Psy-ched @ MBS 2012!

Attended Psy's showcase at MBS yesterday!
It was a pretty rocking event. Got to see Psy, danced to Gangnam Style, and best of all, the tickets were free :P

Arrived at the event venue at around 1930, though gates opened back at around 1800, and the event was to start at 2000. It was already pretty packed, but bearable. There were supposed to be something like 4000 people at the event... at 1930 it doesn't seem like everyone was there yet. One can see the difference between SMTown and Psy :P

I was told later that they gave out lightsticks at the entrances! But I didn't see any when I entered... boo :( Wanted one even though they weren't those exclusive/good quality lightsticks :P

I then managed to get a standing position near the middle (there were no seats as it was a standing event), but somewhat further to the back.

At this point I realised 2 things.

1. I should not have dressed nicely. It was hot and humid. the squeeze made it worse -.-
2. I am not cut out for moshpits. Awesome that I realised this before I ever paid to be at one.

I am too short to see anything unless I'm all the way up front. And also because of my height I actually felt slightly claustrophobic as the crowd piled in. Not to mention I felt really irritated by all the pushing/jumping/screaming/squeezing that is characteristic of moshpits. Ho hum. Seems it was never meant to be, that I would see my idols up close :(

Jean Danker and Dominic Lau came on stage to kick start the event at 6pm exactly, followed by a demo performance by the people from O School. And boy did they rock the stage :P After that they tried to teach the audience the moves for Gangnam Style :)

Finally, after the weird fiasco (most ppl gamely followed, but the response wasn't quite there), Psy finally took the stage. He ended up performing 2 other songs, in addition to Gangnam Style, Champion and Right Now.

I came to the showcase wanting to witness first hand, the crowd driving skills of Psy, the one who drove those thousands in Korea to party along to his songs during his performances.

Summer Live performance

And, I must say I wasn't disappointed. Even though it was weird at times, the way he said certain things (Commanding the crowd to jump, saying that jumping (getting hyped) was for the sake of the crowd's own happiness, and slightly criticising/commenting(?) on the crowd for their weird way of cheering - intense but short bursts that die down to a strange lull) the crowd responded, and everyone had one heck of a time. Perhaps something to learn from this is that, sometimes it really isn't necessary to get approval. Just do your thing and people will follow... I wonder though... if that is because he already had that level of influence/ppl were already in that mental state to follow and have fun.

Another thing that I remember clearly about the night was how Psy promoted O School. O School was a place where Singaporean youths learnt dance or some other performing art. I don't know how many of those there were people who were not talented academically, but Psy commented that it was wonderful that Singapore had other avenues for people who were not gifted in that area. He shared that he himself was not a good student, and yet here he was *slight swag & pride here*. He left us with some encouraging words, that academics was not everything. It is something, but not everything. And that good things come to those who work hard and persevere. To that, he got resounding approval.

I think in Korea, they have a really nice culture of these idols encouraging their youths. Not just Psy, who has demonstrated how he is by his little speech, but I have also seen this from how IU would chid/kid around with students who are struggling to study, as well as how SNSD would write encouraging letters to their fans for their exams. It is great encouragement for a lot of people, and I think there is a need for this kind of culture in Singapore as well. There is really, really a lack of emotional support in Singapore for those who are less gifted academically, and people are just expected to do well... this is a nice takeaway... I could already see the influence and uplift in those who responded to Psy's words, and I'm sure they would put greater effort into working for their dreams.

Out of place comment that I don't know where to put: There were a lot of Koreans at the event! I was surprised. haha.

Anyway.. it was a really happening Saturday overall. Aside from Psy coming to Singapore for this event (after his MAMA win in HK ytd), on this same day, 2NE1 held their last concert of the year here in Singapore, G.NA had a fansmeet at Courts in Tampines, and BToB was at Sundown. Super happening. Haha I look forward to having more love shown to Singapore by Korean idols. At this rate, we'll need bigger performance venues haha.

Tata!

SMTown@SG 2012 on 24/11/2012

Ohmygosh!!! I can't believe I went! Haha even though its exam period, and I'm not done studying yet :\

Super epic concert!!! There are just so many words I can use to describe it. Blogging now so I can write down as much as I can remember and carve it down deep deep :) Oho my first fan account ^.^ Support and be kind pls!

There aren't many pictures/videos unfortunately, cuz for one thing, my phone camera can't record bright stuff for some reason, so all the screen recordings turn out like shit. For another, I'm sitting quite forward (3rd row for normal seats to be exact :D) so the stupid annoying ushers keep stopping me from filming -.-

Its SMTown's first time in Singapore! An unbelievable 4hrs with 16k fans and all the SM Artists: SNSD, SuJu, Shinee, TVXQ, Boa, EXO, f(x) and Kangta! Haha I believe it was a $230 (and 4hrs) well spent :) Feeling high even now, a night's sleep away from the performance already, and I slightly pity those who didn't go.

I remember... it was really hot and humid. As usual for Singapore. Arrived at Marina Square at ard 1430 to have lunch meet w my "crew" pau and yalam boy :P Haha they helped me buy some merchandise! The lightstick (super odd lightstick imo :P) and 2 decks of cards! 1 SNSD and 1 Suju for my sis :) Slightly annoyed by the fact that there were supposed to be 20 cards, and each pack only has 10, ie to get all have to buy 2 sets -.- Not that I wouldn't have bought... I only found out on the day itself and it was... kinda too late to queue already. Merc was already running out. :\

The merc was really expensive though! You can have a look at the pricing here.

Major ones:

天啊... haha the lightstick alone i could've fed myself for a day and a half already. And the trading cards... my money T.T Well... I'm really glad I bought tho... For the memories keke. :)

I really wish they had SNSD L-Holders! hmm... 

Anyway. There was a press conference at 3pm! I couldn't go in since I wasn't the press -.- haha but it can be watched here and here! 

We tried to study (tried :P) up till 5.30pm. Then went for dinner at PepperLunch@Suntec. Apparently Suntec is undergoing renovations hmm. Lots of shops are closing down for that.

