We're famous for not having talents, though
Here's HyunA displaying her Pikachu voice (segment begins 26 seconds in), anticipating how a year later she tells Psy he's just her style. But what's striking me now about the clip is Jihyun saying, right at the start, "We're famous for not having talents." I can't tell if this is just a quick quip, a "talent" merely meaning a special side attribute, or if the comment is coming from somewhere deeper.
There's a TV clip a bit later (here, and continues here) of their discussing how they deal with harsh comments, the guys who told them, "It's okay, just get your faces done first" (i.e., told them that their performance wasn't bad but that before they debut they ought to all have plastic surgery*), and people later who called them "deud minute," an acronym for "I couldn't even listen to or see 4minute." Those of you who've been following this longer and more attentively than I have: Are 4minute's looks considered a challenge to typical idol-girl faces and fashion? HyunA, of course, is Sex Symbol Of The Moment in K-pop, and she seems a master at being able to switch from goofball and brat in one second to total command in the next, donning and shucking off cuteness at will, while nonetheless coming across as fundamentally warm and spontaneous, and a light-hearted attention grabber. (If you stick with the Mr. Teacher vid beyond Pikachu, you'll see a funny sequence where HyunA's videoing the rest of 4minute head-on as they walk along a Kuala Lumpur street, but complains that it's scary for her to walk backwards, so makes all of them walk backwards so that she can be walking forward while continuing to work the camera.) But I wonder if the rest are considered non-idol-style in their looks and demeanor (and if that's felt to be a plus by their fans). Gayoon's face looks squashed-in, and Jihyun's can fall into a weary or sardonic droop, though I don't think that makes either of them unattractive.
I also wonder if HyunA's quick image switches make the general K-pop audience uneasy; to me she's thoroughly coherent and has done a smooth job of disarming the opposition.
[Update: Oh yeah, if you didn't see it, I added this update to my " Long Giraffe Of Genius" post: In the main body of the post I'd written: "HyunA lays out the predicament but also ends each line with a flourish of staccato syllables, 'naw-aw aw-aw-aw, naw-aw aw-aw-aw,' 'heh-eh eh-eh-eh, wah-ah ah-ah-ah' that, while not being out-and-out parody, are amusing enough to detach HyunA from the anguish that the music is pretending to establish (I'm at a loss to convey how good this is/she is: I imagine her singing each syllable with a vertically oval open mouth while making her eyes as round as her mouth, in faux innocence)." But checking the live version on Music Bank for who's singing or miming what, I see that it seems to be Jiyoon rather than HyunA doing the brilliantly comic (and beautiful) "naw-aw aw-aw-aw, naw-aw aw-aw-aw," "heh-eh eh-eh-eh, wah-ah ah-ah-ah." Except in some other performances it doesn't seem to be Jiyoon - or anyone - who is mouthing them. My guess is that live all the silly syllables are piped-in, so that the singers don't have to worry about interjections while anticipating or singing their leads. But I'll wager a small amount of money that on the recording those syllables are sung by either Jiyoon or Gayoon or maybe both (one doing the silly verse syllables and one doing the silly chorus syllables). Those two do a big hunk of the rocking and wailing too - though the whole crew are enjoying themselves extravagantly. (While you're visiting the vid, notice how HyunA's on a total lark through "Dream Racer." As for the Sistar songs, Hyorin's singing is as good as its reputation, from smooth to impassioned with what seems like utmost ease. It just took till "Alone" to be put in service of a song I actually like. All the twitching and bending over, though, is still an embarrassment. I assume it's supposed to be erotic and maybe funny, too, but it's like someone continually whacking your nose with a chair cushion. I suppose cheap and tawdry is a better setting for greatness than a jewelry display case would be, but the cheapness doesn't have to be downright annoying.)
One problem with figuring who's singing what on the basis of who's mouthing what is that in at least some versions of "Volume Up," Jiyoon is singing along with pretty much everything, though not usually into the mic. She must like the song.]
