Lollipop.

Fire.

Top of the World.

Pretty Boy.

Let’s Go Party.

In The Club.

Breathe.

The Leaders.

She’s Gone.

Where U At?

ORA Yeah!

Let Me Hear Your Voice.

Hallelujah.

You And I.

and finally, Wedding Dress.

Despite my pretty obvious SM bias, I can appreciate that YGE has put out some really good stuff this year. Enjoy it.

Maki

So it’s actually a duet between her and a Canadian singer named Nikki something (I don’t really know her, sorry) but it’s still very nice. They both sing, alternating verses while IU accompanies throughout on her guitar. She looked very pretty, her hair’s growing out and her outfit was very cute. As a duet, it seemed a bit awkward since the girls didn’t have that much interaction but they both sounded very good. This Nikki girl has a soulful voice and IU’s voice is a lot softer and more delicate so they balanced each other out nicely. The only thing is that IU’s accent is a bit more obvious here as she’s singing after an English speaker but she sounded so lovely, I’d hardly call it an impediment. So without further ado, I leave you with the video – if you liked it, please go to CodeMonMon’s channel and say a word of thanks for posting!

Maki

So I was going to start regularly consolidating my K-pop celeb birthday posts into digests like I did last month but I feel that this guy deserves one of his own.

Today, Donghae, on your 23rd birthday, I just wish you lots and lots of happiness. If there was anything I could wish for you right now, it would be that you could have a birthday (and subsequently a year) full of joy and good times and laughter and fun because I think that you deserve it. Not just because you’re my favourite Korean boy but because you’re a beautiful, kind, pure, loving person who always tries his darnedest as well. In addition, I hope that you’ll continue to be content and find fulfillment in the life that you’ve chosen for yourself, I hope that you’ll grow closer to God and I hope that you’ll continue to blossom into an even more amazing human being.

I love you, Lee Donghae and I wish you all the best on today, your 23rd birthday. Saranghae. ♥

credit: xPlasticLittle

I like this a lot. They’ve returned to that R&B style that I loved from them. I really feel like they did R&B so well – I mean, I like that they branched out as well but this is their forte, imo and I’m happy to see that they’ve returned to that. Can’t wait to hear the full thing! The teaser’s already on repeat.

Also, does this boy not look fantastic? I love this look on him already.

So what do you think?

Maki

Credit for the subs goes, of course, to the magnificent soshisubs

If you’re an SNSD fan and you haven’t watched this, I’d suggest you go about rectifying that right now. This goes beyond funny – it is the actual embodiment of hilarity. I mean, when I first heard that Soshi were going to be on Intimate Note, I couldn’t figure why because I thought that they got along fine and I couldn’t imagine that they’d really have that much to talk about.

Well, I was wrong.

This is just about the craziest episode of Intimate Note that I’ve seen to date (Okay, I’ve only really watched two but whatever) – everyone goes off on everyone else and no one is safe (well, except for Tiffany because she wasn’t there). But seriously, they just went to town each other, airing all their greivances and the majority of them are silly and petty and ridicuously amusing while a few hit closer to home (feel free to ‘aww’ at the appropriate moments). TaeYeon, SooYoung, Jessica and SeoHyun really stand out here but HYOYEON is comedy gold – I knew she was funny! She cracked me up non-stop!  I think in trms of variety shows, she’s really beginning to come into her own and I’m glad because hopefully, it will mean that she’ll get more notices that we will get to see more of her in the future. But anyway, they all have their moments to shine and generally this episode is just a big barrel of laughs and the MCs just make matters even worse, what with trying to generate a ’scandal’ surrounding SooYoung and their manager, Moon HeeJun acting like a love-sick schoolboy over Taeyeon and the like.

Now if my lovely mini-review hasn’t changed your mind, you can check out my full spazzing over the actual parts themselves here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. There are actually six parts but I didn’t feel like blogging about the last two. So go watch it, you guys – you won’t regret it!

