How many great music videos did we see this past year in the world of K-Pop? Alot it seems, some could say a good portion of the videos were better than the songs themselves. But that's another conversation in itself. Today I want to highlight my favorite top 10 videos, whether it be for the choreography, impressive plot lines, or just for being visually stunning. Enjoy!
1.MBLQ~ Smoky Girl
You guys know how much I love this song/video so I won't take the time to reiterate that fact. What I will say though is great job MBLAQ for kicking ass!
2.Seungri~Gotta Talk To U
Dreamy. That's the first word that comes to mind with Seungri's latest single. The boy looks sharp and the song accentuates his vocal skills beautifully.
3. Lee Hyori~ Amor Mio feat. Park Gyong of Honey G
Ahhh, probably my absolute favorite video of Lee Hyori's. It's very simplistic but with such a powerful song it doesn't need a showy music video. Also, Hyori looks absolutely gorgeous! 4. Younha~Run
Love this music video, while it might seem plain, the overall message that the video is conveying is beautiful. The cinematography is excellent! My favorite part is the E.T. lookalike and her flying past the moon in unison. 5. 2PM~ A.D.T.O.Y.
One word...HOT! Never been into their music but man this song has been played on repeat constantly. Their incredible dancers, but Junho is the one that caught my eye. The guy is talented!
7. Lee Hyori~Miss Korea
Lee Hyori really came out with some top notch music videos from her latest comeback. I love how she incorporates social issues in her songs it's nice to see artist come out and acknowledge these things.
8. VIXX~Hyde
Don't really know too much about this group but their choreography was off the chain! They had an awesome concept and all the costumes and effects worked well for them.
9. B.A.P.~Coffee Shop
This would be my first ballad-type BAP song and they did a fantastic job. I loved the scenery shots of the many different sights, it was beautiful. Great song. 10. Junsu~Incredible
What can I say it's so Junsu. From the colorful outfits to the dance, its the quintessential summer song! Wish it got more fanfare though. The best part of the video is that Junsu and his dancers look like their having a blast.
The Korean singer Younha recently came into my radar and boy do I wish I had found her sooner. She's a gifted singer in that every song she just shines. I'm becoming a fan the more times I listen to her songs. What stands out the most to me is her youthful, energetic voice. In just a couple of minutes I listened to a few of her older and newer songs and the growth she displays with every album is just amazing. Definitely the poster child for progression with every release.
The Real Reason Why We Broke Up
Even though it is a break up song, it doesn't have that sad,mournful quality to it. I feel the lyrics themselves reflects how a person feels when you've done everything you could to salvage the relationship but recognized how futile it was to reconcile. My favorite part is when the acoustic guitar comes in as that is where the song actually picks up the temp and has an happier sound to it. For instance, in the beginning she was sad about the outcome but towards the middle of the song accepts the outcome and ends up happier. This song really showcases her vocal ability where instead of the music overpowering her, its set as the backup to her voice. I absolutely love the finger-snaps in the background it definitely helps keep the song upbeat.
When the video first starts with just the slow melody playing everyone
in the scene is frozen then when the guitar comes in, life returns back
to them. What I perceived from the video is how the dancers move and dance around Younha and Park Ki Woong but time and life seem to pass them by. Its like their stuck in this rut and going nowhere. Throughout the video these particular scenes reiterate that while the world is alive, this couple have been dead a long time. It kept eating at me how they would show Park Ki Woong drawing a flower and I wasn't fully getting it but now seems somewhat clear. The drawing is suppose to represent their relationship in progress and then towards the end when he stops and burns the drawing, its a symbol of the relationship being burned. Sad, but a moving video of the reasons why this relationship ended. Hope you guys like the song!
Lee Hyori to me is one of Korea's most beautiful woman in the entertainment business. Not only is she a pretty face but also a wonderful singer who I recently discovered. Her new single "Bad Girls" put her in my path as one day being bored, surfed on AllKPop, saw the video for the song and thought "Why not"? For some reason this season, the theme of "bad girls" has been going around first with Lee Hyori's song, CL's"The Baddest Female", then Bumkey's"(Crazy Love) Bad Girl." All in a span of a couple weeks. Tis the season to be a bad girl it seems.
Bad Girls
Personally, I think we all have a little of that "bad girl" image in us, the kind where your the "cool" bad girl who strives to be different by not caring what people think and have a mind of your own. I believe you can look at the term "bad girl" and flip it to have two taboo meanings. The "good" bad girl or the one who acts the stereotypical bad girl who flaunts her promiscuity around and likes to party. This entire album has such an easy listen feel to it. Every song flows beautifully together, which doesn't happen often with artist and the order they place the songs, but for the album it works wonderfully. I absolutely love the concept behind the album, strong woman empowering messages and this retro/bluesy/pop sound which fused together creates one awesome record. I won't go through each song but I will highlight the ones that stood out to me the most. Already got "Bad Girls" out of the way so moving on to "Miss Korea".
