AOA (group)

History

The eight members of AOA were revealed one by one through teaser photos between July 16 and 23, in this order: Seolhyun, Choa, Hyejeong, Dohwa, Yuna, Mina, Jimin, and Youkyung. The group debuted with a "transformer" concept, meaning they would alternate between performing as a band (with members playing instruments) and as a dance group. FNC Entertainment explained that seven members were "full angels"—Seolhyunari (Seolhyun), Choaya (Choa), Hyejeong.Linus (Hyejeong), Chanmi T.T (Dohwa), Yunaria (Yuna), Minaring (Mina), and leader Jiminel (Jimin)—while Youkyung, also called Y, was a "half-angel/half-mortal" who only joined when the group promoted as a band. This made them a "7+1" group. Their debut title track "Elvis" and its music video came out on July 30. Promotions started with a stage on M Countdown on August 9 and Music Bank on August 10, but the debut saw minimal success.

Two months later, FNC announced a comeback with a second single album, "Wanna Be," on October 10. The album cover showed the eight members dressed as characters from different fictional works: Hyejeong as a character from Kill Bill, Jimin from Léon, Choa from Legally Blonde, Yuna from Tomb Raider, Dohwa from Harry Potter, Mina from Breakfast at Tiffany's, Seolhyun from Romeo and Juliet, and Youkyung from The Fifth Element. In the latter half of 2012, the five-member band unit AOA Black performed a stage during the first week of promotions for "Get Out." They made their first comeback appearance on KM's Music Triangle on October 10 and performed again on Music Bank on October 12.

The next year, on July 11, it was announced that AOA Black would release their debut song "MOYA." The third single album and its music video came out on July 26, and AOA Black had their first comeback stage on KBS Music Bank that same day. A few months later, the dance group released "Confused" along with another single album, Red Motion, on October 13, which achieved moderate success. At the end of that year, AOA appeared on FNC Entertainment's reality show "Cheongdam-dong 111," which showed dramatized behind-the-scenes scenarios involving the company's artists and staff.