Maki

So there are a number of K-pop celebs who are September babies (comme moi!) and I just wanted to wish them all a collective bonne anniversaire! I’m just writing this off the top of my head though so it might be a little odd. If so, I apologize in advance.

Premierement, there’s my first favourite member of SohNyuhShiDae, HyoYeonie! Birthday: September 22nd, 1989 (20)

Ah, I still remember watching the ‘Into The New World’ video and wondering who that blonde girl was and how come she got a dance solo. Lol. Anyway, she struck me instantly and for a long time, she was the only member of the group that I cared to know. After I really got into the group, that changed but I’ve still got a safe spot for her because of that. I think that she’s an incredible dancer – I mean, when you watch that girl dance, really dance – no, I don’t mean the ‘Gee’ dance, I’m talking about something more along the lines of this – you can’t miss that fire, that passion in her eyes. She’s doing what she loves to do and I’m happy to get a chance to watch her do that.

You know I’ve seen people say that Hyoyeon’s not pretty and things like that and I really have to wonder who they’re looking at because I have always thought that she’s gorgeous, inside and out and I just can’t even fathom how other people can’t see that and it makes me really sad to know that there are even people who claim to be SNSD fans who openly claim to dislike her – I mean, if you’re a fan of a group, even if you don’t like everyone, you should at least support them all and you should be able to appreciate that they all bring something to the group. That said, I know she tends to be on the quiet side in group interviews and during appearances and whatnot but if you catch her on her own or if you look closely during shows, you’ll see what I see – that she’s really fun and lovable and cool. The other girls claim that she (and SeoHyun) are the mood-makers in the group, meaning that they’re the ones who lift their spirits and keep the mood up. You couldn’t do that if you’re not fun!

But regardless of who likes her or who doesn’t, I believe that Hyo’s a beautiful, loving, wonderful, talented individual and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours. I really hope that she continues to get a chance to shine and to share her talents with the world and that she continues to support and show a good side for her team. To one of my favourite Soshi girls! Happy birthday.

Next, we’ll go on to the first person I ever did a birthday post for when I just started this blog last year, SHINee’s lovable Key-gun! – September 23rd, 1991. (18)

Yay, it’s Key’s birthday, you guys! I’m not going to lie – I almost forgot about it but that’s beside the point. So in the post I did for him last year, I just wished him that he would improve as a musician and an entertainer and I’m very pleased to see that this has occurred. I really feel that he’s improved so much over the last year – vocally, performance-wise and just as a person. Did you know that he’s sending money to a charity every month to starving kids? If that’s not becoming a better person, then I don’t know what is. It’s a little surreal to think that one of my precious SHINee babies is already 18 – well, i don’t think of the older two as babies obviously – and I’m really happy for him that he gets to be out there doing what he loves and to be surrounded by people who love and care about him day in and day out.

I know that things aren’t always easy and I hope that he manages to get some time to spend with the other people who love and care about him (his family) during this time and that maybe he’ll get a chance to hop on over to Daegu and spend some time there as well. Ultimately though, I just want him to be happy (and well rested!) and I sincerely, sincerely hope that he continues to find happiness and fulfillment from performing and making music and from this life that he’s chosen for himself. I just want them to be happy (and healthy). That’s all. I want to see smiles like this forever.

So Key-gun, I hope that this new year will be filled with even more joy and good experiences for you and that you’ll learn to take the setbacks and the tough times in stride and persevere all the same. Stay true to yourself and remain your upbeat, fun, unique self because the others need you to cheer them up, okay? Take care of yourself, bb~ And happy birthday.

