[August 1, 2010] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

YAY I've completed another weekend of music show recaps! Woohoo! The winner today was rather surprising, considering the competition, but if you don't know yet, I won't spoil the fun. ;D
Se7en made his comeback, and it seems like Taeyang's back to promoting I Need A Girl. Doojoon made an appearance on G.NA's performance again, so I'm happy.

Credit for all the videos goes to CrazyCarrot350.

G.NA - I'll Back Off So You Can Live (review/The Kpop Panel Review)
She's a lot more comfortable on stage, you can tell, but her sloppiness as a performer has come out because of that. It's like she just flings her arm here and there, steps to the left or right, but she's unsure of whether or not she should've done that - she's hesitating. There's no room for hesitation when you're on stage. I liked Doojoon's part, as usual - the guy knows how to carry himself. The best part? When she sang at the end, backing track-less. She actually sounded good. A bit wild, but good.

Teen Top - Clap
Actually, the second guy who sings is actually better than the guy who gets the most lines - I kinda like his voice. And even if only two guys sing, I do think they're better off than Infinite, if I may say so. They have stage presence, now all the rest of the guys have to do is open their mouths and get proper singing lines. That and they should really get better material. This is decent, but not good enough.

Infinite - Come Back Again
Their voices sound like crap to start with, and then they just have to top it of with a dimension-less performance. Seriously, there's no depth to their actions or their singing - what you see is what you get, and even that isn't any good. I tried, but they really don't have the talent to go where they should go. Sorry Tablo, try again.

MBLAQ - One Better Day
These types of songs match them better than the Oh Yeahs and Ys of the world, but if this is all they're capable of, and all they do, they won't get anywhere. This band has been a lost cause since day 1, I just needed solid proof to say that.

Son Dambi - Queen
Let's just say that yesterday was her best performance of the song. Today was a bit bleh, Next song.

SHINee - Lucifer (review/The Kpop Panel Review)
Now, I'm probably just as disappointed as anyone is right now that SHINee didn't win, but who the hell cares? There's always next week, and at least once Miss A get a triple crown (if they do), there's one less act to compete with. ANYWAY. They just keep getting better - except for that slip towards the end, ONEW WAS HANDS-DOWN PHENOMENAL TODAY. He's like a not-so-direct but still direct descendant of DBSK's Jaejoong - starts out with a nice, smooth voice, then suddenly BAM it develops a deep-ish timbre, without loosing the smoothness. Jonghyun was let loose again today, sorry to say - the guy has to learn to control himself. He did it before, so why not now? Key's voice is slowly getting shriller, and I'm not liking it. I miss the nice timbre he had, and I want it back. And Minho's standing now, hopefully SHINee finally become a 5-piece dancing machine again. Soon.

Taeyang - I Need A Girl
I think I know what's wrong now - I can't stand Taeyang's live singing. On this song, at least. Seriously, I can't. Next song.

Se7en - Digital Bounce with TOP + Better Together (The Kpop Panel Review)
Now that is what I call a performance. Consistent, tight, and worth every second. You see how he just walks out with his hand up and everyone stars screaming - that's what a performer should be able to do. I pretty much have the same opinion as yesterday, I don't think I have to say that his vocals were spot-on, do I? Oh wait, I just said it. LOL.

Miss A - Bad Girl, Good Girl (WINNER)
I wouldn't say they're undeserving of their win, but I do wish that SHINee of Se7en won today. That doesn't mean Miss A are bad though, they're probably one of the best rookie groups since 2NE1. I mean it. Now JYP, stop making them sing like you and give them a better song - once you do that I might just think about worshipping you. Oh, and move them over to JYPE.

[July 11, 2010] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

Pretty much the same line-up as yesterday's MuCore, except for D-NA and Orange Caramel. Let's get straight to the recap, shall we?


If Music Core replaced their sound engineer, Inkigayo must've given theirs a scolding - it's better, but not perfect. "It's better than nothing" is a phrase I've learned to use a lot in kpop. As always, YT credit goes to CrazyCarrot350.

