[Gayo Daejun 2012] Part 2: The Consolation Prizes

Like I said yesterday, Gayo Daejuns allow for a wide variety of performances. With the sheer number of acts, the most relevant of which show up on all three shows, there are bound to be performances of all kinds. Like any year, there were performances that were boring, there were those that were really bad and painful, there were those that completely blew everyone else out of the water, but there were also performances that were somewhere in between. Performances that could have been good, performances that had good ideas, execution, or staging, but which didn't have everything. They were good, but not good enough.

Which is why this year, aside from picking my over-all favorites, I'm handing out two kinds of "consolation prizes" so to say, to the performances that had their moments, but were outshone by better ones. First, with so many special arrangements done over the course of three shows, there were bound to be those which really brought something new to the table. And second, I'll be listing the five performances that I saw so much potential in, but which didn't really completely pull through.

Shall we?

The Best Arrangements

KARA - "Pandora" (SBS)
I really liked "Pandora" to start with, so I really liked how they kept this re-arrangement simple, adding some more oomph to the song, but retaining the elements that are both familiar and likable. It's probably the most simple rearrangement on the list, but the thing with this is that you know the simplicity wasn't because of laziness or lack of time. It makes sense, and it gives the song something as opposed to just adding to the chaos. I also really like the dance break -- there's substance to it, but it's also very graceful. If they had delivered this better, it would've been a stand-out performance of the night, really.

Super Junior - "Sexy, Free and Single" (SBS)
After their KBS performance, honestly I was put-off Super Junior's Gayo appearances this year. Every year we get some sort of retrospective of everything they put out since "Sorry Sorry". I know "Sorry Sorry" was a really good song, because it was and it opened so many doors, and I'd take it over "Sexy, Free and Single" any day, but it's not 2009 anymore, plus they've incorporated it in later performances already -- can we move on? This is a 2012 Gayo Daejun, not a 2009 or 2010 or 2011 one. Which is why I liked their SBS arrangement much more. It was pretty sloppily sung, but I liked the arrangement because it gave the song a different kind of dimension, and it's fitting for a group of Super Junior's seniority/stature. You can tell they prepared for this, and you can tell that people made an effort to make this arrangement work. It also made the hook a lot less annoying that it is, for which I'm forever grateful.

Ga-In - "Bloom" (MBC)
This was a nice change from the original performance, which is really perky in a kind of innocent way (but still really good), but I wouldn't really say it's unexpected. The arrangement matches Ga-In and her personality as a performer really well because it gives the song this more mature kind of sexy that you didn't see in the original arrangement. What I really liked about this though was the fact that even if the nature of the elements they chose mass it easy for the song to just stay in one place and not go anywhere else, this performance still has dynamics to it -- verses are ever so slightly urgent, and the chorus has a very graceful, but confident explosion. This is the kind of lie-low arrangement that wouldn't have worked if one, the arranger was lazy, and two, Ga-In couldn't sing. And thankfully, neither happened.

Potentially Good Performances

Teen Top - "Be My Girl" + "Going Crazy" (KBS)
This could have been a good performance, because the song choice was really good -- perky enough to liven up the atmosphere -- and I kind of liked the remix of "Going Crazy", but the delivery fell short. I was reading through my notes from when I first watched this performance, and after watching it a few more times, I still think the same:

The vocals were going back and forth between sloppy and painful, the only reason why the belting was successful was because it was more of screaming than singing. And underneath all the jumping and movement, their presence was pretty mediocre and more manic than energetic.

I'm all for graceful performances, and being too stiff on stage is bad too, but when you perform you need to put some guts into it as well, no matter how fluid the movements. I get the feeling that they were going for that effortless fun vibe, but all I got from the choreographed parts were limbs flailing around with little purpose, and sub-par vocals. Which is really a pity.

SM The Performance - "Spectrum" (SBS)
To tell you the truth, I was actually pretty bored throughout the SBS Gayo, more than I was during the KBS. There was so much going on, but hardly anyone actually delivered, so I ended up just "leafing through" majority of the show at first. But then SM The Performance showed up and they literally made me peel my eyes away from my computer and on to the TV. Which is surprising considering the fact that this is supposed to be more of a dance group and I'm more of a music person. However, two things made me notice this performance (aside from Yunho, of course) -- the song, and the delivery.

"Spectrum" is an amazing, glorious song to start with -- you have all these beautiful elements that really make the song soar, and then you have this melody that lies low during the verses but does the soaring at the chorus. Beautiful. It's the kind of song that you really can't not dance to. Believe me, the only reason why I can stay still is because I'm too busy concentrating on the performance. And then, you have these SM dancers, most of which you hardly notice in their respective groups because they're too busy trying to make up for the weaknesses of their bandmates. Of course some of the people in this project group are significantly weaker than others, but the ratio of useful to less useful/useless is much, much better. These are people who know how to carry themselves on stage, and people who know how to carry even more people than they do here, so naturally they'd do a good job performing. As far as the vocal distribution goes, SM hit the nail on the head for the third time -- people like Taemin and Yunho, people with actual voices, got the solos, and everyone else was multi-tracked. If this had been sung live, and done just as well as it was, this would be on my list of best Gayo performances, but since it wasn't it'll have to settle for potentially one of the best.

Mystic White - "Mermaid Princess" (SBS)
Like I said yesterday, the only project group song I liked was the Mystic White one, because it was fresher than the others, and the production was really good. It had substance as a recording, but it fell short as a performance. It was okay, but the vocals were weak, and the chorus, which I really liked, was delivered sloppily. The entire performance was boring and frail, which is the complete opposite of the characteristics that made me like the song in the first place. The substance was gone, and it's like the entire performance was watered down. In a bad way. Which is really a pity because it was a really good song.

KARA - "Pandora" (MBC)
When I first saw this performance I was still high off the amazing SISTAR one, and even then I thought this had a fighting chance against that gorgeous rock version of "Alone". The remix was confident and I really liked it, and the staging was great (despite the dancing guy) with the crowd of backup dancers that they really made use of. It was a fun way to present a song as good as "Pandora", so obviously I was on board. But then they started singing and they weren't singing live. I guess my ears are partially thankful that I didn't have to hear their sub-par vocals, but honestly, I hate that they didn't even get the chance to try and do it well. What if they had done it well? Even if I doubt it'll happen, KARA is bound to hit it right some time. There were so many good elements, and they were all disregarded by the fact that this ended up only half a performance.

*Note: So apparently, KARA were not lip-synching, but to me that just means that this was even worse than I initially thought it was. Usually, when vocals are too perfect to be humanly possible, at least without studio tricks, or when less obvious auto tune becomes obvious, or when the shape of their mouths don't correspond to the note they're hitting, the performance is lip-synched. Which kind of makes this "live singing" even worse because the only reason I found out that they were singing live was one, someone commented below, and two, I heard them breathing. Yeah sure the backing track makes everything nice and even, but both KARA and the sound guys are at fault -- the sound guys for turning the backing track too high, and KARA for not making an effort to sing over it when it's pretty clear that the backing track is ridiculously loud.

