OMEGA X

 

 

 A new 11 member South Korean group from Spire Entertainment that will be debuting June 30th is OMEGA X with their track "VAMOS" from the mini album of the same name. All of the members are from survival shows and disbanded groups ((ENOi, 1THE9, Seven O'Clock, Spectrum). 

MEMBERS:

Hangyeom

 

Jaehan

 

Hwichan

 

Sebin

 

Taedong

 

Xen

 

Jehyun

 

Kevin

 

Junghoon

 

Hyuk

 

Yechan

Here is the trailer for their debut.

2PM Comeback

 

2PM is a South Korean boy band that debuted in 2008 with "10 Out of 10", which was followed in 2009 with their super hit "Again & Again". Since, the group has put out a total of 6 full-length albums: 01:59PM in 2009, Hands Up in 2011, Grown in 2013, Go Crazy! in 2014, No. 5 in 2015, and Gentleman's Game in 2016. Their new project, MUST, will be revealed tomorrow, June 28th.

The trailer for "The Hottest Origin" can be seen here.

June birthdays in K-pop

Let's celebrate this month by enjoying some music by artist who were born this month!

June 3

Taeha of Momoland (1998)

June 4

Yoochun of JYJ & TVXQ (1986), AJ of UKISS (1991), Yeoreum of HelloVenus (1996)

 

June 5

Chaeryeong of ITZY (2001)

June 6

Hyunjoong of SS501 (1986), Dongwoon of B2ST (1991),

Hyuna of 4Minute (1992)

 

Haechan of NCT (2000)

June 8

JR of NU'EST (1995)

 

June 9

James of Royal Pirates (1988)

 

June 10

Jun of Seventeen (1996)

June 12

Kwangyeon of LedApple (1993)

 

June 14

Taeil of NCT (1994), Tzuyu of TWICE (1999)

June 15

Buffy of Madtown (1995)

 

June 16

CNU of B14A (1991)

June 18

Gummy of Crayon Pop (1988), Shownu of MonstaX (1992),

H.O of Madtown (1995), Nako of IZ*ONE (2001)

June 21

Ryeowook of Super Junior (1987)

 

June 22

Yonghwa of CNBlue (1989)

June 24

Nichkhun of 2PM (1988)

 

June 25

Dain of WA$$UP (1990)

June 26

Sujin of WA$$UP (1996)

June 27

Sohee of Wonder Girls (1992), Seo Young of Hello Venus (1994)

 

June 29 

Dongho of UKISS (1992)

INCREDIBLE (Part Deux)

Melon Premiere LIVE SHOWCASE XIA INCREDIBLE was aired.

It is great to see Junsu's performances to be aired live for all to see. There were almost 20,000 viewers via Leon's YouTube channel alone. The stage lights up as Tallentellegra is the opening song.

That performance was followed by a photo slideshow with behind the scenes of the new album concept's photoshoot and of the 11am music video.

A live performance of 11am followed. Such a beautiful song... starting out in acapella joined by the piano. The performance of the song is very emotional and moving.

Junsu took a break to speak to the audience about the fun and exciting concept for his new album. It has been about a year since his last one. He mentioned that people were watching from overseas and showed how thankful he was by saying thank you in various languages, from Chinese to German.

The audience seemed on the edge of their seat as he talked about the kissing scene in the music video for 'Incredible'. Haha. He said that if was just business and he only pretended to kiss. The video was filmed as a party concept with American dancers.

Next was the performance of Sorry... or Apology (as it is listed in the iTunes tracklisting).

The music video for Incredible was played followed by a live performance of the song. Junsu wore the fun red suit jacket from the video. It looks like he is having so much fun performing for everyone. The fans joined him in singing the 'Ohhhhhhhh...' part of the song while waving their hands in the air.

The showcase was 30 minutes long... which was actually quite shorter than I had expected, but understandable. This was the debut performance for his new album and you want to keep everything fresh and exciting during promotions for it. The live showcase was not disappointing.

If you would like to see the replay of the showcase, it will be made available both on melon.com and Leon's YouTube channel. I will post the replay once it is made available. ^^

How many people reading this watched the showcase? Feel free to comment on it and also on the mv and fun concept for his new album!!!

Just Give Me A Reason

I know, I know... I been gone for way to long. For that, I am sorry (to those of you who actually read my blogs, lol).