Girls' Day - Tilt Your Head
Can I barf now? OK fine, I won't. But seriously, even if their performances are getting shorter and shorter, they still suck. The shorter airtime is a welcome relief though. Do these girls even like what they're singing? It seems like the one girl who had that pre-debut video where she sang Take A Bow suddenly disappeared - I honestly can't spot her.

Teen Top - Clap
"Emotional Teen Pop Band"? o.O The set today looks like a slightly cheaper version of a set they could've used for 2PM's Without U, and maybe even the outfits. There's even fire! All we need now is rain. I'll have to admit though, that was a tight performance. For a new group that was pretty good. Vocals-wise they falter a bit, but they do know how to perform and not just try and look good on stage. I'll be watching them from now on.

Miss A - Bad Girl Good Girl
Why do I keep screwing up the title of this song? I think I've put the wrong title on 2 recaps already. *sigh* I'm glad we've solved most of the breathlessness, but the girl in the tutu-like thing wasn't very good today - what went wrong? She's usually decent. Over-all it was a strong performance, as usual. There's nothing else to say!

Infinite - Come Back Again (review)
They're not that good to start with, then you put them together with SBS' crap sound system - epic fail, I'm afraid. Although, I do hear more than one guy with a decent voice. Maybe in the future Infinite, but not now.

Sistar - Push Push (review)
What do I have to say? The epitome of cheap. The choreography, the clothes (oh God the clothes) and the song itself sound so cheap it kills. They don't have finesse, there's no grace to their performance - maybe it's because the song doesn't allow it, but maybe they really are like that. A good performer can and will make the cheapest song into a song with class - 2NE1 is the perfect example of that. But you see, SISTAR aren't 2NE1 - they don't have the training and the abilities that 2NE1 got. Oh well.

ZE:A - Level Up
It pains me to watch something like this - a song with absolutely no dynamics performed by a bunch of amateurs. They look like a single unit now, yes, but if getting to that stage takes a song like this, I'd rather watch their All Day Long era performances. This is not working, ZE:A.

CN Blue - Love
There's not much difference arrangement-wise - it's just the regular arrangement played with a bass and 2 electric guitars and they changed the setting to "heavy metal" or "rock". And maybe a few changes to the drum line here and there. I like the original one better though, BUT THE DRUMMER IS STILL TOO DAMN FAR. Here we go again. Need I remind these people every single time that the drummer is the single most important part of the performance? *sigh*

4Minute - I My Me Mine
I can now stand 4Minute - Mel will be happy. So there, I think they're now my third favorite girl group. Give me a few weeks to do my research and watch a few TV shows, then I'll tell you when I'm 100% sure. 4Minute have developed grace and finesse on stage, and they used to be the cheap version of 2NE1, so SISTAR may just have a shot. Although technically, 4Minute are under a big three company - Cube Ent. is under JYPE. So SISTAR might not have a shot. Oh well, 4Minute are still decent now. Yay.

Taeyang -I Need A Girl
Pretty much the same observations for Taeyang today - the song sounds better recorded. And his voice seems a bit off as well, more nasal than usual - in Filipino he sounds paos, like he has a sore throat or something.

Black Pearl - Gogossing
Harmoniesssss - my ears are in heaven. That's what I call a girl group, if they can dance that's a plus, but it doesn't matter 'coz they can damn sing! I do wonder what their old material sounds like, so maybe after this I'll go do some more research, deeper than what I already know. For some reason, the girl on the far right reminds me of Solbi, and the girl next to her (with the brilliant voice) reminds me of Sooyoung SNSD. Hmm.

Son Dambi - Can't U See + Queen
Son Dambi is a good performer - I'll give her that. She's still miming a lot of her performance, but she does carry herself very well on stage, which is good. Pledis acts seem to really be like that - good performers, mostly sub-par vocalists. I think the clothes and the set had something to do with Queen sounding very cheap yesterday, it sounds a little more tasteful today.

Narsha - Bbri Ri Bba Bba
I now actually like the chorus of this song. The verses are OK, and the hook is very catchy (true to it's name), but to a certain extent the chorus intrigues me - it's so ethereal. I like. I do appreciate the fact that Narsha's agency is actually spending and, in turn, making an effort - the gazillion back-up dancers, the outfits and the rather.. interesting video show that. Hey, at least someone's making an effort. And besides, Narsha actually has a voice - it's not like she's some pretty face with no actual talent.

