Review series | My selection - The powerful Korean female RnB vocalists

Part I-b) The powerful female vocalists: BONI | Ailee

I noticed that there are more Korean soul male singers than soul female singers. I wonder why. Or maybe I haven't searched enough. I have a theory: soul music requires sensuality, "exposure" (sort of) of your feelings, as well as mastering one's voice to be tough and powerful on demand. Young Korean women aren't supposed to do that according to society's expectations. The soft, cute, neutral, high pitch voice is what they tend to have massively. They do show sensuality with their bodies but not with their voices.

BONI 보니

Very clear voice, nice rythm and skilled. She's young and her music is old school RnB! I prefer her over Ailee because of her music.

BONI 보니

Korean RnB needs more women with powerful voices like her. Women can be strong in their vocals, but they can be sensual vocally and even sexual. Time will tell. BONI could work on her emotions when she sings, she has the potential for something more than strong vocals.
***

Ailee

Ailee 에일리

Her voice is very RnB, but can be pop as well, she is between somehow. her ease when she sings is remarkable, she's skilled. Like BONI, she needs tp work on using her emotions to move people when she sings.

Honestly, Ailee has a quasi "old-fashioned" Korean sound to me...like her voice is very modern and young, but her music is not fresh enough for my taste, aside from her songle "Heaven", the rest sounds non fresh. Besides, her songs just don't do it to me, unfortunately, it's too pop :(  Great vocalist though!!

***

Honorable mention:

Insooni 인순이

She has such a rich and deep voice. I love her low register. This woman is in her early 50s. Yes. She can SING, dance and captivate an audience. The way she sings is old school, of course, but she has this serene energy that makes her look cool even today. She's too pop sadly, her music is not really RnB.

***
BMK 비엠케이 (here's her wikipedia page)

Don't look at her weight, she's beautiful! Her voice is rich and deep like Insooni's but they sound different. BMK has her own touch and feeling in it. Like Insooni, her music is too pop balladish for my taste, and for this blog post as well. But I had no choice...I have to include them, no woman can outsing them with such power in Korea.

BMK 비엠케이

This is a track from her new mini album.

Kpop and the addition of Western elements

Hello, another article on kpop. It's a fascinating and addictive topic, right? lol

I'm not here to talk about cultural appropriation. I won't talk about race either.

My post is about incorporating Western elements that are not from pop music in kpop. The way they do it, how they benefit from it, and how they manage to have some credibility.

Let's start with the recent buzz with the brand new girlband WASSUP who was announced to "bring twerking to kpop".

Oh-kay...

So, twerking is clearly from hip hop, the Caribbean and Africa...which have nothing to do with massively mainstream pop music. Why not putting this girlgroup in the hip hop or dancehall category? Have you seen Katy Perry twerk? Even Beyoncé doesn't really twerk, she basically shakes her booty and hips but that's it. She's too classy for that ish.
So, this Korean music label is using these dance moves from non pop music to make a buzz in Korea and promote their new kpop girlband. Desperate strategy, that's low. Will Koreans really like it?? Doesn't seem like it. They don't seem to have a concept for this twerking thing, the teaser vids look ratchet or plain, low budget. It's just a copy/paste thing.
Are the girls good at it? One is decent, the others suck.
Why make a buzz about it if your girls can't do it right?? Because some white girl (Miley Cyrus) made it acceptable to twerk awkwardly so Koreans want to do it too (they actually showed her video in their first promotional "interview").

Same thing for hip hop clothes, swag and cliches. Why CL from 2NE1 had to do that, with gangsta-looking dudes in the background à la G-dragon (in One of A Kind)? CL is an idol rapper, which means POP rapper, which means she's from a pop girlband. Really she wants to claim her queen's crown as the baddest female? Isn't this pretentious hip hop-wannabe idol shit right here? Like, she ain't hip hop and she ain't that good but she claims she's the shit in that genre? IT WORKS. Hype is so manipulated. Do you see Yoon Mi Rae wearing these clothes and having an old school hip hop MV, acting all that and repeating how bad she is? Nope but she would have every right to do so. YMR did say a few times (in tracks she was featured) that she's the "illest in town" and that the crown is hers but she actually IS the shit and a hip hop rapper. She doesn't need all that bling bling, cliches and try-hard attitude to look credible.

Another example of pop with hint of hip hop is SNSD's "I Got A Boy". These girls represent kpop and cutesyness. Why oh why would they try (yes, "try") to shake their bottoms and wear hip hop clothes? For hype. Just like when Korean singers cast white models in their MVs, it's for edginess and hype. SNSD sucked at that hip hop thing. Why make a fool of yourself?? Because Korean fans wouldn't know that they suck anyway? They brought the standard lower so fans are not going to expect much.

Korean pop music sacrifices quality for hype, and it has been doing it a lot these days. I can't take kpop fans seriously when they say stuff like "American pop is crappy so now I listen to kpop". Really? Kpop is currently as crappy as American pop. But kpop will soon fully embarass kpop fans so much that they won't say shit like that anymore. Unless they're stans.

