Justine

READ: PERSONAL OPINION.

We all know our oppars and unnirs are practically the best thing that happened to us be it TVXQ, Big Bang, Wonder Girls, Girls’ Generation, 2PM, 2NE1, Beast etc etc etc.. but there are a few people/things in K-pop that changed the game a little and what made us love K-pop a little bit more. This is all personal opinion.. so it’s up to you if you agree with me or not in no particular order!

1. Amber Liu of f(x)

I think it was incredibly a good idea that SME decided to recruit a boyish image for one of their fresh girl groups. Don’t get me wrong I love f(x) as much as the next fan but I have to admit without Amber, f(x) wouldn’t be getting the major boost of relevance that they have right now. When she went on hiatus during the second half of last year (2010) and f(x) were doing promotions they were kind of stale without Amber. She brings the adorable swag and it’s such a refreshing thing amongst all the cookie cutter girl groups in K-pop.

2. The Digital Age: SNS, streaming portals

I decided to write about this because Choi Siwon of Super Junior has finally reached more than 1 million followers on Twitter, as of today.. and is the first K-pop idol to do so. Siwon opened up a Twitter account last year (and briefly followed me, will forever be proud of that) and he’s been nothing but consistent in his tweets and photos which give us a small insight on his life outside the stage and television. Not to mention we get to have bonus photos of the rest of the members. Super Junior, Beast, MBLAQ, Infinite, 2AM and many male groups engage in a lot of twitter conversations which make the fangirls go even more gaga over them. 2PM was also the very first group to have complete members on twitter (that even includes Jay, if you count my delusional self) and since 2010 lots of K-pop idols have been jumping on the Twitter bandwagon.

Then YouTube! What would K-pop be without YouTube? That’s why it kind of pisses me off (but then I totally get it anyway) when Korean broadcasting stations block uploaded shows on YouTube because without them their entertainment culture wouldn’t be this thriving and in such a huge demand.

3. Male Idols in Suits

Outside K-pop, I have to say Westlife and Boyzone really revolutionized the suits in boy bands, but sad to say their time of looking as amazing is long gone. Then came K-pop. To me, wearing a suit is the epitome of manliness, no matter how much of a flower boy you look.. with a suit you automatically double up to oozing with manly. TVXQ, Super Junior, Big Bang and 2PM.. not to mention even young Korean actors gave a whole new meaning to East Asian men in suits. There’s just something about them. You can’t quite put it into words. I fucking love suits in K-pop idols so much.. given that they are worn the right way.

4. Physical albums, CDs and DVDs

Probably the most money consuming things to own when it comes to being a K-pop fan. How can you say no? Korean pop idol albums have the best packaging and physical offers when it comes to their albums. A 10 minute photoshoot turned into a concept can look gorgeous when it’s packaged into an album and photobook. There’s a reason why SME is one of the richest companies in the Korean entertainment industry. They repackage their artists’ albums 2 or 3 times per release with completely different concepts even though containing the same amount of songs with the difference of one or two bonus tracks. Fans still buy it. I’m guilty of that, because I own 2 Bonamana albums.. I have to admit I got sucked into SME’s money-making scheme. The worst thing is, once you start.. you can’t stop. You just have to collect their beautiful (and expensive) limited edition albums, DVDs and all that.

5. Korean Fansites

I cannot even begin to express how Korean fansites have played such a big part in overall fangrrrling. I cannot thank them enough for providing us the photos and the videos we need especially during crucial moments and most of their promotions in Korea. They are even 100000x better than the Korean media when it comes to providing us with all the visuals we need of our favorite people. I BOW DOWN.

1. When fangirls use Korean terms that don’t generally apply to them. I see this a lot, especially on twitter when fangirls use Korean terms to each other that Koreans don’t even use in their daily life! Fans call each other “chingu” (Korean word for friend) or onnie.. call their idols oppa. This doesn’t necessarily apply to EVERY situation.. but when the context is wrong it really peeves me to no end. For example:

“Hey chingu do you know where I can find the subs for Invincible Youth?” “OMG chingu he was soooo handsome!”

The spelling onnie ticks me off too. Ever since I got into K-pop I’ve always seen it spelled as unnie/eonnie according to the correct romanization and when fangirls start calling each other onnie or even “on” sometimes like blaargghh you’re ruining the damn language!!

“On, the boys are back in Korea I miss them so much!!”

Like seriously, wtf? Let me tell you that this usually happens among Indonesian K-pop fans and it’s very annoying (to me).

