So This Was 2NE1′s Comeback

After squeezing every possible rendition out of their smash hit I Don’t Care, 2NE1 fans were promised a full-on promotion of each of the remaining 4 songs on their debut mini-album that they have yet to promote (In The Club, Let’s Go Party, Pretty Boy and Stay Together).

So let’s take a look at 2NE1′s activities after they did I Don’t Care-Bob Marley style.

06 September

11 September

13 September

That’s a grand total of 3 performances in 1 week. Whew! That was hectic!

After the massive success of Fire and I Don’t Care, expectations were off-the-charts on what 2NE1 will be doing next. But after watching their comeback performance (1st vid), I felt a little lacking. Is it me or was that performance a big letdown? Oh the agony… where to begin?

First, the style. There was the outrageous futuristic BEG-inspired outfits. We all know YG talents for being fashionably loud. Most of the times, they are a hit. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those times. I also didn’t like CL and Bom’s hairstyle in this one. It looked like a cow licked their bangs or something. What’s up with that? On the other hand, I guess they can’t think of a new way to style Minzy’s hair. It also didn’t help that CL seemed to have packed on a few pounds ever since they came from vacation. First Yoobin, then CL??! Nooooooo.

Image courtesy of Allkpop

Fire + I Don’t Care = Pretty Boy

One reason I had huge expectations for this particular song is because their first performance of this song basically introduced the word “fierce” into the Kpop lexicon. Let me refresh your memory.

Pretty Boy is like the middle ground between Fire and I Don’t Care. The tone and intensity is just right. And since 2NE1 is supposed to be the epitome of original these days, I won’t even mention the fact that the intro of Pretty Boy sounds similar to the intro of this masterpiece (oops). It isn’t too upbeat like Fire and isn’t too mellow like I Don’t Care and the performance above, I think, captured the essence of the song.

However, when they performed Pretty Boy the second time around (September 06 perf), they changed the choreography. They retained the chairs but they eliminated the back-up dancers. Watching 2NE1 try to dance to an ideal club song gave me chills to the core. And please, let’s not blame the heels. That’s why we have these things called “practices.”

But that wasn’t really the most cringe-inducing part of their choreo. Check out the 1:55 to 2:25 part in their 09/06 perf.

We all know Minzy is an above-average dancer, but few will agree that she isn’t as good as she’s hyped up to be. It isn’t her fault that I expected too much. You can blame YG for that. Still, this was her chance to prove me wrong. But she didn’t. I mean, it made Hyoyeon’s little dance break in Genie look epic. Even her typical pedotastic routine couldn’t save her from this disaster. At this point, I’m not even sure which is better: this one or Hyun Ah’s dance break in Hot Issue.

Anyway, what’s with the YG ladies getting on the floor? Do they like cleaning the stage or something? Maybe even they thought their dance was so bad that they felt like they were literally littering on stage and had to clean it up. Just look at whatever CL was doing. A few months ago, that MIGHT (huge emphasis on might) have been sexy, but that outfit just made her look 15 lbs heavier.

If you listen closely, you’ll hear a “blech” at the start of her dance solo. That and all the rolling on the floor made it look as if she was reenacting a scene from The Grudge. Is she auditioning for a Korean version of that movie that we don’t know about? Also, during that “to the left, to the left” bit thing (no, they totally weren’t ripping off Beyoncé), CL really has to stop rolling her eyes upward. It makes her look cross-eyed even more.

Fortunately, it appeared as though the girls realized this as they removed the entire dance break in their Music Bank performance. However, somehow, they managed to top CL’s cowlick hairstyle with a more atrocious one by styling it as though a huge turd was placed on her head. There’s a fine line between looking cool and looking like a fool. CL usually pulls off the stuff Yang Seung Ho and Lee Hyun Jong hang around her body. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those times. I guess those two were compensating for the lack of accessories on the girls and put it out on their hairs instead.

Not 50 Cent’s In The Club

Contrary to 50 Cent’s In Da Club, In The Club is a slow song reminiscent of their previous hit, I Don’t Care. I liked this performance very much because they tweaked a few minor things that made it refreshing for me to watch 2NE1 again.

First, they brought back the back-up dancers so we finally get to see someone who can actually dance again aside from Minzy. Then they gave CL her shades back. Maybe she can’t express a sad look with her eyes? I dunno why they did it but I liked it. Third, Park Bom in pants! Now that’s a first (I think)! Finally, they incorporated a couple theatrical pieces to their perf. You have the mini-bar to set the mood right and the elevated platform for the actual performance. Nice touch indeed.

