Profile: Nicole (Kara)

NICOLE (KARA)

Nicole Jung (Korean name: Jung Yong-Joo), 鄭・龍珠, better known mononymously as Nicole, born on October 7, 1991, is a Korean-American idol singer. She is best known as a member of the girl group Kara formed by DSP Entertainment in 2007.

Nicole was born on October 7, 1991 in Los Angeles, California to Korean parents. She attended Mark Keppel Elementary School and Toll Middle School in Glendale, California; however, she lived in downtown Los Angeles. Nicole was into the visual and performing arts while in school. She participated in choir, drill team, played the violin for 4 years and took dance classes.

 She auditioned for DSP by sending a video of her singing an Ivy and Black Eyed Peas song. Her mom was very supportive and told her that it was her decision and whatever decision, she would fully support her. Nicole made the decision to go to Korea and experienced hardships such as adjusting to the culture and missing her friends terribly.

 She accepted DSP's offer, her mom moved with her to Korea and has opened up a successful Korean BBQ restaurant called "Aura The Grill"[3] that is often frequented by Nicole and KARA fans alike. She was on a show called "KAIST" (portrayed a celebrity's life as a college student) which was renamed to "Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science" in Konkuk University since Nicole would not be attending KAIST.[ The first episode aired on November 12, 2009. She "graduated" from college in January 2010

Kara debuted on March 29, 2007 with "Break It" on M! Countdown as a 4 member group. Nicole was one of the four along with Park Gyuri, Han Seungyeon, and Kim Sunghee. Kara was often compared to Fin.K.L because of their concept and the fact that they are from the same company(DSP Entertainment). In March 2008, Sunghee left the group due to parental pressure. Sunghee had failed her college exams. On July 24, 2008, Kara came back with two new members, Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung. Their new concept was "cute" and "playful".

 On December 4, 2008, Kara released their 2nd mini-album "Pretty Girl" and had their comeback starting on M! Countdown with "Pretty Girl".In February 2009, Kara followed up with their album "Honey". "Honey" became the group's first #1 single when it topped the M! Countdown and The Music Trend. In late July 2009, Kara revealed their second album named "Revolution". Due to the popularity of the songs, Wanna and Mister, Kara's overall popularity increased. Kara currently started promotions with their third mini-album "Lupin". Lupin was a success, it won KBS Music Bank K-Chart on March 12, March 19, and March 26, 2010.

 In August 2010, Kara officially debuted in Japan with "Mister". After this, Kara released their fourth mini-album Jumping in November 2010. On January 19, 2011, Kang Jiyoung, Han Seung-yeon, and Nicole Jung, announced that they were terminating their contract with DSP. On April 28, 2011, the dispute between DSP Entertainment and Kara's 3 members was officially announced as resolved.

Nicole joined Star Golden Bell on December 20, 2008, hosting a segment called "Level With Me (Season 2)" in which the guests have to guess a term or title from her clues; the challenge comes due to her comparative lack of skill and experience with the Korean language. The segment ended on October 17, 2009.In April 2009, she sang a duet with former Noel member Kang Kyun-seong called "Happy and". In August 2009, she and singer Jay Park became part of historical culture variety show Nodaji, replacing Choi Min Yong and Kim Tae Hyun. But the show was cancelled due to low ratings on October 2009. 

In November 2009, she joined Nicole The Entertainer's Introduction to Veterinary Science and Good Sunday - Yeongung Hogeol (영웅호걸, "Heroes") in July 2010. Nicole received her first solo endorsement for the Vocamastar VM-100 in November 2010. The VM-100 is a very versatile device that can be used as a mp3 player, movie player, e-book reader, and more.

In August 2011, Nicole launched her own cookie line called "Kuki Six" that are sold at Mango Six cafes in Korea. Nicole’s “KUKI SIX” boasts a new line-up of six bakery goods, including the ‘Choco Cookie’, ‘Chocolate Chip Cookie’, ‘Coconut Cookie’, ‘Earl Grey White Choco Muffin’, ‘Orange Cream Cheese Muffin’, and the ‘Choco Brownie’. It was reported that Nicole was directly involved with the planning and development of the recipes, as well as marketing and promotional methods. As such, Nicole became the first celebrity to engage in the food service industry by providing input into a particular recipe. Plans for expansion into Japan and China are in the works for 2012.

 Nicole and band mate Goo Ha-ra were hosts of SBS's Inkigayo until August 18th 2012, when they announced their departure from the show to focus on promoting Kara's new mini-album Pandora. They have hosted the show alongside Korean idol singer IU and more recently actor Lee Jong-suk.

TRIVIA

Korean name: Jung Young-joo
DOB: October 7, 1991
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
Height: 164cm | Blood type: A

Featured in Sunha’s String (2008).
Guest host at Star Golden Bell (2008-2009).
Duet with Kang Kyun-sung in Happy Ending (2009).
Starred in reality show Nicole’s Introduction to Veterinary Science (2009-2010).
Duet with Park Myung-soo in Whale (2010).
Starred in variety show Heroes (2010-2011).

• Nicole sangat buruk dalam mengingat nama. Jika Nicole memanggil Gyuri dan Seungyeon “unnie, unnie” ketimbang memanggil nama mereka untuk seminggu, dia akan lupa pada nama 88-unnie nya.
• Nicole tidak pernah memiliki model ideal untuk pasangannya, tetapi kemudian ia mengungkapkan tipe kesukannya, yaitu seperti adik laki-lakinya – Yoo Seung ho.
•  Nicole sangat jujur. Karenanya dia membenci orang-orang yang suka berbohong
• Nicole mempelajari bagaimana bermain piano sewaktu kecil. Bagaimanapun, karena jari-jarinya yang pendek, dia tidak dapat mencapai beberapa not yang jauh dan berhadapan dengan berbagai kesulitan dalam mempelajari tingkatan yang lebih tinggi. Dia kemudian beralih pada violin dan dapat memainkannya dengan sangat baik.
• Nicole suka memasak. Dia merupakan pemasak untuk KARA. Ibu Nicole berkata, dia belajar memasak sendiri dan dapat memasak dengan baik. Masakan terbaik Nicole adalah kari dan seluruh member KARA menyukainya.

Love, 

LadyBie