I have a thing. Unless you’re Korean, or friends with a Korean that’s okay with you calling her that then by all means use it. I have quite a number of Korean friends and for the one who is older than me, I call him Oppa for fun, or don’t call him Oppa at all, he doesn’t mind whichever because I’m not Korean.

Just like what my friend Tony said, “there needs to be a certain level of irony for it to work. and it’s really cringe-y when they’re so serious about it.” He couldn’t have made more sense.

2. The word HWAITING.

When romanized, it’s a VERY UGLY word. In Korean it’s 화이팅, the way it’s supposed to be read and pronounced. The English equivalent is “Fighting!”, which makes so much more sense and isn’t shit to look at.

“SUPER JUNIOR HWAITING!!”

LOL GROSS.

3. Fans who can only belong in ONE FANDOM. I might be a HUUUUGEE 2PM fan like a really big one, so that automatically makes me a Hottest right? Yes and no. I may be a Hottest but I don’t proclaim myself as one. And I certainly don’t say just because I am a Hottest doesn’t mean I can’t be a VIP or ELF or SONE or Blackjack or a Wonderful. I’m just a simple K-pop fangirl who likes most K-pop music but started with loving 2PM. Period.

“How can you be a TRUE ELF when you also call yourself a VIP?”

“A real Cassie is someone who supports 5 as a whole. If you only support HoMin but don’t support JYJ then don’t even think of calling yourself a Cassie.”

UM YEAH, whatever.

4. Fans who think that by criticizing your favorite group you’re not a real fan. People, get a reality check. K-pop idols work very hard and try their best at what they do but like every human in this world, they are flawed. None of them are perfect.

“HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A HOTTEST WHEN YOU LIKE TO MAKE FUN OF CHANSUNG’S SINGING?”

“HOW DARE YOU SAY RYEOWOOK IS GAY? GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS FANDOM!”

“BOM DID NOT HAVE PLASTIC SURGERY!! I HOPE YOU DIE!”

“G-DRAGON IS NOT OVERRATED, HE IS THE MOST TALENTED PERSON IN THIS WORLD NOBODY CAN BEAT HIM AND YOUR OPPAS WILL NEVER BE BETTER THAN HIM!”

First of all, shut the fuck up. Second, the ones who insult their beloved idols are NOT called fans. They are called antifans or trolls who make insulting idols as a hobby. Unless you’re all about the irony, like for example, “antikpopfangirl” then it’s more of a poking fun at idols rather than merely insulting (seriously that website is DAB0MBS). Saying that G-Dragon is overrated is not the same as saying he’s not talented. It could mean that why are people always saying he’s the most talented idol without any basis and haven’t seen the capabilities of other idols? Saying that Chansung can’t sing does NOT always mean that he’s useless because the boy has the looks, the body, the moves and he was never a singer to begin with (plus you can probably blame JYP for making him sing so much lmao). People noticing Ryeowook’s gay tendencies is never an insult, anybody who thinks it is should be ashamed of themselves. And lastly, anybody who thinks Bom did not have plastic surgery needs to have their eyes checked. Plastic surgery isn’t always a bad thing, if it’s meant to enhance your beauty then why not? People have different opinions about it (no matter how ugly I am I would never go under the knife because first of all I’m scare of knives and second.. it’s just not my solution to beauty). But if it’s done to the point of ruining your face, then you know you could have problems.

I love 2PM all the same, and I criticize them not because I hate them but because they have flaws that are shown to the masses and if we see it, it’s natural for us to comment about it. I don’t think Junsu is the best singer in 2PM, I think Junho is but hey, that’s an opinion and it doesn’t mean I hate Junsu. I didn’t say, “Junsu has the worst voice in all of K-pop he should stick something in his throat so he never has to sing again.” People need to know the difference between different contexts. Hara and Sohee aren’t the best singers in K-pop and it’s very obvious, but I’m sure they have other plus points that made them the idols that they are now.

5. The question of the butthurt.

Everyone is butthurt, but not every chooses to air their hurting butts. I recently read a comment in one K-pop news site about 2PM saying, “I tried so hard to get into 2PM but I just couldn’t, I don’t get them at all.” or something of that sort and about more than 10 people liked that comment. I was butthurt, because they are missing out on 6 really wonderful guys, but I chose not to act on it because I remembered everyone has their own preferences and likes and you can’t please everyone. Plus 2PM has a pretty damn solid fanbase (like moi, haha!) and a lot of other people love them for who they are and what they have to offer. Same goes for me, if there’s a group I don’t like.. I just don’t pay attention to them at all. I don’t comment on news or forums because they take up my time and Ion even care about them. My thing with K-pop is, if you like them, you like them. If you don’t, then you don’t know them. It’s as simple as that really. The same goes for that commenter in that site above, she could never get into 2PM, and she chose to voice it out, but she wasn’t necessarily negative about it. Win some, lose some.

