It has come to my serious attention that these two amazing singers cannot be separated from each other, in matters of talent, skill, and personality.
No, it is not a troll topic, nor is it a spam topic. This thread is an attempt to prove several points about two popular music artists: Younha and Taeyeon (Leader of SNSD)
This thread is dedicated to iReflux@jsp (Taeyeon fan), hangang (Taeyeon fan), and to all other Taeyeon fans and Younha fans reading this post.

Younha vs. Taeyeon

There have been many different opinions between the two singers. The two singers have sang many of the same songs, and in comparing the two equally wonderful singers, i have come to one conclusion.
I will try to provide as much evidence as possible to convince that my theory is correct.

My hypothesis cannot be cramped into one single sentence. Thus, i will explain in the following paragraph.

Each of their biographies are almost sufficient information to prove my hypothesis. The comparison of the childhood lives of each artists show very conspicuous and significant differences. Although i have yet to collect more data about Taeyeon as i have about Younha, it was not because i was lazy; it was because Taeyeon's biography was much more inaccessible than Younha's biography. The reason for this can be attributed to the fact that the group SNSD is much more of a big hit in a popularity contest than Younha. And it is only apparent; SNSD fits the hot 'model' appearances as well as exceptional music talents as well as dancing capabilities, whereas Younha can sing (in equal skill, i should add), and play the piano. However, the piano is no longer an instrument of entertainment for the youth. Thus, it can only be apparent that SNSD is much more popular in Korea than Younha is. Also... all the groups of SNSD, including Taeyeon (i do not know the validity of the following information, as most of it is secondhand from evesdropping on my family relatives) were all handpicked from their childhood, and underwent rigorous training and necessary plastic surgery to be the next 'all stars' of the music industry in Korea. In other words, you could say that from their birth, they were fated to enter the circle of music entertainment.

Younha, on the other hand, did not have the initial 'kick' as the members of SNSD did; she was nothing but an average girl with an average life simply with dreams of being able to sing professionally. She did not have 'fated' rigorous training, nor the necessary plastic surgeries. Instead... through self-confidence, determination, and hard-work, she was able to successfully become a professional singer (although, not to mention, not without hardships; she had failed her first 30 auditions in Korea until she finally decided to try to debut in Japan, and after her debut in Japan, in the following years, she was finally able to make her dream come true and debut in Korea as a professional singer).

In comparison of the two biographies, it would make sense that Taeyeon is a much more conditioned to be able to perform and overcome obstacles that would hinder her abilities on stage, such as stage fright. And believe me when i say this; when Koreans say 'rigorous training' they mean that they accept nothing less than a perfect performance.

Younha lacks such conditioning; thus, she makes many more mistakes than Taeyeon during performances (as evidence will be provided later).

However, a very important point MUST NOT BE MISSED in these claims; although Younha may lack the conditioning that Taeyeon has, Younha still holds the same kind of determination, although it is safe to say that their motivations differ. As mentioned above, much data is lacking on Taeyeon, but on Younha's end, she sings because it was her dream, and to support her family, and she sings in love for her family. When Younha sings, she sings with overflowing emotions of love.

How about Taeyeon then? Am i claiming that Taeyeon does not love to sing? No. Taeyeon may love to sing to the same degree as Younha does. The sole difference is that the love for singing was PUSHED upon Taeyeon, ever since the training and conditioning started. Younha's love for singing was not forced upon her; she merely found her love for singing, and gladly accepted it, worked hard at it, and made her love become the truth.

We can only ask this question then... What if such a role was not pushed upon Taeyeon? would she still love to sing today? would she still be the leader of SNSD? no one cannot tell for sure, but my argument makes it likely possible. The question is arbitrary when applied to Younha, as she has already proven that her love for singing did not have to be pushed upon her, but she would find it anyways.