Miss Korea
This song comes at a perfect time in today's society as the world's beauty standards seem to have evolved even more. Everywhere I go whether it's surfing around on tumblr or facebook girls these days have become so obsessed with wanting to look like someone else and being jealous of what they naturally have. Which saddens me because we've all been there-including myself where you tend to compare yourself to ever single pretty girl out there, but you've got to learn to look in the mirror and love what makes you so special. Now on to this great and powerful song! To me this song is saying that you shouldn't conform to what everyone around you is trying to look like. You are beautiful, you are the one standing on the podium after they proclaim you "Miss Korea". It's a beautiful message to give to young girls telling them that they are beautiful. There's a part in the song where she talks about having something materialistic like a stylists to make them "shine" and have the world notice them. She then moves on to say that she doesn't want to cry over something that's a "springtime illusion." Very moving lyrics to a song that at first glance doesn't seem like much but if you look under the surface it hits right at home.
Fan or not of Lee Hyori, you've got to check out the rest of the album, trust me its worth the listen.
Guess who is making a return to the fashion world!!!When I heard news through the grapevine that Gemma Ward is finally coming back I got suuuuuuper excited!! She was the one who first introduced me to this crazy world of fashion some 5 years ago. She has this baby doll face that makes her extremely young in every editorial she does, but still has the talent to use what would seem a crutch to her advantage.She took the modeling world by storm and when she does indeed come back, many including myself, will be celebrating.
Australian fashion mode/actress
Debuted at Australian Fashion Week in 2003
At the peak of career, she retired from the model industry in 2008
Hey guys,
So this will be my first fashion haul ever on here! It felt like forever for the clothes to come to my doorstep but their here now ;) hope you guys enjoy.
I purchased 5 items from Forever 21 to include 2 dresses, 1 skirt, a everyday basic tee and my personal fave a sheer pink blouse. I've been looking for simply but key pieces to wear with dresses and skirts to make the outfit look not so blah.
Here is the first item a leopard print dress. I love because not only is it leopard - a style I've never worn, but the back has this criss-crossed design with the straps that just makes the dress even cuter.
Isn't the back just gorgeous! Now for the actual material of the dress, it's this fine but cheaply made material made from polyester. I can't complain because it's so comfortable to wear.
This dress is probably my fave of the bunch because it is my first floral dress ever. The thought of printed floral dresses/skirts ever being hip never came to mind but now look how its exploded everywhere. All the dress needs is biker boots, leather jacket and a fedora hat to complete it.
The material is made out of polyester as well it feels and looks great. You can do soo many things to customize this dress to your own personal style.
I bought the cute pink striped shirt to accessorize with my wardrobe and bring some more color to it.
The fabric is this mesh-ish type so suitable for the spring and summer and very light.
Next I bought your basic black tee just because I needed a new one. And who doesn't love the basic stuff.
Also got this tie-dye skirt which looks red in the picture but is actually this light orange hue. At first, I wasn't so sure it would look as good as what the reviews said, though a different look from my usual wardrobe choice, I like it. Have no clue what to pair this with, so if anyone has any ideas on what look will go best with it please feel free to comment below.
It started with the intro music and from there I was all in. By now you all have heard "Smoky Girl" the amazing new song from the group MBLAQ. In the past I had never looked at this group as someone who is a a great group, maybe because I've only listened to so few of their hits but with this dare I say hit on their hands they can only go up from here. Along with its sensual beats Smoky Girl has an amazing dance routine which is as smooth as the song. This is a very mature sound coming from this group and the guys look quite dashing in their suits but the one I was wowed by the most was Thunder. He had my attention from the beginning and it was not just the hair color- which btw is pretty cool, he commanded the screen with nothing more than a glance. The maknae isn't so young looking anymore and it clearly shows here. All in all I give this song and Mblaq a big thumbs up!
I am finally back after taking a very long extended break! I admit at first it was just to give me time to study for finals but it ended up turning into taking the opportunity to refresh not only my writing but myself also. So for those who stick around and read this blog thank you for your patience. Ok, now back to important things *snicker*.
Once I wipe the tears and throw away the tissues is when I can talk about what a beautiful, light-hearted drama this was. And here I thought no drama could ever surpass Gaskital & K2H in my heart, well guess its big enough to fit all three now! Thanks to such a wonderful find I now have new fave actor/actresses to watch to include Im Jo Eun & Oh Man Seok ! Didn't remember that she was in Wild Romance as one half of the dorkable robot couple..just knew there was a reason I loved her so much. This story has so much heart and emotion to it. It's not just about college kids coming together and bonding over musicals, it's about the special relationships and growth that comes out of that shared experience.