At around 4, though I would note that though it was already raining lightly since ard 3, it started pouring. Thunder and lighting and all. We worried if it would be cancelled... but of course it didn't. Otherwise I wouldn't be typing this post. Was a valid concern at the time though.

yalam boy had the sense to take a bunch of tissues from McDonalds to dry our chairs haha. Something I should rmb next time... not to mention a poncho and cap is really important. 

By God's blessing though, the rain stopped right at 6! We then went to queue up for entry! 

Was really hot in the queue... and especially sweat inducing because of the humidity. Went to entrance 3! Since we were sitting in the light green zone.

Waited till 7, and people were still streaming in. Meanwhile the AV team was trying to fix the screens (cui as usual *rolls eyes* :\) which had some weird blocks/not functioning parts at the moment. Was speculating that it was due to the rain..

And then! It finally starts! Oh the excitement :D

Note: There is no 3G or whatever internet at the venue. At all.

We were first treated with 2 songs by f(x): Hot Summer and Danger(Pinocchio)! Amber was really charismatic, and took charge of speaking to the audience with fluent English between the 2 songs. Luna took a rather alarming fall during Hot Summer though cuz of the wet stage. In response to this, Amber asked the audience to give a shoutout to Luna during their introductions, and was met with an overwhelming response :) Ah... loved being in that atmosphere ^.^ Luna looked slightly embarrassed but warmed by the response ^.^

A Thought: the wet stage problem is really a ridiculous oversight on the crew's part. I was already wondering if they cleaned up the stage properly while I was waiting. If it occurred to me it shouldn't have gone by the pros -.- later they very unprofessionally [read IN-FULL-VIEW-OF-THE-AUDIENCE] wiped the stage every now and then to keep it dry... And this isn't the only problem... I'll reveal more as we go along... haix Singapore's media and AV crew have long ways to go...

Next we had Kangta! Apparently he hasn't been here for 10 years >.< haha Singapore needs more love from these artists. He performed Pine Tree + Polaris, then 爱频率．Haven't much to say about him since I'm not really familiar, but he's got a great voice :) What did leave a really strong impression of him was how he bowed to audience. The other artists were just, intro-bow-get up- translate. Kangta on the other hand, actually maintained his bowed position till his message was delivered. I thought as this moment that, "ah, he really respects his job and his audience." Respect.

Next Victoria and Zhou Mi came up for 今天你要嫁给我 (yes they held hands *rolls eyes* haha... BANMAL SONG!!!), then California Girls by the Jung Sisters! Haha both of them look brilliant, and sang brilliantly. 

Funny thing to note here is that, Jessica's voice sounded wayyy more squeaky then usual (she already had that really distinctive sweet, nasal, high pitched voice normally). Thing is... somehow, the audio output for their performance got tuned up. And it wasn't just for this performance either... haha snsd's introductions itself sounded really weird and funny cuz they all half transitted to chipmunk voices. I'd count this as a screw up by the AV, even though it was funny lol. Not really sure if it was the same for the other artists, but I know my GG girls don't sound like that :P

Then, total food for fangirls, Kyu Hyun and Changmin came on stage with Just the Way You Are. And... they sang it not to Taemin, which was what happened previously, but to an actual fan. Haha can you hear the screams? They even gave a hug at the end *more screams galore* lulz.

Next, starting to a seriously roaring welcome, Oppa Oppa by Donghae and Eunhyuk. Here u can seriously hear the fanchants. Sure you could vaguely hear it during Hot Summer and Danger, but here it is seriously like OPPA OPPPA!!!! haha... suju fangirls are powerful. 

I... personally wasn't so enthusiastic. After all... Eunhyuk and his weird shit with IU is still fresh on my mind. But meh, I wasn't here to see him, so allow me to ignore him and just enjoy the performance. If anything he is professional though, and delivered a really hyper opening set to jive up the audience.

Next pau's idols, EXO came on! Again... except for MAMA, not really familiar, so not much to comment.

Then, finally, SNSD! Haha. Sorry Jessica. >.< Taeyeon opened up the stage for SNSD with Devil's Cry (which is a song I don't really like cuz there's a lot of unproductive screaming) and fully blew over the venue with her ringing vocals. Then all 9 of them were on stage for Run Devil Run! Feels lucky to be alive to see them in person, though they're really far away and we just see them on screen >\\\\< And haha at the meaning of Devil's Cry - Run Devil Run. 

Introductions! Sunny sporting shocking purple hair (O.O my face when I saw). Tifanny and Jessica in cool cool English (sometimes its a relief to hear good English from kpop idols) as well as, much to my surprise, Seobaby!!! Hyoyeon in Chinese, and the rest in Korean. Haha Fany seriously got a roaring response with her "its been awhile Singapore!". And though I didn't quite think so before, Sooyoung is really popular here as well! In any case, SNSD!!! ITS GREAT TO SEE YOU HERE!!! I REGRET PAINFULLY FOR NOT GG TO YOUR CONCERT LAST YR :P

As mentioned, cuz of the audio system's pitching issues the girls all sounded like deep voiced chipmunks. Sunny had the funniest voice, since she's totally in her aegyo mode :P

SNSD then closed off their opening segment with Genie! And the fanchants were awesome! Once again, no regrets haha... Sowoneul Marhaebwa~~~ (MARHAEBWA!!!!) XD

Shinee then followed with Lucifer! Super much screaming! Haha... then Suju with Superman and Don't Don, which I'm also not very familiar with... they did their performance on a rotating stage with water shooting up from around them.

At this point I got kinda annoyed by the suju fan directly behind me. Kept screaming so loud my head rang. And she's been doing it for all the suju performances so far. Scream, but don't scream right into my ear thanks. And there were so many more suju performances to go... T.T

In sequence then after that... Purple Line, Ring Ding Dong (a remix. didn't like it, too much rock/bass/bang bang, original was better), Bonamanna (another weird remix), Rising Sun, Juliette, (followed by Shinee intro + advertising for their concert coming dec. Newb translator got the thing wrong and said Nov *rolls eyes*, and corrected by Onew lol.) then cutely intro-ed by Taemin, Your Love is Like Oxygen.

