Comments | snsd_ffa: MBCKpop at Google

arbitrary_greay in snsd_ffa

MBCKpop at Google

May 22, 2012 11:37

Be warned: the current rebroadcast stream doesn't actually show anything until around 33 minutes in. The first performance is at 42:10.

Will be back later with review. Maybe. Without that much snark, surprisingly!
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group: b2st/beast, member: sooyoung, member: sunny, group: mblaq, group: f(x), group: super junior, member: seohyun, member: jessica, *performance, *review, group: sistar, member: hyoyeon, group: dongbangshinki, group: wonder girls, member: tiffany, *video, group: kara, member: taeyeon

Comments 6

askbask May 22 2012, 18:05:08 UTC

It's a nice gesture, but these shows always display artists at their most jet-lagged and auto-pilot-y and standard procedure-y. It's understandable with that amount of work to get the artists there, the equipment, run through rehearsal etc., but you know... *

* I still haven't watched it, and to be fair I hear rumours about special stages (Seohyun doing rock?) so maybe this is better than those global Music Bank shows etc.

arbitrary_greay May 23 2012, 03:36:04 UTC

Yeah, it's a shame that they rarely use the full space of the stage because they have no time to rehearse with the stage layout the way they do for solo concerts, and I initially griped about how much the latest SMTown setlist is the exact same, but then I have to remember that unlike in Korea and Japan, it's not the same group of people attending every concert. Even for SMTown LA, I bet there were a lot of new fans since last year, and they'd want to see the iconic songs performed, especially for groups they don't know that well. So in some respects, standard procedure-y can be good for concert tours. (Not so much for broadcast performances, though, which is why I gripe about the Gayo Daejuns or various awards/festivals being standard performances.)

I haven't ever watched a Hollywood Bowl concert in full before, but I'd say this was better than the usual music show arena special concerts that are in Korea.

At the least, one notable things the overseas shows have are increased cheering for the underdog members.

brackdiamon May 23 2012, 01:48:52 UTC

And wowee, are YooSooRi kind of useless except to make the group look taller and have amazing weave.

I had to give it to Sooyoung during the performance of "The Boys" when she did the dropping move. And her English sounded even smoother this time!
Still, it did feel weird watching them with only 7, I guess since you barely see them without their formations of 9. But Yuri was filming for my episode of Fashion King either for last night or tonight so I can't be too mad. Still though, the last-minute drama schedules over there are so ridiculous!

Tiffany was kind of annoying me with her big mouth.

And DBSK pretty much saved the show at the end. Echoing everything you've said about them.. It's really a shame.

arbitrary_greay May 23 2012, 03:28:39 UTC

Yeah, YooSooRi do make the drop look really good, but they could always use Seo or Hyo as the centerpiece for that. Sooyoung does make that one "The Boys" remix dance break look really impressive in that "tall, skinny, and exotic" way, but if Jessica was in the right set of clothes and dancing at full force she could pull off an approximation of that effect, too. (And SNSD having 9 might be a reason Jessica doesn't dance at full force anymore...)
To be honest, I don't think I would have noticed the difference between 7 and 9 if they hadn't pointed it out, because the cameras are always focussed in, rarely seeing the formations in full. Usually you only see up to four members in the shot at any given time. And the only time SNSD formations really need 9 is when they split into groups of three like the ITNW and TMYW remix dance breaks.

koganbot May 26 2012, 16:55:40 UTC

Didn't see this. My reaction to MBLAQ's TV performances has been that I truly admire their idealism and courage in trying to sing, but their voices are hopeless outside the studio. But maybe their melodrama lets them get away with it. The studio "I Don't Know" is pure drama and emotion, though a commercial flop. (Would love to have heard prime Four Seasons or Lou Christie or Del Shannon go for the falsetto part.)

DBSK are mostly way before my K-pop time (though I'm trying to work my way back). What would you say are their top five, defining "top five" anyway you want (could be dances, could be costumes, could be studio tracks)? Include JYJ if you want.

arbitrary_greay May 27 2012, 20:09:17 UTC

The concert can still be found here.

Heh, maybe they can get the Jersey Boys cast to give it a try, then.

DBSK was before my Kpop time as well, and I've never followed them, and I know even less about JYJ's stuff than post-JYJ DBSK, so I can't say that these are truly representative or even their top:
Rising Sun, which I linked you before, Keep Your Head Down, and Maximum are the Yoo Young Jin "tribal domination" songs that I don't think YYJ has ever given another group.
Mirotic's dance version MV is so fluid that I keep suspecting that it's one of those trick photography videos like the reverse of what they did for Miss A's touch: DBSK would dance Mirotic at increased speed, and then played back at normal speed to give that sense of flow. But the way the loose clothing flops around seems to be at normal speed, so maybe they really are that good at dancing. Looking at other dance versions, this does seem to be the case.
Post-JYJ DBSK's Japanese output has been mostly meh, but B.U.T. stood out to me in a skim of MVs. It's another ( ... )