nanoomi

The VIPs light up their Big Bang light sticks, waiting for the show

When it comes to shows in South Korea, none are more anticipated than Big Bang’s yearly “Big Show”. The concerts, which have run annually since 2008, sell out in minutes, and are without a doubt one of the best large venue concerts in South Korea.

This year’s show was even more anticipated than normal, due to the events of 2011 surrounding Daesung and G-Dragon. The fans that filled Olympic Park Gymnasium on the first weekend of March were there, not only to see their favourite group, but to show they still supported the group. Read the full story

Roly Poly Promotional Poster

In July of 2011, T-Ara released the single “Roly Poly”, with a video set in a 1970’s disco club.

January 13th, “Roly Poly” the musical opened at Seongnam Arts Centre.

It had been a very VERY long time since I’d been to see a musical. Last show I went to was Tenimyu in Japan, and On Air in South Korea. So despite my minor dislike for the group T-Ara, and my suspicions at any show that could go from concept to stage in less than six months, I headed over to Seongnam to see Hyomin and Soyeon from T-Ara in one of their few performances in the musical. Read the full story

I know that, as I’m writing this, every other blogger in Korea, and even those not in Korea, are adding in their two cents on the topic, but since this blog has evolved into one with a lot of K-pop, I feel justified in piping in as well.

So, as I’m sure most K-Pop fans have seen, SNSD, better known as Girls Generation in the English-speaking world, made their North American network television debut on David Letterman on January 31st with their performance of “The Boys”. On February 1st, they performed on “Live! With Kelly”. With these two performances, Girls Generation will be reaching a whole new audience of people who have never heard of K-Pop before. Read the full story

My view of the stage

Those of you who have been following the site for a while might remember that 2AM’s Christmas concert in 2010 was one of the first concerts I went to here (despite the fact the review was posted in April, because I went three times.) When I found out that they would be doing another Christmas show this year, I promptly bought tickets for the show on Christmas day. Read the full story

My stellar seats for CN Blue!

I knew I would be going to the CN Blue concert the moment I found out it was announced. The annoying thing about budgeting though is that, despite know I would go to the show, I had no idea when I would be able to get the ticket to go.

After seeing FT Island the week before, and seeing CN Blue there supporting the members of FT Island, I knew that I had to make this show a priority, so I went out and got the ticket I’d been eyeing for weeks, well before the FT Island show.

I know very little about CN Blue. My knowledge of them is all over the map. I knew they wrote one of my favourite songs “Love Light”, and I knew my favourite was Jungshin, but that’s because I saw him in HolikaHolika posters and went “I LIKE THAT ONE.” When “Intuition” came out, I immediately liked the song.

But other than that, I knew not much else. Which is always the best way to go into a concert, because you’ll almost always be pleasantly surprised.

Read the full story

My light stick from the concert!

I need to be completely frank in saying this:

FT Island are, hands down, one of the best shows I’ve seen here in South Korea. maybe even ever.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

FT Island first caught my attention when I went to Dream Concert. I had heard Hello Hello before, but it was the first time I was hearing them live. I was completely stunned by Hongki’s voice, which seemed to fill the entire stadium without the need of any microphone. I was really impressed, so when I found out they’d be doing a concert in November, I knew I had to go.

The concert was held at the Blue Square, which is a pretty decent venue. It held quite a few people, and reminded me a bit of Zepp Tokyo, if that helps anyone at all. I was on the second floor, simply because I really didn’t want to deal with the crush of fans taking over standing on the first floor. My seats were fantastic though, and I was surrounded by Japanese fans, which was fun. FT Island have a huge following in Japan, and the fans from there are devoted forever.

Snuck in a picture of the backdrop

Finally! People have been voting for this song for weeks, and we’re finally going to review it! Woohoo! Tablo won this week on Facebook, but the cumulative email votes that JYJ got narrowly squeaked them out as winners. Woot woot! If you haven’t seen the video yet, here it is:

If you couldn’t tell by now, we’re fans of JYJ. We’re not diehard Cassies or anything like that, but ever since Ayy Girl we’ve had a special place for JYJ in our hearts. Ayy Girl is still our favourite song and video by them, though, after all this time. We reviewed “In Heaven” a while ago, and said that we liked the video, but not the song so much (since we’re not into ballads), though as of late we found ourselves randomly singing it a lot more. “Get Out” is a lot more up our alley. Read the full story

The highlight (and it was a huge huge highlight), was when Lee Joon came out on stage, sang his solo, ripped off his shirt, and did a pole dance.

