Hot & Cool This week News: The Series (episode 19)
Every week after an article gets published, I read all of the comments because it helps me get a sense of what the readers care about and whether or not the stuff I'm writing about is of any interest. The whole point of this column is to share our common affinity of K-pop girl groups, not just write about stuff that I like. Having said that, after reading the last week's comments, it's clear that I have my haters (which is OK) and that there are some fundamental misconceptions that I'll never be able to change. We'll get to some of those in theUncle Fan Mailbagbut first...
Cool Things of the Week
Sunmi's Teasers
JYP Entertainmentreleased the first new images of Sunmi as she prepares for her highly anticipated comeback. Her new look is very un-Wonder Girls-like which I'm sure is all part of the plan to create a new "brand" for Sunmi and distance herself from her past; create a new road for her. If a teaser photo's purpose is to pique interest, consider this mission accomplished.
f(x) Dominating
I know I'm late to the party (as usual) but I didn't realize how well f(x)'s new single "Rum Pum Pum Pum" was doing until just recently. With f(x), I've always had more interest in the individual members and what they were doing rather than the group itself and a lot of that is the waySMmarketed the team but I think I'll have to pay more attention and jump on the f(x) bandwagon.
SM Entertainment Making More Moves
Speaking of SM, the big industry news over the weekend was thatSM C&C(a subsidiary of SM Entertainment) was merging withWoollim Entertainment, home of groups likeINFINITE. I honestly don't know much about Woollim and their history (other than they once housedEpik High) but I do know that what SM is trying to accomplish is to become a major music distributor as well as content creation company. Even big companies like SM need help when it comes to getting their products out to international markets so they have a partnership in place withUniversal Music Groupin many parts of Asia . I guess Woollim has some kind of distribution system in place which SM wants to leverage and expand so that they don't have to rely on partners. They basically won't stop until they rule the world... and I think it's incredibly smart.
Girl Groups + Instructional Dance Videos = I Wish They Had This 15 Years Ago
I know I will really date myself with this but, when I was a young lad and wanted to learn the dances to my favorite groups, I would have to watch VHS tapes and pause and rewind over and over again just to figure out what was going on. It was tough because it was basically tapes from the music shows so there were cutaways for close-ups which meant we couldn't see the dance for that portion and the whole mirror effect which would throw me off. Now, groups likeWassupare creating instructional videos for fans making it that much easier than before. I'm too old and slow to learn any of this now but would have been fun back in 1998.
Girl Group Variety Round-Up
A list of all the girl group appearances on variety shows (that I saw) this week.
- 'Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook' -Ok Ju Hyun(a really greatperformance)
- 'Star King' -f(x)
- 'We Got Married' -A Pink
- 'Thank You' -BoA
- 'Barefoot Friends' -Eunji(seeTop 5 Current Girl Groupers),Suzy(voice only)
- 'Mama Mia' -IU(seeTop 5 Current Girl Groupers)
- '1000 Song Challenge' -TAHITI Jisu&Miso;After School Raina,E-Young,Kaeun
- 'Hello' -A Pink Eunji&Chorong
The Taeyeon Experiment
Each week I will post a picture from Taeyeon's Instagram feed in the hopes that one day she'll post a picture of herself reading this column.
Taeyeon calling out her mosquito bites. Do you think she makes a cross on them with her fingernails?
Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week
4minute'sresident dance machineHyunAuploaded some videos on Instagram of her practicing in the studio. To paraphraseKingsley Shacklebolt, "You can't deny that HyunA's got style".Don't forget to tell the Uncle Fan about the latest and greatest pics/.gifs/videos of your favorite girl groupers. Email me atKpopUncleFan@gmail.comor tweet me@KpopUncleFan.
Uncle Fan Mailbag
And now we've come to the good stuff. Last week's mailbag was especially colorful with the vast majority of comments telling me how much I suck and while I can't cover each response, I wanted to address a few specific points:
Why so serious?"You sound like a little b***h complaining about 2NE1 being in a bathroom. It's for fun [so] get off your high horse."
-mtp
I agree it's all for fun but if you feel the same way, why are you so angry? I didn't insult2NE1, I didn't say they sucked, or that I hated their music. I made a comment about a toilet; that's it. I don't see anything there that should cause such outrage but I guess it's more personal than you say it is.
Always with the "bias"."You can obviously see his biases and he disses the group[s] he dislikes [using sneaky methods]. I bet if his precious Taeyeon sat on the toilet, he wouldn't have said a word about it. He is just that biased."
-lovemm
I've learned that no matter what I write, someone will always think I'm biased towards a certain group or that I'm trying to promote some hidden agenda.2NE1leaning against a toilet is not what grossed me out. The fact that it was a toilet is what grossed me out. It could have been any other girl group or member, includingTaeyeon, and I would have felt the same way. Believe it or not, it's the truth.
The voice of reason."I think the whole 2NE1 toilet thing was probably done on a set so I don't think the toilet has been used. But [you] still have [to] admit that it was pretty [darn] funny XD."
You're absolutely right. Had I been using any common sense at all, I would have realized that this was a set and obviously not a toilet from some person's house. The calm voice of reason wins the day.
A Few Non-K-pop Related Things
- I didn't realize until this past Sunday thatAubreyfrom 'Pitch Perfect' is the same actress who playsSarah Newlinon 'True Blood'. #mindblown
- Did you know that in China there's a phenomenon known as "leftover women"? The term refers to educated, high income women who can't find a husband because they'reTOO good. Chinese culture typically stipulates that a husband's status be above that of his wife therefore when you meet a girl whose status is pretty much at the top, therearen'tmany men willing to date and marry those women. There's an estimated 500,000 women in their late 20's-early 30's who are considered leftover women in Beijing alone. So... I think I need to plan a vacation to Beijing soon...
- The Fall movie previews are getting started and the must-see movie on my list is 'Gravity' starringGeorge ClooneyandSandra Bullock. This movie looks intense and the trailer was amazing . Plus,Alfonso Cuarondirected which is only a good thing because he also directed my favoriteHarry Pottermovie, 'Prisoner of Azkaban'.
Top 5 Current Girl Grouper
- Eunji- Love her Busan dialect, especially when she was talking withKang Ho Dongon 'Barefoot Friends'. Sounded like a brother and sister from the neighborhood.
- IU- Her advice on how to interact with a girl on a first date to co-starLee Ji Hoon(the younger one, not the 90's singer) was actually very insightful and quite useful... not that I needed it.
- Minah- I like 90's K-pop so I rewatched the 'Immortal Classics 2'Coolepisode and while I thinkGirl's Daydid a good job overall, Minah stuck out to me.
- Taeyeon- Another quiet week for the Kid Leader but good thing for Instagram.
- SPICA- SeeSong of the Week below.
Song of the Week
I watched the first episode of the show 'Lee Hyori's Xunni' which follows the journey ofSPICAtrying to convince Hyori to produce their new album and I had no idea these girls could sing like that. I admit that I know very little about SPICA but I am a new fan and plan on following this show very closely; especially after this really clever cover off the song "Cups" they sang on the show.
Have a great rest of the week and keep your eyes open for the nextConfessions of an Uncle Fan!