Not just another boy band

【Spoiler alert】

If Psy tells you something is cruel and harsh, you better believe it. That's exactly what YG's WIN was. A survival program for two trainee teams. One winner, one debut. That's the worst and promised scenario, however I don't believe YG could not debut the other team as well. He wants the money and he wants the glory, and hell sure he'll achieve those things having such talented trainees.

I didn't follow the show, to be honest. I tried, but the first episode was so awkward and already heartbreaking I only watched the show after I had heard the results. I still managed to get my heart broken several times. It was exhausting just to watch the boys compose songs and practice dances in such little time, pulling allnighters after allnighters. It was fun too, though. All the trainees were so lovely and full-heartedly in it, they all had their dream and they put up fantastic performances.

To me, Team A appalled more. Let's say my heart is a bit less broken now that they won than it would had been if they had lost. Despite the hardships Team A had in the beginning, the amount of talent in this group is huge. They all have their own strong character already, their dance is strong, their rap, their vocals, their visuals are strong. And I think they have more artistic sense and are more versatile compared to Team B. Seungyoon is a pure genius. Seunghoon really gets the dancing part. Jinwoo is a cute little sweetheart. Minho's rap really captivates me. I could stare at Taehyun for years. They're a great and ready group.
Smile Again was a song I could imagine winning all-kills on music shows, I simply loved it. This team really deserved what they got. You could tell this was something they longed for a long time and they obviously put a hell of an amount of effort in becoming what they were in the end of the show.

I'm not saying Team B was no good. They were amazing. I can't believe their average age was  only 17. So amazing and so talented, my sweeties.
Even so, I feel it's better they didn't win. I feel like partly because of their young age the company propably wouldn't had given them so much freedom or chances to release their selfcomposed songs. They're also concentrating on only hiphop, which, yes, is YG's style and very trendy, but being capable of many styles is useful. Throughout the whole show their performances were good, but I felt like they weren't completely owning them, with the expection of Climax in the final, that was something.
In couple of years or so, Team B will be able to fully control the potential inside them and they'll be capable of great things. YG, I am ready to judge you so hard.

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I loved both teams. I loved seeing them being such great friends over being rivals only. OT11, indeed. But in the end, in the final battle, you could easily tell which team had progressed more. Team B had performed strongly every time and did good this time as well. Team A looked like fucking superstars on that stage.

Now I'll just hope that Team B doesn't have to disband and that eventually they'll get to debut together as well. I hope Team A gets to release Smile Again and that the company will let the boys do more of their own songs. I'm very much looking forward to the debut and everything that follows. If YG's decision is not to change their name, I want to be called a trophy.

I need more gender mixed groups

"I don't know if such a thing exists. I lived in Japan for 9 years and Japanese boys and girls are positively phobic of each other. The last group I remember having both male and female members was "Strawberry Flower". That was one guy and one girl who were married, but that was nearly 10 years ago. I've followed J-pop a little since then and I haven't heard of another one."

Oh Asians. That's just about everything I've got to say. Mixed groups could be such a success, but no, it's a taboo after all to have both girls and boys in an idol group. There sure are collaborations, which by the way, are often ridiculously popular. People love watching a company's family concerts, seeing all their favourites, both male and female, on the stage at the same time. And what about all those variety shows with kissing games and dramas filled with sexual tension?

Asians + sexuality is still such an unclear subject to me. It's so weird they can have music videos with people in tiny panties shaking their booties to the camera and so on, you know what I'm talking about. As a western person it's almost impossible for me to understand how all the fanservice is okay and dating a person you love is forbidden. Even if I try, I'll never understand dating "scandals". If the fear of these scandals is the reason for gender mixed groups not to exist, shouldn't you just ban all the possibilities of interaction between genders?

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From Korea, I have only one example of mixed groups to give you. Co-ed school. Oh, why would anyone ever debut a perfect group like this and then after one minialbum, separate them?

From Japan, I present you the only Asian mixed idol group I know still exists today: AAA (Triple A). I'm so glad they exist. Such a lovely group.

I really hope I haven't been searching well enough and that there actually would be more groups like this. Please, share your information if you have some! ♥

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In another news, Trouble Maker is coming back! I must have not been the only one who expected only one single from the subunit, so I'm happy. Any kinds of mixed groups and I'll be happy!
Also, maybe a bit offtopic: Chrome Entertainment, Crayon Pop's agency, plan on debuting a 5-member boy group in November! They also spoke of a possible collaboration. I love Crayon Pop and I'm really looking forward to this Snakehead debuting. Yeah, that's their name! I think it's quite cool.

Cute girls can do it

Opinion alert.

"Idols don't need to learn dancing or singing."
- Sashihara Rino, AKB48. Please read before reading this.

"An idol can be successful by only being cute."
- Many people. Some talking about Kyary.