DBSK - "Catch Me" (MBC)
I was really disappointed that DBSK didn't get anything new for this year's Gayo Daejuns, because this is the first year they spent closing all three shows and yet all they had with them was some random intro and the same backing track they've been using since September. Their performances this year were a total waste, not only of their talent, but of "Catch Me" and everything that could've happened. Here you have two performers who literally jump through hoops and fire for a living, and do it well, with a song that's elaborate enough to spruce up even more, and nothing was done. I mean they sang and performed really well, with presence and conviction, but they did that on smaller music shows too -- Gayo Daejuns are supposed to be special. I chose their MBC appearance because it started out really, really good, and when I heard the opening bars of "O - Jung. Ban. Hap." play, my jaw dropped in surprise and awe. That's the kind of reaction I wanted to have for the entirety of the all three performances, but then "Catch Me" came on and things were normal again. This could've been so much better because if anyone can carry a challenging arrangement, it's these two.

And I'm two days late, but that's it for 2012! Again, thank you so much for sticking around despite the rocky start last December. Time to concentrate on 2013!

[#20] KARA - "Pandora"

From: "Pandora"
Format: EP
Released: August
Territory: South Korea
Previous Best of Appearances: #22 -"Lupin" (2010) / #20 -"Jumping" (2010) / #35 -"STEP" (2011) / #33 -"Jet Coaster Love" (2011)

If there's something to commend KARA for, it's having really, really good lead singles, because honestly, everything about them is mediocre at best. Everything from "Lupin" onwards has done a really good job of making it seem like KARA can carry the stage, "Pandora" is no exception.

Yet another Sweetune song, "Pandora" is ever to slightly James Bond/Spy movie-ish, with the choice of synths, and even the chord progressions themselves. I like it, I really do -- it adds a playfulness to the otherwise serious song, and justifies KARA's mousey vocals as a nice contrast.

It's very KARA lead single-material (which is no surprise there) -- you get that trendy, edgy vibe not only from the song itself, but from the treatment and delivery. It's young with a hint seriousness and a lot of mischief.

The vocals were treated extremely well -- chorus parts are padded, and harmonies or double-tracking is added as much as possible. Plus the fact that the melody itself has a graceful urgency at the verses, and lots of kick once the chorus hits. It's a simple melody, it's easy to hum, and it's radio-friendly. You hear any given part of the song and it draws you in -- the individual parts are strong on their own, but they're also cohesive with the rest of the song.

What I like the most about "Pandora" is that it's sexy without being slutty or cheap. It's a classy song, with outstanding production. I can't really ask for more.

[2011 Gayo Daejun Special] SBS - The Good, The Bad, and The Promising

It's January first pretty much everywhere now, I guess, so happy new year to all you guys! Thank you for making 2011 such an amazing year for me, without you guys and your constant pestering and all your tear-jerking comments, as well as all the trolling I got this year, I would've never been able to get through the year in one piece, and win my very first Philippine Blog Award! Thank you so much for taking time out of your lives to read my work, and even more time out to comment on my posts. I may not answer your comments, but I read every single one of them. You've made Pop Reviews Now one of the leading critical K-Pop review blogs, and although I still have a long way to go, I promise to make an effort to repay you guys this year for all your support. Also, thank you for reading this, because it means you're sticking with me this 2012!

Allow me to explain this post first though. I really meant to do a recap of the 2011 Gayo Daejuns, but the original plan was throwing everything in to one huge post with all three networks' shows divided into several categories. However, due to the fact that I want to get the Gayo Daejun post out as fast as possible before it becomes stale news, and also the fact that I'm still in the process of getting a copy of the MBC show (which I've heard is the best out of the three), I've decided to split the posts by network. Today's recap is of the SBS show, which was broadcast on December 29th. Tomorrow I will be recapping the KBS show, and on Tuesday the MBC show (hopefully I have a copy of it by then), if everything goes as planned.

The first of the three Gayo Daejuns this year, SBS delivered a solid show with 170 singers packed in to three and a half hours of running around stage. The show was divided into several themed stages, including a special suite for SM Entertainment artists (and the debut of several EXO members), one which featured CN Blue and FT Island collaborating with f(x) and the Wonder Girls, and a hip-hop stage. The SBS show was a balance of familiar, hit singles from 2011, and special stages.

But that doesn't mean it was immune to disasters, because there were quite a few. And there were those performances that could've been really amazing, but didn't really come out right. I won't be recapping the entire show, instead, we'll talk about the best, worst, and the most promising performances.

THE BAD

B1A4 - Beautiful Target
And the award for the worst performance of the night? Well, that goes to none other than B1A4. For several reasons. First, obviously the song itself is a complete and utter disaster. It's all over the place in the most spread-out way possible. You look away for a while and the song sounds completely different, plus, about 99% of the song has to utilize a backing track, because the vocal treatment changes every five seconds, so basically all these guys are doing is screaming "yeah!" and running around stage. I'd hardly call that a performance. Second, what is with that choreography? My eyes. And third, when you put the song, together with the horrid choreography, and the fact that they're actually trying desperately, it's hilarious.

Gain (Brown Eyed Girls), Jiyeon (T-Ara), Hyun A (4Minute), Sunhwa (Secret), Fei (Miss A), G.NA - "Run the World"
Oh wow. Where do I start. Well, I appreciate the effort, and I appreciate the fact that they included Ga-In (even if she forgot some of the choreography), but this performance was another mess. Too many girls, and I guess they didn't have enough time to learn the whole song, because for the majority of the song they danced in shifts, and yeah, choreography was forgotten. The dancing in shifts really irritated me though, because it really shows how unprepared they were, and it's like the performance was half gyrating all over the place, and half dead air. At the same time. It's inconsistent, three or four of them are dancing, then there are two or three just standing there on the side. What are they, mannequins? If they didn't have enough time, then they should've just done one verse and a chorus or something. I'd rather they did that then haphazardly do a full, 3-minute performance. And really, people can only take so much of that kind of dancing.

G.NA - "Top Girl"+"Black&White"
It really breaks my heart to see G.NA like this. With that horrid choreography at the beginning, those pretty weak vocals throughout, and the cheap repertoire. She's talented, she shouldn't be singing songs like this, because they do her absolutely no justice.

KARA and 2PM - "Every Little Step"
Everyone was so dead during this performance. I mean I understand that KARA and 2PM aren't the best singers around, but what makes this so bad is that it was already lip-synced for heaven's sake, and yet the singing was wimpy and lifeless. I would've written it off anyway if the vocals were fixed up, but not as much as I am now. If you're going to lip-sync a performance anyway, at least use all those studio tricks to make the track sound damn good. Such lazy, lazy people.

