SNS Friday #14 - SMA, ISAC, GDA & More!

The gorgeous ladies of Sistar are all smiles (and kisses) backstage at SMA earlier this week, and what a busy week it has been. Not only has it been filled with different award shows but the recording of the annual program everyone loves to hate (or is the other way around?) ISAC, so many of the photos from this week will be from one of those occasions. But of course there are some ordinary, yet lovely, selcas and pictures of your favorite idols this week as well.

TBT - Orange Caramel's "Lipstick"

Released: September 11, 2012

Oh my goodness this video, this freaking song, this everything! When I got into K-pop in 2012 and this comeback happened I was more hooked than I'd ever been on anything before. Fine, maybe that's a slight exaggeration but "Lipstick" is amazing on so many levels and this video is honestly iconic. Also I really, really miss Orange Caramel (and After School in general) so a comeback soon would be nice. Please Pledis, please?

SNS Friday #4

Ett foto publicerat av 해롱이 (@bestie_hr) Okt 30, 2015 kl. 8:16 PDT

 Haeryung shows her best side for the camera.

Ett foto publicerat av @kxxhara Okt 30, 2015 kl. 11:33 PDT

The godly Hara looks absolutely ethereal.

Ett foto publicerat av 냥 (@yysbeast) Okt 31, 2015 kl. 8:26 PDT

Yoseob looks but cute but who knows what Dongwoon is doing?

Ett foto publicerat av 정용화 (@jyheffect0622) Nov 3, 2015 kl. 4:08 PST

Pretty boy Yonghwa knows exactly how attractive he is.

Ett foto publicerat av 🎀luvly+lizzy=luvlyzzy🎀 (@luvlyzzy) Okt 31, 2015 kl. 2:05 PDT

NaLiz is back people! I love these two girls.

Ett foto publicerat av 혜리 (@hyeri_0609) Nov 1, 2015 kl. 11:19 PST

Hyeri show off her strength next to Iron Man.

Ett foto publicerat av 범키범 (@bumkeyk) Nov 5, 2015 kl. 5:29 PST

Key is looking flawless, but what else is new?

 

The boys of Bangtan celebrate getting 1 million followers on the V App.

Ett foto publicerat av missa_fei xi (@ff0427) Nov 5, 2015 kl. 9:24 PST

Fei takes a picture with Aaron Yan and I can't decide who I'm more jealous of.

Ett foto publicerat av TWICE (@twicetagram) Nov 3, 2015 kl. 6:27 PST

In this week's Twice photo they announce their fanclub name: Once. I like it!

Ett foto publicerat av MOON (@moongom119) Nov 3, 2015 kl. 1:48 PST

Princess Moon looks like a true goddess.

Ett foto publicerat av 이선미 SUNMI LEE (@miyayeah) Nov 4, 2015 kl. 12:01 PST

Sunmi shows her bare face and looks annoyingly beautiful.

Ett foto publicerat av 고우리 (@rainbowoori) Nov 1, 2015 kl. 9:49 PST

We find another visual wonder in Woori, who always looks flawless.

Ett foto publicerat av 숮이 💄💅👡👠🎀👙🌂👗🌂🎀💋💌 (@skuukzky) Nov 4, 2015 kl. 1:40 PST

And who can resist Suzy's timeless beauty? Not me anyway.

Ett foto publicerat av Jessica Jung (@jessica.syj) Nov 3, 2015 kl. 1:11 PST

CEO Jessica Jung looks as pretty as ever.

Ett foto publicerat av ▽○□□◎ ▷ (@youngk93) Nov 4, 2015 kl. 8:31 PST

The unbelievably handsome YoungK blesses us with a selca.

Ett foto publicerat av YURA (@yura_936) Nov 3, 2015 kl. 2:40 PST

Yura and Sojin looking sweeter than candy in this lovely couple photo.

Ett foto publicerat av 박선영 (@fx_luna_sunyoung) Nov 5, 2015 kl. 4:08 PST

Last but not least we have the four ladies of f(x) being flawless as per usual. 

