Happy Tuesday after Columbus Day or as I like to call it, "The Day That I Always Think I Have Off But Really Don't". It's been a busy week for the Uncle Fan but as always, I've been trying to keep up with the latest news from the world of girl groups. Here are some of the items that were on my radar this past week.
Cool Things of the Week
Really Quick Review: 'The Heirs'
I haven't been watching any Korean dramas recently but decided I would start up again with the premiere of the drama, 'The Heirs'. Starring the always brooding Lee Min Ho, deceptively sexy Park Shin Hye, and a whole slew of idols (Krystal, Hyunsik, Minhyuk), the drama centers around the have and have-nots of the world and the complicated issues that all young adults experience whether wealthy or not. This drama is pretty much the cliched, trite story of the sweet poor girl who meets the bad boy rich guy (who secretly wants to love and be loved) who has some history with a mean rich girl, who of course is jealous of the growing relationship between the poor rich girl and the bad boy rich guy (see: Classic Korean Drama Love Triangle). Having said that, I've never turned down a good Korean drama so I gave it a shot and my initial review of the first two episodes is that they were boring. I just didn't find anything particularly interesting other than a side story involving two older actresses. My rule of thumb is to always give dramas at least four episodes so we'll see how this week plays out... but so far, not a really auspicious start to a very hyped show.
Tiffany = De Facto Interviewer/Tour Guide for Big Time Foreign Actors
I read that Tiffany would be interviewing Tom Hiddleston (Loki from the upcoming 'Thor: The Dark World') and also giving him a guided tour of Korea for an appearance on a Korean entertainment show. This is second impressive guests that Tiffany has interviewed which includes the likes of Mr. John Smith himself, Brad Pitt. If she polished her interview skills a bit, this wouldn't be a bad side career to have… I mean, I can think of worse ways than to spend your free time than with Loki and Tyler Durden.
miss A's Return
A few weeks ago I wrote that JYP Entertainment would probably make a push towards the end of the year to reestablish themselves in the K-pop world after what was a pretty quiet start to 2013. It looks like one of the first clues that this actually might happen is from a pretty random Instagram post from miss A's Min with #COMEBACK leading fans to believe that the quartet are back in the studio getting ready for a return to the K-pop scene. Now that the Wonder Girls are on a hiatus, miss A is the main girl group for the entire JYPE family (including Big Hit and AQ) so it makes sense to get them out and put some real muscle behind them, especially before JYPE debuts their new girl group sometime this year. Should be fun!
Girl Group Variety Show Round-Up
A list of all the girl group appearances on variety shows (that I saw) this week.
- 'Radio Star" - Kim Ye Rim
- 'Star King' - SPICA, Hong Jin Young
- 'Immortal Classics 2' - Kang Min Kyung
- 'Infinity Challenge' - BoA
- 'Mamma Mia' - Soyu
- 'Real Men' - A Pink
- 'God of Food Road' - G.NA
- '1000 Song Challenge' - Kim Ye Rim
- 'Hello' - IU
The Taeyeon Experiment
Each week I will post a picture from Taeyeon's Instagram feed in the hopes that one day she'll post a picture of herself reading this column.
I think it's awesome that fans have nicknames for each pair of members within the Girls' Generaton group. Like, this is SooRi (Sooyoung and Yuri) but there's also TaeNy (Tiffany and Taeyeon) and YoonFany (Yoona and Tiffany)... those are just the ones that I've heard of but I'm sure there's one for all of them.
Pic/.Gif/Video of the Week
I'll be the first to admit that I have this weird fascination with the on again, off again, YG girl group. They're almost like this mythical legend that fans have been waiting for and YG gives a little taste before pulling it away right when we're starting to get excited... like the McRib Sandwich at McDonald's. So this recent picture of one of the supposed members Jennie Kim with GD is just a reminder that the pieces are there, but it's a matter of when Yang Hyun Suk feels comfortable with the group to let them loose.
Send your pics and videos to the Uncle Fan via Twitter @KpopUncleFan or email them to KpopUncleFan@gmail.com.
Uncle Fan Mailbag
No and that's cray. "I think you've heard of the group Seventeen because it has 17 members. Do you think that'll EVER work out?"
-farahanani
I had to do some research on this and there was indeed some stories for a 17-member boy band coming out of Pledis Entertainment with the average age of the group being 17. What?! I think Super Junior is about 5 too many members but 17?? Will each member sing one syllable of a song? I assume the plan is to break them up into "units" but still, that's crazy.
Dream come true. "Have you ever seen Taeyeon live?"
-aicos
No but she's like on my top 5 list along with the original Guns N' Roses, Barack Obama, and Santa Clause.
A Few Non-K-pop Related Things
It's a Boy Dance Party
If you haven't seen this 'Saturday Night Live' Digital Short featuring Bruce Willis, it's hilarious.
Miley's New Songs
As much as I abhor Miley Cyrus the person, Miley the singer picks some incredible catchy songs.
Top 5 Favorite Girl Groupers Right Now
- Suzy - She should be dating.
- Taeyeon - Someone emailed me asking if I was jealous of Kim Hee Chul and his close access to Taeyeon. Uh... of course I AM!
- IU - Can never have too much IU.
- CL/Lim/Jia - For having the most Instagram updates.
- Eunji - In anticipation of 'Reply 1994', I re-watched a few episodes of 'Reply 1997'... fell in love again.
Song of the Week
It has to be T-ara's "Number 9" as the Shinsadong Tiger produced song has done well on the charts since its release. Hopefully it's a fresh start for the group and they'll be coming out more regularly with new music.
That's it for this week. Have a good one and see you back here next time.
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