Though we had heard about the previous group 5WHO in which Sang Hyun had been part of in the earlier days, there had been very little information about it. There were times when Sang Hyun himself had mentioned this group and we have seen a few pictures of the other members but we still do not know much about them.
So it comes as a pleasant surprise when Korean actor Go Se Won revealed that he was one of the members of 5WHO on the recent talks shows, JTBC’s Chuseok Special ‘Same Age Friend’ (동갑내기) broadcast on 8th September and on MBC’s Radio Star (황금어장 라디오스타) on 10th September.
enews.imbc.com/News/RetrieveNewsInfo/103546
A 3 minute highlight of this episode on the MBC variety show ‘Radio Star’
http://vodmall.imbc.com/player/player.aspx?broadcastid=1000794100760100000&itemid=973915
According to Go Se Won, Sang Hyun was the group leader and lead vocalist and they had been training seriously together for 2 years with the aim of making their debut as a 4 member idol group. Their role model at that time was the British boy band Blue. But it was with much regret that their plans fell though in the end and their group debut did not happen.
When asked for the reason, Go Se Won mentioned that since Sang Hyun was shooting some CFs, he had started to relax and was acting more on his own. Though he had no ill feelings towards Sang Hyun, much regret remains. And as to their current relationship, he says they have lost contact.
It feels kind of sad to me that their dream of forming an idol group did not come true. I believe it was as much Sang Hyun’s dream too to debut as a singer as he had mentioned before. How would it have been if he had stuck to that path and did not take up acting? As we know, acting wasn’t his first love and he did not have much interest in it in the beginning. It was only after much struggle and hard work, and due to his family circumstances that he made up his mind to take acting seriously.
From some of the articles I had searched on 5WHO, there was mention that their planned debut was in the Fall of 2006. Sang Hyun had started acting in his first drama ‘Marrying A Millionaire’ at the end of 2005 and had also sung the OST “Sarang Haet Suht Suh’ (사랑했었어) for the drama Princess Lu Lu (August 2005). So this would be the song he had sung during his time with 5WHO.
Some of the Korean media articles in which Sang Hyun had mentioned the group 5WHO:
http://article.joins.com/news/article/article.asp?total_id=6215315&ctg=1502
http://media.daum.net/breakingnews/newsview?newsid=20060223102012982
http://media.daum.net/entertain/enews/newsview?newsid=20060424185108073
With the group being active back in 2005, I had not expected to find much on 5WHO as their official site would probably have ceased. So it was with pleasant surprise that the site under Cafe Daum had not been removed though it had ceased its updates since November 2005 when it moved to another site.
http://cafe.daum.net/Xfive
To see Sang Hyun’s pic album from 2005, click on the 3rd link at the top with the words 이미지 보기
http://cafe.daum.net/x5fancafe
Another fan site for X5 with a picture of Sang Hyun with 2 members, Go Se Won and Choi Won Jun and which had a congratulatory message for the group’s 1st anniversary on 2nd August 2006. That would mean the group had formed in August 2005.
Witching Hour - Sang Hyun 상현 
I think it’s better that SH has debuted as an actor and not a singer! Although, I know him as a singer first! 😀 It’s strange! I don’t know if they could have been so popular in a group as he became alone! I don’t know the other members and they might have been really good, but there are so many boyband who has only one song and no more! So, I am happy that he became an actor and I could know him better through his roles and what he thinks about those, than a singer. But for me he is a singer and an actor, too! And he does both of them very well!^^
By the way, I don’t understand if they were 4 boys or 5 boys, or who is that little girl? This group is very mysterious! Otherwise, I am really sorry that I can’t hear any song from them and sorry for the 2 year-long efforts they had done in vain. Although, I think the many practices was very important in SH’s later singing career. And the member of this group said he was the leader in the group! So, he had the pass on that he had to go! He was born to be a soloist! 😀
Once I heard him and another singer singing in a show as X5 (?) they were singing very well!
I like SH as he is too sentimental and many things could reach his heart and without hiding his feelings he shows openly even if he is crying! I think this good habit remained among the fans! Thanks for it! It surely makes him happy!^^
These photos are very good and shows a very sexy man, but I would like to see at last his photos of childhood as I would like to see the cute SH, too! 😀
We’ll never know how the group would have turned out but perhaps it’s also a blessing in disguise that SH made the choice to go into acting and discovered that it’s something he can excel in when he put his heart into it. If he had remained in a group, we might never have known SH the actor and singer. We would not have loved him the way we do now. It would have been a loss for us ….. and you and I would not have ‘met’ because this blog would not have existed 😀 Sometimes when you think of it, isn’t life strange? If one goes down a certain path, one’s life would have turned out so differently. It’s like everything is somehow connected in some way.
I think the group had originally started with only 3 members but another later joined in so they became a 4 member group. I’m not sure about the girl in the pic as she was not mentioned as being part of their group. The group was named X5 (also known as 5WHO) after their manager’s car. I remember SH said that 1 more was added to make it 5 because the manager said that the extra 1 represented the audience.
I was fortunate to be able to see a couple of SH’s pics when he was younger and of him as a baby, as it was projected at the beginning of last year’s Acoustic Youth concert. But since no photography was allowed, I do not have a pic of it.
Yes, I know that his photos were projected at Acoustic Youth, but unfortunately, I was not able to go to that concert. Nowadays, it’s very popular to post photos about the famous people’s childhood, I think SH is the only one who didn’t do it until now. Although, he is not the same as the other as he hasn’t passed the IBC, only the panda did it instead of him! 😀 Perhaps, he doesn’t like his look at his childhood. It’s pity, I think he could be a really cute boy. I am often watching my photos from childhood as I was a nice blond girl with very big eyes, and half of my photos is crying ones as I didn’t love to be a “model”! But the snapshots taken by my cousin who is 20 years older than me, were really great. He has talent in arts and languages! 😀 We are very close to each other despite the large age difference! He is not just talented, but he has a very interesting personality!
So, let’s hope that we could see some photos about SH’s childhood! 😀