ZE:A
ZE:A (Hangul: 제국의 아이들), also known as Children of Empire, is a South Korean boy band formed under Star Empire Entertainment in 2010. The group is composed of nine members: Kevin, Kwanghee, Siwan, Lee Hoo, Taeheon, Heechul, Minwoo, Hyungsik and Dongjun. The group released their debut EP, Nativity, and lead single, "Mazeltov" on January 7, 2010, alongside their showcase performance five days later. The group debuted on KBS's Music Bank on January 15, 2010.
History
Pre-debut
Under the name Child of Empire, following their appearance on Mnet's Office Reality, the group gained attention by performing various guerilla shows and creating UCC (user created content) videos. They have also appeared in a documentary-styled show Star Empire, and later getting their own documentary show titled Empire Kids Returns, showing them performing in wingcar performances around Seoul and training. The group faced controversy in December following the similarities of the group's name to Brown Eyed Girls's JeA. The group later changed the pronunciation of the name to avoid implications.