THE PROMISING

Miss A - "Goodbye Baby"
I adore this arrangement, I really do. It's so fierce, and it matches the melody so well. It's obvious that this was thought about. However, their vocals on this were so disappointing, bad almost. Like, really, they were weak and everyone sounded like they were being strangled all the way through. I've dealt with the regular Miss A breathlessness since they debuted, and they got better this year, but this performance was so painful to listen to. It's such a waste though, because the arrangement was really good.

After School - "Diva"
This was a really interesting song choice, but also a very logical one, because "Shampoo" would bore people to death. Just the idea of hearing them perform "Diva" after so long is enough to get people interested, but in true After School fashion, they failed to deliver. Add the fact that line-stealer Raina struck again, STEALING LINES FROM JUNG AH (HOW DARE SHE), and that they didn't do the entire song and it just disappeared into them and Pledis boys dancing to dubstep (snore..), the originally good idea turned into bad execution.

KARA - "Step"
This is another arrangement I really like. "Step" in itself is already a big performance-ready song, and there's little you can do, but I like how they made the percussion sound a lot more real as if they had a live band behind them. They didn't lose that high-energy, yet girly, sound, but they made it a lot more apt for a live performance, and the transition to and from the dance break was very smoothly done. The let down? Again, the vocals. I'm not surprised, in fact I was expecting worst, but just because this is the best they can do, doesn't mean I'll forgive them for being inferior. They can't sing live, and it's such a shame because their material is really, really good, fun, pop.

T-Ara - "Cry Cry"
If this was done completely live and pulled off just as well as it was lip-synced, this would've been one of the best performances. But no, the backing track wins and you hear next to no live vocals. The arrangement is brilliant, the dance break is different but not disjointed and they kept the distinct piano line, even a bit of the original feel of the song, but made it fresher, and interesting. And believe me, after looping this for over 200 times this year, thus making the original arrangement pretty stale for me, this is really a strong, new, but faithful take on the song. It's an amazing arrangement ruined by bad production decisions and possibly the lack of solid live vocals.

CN Blue and The Wonder Girls - "Tainted Love"
First of all, Yoobin shouldn't have been the first to sing, because I was turned off right away. Yoobin isn't a bad singer, but you have to have a certain level of proficiency to sing songs like this, and she doesn't have that. She sounded like she was drunk and singing this on karaoke or something, not on stage. But Sohee and Lim don't have that proficiency either. Lim needs more power and this is a song she can't get away with because she has an American accent. And really now Sohee, why do you even try. Her line was all air and no singing, she was useless. It should have been just Ye Eun and Sun Ye doing this, because if it was it would've been an amazing performance.

Wonder Girls - "Be My Baby"
It was a classy performance, with decent vocals and a very polished arrangement, but even if the arrangement was fresh, it was boring. Pretty piano line, yes, and if you think really hard it's actually not a bad performance or anything, it surprisingly matches the lesser members' vocals even if it's now more dependent on the melody, but this is a performance, it's supposed to really catch your attention from the very beginning. In a sense, this arrangement was so predictable, but on the other hand, had they done a rock remix it would've been boring too considering all the other rock-ish arrangements that came before them. But actually, I liked the track that was playing during the intro, if they turned that into the remix things would've been interesting. Basically, what this performance lacks is shock. I know I have very high expectations of them, but after "Wonder World", why wouldn't I?

SMTOWN - "The Sound of Hallyu"
I loved the idea of this, and I loved how, even if majority of them weren't playing live, it was made very obvious that the people who played instruments actually know how to play them in real life. And I like how the people who sang were actually the people who can sing, and they didn't force people who are dancers, not singers, to sing. Like Taeyeon and Changmin's duet. Even if Changmin out-screamed Taeyeon, she was definitely the right choice for the song. If it had been Jessica I would have raised hell. The Shinhwa and H.O.T. covers were tame, and that's one of the two reasons why this is a "promising", but not one of the best performances. The songs they chose need savage vocals. Raw, powerful, with minimal processing, but seeing as the people they got to sing those parts, although good singers, simply don't have the vocals to do those songs justice. Of course the Exo members were a big part of the thrill of this suite, but they, or actually just one of them, are the second reason I didn't put this down as one of the best performances. Towards the end, the second guy to the left of Changmin, I think he was the one who danced after Victoria, was TALKING to the other Exo guy beside him. That's such horrid stage deportment. It may not be a lot to you guys, because the standard reaction is "So what's wrong with that? They're just talking.", but this is one of the most basic forms of courtesy towards not only the audience, because they have a responsibility to give their full attention to the audience and their performance, but also towards the other artists on stage. How would you like it if the guy beside you was talking to someone during your big solo? If, this early, that kind of behavior is just let go, forgiven and forgotten, it will get worse. Trust me, I've seen it happen, and it definitely doesn't end pretty. And considering how Exo are being hyped to be extremely talented, if they don't have basic stage manners it will be a huge waste of their talent.

THE GOOD

Yoon Mirae with Gary, Dynamic Duo, Jun Hyung (BEAST), Hoya (Infinite), Mir (MBLAQ), Taecyeon (2PM) - "Get It In"+"Monster"
And the award for the best singing of the night goes to Yoon Mirae. All these idols should be ashamed to call themselves singers after Yoon Mirae, who I believe raps majority of the time (the new times I've heard her material), out-sings them all without lifting a finger, by just by singing a few lines. Backing track, yes, but you know she's rapping and SINGING live, it's so obvious, but she does it so well that to untrained ears it may be a bit confusing. But apart from the strong vocals, she has the stage presence to not have to jump around too much. She still does towards the end, but she has a certain air to her that you know she's having so much fun and you want some of it too, but she still commands the stage, and all the guys sharing it with her. This, my friends, is a true performance.

2NE1 - "I Am The Best"+"Ugly"
I didn't like "I Am The Best", but like I always say, you have to watch 2NE1 for their material to make sense. It's not that their recordings are bad, because the production on them is outstanding, it's not that they can't sing, because my God can Minzy and CL sing, it's that their material is made to show off their strengths, and 2NE1's strengths lie in performance. They don't exactly run around stage because the majority of their performances are choreographed, but they have a command of it that's like no other. It's not just stage manners, or presence, it's really a command and it shows in everything -- the way they move, the way they sing. Pair that with a very creative and accommodating talent agency, and you have familiar, but stellar performance.