Nothing much I can say about Dara and Bom. Those two unnies are like the two constant in each 2NE1 performance. You always know what you’ll get from those two: a solid performance. Although, Dara’s voice cracked a little around the 1:58 to 2:02 mark of their perf above. Also, the two 26-year-olds don’t stand out much to me compared with CL and Minzy.

End of Promotions

So after those three performances, YG finally decided to pull the plug on the promotions for their mini-album. Although I was very disappointed with their comeback, I felt that it was premature for YG to end 2NE1′s mini-album promotions. Sure Pretty Boy was weak sauce. But they bounced back nicely with In The Club.

On the other hand, his cashcow (yet another cow reference) G-Dragon has been killing the charts since he came back, so no big loss for YG there. Fortunately for GD, music charts are based on popularity and not talent. Hehe.

What annoys me the most in all these is that YG keeps insisting that one reason 2NE1 is ending their mini-album promotion is because the girls need are exhausted and need a much-deserved break. Blah, blah, blah… Come on, is Sandara’s health really that bad? First, YG gave us announced that 2NE1 will only do one TV show a week. Now, he’s giving us the “much-needed” break crap again. Some thought this was brilliant. Well, I say BS. I understand that he wants to concentrate on promoting GD and Taeyang’s upcoming return because we all know YG is such a hands-on guy. But why feed us this BS?

Meanwhile, 4minute is surging, BEG is still the sexiest shiznit right now, Kara is still bootylicious and that latest group f(x) is also pretty good. Heck, even T-ARA is still relevant. Plus, that female Donghae Amber fella character raps well…and in ENGLISH too, even if she sounds too Fred Durst-ish. And this list doesn’t even include girl groups that are set to make a comeback/debut in the near future (After School (!!!), Secret) and groups that are seemingly ubiquitous (SNSD, Wonder Girls).

This begs the question: is YG starting to feel the heat from the insanely intense girl group competition?

Anyway, I’m still looking forward to 2NE1′s next album.  Every girl group has stepped up its game so I’m very curious to see what trendsetting stuff 2NE1 will bring to the table next time because I’m already sold on the idea that there isn’t much to work around with the type of music they do and the kind of image they already have. But I’m still prepared for my jaw to drop. After all, this is a YG group, with actual talent, we’re talking about. Hopefully, this won’t end up as another overhyped but disappointing album.

Gotta go before 2NE1′s psycho fans find me.

P.S.

I’m not anti-2NE1 ok? For a change, let’s be honest and keep things in a proper perspective when talking about 2NE1.

Also, please bear with me for the massive amount of links in this post instead of more videos and pics. I’ll update it when I can sneak in some free time. Thanks!

2NE1 Is Still Kinda Awesome, But…

(UPDATED!)

…they really have become the most overrated group right now. But it’s not their fault.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not an anti-fan. Heck, I even had a 2NE1 addiction for a couple of weeks after watching 2NE1TV. It became so bad that I had to look at the picture below each day just so I could move on to normalcy.

She says, "I don't care." I say, "WTF?"

So what if she’s cross-eyed? I think CL still has the tightest body in all of Kpop right now, while Minzy is probably the cutest maknae around.

However, the recent influx of girl groups in the Kpop scene already had me on the brink of giving up my 2NE1 fandom. But what really pushed me off the edge was the sudden germination of 2NE1 fanatics who spam the comments section of Kpop sites, YouTube and other Kpop message boards. If you’re a fan of Kara, BEG, 4minute, SNSD or even T-ARA, I’m sure you know what/who I’m talking about.

Fortunately, my fascination quickly shifted to another quartet, a  superiorly talented, albeit underrated one at that.

You see, as one of the many Kpop fans who can’t read/understand Korean, I mainly rely on websites that translate my daily Kpop news to English. These include the simple but always reliable K Bites, the always opinionated Seoulbeats, the glitzy Allkpop and the controversial Popseoul. Besides reading the latest Kpop news, which is practically the same in all 4 sites, I’m also interested in finding out what their readers (mostly non-Korean Kpop fans) have to say about the article.

The comments didn’t bother me at first because everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But as girl groups kept debuting and making comebacks one after the other, the once tranquil comments section became a venue for bashing and trashtalking. Although these fans aren’t required to be unbiased, these kinds of articles (srsly?) only fueled the fire between 2NE1.  But I guess the author didn’t know that. Or maybe she did and just wanted to express her fandom. Whatevs. Maybe I’m just looking for something to nitpick. But at least some writers were decent enough to put things in a proper perspective.

Shocking news: 4minute is pretty good!