Ahh so I should mention at this point the screen on the right side of the floating platform screwed up totally and just gave a blue screen. Even the artists noticed... and commented on it... which if I was on the AV team I would feel really ashamed. I mean... where's your professionalism? That's the standard you can give to our foreign guests? As for the fans who were complaining afterwards... I feel their grief, since it happened to the left screen temporarily earlier on. 

Oh and the number of Shawols in this concert seems kinda weak eh actually. Might be better if there was better organisation. I'd hate if any of the artists that came felt unwanted.

Fx with Jet, then one of the best sung songs of the night Open Arms, sung as a collab by Chen, Ryeowook, Baekyun and Onew. Their harmony was amazing! So so amazing, the supporting music actually became an interference, and you just want to hear them sing it without all the extra gimmicks. 

Then finally, something I was looking forward to the entire night, Twinkle!!!! It was rumoured to be scheduled to be performed on the nearer stage, but it turned out to not be the case :( Still, a song performed perfectly, and again, one of the best songs of the night! All of them, but Taeyeon especially, hit all her notes with unbelievable precision. (I wish I didn't have to consider the case where they were actually lip sync-ing. Kpop is sometimes bad like that.. can't really tell in this case so shall give it benefit of the doubt). Tifanny was leaaaaaking charisma, and she had that bright eye-smile on the entire night. She must be really happy to be in Singapore haha. Come often!! Seohyun's got a tired and strangely mechanical look on her face tho... hope she's ok.

Then, a collab with EXO! DJ's Got Us Falling In Love Again! A rather repetitive song, but totally got the crowd going :D The atmosphere was totally sky high at this point. Extending that, Key, Chris and Amber took over the stage with Like a G6.

The "clubbing segment" then is closed by a rather short and boring (maybe since I don't really care much for dancing in general...) Dance Battle. 

And then, finally, Boa!!!!!!!! *screams* haha. I didn't know much about her before (only familiar with Only One >.<), so taking the chance to get to know her now. She starts with Hurricane Venus, follows with My Name and an intro, then ends her segment with No. 1. And I've gotta say, I loved No. 1. Am gonna follow up on this :) 

Boa put up a really stunning performance, and her dance moves as well as stage control are really no joke. But from this "first encounter", I like her not just for that. Boa was one of only 2 artists in the whole show, that addressed the fans that were NOT in the moshpits or the vip seats. Despite saying that I'm in the 3rd row, which is usually what would be considered a good seat, the way the floating platform and concert is staged is such that the artists are surrounded by the moshpits and the vip seats, with the "other" seats further to the rear. At some point we actually felt kinda left out, since from our perspective the artists were just finger high figures in the distance. Boa... directly addressed us (though she said "the people in the back side" lulz *sweat*), and we just loved her for that.

Moving on, during the introduction she was kinda funny, and slightly awkward. She talked about the weather (they all did... Singapore's trademark hot weather lol) and how it worried her. See.. the kpop artists seriously don't come to Singapore often enough! They don't know how to interact with us!!! Which is really sad! Since we're really friendly and passionate people! :D 

Anyway at one point she was like... "the next song is..." and everyone shouted "Only One!" Haha... then she made a rather strange expression (which i'm a bit mixed on... it looked a bit on the rude side, but I'm not really sure what she's thinking, and what she said after was polite, so shan't go on on that), and said "Only One will be coming on later, so wait a bit ok?" which was kinda cute and got the fans laughing.

Yup, so moving on from there, suju came on with what has got to be the most hyped up moment of the night with their hit Sorry Sorry. I swear the chants were never this loud. Rmb the suju fangirl behind me? Yea I nearly went deaf. 

Then, came their talk session! Memorable quotes:

Donghae: 亲爱的宝贝们，我爱你们！

Yesung: I'm... Singapore... I love you!

...

Eunhyuk: Our leader, Leeteuk, is not here because he's in the army. So for now, I am Leader! Are you all ok with that?

... joking dissent within members ...

Yesung: when you are at this kind of place, you talk too much!

...

Eunhyuk: Well its ok. You have no say in the matter.

*Laughs... but (IU in my head) ohh i so wanna kill u* :P

...

Eunhyuk practices Singlish: "I love you lah!"

Kangta: What you just put lah at the back and it becomes Singlish?

End talking session, suju-m finishes up with 太完美 and A-cha，and promotes their album upcoming b4 the end. They're really good singers sia... would like to learn to sing like them.

And again... after that really long wait... Mr Taxi!!!! But it was just that and nothing else happened after :( So just a brief respite for me, before it goes downhill, slightly. 

Shinee takes over with Internet War. This is, without a doubt, the lowest point of the concert for me. I hated this song soooooooooo bad. Endless angsty screaming all the way. Noisy, and meaningless. Oh Jonghyun stripped and showed off his toned abs, but that obviously did nothing for me -.- I suppose I should be glad there weren't that many shawols, or the screaming fangirls + the noise on stage would have annoyed me to death.

Following this hate inducing performance, TVXQ came on for the 3rd time, and finally had their talk chance. Albeit being in a slightly sour mood at this point cuz of the perf before, and the long, not-of-interest performances to come, TVXQ came and made things well, much to my surprise. So far, the artists that have appeared before have just gone on about how appreciative they were of passionate fans, and the weather and stuff. There wasn't much caring involved, just exchanging niceties. TVXQ though, talked about how much they really wanted to perform here, and how they truly worried that the weather would cause the concert's cancellation. But then they went on to think about the fans, and worried also that the fans who did come, supposing the concert wasn't cancelled, would get ill from the weather. That thought, along with the awkward way he said it, totally melted the hearts of all the people in the audience. 

I cringe when I think how many good artists (artists with good hearts) lose their dreams at the fickle whim of their popularity, while others, perhaps arrogant or self serving artists carry on well.

TVXQ I hope you do well in future, and don't lose that heart.

TVXQ with O.。正。反。和，Mirotic, new song Humanoids and Why.