Brown Eyed Girls - "Sixth Sense"
I noticed that hardly any of my favorite performances were full remixes. But I guess that it's harder to perform a familiar arrangement and still make it sound interesting. But that's exactly what the Brown Eyed Girls did. Apart from adding a few bits and pieces (literally pits and pieces) all over the place, and adding a dance break, the base is still the same. This is one of the best girl group performances, and, like the entirety of their "Sixth Sense" promotions, performances, songs, singles, this is girl group master class. To all the girl groups trying to be sexy with skimpy, but cheap, outfits, to all the girl groups trying to be fierce but failing, to all the girl groups trying to sing while dancing, this, girls, is how it's done. Watch and learn.

BEAST - "Fiction"
They didn't really do much to the arrangement of "Fiction", just softened a few parts, added bits and pieces here and there, and switched some things around, but the basic mould of the song is still the same. And that's the selling point of the performance -- it's familiar. However, despite it being pretty simple, the modifications were enough to keep things fresh and not bore people to death. It's also a very straightforward performance, but in being simple it's also very well-sung. And considering how good a song "Fiction" is to start with, it's a good thing that they didn't experiment too much, but still had the foresight to prepare for it. Like I said a while ago, I prefer a simple, but prepared performance over an elaborate but haphazard one.

DBSK/HoMin - "Keep Your Head Down"+"MAXIMUM"
Call it unoriginal, because the dance part most probably is, call it boring, because there were no significant changes to the arrangements, but what you can't deny is that Yunho and Changmin know how to perform, and they showed it. They hold the audience in the palm of their hands and they know exactly what to do to make them go wild, but they never, ever, forget the musical aspect of it all. Screaming, yes, chanting and interacting, yes, but stopping to sing just for the sake of it? Never. That's the kind of stage deportment that newer acts, even Super Junior and SNSD, lack -- they lack concentration and choose dancing, waving and being cute over singing. Image is important, yes, and they take care of that too, but they are singers before anything else, and singing should always be first priority. Yunho and Changmin are what idols should be, and THIS is how it should be done.

[#33] KARA - "Jet Coaster Love"

From: "Super Girl" (Album)
Released: April (Single)/November (Album) 2011, Japan
Rating: 2.95

I have both fond and not-so-fond memories of "Jet Coaster Love", because it came out during a very stressful time for me. Remember when I got that tropical virus earlier this year? Yup. The video for this came out just before I got admitted to the hospital, and I listened to it throughout, all the way up to the week I made up ALL my final exams, my thesis defense, and basically everything I needed to graduate. So whenever I listen to JCL I get all tingly and whatnot. But enough about me.


"Jet Coaster Love" is probably the best single KARA's released in Japan all year, because once again, it's a balance between what they were, and what they should think about becoming. Instead of being all-cute, JCL is more on the whimsical and/or girly side, with the instrumental and actually even the melody being a bit more serious than usual, but nevertheless still fun.

If you've been reading my recent tweets, you might've come across some "why can't I write" or "I have nothing to say about a song" tweets. They were for this song. But now I realize why I don't have much to say about JCL -- that's the point.

I admit that sometimes I tend to over think songs, so much that I miss the point altogether. But I didn't miss it this time. "Jet Coaster Love" is fun, mindless pop music, and that's the way it should be.

[#35] KARA - "STEP"

From: "STEP" (Album)
Released: September 2011, South Korea and November 2011 (As part of "Super Girl"), Japan
Rating: 2.85

I know not a lot of people will agree with me when I say this, but Japan has worked wonders for KARA. They may not be aware of it, but after they began their Japanese career, majority of their singles have been strong, with the likes of "Jumping" (which was #20 on last year's best of list)


"STEP" dropped nearly half of it's initial score when I reviewed it earlier this year, however it's still one of the best KARA singles ever. The most important thing to take note of is that with "STEP", KARA managed to find a balance between the cutesy image they were known for, and a more current, albeit technology-dependent, sound. And balance is all I've ever really wanted from KARA, to be honest.

I understand that the concept of "cute" will never leave, because of all the money and fans they've made with it, but KARA themselves have to understand that they won't be in their late teens/early twenties forever, and once they get past that age, cute just won't work anymore. Can you imagine 30 year-old's singing "Rock U" or "Pretty Girl"? I think not. They have to think for the future, and "STEP" is the beginning of that.

And a portion from my review earlier this year, which I'd like to point out:

It's nice to know that after all the complaining I've been doing these past few years about the fact that all these idol groups have no sense of musical identity and cohesion, everyone in kpop is finally, slowly, finding their ground, and their niche. I've been waiting for more than 2 years for this, it's about time! 

And of course, that middle 8 is stunning. They can't sing it live to save themselves, but on the recording it's a much-welcome pause from the synth-laden, chaotic song.

KARA - Step

So I tweeted a while ago that I was/am on the verge of a break down and that I couldn't relax because I had so much to study. Well, I tried studying, but nothing's sticking to my brain so whether or not I study tonight I'm most probably just gonna fail anyway, so I'd rather get something done than just laze around, and since writing is supposed to relax me, I'm gonna give it a shot. Time to try and forget the fact that I have to get up at 5AM tomorrow, that 2/3 of my subjects tomorrow have tests, and that I'm probably gonna fail them. Oh well.

So anyway. Enough about the break down I have to forget, on to business. I was too distracted with the JYJ teaser this morning to bother with the KARA song/album, but now that I've seriously listened to the song, I really, really like it. Out of all these "vintage"-themed singles or whatever - e.g., "Roly Poly", "Figaro", you get the point - I like this the most, probably because it's more than just "vintage".

So the synths and loops throughout the song, as well as the percussion and some parts of the melody, would possibly class this among the "Roly Poly"s of the world, and at first glance it really does fit this girl group trend, but the thing is that KARA have a strong enough back catalogue and musical identity to not just completely surrender themselves to the trend. 

If you notice their previous singles and when they came out, they follow whatever the trend was at that time - "Lupin" had that dark thing going, "Jumping" was out during the time when everyone was going techno, or some derivative, and now "Step Up" is following the "vintage" trend. And just a side note, but I listened to the instrumental and the synths are SO "Take On Me"/"Never Gonna Give You Up".

But if you also noticed, all three singles have something that ties them together. Of course as time passed the synths got noisier, the orchestrations grander and the vocals ever so slightly better, but they all still sound like KARA. There's a specific style, sound and combination of vocals, instrumentation, structure and arrangement that just clicks and links the three songs together. There's no before or after, no "shocking transformation", there's only KARA songs.

It's nice to know that after all the complaining I've been doing these past few years about the fact that all these idol groups have no sense of musical identity and cohesion, everyone in kpop is finally, slowly, finding their ground, and their niche. I've been waiting for more than 2 years for this, it's about time!

