So! My second favourite Korean girl group are back with Supernova with a revamped version of TTL! TTL Listen 2 sees all 6 members of both T-ara and Supernova join in on the project – that’s 12 peopel in total! It could have all gone wrong, I mean, I know there are 9 SNSDies, but 12 T-aranovas?! Well, I think it works! The song is a trancey, edgier version of TTL and although you can tell they are connected, I think they’re different enough to not sound too similar… if that makes sense? The MV is… biiiiiiig. Not in the sense of set pieces and the like, but whaaaaaaaa, there’s so many cuts in it… it’s very jumpy, which is a bit sad because maybe it’d’ve been nice to see the dance routine a bit more. However, the makeovers are pretty cool, reminds me of Kylie Minogue. I have to say though… T-ara gets outshined by Supernova. Granted, they’re making their comeback so maybe they’re trying extra hard but their moves seem tighter than T-ara’s. Also, am a little sad Soyeon not in it as much but I guess TTL was just all about her so that’s alright. One last thing, little kudos for little Boram who is a little more noticeable in this MV than others. I really don’t understand the point of her… But check out the MV!
BoA – BUMP BUMP! (feat VERBAL (m-flo))
5 OctIf you read my blog (who am I kidding, no one read this thing!) then you know I’m quite a bit fan of BoA! I’ve liked her for almost 6 years (I think?) and she is definitely one of my favourite artists. She seems to winding down her American promotions and is returning to Japan! I think she makes her best music in Japan, not to knock Korea, China or the USA, but I just prefer it. I don’t know why, maybe avex is just a very smart record label. Anyways, BUMP BUMP! is her new single and it kind of reminds me of… Do The Motion mixed with Eien and a little bit of Sweet Impact thrown in for good measure. It also reminds me a bit of Beyonce’s Crazy in Love and Amerie’s 1 Thing with the trumpet hook (I wonder if it was produced by the same person)… I really like it! Hope it does well!
T-ara & Taegoon – TTL @ Music Bank
28 Sep^_^ Yes, that’s another T-ara post in one day… what can I say? I’m not sure if T-ara will be around this time next year so I’m going to enjoy them as much as possible whilst they still get to perform on music shows. This time, instead of Supernova joining them (or should that be T-ara joining Supernova?), they performed with Taegoon. He’s pretty cool and dances really well, although I think I prefer Supernova. Regardless, I love So-yeon’s vocals, she’s an amazing singer! I guess you can tell she was meant to be part of SNSD? Very happy she joined!
T-ara – Lies & Break Away @ Chocolate
28 SepYay ^_^ I get to post a load of T-ara related videos because they’re awesome and have been working really hard lately! I guess they’re in full swing of promotional activities to promote TTL, and to promote T-ara as a bad as a whole. Check out their live of Lies at Chocolate. I think you’ll agree that they’re much more professional now and give a much cleaner performance!
As a special treat to me, I mean fans, they also performed a version of Break Away. I really love this performance! You can totally hear how well they can sing! XD I’m sorry if I seem a bit giddy, I’ve not slept at really should after work ^^;
4MINUTE – Muzik @ Inkigayo
28 SepI don’t really like 4MINUTE, partly because of the same reason why I don’t like 2NE1 that much, they’re just a bit a too ‘loud’ for me. They have a very hard sound if you ask me. However, I do like Muzik a bit (although some bits of the song I don’t really like) and they did just win their first Mutizen from Inkigayo! So, I will give them kudos and congratulate them :)
G-Dragon – Breathe @ Inkigayo
28 SepI don’t like Breathe as much as Heartbreaker but still, really amazing performance on Inkigayo!
T-ara – Good Person Live
28 SepNow, if you have read this blog before then you’ll know that I actually quite like T-ara. And by quite like I mean actually really <3! They've been building their fanbase with their songs Lies and TTL, but I still really love their first single, Good Person, which was from the soundtrack to Cinderella Man. It's nice to see the girls are still aware of the band before T-ara version 2.0.
alan – 久遠の河
25 SepSo… if you’re interested in Chinese/Asian cinema, like me, you will no doubt have heard about the epic Chi Bi (or Red Cliff). It’s a 2 part, 4 hour long film based on the period of Chinese history known as the Three Kingdoms. It features some of China’s finest actors and actresses and is meant to be really epic. I guess it’s a bit like Gladiator or something. I love Chinese history, not just because I’m half-Chinese but it’s so amazingly interesting and had so many amazing wonders. A lot of the time the Eurocentric West fails to respect Chinese and Asian historic legacies, and instead treats them as mere curiousities of the Orient.
alan is a Chinese/Tibetan singer who focuses mainly on the J-pop scene. I’ve heard of her before, most likely because he name sounds so silly being a male English name, but I’ve never actually heard her sing before. When I found out she sang the theme songs for Chi Bi I just had to listen! I was pleasantly surprised. You can tell their theme songs, but still really good! Also, her single ranked number 3 on the Oricon Weekly chart, the highest place ever for a Chinese singer in Japan. I think this is great news and shows that Asian countries are starting to become more open and accepting.
Girls’ Generation – Tell Me Your Wish (Genie) @ Asia Song Contest 2009
25 SepThe highlight for me from the Asia Song Contest is SNSD! Whew~! Aside from T-ara, they are my favourite K-pop group. I know, Wonder Girls started it all but even back in the day, I always preferred Girls’ Generation compared to Tell Me or Hot. And then comparing Gee to Nobody, well, SNSD wins hands down! So I was excited to see their performance and they really do give a great performance. I don’t know what else to say, they perform so professionally now that it’s really hard to criticise them.
2NE1 – I Don’t Care @ Asia Song Contest 2009
25 SepFor those that don’t know, the Asia Song Contest is a musical extravaganza. It’s very different from the Eurovision Song Contest (in which artists representing a country compete against each other to win; it’s either really prestigious and a great honour to win, or very shameful and not really that serious). Anyways, a Korean company set up a similar kind of show, but instead of competing, artists from different Asian countries perform together to promote Asian music. It’s pretty cool, but at the same time not so cool. Obviously it’s Korean-centric because it was founded in Korea, but I would like to see some more other Asian stars. I mean, fair enough Chris Lee is huge in China, but nowhere really else. And Gackt isn’t as popular as other Japanese stars. Regardless, it’s pretty cool :) Check out 2NE1’s performance of I Don’t Care. They also won an award for best newcomer.
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