SHU-I, let's go!
I have to write this up before I resume watching KM Idol World or I'll never get it done.
A little review--or perhaps simply my humble opinion--on the new Korean boy group, SHU-I.
L-R: Minho, Jinseok, Inseok, Changhyun and Hyungjun.
Birthdates (L-R):
Changhyun (전창현) 1988.06.09
Minho (박민호) 1989.02.01
Inseok (황인석) 1988.02.19
Hyungjun （박형준) 1989.01.26
Jinseok (박진석) 1991.01.22
Now, according to almost all sources, the layout of the group is as follows; Changhyun is Charisma, Minho is Lead Vocal, Inseok is Leader, Hyungjin is Pretty Boy and Jinseok is Dancer. I don't know if it's standard for k-pop groups to do this sort of thing, but I find that absolutely hilarious. While I was trying to find information on these boys (they don't even have a Wiki yet--gasp!) I kept coming across that list and after a while I realised they seriously meant that those were the boys' positions. After chortling for a while and shaking my head, I decided to just leave it alone and actually, you know, pay attention to the music/dancing.
When they were first mentioned on omonatheydidnt, I didn't really pay much attention. I'm actually pretty sure I was still on a G-Dragon high at that point and was also scandalised by the whole Jaebeom fiasco, so new groups were quite far from my mind. When an audio version of their debut song 'Bomb Bomb Bomb' was released I listened to it once, thought it was okay, then didn't really pay any attention to it after that. Their name supposedly stands for 'So Hot Union of Idols' which kind of made me go o__o; but I've started getting used to the cheesiness of band names in k-pop so I quickly decided to ignore it.
Occasionally, SHU-I came up in conversations I had with Hattie though, so when they finally released the MV for their song, I decided to go ahead and take a good look at them.
I'll be perfectly honest and say that at first I loled. Especially right at the beginning of the song, where they're obviously trying so hard to be gangsta. Still, instead of turning it off like I normally would after a bad first impression, I watched the rest of it; I'd already heard the song after all and knew I didn't hate it, so I wanted to give it a chance. I noticed that a lot of people commented that they appeared to be 'trying too hard' and on some parts I had to agree... not with the themes of the video, like some people seemed to think (I thought the concept of the video was pretty cool) but their dancing was a little sloppy and they seemed to be taking a big leap into trying to be edgy and cool when at some points it really didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. However I couldn't really blame any of the video's contents on the boys now, could I? The choreography wasn't created by them (I believe O_o) and the set/concept was most likely not theirs to choose either. So, putting aside all the things I couldn't pin on them, I focused on the things I could.
The dancing. The choreography wasn't dreadful but it could have looked so much better had their moves been a bit sharper and more in sync. I've been spoiled by 2PM I think; watching seven boys dance so perfectly together has ruined me for other dance groups, and watching SHU-I wounded me a bit because I felt like they probably needed to practice a bit more. The live version (one of them, anyway) was a little better, but while watching that I believe their singing suffered a bit, so I still wasn't content.
Regardless of the fact they were kinda newbish (despite the fact they've apparently been training for two years so they really had no excuse) I was morbidly curious and began to do a bit of digging. I found an adorable video in which they all introduce themselves, and a live performance they did on Sukira Kiss the Radio (the sound is out of sync though and I couldn't stop loling at how bored Leeteuk looks while they perform right behind him). They're lucky they're adorable, because that Sukira perf did not help, in my opinion; I don't know if it was because the music was way low, or because the recording was bad, but it sounds teeerrible.
Not feeling particularly optimistic about the newbie band, despite the fact that by this point their song 'Bomb Bomb Bomb' had really grown on me, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue looking into them... until the following video was posted to Omona:
I laughed, and I laughed hard. I had been watching it very seriously right up until it got to Nickhun's part of the dance, which was about the point I went 'o_o; What are they doing--' and then I just ended up laughing. Because this is exactly what I wanted to see. I remembered again suddenly why I like most of these k-pop groups; it isn't just because of the songs, or dances, I prefer to like them for their personalities and how they interact with each other, and to watch these boys take this choreography and have fun with it made me happy. I watch all the idol shows because it gives me an insight into who these young stars are really, behind the scenes, and up until now I've gotten into bands waaaay after their debut so there's been plenty of videos for me to feast on and enjoy. Because SHU-I are so new and no one has really seen anything about them yet (aside from a couple of the members who have been involved in other projects) I found it really hard to thoroughly enjoy them.
The Again & Again video, however, gave me a tantalising glimpse into what could be an amusing little group; and like I said, I'm quite fond of their debut song. I think that once they get into it a bit more, get a bit more experience together, they might actually become something half decent. And even if they don't, they gave me a few laughs and--I have to admit--I am now rather enjoying them.