I plan to bring you a way overdue update on things kpop related soon, but for now I would like to indulge  you with this...

Two totally different covers of P!nks Just Give Me A Reason. Such an awesome song. Here are covers done by LED Apple:

and by LUNAFLY:

CLICK HERE

(Sorry the video won't embed for some reason :/ )

 These are two great kpop groups who are actually bands. Here is a little background on LED Apple's Music Note project. The group is doing 50 episodes through their youtube channel of covers of popular music as not only a way to showcase their talents, but 'the profits that are made from the advertisements that appear when playing Music Note are donated to the international organization that protect Children's Rights, "Save The Children".' Its a great cause, so please take the time to check out (and share) other of their Music Note episodes through their channel.

Don't forget to check out the other videos by LUNAFLY too (I especially love their cover of.

Under the COVERs

One of the awesome things about Youtube (other than flash mob versions of dances and such) is the great covers of already amazing songs that are out there. Yes, there is good and bad... but there are some really great ones out there... I recently came across Chad Future.



He has done some English remix versions of some of my favorite k-pop songs. Not only are his covers good, but the videos for them are as well. It isn't just some person with a webcam, plinking on a piano and voice cracking out a tune. These are worth checking out. I am going to provide the originals to songs followed by the cover for it by Chad Future. But before I do that, here is what I have discovered about him.



Chad Future, whose real name is David Lehre from Detroit, trained in rapping and music production for 10 years. He has already had success as an award winning Director, even directed music videos for some of the biggest stars of Asia, plus has done work with Jason Derulo and other various groups/organizations. Chad Future seems to be quite creative, blending Korean and English for his own music... the first AK-Pop (American K-pop) artist... bring the style of k-pop, both of music and video, in his own way to the US.


I hope that you enjoy his work. Check out the videos below.

One Shot by B.A.P

One Shot Remix/Cover by Chad Future

Bounce by JJ Project

Bounce Remix/Cover by Chad Future

Crayon by G-Dragon (of Big Bang)

 Crayon Remix/Cover by Chad Future

Check out his other videos on his YouTube channel... Including his own music!

The K-ROW

When most people think of K-pop, they probably wouldn't think of 'Mine' by Kim Jaejoong of JYJ. The song has more of a J-Rock feel to it... not to mention the music video is quite dark. It reminded me of the move 'The Crow", which by the way I LOVED!!! I am really diggin' this MV. Everything from beginning to the end is absolutely amazing. This is from Jaejoong's first solo album.

I can't help but wonder if this video represents JYJ's freedom from their previously ongoing battle with SM Entertainment after cancelling their contract way back when. It seems as if he is breaking free from the past and being born again with a dark side. I must say, a sexy vampiresque one at that. :P

I seriously can't write anymore about this one, because, well... I just can't. I have a strong... and I mean strong
fondness for the members of JYJ. So just watch the video now, will ya!!!

“Mine”

[English Translation]
You are terrible
It’s like you are diseased
Poison that runs wild in the screams
Poison that I am already used to

Why does it scream so loudly (okay)
I will wake up from the dream why is it so futile?
Don’t come here This is my ocean
I am too busy fighting things that I could not have imagined
It is my ocean This is ocean
Don’t try to block the sun that shines on me

Sweet…

Sweet pleasure is so sweet
that it devours me up in whole

Why does it make so much noise (okay)
I will say it out loud so it resonates
Don’t come here this is my ocean
I am afraid that this place will be tainted as well
It is my ocean This is my ocean
Don’t try to block the sun that shines on me

Don’t…

This is my ocean
Don’t try to block the sun that shines on me

After Over A Month-long Hiatus...

With the holidays and all the happenings at the end of the year, I haven't been able to keep up with my blog. Good news is, I'm back and ready to catch up on all the various things that have happened in the K-pop world. Believe me, there is a lot for me to fill you in on, if you haven't discovered it yourself already.

To start this off, YG Entertainment has released that G-Dragon, of Big Bang, will be having a solo world tour this year. OMG! If it is anything like the Big Bang Alive Tour, I would die to go!!! I watched one of the full concert videos and wanted to make it to one of their US stops sooooo freakin' bad, its ridiculous! Haha. Now GD is going on tour. There are only select places listed for the tour with future cities for the tour to be announced.

