[May 8, 2010] MBC Music Core - Highlights + Commentary

I didn't get to do a recap of Music Core last week because I did my recap of KBS Music Bank this time last week. But I'm doing it now so here it is. Music Core is MBC's counterpart to Music Bank and Inkigayo, and it's emcee-d by SNSD's Tiffany and Yuri - ooooohhh. LOL. Read on for highlights of today's episode.

Today's commentary will mainly revolve around one thing - the crap sound system and how the engineer of today's show should be fired along with the engineer for SBS Inkigayo and the cameraman for KBS Music Bank. Burning them in hell and torturing them is optional, but recommended. Other than that, you'll have to read the recap!

Credit for all the videos goes to the brilliant UnknownCarrot220@YT - just as brilliant as CodeMonMon. Performances are in no particular order.

ZE:A - All Day Long

Apart from the still-bad group dynamics and the horrid hair+wardrobe, ZE:A were pretty OK today. The vocals were good, the performance as a whole was tight. When they first debuted I thought they were a lost cause - their material sucked, they didn't have any group dynamics and their vocals weren't at their best - but look at them now, it's a lot better than what they were back when they debuted. They managed to fix the bad material thing, and although the song's still generic, it's decent - if they can fix that within the span of one single, then they might still have potential. We'll see.

Secret - Magic

I still don't like the song, but Secret are slowly growing into performers - they have the ability, they just need the practice. There's a word for that in Filipino and I like how it sounds - "bihasa" (pronounced "Beeh-ha-sah"). It means "practiced" or "able", and I think it perfectly describes what they're slowly but surely approaching. They just need better material and more time - they might even grow into good songwriters if they're exposed to enough music.

B2ST - Special

I'm liking B2ST now. Not A LOT, but I don't hate them so that's a good sign. Their vocals are getting stronger, their performances tight, and they really look like they're selling the song. I'll be interested to see them face-off with MBLAQ again once they come back - it'll be fun to see how these 2 bands have grown. And it's got nothing to do with the performance today, but I saw their stint on last Thursday's mnet Countdown and you gotta hand it to them for TRYING harmonies. They weren't exactly the best, but the simple fact that they tried has got even a small part of respect from me. If they ever pursue the harmonies and actually manage to do them well, I might fall in love. For now though, this is all we have to work with. It's OK.

f(x) - NU ABO

I. Hate. This. Song. Seriously. I've tried, I really have, but I can't stand it. Once again, songs like these aren't really meant for singing which really pisses me off. Although I've got to admit, their performance as a whole today was a lot better than yesterday. And Luna, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT - the middle-8 and the adlib at the end were pulled-off a lot better, and her vocals were great today. A few problems with the mic, which didn't happen in MuBank yesterday, but other than that as a performance this was OK.

After School - Bang!

I think I know one of the reasons why After School's vocals have gotten better - it's because UEE isn't there. Right. Moving on now. Their performances are getting better and better - the vocals, the stage presence, everything is just falling into place more than it was before. The 2 girls singing the "duet" lines are getting a lot better too - stronger vocals today and they were singing all the right notes which is good. They still can't pull off the middle 8, but pulling off the verses is a good start. Yayyyy.

SNSD - Run Devil Run

What do you get when you mix SNSD's far from amazing vocals with a crap sound system and horrid mics? A disastrous last performance of RDR. *sigh* The girls aren't the best singers in the world to start with, then their mics failed on them - it's like the only one who had a decent mic was Seohyun! Does the engineer over at MBC like her or something? ooooohhh. Even if the performance as a whole was really ruined by the crap mics, they we're OK. I wish they would've ended promotions with decent vocals though. Oh well.

2PM - Without U

Surprisingly, some of their vocals are getting better - like a lot of acts they're warming up to performing. They're still not the best thing since anything, but there are some of them who are iff-y. HOLD ON. Did Wooyoung just mime that middle 8? It sure sounded like he did. Uh-oh, I take back what I said if he did - dammit. You know I hate miming. Oh well.

Hyori - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Here we go again - Hyori, please stop trying to go all GaGa on us, it's not working. OK maybe it is for everyone else, but it isn't for me. The sound was still crap, Hyori's vocals weren't exactly in top form today, and on top of that what the crap was everyone wearing? It was distracting. The GaGa-esque get-up isn't working for me, I'm afraid. Try again, Hyori.

Rain - Love Song

Rain was nothing special today - the crap sound made his vocals sound hoarse and there was no special whatever. The performance was standard Rain, but standard Rain is damn good. That's basically it.

Gummy - There Is No Love + Because Of You + As a Man

If all idol singers had live vocals at Gummy's level, the world would be a much better place. But they don't so it isn't, and Gummy is one of a kind. Which is fine with me because it just goes to show exactly why YG didn't dump into an idol group. I'm not saying that ALL idol groups suck, but you get my point right? Right. She doesn't need theatrics to carry a performance even if she does have backup dancers - her voice is her performance and that's the way it should be for everyone. Gorgeous voice, brilliant performance - I can die happy now.

5 comments:

  1. hey!~ just wanted to say that it was interesting reading your review. =] and um i wanted to tell you that the reason why wooyoung has been miming since their come back is because he has vocal cord nodule... i think it's called? so he has to rest his voice so he lipsynchs instead. =S or something like that. *shrugs* not a fan of the song though.

    and yes i have to say that i hate Nu ABO too. and run devil run... i never saw the fuss about the song *shrug*

    i loved beast though. XD but thats because i have a huge bias and i love that they all look like they are enjoying what they are doing... XD sorry for the essay hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  2. i really like your reviews and i think MOST of the time they are spot on! afterschool is so awesome, they need to win some of the awards!! and p.s Wooyoung had to mime becuz he had nodule problems so i think you can forgive him =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. wow... how could you tell from the video that Wooyoung was lip-syncing?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love Gummy the most! She really has a lot of talent. I also was happy that Kim Hyun Joong was in her music video. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  5. chicChick - Thanks. :) OK, I've taken note of that, thanks too. hahah. It wasn't an essay - was pretty short!

    Anonymous1 - Aww. Thanks too. They do, don't they? Priceless.

    Anonymous2 - His vocals sounded too clean for a live performance, too controlled and exactly like the recorded version. Miming.

    Diana - Yessssss. She does.

    ReplyDelete

Want to share any of your thoughts on the above post? Drop a comment here! I read all comments and reply occasionally, especially if you have specific questions for me. :D

Note that comments are moderated. Spam, self-advertising (K-Pop-related and otherwise) and overly vulgar submissions will NOT be accepted. If you want me to promote/endorse/follow/link to your site, please e-mail me at popreviewsnow@gmail.com instead.

 

Recent Tweets

Like Pop Reviews Now on Facebook!

Statistics (Since May 2009)

Music - Top Blogs Philippines Follow on Bloglovin

Blog Archive

You're reading an award-winning blog

The K-Pop Writers' Workshop


A workshop for writers of critical pieces on Korean entertainment -- formal reviews, expository essays/Op-eds, and personal essays/Creative Non-Fiction.
Learn from the best in K-Ent writing