Are the queens trolling us? Or is it actually JYPE? The first video teaser from the Wonder Girls was full of so promise that the girls weren’t going to go the retro catchy sound anymore (even JYPE announced it).. then the 2nd teaser became completely different, it seemed like they were heading the retro sound again which left a lot of International fans (like myself) wondering.. WHY. Then it was announced that the 1st teaser wasn’t the title track at all but the 2nd one. Hmm okay then, they’re queens and it’s been a long time coming, we’ll take what we can get.

This MV dropped last night. My initial thought while watching it: they look great, hot, amazing and I love the choreography but the song, disappointing was an understatement. Sohee sang too much and Lim is a nasal factory and our queens Yenny and Sun only sang the chorus, Yubin’s rap was too forced. Ugh, I was disappointed but of course it took a few more listens and it sort of grew on me. I don’t know if I like it enough, but it’s not as bad as I thought it was when I first listened to it.

This song however, which was the one featured in the first teaser titled Me, In is a genius. I don’t know why they didn’t make this their title track instead. All the voices shined and we got to hear chops from Yenny and Sun and Yubin’s rap is glorious (Is it obvious that I love these 3 ladies with all my heart? It is, isn’t it). But oh well you can’t have everything. I was also reading the comments on the news sites I frequent that Korea probably wouldn’t love Me, In as much as the catchy tune that is Be My Baby and yes they could probably be right. Me, In sounds more Western than ever. I guess I’ll have to wait for their comeback stage til I can further deliberate on what I think about this comeback. Til then, have a great week!

This is my Top 25 most listened to K-pop songs. I got into K-pop towards the end of 2009 but I bought a new iPod sometime around March 2010 so some of my plays got reset. If they didn’t get reset you would see some 2NE1 there especially Fire coz I listened to that song so damn much, and basically most of Rain’s songs from the Rain’s World album. Especially In My Bed, I think I listened to that song a thousand times. Right now I’m listening to a lot of TVXQ, so there’s a chance it might come up in this list soon and I was obsessed with SNSD’s Oh! last year when it came out–seriously my jam.

The most listened to track from each artist I think aside from 2PM (I got into them coz of Again & Again and Heartbeat) is the indication of when I started liking that artist. Like for SNSD it was Oh!, for MBLAQ I really liked Y, for Beast it was Breath and f(x) it was NU ABO, which really was one of the best tracks last year. I have SHINee’s Lucifer which I’m kind of sick of now but at that time when it first came out it was really really good I couldn’t stop listening to it. There was a point where I had to listen to Bonamana at least 5 times a day so yeah, that’s why it’s also on the top. Then there’s Taeyang’s I Need A Girl and Just A Feeling, two really solid tracks from his amazing solo album. That was really great really. And my favorite from the GD&TOP album, Oh Yeah with Bom, I kept replaying that shit towards the end of the year.

What I notice is that there’s not much songs from 2011, mainly because I didn’t listen to too much K-pop this year. I’m surprised TVXQ’s Keep Your Head Down isn’t here though, I seriously listened to that track a million times (or so I think). I really loved Brave Brother’s Break Up with Kikwang from Beast and kept replaying that. Plus miss A’s Good-bye Baby which I think is one of the best tracks this year.

And here’s my Top 25 Most Played for the 2011 tracks:

It’s been a while!!! We finally get to see the boys as FIVE going to Europe for the MTV Europe Music Awards and I feel like their airport style warrants a fashion post. Let me just put this out there.. this is probably the most low-key, chill I’ve ever seen them in. I am disappointed because I know they’re through a lot right now and probably don’t care about personal appearance but.. ugh. Can’t put it into words. I know it’s a long haul flight, but it’s not that long haul!! Taeyang is wearing sweats!! WHAT HAPPENED! And TOP’s pants are such a fashion faux pas! And GD! Waaaaaaaeee~

TOP

I don’t even wanna talk about the pants. Is this supposed to be high fashion? It’s such a miss, TOP. At least your hair looks good. I’d much rather you go in your birthday suit.. haha oops. Also mocassins? REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? Arrgghhhh.

Daesung

If you saw Dae for the very first time you would think he’s just your average young man. But he’s not, he’s a member of one of the most popular K-pop groups in this world. I gotta hand it to him, he’s looking so much better and I’m glad for him. He didn’t put much effort into style but it still doesn’t look bad. It’s the effortless, safe and harmless. I quite like it really.