And then finally the lul is over! Snsd back on with Gee on the special stage. I weep for the fact that they were so close and I couldn't film them properly. Loud fanchants! GEE GEE GEE GEE BABY BABY! Haha... the girls stood on a really unstable moving platform during the performance so they weren't able to perform confidently. I BLAME THE MANAGEMENT! What if they fell???

Then they travelled back to the main stage as they sang Kissing You (a strange song choice considering the other more popular ones?). And here is my greatest regret of the entire concert. Seohyun was what, 10m from me at one point, and I did not take a picture!!!!!! WTF brain?? I chose that time to be totally mesmorised by her stupid me. And let me say, they are really no joke. You think they look beautiful on screen? Wait till you see them in person. Seohyun was like the perfect doll. I seriously just stared.

After that seriously facepalm moment for me, Suju with Dancing out, then the next highlight, ONLY ONE!!!! Boa with Sehun. I'm sad that its not with Taemin! They look better together i think lol. At this point though everyone started getting distracted, because it started raining again and people were pulling out their ponchos. And also, to my shock and horror, people were leaving. So. Unbelievably. Rude.

The rain got heavier by the second, all through Electric Shock at the special stage (which is kinda funny seeing as it was lightning and thunder and stuff once again all around), Sherlock, The Boys (where everyone shouted GG!!! together despite the pouring rain. epic :D), Sexy Free and Single, and Catch Me (another new TVXQ song. At this point a poncho simply wasn't enough and we had to use umbrellas despite the warnings). People were leaving in the droves to escape the rain, and certain parts of the seats were flooded already. Due to the movement and the people blocking our view, we couldn't see much during this part... only looking through the holes. The rain got so bad the major kpop sites who were covering the event couldn't tweet at all.

What wasn't funny to me though was how the artists were getting drenched, even though it was only an hour away from the end. My heart ached :\ First it was hot, then it was cold wind and wetness. Sincerely hope they don't get sick... And then, just when we thought this was how the concert was gonna end, wet and rushed...

The rain stopped right when Hope started. I'm serious. It stopped. *snap* Just like that. No lightening. no slowing to gradual drizzle. Just.. "that's enough", *off*. Troll sky. 

Haha this part is perhaps the best for the moshpit people, since the artists were actually sitting on the stages and interacting with their fans. And as people who couldn't experience that, we got to see the artists interact among themselves, so it wasn't too bad.

Well.. that was the end. Concert officially ended 11pm. A great 4 hours! Memorable experience... I wish there were more, and I hope they would come more often, and feel more at home (like Tifanny) and show more love to the fans. Will miss them a lot, and can't wait to see them again!

I reached home at 1230am haha... gosh... 

Some thoughts: 

- I think if I was organising the concert the lightsticks should be given free. It'll help the atmosphere so much. but I understand SM is recouping from the 5mil it spent to hold it here... 

- Singapore really needs to improve ito its AV teams and organising skills... 

Side story bonus!!

Side story 1:

SNSD arrived in Singapore on the 22nd Nov, at around 4, then proceeded to their hotel! Me n ZZ waited and watched their rehearsal till it ended at ard 8, then went for dinner at Marina Square. Apparently, at ard that time Hyoyeon went to buy ice cream at 7/11@MarinaSquare! We were super close by but we didn't realise, though we heard screaming outside. What a miss :(

Side Story 2

On the day of the concert in the morning, several other groups such as Shinee were still rehearsing since they arrived in Singapore later. Yuri actually went to watch the rehearsal with the fans, but nobody realised!!

SG Sones CMI leh! Mada mada dane. Korean fans can recognise by legs leh!!

Lastly, for such a memorable experience, there are people to thank.

Thanks so much to ZZ for helping me n my crew tickets!

My crew for coming with me.

Set list provided by KAvenyou. Kudos to them. :D

RITS for setting up this opportunity

SMTown and the artists for this wonderful concert. Keep it up!

5 months compressed update. lol.

Its been too long since I posted. So much has happened since...

Last I posted, SNSD's subgroup TTS just appeared, and made a strong showing with their album :)

I still love Twinkle a lot :)

SNSD has since had their 5th anniversary, and released 2 new songs ^.^

5th Anniversary Commemoration Video

by Soshified

Great work!! O.O

Paparazzi MV

They look good even when they're dancing in dish washing gloves! >.<

All My Love Is For You MV

Been waiting for this kind of song for the longest time...

Oh! is now released in Japan, and Taeyeon has a new single (drama OST) for To The Beautiful You.

Oh! Japanese Ver.

Seohyun is too cute here! *buing buing* >.<

Closer on Inki

Omo Taeyeon y.u.so.pretty. :P

Nice song :) Also been waiting for a long time for a new OST single from her...

To The Beautiful You has ended as of this week... haha. It features a lot well known idols, like Minho from ShiNee and Sulli from f(x). Sulli sang Peach during the drama! Shall try to watch it some time, or at least that part. Peach was written with Sulli in mind after all~~ keke.

Taeyeon also made a reappearance on Running Man!

Ep 112!

Watch the full ep on kshownow.net!

It was kind of funny watching her run. Its like pretty well known that she has the worse stamina, even among all the gg members, and she's actually participating in Running Man. lol dorky tae.

Side tracking slightly, Gary very nearly left Running Man!!! Omg! Haha I like Gary's character a lot. More so than Guang Soo, or Big Nose Hyung, or even the Commander. The Commander's really poor thing in this episode though. You'll see...

SNSD's having a Japanese comeback with "Flower Power" mid Nov! (14th Nov) last I heard. Looking forward to that.

IU hasn't been laying low either.

She's had a really successful run doing her first concert tour 'Real Fantasy' across S.Korea. It was so successful LOEN planned an encore concert! :)

Photo time! :D

This well... lasted... all the way till now. lol.