B.A.P is preparing for another comeback. I'm not complaining one bit. After a rivalry between the fans of B.A.P and EXO for the award for Rookie of the Year, um... well... EXO fans, B.A.P has come out with how many mini albums in one year alone?? And EXO? One right? Well two if you count both the Korean and Mandarin versions, but that is cheating. LOL. I don't want to get on anyone's bad side, but I love B.A.P. They have shown their diversity in their music... the only thing I have to say is.... I WANT A FULL ALBUM!!!! Please B.A.P, hear your fans' plea! If not a full album soon, at least a special collector edition of the mini albums combined as a full album with, maybe, a special track or something.

I know that isn't much catching up, but I will post again soon. Thanks to everyone who has checked out my blog recently and to those who have stuck with me through my hiatus. :P

Annyeong!

ANOTHER PETITION?! *RANT*

NEWS HEADLINE:  IU AND EUNHYUK PICTURE SCANDAL (early November)

THE DISH: IU accidentally post a photo of her and Eunhyuk to her Twitter account and takes it back down withing two minutes.

The photo was reportedly of the two sitting on her sofa during the summer during a visit while IU was sick.

ISSUE AT HAND: So called ELFs (fans of Super Junior) are petitioning to have Eunhyuk removed from Super Junior or sent into the military to serve his term. Others have created a petition against his removal from the group/military enlistment.

I don't know why people who claim to be fans of the group do things like this. If you were truly a fan, you would support them all, as a whole and individually, with their decisions that they make publicly and privately... Regardless of what happened with the scandal, these guys are still human and have lives of their own. They should still be entitled to do what they want. Who cares what 'scandals' crawl out of the woodwork. Just because rumors come out and news spreads as scandals, doesn't always mean the truth will come out too about what goes on. People overreact! Let them have a life too.

Just because there is a petition doesn't mean it will do anything! They tried the same thing with SHINee over Jonghyun/Taemin Internet War concert performance. Get over it. Let them entertain and enjoy their music, performances, etc.

Just my opinion ^_^

FYI: For those who aren't aware of the Jonghyun/Taemin indecent, the two got really close as part of what is called 'fan service'. Plus the song is basically about polluting the minds of people (including children) through internet.

The crowd seemed to enjoy it from the reaction heard on the fan cams... but there are those certain 'fans' that went ballistic and basically started to go on a rampage... they had a vendetta against them to kick them out of the group... WTF?! PPL?!?! Seriously?! Anytime someone famous does something that you don't like you are basically going to try to ruin their career and life?! How about someone lock you up on a padded room with no contact with the outside world for the rest of yours, if that is that way you are going to be about things?!

And people complain about this and that without concern for others and their feelings or how it can effect someone and their life... I wish those people would take a moment to see how things would be if the shoe was on the other foot.

Petition all you want, but it is just gonna make you and the others one that silly little list any better of people... all it is going to do is prove how much of a fan you really WEREN'T in the end.

2012 MAMAs

Ok, so after quite a hiatus from blogging I am back. The holiday time is such a busy time for me, so please accept my apology for the lack thereof.

I got up before the crack of dawn so I could watch the live broadcast online of the MAMAs (MNet Asian Music Awards) for those who don't know, it is like the VMA or MTV music awards of Asia. The biggest award event of the year for these artist.

Four and a half hours later, here I am. For anyone who is interested in watching they are replaying the awards now... wish I would have known that... I would have watched the replay and gotten more sleep haha. Here is the link to watch the 2012MAMA performances. Not only will you see some great K-pop performances, but also performances by Adam Lambert and B.o.B.

Indeed I was one to vote this year. I am pleased with the results. Some of which include:
Best Solo Dance Performand: PSY, Gangnam Style
Best Female Group: SISTAR
Beat Male Group: BIG BANG
Best Collaboration Performance: Trouble Maker
MNet PD's Choice: B.A.P (YESSIR!!) As much as I would have liked to see them win more I am happy they received an award)
Best Dance Performance Male Group: SHINee (YAYYYYYY!!!!!!)
Best Dance Performance Female Group: f(X)
International Favorite Artist: PSY
Best Music Video: PSY, Gangnam Style
New Asian Artist: EXO (I really wanted B.A.P to win this one... but I like EXO too)
Style in Music: Gain
Guardian Angel Worldwide Performer: BIG BANG!!!!!
Best Rap Performance: Epik High
Best Male Artist: G-Dragon (of BIG BANG) Get ya Crayon!!!!
Best Line Award: SUPER JUNIOR!!!!!!!!!!!! <3
Best Global Female Group: KARA
Best Global Male Group: SUPER JUNIOR!!!!!!! (OH YEAH!!!!!)

