[May 4, 2012] KBS Music Bank Highlights + Commentary

As I said yesterday, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I've come to a half-conclusion that I should just keep writing through whatever it is I'm going through right now. And, if I feel like writing, I should. So, here we are! Honestly, today's show had quite a nice line-up, and the right mix of new and old.

(I'll add in the 4Minute video once I find one :D)

EXO-K - "MAMA"
The high notes are still painful, but their vocals are starting to take shape and develop attitudes. The same goes with their performance as a whole -- they're showing the beginnings of a group dynamic, as well as a sense of effortlessness. This is the point where I say I'll keep my eye on them, and hope they get a better second single.


B.A.P. - "POWER"
Apart from that hilarious gif of them with rice bowls for heads, I never really took notice of these guys, but honestly, I get what I was missing. I'm not a big fan of the song, and their over-all direction in general, but I actually enjoyed the performance. The guys who sing, can sing, and most of all, they look like they genuinely enjoy the stage. Even if it's a very rugged song and performance, they move with grace and just the right amount of confidence.


Supernova - "Stupid Love"
Like I said before, I hate the song, and I hate it even more for Supernova, and it doesn't help their cause that they sound horrible singing it. Obviously, I'd take their Japanese material over this, every single time.


U-Kiss - "DORADORA"
Everything about this bores me to death. There's very little dynamics, and the chorus is basically them whispering "DORADORADORADORA", so the song itself is extremely boring, U-Kiss vocals generally need to be carried by the song, so when you have something like this obviously they're going to sound flat, and this performance wasn't exactly jaw-dropping either.


SNSD (Taeyeon, Tiffany, Seohyun) - "Twinkle"
Taeyeon sounds amazing, she really does -- this song, flaws aside, was made for her. Still side-eyeing Tiffany and whoever made the decision for her to sing like a 3 year-old for half the song, and honestly, Seohyun lacks power in her voice, something this song badly needs. Her voice is smooth and she sings the line down to the last note, but her high notes are off at times and incredibly weak -- they lack attitude. Although, today's performance was much better than yesterday's, which is always a good thing.


Shinhwa - "Venus"
I don't know if I just missed it last week or something, but Hyesung's out of his chair and back dancing! A few cracks here and there, which kind of brought the performance down in terms of the Shinhwa side, but the atmosphere was something else. Shinhwa may be next to irrelevant with the international fandom, and new fans who haven't bothered, but watching these music shows and hearing how much louder and wilder their fan chants are, over the likes of SNSD, just goes to show how much they matter. Of course, I got the obligatory goosebumps from the combination of the song, the performance, and the wild, screaming fans. That's one of the main reasons why I don't believe in MR removed videos -- performances were meant to be heard as a whole, and taken as such. *joins the wild screaming fangirls*


SISTAR - "Alone"(WINNER)
Since I assume Hyorin's not sick anymore, she sounds like her normal self, but other than that, there's been little progress since I last did a recap, and Hyorin being sick doesn't really count as a basis either. Everything's still as cheesy and ungraceful as it was, outfits included. Which is why I'm extremely surprised that they're actually winning left and right.


5 comments:

  1. I think you should start keeping an eye for B.A.P. Although I understand that you're not into Hip-hop, they're pretty good though for rookies. Really good stage presence and vocal and dance performance. Their mini-albums are pretty cohesive as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Have to say, while the song is clearly intended for Taeyeon, and doesn't suit Seohyun as well . . . I wince whenever Taeyeon belts because she's straining and sounds so different than she used to.

    Debut-era Taeyeon could give me chills every time she sang, but it just isn't there anymore.

    Why no Ivy?

    ReplyDelete
  3. No December??? You should listen to their new song "She's gone" it's very good!

    Taeyeon is nothing to write home about tbh, Seohyun is bland and Tiffany needs to stop. They can sing okay (although not great... Seohyun is actually the best but they sound better because all the artists are using a prerecorded live backtrack, there are loads of articles about it in korean news outlets because of the kbs strike) but this song is too big for them and it really is flat as a performance song to be sung live.

    You really don't give enough credit to Soyu who is a great singer btw... just listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCnnbc8zjcc

    4minute's dance was far more sexualized than sistar's and I say this as someone who is much more inclined to like 4minute's song.

    Shinhwa... actually although they are big, they were never HUGE. They were never on sechskies, H.O.T. or g.o.d. level of popularity lol. I know because I am korean and nowadays they are VERY respected and admired but fame wise they are not at the same level with the public, they just have some fangirls.

    You are doing a good job and your insight is interesting though :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. ^
    LOL, you give credit to Soyu while you discredit the SNSD girls? Ridiculous. What a hater. Just so blatant that it doesn't make sense.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i never really like u-kiss and i don't like this song, but i thought their performance is pretty strong, the vocalists are all great, and the new members impressed me so much. i hope they can get better recognition this year. last year 0330 is awesome imo.

    ReplyDelete

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