This page is dedicated to my love for the different faces and emotions that characterize the crazy world of Korean pop music and dramas... be it SYRUPY SWEET, DARK AND SEDUCTIVE, or RADICAL AND ZANY!
Yes... I am Filipino, and I love Korean dramas and music!
I've always been amazed at how easy it is in Korea for artists in established idol groups to try their hand at going solo, but still remain part of their group. I think I've mentioned in an earlier post of mine that this isn't something that most people in the Philippines see with our local groups. Once a person decides to go solo, either the group disbands, or the group moves on with a new member in tow.
I was excited to hear that Jinwoon of JYP Entertainment's ballad group 2AM would be trying his hand in going solo. What's even wilder is that Jinwoon isn't going to do ballads... he's doing ROCK! It blew the heck out of me... a member of 2AM doing rock?!?!? Now that was something to look forward to.
There's a reason that I don't really write about each and every Korean album that comes out. For one thing, I don't really think it's nice to say (or write) bad things about artists. Like I said in my other post, artists are meant to be loved.
My other reason --- well, I go for vocal talent and musicality than hype. A lot of the idols that come out of the woodwork are either a product of tweaking (music editing and auto-tuning galore), and lots of hype. Unfortunately, the bad apples tend to spoil the lot, and even the artists who actually have talent are unfairly judged as well.
This is the reason why I love watching the show "Immortal Song 2" from KBS. It showcases live performances from some of the top idol vocalists in the industry. They're there to prove that idols are artists too, and that they got the stuff to make people believe that true talent does exist in the industry.
The quintet of Boyfriend, composed of Hyun Seong, Kwang Min, Dong Hyun, Jeong Min, Minwoo and Young Min, have been burning the midnight oil in promoting their self-titled album. All that presence and star power is translating into the kind of popularity that produces swarms of online groupies (as evidence to support my hypothesis, in my blog, they are the most searched group in my list of featured artists, and my review on their debut album is my most popular blog post ever since I've started this blog... beat that!).
Although these guys still have a long way to go musically. They're still stuck in newbie mode, so a lot of the material that they're doing is focused on dance and kpop cheese tracks... it's stuff that sells and builds a fan base, but it's not the kind of stuff that makes a defining moment in their career just yet. They're a young male idol group, and they've got a lot of growing up to do. Time will tell when they're really to shine as artists.
These guys have been very busy with their Asian tour, and with their recent promotional tour for "Saint O'Clock" here in Manila, it's not surprising that most of the folks who voted for 2AM were from the Philippines (45% of my blog's hits and pageviews for the month come from my home country... thanks for the support, mga kababayan!).
I never really expected to be blogging from the frontlines of Kpop events... BUT I AM!I'm still at the Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill near Bonifacio Global City, having dinner while the album signing part of the event is still happening (so the boys are actually still on stage while I'm writing this entry).
Why am I here considering it's still a Friday and I'm supposed to be at work?
I filed a leave with my boss yesterday when I realized that the 2AM meet-and-greet was today (I earned a couple of extra leaves last week since I worked through the Lenten holiday). My boss knows how much of a Kpop fan I am, and understood why I wanted to go on leave (or at least I think he understands --- right, boss? Hahaha!). I seldom attend Kpop events, but I think this was pretty important considering that actual artists were visiting... and no less than 2AM too!
The hot ballad foursome of Jo Kwon, Seulong, Jinwoon and Changmin are on their way to Manila from April 27 to 30 to give us a taste of their brand of soulful ballads... and hopefully some hot booty shaking from Jo Kwon!
I'm looking forward to their fan meet at the Venice Piazza @ McKinley Hill near Bonifacio Global City on the 29th (of course... it's where I work! I would obviously go there, right?). But folks can also meet our crooners at the fabulous Newport Mall on the 28th, or at the Eastwood Mall on the 30th for their showcase concert.
The boys of 2AM --- Jo Kwon, Jinwoon, Changmin and Seulong
This piece of news has been flying around the net and the papers for around 2 months now. We don't really get to see many KPop artists visit Manila --- so when they do, the tendency is for people to flock together like pigeons around bread!
It's something funny that I observed when I started attending events like these. You'd see some hard to miss faces, and then you suddenly realize... "Wait a minute... she's with CassPH, right?" (Cassiopeia is the name of the fan club of Dong Bang Shin Ki / DBSK), or "Hmmm... I remember he's an ELF." (ELFs would refer to fans of Super Junior --- referring to "Ever Lasting Friends"). Although when you look at things from a broader perspective, it's great to see fans of different groups come together to support Korean music as a whole. We all have our personal bias / preferences (my bias is for SHINee and the Brown Eyed Girls / BEG), but it's great to see a healthy appreciation of all the acts that find their way to our shores. No in-fighting or anti's running amok... just a lot of screaming, and heart-wrenching sighing. Hahaha!
For those of you who haven't heard of their work, let me post one my fave 2AM songs --- "You Wouldn't Answer My Calls". These guys are so good at what they do... I was crying my eyes out when I watched the vid for the first time.
But then again, some people would want to watch 2AM for the simple pleasure of this...
Can there be any other reason why any sane person who likes Kpop wouldn't want to see these guys... I think not... hahaha ^^p
p.s. In case you're not a Kpop fan, and you're reading this and you're wondering "Why pick a name like 2AM for a group?". Well, these guys were actually recruited from a reality TV show that aimed to create a huge boy band like Super Junior. The show came up a great roster of 11 talented (and, obviously, gorgeous!) guys who they dubbed "ONE DAY". But instead of developing them as one group, they were split into two groups --- one focusing on ballads, and another group focusing on pop-dance music. The ballad group came to be called 2AM, and the dance group was called 2PM.