True. In the idol industry, yes, there is space for cute only girls. There's demand, even.
Not all idols are the best singers nor are they supposed to be, what they're supposed to be is a relevant package of all singing, dancing, charisma, looks, you name it. But what I highly appreciate in making art - actually for me it's the most important thing to it - is effort. Putting all your heart in your work. Showing the world you've worked hard on what you do. And being honest about it.

This coming from an 48 member makes it questionable. Honestly, I never liked AKB as a group. I never appreciated the group's system or image. This is of course only about my personal preferences.
But. It's a fact there are hundreds of girls in total in these groups. In AKB alone, dozens. They dance together, they sing mostly playback. It's the truth, not all of them have to be good at everything. I understand Sashihara, she's seen idols who really don't need to learn things like singing correctly. It's natural to her. This is the truth in some groups, but it shouldn't be said as the fact would concern all idols.

Look at for example Kyary. She's often getting scolded for getting to the top by cuteness. She's sometimes stated untalented and annoying. Sure, Kyary's all cutesy and weird and I acknowledge that those are the main reasons she's popular. Nothing wrong with that. That's one way to get to the top. What's harder, is staying there.
As I see it, Kyary has to work so much more for her image, for her music. She must sing the songs all by herself - I hope you understand how a group can make a weak singer a superstar - she has to learn the dances and she has to remember to smile, because there's no one other to do these things for her. Okay, maybe she sings playback and all that, I don't know, but one of the hardest things in being an idol is to represent yourself and in cases of groups, to represent the group. Even if it was someone else singing your lines, it's you who gives the audience their show. It's you on the billboards. It's you who gives the fans the smile they hope for. Once you're made an idol, you maintain that image. In a group the attention is shared, the responsibility is shared.
In a group the least you can do for success is cuteness. Go solo, and, the least you can do is cuteness and effort.

But why to take the easiest way? One of the main things why I appreciate Momusu so much is the effort they put into the stuff they're doing. I'll use Sayumi, the cutesy queen of ours, as an example. She's often considered only cute, but I know she's much more than that. Morning musume has about 260 songs. Morning musume always sings live. There are usually about 10 girls in the group, so you actually notice if someone fails the choreography or misses the line. Even the cute girls and even the weak girls must know how to sing and dance.
Sayumi is often thought as the weakest singer on at least platinum era, but I've noticed, depending on the concert of course, her voice can be very strong. Not trembling at all. She just happens to have that kind of a quiet, high voice that seems weak. Sayumi has much stronger vocals than for example Junjun. Even Ai when Ai has her bad days.
Unpopular opinion time: Ai Takahashi is not a strong singer. She sure is a good singer, not just that strong on the stage. I love Ai.
What I'm trying to say is that you can clearly see how much effort Momusu puts in their performances. They know so many songs and dances from so many different eras and even if they're so fucking exhausted they can't get a voice out of their mouth, they try to sing the line.

Some defended Sashihara by saying that she meant to encourage the young girls wanting to be idols. Much possible, and if so, it's a sweet thought.
The thought just happens, in my opinion, to be wrong. It shouldn't be that way. An idol shouldn't be saying "you don't need to learn this and that, you can still do it." Actually, no one should. What we should say to ourselves and to our friends everyday, and what idols should tell people and of course themselves:
"Believe in yourself. Do your best. Always give it a try. Always learn new things. That's how you can do it. You don't have to be anything more than you are, if you only give your best."
The message doesn't really differ from the original one, does it? It could ne this is what Sashihara meant. All my kisses to her, honestly.

Just remember guys, idols are talented and cute and inspirational people, who are allowed to make mistakes. They're not any kind of heavenly or higher creatures, they're just so wonderfully human it makes me feel so.

ALL MY RESPECT TO THE CUTE IDOLS OUT THERE
YOU ARE THE BEST!
♥


So damn good

A video I must talk about. Block B is back after a long while and with what kind of a song! So. Very. Good. I love how Block B never fails to sound original. I love their style that is entirely their own.

Okay, I get some Big Bang / GD vibes from this, as I noticed other people did as well. But that's only in some minor parts of the video, meaning Zico's solos. And Zico is an eccentric man as well as GD and so he's not being not him so it doesn't bother me. Everything about this video fits the song and the song and video fit the band very well.

What I think makes Block B original is their sense of humor. They sure put a lot of effort in everything they do and always do things professionally, they know what they are doing. But they don't take it too seriously. I love it how they throw themselves into the art they are creating.
I love the interaction with the boxer girl, the dog, Kyung's scenes omg and umm. These kids just goofing around. You can see from their faces they're actually enjoying what they're doing, and no wonder. After not being sure about the future it must be great to get together again and make some kick ass music. That's what Block B does.
And umm. Jaehyo. Stop flirting with people you just robbed!!!

Hey bees, cry louder
Shout loud to make the stage shatter
Pretty boys try hard
Try looking tough but still so cute

✖

Ps. Thank you Lord and Satan and Pledis. I mean I love this live.