Park Sandara (
Korean:
박산다라, born November 12, 1984), better known as
Dara (
Korean:
다라;
Japanese:
ダラ), is a
South Korean idol singer,
actress,
television host and
model. She is best known as being a member and the
Director of Communications of the Korean
girl group 2NE1. However, she first gained major popularity on
ABS-CBN's Star Circle Quest during her stay in the Philippines. Her younger brother, Park Sang-Hyun (Thunder),
[1] is also in the entertainment industry as a member of a Korean
boy band,
MBLAQ in
J.Tune Entertainment.
| Park Sandara |
 |
| Background information |
| Born | November 12, 1984 (age 27)
Busan, South Korea |
| Origin | Busan, South Korea |
| Genres | Pop, K-pop, R&B, Hip hop |
| Occupations | Singer, Actress, Director of Communications, Dancer, Television Host, Model |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | YG Entertainment
(2009-Present) |
| Associated acts | 2NE1, Big Bang, Gummy |
Early life
Sandara Park was born in
Busan,
South Korea. Park's family moved to
The Philippines in 1995 to start a trading business.
[2][unreliable source?] [3]
[edit] 2004-2007: Career beginnings
In 2004, Park was involved in a talent survival show, known as
Star Circle Quest of the
ABS-CBN Network where she came in 2nd place behind
Hero Angeles. During one of her school functions, Sandara met Pauleen Luna, who was then a talent of ABS-CBN Channel 2 Talent Center. Luna encouraged the shy Sandara to audition for Star Circle Quest, a then-up-and-coming reality talent search for ABS-CBN.
The show's judges called her in, and she was able to elude elimination several times, paving the way for her inclusion into the contestant-pool's top ten. Being a native Korean, she displayed some trouble with the daily exercises set by the panel of Filipino judges. During the last elimination round in which the final five contestants were chosen, Sandara made Philippine history by garnering approximately 500,000 text votes, making her the first female to garner that much SMS support. And so she remained until the final night when she was announced First Runner-up to Hero Angeles. It is estimated that she got at least 2,000,000 accumulated SMS votes from supporters during the entire run of the contest.
Star status established Sandara Park became a member of ABS-CBN's elite circle of homegrown talents, properly named Star Magic. ABS-CBN showered Park with projects after her Star Circle Quest days. She had six local commercial endorsements for personal care and food products. She also received several television show offers. She starred in a youth-oriented program SCQ Reload, OK Ako, and hosted "Sandara's Romance", a show featuring Korean dramas and commentary. She also had a hosting stint on ASAP Fanatic, a Sunday noontime teen variety show. She also appeared in a local daily primetime superhero soap opera, Krystala, as Kim, who shared similarities with her real-life self, but her tight schedule limited her appearances.
In addition, Sandara also embarked on a musical career that eventually led to the release of her self-titled six-track album which spawned the novelty dance hits "In Or Out", a song that parodied her experiences on Star Circle Quest, and "Walang Sabit", the jingle for Rejoice Shampoo. As proof of Sandara's rapid rising-star status, the album was Certified Double Platinum (2× Platinum) selling more than 60,000 copies after six months.
Sandara also appeared in four movies: Bcuz of U, a three-storyline movie which co-starred other prominent local actors, Can This Be Love, which grossed P 99,000,000 in the box office, D' Lucky Ones and Super Noypi, a Filipino fantasy film and an official entry to 32nd Metro Manila Film Festival.
On December 2004,
Yang Hyun Suk of
YG Entertainment offered Park workshop classes in Korea after seeing the KBS Documentary 'My Name Is Sandara Park'. On March 2005, Park took a hiatus from the Philippine Entertainment Industry to take acting workshops in Korea. Six months later she went back to the Philippines to continue her career.
[edit] Return to Korea
Park returned to South Korea on August 1, 2007
[4] with her mother and siblings. The next day, August 2, 2007, YG Entertainment reported that they had signed a contract with Sandara Park.
[5]
[edit] 2009–present: Debut with 2NE1
YG Entertainment announced that the new group would consist of four members and debut sometime in May 2009.
[6] The company stated that the group had trained for four years, and that their debut album would contain songs produced by 1TYM leader,
Teddy Park and
G-Dragon of Big Bang.
[6][7][8] The group's name was initially announced as "21"; however, due to the discovery of a singer with the same name, the group was renamed "2NE1", which "NE" is the abbreviation of "New Evolution". Sandara Park completed the list of members.
[9]
2NE1 debuted in
SBS The Music Trend on May 17, 2009 where they performed their digital single
Fire produced by Teddy Park of 1TYM. With the release of their self-titled mini album,
2NE1 started the promotions of their title track
I Don’t Care. Their mini album hit the no. 3 spot at the Hanteo's "Best-selling album of 2009".
After a hiatus, 2NE1 returned with their first full-length studio album
To Anyone.,
[10] which was released on September 9, 2010. Promotions started with the simultaneous showcase of the three title tracks of the album,
Clap Your Hands,
Go Away and
Can't Nobody. Following those promotions, another song
It Hurts (Slow) [11][12] was released on October 31, for Halloween. The album garnered huge success and 2NE1 won an overall 11 times on various music shows from their promotions.
[13]
[edit] Solo activities
During her pre-debut, she was featured in a TV drama
The Return of Iljimae as Rie, and she also appeared as the lead actress in
Gummy's music video for "I'm Sorry", together with labelmate
T.O.P, one of the members of Big Bang.
In August 2009, Park was featured on
G-Dragon's solo album
Heartbreaker, with their song entitled "Hello". They performed a couple of times on music events, shows, and also during G-Dragon's two-day solo concert entitled
Shine A Light in December 2009.
On September 7, 2009, Park was the first among the members of 2NE1 to release a digital single. Entitled "Kiss", the song was produced by Teddy Park and was featured in Park's first commercial for Cass Beer along side K-Drama actor
Lee Min Ho.
In July 2010, Park was featured as the female lead in
Taeyang's "I Need A Girl" music video. They made two versions of the music video. Her latest endeavor was an endorsement for make-up brand Etude House.
In April 18, 2011, Park announced that she has been officially promoted the
Communications Director of
2NE1. In order officialize her promotion,
YG Entertainment gave Park her own Certificate of Appointment.