What bothers me is the fact that they're taking undeserved hype for something unrelated to them or they didn't work their asses for (because they suck). International kpop fans will love everything they do and say how kpop is the best when it actually keeps borrowing from everywhere. Instead of focusing on themselves, they prefer borrowing what's already successful in the West. What's next? Brazilian funk? Pop rock? Jazz?

Opinion | Hallyu...I'm talking to you

Kpop's influence is limited.

Reason #1
Most of this scene is idols, who were trained, manufactuted, mold into a specific image, and heavily controlled by their company, their fans and the MOGEF. This strips these idols of most of their freedom, individuality, creativity, and independence which are essential for a brand new global recognition. Remember the American artists until the early 00s? They were THE shit. They MADE the global standard.  American pop is manufactured too, yes, it has become a crappy mess these days, but in order to deviate the center of attention from America to Korea, kpop will need to level up and bring excellence and novelty back as the standard if they want recognition nowadays.

Now why the West would love seeing hundreds of identical Asian groups doing the same basic routine with boring personalities again and again? When they can see fierce, familiar-looking decent-to-good performers who are fluent in English on TV. How can Korea think that they can give the world the next Micheal or Madonna given what I've said? (Yes, one of their dramas said so) Our media already thinks they can only give us clones of what we already have with Asian faces.



Reason #2

The music is no different from what you can hear in the West. Actually kpop is heavily inspired by it and follow Western trends instead of being avant-garde or making their own distinctive genre or evolution. In general there's a lack of music experimenting, a lack of interesting or unusual collaborations. All I hear is recycling, recycling and mixing, sometimes at the cost of music quality. Kpop is no better than American pop. Instead of promoting "uniqueness" and substance, they  both want to promote their hype and formulaic glam. Well, the only one who will win this game is the international language one, Amurrrica. Duh.

Reason #3
The biggest music labels are not ready (except JYP but he failed) to invest money, time and energy in the unknown markets such as the US by making their big music icons live abroad and expand their network and knowledge of the business there, which means giving their idols more freedom. They want to do it "palli palli". I mean that they want to do it quickly, they want fame quickly, and if they don't have it instantly they want their biggest musicians back at home quickly so they won't lose too much money, they just don't take their time to expand and make the necessary efforts and steps (and sacrifices) for what they want. Paying Quincy to do a funding for them and promote them isn't what I'd call a risk and a real investment. It's like  "let's try with this guy, it might work out later somehow".

Reason #4
Hallyu pushes itself on us instead of making us want to like it and have it come to us (no I'm not talking about international kpop fans obviously). Why would we need something we have no interest in? Even those like me who are fed up with current mainstream American pop, why would we turn to the same music but in a language we don't understand and have no interest in? That's a fail especially considering all what I said above. The more popular kpop gets among their niche international fans, the more crappy and low quality their music gets. So why would Americans turn to kpop if they find the same thing? They also don't take racism against Asians AND against other ethnic groups abroad into consideration in their quest of fame. Focusing on the US where racism against Asians is blatant in Hollywood and music business. Korean media  holds ignorant or racist views against non Koreans as well. The latter can backfire their quest of fame, and the former will just block them from being successful there. Bad strategy for expansion.

In conclusion: Hallyu, just be yourself (focus on your own growth) and grow some balls if you're going to keep saying how global you are. You want the world's attention? Then, bring something "refreshing" by challenging things to gain respect. You either get attention by being respected first, mocked or hated first. Your choice.
However, I see that kpop is basically trying to buy American media's attention by paying some TV studios to host their acts, they even sollicited Quincy Jones to promote kpop globally. The Korean businessmen are handling Hallyu like a simple business thing but it's really more complicated than that...they'll soon find out.

Part II - Korean R&B male singers: the dancer kind

This is the 2nd part of my series "My selection of Korean RnB singers".

Part II - The dancer/singer kind: Bi Rain | Jay Park | Se7en

Bi Rain 비

This grown man is just...WOW. Let me explain, though I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you already know who he is. Rain is probably the first solo singer who danced that well with that swag. No, wait, JYP was, JYP trained him as well I think. Rain's vocals are not awesome and strong but he has a "suave"/sensual thing with his husky voice and sounds soulful.

Here's one of his first for you, that choreography made me go O_O back in 2006, when I found out about Korean music. Please watch it in HD.

Now he's not only a good singer and dancer, he's also an actor, he played in Korean dramas and in American movies. After going to the military for 2 years (Korean military service) he's now free and we're waiting for new material from him. Meanwhile, let's listen to his old stuff, the following video (a ballad song) shows his vocal skills.

Do you remember his feat with Omarion? Really good collaboration, Rain's vocals on the 2nd verse were refreshing and strong, and I like the beat of the song.