Super Junior - No Other
Well they won today. Congrats! The vocals were pretty strong, which is good. Everyone looks normal today - no creepy smiles or extreme emo-ing. My only complaint is that Ryeowook sounded horrid at the beginning, but other than that they were OK today.

[July 10, 2010] MBC Music Core Highlights + Commentary

*sigh* I know, I know, shoot me for not writing this last night - but I had this concert to watch with my mom! I didn't choose to go to that concert! So there.

Debuts from Girls' Day and Teen Top and comebacks from ZE:A, Black Pearl and Son Dambi. AND D-NA!!! Hahah.

The consensus today (or last night) is that MBC must've fired the old sound engineer and gotten a new one, because everyone actually sounds decent today. Hurrah! Credit goes to CrazyCarrot250

Girls' Day - Tilt Your Head
Oh dear. Just thinking of this group and their lead single makes me head ache, and actually seeing them gives me a very very unpleasant feeling. What happened to this? Personally she wasn't the most brilliant, but she was good and she was trying - so where did that go? This lead single is annoying, it's far too autotuned and if I didn't see that video before they debuted, I would've thought none of them could sing, because clearly they can't sing this song. *sigh*

Teen Top - Clap
I know this has been said before by people other than me, but Teen Top really do remind me of 2PM. Well, 2PM with slightly better live vocals. I think one good thing about this batch of rookie bands is that they have pretty decent vocals. I'm not 100% sure if most of Teen Top can actually sing, but they sure give off the impression that they can. The performance was tight, very practiced, and the set really does remind me of something 2PM had used. Oh well. Just hearing the song didn't really convince me, but now they've made me curious - we'll see.

Miss A - Bad Girl
I like the idea, I like the vocals, I like the performance, but I don't like the song. The concept of Miss A is there - good vocals, strong performers - but they lack the songs to really make an impact. On the other hand, I suppose this is better than what Girls' Day got, so I'll shut up and be thankful.

Infinite - Come Back Again (review)
A lot of these groups are good dancers (in the eyes of someone who doesn't know how to dance), and a lot of them are synchronized and all, but what does that have to do with the music? They are girl groups and boy bands - because they can't play drums or the guitar or bass, their voices are their instruments. If they can't even use that, they have no right to be called, in this case, a boy band. The song's perfectly fine, it's got character, it's ever so slightly out of the ordinary, and it's a strong debut single, but Infinite falter in the execution.

Sistar - Push Push (review)
All SISTAR have at this point is some experience on stage, backing from Brave Sound, and a glorified novelty song. It will sell, yes, but how long can that one girl carry the entire band vocally and performance-wise? It's not really tradition for an idol group to have all the members be good singers, but at least half or 3/4 of them should have some semblance of a voice. But anyway. I'm now 100% sure that if Miss A and SISTAR were to face off with these singles and at this stage of their careers, Miss A would trample SISTAR.

ZE:A - Level Up
One good thing about ZE:A now is that they're slowly starting to look like one whole band - it doesn't seem like there are a gazillion guys on stage. But I do admit, I like All Day Long better than this. Level Up was really built around the gimmick - that's it. It sounds like a commercial, their talent company didn't bother building up a lot of buzz for it, and I'm starting to think that they're giving up on ZE:A. I mean, all they really need is good material - give me that and the world will be a better place.

D-NA - Stumble Stumble
I missed these guys, I really did! I've already established why they were given such a generic song, so no complaining, but I do really think they have good vocals. That and those vocals are actually shown live - I don't have to think really hard to say that they can sing live. Now that they're my second favorite boyband, they better prove to me that they're worthy - I cannot wait for a full-length album.

Orange Caramel - Magic Girl (review. kinda.)
I was already annoyed last week, right? K. Still annoyed. I have a very low tolerance period for these kinds of songs, but it just so happened that I was in awe with how they magically got live vocals, so I kinda stopped noticing the song. Now that I am, I'm annoyed.