While IU and SNSD's been doing well, T-ara hasn't.
While both SNSD and T-ara celebrated their 5th and 3rd anniversary respectively, the atmosphere in both camps were a vivid contrast to each other. SNSD's was a picture of joy and appreciation, while T-ara plunged into a controversy of bullying and backstabbing.
In their official statement, CCM claimed Hwayoung misbehaved really badly (refused to perform due to injury and throwing tantrums), so much so that they kicked, yes KICKED her out of T-ara. Fans (or Antis, depending on who you believe) drew a different picture though. They claim Hwayoung has been thoroughly bullied by the other members, and so the one at fault should not be Hwayoung, and instead the other T-ara members. The "evidence" dug out severely damaged T-ara's rep, and many of the remaining members suffered as a result. They were pulled from CFs, dropped from dramas, lost some 6000 fans, and even had to postpone their concert due to people returning their tickets. The humiliation.

Later accounts however, seem to indicate that it was a severe mismanagement on the part of CCM's CEO Kim Kwang Soo. There existed a disagreement between the girls, but the intention had always been for resolution, and not expulsion. Along with news regarding how KKS his idols in check, or do horrible things such as wardrobe malfunctions by blackmail (such as keeping career ruining footage like Jiyeon's stripping vid and "accidently" leaking it to the public), KKS' actions after the revelation only made the controversy worse. A group was even established to find out the truth of the matter.

Its no wonder Davichi is leaving the first chance they have huh.

Summary of events here.

Both sides have since moved on though. Hwayoung has apologised for the distress she caused to fans and members, and has started on doing more rapping and music writing. T-ara, now a 8 member group (+Dani, Aerum, -Hwayoung) has produced 2 MVs, Day By Day and Sexy Love.

Day by Day MV

Featuring the 2 new girls... I didn't reaaaaallly like it :\

The drama thing didn't work for them this time.

Sexy Love comeback stage

The song sounded lame at first, but it sort of grows on you after awhile :)

Not a bad comeback afterall lol.

The controversy was so bad the members had to go into hiding at the time... Sexy Love's music programme performances were all filmed before hand, and even a written apology by the members couldn't appease the netizens. Poor Eunjung had an accident during this time, and some netizens had the nerve to speculate that it was staged -.-...

Though it wasn't doing so well at first, Sexy Love is rising on the charts, so hopefully T-ara would make a full recovery soon.

On my own end... my second year in Uni has started. I finally went to USS, and even won tickets to go there again. :) School's really tough, even though I thought this sem would be lighter already what with the softskill mod >.< But am grouped with Zhen Zhen, Farhan and Kathy, so I'm pretty happy, especially compared to last sem :\ Haha and I joined a kpop dance class to try things out :)

For now, though, think I'll end it here and type more in another post, another time... its getting late, and there is quite a bit to talk about after all. I am planning to starting to writing again, so cya all soon.

The Man in The Glass

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you long for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what THAT man has to say.
For if it is not your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back in the glass.
Some people might think you are a
straight shootin' chum and
call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum,
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you dear up to the end. And
you have passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of
years, and get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you have cheated the man in the glass.

TTS Ownage Streak!

Ok short one, news on SNSD's TTS! As of today's win on Inkigayo, they've completed a super combo of 4 hat tricks! What's this? No they don't play soccer :P What I mean is they've completed triple crowns (3-in-a-row-wins) on all major music programs! 

TTS on Inkigayo!

Congrats to the girls! :) They've really worked hard... in addition to their promotions, they're currently doing their SMTown World Tour as well, and just last week there was that concert at google... It's amazing they're still so energetic and upbeat ^.^ Power too them all!

Speaking of being hard working, I read on the weheartiu that aside from preparations for her concert... ie prac dance, singing, special stages, covers etc, she's hard at work filming for her japanese mv for You and I. The filming started at night on the 25th, and went all through the night. When she last posted at 5am, and the sun was coming up, she was still filming... Haix. Even though I do study through the night sometimes... but to act, sing and dance throughout the night seems to be much harder don't you think? I'd probably get so grouchy I'd bite some fingers off... :\ IU gambatte-kudasai ne!

That's all for now... I'm supposed to sleep early... :\ Gonna receive my results tml... wish me luck...

Ray

Soshi VS IU on Music Bank! Sketchbook! T-ara's new song?

It's been awhile... I'm back in reservice, and I still have 16 days to go... 

I keep telling myself that I may be the crap-cleaner, but I needn't let myself feel that way for the whole thing... :\ Praying for a safe and uneventful 2 weeks.

To topic, I briefly saw this (the title) tweet by Squishyblob on my phone during the day and was dying to find out what it was about :P

When I finally got home (after an amazing evening hanging w bei, bear and jh :) we should totally go out more), I found out basically TTS' Twinkle mini-album and IU's "Spring of a Twenty year old" had a showdown on Music Bank! Haha so exciting!

120525 Music Bank Results Announcement!

Twinkle ended up winning in the end! By quite a margin too! :) The girls have worked really hard, promoting nearly daily on all the music shows! Its a job well done, and a win well deserved ^.^ Congrats!

Turns out it was actually a hat trick by TTS with their win tonight on Music Bank too, since they won on Show!Champion and M!Countdown as well. haha and this just adds more icing to the cake~~ Plus they've been winning for 3 consecutive weeks already! Touche! Take that you haters haha.

Cute msg from TTS after the performance, credit to Soshified.

“Twinkle~ Three consecutive weeks on first place!!Thank you very very much~!
We decided to take one trophy each!”

IU lost! Haha but considering she didn't promote at all, the fact that her album is competing head to head with Twinkle with such unbelievable statistics is in fact a statement of her popularity. It almost seems unfair even haha >.< 

Either way, I'm super happy! Haha 2 of the 3 kpop artists I'm supporting are pwn-ing the music shows for weeks on end! Keep it up!! :D

Some little things going on with IU! 

As I came home I managed to catch Squishy just as he/she was posting about IU's performance on YHY Sketchbook. As a result I finally managed (thank God for Squishy) to hear IU's 3 lvl note again live :) Though it was for a remixed ver. of Good Day. It's been too long since we heard it. I've always had the impression that such bypasses were kinda like... cheating. Though I'm also torn by the prospect of IU damaging her voice :\ It's a dilemma...

Good Day (Concert ver) on YHY's Sketchbook!