***

Jay Park, ex-member of idol group 2PM. After a scandal he had to leave the group, and decided to go back the US, his home, as he's Korean-American. 2 years after he goes back to Korea to pursue a successful solo career.

Jay Park (Park Jae-Beom 박재범)

He can sing, rap and dance really well..
His sound is popular, a mix of RnB, hip hop and pop. His English is perfect as it is his first language and his Korean sounds fluent to me, though I don't speak this language. He also has an acting career in Korea.
He's the youngest of the artists I'm introducing here, he's 23 or so.

Here's another MV "Joah", a nice pop track.
One more very good track, "Star" (RnB sound)

***

And...Se7en!!
I barely listened to his music I must say, but he is VERY famous in Korea, girls just love him. He's as popular as Rain and Jay Park.I like his voice, his voice is sweet and really good for pop and RnB. The more I dig into his music, the more I discover his voice. He uses his vocal range smartly. Don't be fooled by his looks, he's already 28 :)

Se7en 세븐

Here's al oldie song for you.

He also did a good RnB song with an American rapper, Lil' Kim, yup! Here's the MV:

His English is quite on point, really nice track.

I don't comment on his dancing skills because I haven't been following him but Rain is the best, Jay Park might be somewhere in the middle.

Se7en and Rain both have a Japanese career as well.

***

Honorable mention: Wheesung. I already mentionned him in my previous post but he's also a good dancer. He doesn't dance much though, it's a pity. He originally started as a dancer, but somehow (I forgot the story lol) he became a singer and songwriter.
Here's one of his popular songs "Insomnia", given by Craig David.

Review series | Korean R&B singers - My selection Part I

Let's talk about Korean RnB/soul now, I've been thinking of making a post about it, comparing the best vocalists and see what their assets and differences are, why I like some more than others.

Part I- The powerful male solo vocalists: Wheesung | Kim Bum Soo  

You know, I love RnB/soul, especially nu-soul. In Korea nu-soul isn't really a thing yet...maybe some rappers do some nu-soul music but as for singers doing this genre...nah. But I believe they'll eventually get there :)
Anyway, Korea has lots of talented Korean RnB singers, who often do pop ballads that don't often sound RnB to be more attractive on the mainstream market I guess. Still, you can find many good real RnB tracks from them, their vocals are true to the genre, on point and soulful.

Wheesung 휘성

Wheesung (pronounce Hwisung) and Kim Bum Soo are the best male solo artists in K-RnB in my opinion. Their voices are powerful, emotional and clear. They all can sing very well in falsetto, upper chest register, mid-chest register and low register. I'll try to analyze it all for you guys in this post.

They are grown men in their early 30's and have different personalities but they all are passionate people, and you can feel it in the way they sing.


Out of them my favourite is Wheesung because of his more emotional, versatile, sometimes unperfect and somewhat "weird" vocals at times. He's also the sexiest out of tthem, vocally speaking I mean. Some of his lyrics can be sensual or sexy. And he really does it right. Now enough blabla and here's 2 songs for you!

It gives you an idea of what he can do in his sexy mode ;) I also love the melody, so soul and classy. His high notes are smooth. 

Wheesung is really good with rythm too, I love how groovy he sounds in songs like "With Me" or how in control he sounds in "This Kind of Situation". Here's another song where I like his flow. Personality-wise, I kinda feel close to him as in I can relate to his sensitivity. His ballads are not boring, I feel them even if I can't speak Korean. And I'm not even a ballad person...I'm NOT but he made me love them.
On stage, he usually brings out those vocals and if you can't hear the guy then you're deaf. He sometimes goes too strongly with his voice so he doesn't sound perfect. I got used to it, he's sometimes "too much" but make no mistake, he knows how to really tone it down and gently tease our ears most of the time :p

***

Now Kim Bum Soo. Ah, Kim Bum Soo!

Kim Bum Soo 김범수

He debuted as a faceless singer, without performing his songs on stage, that's what I read on the net. I love how groomed he became and how handsome he is now. I loved his cheeky face and big glasses, I still love his not-so-kpop-ian face. OK, musically he could do (much) better, but vocally this guy is awesome!! He started singing in church, as he's a Christian, and he even recorded a few gospel-like songs with a choir and him as the lead singer..
He can hit notes with strenght and he uses melisma really well. Listen to the 2nd vid first ;)

I love the way he sings, surely, slowly building up his way to a stronger tone. Delivering it with such a smooth voice, in the studio and on stage, he's that flawless. Out of the 2 singers here, he's the best. He has worked very hard and it shows. I just wished he could ditch his freakin' current music composers and get BETTER ones for his next albums. Oh, did I forget to say that he did a gig in the US last year? :)

Here's a featuring he did with Dynamic Duo. Awesome and flawless.

***

Honorable mention: Yoo Young-Jin 유영진 , here's his wikipedia. I couldn't post this article without him...he's been in the industry for a long time and his voice is great! Too bad I didn't know him much.