My Prayers Have Been Answered! Nana Is Blonde Again And Everything Is Beautiful

So, Orange Caramel performed at the opening ceremony of Ulsan the 50th National Skills Competition yesterday (I don't know what that is, and I couldn't care less) and despite looking lovely as usual, apart from the clothes perhaps, they also surprised fans with a sudden hair-change.

NANA IS BLONDE AGAIN!

Nana, as you may know, is one of my ultimate female biases ever, and while I think she looks gorgeous is whatever hair color I have really missed her blonde hair. She went brunette after years of being blonde about two years ago, and since then she's sported a much darker color. Having the face and body she does it's impossible for her not to look amazing, but with the blonde hair she's not only one but about a thousand levels above everyone else. Blonde hair takes her from gorgeous to goddess.



Probably the change is because of the upcoming Orange Caramel comeback, which I'm also very excited about, and although I would have loved to have her hair long as well I'll take this blonde haircut over everything else. Finally my divine queen is back in her most powerful form and I can't wait for her to go out there and slay all the competition.

EDIT:

Nana posted some pictures on Instagram. I'm dead. 

In Other Non-Related News; Nana Cuts Her Hair And Looks Amazing

 Is this really a news-worthy post you may ask? Well maybe not, but I've been doing so many reviews lately that I thought it might be nice just to share some eye-candy with you all. And yes, I'm planning on doing this more regularly when I find hot pictures of my biases. My main girl Nana recently cut her long locks off, and I think this might be the first time I'm seeing her in anything other than just long hair. She pulls it off perfectly, but than again, with that face she could rock anything.

My gorgeous girl <3

2014 End-year Review - Top 5 Choreographies

I love me a good dance routine, and I know I'm certainly not the only K-pop fan who does. This industry may produce lots of generic music, but on the dancing front they're way ahead of any western music industry. Below I've gathered five choreos by different groups that I liked the very best during 2014. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

A 2014 Year-end Festival Review - SBS Gayo Daejun

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.

50 Most Beautiful Female Idols (40-31)

Fasten your seat-belts ladies and gentlemen, as the ranking of my personal 50 most beautiful ladies continues!

40. AOA's Yuna


How Yuna isn't this groups visual is beyond my knowledge. I would think that it'd be obvious for literally anyone to see that she's clearly the pretties in the group. I do seriously miss her blonde hair though, and I'm still pissed at whoever decided to give her that ugly bob for "Short Hair".

39. Nine Muses' Hyuna


My love for this wonderful woman is so deep, it's hard to express. I admire her so much and I relate to her on a personal level and I want nothing but the best for her and the rest of the group. With all the craziness surrounding them, I hope they can settle soon and come back to the stage.

38. Rainbow's Jaekyung


I remember first seeing this inspirational woman on a talk show where she was up against another female in a male guest's "ideal type world cup", and I thought that he would be stupid not to pick her. That opinion still stands.

37. A Pink's Chorong


Chorong has become such a gorgeous lady these days. There is really a huge difference between how she looks now compared to when A Pink debuted. I would say she's definitely the one in the group that has matured the most, and I think she will only become more and more beautiful.

36. Miss A's Fei


I honestly can't understand why Fei isn't more popular in her group. I suppose she does looks a bit exotic and doesn't necessarily fit the standards of classical beauty in South Korea, but in my opinion that's what makes her so beautiful.

35. Red Velvet's Seulgi


I'm almost willing to believe that Seulgi is the first female idol in SM that has natural, non-tapered-with single eyelids, and that's a huge accomplishment. Many have compared her to former Wonder Girl Sohee, but I personally think Seulgi is heaps ahead in the looks department.

34. After School's Lizzy
 

Lizzy with the right styling and makeup is glorious indeed, She is such a beautiful, funny and sweet girl but for some reasons her stylists seem to be always working against her. I want this kind of Lizzy back, and as soon as possible please!

33. A Pink's Bomi


You could not believe the struggle I faced trying to find a pretty picture of this lady where she's not doing some weird facial expression or pose. But that's why we love her so much, isn't it? She always manages to put a smile on my face with her easy-going personality and cute charms.

32. Lee Hyori


There are many ways to describe Hyori, but I can only really think of one word: "Queen". She is such a role model to me and I'm sure many other young girls, as she has shown me that you can be beautiful and talented yet still down-to-earth, independent and powerful.

