YES! FINALLY! My babies, my perfect angels GFriend won their first number one on music show as they grabbed the top spot on MTV's "The Show" against hefty competition like Ryeowook and Teen Top. But honestly though, neither of those acts have been selling as well as GFriend because "Rough" is still in the top three, and have been pretty much sitting there ever since its release. I honestly couldn't be happier for these girls, and I think they are probably the group out of the 2015 rookies that is the most deserving of it. The week has just started and hopefully this victory will be one of many more to come, but either way I want to genuinely congratulate them on their win.
I do love award shows, and although I love watching my favorites win what I like the most are the many enjoyable performances these shows often offer. Admittedly many of my faves do win awards, but that's just an added bonus. Another enjoyable aspect are the interactions that occur between different group members, and watching them dig and jam along to each other's music. I didn't quite have the will to do a full recap of these award shows, but I did find the time to at least present to you some of my favorite performances.
It's here! The second part of my 2015 pre-MAMA series, which also means it's the last one before the show...I think. It's only a few days until the show now, which will be held on December 2 in Hong Kong. The Melon Music Awards aka MMA have already been held, and thus it means that the award season has begun which I think is super exciting. I have learnt through the years not to care so much about these kind of award shows because they very rarely reflect the actual quality of K-pop, and that applies especially much to MAMA. I just enjoy the messiness and chaos that surrounds it, and watching fans freak out and go crazy over results is very entertaining. Of course that doesn't mean that I don't care about the results at all, because otherwise I wouldn't be making this post right?
Yup, it's that time of the year again. The Mnet Asian Music Awards, or MAMA, is a yearly event that gathers K-pop fans from all places in the world and puts them all against each other for one race to victory. I learnt pretty quickly getting into K-pop that MAMA is serious business, and that fandoms that usually get along can become passionate enemies if their respective groups are up for the same award.
I remember specifically in 2012 when B.A.P and EXO both were up for the rookie award and the fans were going crazy about it, but then Busker Busker came along and won instead. That moment will never fail to amuse me. This year the ceremony is taking place in Hong Kong, and the nominations were released a few days ago. Some of the categories are tough indeed, but I thought I'd give my few cents on how I think it will turn out and how I want it to turn out.
I can't honestly remember why I didn't recap more award show ceremonies last year, or it's possible I was simply too angry with the MAMA'sto even care about any other show. This year however I've decided to enjoy the award season from a more relaxed viewpoint and not let myself get as stressed and emotionally involved with the entire thing. I've come to realize more that I shouldn't take them too seriously, and once I've understood that I can watch them and find them enjoyable without going crazy about my favorites not winning.
The first award show this season is the MelOn Music Awards a.k.a MMA, which is quite an interesting one. MelOn is, as you know, an online music store which means the only sales of songs and albums counted in calculating the winners are digital. Additionally the voting that's allowed by the public (the percentage varies from category to category) is limited to South Koreans only, which means international fans have no say in the matter whatsoever. This is the reason I've always found this particular award show more realistic because the result is, in my opinion, more accurate. This year however I'm not too impressed with the outcome of the ceremony.
My precious, precious babies. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they won first place with "4 Walls", but it doesn't make it any less emotional. I can't even wrap my head around how successful this comeback has been, as their album shot straight to number one on Billboard's "World Albums" list as well as it has sold over 65 000 copies in its first release week, making f(x) the second girl group with the most weekly sold albums in the world. I shouldn't be surprised because I if anyone knows how much they deserve it and just how amazing this group is, but it's still shocking to witness. This group has been through so much crap and have struggled in so many ways, so for them to come back after a shaky year and prove all the haters wrong is incredibly powerful.
That's probably also why this win on "M! Countdown" meant so much to them, as they all looked both shocked and happy and later starting getting teary, with Luna and Krystal doing most of the crying. I can't even imagine how relieved they must be feeling knowing that after all the tumult people still support them and root for them, so it's not surprising that tears were shed during the encore stage (which wasn't as much a performance as it was hugging, crying and bowing). Seeing Krystal cry was especially heartbreaking because she's not a person that's very emotionally expressive, and with everything that's been going on both with f(x) and her sister she probably had a lot of feelings bottled up inside. Luna too was just a wreck, and bless MC Key's heart for coming over and consoling her. Even Amber shed some tears eventually, and only Victoria managed to stay in control of her emotions, at least on the outside.