And to proceed with the evidence, collected from youtube:

There have been many times where Younha has messed up her performance.
Here are a few...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pw_8i7dKew - at 0:30 she forgets the lyrics of the rap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVhkEV8ApLU - at 2:22 she also forgets the lyrics of her song 'Love Condition'



Also, here are a few songs that both Younha and Taeyeon has sang. You can see the difference for yourself:

I have a lover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=konVkw-Tixk - Younha sings 'I have a lover'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56PF9-rFT3E - Taeyeon sings 'I have a lover'


Romantic Cat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzWB26hKK5Y - Younha sings 'Romantic Cat'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn0o_ntCAmw - Taeyeon sings 'Romantic Cat'


Love Love Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pw_8i7dKew - 'Younha sings along side Epik High in their song 'Love Love Love''
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bvK5qtqIKs - 'Taeyeon sings along side Epik High in their song 'Love Love Love''



As you can see for yourself, Taeyeon's voice represents textbook perfect performance, whereas Younha's voice is much more spontaneous and uncontrolled. But Younha's voice is not like that because she is less talented, but she inputs her genuine love towards singing, that causes her voice to be filled with instability, strength, and vigor.

Even the way they dress are complete opposites. Taeyeon dresses up much more nicely and like a lady than Younha does. Younha wears clothes that are not impressive or anything, nor is her hair done in any spectacular way. This is another proof that supports that Younha is a free singer, and Taeyeon is the conditioned singer.

And it really depends on what type of ears you have: do you have ears that is pleased by voices that are very finely tuned, or are you the type of listener that looks for a person's true compassion in anything that they do?

I will be realistic here: Taeyeon is the better singer than Younha, but also more pitiful, because of the joy that Taeyeon gets out of singing is not as genuine as Younha's joy. However, Taeyeon does earn much more fame and money than Younha.

With that said... it is not time to come to my conclusion:

In comparing Taeyeon and Younha, there are no absolutes. It all matters to the preferences of the audience. For me, i support Younha, as does all the other Younha fans, and vice versa for Taeyeon fans.




Here is some basic info on Younha:

Younha

Younha was born in Seoul, South Korea on April 29th, 1988. She began playing the piano at the early age of 4. Her talent and gift for both singing, learning languages, and playing the piano were obvious from the early start of her career. She taught herself Japanese and auditioned in many places (including SM Entertainment, to which she was eventually turned away from) before debuting under a Japanese record label in 2004. Her song "Houki Boshi," which was used for the popular TV anime show, Bleach, launched her career and broke her into the Oricon Top 20 charts.

Younha then debuted in Korea with her digital Korean single "Audition" which was relatively well received in the Korean market, Younha went along with the release of her first Korean album. This album has received very warm and good reviews as reflected in her SBS Inkigayo Mutizen awards of late as well as peaking on sales charts at #1. The first song promoted from this album was 비밀번호 486 (Bi Mil Bun Ho 486, translated "Secret Number (Password) 486"). The second song to be promoted from this album was 연애조건 (Yeonae Jogeon ("Love Condition"). With her increasing success, Younha released a version of Go! Younha rerecorded in Korean. The album is titled 혜성(Comet). Returning to Japan with a Best Of Japanese album/music video DVD, SONGS -Teen's Collection- on 2008. Comeback in Korea with a new full-length album, Someday, comprised of 17 tracks of various genres. Someday album maintained a good sales record holding up at the Top 5 on the sales charts for more than a month after it was released.

Biography

Name: Younha (Korean: 고윤하 (Go Youn-Ha), Chinese: 高允河, Japanese: ユンナ(Yunna))
Debut: Dec. 4th, 2006 (Korea) ; Oct. 20th, 2004 (Japan)
Birthday: April 29th, 1988
Blood Type: O
Company: Geneon Entertainment (SISTUS RECORDS), Stam Entertainment - Lion Media Entertainment
Family: Grandmother, Parents (Go Sung Pul & Kim Hyo Seon), Younger Sister (Go Youn Jin)
Education: Korean University of Foreign Language
Languages Spoken: Korean, Japanese, English
Talents: Playing the piano, flute, traditional drum & castanets. Can use blind touch on the PC, wiggle her ears, and eat very spicy food.

