Video of the Week #5

Kim Sunggyu covering Nell's "Time Spent Walking Through Memories"

It's hard to beat Nell and Kim Jong Wan himself, but Infinite's main vocalist and my favorite hubby Sunggyu does an amazing job singing this gorgeous song. His voice is literally perfect for this kind of music and especially this range, and you can hear how much he has been influenced by the band's singer. Truly a great cover.

Glorious Photoshoots - May Round-Up

Secret's beauty Sunhwa starts this month's round-up with this gorgeous outdoor shoot for InStyle.

TBT - G.Na's "I'll Get Lost, You Go Your Way"

Oh the good old days back where G.Na still had a promising career, interest from the public's side and genuine star quality. This song is so good. It's not so strange it became an instant hit and she received much deserved appreciation, but somehow it was also kind of horrible to start off her career with a song she hasn't been even close to topping yet. I don't know what Cube is even doing with her now, but I want her to go back to this kind of style right away.

Bestie Serves Another Summer Hit With "Excuse Me"

People that know about Bestie may or may not already know that 3 out of the four members were originally part of EXID, but due to contract disputes left the label entirely. The remaining members of EXID recruited member Solji and continued their activities, but the ones that left were absent from the industry for a while until they a year later debuted as Bestie with new member Dahye. I personally really like Bestie, and some of the song's they've released during their career so far are some of my absolute favorites.

Song of the Week #42

Red Velvet - Somethin Kinda Crazy


Although their first debut album was a bit bland for my taste, this song (and "Automatic", of course) stood out instantly as a song to be remembered. The tune is sweet and bubbly featuring feather-light vocals and a perfect pop-electronica instrumental.

TBT - Kara's "Step"

Released: September 5, 2011

This song is still, to this day, one of my favorite K-pop songs in general. Kara has a lot of great songs, which I assure you I'll be positing more of later on, but "Step" is a classic. The song is fun, energetic and colorful, and insanely catchy. Every time I hear it it makes me want to dance, and as a matter of fact I actually learnt the first part of the routine because I liked it so much.

Quick Update: Hiatus Ahead!

Hi Guys!
I thought I'd just quickly update you on my whereabouts this coming week, since I probably won't be posting as much as I'd like to. The reason for that is: I'M GOING TO CRETE!
Yes, you heard me correctly. Early next morning me and a couple of friends are flying out to Crete for a short holiday before we graduate in early June. As you may or may not know I'm currently a senior at my school so in a month I'll be graduating, and we thought that a final trip together would be perfect to get in the right mood as well as getting a tan right in time for prom.

Basically I just wanted to quickly announce my week-long absence from running this blog, but fear no more because I do have a couple of scheduled posts. What I'm most angry about is actually that I'm going to be missing SHINee's comeback, but there's isn't much to but to wait until I get home.

I hope you're all having a great Friday and will continue having a wonderful weekend!
Jess

The Original MV For "I Need U" Is Released. I'm Crying.

Guys, I'm serious. This might be the video of the year, and we haven't even entered the second half. BTS are amazing. Their company Big Hit is amazing. Whoever constructed this video deserves an award. Or all of the awards.



I knew I was setting myself up for pain and agony when I clicked the play button, but I could not have imagined it feeling this brutally real. All of the members story-lines are better explained and shown here, as the video is extra long at five and a half minutes, and all of their individual fates are carefully told and visualized, leaving little left for the imagination. What makes it so hard to watch is simply how real it appears, and how I feel the horrible pain the members act out. Since I care so much about them as it is, having them broken down like this kills me internally.

J-Hope collapsing on the bridge, Suga setting the motel room on fire and V actually putting a knife through another man's body is all extremely graphic and painfully dark and horrible, but I'm actually happy they didn't hold back with such a serious topic. BTS have a history of making songs about social issues and the ups and downs of adolescence and I believe this is another step in that direction, but a much darker and mature one. Although the lyrics are about broken love, the video is much, much more than that.

I won't be writing much more about this since I already wrote a review on the 15+ version, but I just had to say something about it. The plot is brutal, that's for sure, and even more so are the sharp contrasts between the sad scenes and the happy ones with the group all together, perfectly describing the roller-coaster that is life as a teenager. It broke my heart seeing them this way, and it broke my heart how realistic it felt and how accurate some of the scenes are for people who are struggling with these kind of issues. There's honestly nothing left to say but to sit back and give them a huge round of applause. Good job, boys. You're brilliant.

TBT - BoA's "Only One"

Released: July 21, 2012

In celebration of queen BoA making her long-awaited comeback this month I thought I'd share this gem with you all. "Only One" was quite possibly the first BoA song I heard, and it has been my favorite since. However, the choreography for the song takes the cake for being probably my favorite female choreography ever. BoA is an amazing dancer, and watching her perform every move with both power, smoothness and crispness is truly astounding.

UNIQ Rebrand Themselves With "EOEO"

A new kind of mixed-nationality group debuted last year, as the five boys of Uniq released their debut title track "Falling In Love" in Korea and China respectively. The group consists of two native Koreans and three native Chinese members, and all of them actually speak both languages. For the majority of the year they promoted in China and were quite invisible on the Korean idol scene, but now they're back with a different image with title track "EOEO".

Allow Me To Fangirl A Bit: BTS' "I Need U" Might Be Their Best Comeback Yet

I know I'm late on this, like everything else, but my finals are coming up and there's so much schoolwork for me to deal with at the moment. As much as I love K-pop I have to prioritize school, but I can promise you that soon I'll be free as a bird and will be able to update the blog much more regularly. BTS is also a very busy group indeed, and although it has been quite a few months since we last saw them it feels like only yesterday.

Bangtan Won! TWICE!

My babies. My sweet baby angels. On Tuesday this week they won on "The Show" and today they won on "M! Countdown", and I'm over the moon. Not that I didn't think this day would come, but I also didn't want to get my hopes up since it's seriously hard for rookie groups to win #1 these days. Anyhow, I couldn't be happier for them because they deserve it so much. I honestly think they're one of the most talented groups out there but they work so hard and are so dedicated to their music and their fans. The fact that their promotion single "I Need U" also happens to be one of my favorites of theirs makes their win even more enjoyable and exciting.

Although they still haven't won on any of the major channel music shows I'm hoping they might win again this weekend, but if not it's still an amazing feat considering the huge competition right now (EXID, Big Bang among others). May these two be the first few of many more to come.

CONGRATULATIONS BOYS!

Bring The Girls Out!: A "The Ark" and "Oh My Girl" Debut Post

The year of girl group debuts continues on, and so far I've been delighted by all of the next generation's idol groups. It all started back in 2014 with the debut of Mamamoo, Red Velvet and Lovelyz, but has escalated quickly the first half of 2015 with new groups such as GFriend and CLC debuting. I never thought I would be this invested in rookie groups, and I probably wouldn't have either if all of them weren't so instantly appealing. The Ark and Oh My Girl are two new groups that come with different styles and concepts, but has both caught my eye with their impressive skills.

EXID Shows Who's Boss In "Ah Yeah"

Trust me, no one is happier than me that Exid rocketed to the top of the charts last year. An ordinary fancam of member Hani performing "Up And Down" at an event with the group went viral, and suddenly she and the group was on everyone's lips. Hani's seductive dancing as well as a song that found it's way into the public's hearts made room for a surprise hit I think no one saw coming.