Cleo () was a three-member South Korean girl group, formed in 1999. The name of the group Cleo is the acronym of Come Listen EveryOne. They were one of the original Korean idol girl groups and were active at the same time as Fin.K.L and S.E.S. and second-generation groups like Diva and Chakra. Although they weren't as popular or talked about as those mentioned above, they were usually mentioned alongside groups like T.T.Ma, Toya, and Papaya.
Their debut song "Good Time", from their first studio album, was very successful. The group's second album, released in 2000, was also successful and included the songs "Ready For Love", "Always in My Heart", and "Mosun" (; lit. "Contradiction"). Cleo's third album, which included the song "Triple", was released in 2001. Their fourth album was released in 2003, included the tracks "Donghwa" (; lit. "Fairy Tale") and "S.P.Y". Their fifth album, Rising Again, was released in 2004 and included the song "In and Out". The group disbanded in 2005.
In November 2011, the three original members reunited to appear on an episode of SBS Plus' Comeback Show Top 10. In June 2016, Jung Ye-bin (now using her real name, Gong Seo-young), Chae Eun-jung, and Kim Ha-na appeared on Two Yoo Project Sugar Man, performing "Good Time".
"Good Time" Before their debut, the initial concept of the group was an R&B trio. However, the CEO of their agency decided to switch to a fairy concept after considering the trend of girl groups at the time. They changed their debut song to "Good Time" and directed the concept to be more fairy-like.
Despite Chae Eun-jung being the center of the group since their debut, the actual leader and center of the group was Park Ye-eun. Park Ye-eun had a lot of connections in the music industry and directly cast Chae Eun-jung on the street before adding Kim Ha-na to the group through an audition.
The title track of their first album was "Good Time", a catchy song that became very popular among female students in grades 1 to 9 who were born between 1982 and 1989, after Fin.K.L, S.E.S., and Baby Vox. Despite its upbeat melody, the lyrics were quite explicit at the time, saying that they wanted to spend the night with someone but needed their parents' permission.
During their first album activities, they managed to secure a considerable number of fans, especially among female students, and their fan base was rare among girl groups at that time. There were other groups that debuted around the same time with a similar concept to Cleo, but most of them failed shortly after, while Cleo unexpectedly succeeded with their first album, paving the way for their second album.
Han Hyun-jung
After finishing their first album activities with the song "Only When You Love Me (니가 나를 꼭 사랑할때만)," Park Ye-eun left the group, and they recruited Han Hyun-jung as a new member for their second album. It seems they judged that they couldn't survive with just the innocence of the girl concept from their first album, so they immediately shifted their concept towards a mature and sexy direction for their second album.
"Ready For Love" The second album era of Cleo is considered the best period in the group's history, and it is a memorable activity that secured popularity and recognition among the public in the 2010s. It was from the second album "Ready For Love" that the positions of the members were established. In fact, the early 2000s were the peak of Cleo's heyday, and there is an overwhelming amount of material from the second album era on YouTube.
The biggest feature of the second album was the emergence of Kim Hana. However, some fans were disappointed that they abandoned the innocent concept too quickly. From this album, Cleo transformed from an idol group aiming for popularity to a mature and sexy group, and the fandom also gradually transformed into a male-dominated fandom. However, female fans still showed considerable support.
Chae Eun-jung, who was already the most popular member since the first album and ranked high in the popularity ranking of girl group members, transformed her innocent image from the first album to a mature image by dyeing her hair blonde for "Ready For Love." However, since her image as cute was too strong from the first album and she had many male fans, her efforts to change her image were only accepted as a cute deviation by the fandom. In the end, she achieved half of her success, but her blonde hair made a deep impression that her name automatically brings up blonde hair in people's minds.