4Minute - I My Me Mine
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'm starting to like 4Minute. Still don't like most of their material, the two who are being pushed as the singers can actually sing live. That and they're making an effort to look a bit more clean/sophisticated now and are straying from the "new 2NE1" label. Which is good. Slowly but surely, 4Minute, slowly but surely.

Taeyang -I Need A Girl
To me, it's like once GD stops showing up, the performance just gets boring for me. He's performing it better, yes, and I actually kinda like the melodic part better now, but there's no GD, so Taeyang's improvement just fills the gap that GD left - the performance as a whole is still the same, it's just the individual elements that changed and shifted around.

Black Pearl - Gogossing
So, Black Pearl. Apparently, they first debuted in 2007 (along with SNSD and The Wonder Girls) under Mnet, if my memory serves me right, but obviously they were outshined by SNSD and WG. My research on them led to another group, but we'll save that for another time. I first heard this song last week, if I'm not mistaken, and the first thing I noticed was the vocals. I'm like, "finally a girl group with strong vocals!" My one complaint though is that I don't understand why all girl groups who can actually sing (SeeYa, Davichi) have to make songs like this. They're OK songs, but I'd like them to explore, because they actually have the vocals to do that. That aside, OMG I HEARD HARMONIES. I find the girl who sings the second part of the chorus a little too uncontrollable - her voice is to shrill. The best? The girl who takes the first part of the chorus and the middle 8. The other 2 are good too, but that girl's better. It looks so effortless.

Son Dambi - Can't U See + Queen
I know she was miming on Can't U See, but even so, I don't understand why someone would want to go from tasteful, (but a tad bit generic on the music side) with the pretty piano loop and the nice melody, to slightly cheap and far too gimmicky-y. My one comment on Queen? It's so Kylie. Seriously. Apart from the chanting/rapping/whatever on the verses, I wouldn't be surprised if Kylie suddenly burst out on stage singing this. I listened to Queen (the album) with the illusion that Can't U See was the lead single, and the most decent song (apart from Can't U See) for me was Queen. I think I liked the song for a few hours, tops. When I got home from school that Friday, I didn't like it, and when I saw the performance, I wasn't impressed. She's been gone for almost a year and she still can't sing more than 50% of her own song?

Super Junior - No Other
From what I can see, SuJu broke 2 rules of performance today, but at least their vocals were decent. First, Eunhyuk looks like someone died - did someone die? I mean I know the happy happy thing creeps me out, but the emo-sad thing does too! Did LSM beat him up or something? He didn't smile. And next, why does Heechul keep talking to whoever's beside him? I know it was his birthday and it's easy to hide in such a big group, but it's not easy to hide from the camera. That aside, the vocals were rather strong, if I may say so. So yay.

[July 4, 2010] SBS Inkigayo Highlights + Commentary

Can you believe this is only the fourth time I've written a recap for Inki? Thank goodness the sound today wasn't as crap as usual. It was still bad, but we've all experienced worse so this is good enough. A lot of surprising observations today, even I was a little surprised that I think those. I'll stop blabbing now and get to the performances.


YT credit goes to CrazyCarrot350.

Miss A - Bad Girl Good Girl (review)
Could this be, am I starting to like Miss A? As performers, yes - the vocals, the stage presence and everything about how they perform is great - but in terms of the material, it's still a no. They're miles better than the other rookie girl group though, and I expect big things from them - better material, for a start.

Infinite - Come Back Again (review)
I believe I said a while back that there's probably only one guy who can sing (based on this single) and he's only good enough to be in 2PM (vocally). Well apparently he's not as consistent as I'd like him to be, and there's another guy who did quite well today - I'll pinpoint and tell you who it is once I learn their names for heaven's sake! Same observations - tight choreography, but crap vocals. If all they care about is dancing, then might as well be backup dancers, not singers.

Sistar - Push Push (review)
I now realize the luxury and value of training with a big three company. You look at how slick Miss A are with their nice costumes, tight choreography and practiced vocals, and then you look at SISTAR - what a big big difference. In some band's cases it doesn't matter where they're signed to and who they trained with, but in the case of these two bands, it matters. They look fun and all, but they don't have sophistication. Not necessarily in how they look, but more in how they move and take the stage - in Filipino they have too much of what you call "kuwela". That's not a good thing.