G-Dragon

I know you have a scandal to avoid but those shoes are fugly as hell and you’re wearing a homeless man’s beanie. Where is the Jiyong touch I see in your fashion sense? Nothing stands out here.. except for maybe the scarf on your bag, and your glasses. That’s about it.

Taeyang

Houston, we have a problem. First of all.. the beanie which says SWAGGER is not cool bro, NOT cool. The sweatpants.. don’t you have a much decent looking pair?? The Rick Owens shoes, I AM SO OVER IT. Give them back to Ronald McDonald where they belong. I like the padded vest though.

Seungri

Strong baby is definitely the winner in this bunch. He tried. And even wore leather shoes! =O Just like Dae and Tae he opted for the all black everything look but this just worked. Down to the well-fitted pants (take note, Tabi), the blazer and the muffler scarf, glasses and fedora.. you are a good job!

I wish the boys the best of luck in Belfast and I hope they win the award!! MAKE US PROUD and come back with better airport outfits this time!

Cried while watching this performance last night. Why did they ever go separate ways? They’re too fucking good. TVXQ, I am soooooooooooo late.

I don’t really feel like dissecting so much anymore but I actually think this awards show seems fair. I know some people are complaining that it only includes the most popular of K-pop acts and it’s definitely a popularity contest but isn’t that what every award show is all about?

CJ E&M director Shin Hyung Gwan also noted, “We can say that MAMA is not an award show for certain entertainment companies but more of a festival to support the artists who are the most active.”

All the acts that were active this year had a chance to place in their respective categories so rather than recognizing talent or whatnot, I think this awards show highlights how much they’ve appeared on screen, music shows and fan response. I was a little confused because I don’t see U-Kiss, who had pretty good singles this year (Neverland, Someday, 0330) or Block B, who got good buzz for being talented rookies of 2011. Of course, the never ending issue of JYJ being blocked out of shows.. apparently now that MNET has made up with SM Entertainment, that’s all the more reason not to see the three boys.

I’m more excited to see the performances rather than who will win though. I would love a joint stage or anything collaborative between artists in different genres or entertainment companies. MNET always manages to create an awards show with a lot of buzz be it negative or positive and that’s something to look forward to.

Online Voting and 2PM

Now with the issue of online voting. We all know that ELFs and Cassies are queens/kings of almost any online polling their oppars appear in. I have nothing against that.. good for them. They definitely know the meaning of fandom. Now for Hottests, that’s not usually the case.. we don’t always put up a united front. What I’ve noticed is that Hottests just kind of let everything fly by. If oppars win, great! If they don’t.. well as long as they’re still awesome in our hearts, there’s no problem. When it’s the issue of hardwork, 2PM deserves the award as much as every other artist that’s nominated but if MNET (keyword) decides not to give them a winning place in any of the categories, that’s fine too. But they better rock the stage with another amazing performance, like they’ve always have in the past 2 years.

In conclusion really, I’m just waiting for another awesome show MAMA’s going to be able to put out for our enjoyment. Like I’ve said in the past posts being a K-pop fan is all about enjoying all the candies they throw at you.. be it bitter, sweet, or a mix of both ^_^

Why I like this years’ MAMA nominees:

The nominees for MNET Music Asia Awards 2011 is finally out and I was already preparing myself for the slight joke it was going to play on me. What I like about MAMA is that there is great potential for my favorite artists to be there and the fact that it is incredibly JYP-biased (as well as YG-biased) in my past 2 years of being a K-pop fan. It is quite different this time around.. MNET finally made amends with its long-running feud with SM Entertainment and their artists are finally back in MNET’s roster. In the previous years we didn’t see Super Junior nor Girls’ Generation, they’ve finally popped up as well as TVXQ who is one of the headlining nominees, scoring all 4 nominees they were in. The question is.. will these SM artists show up? They’ve already started performing in MNET’s M Countdown every Thursday but there is no guarantee yet that they will make an appearance, especially since TVXQ is already slated to perform in Las Vegas for Billboard K-pop Masters on the 25th of November. Putting all that aside, my main point is.. we can now finally see some friendly competition, especially from the BIG 4 companies SME, YGE, JYPE and CUBE ent. and if they all show up to the event it could easily be K-pop’s biggest awards of the year, not to mention lucky for Singapore fans that their country is graced with so much Hallyu presence.

But if there’s one thing every K-pop fan knows about MAMA.. is that if you don’t show up, you don’t win. Thus creating a myriad of criticisms on how they chose their previous winners..

Now let’s dissect!

