A 2014 Year-end Festival Review - KBS Gayo Daechukje

Last year, the KBS Gayo was a huge disappointment both for me and many others. It was just dreary and boring and never really went anywhere, and I know that this broadcasting company in particular has had a reputation for being just that for a very long time. After the SBS one however, I thought to myself that it really couldn't be more boring than that one, so I guess I hoped the show held on the 26th would bring some more energy.





Favorite Stages





I always love me some good dancing, especially if performed by cute boys.



Not a fan of ballads, but Chen's and Taeyeon's voices complement each other so well.



Infinite should do more rock music. Also, Sunggyu's roar???????? I literally cannot.



This confirmed what I already knew: Hoya and Dongwoo are splendid dancers.



The performance is awesome by itself but adding those wigs? Brilliant.



Oh my God what was even happening here? I don't know but I love it.


Negatives

• D.O was cute, but the opening was really difficult to watch. SO awkward.
• Hyunseung's hair. Yikes.
• Hwanhee completely overpowering Taeyeon. Something sounded strange.
• ENOUGH WITH THE GIRL GROUP SEXY BATTLES. Let me see an actual dance instead!
• Very few girl groups attending? The equality quota was off. 
• The hosts were kind of boring.
• Sound system needs improving. 
• The camera work was a bit itchy during the dancing segments.

Positives

• Soyou looking gorgeous and collaborating with everyone. Get it girl!
• Girl's Day's remix was actually quite good. And Minah's performing, though on a chair but that's better than nothing.
• Hate him or love him, you can't deny Zico knows how to rap.
• Im Chang Jung proving that age has nothing to do with how good your moves are.
• Chanyeol actually having a good singing voice? More of this, please!
• The entire Shin Hae Chul tribute was pretty great.
• A Pink slaying the sexy girl groups at their own concepts?
• Yoseob's high notes. 'Nuff said.

Overall

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this year's KBS festival. Although the sound sucked at parts and the hosting was quite bland, the performances were more than enough to make up for it. There was plenty of variety, such as dance battles, collaborations, tributes and remixes of your favorite hits of the year. I suppose in terms of structure it's not that different from the others, but there was a lot more special stages and such, which made it a thousand times more interesting. 

Yes, there are only boy group performances included above, but there was only like five or six female acts compared to at least double the amount of male ones. What happened to Kara, 4Minute or T-ara? I really missed seeing some more girls, but I guess there's MBC to count on for that. To summarize, there were issues with the production quality, but for entertainment value I was totally satisfied.