Happy Tuesday! The Uncle Fan is back, rested up (sort of), and ready to dive right back into my favorite pastime, girl groups. Before we do anything else though, I wanted to thank the always entertaining and very talented jennywill for filling in for me last week. As I was reading her Confessions of a Fangirl article I realized two things: 1) I know nothing about ZE:A and 2) On a good day I might be able to construct some sentences in an amusing fashion, but I have a long way to go before I can call myself a writer.

Cool Things of the Week

The KARA Meltdown

I know everyone's already talking about it, but let me say for the record that KARA's appearance on 'Radio Star' last week was one of the most bizarre appearances on a variety show that I can recall. For those who missed it, members Hara, Seungyeon, and Jiyoung appeared on the show, which is known to push the boundaries with the questions they ask the guests. Well, apparently it was all too much for the ladies as both Hara and Jiyoung turned on the water works but the crazy part was, it was over questions that were pretty harmless. Hara got upset over repeated references to her dating scandals and in Jiyoung's case, it was over MC Kim Gura asking her to show "aegyo" or cuteness; which by the way is a standard question on EVERY SINGLE show out there. I understand Hara getting a little upset and annoyed. You don't want to talk about your personal life, but guess what, you're a celebrity! You make a lot of money from people's interest in you so you need to take the good with the bad. It's all a part of the package so just be cool about it and give a generic, vague answer like every other celebrity.  And Jiyoung (to steal a SNL bit), "Really?!" Crying because someone asks you to show your aegyo? Come on! I've seen her do this on who knows how many shows but she can't suck it up to do it one more time and starts to cry. Maybe it was just a bad day but the whole thing was strange and J.Y. Park must have felt massively awkward being there.

Girl's Generation + IU = October Comebacks

OK, I got a little light headed just writing that but sure enough, the rumors are flying that GG and IU are indeed returning back to the K-pop scene next month. GG has been radio silent in Korea since their single "I Got a Boy" and whether you love them or hate them, GG is still the big dog when it comes to K-pop girl groups so it'll be interesting to see how SM Entertainment approaches their new album because a big hit would be nice right about now. For IU, I just hope she remembers what got her famous in the first place; her voice and a guitar. Her last album was good because she's a good singer but it was just so over produced. Too much orchestration, too much too much. You know? If she sings the way you sang Lee Moon Sae's "Old Love", I will be first in line to pay for her CD which, incidentally, I haven't done since like 1999.

What is K-pop in America?

We know that Crayon Pop has signed a partnership with Sony Entertainment which means that it's just a matter of time before they begin their journey into international markets, including the United States. On that note, I read some interesting articles about this recently, specifically around the idea that Crayon Pop following Psy will pigeonhole K-pop to American fans as a gimmick-based genre featuring wacky dances and cartoonish personas. That's a very fair point because if I didn't know anything about K-pop except Psy and the next thing that comes along was Crayon Pop and their helmets and that quirky dance, then yes, that's exactly what I'd think as well. So why would K-pop keep sending over these types of artists? It's because K-pop isn't a single entity with a single strategy. It's a generic term used for marketing and branding purposes but in reality, it's a huge number of disparate companies competing against each other to make as much money as they can and when they see an opening, they're going to take it. Right now, the fun, wacky stuff is the type of music that sells and can break through language and cultural barriers so expect to see a few more Crayon Pops in the future but the day will come when other musicians also get their crack at making it big in the States. You just need to keep plugging away.

Girl Group Variety Show Round-Up

• 'Incarnation' - Ladies Code (some serious subject matter on this episode about anorexia)
• 'Radio Star' KARA Hara, Seungyeon, and Jiyoung (the infamous appearance)
• 'Happy Together' - Clara
• 'We Got Married' - Eunji
• 'Star King' - Jewelry, Rainbow (see Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now)
• 'God of Food Road' - Baek Ah Yeon, Kim Ye Rim
• 'Running Man' - A Pink Eunji, Naeun, Girl's Day Minah, Yura, SISTAR Dasom, Hyorin
• 'Real Men' - SISTAR
• 'Barefoot Friends' - Eunji (see Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now)

The Taeyeon Experiment

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

Taeyeon is wearing a Duff Beer beanie and references 'The Simpsons'. I didn't know I could like someone I've never met so much. #nerdsrule

Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week

Mnet is starting a new biography series on K-pop artists with the first episode featuring Psy and his long journey followed by his meteoric rise to fame. Basically, how a short, chubby kid with a potty mouth took the world by storm. That could've been my story…

Uncle Fan Mailbag

I tried to erase it from my consciousness. "You forgot this" (Referring to a .gif of Miley Cyrus twerking on Dr. Jason Seaver's real life son [a really obscure 'Growing Pains' reference])".
-crazynana

First of all, twerking used to be called "grinding up on a dude" but I guess it's a dance now. Second, Miley Cyrus is gross and needs to stop being enabled by her crazy parents.

That's just too much for even me. "You haven't followed SNSD's Japanese releases?"
-elepop

It's not just Girls' Generation, I don't follow any Japanese promotions for any K-pop group. It's just too much. I have a hard enough time following what's going on in the Korean market.

Hopefully we can do more. "Female version? Cool! Now I can fangirl!"
-ly_teng

Reading jennywill's column and the comments made me understand that my knowledge of the current state of K-pop is only in my own little bubble. There's a whole other level of fandom that I'll never reach… like Sisyphus rolling that boulder uphill.

Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now

1. Taeyeon - She wore a Duff beanie
2. Woori - Dancing on 'Star King'. #hot
3. BoA - Will be a part of the bi-annual music special on 'Infinity Challenge'
4. Narae - I like SPICA's new song
5. Eunji - Would have been #1 if not for saying that the Taj Mahal was the capital of India. If she was just joking, she fooled everyone. If she just didn't know and threw out the first thing she thought of, remember to think harder before you speak.

Song of the Week

Most people associate Yoon Mi Rae with rapping but what fans sometimes forget is that she became famous more as a singer with the group Tashannie and and as a solo artist so it was great to see her back at the top of the charts with the song "Touch Love" from the soundtrack to 'Master's Sun'. Great voice and we need more of it.

Have a good one and see you back here next week for some more Confessions of an Uncle Fan.