SNSD rocketed to victory on K-Chart’s Mid-Year special show. They performed a special stage featuring their hit song, Oh! I’m a big fan of SoShi, but I think Oh! has been their weakest single. Anyway, the girls are ever the professionals and deliver a pretty amazing stage. The win was marred by controversy though when SNSD’s leader, Taeyeon, complained about the show. Apparently her rehearsal was effected by technical glitches but the producers did not allow her to rehearse again. But check out the live stage below! Congratulations to the girls, they really deserver it ^_^
Archive | June, 2010
Soyeon (T-ara) – What Should We Finish? Live on Inkigayo
27 JunOh Soyeon, how I love thee. My favourite member of T-ara continues to perform her solo OST for the much anticipated horror sequeal, Death Bell 2. Soyeon is definitely my favourite member of T-ara and also my favourite Korean singer. She has had such an interesting journey in the K-pop entertainment industry. From ex-SNSD trainee to T-ara lead vocalist and now to solo singer. Soyeon has always been my favourite from T-ara and ever since their debut, I’ve followed their career with feverent fanaticism. I think it’s being British, and that we like an underdog who works hard to achieve. T-ara had to struggle a long time to achieve popularity. And now Soyeon is hopefully getting recognition for her amazing vocal skills and talent. She has an amazing voice and I’m glad she’s getting to perform on live stages by herself. Not that I dislike the other members of T-ara, Eunjung and Hyomin are my other favourites, but Soyeon is <3
Soyeon (T-ara) – What Should We Finish? (Death Bell 2 OST) Live on M! Countdown
24 JunMy favourite T-ara member, and thus, favourite Korean singer, Soyeon performed on M! Countdown solo! I didn’t even know she was releasing a song solo! She’s not technically because it is part of the OST for Death Bell 2 but who knows! It’s the lead single which is great for Soyeon! When T-ara hit it big with TTL and TTL (Listen 2), she was the lead vocalist. But when they released their debut album and the re-release I was very disappointed because Soyeon didn’t have such a big role in the songs. Obviously all members of a band have to sing but I thought it was disappointing because Soyeon has such an amazing voice.
Thus! I am thrilled that she is having a song all to her own and people can see just how talented she is. I think some people don’t like her because she quit SNSD, because she seems very mature at times and serious (compared to Eunjung who is very plafyul) but Soyeon is awesome! I definitely think she is one of the best singers in K-pop at the moment. Soyeon hwaiting~!
Jolin Tsai – Immediate Effect (蔡依林 – 即時生效) Lyrics and Audio
21 JunJiayou! Jolin is back! It seems like ages since Jolin has give us new music (it’s been about a year so not too long). I listened to her last album a lot whilst writing my dissertation for my final year at university. Listening to it whilst working hard in the library. I tend to listen to songs on repeat if I really like them which means certain songs are intrinsically linked to certain periods of my life and hearing that song again will always remind me of that time (Jolin from dissertation writing, Vanesssa Carlton whilst cycling in Germany during one summer and so on).
She returns with an unusual first single. Jolin is called the Taiwanese Britney Spears and if you watched Wu Niang or Agent J you can easily see why she has this monicker. However, she’s released a summery, melodic slice of C-pop, that wouldn’t be out of place on a drive to the beach. I’m so excited for the new album and the PV! I’m imagining a dance number with bright colours and the sun involved!
Check out the lyrics below, I’ll try to translate them and write them in pinyin so you can sing along soon!
Credit for Chinese character lyrics goes to: here.
蔡依林 – 即時生效
揭曉 應該是愛情在半路拋錨
所以丘比特遲到
還好 我們在兜過了許多彎角
走進了同一座城堡
你說如果早遇到多好
多幾分幾秒你都要
我說那就加倍對我好
你點著頭給我肯定的微笑
愛情即使生效下一秒
是否就算冰山一角很難找
你是帶我停靠的目標
就算天涯海角
誓言即時生效對我好
沿途偶爾遇到風暴讓我靠
記得要把我的手抓牢
答應我不輕易放掉
alan – 風に向かう花 (Kaze ni Mukau Hana ~ Flower in the Wind) PV
21 JunI have a lot of respect for alan. She seems like a really smart, intelligent artist – much moreso than a lot of singers at the moment (Asian or otherwise). I’m always really impressed when a singer is multilingual. In this respect, alan reminds me a lot of Sa Ding Ding (heralded as the Chinese Bjork). She’s Tibetan, but can sing in numerous languages and has a soaring, beautiful voice (her technique reflective of traditional Tibetan singing). It’s inspiring to think of alan and Sa Ding Ding growing up in Tibet, all the culture, tradition and the scenery.
I’m not a die-hard alan fan, I think her songs can be often very dramatic and deep and not necessarily the best thing to listen to on the journey into work. I really liked the songs she did for Red cliff (both the Chinese and Japanese songs) and see this is a bit of return to form for her. Let’s hope she’s successful for this release – it’s also very encouraging to see a Chinese star do well in Japan.
Koda Kumi – Lollipop PV
20 JunKoda Kumi is back with a new song. I’ve never been a huge fan of Koda Kumi (I much prefer her ballads to her dance songs. But she always knows how to perform for the limelight. She’s a great performer but I think some of her style choices might not always agree with an audience. Oh well, you can’t be liked by everyone.
Check out the Lollipop PV here:
2PM – I Will Give You My Life MV
11 JunThe 2PM boys have just released a new MV! And this one is a little different. It’s made up of behind the scenes footage of the band and scenes from their stage performances. I’m in two minds about this video because I never really like videos like this. They’re not original or new or different, and they seem terribly lazy to me. But it’s nice to see them in a more natural environment than their well rehearsed performances ^_^
Eurovision 2010 – Top 3 Performances
1 JunSo, Eurovision has come and gone in a flash – if you’re from the UK you’d be easily forgiven for not realising it was on over the weekend. Normally the annual event is lauded in the tabloids but recent years have seen its popularity diminish amongst the Big Four – at least the UK, for quite some time, has stopped caring. The UK has become one of the poorest performing nations. If we weren’t protected then we wouldn’t make it through the semi-finals with most of the drivel we send, Saturday’s offering case in point. However, let’s not be cruel to the competition.
I genuinely love it and can’t remember the last time I missed a contest. I just find it disparaging how not only does the UK not take it seriously, but also mocks it jealously with secret hopes of winning again. The UK, like the other Big Four nations (Germany, France and Spain also gurantee participation as being the biggest benefactors – without which the competition could not run) have been writen off the past decade. As the EU’s borders expanded, the Big Four’s hopes of winning shrunk. This all changed on Saturday.
Germany became the first Big Four nation to win the competition in more than a decade. Winning with a 76 margin, this is the second highest margin since last year’s winner (Norway won by a huge amount). Lena sang Satelitte with the influence of Kate Nash and Lily Allen being undeniable. It does however mark a slight trend in Eurovision: Lordi, Alexander Ryban and Lena all winning with songs not fitting into the Eurovision stereotype.
I really liked this song, it’s so catchy and cute and Lena is awkwardly endearing. Definitely my favourite song for this year! My other favourites include Iceland’s Hera Bjork with a bit of Eurovision diva disco and Tom Dice for Belgium with an acoustic guitar track – all very different songs. I guess that shows you how much Eurovision has come along.
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