Favorites

Favorite Artists: Tokyo Jihen, Pink, Sung Si Kyung, Alicia Keys, Hirahara Ayaka, cune
Favorite Albums: Epik High 『Remapping the Human Soul』/ Sophie Milman 『Sophie Milman』/ Danger Radio 『Used and Abused』/ Tokyo Jihen 『Education』
Favorite Numbers: 2, 4
Favorite Colors: Black, Gray
Favorite Books: Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Le petit prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Favorite Movies: Radio Star, Phantom Of the Opera, Our Happy Time, Wang E Namja, M.I.III, The Devil Wears Prada, Titanic, Love Actually, GHOST, I Am Sam, Romantic Holiday, Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
Favorite Foods: Sushi, takkalbi (닭갈비, Korean barbecue chicken), dukbokgi (떡볶이, rice cakes with spicy sauce) ,
rabokki (라볶이, rice cakes and noodles in spicy sauce), sukiyaki, toppoki, takkarubi
Favorite Places: On set, a club with live music, Apgu-jong (Korea), Denver (USA), in front of the PC, home, driving seat
Favourite Moment: Act like an adult, drinking under candles' lights, look at that & start composing
Favorite Scent: Tea Tree, Candles' vanilla, Lavender, the world/human
Favorite School Subject: English, history
Favorite Sport: Skiing

Miscellaneous

Respected Artists: Ray Charles, Lee Seung Chul, Shin Seung Hoon, Shiina Ringo
Respected Person: (Her) Father
Childhood Dream: To become a doctor
First CDs Purchased: H.O.T's Candy, Beethoven's "Moonlight"
Interests: Piano, PC, collecting candles, stamps, and postcards
First Japanese Artist She Liked: X-Japan
Ideal man: Someone who always understands her and her work
First composition: Kaeri Michi (in "My Lover" single)
Other composition: homegirl, Paparazzi, That Street, For Catherina, Hating, She Is, To Love
Motto: "Doing my best today with no expectations for tomorrow"
Personal goal in 2007: Get score 750 on TOEIC exam
First Kiss: Done with Yoon Ji Hoo (actor) in her Korean MV Password 486



Here is basic info i found on Taeyeon (it is not much, and i'm sorry for the lack of data, but it was the best i could find at 2 in the morning)

Real Name: Kim Tae Yeon (김태연)
Stage Name: Tae Yeon (태연)
Birthdate: 1989.04.09
Height: 160cm
Weight: 44 kg
Blood Type: O
Speciality: Singing, chinese, swimming
School: Jeonju Art High School
Casted: 2004 8th Annual Best Contest Best Singer 1st Place & Grand Award & Attended SM Academy
Other: Tae Yeon was the 7th member to join So Nyeo Shi Dae


And here are photos of each:

Younha


Taeyeon


This post was edited by Firaga on Feb 23 2010 02:03am

우리 태연이 생일 3월9일인데...

lol oops i guess the guy who posted this info made a typo

i actually read the whole post. i didn't hear the mistake you pointed out for the song 'love condition' at 2:22.

Younha's take with 'Love Love Love' was better than Taeyeon's. IMO Taeyeon was a bit awkward with the rap style song.

Taeyeon's take with 'Romantic Cat' was better than Younha's. But because Younha was singing that song on 1000song karaoke without lyrics which she wasn't completely familiar with and caught off guard due to the nature of the show, i do not think she was able to show her full potential on the song.

As for I have a lover, they both sang it beautifully in their own style of singing.

u got too much time in ur hand...

vouch. i completely agree with you

and yeah it's kind of subtle (younha's mistakes) but it's there lol

and younha's 'love love love' only sounds better because she just sings it her own way. if u read the description for the taeyeon's love love love video, the poster even admits that younha's performance is better. but he also adds on the note that Taeyeon's version much more closely relates to the original version.

Taeyeon is definitely textbook perfectionist singer, whereas younha just sings her own way, and puts her own flavor in all the songs she sings (even if they are not her own songs)

Because Taeyeon has that descipline that younha does not

but they are BOTH wonderful singers. there are definitely no absolute answers on who is the better singer and who is not. all we can say for a fact is that SNSD beats Younha in a popularity contest and fame. but as for true skill and talents, it is physically impossible to draw a line.

lol ohai!

rock / metal 만 들어서인지 도통 적응이 안되네요.

can u recommend me some best rock/metal songs? if they r krn ^^

시나위 세대입니다.

임제범은 꽤나 대중들에게도 지명도가 높다고 들었고요.