And the grand prizes:
Artist of the Year: BIG BANG (!!!!!!!!!!!! just wish I coulda seen them in concert earlier this month TT.TT)
Album of the Year: SUPER JUNIOR, Sexy, Free & Single (YESSSSSS!!!!!!)
Song of the Year: PSY, Gangnam Style (Op, op, op, oppan Gangnam style!!!!)

I would have loved to see TVXQ win an award and for SHINee to win another... and Block B!!!

As always BIG BANG had a FANTASTIC performance. I have to say one of the best performances for the event.

So much is going on and there is so much that I have missed updating on... I hope to get a recap written ASAP!

Caption Challenge?! *Update*

Has anyone else seen this yet? I woke up today to surf the net before starting the day and THIS is what I see... WTF! Yeah, its Tosh, so I shouldn't be surprised, but I must say that it seems a lot of fans are pretty pissed off... Fans of B.A.P that is.

Needless to say, there is racist banter back and forth in the comments of the blog and fans voicing their disgust over peoples comments (and Tosh in general, but what's new there?), among other responses.

I have seen enough of Tosh.0 to know that no matter what they do, they push the limits. Sexist, racist, rapist... regardless the topic, he is going to make a joke out of it. That is one of the harsh realities of the comedy world.

In all honesty, I don't approve of the use of this image for his caption challenge because I am a big kpop fan myself, but that doesn't change anything. Its already done and the ethnic bickering has begun. I would rather people who don't know who they are to not find out about them in this way.

But hey, it coulda been worse.

Like other fans of the group, I hope that if B.A.P sees this that they will take it lightly and know it is a joke.

If you want to read the growing list of comments to the blog, here is the link.

Curious what B.A.P's manager thinks about this... hmmm...


***UPDATE***

So I checked Tosh's site today and the blog has been removed... hmmm, what happened there I wonder.
The manager must not have been too happy.

SAYING GOODBYE

 
October 30th is a special day that ELFs and Angels have been dreading and anticipating alike. Super Junior's leader, Leeteuk, will begin his enlistment into the army as a serviceman on active duty.

Many were curious about his haircut after he tweeted about shaving his head. Below are a few images from his last photoshoot before enlistment.

Leeteuk will be greatly missed during his time of service.

**UPDATED** some final pics before leaving were released

The Block is Coming

 Block B  has released quite a few teasers now for their upcoming album. Here is the MV teaser for NILLILI MAMBO. Their album will be released OCT. 17. Sooo close!!! ^^

Many other releases are on the horizon this month, Hyuna of 4minute will release her mini album, 'Ice Cream' on the 22nd. On the 23rd B.A.P will be releasing a new single. Epik High will be dropping a new album soon too.

To commemorate the groups 7th anniversary, a photobook of Super Junior titled ‘Super Junior Boys in City Season 4. Paris’ will go on sale November 6th. Omo!!!! It is supposed to be full of photos taken during their SS4 concert in France that took place in April of this year.

NU'EST released a MV for their song Sandy.

I also want to present Wonder Boyz! Recently debuted with their mini album, 'Open the Door'.

So many great comebacks and debuts. I can't wait to see what the last few months has in store for us fans of Kpop.

I will leave you with this amusing MV from Epik High... although it isn't new, I wanted to share it. Made me laugh.

Annyeong ^^

KCON '12

So you don't know what KCON is? Would you believe me if I told you it was the first ever convention for ALL THINGS HALLYU. And... for K-pop fans that was the place to be on October 13th in Irvine California! Looks like I will be making plans to try to go to KCON '13 in the future. Hehe.

Get Well Wishes (Update)

 Original Post (10/12/12)
Kiss Me's were shocked to hear that the youngest member of U-KISS has been taken to the emergency room for testing and treatment. Dongho was said to have been experiencing chest pains. He has been found to have inflammation of the lining of the lungs and chest, known as pleurisy. This condition causes chest pain when breathing or coughing.

His fellow members, including Kevin, have expressed their well wishes and prayer request for Dongho via Twitter.

Shocking Situation

Move over Psy, the bird is on the loose. This Australian born socially awkward KPop solo artist, by the name of Crazyno is entertaining and knows how to.. not be serious.

