Sandara Park (born November 12, 1984), better known by her stage name Dara, is a South Korean singer, actress and host. Seen as one of the few most influential Korean stars in the Philippines due to the success of her multifaceted career, she was given the honorific national title "Pambansang Krungkrung ng Pilipinas", and was nicknamed the "BoA of the Philippines" by Korean fans. She is recognized as a fashion and beauty icon because of her eccentric and distinct fashion style. Park is also acknowledged for acting as a bridge between Filipino and South Korean culture, and was given a plaque of appreciation by the Korea Tourism Organization for her contributions.
2009-2012: Debut with 2NE1 and solo activities
Park took on the stage name Dara, and together with Bom, CL and Minzy, debuted as 2NE1. The group collaborated with label-mates Big Bang for the song "Lollipop", before officially debuting on SBS's The Music Trend on May 17, 2009 where they performed "Fire". The group achieved significant success with the number-one single "I Don't Care" from their first extended play, 2NE1, which won them the "Song of the Year" award at the 2009 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making them the first rookie group to win a daesang in the same year of debut.  Apart from her group activities, Park quickly reentered the music scene. In 2009, Park was featured on G-Dragon's debut solo album Heartbreaker, on the single "Hello". They performed the song on several music shows and also during G-Dragon's two-day solo concert Shine a Light later that year. During that same year, Park released the digital single titled "Kiss", becoming the first member of 2NE1 to do so. The song was produced by Teddy Park and featured fellow member CL as a rapper. It was used in Park's first endorsement commercial for Oriental Brewery's Cass Beer series alongside actor Lee Min-ho. The music video was very popular, with the kiss scene between the two deemed one of the most famous events of 2009. Propelled in part by the popularity of the music video, the single charted strongly on various music charts despite strong competition, managing to replace G-dragon's "Heartbreaker" to top "Bugs". The following year, Park made an appearance as the female lead in Taeyang's "I Need A Girl" music video. Due to the specific lyrics in the song, Yang felt that she was the only candidate for the role. Two versions were made for the music video.  Due to frequent updates on 2NE1's activities and her close relationship with the public, fans dubbed her as the groups PR manager and was consequently promoted to Communications Director on April 18, 2011. In order to make her promotion official, YG Entertainment gave Park her own Certificate of Appointment.  On June 27, 2012, Park's Philippine movies were shown in Korea. The films Bcuz of U, The Lucky Ones, and Can This Be Love were shown on the said date on Korea's Home Choice and SK Broadband.
When did Park debut with 2NE1?
May 17, 2009
May 17, 2009