Orange Caramel - Magic Girl (review. kinda.)
The excessive cuteness of everything, the fanboy screams and the orange (fruit)-print boots really annoyed me today - I've had enough of Orange Caramel. Bring on the next After School sub-unit please - I beg you, Pledis. I'll go down on both knees if I have to.

MBLAQ - Y
Holy crap they actually sounded a tiny, mili-whatever bit better today. Not anywhere near good yet, but let's just say that a certain second favorite girl group of mine were at this stage once, and look at what they've become. Sometimes I think I give off the impression that I don't want these bands to be good singers and I hate them with a passion and all, but in reality I don't - I really, really wanna like majority of them, it's just that they're really not good enough for me. We'll see what kind of band MBLAQ turn into.

4Minute - I My Me Mine
4Minute are starting to get less and less annoying in terms of vocals, and because of that their vocals actually sound like vocals now, not some confused cross between rapping and singing. Hurrah. I like Cube Entertainment, at least their acts are good performers and they're trying to be good singers. Give me a single better than Huh, and I might just like you girls.

Taeyang - I Need A Girl with GD + You're My(review)
Taeyang's boring me more and more as the days go by, I'm really sorry. The chorus is the band kind of anti-climatic, and the fact that the song doesn't really go anywhere makes it worse. I do like the nice piano loop - it's very sophisticated - but that's it. I'll stick with the recording, thank you very much.

Super Junior - No Other
Yay Leetuek isn't flashing his creepy smile for 90% of the song anymore. Or did the cameraman watch the other 2 performances and deliberately not zoom in on Teuk when he was all creepy? Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'll keep my mouth shut now. Out of the three performances this weekend, I like this one the best. Maybe it's coz I like their outfits, the backdrop looks really sophisticated and surprisingly, there were hardly any slip-ups in terms of vocals. I think I'm getting used to the whole idea of this single. As long as Leeteuk doesn't look like a creep, they dress nicely, and they have good vocals - it might just grow on me.

CN Blue - Love(WINNER)
The drummer isn't that far from the band today compared to yesterday's blasphemy, but HE'S STILL TOO FAR. Don't give me the "he's too loud" excuse because I won't buy it. The rest of the band not only has to hear the drummer but feel the rhythm - WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK A FRIGGIN' DRUMMER IS FOR, HUH? DISPLAY? Ughhh. The drummer is the single most important part of a live performance because he dictates the speed and pace of the entire thing - without him they'll fall apart. But moving on, it's a catchy song, and other guy finally has a name - Jonghyun! Hahah. So I look Jonghyun's vocals better than Yonghwa's, I can now formally declare that. I'd say they're worthy of their win today - triple crown, perhaps?

A truckload of new(ish) singles

I thought of the title before I actually got down to writing the post, and now that it's done I don't think this is that big a truckload. Oh well.

So I guess this means I'm back in full swing, right? Hmm. I'm trying to get myself out of kpop land, so this post has a mix of English and Korean singles. International, much? I'm trying, OK?! You know the drill, click "Read On".


Do I look like a Maroon 5 fan? I don't know, even if they don't really fit majority of the music I like (I think?), they pretty much defined my early pop experience or whatever you call it. I was on a concert tour for the very first time when Songs About Jane became a hit in the Philippines, and then I was a freshman when It Won't Be Soon Before Long came out, so the albums and the singles carry sentimental value. It's like every time I hear a Maroon 5 song, regardless if it was a single or not, I feel sentimental. So now we get Misery - I'm in love with this damn song. I love the irony of it - the song's called Misery but the chords are so cheery and it's got a certain groove only Maroon 5 can pull off. Ugh, here I go again sounding like a press release - it's all that news writing. Anyway. I love everything about the song, and Adam's voice is somehow soothing - it's all the memories it carries.

