Credit for all videos goes to the fantastic CrazyCarrot310@YT.
f(x) - NU ABO
The only thing I actually take notice of when I watch f(x)'s performance now is Luna's middle 8. Of course I listen to the other parts and all, but I pay attention to that middle 8 in particular for the simple reason that it's the only part worth watching for me. Luna did it impeccably today - probably the best she's ever done. The middle 8 was nicely delivered and the high note wasn't off - yay.
BEAST - Special
BEAST ended promotions for their second mini-album Shock of the New Era today, and I'm impressed. When they debuted I named them better than their then competition MBLAQ, and I still think they are - better vocals, better material. I watched their debut performance after I saw this and they really have turned into true performers - they've got decent material, they tried some harmonies here and there and they've gotten more confident on stage, you can see that they have good group dynamics and they're comfortable with not only the stage but each other. Seriously, all they have to do is give me one drop-dead-gorgeous single and I'll be all over it.
After School - Bang!
Someone please fire the cameraman today - he's making my headache horrid. Their vocals were good today - probably the best they've ever been since the start of promotions. The two girls were actually singing, Gahee sounded nasal but her vocals were decent, that girl in the pony tail was OK and except for the fact that her high note at the end made my head throb, Raina was good today too. Maybe a few more voice lessons and some intense technique sessions? That should do, they're capable of it after all.
Davichi - Time, Please Stop
Davichi - gorgeous voices. The girl doing the verses was a little shaky at the start, but the second verse was a lot better. The chorus was very scream-y, but it fits the song - their vocals during the higher parts were brilliant and the harmony part (I just heard one!) was pretty. Here we go again with the fake band though. Ugh. Props?
Rain - Hip Song
Fanchants make Rain's perfomances - that accounts for about half of their outstanding-ness (LOL), but today's chants weren't as loud as one of his earlier performances on Music Bank. It's also with his performances of Hip Song that the importance of decent outfits really sinks in - I liked it when he was doing it a few weeks ago but the change of outfits just made me go "bleh". As a performance it was good though, as Rain's performances always are.
Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
I'm still bored with Hyori - there's only a certain number of times I can see this song performed live before I start losing interest, and Hyori has exceeded that limit. I saw her duet with Daesung yesterday morning before I left for the mountains (LOL) and I was all over it, still am - Hyori needs to give me something new with her performances, and by that I mean a new song. Oh well. Her vocals were so-so today, not bad but not spectacular.
Gummy - As a Man
Gummy seemed a lot more comfortable today, as if she wasn't already comfortable during the previous performances, but the sound engineer still can't seem to understand the meaning of TURN DOWN THE BACKING TRACK. Oh well, at least she sounds OK. Stellar vocals, good stage presence and a decent sound system make for a brilliant performance.
Super Junior - Boom Boom + Bonamana
I hate to admit it but they actually did relatively well with Boom Boom today. I wouldn't call it a spectacular performance but considering that they don't exactly pwn anyone when it come to live vocals, they did well today. Kyuhyun started it out strong, Donghae surprised me yet again with his now-existent live vocals, Sungmin was competent and Ryeowook did what he always does. Heechul's line was far too backing track-ed for my liking but his really short line at the end was OK. What kinda disappointed me though was the rather bad performance of Bonamana. Siwon still can't sing live, Heechul's vocals sounded weak and what surprised me the most was the fact that you could hardly hear Kyuhyun or Yesung - I once again blame the engineer. It's not the mics since they brought their own today (or SM did), it's the mixing and rendering of the vocals which is the engineer's main responsibility while the performance is going on. The backing track still pisses me off and the camera angles made my head ache a bit. However even if there are a gazillion people on stage in boyband language, it didn't seem like it - that's what separates Super Junior from the other bigger bands like ZE:A, their group dynamic. They looked like one single unit today and that's the foundation of an entire group's performance - everything else can be learned and acquired with time and practice.
2PM - Without U (WINNER)
And 2PM win again today - they haven't won a triple crown yet, right? *sigh* I'm bored with this song too, but then again I never thought it was any good when I first heard it. Their vocals were surprisingly relatively good as well, like a lot of other acts, and the performance as a whole was tight. I guess they do deserve the win today.
That wraps up this week's incomplete music show recaps - apologies for the second week without an MBC Music Core recap. Catch me this Friday for a live tweet+recap of KBS Music Bank!
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