I didn't include Park hyo Shin here because he's not an RnB singer as far as I know. Park Hyo Shin is probably the very best male vocalist in Korea, I know I know, but this post is about RnB and Hyo Shin usually stays in the pop ballad category. If you don't who he is, you'd better check him out!!
Don't be disappointed if I didn't mention Naul and Ha Dong Qn here because they will be in my 3rd post, in the group category.

Underappreciated women in J-Hip hop

Here are 2 videos about women doing their thing in Japanese hip hop.

Why do I care? Well, you have lots of youtube videos named "the best Korean female rappers" but none about the Japanese ones, except the 2 I posted here. Weird, right? Hm, not really. Korea's idol scene has made rapping mainstream (not hip hop, mind you). Rapping is something that Korean big labels believe give instant hype and coolness to an idol group.
Anyway, the idol scene in Japanese is different, Johnnys (all male groups) rap but rapping is not common and visible in that genre (idol j-pop) for girls. The AKB chicks don't rap... I think...LOL yes, you have some pop artists like Ya-Kyim or Bennie K who rap but there's no "I'm the baddest chick" thing associated with it. It's all light-hearted, and you can't name many groups like them in Japan.

It's a pity that as a female rapper, you only have 2 choices to survive in the long run: be a part of an idol group, which means being on the side, just there for a couple of cheesy lines that you didn't even write yourself and having your image/attitude toned down and controlled by your manager who manufactures the whole group. Or, you can be a solo act, debuting in the underground scene but after 3 albums your label want you to step up the sales games and bring in that money (and I'm not even mentioning the potential obstacles within the macho and male dominated hip hop scene) so you have 2 options: quit or give in to mainstream pop and tone down your flow. Become a people pleaser while recording a couple of decent hip hop tracks once in a while. Sad, yes, that's reality for ya.

I'm also all for diversity of the representation of Japanese female musicians. They're not all super pale, with big eyes, they're not all conventionally "cute" with high pitch voices and singing about romantic love. Nah, they are very diverse and able to surprise you in a good way whether they are rappers or rockers. I wish I were fluent in Japanese to understand the depth of hip hop lyrics from these women (in the videos here)...

I'm trying to understand why Yoon Mi Rae (the Queen of Korean hip hop) has been able to survive musically for so long.
Part of her long success is thanks to her singing skills and debut in a duo unit with a full Korean singer. YMR sings pop ballads and raps (and danced a bit too but no more now), so she gets more feats and options than others. Still, I wonder what she'll release soon...she's been releasing a single a year or so without backing them up with a proper album so yeah...probably a CD with lots of singing and a few rap songs in there, just like she did with her come back album Yoon Mi Rae in 2007 (or 2008?). While her male rapper peers all release full rap CDs, yeah with some mix of pop and electro in it I admit (so not fully hip hop). Still, they rap only, they don't really sing.
Having a kid does make you want to have some stability and good paychecks (and there's nothing wrong with that) so I understand the pop/electro sound of Yoon Mi Rae's latest songs (as well as her very slow activity to take care of her son), her flow still kicks ass and that's what matters. I understand that she might be at a turning point of her career and want to explore more as a singer or in certain genres different besides hip hop. It's legitimate and sometimes necessary to explore to go ahead and grow as an artist. Still, I think she should rap more for her next album and do featurings with singers. I'm sure she has plenty of things to rap about.

Photoshopping and male gaze

I was inspired to do this post after reading (mainly "seeing" as the male writer was speechless at the beauty of the female celebs he was praising. He praised them for having "good genes". Yes, you heard it right. Good genes. When he's talking about celebs (who often change something in their bodies) and showing us pics from fashion magazine Ceci (which are even more likely to be photoshopped for aesthetics). The said pics are below.

Edited: Beauty is not always artificial, sure, some people are more blessed than others. But I've become very skeptical about beauty in the media for the following reasons. I'm not fooled by the airbrushed creatures even if I know I don't give credit enough when it's due to the celebrity.

He was talking about Korean celebs, who are very well-known for having had plastic surgery, perhaps more than other nationalities (many Hollywood celebs are not really natural either).
So you're telling me that her face is really naturally beautiful besides having (lots of) make-up on? OK, I'll give him that I guess. He compared 2 celeb cousins who have both good genes. The thing is, they could have had the same facial surgery, like MJ's nose and her sister Janet. Let's say that they didn't.
But don't you know that every single photograph that is used on any media has been photoshopped?? Yes, every single one, even dogs are photoshopped. Let's take a look at the girl's picture: you can see a weird lower hole between her legs, probably an effort from the photoshop artist to make her look skinnier. That hole doesn't look real nor natural. How can her left leg be that straight and frontal (camera angle) when her right knee is also frontal but the leg looks reverted because of the hole...? See, her legs are even crossed so how can her legs have such a lower hole if she's not super skinny? I'm no expert, and bodies can be weird in certain positions sometimes, but I used to be very observant when I was into drawing for a decade. I drew a lot by reproducing pictures of models, celebs or members of family. I drew at home, at school.