This ver sounded.... quite weird at first, but after watching the vid I was like "whoa this is awesome" :P Ah... wonder if I should dl and keep >.<

Song can also be heard here! :) 

Then there was something I felt was a little weird! 

IU dancing to Rainism!

My first thought actually wasn't "ahhh. she's improved hasn't she!" though I strongly feel that was the reaction IU had in mind when she took on this challenge, and I certainly did have that thought later on. Instead, I totally just thought... "she totally looks like Michael Jackson in that hair and glasses" -.- I wonder if that'd be a compliment for her or not? lol :P

Either way, I hope she doesn't go the way most idols do... :\ ie sing and dance is both emphasized. Dancing is fine and all, but frankly, IU isn't really that kind of idol. Focus on the voice please! >.<

IU performed Peach for the first time live during this show as well! Loving it to death ^.^

IU with Peach, live on YHY's Sketchbook!

I don't really know Korean, but apparently she changed the lyrics slightly during that ad lib portion, thus the huge reaction XD Gif translation here! Ah really love the song~~

Moving on... T-ara (kinda) suddenly released a song titled "Round and Round", with no prior promotion (there still isn't any now o.O) or noticeable announcement. And the song is kinda... meh.

T-ara - Round & Round

MV ver 1

MV ver 2

The song sounds like it's for the oldies... as in I feel that the older generation people would probably love it, but for T-ara's main fans... not so much. Which is kinda sad. :( They really need a new song already. You can only perform a song so many times before it kind wears out... and they seem to have been doing Roly Poly and Lovey Dovey since forever already...

Conspiracy me wonders if it's the same thing again... deliberately assigning/forcing crappy songs to be produced -> lower popularity... earlier this week apparently the 9th member, some 14yo girl was revealed to be the 9th member to join T-ara... and they're still saying that the additions have been revealed, but that there may still be internal movements :( Is this bullying I wonder... :( 

Conspiracies and unhappiness on the issue aside, isn't the 2nd MV just so much better? Pardoning the song, there're just sooooooooo many scenes of Jiyeon and Boram, it's making my heart throb >.< haha. I wasn't planning to keep it originally, but for Jiyeon, I just migh....

Alright it's been a long day. Though it's probably the best week in ages. USS with ben, gordon, sarah, yong jie (and later dinner with jeannel, zz, jt who joined later) last fri, read "Socrates meets Jesus" (ie personal time) on tues, badminton with hui lin on wed, talk n dinner with Emma on thurs, dinner with bei, bear, jh today, not to mention i hung with wei ming and jackie... I realise I've actually had a really good week (not to mention the stuff I have to blog about haha). Thank God ^.^

I really wanna meet fred, syl and zhi ying... it's been too long... 

Still looking for people to go to Carnivore with >.<

Bahh going to sleep :) I have to remember to post about the other 3 films too, on top of those other events :\

Goodnite!

Ray

haha song in is my head, of course... ^.^ 

IU - Every end of the Day/The Day's End

love the lively beat that's similar to Good Day

it's now my wake up alarm!

it literally gives me the strength to get out of the bed's morning-gravity-field 

and face the crap that will come as i trudge through reservice...

IU <3 ^.^

thx for energising me!

Things happening lately & IU's New Mini Album!

Ok first I'll share this first to get this over with. It's too cute to not share. :P



Love this to bits. :D

Ok next! In complete contrast, something quite horrifying that happened in Singapore lately.



Has all the elements of a drama. Society that's currently quite xenophobic, especially towards those from China at the moment, with a mini-election over the horizon. Rich China immigrant with a Ferrari dashes a red light, smashing into a cab. Kills the Singaporean cab driver, who is sole bread winner of a family with 3 children, as well as the Japanese passenger. The China immigrant also dies. As a side act, somebody robbed the dying Japanese lady after the crash.

Articles in Stomp. Original incident. Family and friends of the immigrant says this. Other opinions, here, here and here.

I wanna write a short reflection on the incident.

1. The Farrari driver is clearly in the wrong. He reached the junction 4 seconds after the red light came on. There is absolutely no excuse for his actions. He simply and clearly did not intend to stop. And no, don't even say the taxi driver wasn't careful. In his shoes, anybody else would also have died. The current system works because every driver trusts other drivers to follow the traffic rules. Additionally, the cab driver had no room to maneuver. So NO! The accident is in no way the fault of the cab driver, and responsibility rests solely on the Farrari driver's shoulders.

2. As one can see, the articles written on Stomp and TemasekTimes are completely biased (ie tends to wards raising a hoo-ha and anti-government respectively) and are of low quality. It worries me, cuz these two sites actually get a lot of traffic, and irresponsible reporting often leads to a lot of other bad shit. Not to mention the amount of critical thinking in the comments is really disturbing as well.

Why are they bad you ask? You want examples you say?

Count the number comments that bring in the Nationality and social status of the Farrari driver as a basis to insult him. How are these factors even relevant to his crime? Do only rich people cause traffic accidents? Do only China immigrants cause such traffic accidents? By all means accuse and rage, but kindly rage objectively, and factually.

Stomp titles their article such that it implies that the Farrari driver's family is rebellious and unremorseful for the actions of the Farrari driver, when it actuality, the family members are only protesting the irrelevant insults  and untruths projected on the Farrari driver. Further, the family of the Farrari driver also experienced a loss. The Farrari driver was dear to them as well. They would naturally be upset. Can they not protest? And wrong though the Farrari driver may be, it doesn't give us the right as observers to insult and "add charges" that are clearly irrelevant to begin with.

I can't even bother with the temasektimes... sigh.

3. Immigrants are not the enemy. They are people as well, and people who've had to leave their homes to make a living. Stop placing emphasis on irrelevant things and instead spend time on bettering one self.

4. Singaporeans are a loo...ong way off from being a gracious society. Sigh at the comments... and good lord for someone to even conceive stealing when the Japanese woman was dying -.-

Alright, after that bit of black stuff, I wanna rescue this post, so...



Cutie bomb!! XD

Ok back to IU!