31. Kara's Gyuri


Continuing with another queen, a self-proclaimed one even. Although Gyuri's "goddess persona" is just as fake as any other variety character, she still holds herself with grace and pride, which I hugely admire.

Can You Identify The Copycats In OC's New Video?

Two Orange Caramel comebacks? In ONE year? Pledis must be in a really good mood. Or greedy for money considering how poorly their other acts seem to be doing. Yes, I'm still mourning the loss of Hello Venus members Yoo Ara and Yoonjo, let me cry in peace.

Anyhow, the teasers this time around made no sense whatsoever, but one thing is certain. Whatever this group releases is awesome, in one way or the other. There are always insanely catchy songs, crazy videos and eye-catching dance moves involved whenever Nana, Lizzy and Raina makes a return to the scene, and for that I am forever grateful.

Midyear Check-Up - Top 5 Videos

Watching music videos is one of the biggest joys in following K-Pop, especially those who bring that little extra. There have been plenty of releases for the first half of 2014, and that also means a lot of music videos to accompany the title tracks. These are my personal favorites that have come out during the first 6 months.

Song of the Week - #22

Orange Caramel - Abing Abing


Seriously guys, this song and music video were recorded and shot entirely as a commercial for Baskin-Robbins, but it's better than what most K-Pop groups have released this year. Orange Caramel are awesome, enough said.

Beautiful B-Sides Part 2: Girls Bring The Flawlessness Out!

Yes! It's finally time for the second part of this amazing segment, if I may say so myself. One of my absolute favorite things to do is to discover new songs both by my favorite groups and other ones whom I might not listen to otherwise. You would probably be surprised at how many fantastic non-promotional songs there are, hiding on various albums and mini albums. As I spoke of in my previous post, there are often instances where the title track just throws you off completely from listening to the rest of the album, but you shouldn't be scared at all! It's when you decide to give it a chance anyway that you discover the most amazing songs ever.

I'm afraid this post is going to be pretty long, but it's full of great material so I figured it would be alright anyway. Let's begin, shall we?

Who Says Asians Can't Be Blonde?

The answer to that is a lot of people. Is is justified in any way? Yes and no. It's true that a lot of Asians could never look decent in golden locks, but that does not apply to only one ethnicity. There are plenty of non-Asians who could never pull off blonde hair either. That being said, there are of course some Kpop idols who, too, don't look that great with bleached dos, but there are also those who look like they could have been born with it. Or maybe it's just Maybelline.

Girl Crush Saturday - Nana

It was definitely time for something like this on my blog. And don't worry, I will do a male version soon enough!
I'm not sure if I'm going to post one of these every single Saturday, but maybe once in a while when there's not much else to write about.
So, for the first edition of Girl Crush Saturday I have decided to feature my ultimate female bias and one of my top biases regardless of gender. It's none other than After School's Nana. Or possibly Orange Caramel's Nana. Same thing.

Of Sub-units and Solos Pt.1

Sooner or later, groups disband. It's the sad truth. In the early years of Kpop, groups would suffer from the 5-year-curse, which meant that once a group hit 5 years together, chances of them breaking up increased severely. Examples are H.O.T (1996-2001) and S.E.S (1997-2002), who both lasted exactly for 5 years before splitting up. Nowadays, this curse seems to have somewhat vanished, with groups like Big Bang, Super Junior, SNSD and SHINee having stuck together for way over 5 years and are still going strong. And of course, who could forget Shinhwa?

However, as a group approaches the 5 year mark (or even earlier), most members have their own individual activities and the group only comes together for the annual comeback and the year-end shows, so it's not so strange that maybe one or two members will release solo material, or even form a sub-unit.

Everybody Rejoice, Orange Caramel Is Back!

Where does one even start with Orange Caramel? 
The year I got into Kpop they made their comeback with Lipstick, an incredibly catchy song with an equally amazing and funny video. It was obvious that this sub-unit (well, they're honestly more like their own group to be honest) did not want to stay inside the box. Everything was exaggerated, comedic and not taking itself too seriously, which is so refreshing to see. For this comeback, the girls dress up as food and no matter how strange it is, it's ever so fascinating.