You can also clearly see that the pic on the left where she shows off her booty has been photoshopped: her legs look pinkish and the lines are undefined because of a white brush for special effect. Why? To make her legs look longer and skinnier. Her skin doesn't look real at all. As for the booty, who knows if the photoshop artist added some plump under her booty to make it naturally big? Nobody will know. My point is to point out the fakeness and ridiculous perfection rubbed on us everyday. More on the booty below.

Now, let's talk about the huge effort in Korean stores to provide padded panties. Padded bras exist in the West and are very common here (I live in the West), but padded panties are not THAT numerous in underwear stores where I live.
Asians are not known for having big, round booties. Some do have them, there is some variety in every ethnicity, like big breasts and small breasts. But let's be real, what are the chances of Korean celebs of having such a booty and overall look "perfect" naturally? Asian or not, most celebs aren't naturally blessed with conventionally perfect looks from head to toe.
If you don't know what a padded panty looks like under clothes, here's a link for you:
http://netizenbuzz.blogspot.fr/2013/04/instiz-power-of-padding.html

To conclude, in order to look conventionally perfect on a picture you need 5 things:
1- Work out very regularly and/or be on a diet
2- A good photoshop artist
3- Plastic surgery
4- A good make-up artist (obvious...)
5- Know your best angles

Genes, good or not, have little to do with that. Period. Many people can look like a star if they have the money for it and take care of their body a lot.

T-Ara & Chris Brown in the US - A mess

So I read about T-Ara being cut off by Chris Brown in a rude way in an article on Asianjunkie, a Korean news website that I visit regularly for the fun.

T-Ara performed their own Korean songs on an American stage, a concert organized by Chris Brown. Their manager apparently did a poor job as no featuring was planned, not even a proper stage for T-Ara. I'm not sure about it all.

Anyway, what did people expect? On that website, users seem to feel sorry for the Korean group but I don't. Why would I? I mean, why do they go to the US without even a banging English song to promote? Why are they tarnishing their idol image by associating with Chris Brown? Why not choosing someone "safer" and more serious? They're not "bad girls" and their music is not really R&B (I'm not a fan or T-ara, so I can't be totally sure as I don't know their discography), so why going there?

The kpop idol world is desperate for extra attention, especially American attention. And once in a while they slightly burn their wings in their quest of international recognition. Idols already have a big fanbase in Asia, so I don't understand why they waste their time with smallish gigs in America that go nowhere. Because the Korean labels ain't ready to invest that money, time and energy on one group in a foreign market. If you can't take the heat, don't go to the kitchen, like they say. Don't do stuff half way. Idols are perfect for the Asian market, but not for the West. Their labels need to understand that and stop doing harm to their groups abroad. This is bad publicity and a waste of money.

So I don't feel sorry for T-Ara. Their label messed up. Period. Chris Brown being a dick is no surprise on top of that. Again, idols are tools and they know it themselves.

I'll also say something about Korean artists and the American media or artists. We shouldn't expect anything great. Not for now. Look at what the American media and music industry did to Psy? They made him a phenomenal comedy man, entertaining fat man instead of considering him as an artist. Now what did you expect from Chris Brown in particular? He probably just enjoyed himself with these cute Asian girls without taking them seriously. No surprise here. Asian American artists haven't even managed to get their 2 feet firmly in the mainstream music market mainly because of racism. If Asians from Asia want to be taken very seriously in the US, their Asian Americans peers need to step up and be given a chance to get big and relevant in their own country first.

K-drama - Review | She is WOW [Episodes 1-5]

Here I am doing another review for a Korean drama!

She is WOW. Huh, whatever. Korean dramas love cockiness and bling-bling. This drama is just like that, nothing new. What made it worthy of my time (kinda) was the presence of a gay lead male character. Unfortunately he's super cold and a bit of an asshole, the latter is common-place for most Korean lead men in dramas anyway. Bad point. How can the writers make the audience sympathize with gay people with such a cold character?
What do I want from him? Warm facial expressions in order to show his vulnerable, sincere side. A bold coming-out. Ditch his WOW wife. Live with his lover. Take responsibility and action in his son's life and acknowledge him publicly.

Korean dramas love ridiculing women. While Jo Ara slapped her husband before many journalists and cameras, she eventually resigned herself to keep living with her cheating gay husband AND his lover, her husband doesn't give a shit about her, if it's not about maintaining his perfect image. Jo Ara wants to keep her career from declining, so she puts her pride in the back. Bad point. She did kick out the lover later, but SHE stayed. Damn.
What I want from her? STOP messing with her husband's profesional life. Mind her own business and take action for her career in a creative and intelligent way. Tell her lover to stop his fucking melodrama right now or she'll start a shit storm. Make a public acknowledgement of the identity of her son and take responsibility for him. After getting divorced, choosing a husband smartly.