And finalement, I want to wish an early happy, happy birthday to Dong-dddddong-dong, ShinDong! September 28th, 1985 (24)

Ah, I don’t think I ever mentioned but ShinDong was the first member of Suju that I ever learned – I actually knew of him before I even got into K-pop. It’s a long story but I’m really happy that I knew about him that way because I don’t know if I would have paid as much attention to him, had I not already known who he was. I mean, I think he’s a really good dancer and a great guy – super funny and sooooo sweet – but even though he appears to be one of the more visible members of the group,  when you really start to watch Suju things, you realize that he’s not always the most vocal so I feel like he blends in a bit. But I still love him though – if you said I could get free hugs fom Suju and you eliminated my biases, I would definitely choose ShinDong because he seems so nice and warm and I’m sure he gives the best hugs.

He also takes pretty awesome selcas. Yes, ShinDong is the selca king! So anyway, I just wanted to wish ShinDong a happy birthday and I hope that he continues to grow as a person, to be loved and supported and appreciated and that lots of blessings rain down upon him. Happy birthday, ShinDong oppa! ^_^ God bless you~

Maki

NOW. No, I mean, right now – like right this very second. Just click on that little video that I’m posting down there and listen to the song. Your life will not be complete until you hear it. It’s ‘The Greatest Story All Over The World’.

Credit: iluvyesung

Sooooo I love this song – I’ve only listened to it once but I love it already because it’s so moving. Is it not moving? Are you not being moved while listening to it? If you’re not, then listen to it again and again and again until you are successfully moved. But seriously, this is such a beautiful song – Yesung’s voice is so soft and soothing here and you really do get the sense of a story being told from the way that he’s singing – this is a duet by the way, between him and Lee Sejun – and this could possibly be my favourite thing that he’s ever done ever. And that’s only enhanced by the fact that this is a Christian song and that the proceeds from the sales go to charity and I mean, you have to be able to appreciate that at least, right? Honestly I didn’t even know that Yesung was a Christian until he released this but that’s very good, you know – I am one too and you should totally look into that (yeah, you, the person reading this) if you’re not. It’s not a bad way to be, imo. But I digress – so yes, check the song out – it’s beautiful and I am going to try to see if I can buy it from mnet.com or somewhere like that because it is for charity and all.

Anyway, I just wanted to share that – so enjoy!

Maki

It’s my birthday today, readers so I’m sharing a happy song with you. Guaranteed to make you smile!

Credit: Youtube

Also I can’t not post about this a.k.a. THE BEST TEASER IN THE HISTORY OF TEASERS

Well, after watching that, I’m excited. I mean, I was excited before but this has taken my excitement to a whole other level. Everyone looks fantastic, especially Siwon – HOTNESS! – and I’m finally noticing that Zhou Mi is actually pretty hot too. (OMG, when did this happen?! I’m shocked!) Also I think their style here seems to be a mash-up of ‘Sorry, Sorry’ and ‘It’s You’ and this song appears to be the one they mentioned that would be in a similar style to ‘Sorry, Sorry’ so I’m not complaining – this should be good. So yes, if you’re not into SJ-M, I suggest you get into them like now, right now – no, right this minute! – so you’ll be able to fully appreciate this sure-to-be-epic comeback. Okay? Got it? Okay, good! ~Wo shi ni de Shupaman~

I’m off to enjoy my day now. Have a good week-end, all!

Maki

So I’m sure that you all know by now that Jaebum, the leader of 2PM has officially left the group. Sources say that he chose to resign his post – and I honestly believe that. Now I haven’t posted much about 2PM before because I’m honestly not a big fan and I don’t know these boys that well but I can’t sit here and just say nothing.

I hope you all realize just how terrible this situation is – I hope you really look at this and you see how words, just words, just comments on a website about someone and something can totally change someone’s life. You guys, we need to learn from this – we need to be more careful what we say and we need to learn to be more forgiving. I don’t think that what Jaebum initially said was right but I certainly do not believe that it warranted this kind of reaction. All of his years of training went down the drain because of this, 2PM just celebrated their one year anniversary FOUR DAYS AGO and now the fate of their group is in jeopardy, it’s possible that Jaebum might come back but  most likely it won’t be in his former capacity. The lives of 7 people have been changed irrevocably because people weren’t willing to forgive a boy for some off-handed comment he made when he was scared and lonely in a new, unfamiliar place.