So on the song proper. So now that I've made it clear that it's a KARA song, I assume you know what goes in to the now-standard KARA single. It's synth-heavy, it's got those pretty trumpets behind all that chaos, and the melody is infectious. It's fast enough to build choreography around, but it's relaxed enough for an actual melody to surface. Strong production - rich instruments, float-y but firm vocals and a well pulled-off resolution. However if their past singles are anything to go by on, they probably can't pull this off live, which will, again, be a pity.

So what did it get from the current trend? The fun. It's such a fun, happy, light song, but it's not the "I wanna puke" kind of cute either. There's enough seriousness for it to be taken seriously, but with everything going on in the background, the vocals just manage to tie everything up nicely and give it that light sound. The chorus in particular honestly just sounds like one big riot of a party - the vocal treatment, the trumpets, the chords and harmonies - I don't see how you cannot dance, or attempt to, when you hear something like this.

So from now on, whenever someone makes an excuse that they wanted to make a light and fun song but end up making a sickeningly cute track, I will use this as proof that you don't need to make everything cute for it to be the light kind of fun.

The last point I want to raise, and probably my favorite part of the song, is the middle 8. I'll go ahead and say it - although short, this is one of the most brilliant middle 8's I've heard in a very long time. It's a very welcome break from the rest of the noisy, but fun, parts of the song, and it comes at the right time, but in itself it's gorgeous. Although a little throatily delivered, the melody is so pretty and the transitions are perfect. It just zooms in and out and only when it's gone do you realize how gorgeous it is.

Definitely one of the best singles this year, I'm not gonna lie. And my first perfect review in quite a while!

5/5

The 2011 First Quarter K-Pop Report: Part 2

Sorry for the delay, it's just that things were hectic last week - graduation, graduates' ball, family celebrations left and right, sleepovers, gallivanting with friends in celebration, burning all my university exam reviewers and deleting all my high school files, you know, the usual? Hahah.

I've only gotten the chance to sit down and finish writing this now, with the help of my spankin' new audio technica headphones.

So far, March was THE month of releases left and right - anyone who mattered (and even those who didn't) had something out. Or at least was gearing up to have something out. And to be honest with you, majority of the major releases (LOL) were actually pretty darn good.

HoMin/TVXQ - "이것만은 알고가 독백 (Before U Go)"
From "Keep Your Head Down" Repackaged
Released: March
Stunning

Whenever I hear this song I want to cry with joy. I kid you not. When I saw the first live performance of this I had the volume so high my mom could hear it from the kitchen (and we have a relatively big house, mind you) and I was literally crying because it was so gorgeous.

This is everything Yoo Young Jin stands for - it's like SM The Ballad's "Hot Times" and "Beautiful Girls" (the one on the SNSD live album? yeah.) were the prototypes for this song. They don't sound alike, but a lot of elements from both songs were taken, mixed together and bettered. The harmonies are swoon-worthy - hearing them live or recorded makes me want to cry because they're so gorgeous. I can't emphasize the power of beautiful harmonies enough - it will make or break a song, frankly.

Yoo Young Jin is one sneaky bastard, that's all I have to say. The recording is stunning, but you listen closely and you hear all these little elements - an acoustic guitar line, the "sprinkles"/chymes - but then you listen to the live performances and you just wanna die with joy. The slight tweaks to the arrangement, the addition of another harmony line at the chorus, the shifts in instrumentation - Yoo Young Jin why are you so damn brilliant?

Another reason why this song just works is because it fits both Yunho and Changmin vocally - it's everything they can do, and everything they were never able to do because Junsu, Jaejoong and Yoochun did it better than them. This song, and the two of them singing it, just proves a point I've raised long ago - I fall to my feet at Jaejoong's voice, I adore Junsu's, and Yoochun's I praise, but Yunho and Changmin are something too. Yunho and Changmin are good singers, they know what they're doing and they know how to do it well, it's just that you put them beside people like Jaejoong and Junsu and they pale in comparison. However that doesn't mean they're not good - they are.

The simple fact that they stood beside what could very well be Asia's best voices and didn't crumble or run away in fear - that shows how good they are. Remember, DBSK is not a "dream team" because they're all talented in different things, DBSK is a dream team because they are five lead vocalists of dissolved SM project groups. LEAD SINGERS. You put five lead singers together and you'd think you'd have the five of them trying to outdo each other, but they didn't - because they knew their strengths and they stuck to that. However, that also meant that there were times when certain people never got to show that they're able to do certain things.

And you know what? HoMin showed exactly what they can do on this song - sing damn well. Put them beside any lead singer of an idol group now and they win - by a really long mile. I kid you not.

Girls' Day - "반짝반짝"
From "Girl's Day Party #3"
Released: March
Blegh

Now because words are simply not enough to describe what I think about this song, and Girl's Day in general, I've prepared a graph for you guys! LOL. Let's just got this out of the way before I find anything more to complain about. Hahah.



So basically this new single is like a less decent "Nothing Lasts Forever", or a better "whateverthenameofthatsinglewas" - there're two ways of looking at it hahah. So anyway. There. It's got much better vocals than their first single, although autotuned almost as bad at the verses, and as a whole the arrangement and production are much better. But it's far too cutesy to the point of being squeaky and annoying in the bad way - it just goes on and on and on and on and around in circles until the song ends.

And how they pronounce the "반" in "반짝반짝" pisses me off too lol. So does the girl who "stars" in the video - she makes me want to throw up. Literally. I almost did, actually.

In my opinion these girls most probably do have the chops to do more, because "Nothing Lasts Forever", although a little all over the place in my opinion, was pretty good. Nothing special, but it was a decent song. And then they go back to this? Oh well.

Lee Haeri - "Can You Hear Me?"
From "Tears of Heaven"
Released: March
Stunning

I admit that I only really listened to this because Junsu stars in this musical and he sings this too on stage, but this is honestly one of the few songs that have literally brought me to tears at the first listen. I can understand some of the lyrics and the general theme of the song and it's sad and all - but my God the melody, the arrangement, the vocals are spot-on.

The strings add dimension to the very simple piano part, and everything starts out really soft and floaty, but when the percussion and the guitar parts come in, along with a rather pretty backing vocal line, I just lost it. There's a sense of urgency to the entire song, and everything explodes, without losing that character the song had at the beginning, and the stunning melody.

Let's take a moment to worship Lee Haeri's epic vocals, shall we? I swear, no matter how gorgeous the song itself is, and no matter how much the arrangement makes me want to cry, it's the delivery that delivers the final blow. And in this case, she knocked it out like hell. She doesn't push it too much - she's not screaming in your face, forcing you to think she's a good singer. And she doesn't shower you with belting and high notes either - she has a gorgeous voice because it really is gorgeous, and she knows how to use it.

Just thinking of Junsu in the recording sends shivers down my spine.

Namie Amuro with After School - "Make It Happen"
From "Checkmate!"
Released: March
Okay

This is technically k-pop. Technically. OK it's not. But After School are here, and I like the song. And besides, I'll be talking about KARA's "Jet Coaster Love" too, and this is my list, so who says I can't include this? Anyway.

