Happy Tuesday K-pop fans. I love this time of year when the weather starts to cool down (hoodie weather is the best), football season kicks off (although the Redskins are horrifyingly bad), and when all the K-pop girl groups inevitably flood the internet with their 'hanbok' pictures during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). While Autumn doesn't technically start until next Sunday, it's never too early to enjoy the best season of the year. But first…
Cool Things of the Week
The T-ara Comeback
T-ara as a full group hasn't been promoting in Korea but they've certainly been in the news with constant accusations of bullying, members additions and subtractions (what was that whole Ahreum thing), and logic-defying partnerships with Chris Brown (Yeah, I know it was T-ara N4 but it's all the same thing). There is no other group in K-pop with as much drama surrounding them and frankly, they could use a little good news right now. I've read that the new mini-album is dropping October 10th and will feature the classic T-ara sound but better. I liked a lot of of T-ara's earlier music, especially the more mellow, electric sound, so I hope this is the start of not being the punching bag of K-pop any more.
IU Teaser Pics
The first teaser images are out for IU's new album and they're pretty interesting. The entire look & feel seem to suggest that IU is going with a more mature, I'm-a-big-girl look and that concept will probably extend to her music. Last week I went into a bit of a diatribe about how I was hoping that IU's next album would be more stripped down and a return to just her voice and guitar. I doubt it'll go that far but either way, but I think the days of mammoth pop orchestrations are gone. I'm definitely ready for some IU.
'WIN: Who is Next' is the Best New Show on TV
The new YG Entertainment show 'WIN: Who is Next' featuring two teams of guys vying to be the next YG boy group is just good. This past week's episode featured the YG boys taking a trip to JYP Entertainment for a good old fashioned battle. The episode discussed this but the two previous YG vs. JYP battles are legendary. The first one was Rain against Se7en and the second 2PM vs. Big Bang. How cool would it have been to be in that room? YG has struck gold with the concept so while the show is unrelated to girl groups, I think that this model can easily be translated to introduce the perpetually pushed back new YG girl group.
Reply 1994 Promo Pics!
One of the most anticipated dramas in recent memory (well, maybe just for me) has to be tvN's 'Reply 1994' and last week we got our first look at the cast in their early 90's gear. Following up on the massive success of 'Reply 1997' (among my favorite dramas of all-time), 'Reply 1994' will follow an earlier generation of K-pop fans during the Seo Taiji and Boys era. That age of Korean music was the birth of what became modern K-pop and it will be a great chance to take a look back at such an influential and fun time in K-pop. I'm going to have look through my stuff and bust out the CD's and Discman with the sponge headphones… How many of you have no idea what I'm talking about?
Girl Group Variety Show Round-Up
A list of all the girl group appearances on variety shows (that I saw) this week.
- 'Incarnation' - UEE, Seungyeon (See Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now)
- 'Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook' - SPICA
- 'Immortal Classics 2' - Ailee, Ivy
- 'Star King' - Jewelry, Jin Bora (pianist), KARA
- 'Mamma Mia' - Minzy, Ailee, Gyuri
- 'Taxi' - Brown Eyed Girls
- 'Beatles Code 2' - Girls' Generation Tiffany, Yuri, Seohyun, TAEYEON!
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.
That sound you just heard was my jaw unhinging itself and plummeting to the floor. #holymoly
Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week
See Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now
Send me your favorite pics or videos via Twitter @KpopUncleFan or email me at KpopUncleFan@gmail.com.
Uncle Fan Mailbag
This is an actual comment. "AKP DID NOT WATCH THE RADIO STAR!!! AKP DID NOT WATCH THE WHOLE RADIO STAR!!!! AKP "STUPID".
-edr49890
Wow. First, your comment should be directed at me, not allkpop. Second, I did watch the entire episode of "the" 'Radio Star' and I actually watched it twice just to see if I missed anything. You're right on point when you say Jiyoung explained why she cried during the show but my whole point is that that was a ridiculous reason. Jiyoung has been on 'Radio Star' with Kim Gura before and she has been asked to show "aegyo" before. To cry at this particular moment just didn't make sense to me.
It takes a lot of hard work and having no life. "I'm always amazed how you can track all the variety shows where girl groups appear".
-xanita131x
I don't know if you work full time or not but if you do then you know that basically your weekdays are fairly planned out. With the exception of an occasional happy hour or random event, it's work, gym, apartment for me. That gives plenty of time to catch up on all the shows and trying to finally finish Assassins Creed 3.
You've come to the wrong place my friend. "I was hoping I could read anything EXO related"
-lavapop
Even up to Big Bang and 2PM I knew some things about the groups and could reel off the members' names but the really new groups like EXO? Forget about it. I know nothing. You'll have to teach me about them.
A Few Non-K-pop Related Things
Another great thing about this time of year are all the new TV shows launching for the Fall season. We have some returning favorites and some brand new ones making headlines so here's a short list of my 5 must-watch shows of the season:
'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D'
Agent Coulson lives. I have been looking forward to this show ever since I fortuitously attended the panel for it at ComicCon last year (that's a ComicCon reference 2 weeks in a row now!) and can't wait to see how they address what happens in the movie Marvel world with the TV show.
'Once Upon a Time'
Magic portals to Neverland, appearances by Ariel, Emma, Snow, Regina, and Hook teaming up to find Henry, and Peter Pan as the bad guy? Dude… this is could be epic (and I hate using that word).
'Elementary'
I'm not typically one for crime dramas but Jonny Lee Miller who plays Sherlock Holmes on the show (and ex-husband of Angelina Jolie) is phenomenal. He's so good that he makes up for Lucy Liu's apparent lack of any facial expressions other than that of bored detachment.
'How I Met Your Mother'
I haven't been the most faithful follower but it's Barney and Robin's wedding and the introduction of The Mother! How can you not watch?
'The Blacklist'
James Spader plays a criminal who is the most wanted man by the FBI but instead of fleeing, he turns himself in to help a rookie FBI profiler find criminals so bad, they aren't even known. The preview hooked me.
Honorable Mention:
'Once Upon a Time in Wonderland', 'Homeland', 'Arrow', 'Modern Family', 'Parks & Recreation' (don't go Chris and Anne!)
Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now
- Taeyeon - I'm STILL wiping up my drool.
- Seungyeon - Her appearance on 'Incarnation' showed that she's emotional, quick tempered, and protective of her family. What's not to like about that?
- Narae - I have a thing for Narae and the rest of the SPICA girls and can't figure out why they're not as popular as other groups.
- Yura - Just out of spite to all the haters who bashed her because of a completely context-less picture involving Suzy.
- Sandara Park - She's somewhere in New York City and if I had the time, I would be creepy and try to track her down.
Song of the Week
There's been a lot of SPICA today but I realized that I don't think I've ever posted the video so for anyone who hasn't seen it, here's the video for "Tonight" featuring the queen bee Lee Hyori.
Have a good one and we'll catch up next week!
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