I’m crying as I write this – and do you know why? Because this whole situation was so unnecessary, it was so senseless. You guys, we need to understand that even if we’re angry about something, there are lines we just shouldn’t cross. Do you know that there was a petition going around in Korea that said that Jaebum should kill himself? Do you know how many people signed that? 3000. Three THOUSAND people thought that he should commit suicide – they effectually told him to go die. Have you done that before, have you thought or said things like that online? Truthfully I’ve seen people say things to that effect already – I haven’t, really I never got to that point of chagrin with any celebrity – but my point is that I want you to look at what our careless comments – just like the ones he made four years ago – look at what they can do, look at what they can sow. Those poeple said that they feel guilty now, that they didn’t want it to come to this point – well, I’m happy to hear that – it’s too late for Jaebum now, yes – but at least, it tells me that I shouldn’t yet lose hope in humanity, that there’s still time for these people to learn from what they did wrong and hopefully to not perpetuate this kind of negativity and bring about the destruction of any more careers and/or lives.

I really feel for Jay and the other 2PM members at this point – I can’t imagine how they must be feeling, I mean, if I’m still in shock over this whole thing, how in the world could they be holding up? Four days they were going places, shining so brightly, doing so well and now all of that’s been ruined. The group will never be the same without Jaebum, without their leader and if you don’t understand, think about your favourite group and try to imagine them without the person who gathers them together, motivates them and pushes them to work harder and to get along. Can you do that? Would you want that? This is a really sad day in k-pop and in k-fandom, you guys and I hope that the depth of this situation really hits home to all of us and makes us realize that we need to be more careful and that we need to stop holding celebrities to unrealistic standards. They are not perfect, they are not above us in any way. They are just like us, they make mistakes and we have to learn to forgive them just like we want to be forgiven. I certainly wouldn’t want a lot of the stupid comments I’ve made over the years to come back to haunt me and ruin my life later on so please you guys, let’s learn from this. Let’s bring some good out of this terrible situation.

And 2PM fans, I know you’re angry and I know you’re hurting but please don’t go about trying to get ‘revenge’ or anything like that. Trust me when I say that the people who have perpetuated this thing and caused it to turn into the nightmare that it’s become – the unremorseful ones – they’ll get what’s coming to them because things like this always come back to you. You guys, there’s too much hate and negativity in K-fandom as it is and if this isn’t a perfect example of the results of that, then I don’t know what is. You guys we need to band together as a fandom – fandom is about togetherness, it’s about unity, it’s about coming together for a common goal – no, we don’t all like the same groups but we all love k-pop and it hurts and affects us all when things like this happen. Please you all, don’t go around trying to stir up any more trouble – this is not the time, it really isn’t. It’s time for fan wars and flame wars and crap like that to stop – it’s not helping anyone, it’s not making anyone feel better nd sometimes it really comes back and hurts the very entertainers that we care so deeply for. Let’s try to start respecting one another, all right? We’re all fans here, we’re all in the same boat. Stop making rifts and rivalries where they don’t actually exist. If the celebrities can get along, then why can’t we? Isn’t that what they’d want? And I want you to know that deliberately doing things to sabotage or belittle or hurt other artists as a way to ‘help’ the group that you so claim to love is wrong and hurtful and cowardly. Let that group’s talent and efforts speak for themselves - don’t use misguided means to ‘help’ them along. That is not support, that is not help – you only hurt the group when you do things like that and you give both the group and their fans a bad name.