Avex, huh? Smart move, Pledis, very smart move. For an agency that doesn't really crank out stars like a factory, they're really playing their cards right with After School. They better have an epic comeback next month or I'm gonna explode with rage - I'm already putting my "I only like talent" reputation on the line for these girls, I need nothing less than brilliance from them!

So the song. It's very Namie, it's very Japanese, it's very Avex - it's standard. There's nothing epicly bad about the song, but there's nothing extremely special about it either. The rather eyebrow raise-worthy English can be overlooked, and we've heard songs like this a million times before, but it's not really enough for the song to be bad or anything.

It's got great production, an arrangement with attention to dynamics, a very clean melody and literally it's like a cheesecake. Here I go again with my food analogies. Call me crazy or something, but seriously - this song is like a cheesecake.

I rest my case.
[Full MV] Namie Amuro ft. AFTER SCHOOL - Make It... by ASFVariety

Infinite - "Nothing's Over"
From "Inspirit"
Released: March
Okay

"Nothing's Over" is more like their debut single than anything, and for one it's rather confusing because you have similarities with "Come Back to Me", but with the maturity they had in "Before The Dawn", but it sounds like neither. And once again, that can either be a good thing, or a bad thing.

This is one of the songs that are okay, but borderline amazing for me. It's close, but not quite though. If I may say so though, Infinite are turning into the Beast of their generation of boybands. That's a complement. They're not the most talented people - they can't belt out high notes like it's second nature or anything like that - but you can see that they really do try, and their effort shows. And my god do they dance in sync, it freaks me out sometimes how together they are when they dance.

The melody is there, although a little choppy at the verses and a bit overpowered by the rapping, the arrangement very tight, like all their singles, and the dynamics in place. It has enough of everything to induce foot-tapping, and maybe even random dancing around your room, which is always a good thing. All they really have to do is learn how to perform this extremely well and I'm sold.

Point is, the talent is there, the material is more or less decent, and they have a solid backing - the only thing stopping them from succeeding is time, and pretty soon that'll have to make way for them too. IF THEY GET FAMOUS I CALLED IT! I was the one who believed in them right from the beginning LOL.

KARA - "Jet Coaster Love"
From TBA
Released: March
Okay

This song in particular brings back memories for me, because it came out when I was sick with that horrid tropical virus last month and because of it I didn't go to Singapore which pissed me off. Anyway. Yes.

To be honest with you, I'm seriously liking Kara now, material-wise. Emphasis on the NOW and MATERIAL-WISE. If not for the "they can't sing live to save their lives" situation, they'd probably be one of my favorites. So basically as long as I don't watch them sing the songs live, everything during and after the "Lupin" era is fantastic for me, especially "Lupin" and "Jumping".

I like this song, actually, well for the most part at least. It's very Japanese production and arrangement-wise, and the part just after the first chorus, and even the middle 8, is stunning, and nice contrast to the rest of the song. That's it - the song has contrast. The verses are strong, they have just the right amount of spunk and grace, the bridges are nice and floaty, and the chorus is catchy.

It's just a little too cutesy at the chorus for my taste, but it's bearable.

Kim Hyung Joon - "Heaven"
From "My Girl"
Released: March
Stunning

SS501 are not untalented, and I believe I've said that before, it's just that I never really adored any of their material, in Korea or Japan, so I never took the time to learn all their voices inside out. I know all their names and basic stuff about them because I had to write about them during my time as a k-pop news writer/editor-in-chief, but that's about it.

Which is probably why I never really took notice of Hyung Joon. I knew him as the guy who's got almost the same name as Hyun Joong, who's Jaejoong's bff, and the guy with the now ex-U-Kiss member for a brother. He does have a nice voice though. Not stunning or anything, but I assume that years of singing, both in Korea and Japan, whipped him into shape.

Because seriously, this song is stunning in every single way possible. Yeah sure you've probably heard the piano line somewhere else, and the melody isn't exactly the most original thing ever, but the combination of the two, mixed with Hyung Joon's competent vocals and a spot-on arrangement, make my head want to explode. With joy.

It's simple. It's a simple orchestration with a simple melody and an average voice, but sometimes music does things to you that you can't really explain nor justify. It's like a tame, slightly less stunning version, of JYJ's "Long Way", which I named my favorite song of 2010, mind you.

I can talk about how gorgeous the melody is all day, and maybe one day I will, but I will leave it at that for now.

ZE:A - "Here I Am"
From "Lovability"
Released: March
Okay

In the ZE:A vs. Infinite battle, which I started myself and has nothing to do with history because ZE:A were alive long before Infinite and only started because they released stuff around the same time in March (my iTunes library, which never lies, says I added them on the same day), Infinite win. Without a doubt. Better vocals, better material, better performances.

I mean come on, "Mazeltov"? "Man to Man", which I don't even want to see in my iTunes library because it disgusts me? Total fails. Their only good single was "Day By Day" and although it was actually kinda really good, they just had to follow it up with a pathetic excuse for a song that was "Man to Man". (or however you spell it)

They've improved, a lot, though. This new single is actually a song! Someone clearly got the picture. The hook is nice, not too imposing or loud, but to be honest the entire package lacks intensity. The vocals at the chorus are light, but a little too airy, the verses too calm, and even the high note sound half-baked. There's no BAM or sudden break downs - the song just kinda goes on and on and on and on until the song ends.

It has good points, but none of them are enough to deliver and make the song memorable, really. This will be forgotten in a few months, trust me. No variety show's gonna parody this and expect people to laugh like there's no tomorrow.

4Minute - "Heart to Heart"
From "Steal 20"
Released: March/April
Okay

Just to be clear, I'd rather talk about "Mirror Mirror", but I'm recapping everything from January to March, and "Mirror Mirror" was out in April, so we'll get to that next time.

Heart to Heart, the song, is decent at best. It has a catchy chorus, decent production, a cohesive arrangement and it does have its moments, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't fit 4Minute. It doesn't fit them because it brings our the fact that 4Minute vocals are throaty, rough in the bad way, and cheap. I mean OK, Gayoon has a big voice and I like Jiyoon's vocals, but let's be honest - they're not suited to songs like this.

The vocals really make the song a lot less decent that it could've been. Seriously, my ears hurt just thinking of the chorus, and it doesn't help that the hook is in English and requires a tad bit of belting. Their voices are rough to start with, and they still have very little technique. Jiyoon is the better among them, but even she isn't that good. She's fine though.

As much as I'm not their biggest fan, if there's one thing they did right before "Heart to Heart", it's that Cube knew how to choose their repertoire, or at least they knew what to do with the songs so their vocals would sound apt and that much more tasteful (e.g., the ever so slight autotune on "What A Girl Wants").

