I accidentally stumbled upon E-Young of After School last night, and I was very impressed with her. She just might be one of the most talented and accomplished pop idol ever. At the tender age of 19, she's a multi-instrumentalist capable of playing at pro levels, dance at pro level, and when dolled up, look every bit as cute and sexy as any typical pop idol. Check her out:
Popping (she's the first girl):
Playing bass (until her finger bled):
Electric guitar, playing heavy metal (Yngwie Malmmsteen):
Performing as an idol in After School:
Playing drums:
Playing piano:
Her singing (notice that without makeup, she's very, very average looking--perhaps even below average for some people's standards):
As Elysian said, often, the most talented in the group is the least good-looking, though this merely a matter of mathematics. The chances of someone being both very talented and very attractive is much slimmer than someone simply being very talented. So when someone very talented with passable looks walk into a talent agency's door, they'll take them on, but doll them up as much as possible (and in some cases, not excluding plastic surgery, if the person does not object to it). There are definitely very talented people who will never get a shot at a talent agency because their looks are so below the average standard that no plastic surgery or makeup can do anything for them. These people would have to find an audience on their own via online and live shows, or go through indie companies that focus more on talent than looks. But the reality is this--ever notice that even among the indie and self-promoted artists, you rarely see someone that's just flat out ugly? Again, mathematics. The chances of someone being very talented with average looks is much higher than someone very talented but ugly as hell. And in most cases, you can turn an average looking person into someone that's at least above average with makeup and clothes. In the case of E-Young, she's lucky that even though her eyes aren't attractive, makeup really alters the perception of them, and the rest of her face is proportional enough that as soon as you do something about her eyes, she becomes a doll. She's also got great body proportions, so in slinky outfits, she can look as sexy as any pop idol. Add to that her dancing ability, there's no reason why she couldn't have been turned into an idol. The question is, with her musical skills, should she have been put into an idol group? Should she have been put into a band instead? She obviously enjoys being an idol, so perhaps she herself doesn't see it as "below her talent level" to be in an idol group.
As a side note, here's After School performing drumline on a track (I wondered if they are just miming it, but they demonstrated it live before without the backing music, teaching a variety show host how to play it, although I won't be surprised if what we hear during live shows are mostly from the backing track and their playing is barely audible):
I think it would be interesting if idol groups start to outdo each other in the talent aspect, each one-upping another by having amazing vocals, musicians, dancers, and so on. But in the end, what makes idol pop what it is, isn't the talent level, but the content/style of the music. It's really just disposable entertainment without much intellectual or emotional depth; essentially party music, songs aimed at adolescent kids, or trite love songs. So even if so-called "bands" are formed with "real" musicians and songwriters, but the content/style is still mostly the same stuff, then it's really just idol pop/rock (much like F.T. Island or CN Blue) and still not something that would impress the music critics. But pop is fun and entertaining, so the mainstream public eats it up. Hell, I'm a serious composer and I'm not immune to its charm either. Also, from the perspective of behind the scenes, the actual musicianship, composition, arrangement, and production value of some pop music is very impressive.
They have great producers, though. Their Sorry Sorry album has some really nice moments on electrostats.
