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I remember the first time I ever heard the term “Korean Wave”. It was in the late 1990s, and I was a teenager. Back then, pioneer boy bands and girl groups such as H.O.T., NRG and Baby V.O.X. had totally changed my understanding of pop music.
我记得第一次听到“韩流”这个词是在90年代末，那时我还只有十几岁。以H.O.T., NRG 以及Baby V.O.X为代表的最早一批少男少女偶像团体完全改变了我对流行音乐的认识。
Now, almost 20 years later, the invasion of South Korean pop music is ongoing. The latest evidence is Saturday’s MBC Korean Music Wave, a concert held for the very first time in China (at the National Stadium in Beijing), where some of the biggest names in the South Korean music industry performed, including EXO, INFINITE, Girls’ Generation, T-ARA and 2PM.
如今，快20年过去了，韩国流行音乐的势头依然不减：最近，韩国音乐波演唱会首次在中国（北京鸟巢）落地，此次演唱会汇聚了韩国乐坛的大腕明星，EXO, INFINITE, 少女时代, T-ARA以及2PM等都登台表演。
In addition to taking off in Asia in a big and enduring way, K-pop (short for Korean pop music) is also conquering the world, finding popularity in the US, music’s biggest market. On Aug 25, Billboard officially launched the new K-pop music chart, ranking the best-selling South Korean songs both in the US and the home country.
韩国流行音乐（简称K-pop）不仅在亚洲大获成功、经久不衰，而且也开始征服世界，在全球最大的音乐市场——美国——也大为流行。8月25日，公告牌官方开设了K-pop新歌榜，盘点美国国内和韩国本土最卖座的韩国歌曲。
Honestly, I’m not a big fan of K-pop itself — the catchy and calculating strain of music that somehow manages to simultaneously sound like every contemporary musical genre, mostly electronic dance music, arranged in conventional pop song structures. But if you see K-pop as a culture, things get more interesting.
说实话，我并不是K-pop的铁杆粉，这些音乐朗朗上口、结构千篇一律、杂糅着各种当代音乐元素，常常是建立在传统流行乐结构基础上的电子舞曲。但如果你将其视为一种文化，那么它就变得有趣起来。
Assembly line
造星机器
First, the process of creating a K-pop singer, mostly through forming boy/girl groups, is like car production: Industrialize and focus on exports. Talent agencies find potential singers, often through global auditions. The training of the future stars, who are taught to sing and dance, act and learn foreign languages, can take three to seven years.
韩国的造星大都是通过偶像团体的形式。以工业化和出口为目的的生产模式简直像汽车行业一样，造星公司首先通过全球海选挑出一些有潜力的歌手，然后经过三到七年的声乐、舞蹈、表演训练以及外语学习，将他们打造成明星出道。
In the South Korean model, a pop group is more like a brand than a proper band. For instance, SM Entertainment’s Super Junior boasts 12 members. This allows the company to break the band down into sub-units targeting different markets, including Super Junior-M (Mandarin pop music), Super Junior-T (trot music, a form of Korean music dating back to the early 1900s), and something called Super Junior-Happy.
在韩国的造星模式中，偶像团体更像是一个品牌而非普通的乐队。比如SM公司旗下的Super Junior就有12名成员。公司可以针对不同的市场将他们分成子团体，比如（针对中国的）Super Junior-M，（主打二十世纪早期韩国半岛传统流行乐，韩国演歌）Super Junior-T，以及Super Junior-Happy。
The pace of the K-pop music production is quick. You get one song that can last for a week, and that’s it. The record labels always want something new out of artists, in order to sell more music, as well as draw more fans. So it makes sense why South Korean singers are under huge amounts of pressure.
K-pop的更新速度很快，一首歌也许只流行一个星期。为了卖出更多的专辑、圈更多的粉丝，唱片公司总希望艺人不断有新作推出。所以也就不难理解，韩国歌手为什么会压力巨大了。
But meanwhile, there is good news for K-pop fans. If you’re a K-pop fan, you’re really getting involved in a community of people. They all like the same band as you, you all get to know the same thing, and it becomes a family. So maybe that’s why everyone’s so passionate.
但（这种模式的）好处就是，作为K-pop的粉丝，你能遇到一大群“志同道合”的人，他们和你喜欢同一个组合，和你了解同样的事，就像一家人一样。这也许是为什么其中的每个人都充满热情。
You feel the dedication of those South Korean artists who are taught to fight in life, and understand that dreams are attainable. Then you get music that makes you dance and smile. What else is needed?
在那些被教育成不断为人生奋斗的韩流艺人身上，你看到了奉献的精神，觉得梦想触手可及。他们还带来让你随之舞蹈、让你欢笑的音乐，那么，你还有何求？
It seems that K-pop’s ability to dazzle is in no danger of diminishing just yet.
这样看来，K-pop的光芒怎会有黯淡之时？
