Unlike now, Kpop was still out of the picture to their advantage. They've spent at least more or less 3 years promoting without seeing much of a great change to their career. But that didn't stop them to continue knocking the door of opportunity in pursuit for their passion and love for music and the group. 

I, personally would assume that their profitability as an artist was questioned by producers which is understandable in the point of view of business. Probably, it meant a threat to their career because instead of receiving and being provided with the support needed in promoting their music, it was the other way around.

In one of the group's achievements, they managed to hold their one and only concert tour all throughout their course attended by hundreds, perhaps even thousands of their followers in 2008. In one of their concert stops, they were surprised by the visit of their label mates and friends in the industry, Tohoshinki (TVXQ) to give them encouragement and also, to congratulate them on their much deserved success. Moreover, the members on the final date of the tour were very emotional leading the members to shed some tears.

Unfortunately, the group activities were suspended in 2009 as reportedly due to Stephanie's injury - that signaled her hiatus from the group. Honestly speaking, I'm having doubts whether the report was true or fabricated because apparently, after the announcement, the group never resumed their activities together. For myself, my guts would tell me that it served as an excuse to the groups' disbandment. However, I wasn't sure of the cause to suffice the separation. Perhaps, it was made through mutual agreement among everyone involved but still, up until now, no one would dare to speak up about the matter. If compared to a K-drama ending, it was ambiguous.

How: They are actually one of the best things that happened to Kpop which is deemed to be an unpopular opinion because during the rise of Kpop to the world, they were already absent from the limelight. Hence, in my observation, Kpop fans nowadays wouldn't even care about knowing them.

But mine has a different version of the story to share. I've known this group since 2007 so I got the chance to familiarize myself in their fandom and eventually, I was converted to be their fan. Well, not that sort of their biggest fan but just a casual one. However, I'm a constant hopeful for their music career because I was truly amazed by their uniqueness as a singing group and as an overall artist. 

If you were to ask me my favorite member, I don't think I have any because I like them as a group, and basically as a team, I have to respect and acknowledge each and everyone to prove their worth as a team which is not a hard task at all when it comes to them.

Members:

Lina – She balances their harmony through the intensity of her voice which is defined by its own quality and tone. Moreover, the strength of which blends perfectly with the rest of the members, and that can be noted because of its stable and middle range role within the harmonization. Because of that, I consider her voice as the easiest to identify from the rest.

Stephanie – Her voice can also be easily distinguished despite of confusing it with Lina’s sometimes. She pushes her vocal power to support the group's harmony which has a quality of a very deep tone, and that sounds purely dominant most especially with her vibrato.

Dana – The character of her voice is very soft and angelic in the team. Hers can be tangled sometimes with Sunday’s who has a very sweet voice as well. However, I think that the clash of their tone is just the right fit to further complement the other members' tone and quality.

Sunday – Her voice is made of the same quality as Dana's however, there's a certain range of thinness in hers which is higher, and in instances separate it from Dana’s. Her voice’ feature has a role to take the highest tenor that completes the harmony of the group.

Overall, starting from Stephanie’s impressive deep tone, reaching to Lina’s own version of depth in her voice, and that continues to Dana's middle range vocal, then extending to Sunday’s reach that provides the highest note in the harmony, they definitely make one of the best a capella group I have witnessed in my life as a fangirl to date.