One of K-pop's most highly anticipated rookies of 2014, JJCC, didn't gain all that much attention at the end of the day, and now the group has to change its concept completely to try and compete with other K-pop acts.

The first half of 2014 brought the news that Jackie Chan, one of the most popular Chinese actors in the world, was producing a K-pop idol group. The news gained the attention of both Korean entertainment outlets and international media, with articles in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Post, The Guardian, and many other outlets. Then, the quintet JJCC debut in March, but to little fanfare.

JJCC’s debut song “At First” was good, but Jackie Chan's praise and backing didn't result in an absolute success, likely because a talented, popularized group is just one among many in Korea. Even the international attention, and the star power behind JJCC, didn’t translate into instant popularity in South Korea.

JJCC's debut song "At First" displayed the group's talent and the music video was well-made, but ten months later the video has a little over 1 million views. The R&B-pop track showed off the skills of the five JJCC members, but JJCC has since had a comeback with “BingBingBing,” and that song did even more poorly than “At First.”

Jackie Chan’s idol group should have succeeded, in an ideal world. In a world where star power leads to movies drawing in large audiences, one of the most popular Chinese stars investing in K-pop should have meant that his fans from all over the world would have at least some interest in it. However, JJCC’s management distanced itself from Jackie Chan immediately prior to debut, so that the group’s potential success would be viewed as their own rather than because of their star backing. Shortly after the initial announcement of Jackie Chan’s involvement, the actor has been hardly mentioned in relation to JJCC.

This isn’t the first time a potentially popular, well-backed idol group didn’t receive immense success following debut. MBLAQ, produced by Rain, did well initially but after the initial wave of support as “Rain’s group,” MBLAQ faced management issues and five years later, two members left the group due to the less than stellar music career.

Even SM Entertainment’s group suffer this way. Red Velvet and f(x), the company’s most recent girl groups, both garnered much attention immediately following their debut from such a highly thought of entertainment company. But after the fact, neither group gained little actual acclaim; f(x)’s 2009 debut song “La Cha Ta” was poorly received and the group received minimal attention until “Pinocchio” in 2011.

Similarly, SM Entertainment’s name enabled Red Velvet to gain more initial attention, but the 2014-debuted girl group didn’t rocket into superstardom overnight, as one may expect of a group from Korea’s largest entertainment agency.

Star backing is enough to get attention, but with so many different groups debuting each year, and older groups remaining active longer than ever, South Korea’s music scene defeated Jackie Chan’s popularity. JJCC has both the talent and financial backing to do well, but relying on it being “Jackie Chan’s group” will not lead to longevity in the Korean music scene.

JJCC’s debut and comeback songs failed to gain the group a large following because they were not as catchy as some other 2014 idol group debuts. JJCC’s teaser video for upcoming song “Fire” shows that the group underwent a dramatic, more agressive, hip-hop influenced transformation to fit into the trend that is proving popular among idol groups, especially by JYP Entertainment’s 2014 rookie group GOT7.

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Any ideas expressed above are those of the writer and do not reflect the opinions of KpopStarz.