*I gather that their label president encouraged them not to. And as Jihyun says, it's too late now anyway, since everyone knows their faces.
Click to viewThere's a TV clip a bit later (here, and continues here) of their discussing how they deal with harsh comments, the guys who told them, "It's okay, just get your faces done first" (i.e., told them that their performance wasn't bad but that before they debut they ought to all have plastic surgery*), and people later who called them "deud minute," an acronym for "I couldn't even listen to or see 4minute." Those of you who've been following this longer and more attentively than I have: Are 4minute's looks considered a challenge to typical idol-girl faces and fashion? HyunA, of course, is Sex Symbol Of The Moment in K-pop, and she seems a master at being able to switch from goofball and brat in one second to total command in the next, donning and shucking off cuteness at will, while nonetheless coming across as fundamentally warm and spontaneous, and a light-hearted attention grabber. (If you stick with the Mr. Teacher vid beyond Pikachu, you'll see a funny sequence where HyunA's videoing the rest of 4minute head-on as they walk along a Kuala Lumpur street, but complains that it's scary for her to walk backwards, so makes all of them walk backwards so that she can be walking forward while continuing to work the camera.) But I wonder if the rest are considered non-idol-style in their looks and demeanor (and if that's felt to be a plus by their fans). Gayoon's face looks squashed-in, and Jihyun's can fall into a weary or sardonic droop, though I don't think that makes either of them unattractive.
I also wonder if HyunA's quick image switches make the general K-pop audience uneasy; to me she's thoroughly coherent and has done a smooth job of disarming the opposition.
[Update: Oh yeah, if you didn't see it, I added this update to my " Long Giraffe Of Genius" post: In the main body of the post I'd written: "HyunA lays out the predicament but also ends each line with a flourish of staccato syllables, 'naw-aw aw-aw-aw, naw-aw aw-aw-aw,' 'heh-eh eh-eh-eh, wah-ah ah-ah-ah' that, while not being out-and-out parody, are amusing enough to detach HyunA from the anguish that the music is pretending to establish (I'm at a loss to convey how good this is/she is: I imagine her singing each syllable with a vertically oval open mouth while making her eyes as round as her mouth, in faux innocence)." But checking the live version on Music Bank for who's singing or miming what, I see that it seems to be Jiyoon rather than HyunA doing the brilliantly comic (and beautiful) "naw-aw aw-aw-aw, naw-aw aw-aw-aw," "heh-eh eh-eh-eh, wah-ah ah-ah-ah." Except in some other performances it doesn't seem to be Jiyoon - or anyone - who is mouthing them. My guess is that live all the silly syllables are piped-in, so that the singers don't have to worry about interjections while anticipating or singing their leads. But I'll wager a small amount of money that on the recording those syllables are sung by either Jiyoon or Gayoon or maybe both (one doing the silly verse syllables and one doing the silly chorus syllables). Those two do a big hunk of the rocking and wailing too - though the whole crew are enjoying themselves extravagantly. (While you're visiting the vid, notice how HyunA's on a total lark through "Dream Racer." As for the Sistar songs, Hyorin's singing is as good as its reputation, from smooth to impassioned with what seems like utmost ease. It just took till "Alone" to be put in service of a song I actually like. All the twitching and bending over, though, is still an embarrassment. I assume it's supposed to be erotic and maybe funny, too, but it's like someone continually whacking your nose with a chair cushion. I suppose cheap and tawdry is a better setting for greatness than a jewelry display case would be, but the cheapness doesn't have to be downright annoying.)
One problem with figuring who's singing what on the basis of who's mouthing what is that in at least some versions of "Volume Up," Jiyoon is singing along with pretty much everything, though not usually into the mic. She must like the song.]
*I gather that their label president encouraged them not to. And as Jihyun says, it's too late now anyway, since everyone knows their faces.