2009: Kpop girl band's up, boy band's down

i reentered the Kpop realm on August 2009. well, not really. i mean, ever since we lost our cable connection - the only tie that binds me to Kpop - in around 2005 to 2006, i had a very hard time keeping up with the Kpop industry. during that time, looking for Kpop news and downloads are really hard. thanks to the Youtube, i was still able to watch Kpop mvs but apart from that, i have nothing else to find out what's happening to the Kpop industry or the whole Korean showbiz itself. it was only in August 2009 when my friend showed me the webside Allkpop.com when i finally reestablished myself a connection to the world of Kpop. unfortunately, whatever happened from January-July 2009 was unknown to me so i went back to the archives.

anyway, from what i have noticed, Kpop girl bands are in rage! there are girl groups everywhere! well, there are already the groups who debuted before 2009, namely, So Nyeo Shi Dae/SNSD/Girls' Generation (SM Entertainment), Wonder Girls (JYP Entertainment), KARA (DSP Entertainment), Jewelry (Star Empire Entertainment), The Grace (SM), and Brown Eyed Girls (Nega-Network). then came 2009, when After School (Sony BMG), 2NE1 (YG Entertainment), T-ara (Core Contents Media), 4Minute (Cube Entertainment), and f(x) (SM) debuted [there are still others like 7size, Pink Hearts(?) and some others but they didn't made a very huge impact] and there are still others that are set to be launch - the most recent girl group that was launched was HAM (LeeYeon Entertainmen) and there are still others like Secret (YG) and Rainbow (DSP) who are waiting in line.

so, in my opinion, the "girl band invasion" has now turned into "girl band overdose." for me, after f(x), i think South Korea already has all the girl bands it needs. but the companies are unstoppable and i was surprised the YG will launch another (Secret) to think that 2NE1 has just debuted months ago. if i were to be asked, the company that needs a new girl band is JYP since Wonder Girls are kind of old already (i don't mean it in a bad way, it's just they could offer something new, right?). as for DSP, they have only relaunched KARA so they need to focus on them only.

however, it seems that the success and the shower of various girl bands are recieving comes with a price: the unfortunate events that are plauging the Kpop boy bands. as i went back to the old Kpop news, 2009 didn't seem to be a bad year:

- Super Junior (SM) dominated the first half of the year

- TVXQ (SM) gained more popularity in Japan that was certified by their Tokyo Dome concert

- SS501 (DSP) was able to step up their game when their leader, Kim Hyun Joong, played Yoo Ji Hoo in a hit Korean drama, Boys Over Flowers (a remake of Hana Yori Dango)

but since this summer, a lot of unfortunate things start to happen starting from common accidents like SHINee's (SM) leader, Onew, accident in KBS Music Bank and Big Bang's (YG) Daesung's car accident. Back in June, Onew was hit by one of the light fixtures that got loose during the closing of the show. Then in August, Daesung got into a car accident near Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province after taping for Family Outing. they may be unfortunate but it was in August when the biggest disasters began for South Korea's beloved boybands.

July 2009 ended and August 2009 began with the news that three members of the country's - also of the Asia's - biggest boyband TVXQ filed a lawsuit against SM. it began as rumors in July but unfortunately, it was not. Kim JaeJoong, Park YooChun, and Kim JunSu shocked the whole world (not an exaggeration!) with what they did. many speculations start to arise about what will be the outcome of the lawsuit and among them is the plaguing disbandment of TVXQ which is begin feared my their over 800,000 fans all over the world. the last hearing of the case was held in Sept 11 and up until now, the court hasn't released their decision.

however, before TVXQ's last hearing occurred, the biggest issue in South Korea was the Myspace scandal of 2PM's leader Park Jaebum. comments of Jaebum saying Koreans are gay was dug up by netizens and anti-fans alike. due to the nonstop harsh comments, Jaebum decided to leave 2PM and South Korea to go back to Seattle, USA. after that, Hottests, 2PM's fans' club, began various petitions and rallies to bring him back. they have began boycotting the band's activities and products - Korean fans even gave back their CDs to the JYP Entertainment. unfortunately, JYP still stressed that 2PM will still continue as a six-member boyband.

the same day that Jaebum left Korea came the news that Kim Hyun Joong was diagnosed with A(H1N1) while in Japan causing him to stay longer in the said country. fortunately, as of now, he has finally got back in Korea. however, came another news, Super Junior's Kangin was charged with assault causing him not to be able to join Super Junior activities. in addition, in amidst of those issues, G-Dragon, the leader of Big Bang, who had just released his solo album has been criticized of plagiarism nonstop.

so...everybody's calling it the "September curse" or the "2009 curse" and everybody's hoping that it'll soon be over (i do too).

