I will be making tonight’s blog very short. It is NEW
YEARS EVE and this boy is going out like the song say’s. I leave you with Girls Generation’s “The Boys” English version.
Stay safe everyone.
A group that is
no stranger to the Kpop music charts is “Sistar”. Their name is a combination
of “sister and star”. This 4 member group made their debut in June of 2010 with
“Push Push”. Sistar 씨스타consists
of (from left to right) Kim (Dasom다솜) who is
the maknae of the group. Next we have Yoon (Bora보라) followed by Kang JiHyun(Soyou소유) and
lastly the leader Kim HyoJung (Hyolyn 효린).
I would like to talk about their kpop song
called “So Cool” 너무멋져요.
The song speaks about a girl who has been treated badly by her boyfriend. How he
does what he pleases. When she finally realizes that the world is half men and there
is no other girl like her, she wipes her eyes. She now knows she would rather
be a glamorous single instead of being part of a miserable pair. That being “hot”
is one thing but being “cool” is better. The music is upbeat fast pace and very
danceable.
The
sets in the video are of a small performance stage and their dressing room.
Simple, but they work. Because it’s not the sets that anyone will be looking
at, it’s the ladies. The dance routines also are very basic as choreography goes.
Again, I think it’s the ladies with their skin tight short dresses that are the focal
point. When all is said and done, this
song will get stuck in your head.Along
with the music there will definitely be the visuals. You can see this one and other great videos on my Youtube channel.
Girls Generation소녀시대has recently released a song/video called
“Dancing Queen” 댄스퀸 which is from their up and coming album “I
got a Boy”. The production of this song/video was done in 2008.SM Entertainment has had the courage and
confidence in these 9 artists to keep it in their back pocket so to speak. Yesasia now has the new release.
The opening scene
reminds me of their video “OH” where they are each doing their own activities.
Then they come together to view a time machine Yoona 윤아 has pulled from a package.
It then turns to a scene that is reminiscent of an American Drive-in from the
50s & 60s. Complete with old time Juke-box and Yuri 유리 on skates as the waitresses from that
time. They added a piece of modern times with a brief appearance of a DJ.
The dance starts
with the ladies in a Praying Mantis stance with swivel hip moves to accompany a
very addicting dance beat.We have the
girl’s standard line and V formations with more hip action. They even throw
in a “Saturday Night Fever” move and also introduced a new slow fist movement called "the cat dance" that
may become the song’s signature move. You can then add a touch of aegyo from
each of them and it’s a wrap!
The song itself
speaks of a young girl’s encounter with a dancer on stage and how it changed
her destiny to become that “Dancing Queen”. How she admired her sexy lines and
moves. How she could trust her body to feel the rhythm of the music. The vocals
themselves which starts with Taeyeon 태연 have
a bluesy sound that compliments the addicting beat. As always, each lady does a
solo bit along with the great harmonies their known for. This song has quickly
moved to the top of my list.I’m sure
you’ll find yourself moving your hips to the beat!!
In this blog I
want to talk about 2NE1. They are the group that brought me to K-Pop with their
song “Don’t stop the music”. They had their debut in May of 2009 with the
song/video named “Fire”. This powerhouse 4 member group has been going strong
ever since.The leader in a group is
most times the eldest but not in this case.Lee Chaerin(CL 씨엘) is the
leader followed by Park (Bom봄) then Park Sandara(Dara다라) and the maknae Gong Minji(Minzy민지).
They have produced an album every year since
their debut, and have a large repertoire of songs and videos to their credit. They
even had their own television series and are now trying to break into the American
music scene.
The newest digital release is a ballad type
song called “I Love You” 당신을사랑합니다. There are combinations of soft and slow or fast and
powerful that for the most part works well. I would have liked a softer ending
but I’m not the artists performing it. It talks about a new love and the
uncertainty of giving your heart away. The frightening thoughts of trusting
they won’t destroy it. There are the games of absence or the ones that can cause
jealousy that bring doubt and pain.
There is a variety of settings and dress that
are very conservative by 2NE1 standards and lean more towards elegance than any
other of their works. There is only a few seconds of dance in the video itself
but a complicated dance routine accompanies the song for live performances. Another
one for my top 20. The “Blackjacks” out there can only hope there is more to
come in the near future.You can see a acoustic version here or different videos of theirs on my Youtube channel.
This time I would like to talk about an old favorite. I’m
speaking of Kara카라. There are five members, starting with the
leader Park
(Gyuri) 규리 followed
by Han
(Seungyeon)승연 , Goo
(Hara) 하라 , Jung Yong Joo ( Nicole니콜) and last but not least is the maknaeKang (Jiyoung)지영.
Their new song/video release is called “Orion”
from the album “Electric Boy”. It is uncharacteristic of their previous works.
It has beautiful set designs. The main set looks like an old brick walled factory that
was painted white and converted into a home with Victorian furnishings. It
is very elegant. Even the lady’s
attire is not typical Kara. The ladies look stunning in the conservative feminine
dresses and sweaters for most of the video. There are also some nice bright
gowns in a few of the scenes, keeping with the purity of white in the
background.
The song itself is a beautiful
ballad. It talks about a love that is separated by time and distance. How
little things like a phone conversation, no matter how muffled or even being
cut off can ease the pain of not being together. How we keep abreast of the
others life in whatever way we can. The one thing I didn’t understand is where
she says she cannot tell him of her love for him. Is it culture or a forbidden
love? I think this one will rank amongst my top 20.