Sung-Ki, the gay orphan lover. He's acting too innocently for my taste, he's supposed to be in his 20s (at least) and have had a difficult, lonely youth. Making him act like a cute innocent guy is boring, especially when most of his lines are basically "You're all my family, the family I never could have. You're my brother, but yes I'm sorry for fucking your dad and messing with your family because hey, it's my family too and I'm grateful for everything you did for me. I'm shameless and I love you all". LOL. Bringing all the pity on him while being apologetic. Clumsy writing.
What I want from him? Man up and stop being so passive and child-like. Get the fuck out of that relationship and start being emotionally and financially independent. Find a man your age whom you can love without feeling like a poor and submissive jump-off.

The son. Spoiled, lonely, reckless brat. desperate for love and attention, he always messes around and don't take anything seriously except his own comfort: money. His personality is just not ineresting and I'm disappointed that once again writers choose not to deal with rich young men in a tactful, serious and authentic way.
What I want from him? Stop leaving in your castle and go find a job if you can't even graduate from high school at the age of 21. Get out of your parents' house and be independent. Have a discussion with your parents and tell them how you feel. Stop acting like a brat, you're already too old for that.

The female teacher can't act for shit, really, her acting sucks, her character too. She's just a pretty doll who's terminally ill, probably the first love of the spoiled brat. Yeah, too easy to make it dramatic. They could have cast a better actress at least, despite the bad writing. I have NO interest whatsoever in her or their relationship.

Instead of lying to her whole country about her fake family, Jo Ara better start having a clue about what a real family is and take steps to prevent it from getting out of control. She can't afford to get a scandal every week and manage to keep her perfect image at the same time. No, at some point you can't have your cake and eat it too. If she continues like this, she'll get into a huge scandal that she wouldn't be able to recover from, career = OVER. Kid's trust = OVER.
Why not starting to support family associations, and exposing some parts of her vulnerable side in a smart and strategic way. Write a new book about reality. Her husband is gay? Why not make it into a story of awareness and supporting each other? People will love seeing how selfless and sad her life has been, right? They won't be able to dream about perfect family anymore but they'll be able to sympathize.

I'm pretty sure that the son will end up mad in love, and that seeing his girlfriend sick he'll "change" and become mature all of a sudden. Geez. She'll survive, he'll sacrifice himself to help her find a solution and everything will magically get better. His need for love will be fulfilled so he'll man-up as a result. It's not really realisttic, a selfsih young adult like him would have ditched the girl, he was only after because she was hot, out of lust, not out of love. But whatever, this is a k-drama.

I think that it's possible for the main couple to divorce. What will provoke it? A scandal? A threat from her nosy brother? The loneliness of her husband after breaking up with his lover? Divorce is not really an option in Kdramaland though (unless the husband is the biggest asshole ever). The neighbour couple might choose th adoption option eventually or end up having a baby naturally. The show seems to be all about Jo ara though, so I guess she won't end up alone and she'll find a new lover. Snatching someone's husband is not acceptable on Korean TV (I only saw such a thing happen once). Jo Ara will probably go from actress to TV host with her own show, right, her WOW show. Lols :) Her husband (hopefully ex-husband) will give up politics and start his own radio show and get back with his lover.

For now, the only good thing about this drama is the sex scenes and sexual humour in general. The son is funny too.

Une candidate un peu différente - Lee Michelle

Certaines personnes sur le net ont dit que Lee Michelle, candidate éliminée au top 5 dans l'émission télé-crochet Kpop Star (saison 2012), pourrait changer la kpop.

Je ne suis pas d'accord, pour plusieurs raisons.

Avant de m'expliquer, j'aimerais d'abord dire que c'était ma candidate favorite. Elle était simplement un peu différente, même si elle n'est pas extra-ordinaire.
Les voix des autres candidats sont agréables à écouter pour la plupart, certes, mais elles sonnent toutes aseptisées (à l'exception de Lee Ha Yi), bien propres et mignonnes. Michelle a une voix soul, je vous conseille d'écouter son interprétation de "Chain of Fools" et "Work It Out", c'est du lourd comparé aux autres filles. Sa voix soul est grave, assez mûre et bien posée, ce qui est important pour chanter une chanson soul/funky sensuelle. Et ça me plaît, c'est mon élément, mes goûts musicaux (entre autres). On demande parfois à ces filles de chanter des chansons sensuelles dans cette émission mais aucune n'a la maturité (ce sont des ados!) ni la voix qui va avec. Michelle a la voix, quant à la maturité, j'en sais rien, sa voix fait le travail en tous cas.

Alors j'ai une bien meilleure question. Michelle a très récemment quitté YGE (volontairement ou non) puis a signé avec DIMA. Peut-elle amener sa touche bien à elle en se distingant des centaines d'idols et chanteuses à grandes voix?