A+’s (MBLAQ fans), maybe you should stop reading there.

You may wonder why I’m saying that up front, right away. The simple reason is, due to various reasons, the Men in MBLAQ show is going to go down as one of the worst concerts I’ve been to in Korea. The depressing part is, the boys themselves had very little to do with why the show was bad.

First, I’ll be quite honest, and will personally take some of the blame. Since there are concerts coming up every single weekend for the next five weeks, I cannot possibly afford to get good tickets for every show I go to. I figured MBLAQ would be a show that it would be okay to see at the 300 level.

And while my view was fine, and the sound was great, I was surrounded by a bunch of high schoolers who probably saved their allowance for months to afford this one ticket, and sitting with them was hell. They screamed like banshees, but wouldn’t stand or do anything other than wave their little light sticks. I watched as the second floor and ground floor were able to dance along with songs, while I had to sit, miserable, being hit in the head by the zealous fan behind me who was waving her fan around to the music.

Read the full story

This sign leads to free mini-concerts!

Disclaimer: This is only one of many possible ways to go to an Inkigayo taping. Depending on the time of your artists’ pre-taping, the size of their fan club, and when you arrive, your situation may be different.

Concerts are not something that happen often with Korean artists. Many artists will debut with their CDs and singles long before they get their first concert. Groups like SHINee, who have been around 2008, only had their first solo concert at the end of 2010. When concerts do happen, they are expensive and the ticket sales can be very competitive.

So how is a fan, a foreign fan especially, suppose to see their favourite artists? Easy – by watching music shows in Korea. Getting in to see a taping of a music show isn’t nearly as impossible as it may feel, as long as you’re willing to put the time, patience, and research into it.

What you’ll need:
~A physical copy of your artist’s latest CD or single, as proof of being a fan (which, as a true fan, shouldn’t be an added expense, right? ) or your fan club card.
~Some skill in Korean
~Your entire Sunday (the process takes most of the day)
~A cellphone (sometimes)

Before Sunday, look into the artists performing that week on this page . If you have access to the fan club for your artists, check on their website. Sometimes, there will be a taping list that you can get yourself on. If you are not a card carrying member of the fan club, be prepared to spend your entire day towards this, and getting in still won’t be a sure thing.

On Sunday, show up as early as humanly possible. The SBS station is at Gayang station, on line 9. Take exit 10 and turn left after leaving the exit. The SBS building is about a block from the exit.

There are two reasons you want to show up as early as possible:
1. Pre-tapings can start very early, depending on the events happening during them (fan signs, handshake events, etc etc)
2. Korean fans are very hard core when it comes to supporting their musicians. They will have been there much earlier than you. And will scream louder than you and seem crazier than you.

“Pre-tapings?” You may ask. “But I thought Inkigayo was a live show!” And it is. But, the way these show manage to work flawlessly as a live show is by pre-recording any performances that will be back to back with another song, or with major sets or effects. This way, the artists will still be on stage during the live taping, but the song has been recorded before with all the effects and sets needed, without worrying about something happening in the mad rush of changing the set. The big groups, like 2ne1, DBXQ, Girls Generation, etc etc will all have some kind of pre-taping to allow for perfection on stage and fan events.

This was about half the group of people showing up for SNSD/Girls Generation. At 9 am.

So it’s Sunday morning, and you’ve arrived at the SBS station, your CD in hand, and one of two things may happen.

1. You’ll see a crowd of people holding the same CD. Join them, try and be adopted as one of their own. Someone in the group will speak just enough English to tell you what you need to do next.

2. There is no crowd holding your CD, just a sign on the steps or taped to a tree that says your group’s name, and a phone number, along with lots of other Korean words.

Now, my Korean is beyond pathetic, so this is where I turn to my friends who are better than me at Korean and get them to call for us. Or, some kind soul will be there who speaks English and helps. What that sign is saying is that the person in charge of the fan club line up is not there. Calling the number on the sign is very important, because it will get you to the person with The List.

With both options, you need to find the person with The List. This list keeps you in queue for tickets into the show. The person in charge of The List will sometimes do roll call to see if you’re still there. And if you’re not? You’re off The List.

I never said getting into Inkigayo was easy. Just free.

