CLC (short for "CrystaL Clear") is a South Korean Girl Group formed by CUBE Entertainment in 2015 and disbanded in 2022. They debuted with the single "Pepe" on March 18, 2015. The group originally consisted of only five members - Seunghee, Yujin, Seungyeon, Sorn, and Yeeun - but Elkie and Eunbin were added in 2016.
In December of 2020 Elkie announced she was requesting that Cube terminate her contract, claiming that they had violated it and that Cube had stopped their "developmental support" of the group, and in February of 2021 it was confirmed she had left the group.
In November of 2021, it was announced that Sorn had terminated her contract with Cube following a mutual agreement, and would be leaving the group. In her farewell letter, she wrote "I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting me and everything I’ve done with CLC. For the past 10 years, I’ve learnt so much from the whole experience. I’ve met six wonderful girls who have become my second family in Korea. I’m so proud of all the achievements we have accomplished together as a team and I’ve enjoyed every single moment with them through our ups and downs. I wish my girls all the best and I will support them in everything they do."
In December of 2021, Yujin placed third in the survival show Girls Planet 999 and debuted as a member of Kep1er.
In March of 2022, Seungyeon and Yeeun also left the group following the expirations of their contracts
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On May 20, 2022, Cube announced that CLC would be officially disbanding on June 6 of that year, however Seungyeon would later reply to a fan's comment on Tiktok saying that the group had not disbanded before deleting her reply, leaving the group's fate ultimately unknown.
Members at time of disbandment:
- Seunghee (Oh Seunghee, born October 10th, 1995): Main Vocalist
- Yujin (Choi Yujin, born August 12th, 1996): Lead Dancer, Sub-Rapper, Vocalist, Visualnote
- Eunbin (Kwon Eunbin, born January 6th, 2000): Maknae, Lead Rapper, Vocalist
Former:
- Elkie (Chong Tingyan/Elkie Chong, born November 2nd, 1998): Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Visualnote
- Sorn (Chonnasorn Sajakul, born November 18th, 1996): Lead Vocalistnote
- Seungyeon (Chang Seungyeon, born November 6th, 1996): Leader, Main Dancer, Lead Vocalistnote
- Yeeun (Jang Yeeun, born August 10th, 1998): Main Rapper, Vocalistnote
- 2015
- First Love (Extended Play)
- Question (Extended Play)
- 2016
- Refresh (Extended Play)
- High Heels (Extended Play: Japanese)
- NU.CLEAR (Extended Play)
- Chamisma (Extended Play: Japanese)
- 2017
- Crystyle (Extended Play)
- FREE'SM (Extended Play)
- 2018
- Black Dress (Extended Play)
- 2019
- No (Extended Play)
- ME (Digital Single)
- Devil (Digital Single)
- 2020
- Helicopter
Tropes that apply to CLC
- Affectionate Nickname: Seunghee is known as Little Hani.
- Mini Hyuna for Yeeun because many people think they have a similar voice and rapping style.
- Animal Motifs: Ducks for Seunghee, rabbits for Yujin, monkeys for Seungyeon, elephants for Sorn, tigers for Yeeun, deer for Elkie, and unicorns for Eunbin.
- Badass Adorable: Yujin during the Crystyle era.
- Eunbin may be The Baby of the Bunch, but she can do this.
- Also, all of them dancing to the badass song Hobgoblin in cute animal onesies..
- Eunbin may be The Baby of the Bunch, but she can do this
- Cool Big Sis: Seungyeon serves as this to the members younger than her.
- HyunA is this for all of them.
- Dandere: Seunghee. She comes off as reserved while performing and during interviews, but behind the scenes she's a goofy sweetheart.
- Early-Bird Cameo: The original 5 members appeared in a G.NA music video as backup dancers while she was still signed with CUBE.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: When the group first debuted each member was associated with a fruit.
- Seunghee: Green apple, she dubbed herself the "innocent apple" because she considers herself the most innocent member of the group.
- Yujin: Strawberry, because she is considered "refreshing" and "sweet".
- Seungyeon: Orange, because of how cheerful and lively she is.
- Sorn: Watermelon, as it is a popular fruit in her home in Thailand.
- Yeeun: Tomato, because she considered herself to be unique and wanted to show more than one side of herself to fans.
- Elkie: Cherry (no official reason was ever given for her choosing this fruit).
- Eunbin: Lemon, she was given the nickname by a penpal when younger, and during a fan vote the majority of votes when to lemon.
- Even the Girls Want Her: A large part of CLC's fanbase, referred to as Cheshires, are female.
- Fangirl: Seunghee is a huge fan of the Korean Pop Music boy group NU’EST. She even signed up for their fancafe.
- Fun with Acronyms: CLC stands for Crystal Clear... not quite how acronyms work but most fans don't mind.
- Genki Girl: Elkie.
- The Leader: Used to be Seunghee but is now Seungyeon. The former was type Level-headed whereas the latter is type Charismatic.
- Older Than They Look: Yujin is the secondest oldest but doesn't look it. In fact, some fans call her the fake maknae.
- Singer-Songwriter: Yeeun often writes her own raps and both Seunghee and Yujin have mentioned writing lyrics in passing, though not for CLC songs.
- Sixth Ranger: Elkie and Eunbin were added in 2016, roughly a year after CLC debuted.
- Spell My Name With An S: Member Yujin's name has been romanticized as seen abut also as “Yoojin”, some fans can't decide and neither can CUBE.
- Boastful Rap: Yeeun in No and ME
- Call-Back: To Hobgoblin in ME, with shots of breaking sculptures
- Childish Pillow Fight: Seen in the High Heels music video.
- Darker and Edgier: Hobgoblin and Black Dress are, sound and video wise, compared to most of the group's previous releases.
- Hotter and Sexier: Compare the sound and dance of Hobgoblin to their past title tracks like Pepe and High Heels.
- Non-Appearing Title: Hobgoblin.
- Performance Video: For Hobgoblin, Summer Kiss, I Like It, and To The Sky.
