The weather has been pretty hot the last few days in New York City and it looks like the K-pop girl group scene is also heating up this month with comebacks from After School, SISTAR, and more. I love me a good old fashioned competition so I'm eager to see what each group has up their sleeve for all of their respective comebacks. There's a lot more going on this week so let's get back to the action.

Cool Things of the Week

The Variety Show Savior, Lee Hyori

The new SBS variety show 'Barefoot Friends' debuted with much fanfare this past April featuring a large cast which included veterans Kang Ho Dong, Yoon Jong Shin and some big names who haven't been active in the variety scene like Kim Bum Soo and Yoon Si Yoon. But as happens often, the show wasn't gaining much traction and ratings were slipping. Instead of performing a massive overhaul or changing out producers and writers, the show did what all variety shows wish they could do when they need a boost; they brought in Lee Hyori. Over the years Hyori has become a variety show favorite on shows like 'Happy Together' and 'Family Outing' even winning the Grand Prize at the 2009 SBS Entertainment Awards with Yoo Jae Suk giving rise to the phenomenon known as the "Hyori Effect". This term was coined because any show she appeared on would do well in the ratings. I think her addition is a bit of a desperate Hail Mary but it's one that can work because I love Lee Hyori's personality and her attitude is just what the show needs. For me, the main reason I couldn't really get into 'Barefoot Friends' was because the show was too focused on the work and not building the characters of the cast members and their relationships. For example, the reason people love 'Running Man' is that each member has a specific character and role to play (think Sparta-kooks, Ace, Giraffe) and the mission is just another setting to display the different characters in action. 'Barefoot Friends' can do this because the cast members definitely have their own personalities and if they just change the concept a little to have more interaction and less hauling stuff from a market, then it can work. Plus, a little more UEE never hurt anyone.

After School + Teaser Photos = Happy Uncle Fan 

Speaking of UEE, of all of the June comebacks, the one that I'm most looking forward to is After School. The thing is, the main reason isn't about the music but simply because no other group does teaser photos better than After School. Yes, that's totally superficial and honestly, a bit dumb... but, I am such a sucker. The sad part is that in my real life, I actually do marketing for a living and you would think that I could somehow control my caveman like urges at pretty pictures but you'd be wrong.

I'm Confused by the Whole T-ara N4 / Chris Brown Thing

So apparently T-ara N4 performed at a Chris Brown party on Memorial Day in Las Vegas and right in the middle of their performance, Brown cuts the girls off, starts hyping his new single, and then the DJ starts back up and the girls are kind of dazed and confused. I mean, who just cuts people off mid-performance and makes them start over again? It's a total jerk move but what do you expect from Chris Brown? If you can't tell, personally speaking, I'm not too fond of the guy and I just can't understand what T-ara's management hopes to gain with this association. Maybe one of you readers can tell me what the benefits of working with Chris Brown are. Did this help their career in any way, shape, or form? Maybe I'm just too old and dumb to understand so please, fill me in if this is a smart move that I just don't understand.

Girl Group Round-up 

I don't watch every single variety show out there but I do try and watch as many as I can (I have a disease). In case anyone missed any shows, I thought it would be cool to do a quick recap of girl group appearances that I saw this past week. I'm sure I missed some so please feel free and add. Also, I'm not going to include any shows where the girls are members of the cast like Na Eun and 'We Got Married'. 

'Happy Together' - Fei 

'Star King' - Dal Shabet (I don't know the individual names) 

'Infinite Challenge' - SISTAR (hilarious musical number with Jung Joon Ha) 

'1 Night 2 Days' - YoonA (see .gif of the week below) 

'Barefoot Friends' - Nana, Park Ji Yoon, G.NA, and Ryu Won (voices only) 

'Real Men' - Girl's Day

The Taeyeon Experiment

Each week I will post a picture from Taeyeon's Instagram feed in the hopes that one day she will post a picture of reading this column.

I love this picture but since I'm not clever enough to think of a great caption, post your best captions in the comments below and I'll include my favorites in next week's article.

Photo/.Gif/Video of the Week

YoonA was a guest on the the show '1 Night 2 Days' and was asked to choose which members she would team with by kicking the butts of the members she didn't want to team with. Let's just say that Kim Jong Min's butt shaking made for an easy target.

*Send your favorite pics/.gifs/videos to KpopUncleFan@gmail.com or tweet them to @KpopUncleFan.

The Uncle Fan Mailbag

For everyone who couldn't find the Nine Muses documentary that I mentioned last week, here's the video for your viewing pleasure.

Nine Muses Documentary Idol from nm9t on Vimeo.

My Top Five Favorite Girl Groupers

1. IU - WHAT?! Did the apocalypse just happen? Did dogs and cats just become friends? Can someone check to make sure the moon is still in its orbit and that monkeys aren't flying out of anyone's butts?!?  IU just took over the top spot because I watched the latest episodes of her drama 'You're the Best Lee Soon Shin' and the moment ALL fans were waiting for just happened and it was crucial. Like I've said, never underestimate the power of an addicting drama.

2. Taeyeon - While it pained me to do so, it was only fair to drop her down a spot. The Instagram updates are great but once TTS drops their new single, I'm sure she'll make her way back up.

3. Baek Ji Young - Not a girl grouper but she just got married so, congrats!

4. Bora - A mysterious teaser image with Bora sitting on one of those acrobatic, circus rings was enough for my favorite SISTAR member to make it back on the list. #borarules

5. Bada - (see Song of the Week)

Song of the Week

Former S.E.S member Bada was the big winner on last week's 'Immortal Song 2' featuring Lee Seung Chul. She performed her version of "Girl's Generation" (yes, it was a hit song back in the late 80's before your favorite girl group brought the song back) and wowed the crowd with her energy and very toned arms and legs.

That's it for this week so see you back next week. Uncle Fan... out