I have to admit that I was also part of those who doubted the originality of this group and dismissed them as one of those soon-to-be-forgotten acts right after they debut. Because let’s be honest. Even if they claim that their name was inspired from their desire to capture the audience with their charms in 4 minutes or whatever (also, check out how people shamelessly bash this group at the comments section), I know for sure that they got their name here:

listen from 0:40 onwards and compare it with the intro of this.

You can even argue that the 2:45 to 2:50 mark of Hot Issue sounds like the 2:00 to 2:05 part of Boom Boom Pow. Check it out below:

Then you can’t deny the fashion similarities between 4minute and 2NE1. Of course, this drew the ire of 2NE1 fans, who were quick to point out that it was Hyun Ah and friends who are the copycats. So I guess the debut of 4minute was the turning point that transformed the borderline-fanatic 2NE1 fans to crazier-than-SNSD-antis non-2NE1 girl group bashers.

However, before finally ignoring 4minute completely, one of the girls caught my eye. She single-handedly convinced me that I should give 4minute another chance. Maybe it was her cool voice. Maybe it was her sultry look. Maybe it was her overeager, overcompensating, exaggerated dance moves. Or maybe it was the mysterious vibe behind those sunglasses. Whatever it was, it made me interested. Plus, after digging the Google machine to find out more about her, I find out that her resemblance to Yoobin (hottest WG member) is uncanny. And she’s talented too. Fer realz.

Who's who?

So little by little, I came to appreciate each of 4minute’s members. Hyun Ah, the central character who everyone wants to hate on. Ga Yoon, the main vocalist who is the least attractive in the group, for me, and looks more Chinese than Korean. And the Hyun Twins, So Hyun and Ji Hyun. They’re like the female version of the SHINee Twins, Onew and Key.

I know 4minute isn’t the most original group to come out these days, but who is anyway? Another thing I liked is that they sort of came out of nowhere and people didn’t really have any expectations about them. But they’re doing well now and it’s unfortunate that those delusional 2NE1 fans are raining on their parade.

In a way, this heated rivalry between the two newbies (although the girls will deny that there’s one), reminded me of last year’s rivalry between two rookie boy groups. Remember how SHINee burst out of the scene, topped charts and swept away rookie awards? This year, 2NE1 has done the same ever since they debuted. What 2NE1 lacks in talent compared to SHINee (what? 2NE1 fans please don’t tell me they’re more talented than SHINee), they more than make up in stage presence. So what does that make 4minute? And no, please don’t say U-Kiss.

Well, there was this other boyband that debuted late last year. Its members weren’t really strong vocally. They were pretty good dancers, but their debut song was kinda weak compared to SHINee’s and the song was just too gimmicky overall (you know how some fangirls’ go crazy over the tiniest guy-to-guy action). Still, their launch was moderately successful (probably mainly because they were from JYP, one of the Holy Trinity in Kpop), although nowhere near the magnitude of 2NE1′s or SHINee’s. It took them a little while, but this group really took off after they released their second album that showed their more serious side. Coincidentally, this group has collaborated with 4minute, at least once, already.

Going back to the 2NE1-SHINee comparison, if YG’s one perf per week strategy for her beloved girls continues, I’ll bet it will come back and bite him on the ass. will backfire. So I’m curious to see what YG will do to top I Don’t Care’s success. Although they won some awards, SHINee’s comeback this year was a disappointment overall, at least for me, mainly because of the high expectations that surrounded it. But YG is a pretty smart guy so I’m sure he’ll come up with something to sell albums. Heck, he was even witty to come up with a new meaning for 2NE1′s name. On the other hand, YG has failed before. Big time.

Like I said earlier, I’m not a 2NE1 hater, but I’m not a 4minute apologist either. I’ll even be the first to point out that they’ve had their share of shaky performances. This happens when your company rushes your debut to cash in on a trend.

To make a long story short, watching 4minute’s performances made me realize that they actually have some talent. Although their stage presence isn’t as great as 2NE1′s yet, they might just be more talented than their YG rivals. Yeah, that’s right. I said it: 4minute might be more talented than 2NE1, as a group. Individually, I don’t know yet since I haven’t seen enough of their non-Hyun Ah/Ji Yoon members. However, I think 4minute has more potential than 2NE1. Ji Yoon’s voice can adapt to any kind of song, Hyun Ah’s rapping will shoot up once Cube lets her use her own voice and I’m sure the Twins have something good in store that will catch us off guard, at least I hope they do. In fact, the songs on their debut album shows how much they’ve improved in such a short time. The songs are so awesome that I can’t wait to see them performed live. Plus, Ji Yoon without glasses!!! Her new ‘do looks Rihanna-ish but whatever. It looks good on her and depending on 4minute’s comeback outfits, she might just take over CL as the female idol with the tightest body.