Best New Male Artist: Kim Ji Su, Boyfriend, N-Train, Huh Gak, B1A4.
Best New Female Artist: Dal*Shabet, Brave Girls, A Pink, Jang Jae In, Han Groo

I can’t really say anything about this because I haven’t been following new acts this year. I paid no attention to the “nugus” and mostly just stuck to my favorites but based on my radar, N-Train and B1A4 did pretty well but I think Huh Gak should take the award. Ever since getting signed with CUBE, he’s been in a good streak.. he’s won music shows, going head to head with Girls’ Generation and not forgetting his stint in Immortal Song 2.

Best Male Group: TVXQ, BEAST, BIG BANG, Super Junior, 2PM
Best Female Group: Brown Eyed Girls, Girls’ Generation, KARA, 2NE1, f(x)

Wuoooooooo isn’t this just the best set of nominations list EVER? I have no complaints AT ALL. I don’t even care whoever wins I’ll be happy for them.

I’ll skip the Best Female/Male Artist category because I didn’t really follow solo acts this year. But I do think it would be nice if IU won. Girl’s been due for some hard-earned awards.

Best Dance Performance – solo: Kim Hyun Joong, Jay Park, Jang Woo Hyuk, Hyun-A, G.Na

Jay Park’s dancing is always strong, but I don’t care much for this category.

Best Dance Performane – Male Group: TVXQ – Keep Your Head Down, BEAST – Fiction, BIG BANG – Tonight, Super Junior – Mr. Simple, MBLAQ – Mona Lisa, Infinite – Be Mine.

I understand why my 2PM boys weren’t included in this category despite winning this award last year. Hands Up wasn’t anything great in terms of choreography and I was perfectly fine with that. They focused more on the I’m Your Man and Ultra Lover choreography this year and they made Hands Up a carefree song. Okay I’m totally falling off the wagon here.. haha. I LOOOOOVED the choreography for Keep Your Head Down, as well as Beast’s Fiction. Mr. Simple was pretty great too.. and Infinite has offered a fresh look on K-pop choreography so I would put my choice on any of these 4. MBLAQ’s Mona Lisa and Big Bang’s Tonight.. not so much imo.

Best Dance Performance – Female Group: Girls’ Generation – The Boys, Secret – Shy Boy, T-ara – Roly Poly, 4minute – Mirror Miror, 2NE1 – I Am the Best, miss A – Goodbye Baby.

I liked all these choreographies except for 4minute’s Mirror Miror. Although to be honest The Boys is executed a bit messily sometimes. Shy Boy’s retro feel, T-ara’s novelty dance moves I think merit an award. I Am the Best and Goodbye Baby are my top picks.

To be continued…

Okay this, I LOVE. The girls look sexy and simple and proves that less can be more without trying to look too slutty. It’s the perfect example of a nice downplayed concept that just.. WORKS. I like the approach that JYP’s been doing with their girl groups ever since miss A debuted last year. The reason why they were so successful and became the years’ rookies because they had the concept of having no concept, if you get what I mean. I wish they did it with 2PM too last year (I mean, horrendous eye shadows anyone?). Apparently their stylists this year is Katy Perry’s stylist and I hope they bring something awesome to the K-pop stage and show all the others how it’s done and come back as reigning queens of the K-pop girl group stage. SOOO excited for their song!

The queens look great! It’s going to feel a little weird that they’ve let go of their retro concept but at the same time it’s a good fresh start and I’m just glad they’re finally promoting in Korea even if it’s just going to be for a short while. Together with SNSD too! It’s like girl group invasion. I only have a little qualm about these photos: it’s the pistols. The very first time I saw them I was like woooww they look great but hmmm some people may misinterpret. Not gonna lie, I also misinterpreted it myself.. there’s just too much shit going on in the world right now and this could be seen as something that’s advocating violence.

IDK, I always have these feelings about concepts involving pistols like when 2PM, GD, TOP and Taeyang had that whole gun shooting performances during last year’s MAMA it kind of left me with a bit of sour taste in my mouth despite their amazing performances.

I myself know that OF COURSE the girls are not promoting violence, I mean they’re like the sweetest girls EVER. Sun is this amazing humanitarian and in her spare time helps unfortunate people and goes to third world countries and such and everybody’s just the sweetest! People who don’t know the girls that well may think otherwise so I hope these photos won’t ignite any sort of controversy and that the pistols are only limited to these photos and not the concept as a whole. *prays that their MV doesn’t have any kind of violence-inducing scenes*

Above all of that, I’m excited!! WG gon’ trump all them nugus and show em how it’s done.