So I just want to say that I wish Jaebum the best in his future endeavours. I hope that he’s finally able to get some peace of mind and to deal with this situation as best he can. I hope that he can put this behind him and still find a way to accomplish his goals. He’s an extremely talented individual and I believe that God will guide him to bigger and better things from now on. And I hope also that he’ll see all of the support he has and that he’ll realize that we do not see him as a burden, that we’re not blaming him and that he has no reason to hang his head – he was an amazing leader all the way to the end. And I sincerely hope that things work out positively for the rest of 2PM as well. JYP family, stay strong – and have faith, you guys – God is good, He’ll work things out, somehow.

That’s all.

Maki

I’m going to start with f(x) since they’re the rookies here and this is our first opportunity to see them on stage together.

Credit: SmoothyEco1st

So I watched both of their performances, the MuCore one as well as this one and I have to conclude that this is definitely the better one. I guess they relaxed a little because you could see that they enjoyed this one more and their vocals were a lot better here. As far as vocals are concerned, they’re not bad – they seem to have a good foundation and I don’t sense any actually weak singers in the group so that’s a plus. If you watched their first teaser, you probably saw the ‘Asia best pop dance group’ label or whatever at the end of it and I have to say that I can see the focus on dancing here. Their choreography may look easy but it really isn’t, by any means and all of the girls seem to be fairly adept dancers, Luna in particular. Seriously, watch that girl (the one in all black in case you didn’t know) while she’s dancing and you’ll see the concentration and determination on her face – she is a serious dancer, I can see that already.

Yeah, so their dancing is pretty good – I love their choreo for ‘Lachata‘, I really do – it’s just so fun and cool-looking, I really want to learn it and I already told you that I love the song. The girls themselves seem all right on stage – they work well as a group, although you can see that they’re not fully in synch yet but that’s okay considering they’re just starting out and all. Now I know it might seem like I’m being overly critical and maybe I am but it’s just because I’m rather fond of the majority of the talent that SM produces, I think that all of their groups do very well for themselves and I expect these girls to follow suit. I just have high expectations for them, that’s all. So I am being critical but it’s just because I want to see them do well, you know, I want them to come out good and then steadily improve and so far, they’re not doing too badly in that respect.

As for the girls themselves, Luna’s already impressed me with how serious and committed she is while they’re performing and Sulli (the young looking one with the bun-like hairstyle) caught my attention because she’s adorable and she reminds me of all of the previous maknaes that I’ve been fond of. As far as I’m concerned, she’s the maknae in the group because she seems to be acting the part way more than Krystal anyway. Speaking of Krystal (pink and blue shirt), she seems okay so far – her voice is decent and she’s a pretty good dancer so I have faith in her. I was really looking forward to seeing the leader, Victoria (the girl in the dress) but she hasn’t exactly impressed me so far – she seems competent in terms of performing but she isn’t as charismatic as I expected her to be and so the jury’s still out as far as she’s concerned. She did get some cool points after I saw a really cute fancam of the girls leaving their fanmeeting after MuCore where she made a heart for the fans. I was like “aww~ that’s so cute!” so I guess she’s all right. And well, Amber seems okay. I don’t really have an opinion on her yet.

So f(x) seem cool so far, they look like they’ll do well – I’m very interested in hearing the rest of their tracks – is there any word on when their mini album or album or whatever is being released? – and I’m also very interested in hearing more from Luna and seeing what little Sulli’s individual talents are.

Moving on, I’ll get to another rookie group, 4minute with their new song, ‘Muzik‘.

Credit: CodeMonmonSeason3

Let me start by saying that I really like this song, maybe more than ‘Hot Issue’, I’m not sure yet. It’s just really fun and makes me want to get up and dance – and I always appreciate when a song can do that – I definitely see some improvement on their end, I used to find their ‘Hot Issue’ performances tremendously boring but they have a lot more energy here and their choreo is cooler so I’m already liking these performances more. I still don’t think I’ll be watching too many of these performances because two of the members, the leader and the maknae ( I think) – yeah, I’m sorry to say this but their vocals leave a lot to be desired…they don’t sound so bad on the track but they go over a lot worse live. In addition to that, I’m not too fond of Hyuna’s voice in general so that really puts me off but I will say that generally, this performance was good. They sounded okay,  their clothes were decent (I’m loving those boots!) and their dancing wasn’t bad so it was okay, really.