I was #2 in line to see 2AM back in November

If you’re not a member of the fan club, all of this waiting may be in vain. Even if you were there at 7am, if card carrying fan club members show up later, they get priority. Depending on what group you’re going to see, this could be enough to bump you far enough down the line to not get into the main taping. In the many times I’ve been though, they’ve often found a way to make sure the two foreign girls get to go in. Which is nice.

Some time in the afternoon, you’ll be given a number with your group. This is your spot in line, generally no exceptions after that. Once you have this number, this is when you’ll get a good idea of if you’ll get in or not. As long as you have a decent number, you’ll probably get in. I’ve gotten in with the #17 on my wrist as well, so even when they say there might only be 10 seats, I’ve found they’re good at squishing people into the building. But don’t take any chances! Now that you have your number, do your best to stay very close to the station, in case they start handing out tickets.

Victory! Ticket = Got!

Getting the ticket is the ultimate goal. The ticket means there is a seat in the audience for you, fan clubs be damned. You can relax and breathe easy once that ticket is in your hand. Now all you’re required to do is stick around and wait for them to start lining up according to group. You do not get to keep the ticket, so take a photo of it to prove you’ve been there! You do get a really cool magazine though with the artists being featured that month, which is fun to read.

Going to Inkigayo is a long day. Depending on the weather, it can be a tough afternoon on your feet most of the time. To make things better, here are some final tips:

♥ Wear practical shoes. You’ll be standing most of the day.
♥ Keep some snacks on you, in case you’re too lazy / paranoid of losing your spot in line to go over to the Home Plus or the Seven-11 down the road.
♥ Dress for the weather! You will be outside most of the day on an open sidewalk. There is not much shelter from wind or sun. There are some heaters put out in the winter, but they’re close to useless.
✽ Avoid voicing your love for all the bands performing while in line. You may be excited to see many of your favourite artists at once, but remember that the Korean fans can sometimes be very focused. If you start voicing love for groups other than the one you’re lining up for the fans look at you strangely. I don’t know if anything would come of it, but I choose to just keep quiet about the other bands until I get inside.

That’s about it! I hope that this helps you in getting to see Inkigayo live. If you do go, or this has helped you at all, leave a comment to let me know how your show went!

The Korea Times reports that the Fair Trade Commission has taken action that “bans sexualizing teen stars:”

Government officials are attempting to prevent the revealing styles of teenage pop idols as they warn against the media’s portrayal of young women as sex objects.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Friday announced a new guideline for standard contract terms between production companies and artists, which include preventing underage singers from dressing in excessively sexual clothing. Management shouldn’t deprive the boys and girls in showbiz from their educational opportunities either, the FTC said, and needs to protect them from long working hours.

Well, announcing a guideline ought to put a stop to all of this. Now entertainment companies won’t have their teen stars wear skirts so short they show off their underwear, and the media will stop portraying “young women as sex objects.”

Such as this Joongang Ilbo article which was at the top of Naver awhile ago titled “Chinese netizens go wild over Son Yeon-jae,” which gave a matter-of-fact account of what Chinese netizens were writing about the girl known in Korea as the ‘gymnastics pixie’ (much as Kim Yuna was once the ‘figure pixie’). It was mostly stuff like “A Korean girl like a dream,” “absolutely perfect,” “a Korean body you can’t help but dream about.”

Much the same thing happened when Son appeared at the ‘LG Whisen Rhythmic All Star 2011′ gala show last Sunday, with Asia Gyeongje publishing a slew of photos from the show with titles like “Son Yeon-jae’s captivating look – her ‘pixie’ image disappears,” “Son Yeon-jae’s seductive beckoning,” “Son Yeon-jae shows off her S line,” and “Son Yeon-jae’s stand out s line“:

I suppose someone could point out she just turned 17 and that headlines like that might be inappropriate, but then, she is four years older than the age of consent, so perhaps it’s all okay after all. Besides, according to this, she may have wanted to get a reaction:

“I’ve always been seen with a cute and youthful image but now I want to show a transformed me.”

Mission accomplished. One wonders if that’s something she wants – or if its more her management’s idea. At any rate, being cute and known for your ‘S-line’ will probably ultimately mean more advertising contracts. As for the performance, the training video shows some ho-hum ’sexy’ dancing, but I’m more impressed by the ‘human windmill’ thing she does at 0:55.

You can read the original post at Gusts of Popular Feeling.