History

Pre-debut Girls Generation

After the success of SM Entertainment's boy band, Super Junior, the company planned to debut a new girl group, which would ultimately turn into Girls' Generation, featuring a start-up roster of 11 members. For nearly two years, Korean websites speculated about which of the female SM Entertainment trainees would be placed into the group. The members were professionally trained primarily in singing and dancing, while some members were also selected to be trained in acting and modeling. Many of the members already had made names for themselves in the Korean entertainment industry through their participation in magazine ads, television commercials, and small television appearances.^[12] The group witnessed several revisions until the final line-up was decided, including a 12 member line-up in mid-2006, however this number changed to the debuting nine when members were either cut, or left. Prior to their announcement, it was rumored that the group would be named "Super Girls" after their so-called male counterparts, Super Junior.^[13]The majority of the group's members were already seasoned performers and trainees prior to the group's debut, including member Sooyoung, who had debuted in the Japanese market in 2002 as part of the pop duo, Route θ. The group soon disbanded, only one year after debuting in Japan.^[14][15]

The first member of the group to join SM Entertainment's training system was Jessica in 2000, after her and her sister, Krystal Jung(now a member of the quinlet girl group f(x)), were scouted in a mall in Korea during a family vacation.^[16] Members Sooyoung and Hyoyeon were also cast into SM's training system in 2000. Hyoyeon, an accomplished dancer, danced for her audition.^[17] After being taught at "Winners Dance School", a dance school in South Korea famed for its specialization in Hip-Hop.^[18][19] She initially had no intentions of auditioning for the company, but her mother was a fan of SM Entertainment's then-boy band H.O.T., and brought her to the auditions in the hopes of seeing them.^[20] Hyoyeon would later be sent to China to study Chinese with fellow SM trainee, Choi Siwon(now a member of Super Junior). Yuri was the next Girls' Generation member to be accepted into SM's training system after finishing second in the 2001 SM Youth Best Dancer competition. Yoona was cast the following year after auditioning singing and dancing to her favorite singers, BoA and Britney Spears. Seohyun, the group's maknae (youngest) member, auditioned in 2003, singing children's songs.^[21] The group's leader, Taeyeon, was cast in 2004 after being discovered at SM's 8th Annual Best Contest winning "Best Singer 1st Place & Grand Award".^[22][23] That same year, member Tiffany auditioned at SM's Starlight Casting System in Los Angeles, and joined the company in October 2004.^[24][25] The ninth and final member of the group to be added was Sunny, who entered the system in 1998, training for five years before transferring to another company, Starworld, where she trained to debut in the duo "Sugar", which ultimately never debuted. Then under the recommendation by the singer Ayumi she re-transferred back to SM Entertainment in 2007.^[26]Sunny is also the niece of SM Entertainment's founder, Lee Soo Man.^[27]