J'hésite. Tout dépendra de:

- sa capacité à puiser au fond d'elle-même afin d'utiliser ses émotions. J'ai cette impression que pas mal de jeunes artistes (je ne compte pas les aînés comme Park Hyo Shin, Kim Yu Na (Jaurim), Wheesung, Na Eul, etc) chantent avec leur tête, pas avec leurs émotions. Ailee a délivré une très belle performance sur la chanson Halo. C'était joli mais je n'ai pas senti qu'elle sortait ses tripes, bien qu'elle a sûrement dû vibrer avec la chanson par moments. Voilà, c'est dit, Michelle a pour moi le potentiel d'une grande chanteuse, ce qui ne veut pas dire qu'elle le sera ni qu'elle en sera réellement capable. Je ne la connais pas assez pour trancher ainsi. Il y a pas mal de monde dans la musique coréenne moderne qui sait chanter mais très peu émeuvent vraiment le public sur scène.

- sa capacité à devenir une bonne entertainer, bonne présence et énergie scénique, et peut-être savoir danser. Ah-ha! Intéressant, hein? Elle a encore du chemin à faire même si elle sait se donner à fond vocalement. Quand je regarde des vidéos de Insooni qui a la cinquantaine (ou soixantaine? me rappelle plus)...c'est cool! Même si c'est pas Beyoncé en danse. Savoir faire le show...sans être un groupe de 10 idols, pas facile! Je mets la barre haute, je sais, je pense quand même qu'elle pourra très bien s'en sortir sans se déhancher sur scène, si elle vise un public indie.


- le style musical et la qualité de sa musique dans le futur. Pour reprendre l'exemple d'Ailee: Ailee chante très bien mais n'a rien apporté à la chanson, elle n'a aucune originalité. Pareil pour Michelle. Si on mettait Michelle dans l'émission American idol elle ne serait qu'une autre chanteuse RnB/soul comme tant d'autres, et pas forcément parmi les meilleures.
Donc Michelle a tout intérêt à se différencier au lieu de se fondre dans la masse car elle n'y arrivera jamais complètement: elle est ronde et métisse (à moitié noire) dans un monde coréen où plus tes jambes sont fines et longues, plus ta peau est pale et plus tu es mignonne, plus tu es populaire. Michelle peut se différencier par son timbre de voix, ce qui est déjà le cas, mais aussi par un univers musical. Je crois que la pop coréenne est souvent très répétitive et pas mal de coréens saturent d'ailleurs et se dirigent vers la musique indie.

Michelle a peut-être une belle voix soul mais si on lui file des ballades fadasses ou peu compatibles avec sa personnalité ou son style vocal, ça ne fera que l'enfoncer encore plus dans l'ombre. Michelle devra s'investir un minimum dans sa musique aussi. Par l'écriture des textes par exemple, mais surtout en se créant un style à elle. Avec la voix qu'elle a, elle peut s'attaquer à du rock, à de la funk, du reggae, de la house/electro, bien au-delà du RnB/soul. Sa couleur de peau ne doit pas la limiter. Elle a tout ce qu'il faut, il faut juste qu'elle mélange un peu les styles ou du moins qu'elle élargisse son répertoire et propose au public coréen autre chose que de la kpop, et autre chose que du RnB. Elle pourrait ainsi se faire un public "niche" et/ou indie, sans se soucier du grand public qui ne jure que par la kpop.

Quant à son choix de perdre du poids ou non. Elle ne rentre pas dans le style aegyo-sexy, va-t-elle s'y conformer un jour? Inutile de changer, regardez BMK, Big Mama ou BIC: ils sont soit en surpoids soit en décalage avec la norme de beauté jeune actuelle, et pas mal de gens les aiment et les respectent, ils ne sont pourtant pas hyper populaires et alors? Pour quelqu'un qui a souffert, je ne souhaite pas la voir se transformer en midinette sexy, oh que non, mais plutôt en jeune femme mûre et qui assume sa féminité, tout en restant simple. Au fond, j'aimerais qu'elle reste comme elle est. Elle pourra en faire un atout, une chanteuse proche des gens et sûre d'elle.

Insooni et T ont réussi à se faire un nom. Insooni est une soul (pop) diva, YMR (ou T) est la reine du hip hop en Corée. Mais les 2 ont percé dans la musique quand le RnB et le hip hop étaient juste en train d'émerger en Corée, si mes souvenirs sont bons. Aussi, à l'époque d'Insooni, il n'y avait pas une centaine d'idols en tant que concurrence, les critères étaient différents car les ados étaient beaucoup moins visés par l'industrie musicale, une industrie beaucoup moins sexualisée à l'époque. Quant à YMR, elle fait partie du hip hop, un milieu assez underground donc la concurrence est moins rude et où le talent fait loi ou presque, mais a réussi à se faire connaître du grand public grâce à ses ballades pop bien coréennes et son duo avec une coréenne. Elle n'a pas démarré seule, Insooni non plus. Alors comment faire quand on est à moitié noire, qu'on a 21 ans et qu'on vit en 2013 en Corée? C'était le but de mon post aujourd'hui, se distinguer, la pop coréenne s'est beaucoup améliorée avec le temps, de nombreux chanteurs ont du talent, mais il faut voir au-delà de ce genre et avoir une vision "fresh". Tout dépendra de ce que Michelle nous proposera et de l'investissement de sa maison de disque en termes de promotion. Il semblerait "naturel" qu'elle se dirige vers le monde hip hop et RnB, mais là elle risquerait de s'enfermer dans un genre de moins en moins populaire (à l'état pur, du moins), notamment car il n'a pas été renouvelé ni été réapproprié en Corée du Sud (le K-RnB est pareil que le RnB américain des années 90 et 2000).