CN Blue - "Intuition"
From "First Step"
Released: March
Okay

Well, maybe partially OK. OK verging on bleh.

I had a never-publicized CN Blue phase last year, just letting everyone know. Before it's too late. That and I grew up watching bands record albums and write songs, so I think I'm a little more qualified to write about CN Blue than I am writing about pop, to be honest.

CN Blue are a novelty in kpop - apart from FT Island, who're under the same agency so it doesn't really count that much, and a spattering of indie acts, there haven't been that many bands with the drum-base-guitar-vocals set-up who've really gotten really popular lately. And I think that's why they got as famous as they did. I mean I know they have a cult following in Japan and obviously that amounts to a lot, but the success in Korea is just mind-blowing. (They beat HoMin on Music Bank in the first week of this month, I'll give them that)

"I'm A Loner" was spunky, and personally I adored the verses. Just the verses - the chorus annoyed me after a while. The drum treatment made the entire song, in my opinion - they were raw, they sounded real, but they were so clean and smooth at the same time. The guitars were leaning towards American-style production, and the melody was strong. And my god was the chorus catchy as hell. They had all the makings of a hit, except for the fact that the song actually had actual drums and a few other things.

But why am I talking about "I'm a Loner" instead of "Intuition"? Well, because it's like every CN Blue lead single after "I'm a Loner", which is pretty much every other Korean CN Blue single, sounds like "I'm a Loner". I understand wanting to make a signature sound, especially if the band themselves write the material, but it seems like Yonghwa, who I assume is writing all these lead singles, doesn't get it.

Signature sound does not mean taking a song that worked, changing the key, tinkering with a few chords here a there, writing new lyrics, adding some "bad-ass" electric guitar lines, and changing the title. Those "stop everything and sing a line" parts, although cool, are being overused way too much, and the choruses are the same kind of repetitiveness, plus the short parts after the chorus? Aren't we a little to obvious now?

I'm starting to think that this is all Yonghwa is capable of, to be honest, or that this is his idea of a "hit song". I mean okay, it technically is a hit song now, but mark my words - people will get tired of this one day, and if CN Blue don't wanna be a "afewhitswhichallsoundthesame-wonder", they better hurry the hell up and deliver.

U-Kiss - "0330"
From "Bran New Kiss"
Released: March
Stunning

I've never really liked U-Kiss, but I've never hated their guts either. I was there during "Man Man Hani" and to be honest with you that single was pretty decent. The proceeding singles ranged from blegh to nothing special, but in the wake of member changes they present us with this masterpiece.

When I first heard this I had a strange feeling that I'd like it, and I do. A lot? Hell yeah. As much as Mel is ready to have me sliced into tiny little pieces for saying I like the song now, I think I'll sacrifice that to listen to this lol.

It's a simple song, with a piano line that's a slight variation of stuff we've all heard before, a simple, repetitive but not so repetitive melody, surprisingly strong production (or is it just my new headphones?) and no predominant hook, which is unorthodox for kpop - but throw everything together and my god is it gorgeous.

Allow me to backtrack on something I just said - the song doesn't have a predominant hook. It doesn't. Or at least one as short as "sorry sorry" or "I hate this love song" or "I got that SOUP love" (LOL). And I'm very pleased at how everything turned out, considering that miniscule detail - basically the entire chorus, or maybe half of it, is the hook. And it blatantly made the song catchy but far from annoying.

The rapping is bearable, but I think over 2 years in k-pop has made me learn to either tune out rap, or appreciate it. In this case, I'm appreciating it. Not a lot, but enough. And I like how it ends too - it's the type of song that will go on and on and on and on and ooooooooon, but they cut it at just the right time, in just the right way, a little after everything got too chaotic, but just before the song became a bore. And it's much harder to end a song well than it is to start it well.

Super Junior M - "Perfection" (Chinese/Korean)
From "Perfection"
Released: March
Okay

I'm not so hot over this, but it's very SM and very new and rather good. The Chinese version is a bit more graceful than the Korean one, mainly because Chinese is a much more graceful language to start with, but apart from that they're practically the same.

Everything about the song - from the production, to the melody, to the processing, to the hook - screams SME. Therefore, it's a strong song. I like the synths, and I like the guitar lines at the beginning, even if they remind me of "Hoot" and another recent major release I can't quite pinpoint.

Other than that, there's nothing else to say, really.

Chi Chi - "장난치지마"
From "장난치지마"
Released: March
Blegh

The first thing that came to mind when I heard this song was "WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME IS THIS ATROCIOUS THING?!", and even after I calmed down a bit I still couldn't stand the song. The hook, both instrumental and vocal (oh wait, they're the same LOL), sounds like it's straight out of those 90's swede/German pop that I had to endure when I was going through pop history back when I was a new blogger.

You know, the type that goes on and on and on and yet gets nowhere AND pisses you off in the process? For about 97% of the song, that's how I feel - pissed off.

However, I tried looking for some salvageable part, and the heavens granted my wish. YESSS. The middle 8 is probably the most decent part of the song and even though it's not close to good, it's a start. A pretty OK start.

Can they sing? Who knows - the song's too bad for me to be able to draw any solid conclusion, and when I hear it I just want it to be over quicker, so I might listen to their next single just to see if they can. If they ever see the light of one.

Orange Caramel - "Bangkok City" (Chinese/Korean)
From "Bangkok City"
Released: March
Blegh

If you told me this was a cover of some German/Swedish/Europop act like STEPS or beFour (I can't believe I still remember them), I wouldn't be surprised. At all. Because I have a very strong hunch that I'm on the right track with thinking that and no one's around to verify that for me.

"Bangkok City" is just a step above that Chi Chi song, mainly because of the better production and the less blatant and not that in-your-face cheap melody. But that doesn't mean it's any good. If this was released in Europe or even the US I don't even have to guess that it'll have a gazillion remixes on the maxi single.

Oh how I miss writing like that. I can't wait for k-pop to get more sophisticated, if that means having a history more than 20/30 years long, official sales charts that really count, and actual singlessssss. But that's just me. Anyway.

Their voices still annoy me, After School should hurry and come back as the full group because Orange Caramel are getting on my nerves now with their non-existent brilliance and their sub-par singles.

I return to my regular blogging schedule on TUESDAY. With a single review. A full-length one. Hopefully. And I'll start working on my After School commentary as well, so that just come before the end of the month. If it sees the light of day, that is.

Leave me lots of comments - I've been reading them over the past few days and I'll be replying in the coming days. :D

[December 19, 2010] SBS Inkigayo YEAR-END SPECIAL Highlights + Commentary

I'm back! Why wouldn't I be - it was the Inki year-end special today and although not as packed as the MuBank one, it was fun revisiting my weekly Sunday routine of loading a truckload of YT videos then watching them all in one go.


