Red Velvet Adds Another Member For Upcoming Comeback and I'm NOT Here For That

Why SM, WHY???

The four ladies of Red Velvet were totally on my radar after their debut last year, and although promoted kind of lazily on SM's part they totally caught my attention by being talented, energetic and absolutely stunning. I was sure that if only their company could get their act together and give them some proper attention they would skyrocket to fame in an instant, because the potential was endless. 

Yeri

Instead, SM has decided to add a new member, 99-liner Yeri, to the group. Let me tell you why I'm not up for that. The process of changing member line-ups in groups have been proven inefficient before (see After School and T-Ara among others), although it has worked in some groups' favor a few times the decision to mess with a already existing group dynamic is always risky. A new member means a slightly changed image and a new individual to make room for, and for a fan that isn't the easiest thing to do. The risk of loosing fans increase dramatically when mixing with member numbers and such, and for a group that's still trying to find their footing it might put many potential fans off, including myself.

I also really don't see why Red Velvet in particular would need a new member, since they already seem to have all the needed factors. Wendy has a great voice, Seulgi and Irene are both gorgeous and talented dancers and Joy is pretty much the cutest maknae you could imagine and has a sweet voice too. The visuals are there as well as the talent, so what could Yeri bring to the table?

She's very young of course, a whooping 8 years younger than Irene, but that age difference could work against them instead of making them appear more "youthful". She's also replacing Joy as the group's youngest member which I find awful because I love Joy and she fits that position perfectly. We don't know what her position will be yet, but she is undeniably pretty so at least she won't bring the visual rating down. Additionally, rumor has it that this is not the end of expanding the group either, and that SM has plans to add many more girls and create a female "EXO" which sounds like a horrible idea to me. If there's going to be 10+ members you should introduce them all at once and not present one new right before each comeback because people will get fed up with it. The basis for the rumor comes from their own video fore "Happiness" in which there are cameos by 8, I think, female SM trainees, and those are the ones rumored to join the group one by one. I seriously wish that that's not the case and this is is just a rumor.

Yes, I know that I sound bitter and butt-hurt but I honestly think this sucks. I hate having my feelings played with, and that's exactly what SM is doing right now by stirring everything up. Member changes are never easy for me to deal with, and I'm sure it will take me a while to warm up to Yeri, but I'll have to wait and see what she can do before I make a final judgement. Either way, this better stop here, because if there's another member added with their next comeback I'm definitely out.