Thanks for reading~
A little review--or perhaps simply my humble opinion--on the new Korean boy group, SHU-I.
L-R: Minho, Jinseok, Inseok, Changhyun and Hyungjun.
Birthdates (L-R):
Changhyun (전창현) 1988.06.09
Minho (박민호) 1989.02.01
Inseok (황인석) 1988.02.19
Hyungjun （박형준) 1989.01.26
Jinseok (박진석) 1991.01.22
Now, according to almost all sources, the layout of the group is as follows; Changhyun is Charisma, Minho is Lead Vocal, Inseok is Leader, Hyungjin is Pretty Boy and Jinseok is Dancer. I don't know if it's standard for k-pop groups to do this sort of thing, but I find that absolutely hilarious. While I was trying to find information on these boys (they don't even have a Wiki yet--gasp!) I kept coming across that list and after a while I realised they seriously meant that those were the boys' positions. After chortling for a while and shaking my head, I decided to just leave it alone and actually, you know, pay attention to the music/dancing.
When they were first mentioned on omonatheydidnt, I didn't really pay much attention. I'm actually pretty sure I was still on a G-Dragon high at that point and was also scandalised by the whole Jaebeom fiasco, so new groups were quite far from my mind. When an audio version of their debut song 'Bomb Bomb Bomb' was released I listened to it once, thought it was okay, then didn't really pay any attention to it after that. Their name supposedly stands for 'So Hot Union of Idols' which kind of made me go o__o; but I've started getting used to the cheesiness of band names in k-pop so I quickly decided to ignore it.
Occasionally, SHU-I came up in conversations I had with Hattie though, so when they finally released the MV for their song, I decided to go ahead and take a good look at them.
Click to viewI'll be perfectly honest and say that at first I loled. Especially right at the beginning of the song, where they're obviously trying so hard to be gangsta. Still, instead of turning it off like I normally would after a bad first impression, I watched the rest of it; I'd already heard the song after all and knew I didn't hate it, so I wanted to give it a chance. I noticed that a lot of people commented that they appeared to be 'trying too hard' and on some parts I had to agree... not with the themes of the video, like some people seemed to think (I thought the concept of the video was pretty cool) but their dancing was a little sloppy and they seemed to be taking a big leap into trying to be edgy and cool when at some points it really didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. However I couldn't really blame any of the video's contents on the boys now, could I? The choreography wasn't created by them (I believe O_o) and the set/concept was most likely not theirs to choose either. So, putting aside all the things I couldn't pin on them, I focused on the things I could.
The dancing. The choreography wasn't dreadful but it could have looked so much better had their moves been a bit sharper and more in sync. I've been spoiled by 2PM I think; watching seven boys dance so perfectly together has ruined me for other dance groups, and watching SHU-I wounded me a bit because I felt like they probably needed to practice a bit more. The live version (one of them, anyway) was a little better, but while watching that I believe their singing suffered a bit, so I still wasn't content.
Regardless of the fact they were kinda newbish (despite the fact they've apparently been training for two years so they really had no excuse) I was morbidly curious and began to do a bit of digging. I found an adorable video in which they all introduce themselves, and a live performance they did on Sukira Kiss the Radio (the sound is out of sync though and I couldn't stop loling at how bored Leeteuk looks while they perform right behind him). They're lucky they're adorable, because that Sukira perf did not help, in my opinion; I don't know if it was because the music was way low, or because the recording was bad, but it sounds teeerrible.
Not feeling particularly optimistic about the newbie band, despite the fact that by this point their song 'Bomb Bomb Bomb' had really grown on me, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue looking into them... until the following video was posted to Omona:
I laughed, and I laughed hard. I had been watching it very seriously right up until it got to Nickhun's part of the dance, which was about the point I went 'o_o; What are they doing--' and then I just ended up laughing. Because this is exactly what I wanted to see. I remembered again suddenly why I like most of these k-pop groups; it isn't just because of the songs, or dances, I prefer to like them for their personalities and how they interact with each other, and to watch these boys take this choreography and have fun with it made me happy. I watch all the idol shows because it gives me an insight into who these young stars are really, behind the scenes, and up until now I've gotten into bands waaaay after their debut so there's been plenty of videos for me to feast on and enjoy. Because SHU-I are so new and no one has really seen anything about them yet (aside from a couple of the members who have been involved in other projects) I found it really hard to thoroughly enjoy them.
The Again & Again video, however, gave me a tantalising glimpse into what could be an amusing little group; and like I said, I'm quite fond of their debut song. I think that once they get into it a bit more, get a bit more experience together, they might actually become something half decent. And even if they don't, they gave me a few laughs and--I have to admit--I am now rather enjoying them.
Thanks for reading~