OK, so JYP has a new girl group out under one of his gazillion sub-labels (that don't really earn him that much money when you put them together, compared to the other 2 major agencies) and they're called Miss A. They've got two token foreigners, Chinese girls now, and two Koreans - yeah, 4-piece. One of them has pink hair, random. When I first saw the video for Bad Girl, Good Girl I didn't like them. At all. But if you read my music show recaps, I said last Friday that they're not half bad when you watch them live. The song is bearable now, and surprisingly they all have actual voices plus the fact that they dance like any other JYP group - tight choreography and slick performances. They make SISTAR look lazy. I mean, what does SISTAR have - two backup dancers, a pseudo-rapper and one girl who sings everything. Lazy. Their material is well-produced but too gimmick-y and still a bit boring for me.

I'm afraid Paul might clobber me if I don't say anything about the new Same Difference single, so I better do it now before he thinks of it. I like it - it reminds me of the S Club era and I get all tingly just thinking about it. After all, that was kinda where I made my mark. Before kpop. The chorus is all inspirational and the gimmick about the photo frame makes me cringe a bit, but all is well. I do like the irony (again with the irony) of the verses and the chorus - the verses are all serious and sound like something straight out of some German/Swedish popstar's gazillionth album but then you get the chorus and you go "right, this fits in an SD album."

I've never been a Taeyang fan, but for the sake of it I tried listening to SOLAR when it came out last Thursday. I did like one song - Superstar. It's your standard "I have arrived so back off" song, and I like it. I'll have to admit, I Need A Girl sounds better recorded than performed live - I realize that now. I actually kinda like the recording, everything's snappy and the good production shows. One common trait I noticed on the rest of the album was that all the songs go on and on and on and on - they don't go anywhere and once you've heard the first verse and the first part of the chorus you've heard it all. There are songs like that that don't drag, but it's like the tracks don't have anything that keeps me interested. Oh well.

Let's go back a few weeks, because I never bothered writing about The Saturdays' Missing You. I don't know, the autotune bothers me a bit. But then again, everyone's doing it, and besides, they haven't had that many autotuned songs since they started so what the heck. Missing You is trying to be big and epic and all that, but I think in trying too hard they lost the effortlessness of an epic song. I mean, everything up 'till the end of the first chorus is OK - nice and fresh and stuff - but after that it just gets boring and the only thing keeping my attention is Vanessa's solo. I appreciate the dance routine at the chorus, but after watching idol groups in Korea, they're no match. Music-wise most of the Koreans are no match though, so it's even.

[July 3, 2010] MBC Music Core Highlights + Commentary

I honestly really hope I live to see the light of an Inki recap tomorrow. But that's in the future - this is the present. MuCore today was surprisingly OK sound-wise. It wasn't spectacular, but it wasn't crap like before. Yayyy.

Taeyang made his "comeback" with a three-song suite, and Miss A debuted. But where in the world was D-NA today? The week I comeback is the week they don't perform on MuCore. *pouts* Oh well.


YT credit goes to CrazyCarrot250. I'll update once a video of the CN Blue performance comes out.

Miss A - Bad Girl
During certain parts of the song, especially the beginning, I found it hard to believe that they weren't miming, but as they started getting tired with all that dancing, they were clearly singing live. I really do commend them for one, actually having vocals and two, attempting to sing live with that kind of routine - it takes a lot of guts and backing from your agency to do that. Plus, they were actually pretty good vocally. That takes talent - either you have it or you don't, and they do. The song is kinda bleh, but at least they've got the skill.

Infinite - Come Back Again (review)
Infinite confuse me. I was watching their cover of this Chris Brown song the other day and they weren't half bad, so why were they OK there and crap here? It could be the song, or it could be the singing and dancing at the same time, but seriously, they sounded like an absolute train wreck today. Oh well. *sigh*

Sistar - Push Push (review)
SISTAR are no match for Miss A - I'm making them rivals right now. LOL. Seriously, these girls look so lazy compared to the new JYP group. Yeah, one of them can sing and one of them raps (how well, I have no idea), but the song sucks and the other two girls are like backup dancers, pretty faces or whatever.