This promotional week has only just started, and I can imagine there will be plenty more to celebrate if things are continuing this well with them. I mean, they're even having their very first solo concert after six years in late January next year (shame on you SM) so hopefully this new start for them will only mean more good things in the future. At least I know I'll always support these girls.
I'm so happy for Got7 right now. Although the win might have been on "The Show", a cable program famous for giving out awards to less known groups that aren't doing specifically well on the charts, it's still a huge deal for this group. They debuted a little over one and a half year ago and have made several comebacks, and despite having built up a pretty big fanbase they still haven't been able to score a win on a weekly music show. As sad as that might be I'm actually happy they won now and not sooner, because "If You Do" has proven to be their best comeback as of yet. And yes, a review is on its way, I promise!
Here's to many more wins for this amazing group. I love these boys so much.
The very last year-end festival of 2014 took place on New Year's Eve itself, as it has done plenty of times before. I actually find it really sweet and special to ring in the new year with both musical performances but also the fellowship of all the idol groups present. Although I can imagine that a lot of them would have wished to spend the evening with friends and family, it's still a special moment to do so with your teammates, on the stage in front of your fans.
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.
The 3 year-end shows hosted by KBS, MBC and SBS respectively are one of the big highlights of the year. While I think they used to be heaps better in the past (could be because K-Pop had a quite different approach back then though) I still enjoy them immensely. I get to see a ton of my favorite acts all together in one show, they get to perform remixes of their tracks, show of some special dance moves or even do collaborations with other idols. It's literally a fangirl's dream come true. Well, at least mine.
I didn't get to watch any of the shows live because I didn't have access to a computer or high speed internet, but that meant I could engage in a festival marathon instead and that's not too shabby either. Last year I was kind of disappointed with all three of them, as they all had some downsides and issues. A reoccurring problem is sound, which seems to always falter, as well as camera work and generally boring stages. The MBC one was probably my favorite though, with SBS coming second. This time I haven't had time to build up any expectations, and with all the drama that's happened this year I wondered how these festivals would turn out.
I just got home from school and found to my surprise that BAP had scored their first music show win on Show Champion! I don't even care that it's on Show Champion, I'm just so happy for them to finally have their first win on a music show, because they've won so many other awards and have continuously proven themselves worthy of first place. It seems like in Kpop, a group hasn't quite made it yet until they win #1, so I am tremendously excited right now. This is what we all have been waiting for the last two years!
I have to admit, I had sort of fallen out of BAP since last summer, but this comeback has won me over again. I'm so sorry, boys, I will never abandon you from now on! It's just that I started losing hope and therefore I distanced myself to avoid any heartbreak. It always hurts when you want to see your favorite groups succeed but they just never make it, you know?
It's also quite funny because I thought just the other day that they might win this time around, because their album has been selling well, but I was too afraid to hope for anything because you just never know with these shows. I mean, AOA won on Inkigayo last Sunday and I did not see that one coming at all.
To round this off; Congratulations to BAP for finally, finally getting that long deserved win, and may there be many more in the future! I love you boys!
The absolute highlight of the year has to be the year-end fesitivals broadcast by the three largest television companies SBS, MBC and KBS. This year was my second time watching the Gayos and I was able to semi stream the first two ones but the MBC is broadcast on New Year's eve and unfortunately I wasn't home at the time.
As a whole I must say I'm a bit disappointed with all three of them, because neither really impressed me all too much. Obviously there were some great performances but overall it was a step down from last year. I've heard it said so many times how much better the Gayos used to be back in the day, for example 2008 which is usually named the best year. I, however have not experienced that myself so all I can compare to are the ones last year.
After a year of successful promotions in Japan, the kings of kpop have returned to Korea to celebrate their 10th anniversary. So first of all, congratulations to you TVXQ for surviving this long. Obviously I am also congratulating the JYJ members, but for now I am focusing on Yunho and Changmin and their latest release "Something".