Starring Im Jo Eun as Oh Doo Ri
Im Joo Hwan as Jang Jae-Heon
Kim Ji-Won as Park Tae-Hee
Jo Jung Suk as Kim Byeong-Geon
Daesung as Ha Do-Seong
Jang Hee-Jiin as Eun Chae-Yeong
Oh Man Seok as Teacher Seon-Woo Young
Lee Soo-Hyeok as Lee Soo-Bin
Whats Up caught my eye mainly because of Daesung. I remember watching a Big Bang segment where they went to visit him on the set, so it was always "Man I need to watch that!" because he can sing and I wanted to see his acting skills. Well, yes he can sing but he's also a pretty good actor too. In fact, the entire cast is bursting with talent not only with their acting but they all sing pretty well. I was most surprised with Im Jo Eun & Kim Ji Won's singing parts. While Ji Won has the softer, angelic voice, Jo Eun has the more deeper-rockish voice which suits the character she plays fine.
Here's a clip of her singing a cover of "Whats Up" by 4 Non Blondes.
What I liked most besides the storyline and acting was what an awesome soundtrack this drama would have been. Yes, you heard right, this drama does not have an official OST! Its a crying shame, because each song is placed just right for the emotion of the scenes. Another song that comes to mind is the cover "It's Not Goodbye" by Laura Pausini that both Kim Ji Won & Jo Jung Suk sing. Its a moving song filled with emotions about not letting go of someone you love.
Kim Byeong Geon was my 2nd favorite character because of how pitiful and vulnerable he seemed. At first I just assumed this would be the guy who eventually overcomes his fear of singing but turns out Byeong-Geon has more to offer than that. What this actor has is the ability to make the audience fall in love with his character immediately. If anyone remembers Jo Jung Suk appears in King 2 Hearts as the trusted confident to LSG's character, and the new family drama You're the Best Lee Soon Shin (which is an awesome drama by the way). On paper it is a pretty simple person to play but what he does is makes them into something more then what they appear. He lacks confidence in the singing department but overtime with the help from friends he overcomes his fear. What it really came down to was how his family treated him. They basically didn't care what he did which is why it was kept a secret in the first place. While he was overcoming stage-fright offstage he was a pretty hilarious person. He was the type of person that thought he was funny but really wasn't, which makes it even funnier the face expressions that he makes!
I could talk about the main storyline with Jang Jae-Heon & Park Tae-Hee but I wouldn't have much to say. Jang Jae-Heon was the typical not-a-bad-boy-but-not-good-boy who just wanted a change in his life outside of stealing wallets from drunken ahjussi's. I liked them as a couple, they really jelled well but at times I felt they hogged the screen time too much.
Now Oh Doo Ri couldn't have been better portrayed than by Jo Eun! This character was my favorite because she was so real, cool and loyal. I loved especially the storyline of her falling in love with her professor because it was so innocent. Haha the look on Prof. Woo Young's face is priceless in this photo. Sure her love may have been on-sided but it was not all in vain. As she became the one person to take care of him and be his guardian in his last days. Those scenes between the two were beautiful and sad because this was the first man in her life she could trust and now he was dying. Prof. Woo Young was so hilarious and real just like Oh Doo Ri and at times I believed he admired her tenacity, though I couldn't help but wish he returned her feelings somewhat.
Whenever she cried, I cried, whenever she laughed, I laughed with her. The writers couldn't have created a better character than her. I love when Korean dramas actually present a good strong female character instead of the same one-dimensional/weak woman they usually show. Actually that goes for alot of movie and dramas not just the Korean ones. I hope you guys take the time to see what a wonderful drama this is. Alot of heart and soul was poured into it and it shows throughout the entire drama.
![books0977:
Gemma Ward with cello. “Hot Town.” Ward Joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Shot by Mario Testino for US Vogue. May 2005. Classical music is never out of style.
Ward (Australian, 1987-) was discovered in 2002 while accompanying her friends to a modelling competition. Ward said, “I had come straight from my auntie and uncle’s farm, and I was wearing this big gray barn jacket with mud all over it. When the scout came up to me, I said, ‘No, thank you.’ They forged my mum’s signature [for mandatory parental consent], and pushed me in front of the cameras.”
i wonder how she feels about the whole fashion industry… i wish i could talk to her, she seems smart and subtle ♥](http://25.media.tumblr.com/931dd6b13257c4c24fecb5c3cb5be307/tumblr_mjucrhzAUT1rrnekqo1_500.jpg)
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