Next up is 2NE1 with their new single, ‘Pretty Boy’.

Credit: CodeMonmonSeason3

Now I really like this song, for much the same reasons that I like 4minute’s new song – it’s very cool and fun to listen to. I actually think that this would have been a better follow-up to ‘Fire’ than ‘I Don’t Care’ because it would have showed a different side to them while still maintaining the momentum created by starting out with a song as upbeat as ‘Fire’ – but I digress….I have to commend them for being able to dance in those ridiculous boots (did you see those things?! Dang! I couldn’t take one step in those!) and well, the dancing is how it always is. Hmm, I think that they had less energy in this performance than they usually do but despite that, it was very solid. They sounded very good, they looked good (in those possibly ‘Heartbreaker‘-inspired outfits?) and well, that’s all that really matters, right? As always, I feel that they kind of went overboard with the dancing – I really don’t need to see anyone writhing around on the floor, thanks – this is particularly in Minzy’s case, I don’t know if maybe the dancing doesn’t seem sexualized to her but it comes across that way in a lot of other people’s minds and I can’t help feeling that she’s just way too young to be doing that kind of thing. Leave that kind of thing to Hyori, Minzy!

Now this right here is the G-Dragon I am used to – totally fierce and cool and in control. It was nice seeing GD not looking so nervous and unsure of himself. I think he did a great job – this was a very good performance. I love the choreo for his song which is a rarity for me when it comes to YG artists, I’m not gonna lie – I love his colour scheme, I just love everything – it’s just really cool and different and innovative and even though I wasn’t all that impressed with his album when I first listened to it, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. It’s very easy on the ears. In addition to that, he won Take 7 this week so good for him. You deserve it, GD – you did well!

Well, I don’t really feel like talking about the other performers but I’ll give Miss Baek JiYoung a shout-out just because I loooooove her song – this would totally be my jam if I lived in Korea and went to clubs – and her performances are always very good – she has such a nice voice~ Also I like to watch them and laugh at how young Taecyeon looks next to her. XD

And in related news, my favourite female duo, Davichi is performing again! Yay! Cheer, you guys, cheer – this is fantastic! Here’s their latest Music Bank performance – they’re only performing their OST song for ‘My Fair Lady’ or ‘Take Care of the Young Lady’ as MySoju is calling it since they already have a Korean series with the same title but I don’t really care because those girls are performing again and that makes me very happy.

Credit: alllllllight (or something to that effect)

The performance was good – they sound fantastic, as usual, although I think Minkyung might have had a little bit of trouble this time around. That’s okay though – they haven’t been performing this song for very long anyway. Honestly I’ve only listened to this song once and I’m not all that fond of it but you should still check out their performances because they are wonderful singers and will never disappoint you by delivering a sub-par performance. So watch it, okay? Good!

And since you’ve made it all the way down to the end of this post – I think this is the longest post I’ve written in awhile, looks like I might be getting back into the swing of blogging, hmm? – I will reward you by sharing a bonus video! It’s the audio of Luna from f(x)’s solo performance from their showcase. She sang ‘And I Am Telling You’ from Dreamgirls and don’t worry – it’s very good quality. I have to say that listening to this, I was even further impressed by this girl – she has a really nice voice and I think she did very well on this song despite the fact that her voice doesn’t have the strength of the original singer’s, I feel like she managed to make it sound really good even with her less powerful vocals. And there’s something to be said about her English pronunciation – it was a lot better than a lot of other people’s and it was nice to be able to listen to someone sing an English song without being distracted by their mis-pronunciation of key words. Really, this kid has a ton of potential and I can’t wait to see more of her.

Well, that’s all for now. Lacha, lacha – ta ta!

Maki