A crash course in Korean Pop V 2.0.

Hold on, hold on. Didn't I say yesterday that the last K-pop special post would come today? Well I changed my mind. There's one last thing to do before I write up a sum-up post and that is revise my crash course post. Over the past few weeks I've found out a lot more about K-pop than I knew when I made that post and discovered the good songs from artists I didn't like previously so I think it's appropriate to make a newer version.

The gauge is pretty much the same except that I added 'insanely famous' between legendary and extremely famous.

LEGENDARY

INSANELY famous

EXTREMELY famous

REALLY famous

MODERATELY famous

Big Bang didn't move me until the tail end of the special - I wasn't much for an 80% rapping boyband but when I heard the instances when they actually sang, let's just say the melodies moved me. I've learned to overlook some of the rap but I've only heard a song of theirs with like 80% of singing once - this is it.

There are parts in this song that make me want to faint and scream like a fangirl - the whole thing absolutely gorgeous and it made me subconsciously smile the whole way through! That's a REALLY good sign. I cannot believe I just heard this song yesterday, if I had found it earlier I would've written about this the minute I finished watching the video. Heck, even their rapper/leader sings a line or two! This is what I'm talking about - why can't they make more songs like this? If they made even like 4 songs like this they'd be my absolute favorite boyband in the entire world right next to Westlife and they're practically gods for me. (INSANELY famous)

Well, well, well. Girls' Generation are back after a surprisingly short period since they finished up their last album - that seems to also be a norm in Korea. They sound a lot more grown up than they did with Gee but I think I'll really, really like the new song once I finally hear it.

This new teaser and the new promo pics have been causing all the kpop blogs to either freak out or feature the girls in some way, shape or form. Not bad, really but will SM Entertainment PLEASE let us all hear the new song for crap's sake?! I'm getting way too excited. (INSANELY famous)

OK. 2PM is JYP's attempt to create a singing, dancing, acrobatics-doing boyband. He's done well, thank heavens.

That's their new single/song their singing on all the TV shows (it doesn't have a music video, WTH?! hahah.) and during the first performance of this there was auto-tune all over which means that they were probably miming 40% of the time. That has stopped though because I hardly heard any non-live sounds identical to what the guys were singing - I heard one during the start of the second verse but I think that's it. (INSANELY famous)

Lee Hyori back when she was a little less slut-y. Of course you can't completely rob her of that quality (I think even when she was in a girl group she was like that..) because then Korea wouldn't have a Britney equivalent! I do love the song, it's so un-like what the horrid U-go Girl is.

She's been in a gigantic girl group, hosted a ton of variety shows, kissed a guy from Big Bang, been rumored to have dated Rain and accused of plagiarizing Britney's Do Somethin'. Not bad. (LEGENDARY)

So since Rain isn't under JYP anymore, Park Jin Young decided to get a new one. The guy isn't directly under JYP like 2PM and the Wondergirls - he's under Cube Entertainment, the subsidiary of JYPE, a nicer way of saying 'JYP doesn't care that much about you and you won't get that famous so he threw you into the small, unknown company'. I never knew subsidiaries of talent companies existed.

He doesn't show THAT much of his 'amazing dancing skills' on this video. Yes, it may not be an uptempo but even Rain had to dance like crazy to the occasional ballad - I though this guy was supposed to be 'the next Rain'? Apparently there are a lot of guys claiming that title so let's see who actually becomes 'the next Rain'. (MODERATELY famous)

Kara are the other cutesy girl group in Korea but unlike Girls' Generation, they used to be really, really serious. I mean serious to the point of Fin.K.L.. Wanna see that video? It's here. The one below is the cutesy song.

OK, that girl who sings the first line of the bridge can't really hit the high part live(she can't, I've watched like five performances and she can't hit the damn note.) but over-all the song will get stuck in your head whether you like it or not. Liking it isn't really an option because even if the song kind of sucks at certain places, it's so freaking catchy. This is what I mean when I say that if you're gonna go into a completely different and new genre, you better do it well - I honestly couldn't tell that they used to rap and all before this. (EXTREMELY famous)

Rain is obviously a very, very, VERY good performer but there was one performance in particular that convinced me and made me absolutely adore the guy. He may get a lot of negative comments but the guy has certainly made something of himself.

He doesn't have the best voice in the world even if it's ensured for $10 million but you can tell he tries - I've only seen one or two mimed performances, he hits the notes and he has some brilliant songs behind him. Look at it this way, if he doesn't have the songs he can't dance like that and do what he does - he'd just be a backup dancer for life. Smart decision, Rain, smart. (LEGENDARY)

2PM has I Hate You, Super Junior has It's You. They're both good songs but Super Junior makes the less processed, less padded and non-headache inducing songs. It's You wasn't on the version of the album that I originally had which is why I didn't know of its existence until it became a single(dammit. I could've predicted it! Ugh.) but at least I did!

It's one of those songs that don't sound American or British or non-Korean - I do adore it. I still wonder how all 13 members actually get a solo or if they do at all. (INSANELY famous)

For real this time, catch the last post in the K-Pop special TOMORROW.