Haters Gonna Hate

Eli from U-KISS spoke out against 'haters' via twitter:

Alright, now who was dissing him or U-Kiss on Twitter? Eli is right. The only people the 'haters' are hurting are the people they like. We all have a difference in opinion and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What IS wrong is how you go about expressing it.

On the upside, Kiss Me's everywhere should be happy to know that Eli seems to keep up with his mentions on Twitter and try to respond. ^^ Its a beautiful thing, technology can be, uniting us with our idols. Haha.

Enlistment and Combacks and Psy, OH MY!

... In my Dorothy (lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!) voice... you know... from the Wizard of OZ....
NM

It has been announced that Jungmo, the guitarist from TRAX, will be enlisting for mandatory military service at the end of the month, but he will be going into public service due to health issues. The band will be on hiatus until Jungmo and Jay both complete their service, but I will be looking forward to their return.

 And the nominees for MTV EMA 2012 Best Asia Act are... *drum roll* ... Super Junior and Han Geng. Well they are two of the nominees. I have to mention Han Geng since he was a part of Super Junior. He is doing great with his solo career and I must give him props for that. Super Junior has come a long way throughout the years. Their recent performances have been amazing. Many people missed seeing Siwon during a lot of performances as they promoted Sexy, Free & Single, but how about SPY?! I think the choreo and the concept suited them very well. Yes my favorite parts have to be when Kyuhyun pulls his collar up to hide his face and then Ryeowook uncovers his when they trade places near the beginning and the end, when Sungmin 'shoots' the audience/camera. Haha. It shows that SJ works very hard and are devoted to ELF, their fans. I seriously hope they win! I mean, they weren't selected as ambassadors for Gangnam district for nothing. ^^

S(topgirlinthenameoflove)EPTEMBER

I am excited that U-KISS released thier 7th mini-album. Stop Girl, on 9/20. I absolutely love the song and the choreography in the MV. In this album they have an English version of the song as well as the instrumental. As much as I enjoy knowing the translations of lyrics to k-pop songs, the English version lacks something. The Korean version flows so much better with the music, especially the raps. Maybe its just me.

 B.A.P. has had such powerful performances previously with thier songs Warrior and POWER. They came back strong with NO MERCY and I have enjoyed watching B.A.P perform their song CRASH. It is such a fun song. I absolutely love it. You can tell that they have so much fun performing it too. They have been changing up their performance and keep it interesting. Zelo!!! What are you doing?! 1 thousand years of death... poking Jongup's butt... hahaha... silly maknae!

Welcome to the Hallyu Wave

To those who don't already know what the Hallyu Wave is, let me fill you in. The term 'Hallyu Wave' or 'Korean Wave' refers to the significant increase in the popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture starting in the 1990s, in Asia, and more recently in other parts of the world. As one put it, it represents a surge in the international visibility of Korean culture.

To put this more simply, 'Oppan Gangnam style'! Yes, this is a k-pop song. Part of the viral goodness of the Hallyu Wave. The popularity of Psy's song has spread faster than wildfire. Being a dedicated k-pop fan who keeps up with debuts and comebacks, new
singles and albums (and mini albums), I had already heard Gangnam Style at least a month before the MV went viral and Americans got Psy fever. Hello?! Psy has other great songs too. Do any of you realize the stress that this man must be going through knowing that he has his work cut out for him to be able to top the success of Gangnam Style? At any rate, I don't think Psy would disappoint. After all, he topped 'Right Now' with the now viral hit... wait? You mean to tell me that you haven't heard of 'Right Now' ok, well here ya go:

Now wasn't that worth watching too. :P

There are so many great artist (referred to in the k-pop realm as idols) and groups in k-pop. Some more well known than others. It is a growing genre, one that is spreading in popularity. Many k-poppers (fans of k-pop) have been voicing their concerns for the spread of the genre into the western world fearing that k-pop will lose its originality and fall into the black hole of 'American pop' music. C'mon, you can't tell me that you haven't heard some of today's rap artists or even some Alt. or rock groups releasing some sort of POP song.... American pop is practically a black hole sucking up every other genre in its path and spitting out the leftovers into a pile of it-all-sounds-the-same-anymore ditties that cause earaches within a week of being aired on the radio.

I will soon be posting on news in k-pop from September as a catch up, since I am just starting this blog. I may even make a year to date post. So please stay tuned.