IU's new album's been released! She's got a super long MV this time! It's nearly half and hr >.< keke

At the End of Each Day

Full MV

There's so much footage here of IU cuteness haha. Like it ttm :D

Song only MV :)

The song's really nice! It has the same feel as Good Day, and is really energising for me. Listening to it non-stop already :)

Just one question. WHO IS THE GUY!!!? (Rumor has it~~ It's just manager oppa XD)

I actually want to end this post already, but I'll give a bonus for this post! Delved into it kinda late but, it's still something crazy that happened. :)

Not subbed by me, just something I found. 23rd April episode of KBS Hello. The crazy stuff starts at around 6 mins.


[ENG] H3LL0 Part 1/6 by shiningsalamanders


[ENG] H3LL0 Part 2/6 by shiningsalamanders


[ENG] H3LL0 Part 3/6 by shiningsalamanders

Are you like that as well? :D

Cheers,

Ray

The Avengers (2012)

About time I posted my next movie review.

I actually have 4, but I'll do it one at a time, or it'd be abominably long.

The Avengers (2012) by Joss Whedon

Scores: Audience, Critics

Imdb: 8.8/10, 69/100

RottenTomatoes: 96%, 93%

I didn't watch this via rental from VideoEZ of course. Watched it the first Friday after it started screening in the local cinemas, with long-time-no-see buddies iz, nanaka n duck.

Anyway, story follows the establishment and coming together of the Avengers, consisting of, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye by Nick Fury, to combat the likes of Loki and an invader army; how they have their contrasting and thus often conflicting personalities drive them apart, but finally putting aside their differences and working together for the greater good.

There... frankly isn't much to say about the movie from an artistic perspective. The movie was distinctively... like shonen, for lack of a better word. It has everything you could want in such a genre. Simple plot. Lots of action scenes, starring brawling muscle men, energy blasts, high tech equipment, and enemies that are gross and huge beyond belief, to the extent that, despite their track record, our heroes are still somewhat the underdogs in that situation. Not to mention you have the Black Widow in her tight black suit... :3

But don't be mistaken, I did enjoy the movie. This movie is better than most of the shonen out there, for the following reasons.

The writing for this movie was unbelievably exceptional. Though simple, the jokes were exceedingly witty, both building on existing material and creating new perspectives. Furthermore, if handled badly, jokes tend to ruin the pace/atmosphere of the moment. Instead, the jokes in this film contribute fully to plot development, the setting and raising of the atmosphere, and pacing of the film. With this cast of heroes, made up mostly of volatile/serious/emo/uptight heroes, jokes are probably not very forthcoming. And yet, most of the jokes fit... pretty well :)

**Spoiler alert**  Don't watch this if you haven't seen the film.

** Spoiler end**

Meh. Couldn't find the exact clip from the film. Those copyright people are doing a really efficient job these days...

Probably the my favourite scene in the film :) In fact, the scenes with the Hulk in this film were all great! The previous movies didn't really do well in terms of portraying the Hulk, and it became more of a demolition fest than anything. Here though, Mark Ruffalo did such a stellar job of portraying the Hulk that, I'd actually put it out to say, I couldn't imagine anyone else as the Hulk. He was that good! The Hulk wasn't a disease. It was a part of Banner, an extension of him, and should be treated as such. Ruffalo enacted the Hulk with that thought in mind, and the outcome was outstanding.

I don't really need to mention Robert Downey Jr. aka Iron Man. He's basically the embodiment of "the party " in the Avengers. No Tony Stark = No jokes, no wisecracks, no funny stuff... etc. His charisma practically powered the movie. Need I say more? 

Some flaws...

There really isn't much to say about the other characters. Thor was suitably over-powered, since he's supposed to be a god. The others though were, kinda underwhelming. Their capabilities were far too insignificant as compared to Iron Man, Thor or the Hulk. The film did well to ground the movie with each character's properties, and utilise them suitably, but for me, I kinda had to make a conscious effort to suspend disbelief.  

Loki was, on the whole, lame. His plot was simple, for a god who was supposed to be full cunning. He was practically incapable of fighting himself. Altogether kinda disappointing in this respect.

I want to give a paragraph here to a side character... Clark Gregg aka Agent Coulson. To avoid spoilers, I won't write more about his exploits, but to this character, insignificant though his role is in this film, if Hulk was awesomeness and Iron Man was the wise cracks guy, Coulson was the one that the film that little bit of soul it needed to differentiate itself from the other *boom boom* *smash smash* films. Whedon did well to give a side character such a surprising role, and he's become one of the most endearing characters in this film.

Overall, this is one of the best films I've seen this year. Equal parts cool, funny and exciting. I'm totally gonna buy the dvd when it gets out :P 

Alright cya for now!

Ray

Camera :D

TTS Comeback & IU's Single! Also T-ara's Plight!

Exams are over!! Whoopie! And my first year in NUS has ended! It felt really fast~ And it has been a fruitful year :) Hope next year will be just as exciting and fun ^.^

Anyway, more happy news! ^.^ Its a great period for me keke~~

TaeTiSeo's Twinkle mini-album's released! It's really catchy! Haha it got stuck in my head after the first time, and I was unconsciously nodding my head to it.

Soooo sassy :P Taeyeon & Fany looks gorgeous in the vid~~ ^.^

I still think Seohyun looks rather awkward though. Like she doesn't really have the confidence to pull it off.

hmm.

One thing though... it was really obvious they were acting? Since it didn't really look like they were trying even when they were shooting those high notes... so much so that it wasn't believable :P

Happy for them that they totally topped the charts with their album upon release though ^.^

So then they performed on M!Countdown! And I was slightly disappointed, but above all quite... worried.

Twinkle on M!Countdown

Baby Steps on M! Countdown

Though it wasn't a bad performance as a whole, and Twinkle was alright, they didn't really pull Baby Steps off that well, though it's a nice song, but I kinda got bored. The dancers were really distracting... and they didn't really look all that confident.

Haha I would like to, at this point, point out the super manly fanchants xD

Also, totally could tell Taeyeon wasn't quite able to hit some of the notes and was pushing it, especially in Twinkle. She probably already strained her voice somewhat after this performance. It's quite worrying since they have a string of promotional performances coming up on the various music programmes like Inkigayo and Music Core... Not to mention Taeyeon would still be promoting her "Missing You Like Crazy"...