Maybe I just don’t know how else 2NE1 could top their success with I Don’t Care. I mean let’s be honest. CL is a pretty good rapper, but her singing voice is as good as Rihanna’s at best, and that isn’t a compliment. Minzy has a similar singing voice to CL’s, but her best asset is her dancing. She’s a fine dancer, albeit in a pedotastic, scandalous kind of way. But if she wants to pop and lock her way to the top, she still has a long way to go. I think she has the most potential in the group. Bom has a powerful voice and Dara can surprisingly hit them high notes, but can you imagine them singing other than those high-pitched tunes? Plus, I doubt if they can dance to a style other than what YG imposes on them. CL’s stage presence can only take them so far.

One thing 2NE1 has going for them is their great command of the English language, which is unprecedented among Kpop idols. This is one of the reasons why they’ve gained lots of fans outside of Korea. Unfortunately, some of them have trolled the Kpop sites we’ve come to love, which has totally ruined my 2NE1 experience. And don’t even get me started with GD and all the hoopla surrounding his first solo album. That’s for another post. Forget plagiarism (The Leaders? Heartbreaker). Two words: autotune overkill. I wonder what Jay-Z would say about his album… Oh wait.

Thank goodness these girls came back. And while we’re at the boyband comparison, they’re comeback this year was like DBSK’s last year. Calm down Cassiopeians. I know it’s sacrilegious to compare DBSK with another group but check this out.

• Both came back with a very (!!!) sexy image.
• Both groups aren’t really known for their dancing but pulled off the sexy moves perfectly.
• Both groups still have the best singers among all the Kpop groups today.

Does this make Kara, this year’s 2008 version of FT Island? Not too bad.

I think I’ve ran out of boybands to analogize. And you still have T-ARA, Jewelry, the comebacking After School, and SM’s new baby, f(x), while SNSD and WG are in a league of their own. That’s a boatload of girl groups. Am I complaining? Certainly not. I say, bring it on!

Netizens Speak the Truth!!!

From K-bites via BEGirls

She's like a supervaiseeerrrrr (stolen from BEGirls)

Brown Eyed Girls Miryo has been voted by netizens are the best rapper amongst all idol groups.

On community portal site DCInside, a poll was carried out from 18th till 25th August on ‘The rapper which you think is the most talented amongst female idol group members’, and Miryo was voted #1 with 3,072 votes out of 9,358 votes (32.8%).

The rest of the poll results show:

1. Brown Eyed Girls Miryo (32.8%)
2. 2NE1 CL (29.2%)
3. KARA Nicole (18.9%)
4. Wonder Girls YooBin
5. 2NE1 Gong MinJi

That should those delusional 2NE1 fans. I still like 2NE1, but come on, saying shiznit like Minzy dances better than Hyoyeon or CL is the best female rapper out there? That’s like saying Yoochun is talented or something. Just kidding! DBSK fans, please spare my life. But I will admit one thing: CL’s body has been ridiculously smokin’ lately.

Who cares if she's cross-eyed? (stolen from allkpop)

But I’m kinda surprised that Minzy is in that list. And Nicole too. I didn’t know Kara had a rapper.

Anyway, congrats to Miryo. She tops my female rapper list too. Second would be E.via then maybe CL and Yoobin. I heard Tasha is dope but haven’t had the chance to listen to her yet so I can’t include her in the list. After being treated to a sweet dance battle (even without Hyoyeon) recently, maybe we can have a freestyle rap-off between these nasty females next. Who’s with me?

Thank You INKIGAYO!!! (Even if It Almost Gave Me a Heart Attack)

Did I die and go to Kpop heaven?

As I am still recovering from taht perfromance, please forgiv me if I can’t type and spell proprly.

GA IN!!!! Holy mother of mercy!! I thought this dance battle would ruin her, buto bviously, it did teh opossite. She did the imposssible and became even hotttteeerrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NICOLE!!! This gurl certainly knows waht her asssets are…. Shiznit!!!!

HYUNA!!! Srsly, the hating against 4minute should stop. I wished they sent JiYoon, but Hyuna did a pretty good job. These YG diehards are srsly becoming more annoying than those psycho DBSK fans.

MINZY!!! Not fair to put Ga In, Nicole and Hyuna against this pedotastick lady. This is toooo sinful!

My only gripe is… where is HYOYEON!!!! I want a Minzy vs. Hyoyeon showdown…… If you can bring Stephanie from CSJH, even better. I just might die on the spot. WTF.