If there's one thing that's changed with Inkigayo since I last recapped it, it's that they're letting bands use hand mics now! That's basically it though - the sound still sucks and for Christmas, I would like the sound engineer fired, before he screws up this year's Gayo Daejun as well. He actually kinda reminds me of the sound guy in my school - he once "accidentally" stopped the backing music of one of our big music presentations. It was graded, mind you. I literally wanted to scream at him and have him fired when that happened.

YT credits go to Jackhklee5.

SM The Ballad - Hot Times
(note: This song is on my 50 best songs of 2010 list, so the full version of my fangirling is available when I publish that post. In a few days.) SM picked the right combination of the right people for this new sub-group/project - they could've picked Yesung SuJu or Onew or Key SHINee but they chose Jonghyun SHINee, Kyuhyun Super Junior, that guy from TRAX who has A GORGEOUS VOICE and Jino, who isn't too shabby himself. They're actually kinda like DBSK - they're not only lead singers of their respective bands, they're 4 (or today 3) vocalists who work extremely well together. Today's performance was half-mimed, and I'm not exactly happy with that, but at least the Inkigayo sound guy/girl had less chances to ruin their gorgeous vocals. For the live parts, it's a YESSSSSS.


VNT - Sound
Just when I thought there was nothing more pathetic than SISTAR, VNT show up. The entire facade is crap - the crappy choreography (and that's already coming from someone who knows nothing about dancing), the cheaper-than-SISTAR costumes and the pathetic song that makes them sound like nothing but wannabes. However, that girl with the black hair has a gorgeous voice, and that other girl who sings, albeit sloppy and given the worthless song, would sound pretty not-bad in say, KARA. There are times when I forget rapping-girl-in-yellow-jacket exists, until she comes in and tries to sound like Hyun A, who isn't exactly my favorite in 4Minute. Lesson learned - GET A GOOD SONG AND SIGN TO A TALENT AGENCY WITH MONEY. As much as I hate that everything revolves around money, in pop you need money to get a decent song.


SISTAR - How Dare You
After VNT, SISTAR actually sound pretty decent. Maybe after SISTAR, KARA will sound good. Wild guess. Their progress has basically halted, if there was any to start with. That 1 girl still carries and entire band, and she's doing a pretty good job considering who else is in that band, but as a group they still have no grace. I understand that you're supposed to just dance and sing like crazy when you're on stage, but you also have to do it with some grace.


BEAST - Breath + Beautiful
If there's one band I want to see sweep music shows and become legends in the near future, it's BEAST. They've gotten a heck of a lot better this year, and they still have the potential to get a hell of a lot better. They work well as a group, individually they all have decent vocals, some fantastic, and they're not afraid to try new things, without straying from who they've shown they are. That and they're an absolute pleasure to watch on stage, especially when they themselves are having fun, and even if the song's a little on the cheesy side *ahemBEAUTIFULahem*.


2NE1 - Can't Nobody
Performers in the truest sense of the word. They have the right balance of everything in the right amounts - the dance-like-crazy attitude, a sense of grace, strong live vocals and audience impact. (LOL that sounded like the criteria of some school presentation) Yes, even Sandara, even if she's weak compared to the other 3. At the end of the day, these girls know how to put on a show, they know how to make a mediocre and generic song sound great and they can show that their performances really had a lot of thought put into them.


2AM - Even If I Die, I Can't Let You Go + You Wouldn't Answer My Calls
Gorgeous. There's no other way to describe it, and I wouldn't want to say anything else. Gorgeous.


After School - LOVE LOVE LOVE
Ahhh yes, the RainaNanaandabitofUEE-fest. Raina now annoys me and she should be never let near this song ever again so Jung Ah can take all her parts and cream Raina at her own song. Nana is lightyears better than she was last year when she had just joined the band and she actually has a pretty decent voice, but if she so much as gets more lines than Gahee on their next single I am going to have to go and whack Pledis in the head. In a perfect world, After School is made up of Gahee, Bekah, Jung Ah and maybe Nana so there's someone for the fanboys.


SHINee - Hello (remixed) + Lucifer
They truly are the leaders of their generation of boybands, in my opinion. At least, not when the Inkigayo sound guy/girl is out to get them. HE TOTALLY RUINED ONEW'S BRILLIANT MIDDLE 8! And they even mimed part of it. OF ALL PARTS TO RUIN, IT HAD TO BE ONEW'S I WILL NEVER FOGIVE HIM FOR IT. Oh, and the slightly remixed version of Hello was a nice variation to a pretty song, and it's good to see everyone dancing again, even for a simple routine.


KARA - Jumping
So where's the singing? As if their vocals can get any worse, the sound guy strikes again. Has he no pity for these girls? No one can hear them on Music Bank and he chooses to literally drown them in the backing track, ruining the entire performance. The only actual vocals I can clearly hear are Nicole's squeaky high notes and short parts of Gyuri's solos. That's it. Everyone else is a blur.


GD&TOP - Oh Yeah (with Bom)
I won't be talking about High High because it's practically all rapping and if it weren't for Bom, I wouldn't be talking about this either. The song is all YG - the arrangement, the hook, the English, the rapping, GD and TOP. However, the melody fits Bom like a glove - something tells me that only she can sing it and have it sound like that. In a sense, you need a voice that wild but with that much body for it to make sense, because of the range of the melody. I say time and time again - YG acts are performers, and these three are no exception. I'm actually starting to like the song because of this! This doesn't always happen, but I'm all praises for them today.


Super Junior - No Other + Bonamana
It's been a while since I've heard, and seen, both songs performed live, but I gotta say, they really have gotten better vocally, under the crap Inkigayo sound. Ryeowook is starting to sound better, actually, which is GOOD. I mean, how can someone STILL sound bad using hand mics? If I had the money, I would willingly give SBS a new sound system for Christmas. But I don't, so they'll keep sucking. Aaaaand the dance break is still there.


IU - Good Day (WINNER)
May I just say that justice has been served because IU HAS FINALLY WON A MUSIC SHOW! I'm actually glad that she didn't win for Marshmallow or that other song because they simply did not do justice to her talent - this song, however, does. So I can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the voting and buying public still know what talent mixed with a good song is like. She didn't hit the high note today, and like a lot of people, I'm quite pleased that she's changed things up a bit. For someone else that would be a sign of vocal inability, but for heaven's sake we've heard that note several times already, live mind you, so we know she can sing it. Apart from the fact that the theatrics can get boring at times, the performance was spot-on. But then again this is IU we're talking about - the girl is beginning to sound like Hwayobi for christ's sake!


Next week, on Christmas day, I'll be recap-ing the MUSIC CORE special, so read up on my past MuCore recaps beforehand!