SM Entertainment's new girl band: f(x)

since the 1st of August 2009, when the news about three members of DBSK filing a lawsuit against SM Entertainment, i didn't give a damn about other Kpop bands and artists. i didn't care whether 2ne1 had taken a vacation and Sandara Park visited the Philippines, i didn't care whether G-Dragon has launched his solo album, i didn't care whether 4Minute has already released their full album and that they got banned from KBS just because of a particular song...so, okay, maybe i'm still pretty updated on the major events that are occurring at the Kpop music scene but, like i said, i don't care.

why? i'm totally waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit. i'm waiting to find out how SM and Kim Jae-joong, Park Yoo-chun and Kim Jun-su will be able to resolve the whole issue. i don't even give a damn about Jung Yun-ho's drama "Heading to the Ground", Shim Chang-min's "Paradise Meadow", and Jae-joong and Yoo-chun's "Color's - Melody and Harmony".

however, when the news about SM releasing a new girl band came out in August 23, i was totally curious. i mean, come on! you're in a middle of huge issue with your biggest talents and you still have time to launch a new girl band?! but i think this just shows that SM is a very strong company (well...if not, they should've gone down the moment H.O.T decided to break up, right? and since DBSK assures everyone that they're not splitting up, what's there to worry?) and that it does not entirely rely on DBSK (but of course, we cannot deny that the moment they lose their hold on the five boys, they will lose a lot!)

anyway, SM's new darlings are Krystal, Sulli, Victoria, Amber and Luna (based on their order on the picture below) - these five girls form the group called f(x). i don't want to talk about why they were called that because the whole thing doesn't make sense to me but i like their name which is pronounced as "effects".

but the real reason why f(x) got my attention is Amber who isn't anyone's typical girl band member. why? well, it's probably a first that a girl band has a tomboyish member (i mean, other people think that there's already 2ne1's CL and Mingzi but in my opinion the said two are not tomboyish but they are just not as sweet-looking compared to other girls in any girl bands) and f(x) knows that. so right now, because she appears to be one-of-a-kind, it seems that among the five girls, she has the most following (lot of female Korean fans are going lesbian over her already, i think). and she's a good rapper and she has a good voice (i mean, i know she only sang a very small line from their debut single but it's already enough gist to know that she can sing). i'm not impress on her English rapping skill, though, since she's a Chinese-American who grew up at LA, USA, therefore, it is expected that she can really use English properly.

but if i would be asked if who among the four other girls got my vote as the prettiest, i'll say it's gotta be Luna. i like her face and her voice too, really full and powerful. next will be Krystal (sister of Girls Generation's Jessica).

as for their carrier single, "La Cha Ta", i must say i do love it. other people doesn't though - they say it's not catchy enough, it's weak compared to "Mr. Boogie"(the group's unreleased single), etc. but for me, it's good enough - it does have a catchy tune and the girls' voices can really heard. people constantly compare to 4minute's "Hot Issue" and "Muzik" which are way overtuned, same goes to 2ne1's "Fire" specifically on Sandara Park's voice (oh yes, i can't be fooled. though i'm not a huge fan of hers, i've been watching her ever since she auditioned for Star Circle Quest and cried her way through the competition - she did sing during those times and she ever released a novelty album and some songs for a commercial and a movie). as for the video, i also do like it - i love the chereography, honestly, i love SM's choreography starting way back to H.O.T. and just awhile ago, i got to see their debut performance at Music Core and i must say that they are really good performers.

so, yes...i'm a fan=)

[pictures from allkpop.com]