Check 2:43 for Baby Steps, 2:40 for Twinkle for an example...

Really just hope they'll take care of their voices yea...

Next, IU also just released her single "Peach" ahead of her mini-album! Another really well done song :) The lyrics are so cute keke... and I guess the guy fans can totally relate to the lyrics :P The tune's really nice and peaceful, and I'm really liking it :)

Peach - IU

The recorder tune's so nostalgic :) 

Haha so Peach also topped the charts. Like, totally topped it. #1 in all boards. And since we know no 2 songs can be "top" at the same time, it seems like at the moment IU has trumped SNSD lol. Kinda have mixed feelings about that haha >.< Hwaiting both of you XD

Looking forward to her full album release, as well as vids for her concert and birthday celebration :)

I also have something about T-ara! Haha as you all know after Heroes I'm also following Jiyeon. So I just found out there's an individual ver thing for their Roly Poly jap ver.

Roly Poly in Japanese - Jiyeon Ver.

Dies from cuteness overload XD

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! haha. Slightly upset that I can't find the dl for it hrmph. :P haha.

Hmm while I'm on the topic of T-ara, I'd like to say I'm really upset with their CEO. Read this.

If one follows T-ara, one would actually realise how busy they are every single day. There was this variety show that's like an expose of the daily schedules of the T-ara members, and they are just so very very busy. Its practically one schedule after another, and they only get something like 2-3 hrs of slp per day? When asked what they would do if they had a holiday, they actually said to just sleep and sleep some more :\ For girls at that age... kinda sad isn't it?

And yet the CEO keeps trying put pressure on them. I wouldn't mind if it's more schedules, since it is in their interest. But no. He announced an upcoming change to the group members of T-ara, claiming it would raise competition among the members and keep them on their toes, even threatening to say that if they become complacent any of the members could be removed. More recently, under the guise of "giving them a holiday", he sent T-ara "to help an upcoming girl group with their debut photoshoot". So after helping them... this upcoming girl group, apparently had the nerve to declare that they hope to beat T-ara. What kind of backing does one need to say that I wonder?

Yea frankly, they should just up the whole thing as a group and go elsewhere. This, _|_, is for the CEO. I just hope things will go more smoothly for them...

Oh last thing I wanna write about! I was watching Strong Heart, Ep23, and K.Will was featured as a guest. I've been wondering about him, and omg he sings so very very well. Totally recommend listening to his songs. I'm gonna go looking for his albums soon too :D

Haha well that's it for now :D Gotta start packing and move out of PGP! keke cya all soon!

More IU goodness :)

Just want to post a song today! More IU goodness that you can't find in any OST! 

Dreaming - IU - Dream High

Keke her voice is so nice I'd rather listen to her ver of "I need a boy" than Big Bang's >.<

Ah well... Back to studying! Last paper tomorrow >.< Wish me luck!

Twinkle! IU! And a bit of my own stuff.

SNSD's finally making a comeback with a subunit! The subunit's called TaeTiSeo, and the subunit is made up of Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, ie the main vocalists of SNSD :)



Album cover! From left to right, Fany, Taeyeon, Seohyun. If you haven't guessed yet, the mini-album they're releasing is called Twinkle! :D

Frankly, it feels... kinda strange. Not that I'm disliking it... just not sure I like it yet :\ I could make out Seohyun (i'd be disappointed with myself if i didn't >.<), but I couldn't tell who was Tiffany or Taeyeon until I read the forum posts >.< In any case, aside from Tiffany, I feel the other two didn't turn out so well, Taeyeon especially... which is a pity since her vocals are amazing, and so I personally feel she should be given slightly more recognition than she is getting now :\ Guess I'll wait for the song...

More material! Teaser Trailers :)

Taeyeon's

Tiffany's

Seohyun's

Omg Kya material :P She looks kinda awkward though :\

Anyway their albums will be out on 2nd May! Looking forward to it! :D

Speaking of albums and comebacks, IU's also making a comeback in May! Totally looking forward to that too! :D It's a pity she wouldn't be doing any promotions via music programmes tho hmm so won't be seeing much footage despite her return to the Korean scene :\

Additionally, IU's also having her first concert, Korea tour (and 19th birthday i just found out! xD) in May! Randy managed to get tickets to the concert! Super envious :P Seems May will be a hectic month for her sia...

Hmm I was originally feeling kind of dark and angsty today, since once again the paper didn't really go as well as I would've liked it to, and the planning of an outing was unsuccessful as well... even though some of them had nothing better to do than to go home... >:( To top it off, was given the 爱理不理 treatment by somebody close despite sincerely trying to be helpful... Yea was really in a complaining mood. But after typing all that positive stuff above I'm feeling slightly better haha. Am I too simple minded? :P

Seriously though, I just want to say one thing. Is it too much to ask that I should want to be spoken nicely to? Especially when I'm actually going out of my way to help? Perhaps I'm too nice... nice to a fault, and I'm being made use of as and when said person, and all those like 'em, feel like it. I'm not someone you talk to as and when you feel like it, and ignore as and when you don't. Perhaps it's time I changed. Perhaps I shouldn't hold my tongue so much, and should instead just give them the good old bitch slap. Perhaps I should become meaner, and more jaded, so I can hurt them back without remorse....

Seems that maybe, there's some truth to the saying "jerks exist because women made them so" after all.

And after that short rant... I'm just gonna say, "damn it Jesus. This ain't easy."

Breaking out of that sour mood, I've been meaning to post this song since at least 3 weeks back already! Found a song by Taeyeon that's really addictive... I thought it was an old song, but apparently it's actually quite recent, and is only just starting to climb the music charts :\ Hope you enjoy it ^.^

Missing You Like Crazy - Taeyeon (SNSD)

Taeyeon's really amazing. Actually wanted to dedicate a post to her, but since I'm short on time... shall keep it short :) Hope her new album is received well!

Nites! :)