Il est clair que Michelle ne changera pas la kpop, je n'en vois pas l'intérêt d'ailleurs, la kpop est ce qu'elle est et évoluera en son temps. Mais Michelle, si elle est très déterminée et investie dans l'élaboration de sa musique, pourra se faire sa place dans la scène musicale coréenne qui ne se résume pas à la kpop. Elle ne sera peut-être pas une "showwoman", mais elle se fera un nom et inspirera le respect, j'espère du moins.

Some popular youtubers

OK, so I'm talking about some short webseries/webTV on youtube. The popular ones of course, not all of them since I don't dig this thing but I've seen a few of them so far.

First, I'd like to say that is a nice alternative to TV, those initiatives are encouraging in themselves.
Usually they keep it light hearted and fun. Depending on the ethnic group, it can sound sappy or street crowd friendly.

There's one annoying one (to me), he basically always starts his vlogs with the same high pitch loud voice. He often gives advice in a comedic way, though he does it with a WTF message that can get judgemental sometimes. I just can't get into his videos. His topics are always safe and "easy" anyway, he's not really taking any risk by expressing himself on them and is not bringing something new on the table. I must give him props for rocking his comedian persona that well, I think it's that persona that makes him that popular on youtube (millions of views on average) as well as his occasional "cussing" and American "inner-city" language. It's cool to show that you're confident with yourself in order to deliver your message more efficiently, right.
But I just can't with him, yelling at us, speaking as fast as a rapper, repeating the same formula again and again, making fun of people...nah. I tried to get used to him, believe me lol, I've watched more than 15 videos of him (and he has over 100 vids) but...nah. it's not because of his appearance, I consider myself open-minded about it and I'm glad he's doing his thing no matter what people might think of him. But I'm tired of his fat jokes about himself, I never found them funny to begin with. I mean, OK, I understand why you feel the need to make fun of youself sometimes as you're often doing it with other people, but at least do it on other aspects of your personality...not just "that flaw". It's good to have self-awareness and show that you embrace your so-called "flaw" before calling out people on their shit but hey, c'mon, be smart about it, ya know.

Now, next youtuber. It feels like an ethnic community vlog, they make videos of stories, one-shots or short series with a certain ethnic group being mainly represented, and I'm all for that, as an ethnic minority myself, I support that, TV ain't doing shit for us anyway. So I'm not criticizing that at all. My point is the sappiness and clean/teenage-friendly vibe and scenarios...like it's something you'd totally see on Disney channel. I'm a woman in my mid 20s, and I'm not very interested in seeing overly mainstream stuff on youtube, I can do it on TV. Their videos are boring and cutesy, that's it. I only started to watch them because the cast wasn't mainly white, which is refreshing. I understand that all kinds of people watch their videos, from 10 year-olds to people who aren't a part of the same ethnic group as them to people who are very judgemental or conservative. However, you can never please everyone, and it's true because I'm not pleased lol They target mainstream viewers, and their goal is to make entertaining, light-hearted and cute videos in order to endear people and keep a large viewer base. The more views, the more they'll get paid via videos' ads. Basically, tell people what they want, what they already know is good and don't make them uncomfortable by any means. Be safe all the time. I can't with that. There's no diversity in their topics, it's all about cute, young love with cute girls and boys, with once in a while some cute awkward fiction. Now, I'm not expecting them to have an incredible production, awesome scenarios or impressing acting, nope! Nope at all, I know it's a web series and vlog thing, and I take it for what it is. I'm wondering what is the point besides giving your own people a voice via amateur entertainment. The point as in...what do you want to say? What is different with you?
I know, I know, yall going to say: "if you're not satisfied with it, then create your own". I won't. Because I don't have what it takes to do it. I ain't gonna start something if I can't do it right. But as a blogger, I don't see why I can't say my opinion on some things. If some people consider me as a hater, so be it.

So yeah, in conclusion these videos are popular for a reason, and I'm OK with looking for different content from other youtubers out there. I know a handful of insightful youtubers and I happily subcribed to them.

I could say a little more but my post is already long. Disclaimer: I was not talking about random, personal vlogs!! I was only talking about those with a production that is film-oriented or standup-oriented. Anyone can upload a vlog about their life or opinion about whatever they like or hate, but I'm not talking about that here.