Orange Caramel - Magic Girl (review. kinda.)
This song is starting to seriously get on my nerves now. Vocals are decent for the kind of song it is, and at least they don't look like Cabbage Patch Kids or anything like that anymore, but I'm just not in the mood right now to see three girls frolic around stage singing about sweets and stuff.

MBLAQ - Y
When you mute the performance you'd think MBLAQ are a pretty OK boyband - slick choreography and tight delivery, they really look like performers. But then the minute you turn the sound back on, it's like "what the crap is this horrific scene I'm watching?" I tried to like you guys, MBLAQ, I really did, but I'm afraid it's still a no.

4Minute - I My Me Mine
The slick-er outfits plus the better vocals helped make the performance a little more decent today and the song is bearable now, BUT I LIKED HUH BETTER. *sobs* Well I guess this is better than them doing a complete change.

Taeyang -Solar + I Need A Girl with GD + Just a Feeling
I'm not a big Taeyang fan, and I don't think I will be for a while. I want to like him, I really do, but nothing ever turns out right when it comes to the guy. I liked the intro (Solar), but I Need A Girl kinda just went on and on and on for me that I was begging for it to please end. The performance bored me, and probably the only part I actually liked was when GD came out and made everything lively again. Just A Feeling was better over-all, and I think the tempo helped, but his voice cracked towards the end. I always thought Taeyang was the performer in Big Bang along with GD, but I don't think he can do it on his own just yet.

Super Junior - No Other
SERIOUSLY. Leeteuk freaks me out enough on regular days, but now he just has to start smiling like a creep. Sorry, non-ELF here. (I'm NOT a hater! ugh.) My tentative theory is apparently true, No Other is more of fan service. But I'm not a fan. I mean the song itself is pretty decent, nothing to rave about, but bearable - it's the performance that makes me cringe. Kyuhyun seems to be enjoying himself though - his vocals had some soul today. Yay.

Best of 2009: November #6 - #3

I have to say it first - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!! Hope you have a great day with the people you love. (LOL.) I'll be asleep when this is published - the aftermath of Christmas eve with the entire family - cousins included.

Let's get to business.

#6: Taeyang - Wedding Dress

I'll admit it, Taeyang's Wedding Dress is one of my guilty pleasures. As a song it's boring - the instrumental is one-dimensional and the melody is generic 21st century R&B but I still adore it. The piano throughout the song just makes me melt and although I don't find his voice very good (don't kill me, please!), the melody carries it and nothing else but dammit, why do I like it so much? LOL.

#5: CL and Minzy 2NE1 - Please Don't Go

This year I learned one thing - if rap is done the right way, it's bearable, and let me just say that CL's rapping I can bear. The reason why I just cannot get enough of this song is because dammit, CL SINGS. A friend of mine said that if you can rap well, you can most likely sing well. I don't know if that's true since I know nothing about rap but let me just say that CL has a pretty damn good voice. And the loop during the verses gets stuck in my head. Dammit.

#4: Big Bang - 声をきかせて

Doesn't matter if it's the single version or the gorgeous acoustic but not that acoustic version - I love the song either way. The original version is great for about 10+ times but then I get sick of it. The melody is gorgeous, Daesung's vocals are like WHOA and the song is just great as a whole. But then I heard the acoustic version and I just died. I like the acoustic version because it's not just a guitar and a simple percussion part (usually just the downbeat to set the tempo) - IT HAS A STRING SECTION. You guys know how I melt for string sections but this one is different because it's GORGEOUS. You don't feel it's presence during the verses but you know it's there and throughout the chorus it just makes me fall at the arranger's feet. The second verse is even better when more instruments are added but again, the string section. It's always about the violins.

#3: Westlife - Sound of a Broken Heart

I may have already given up on Westlife but I can't give up on the fact that they're part of the British music industry whether I chose to ignore it or not and with that fact comes at least one good song from any release of theirs. The songs I like from Westlife are the songs that sound least like them - my favorite track off Back Home was When I'm With You and it was as far from Westlife as possible but I still loved it. Sound of a Broken Heart has a gorgeous piano loop, a chorus that explodes but doesn't and Shane's smooth vocals. Mind you, I gave it a perfect score.