K-POPified! (part 1)

31.5.2010 5.45 p.m

Kali ni entri aku agak berlainan sedikit and also membuka satu lagi part of this blog that will talk about a new interest of mine iaitu dunia K-POP, atau Korean Pop. Nampaknya, gelombang hallyu has hit me as I am now a big fan of K-POP music scene especially idol groups that are aplenty in Korea right now. It started way back in 2008, kalu aku tak silap. Masa tu sedang menyiapkan assignment video klip that I stumbled across Wonder Girls’ hit single ‘Nobody’ being played on the V Channel. Mula2 just ignoring it than during that the semester break, I found out more about this girl idol group and thus, began my interest in K-POP.

Awal tahun 2009, thanks to one of my friend aku diperkenalkan dengan Girls Generation atau SNSD in short, satu girl group containing 9 angelic girls yang hit dengan lagu ‘Gee’. I will be putting up an entry dedicated to them after this. Long story short, I became a huge K-POP fan. Thanks to beberapa sources such as Internet and channel 303 of Astro (KBS World), dapat juga aku mengikuti perkembangan K-POP scene in Korea. The KBS World channel truly helps me because of its programming that always had something that is K-POP in it, terutamanya dalam variety shows.

From the latest singles and songs, I try to keep myself up-to-date. Kind of a bit obsessive, right? Well, that is the impact of hallyu on nearly all of the Asian countries right now, and perhaps throughout the whole world too. The first part of this series of confession will focus kepada several girl idol groups kegemaran aku. I tried to rank them based on the songs that I had in my MP3 right now. Without further adieu (this ranking is based on the date this entry is written, may change in the future):

1) Girls Generation (SNSD) – 1 full album, 28 songs (!)

Wow, terkejut juga aku bila calculate the amount of SNSD songs that I had. Yes, aku admit yang aku seorang hardcore fan SNSD all the way. Consisting of 9 members, bagi aku, they are truly the best girl group in Korea right now. All of them, from Tifanny, Jessica, Seohyun, Hyoyeon, Sunny, Sooyoung, Yuri, Yoona, and their leader Taeyeon ada charm yang tersendiri yang aku sangat suka. That is why kalau ada yang tanya siapa favorite member SNSD, aku akan jawab semua sekali because I just can’t choose. I will tell more about SNSD in a specially dedicated entry nanti.

2) KARA – 7 songs

Grup that was second in this ranking is KARA. Bagi aku, grup yang sangat cute with catchy songs yang sangat menangkap halwa telinga ni and also trademark dance yang menangkap mata. KARA dianggotai oleh Gyuri as leader, Nicole, Hara, Jiyoung and Seungyeoung. They are also very charming as a group. I have to say my favorite songs from them are the butt-shaking ‘Mister’ and also ‘Lupin’, their latest track that shows a darker and sexier image of them. My favorite member is Nicole, sebab she is such a dorky and funny girl, yet sangat sexy at the same time. Yes, she also speak English very well because she is from the States.

3) Wonder Girls and After School – 5 songs each

Wonder Girls, the first group yang menangkap perhatian aku ke dunia K-POP. They are awesome simply because of ultimately catchy songs and dances. Anak buah JYP yang semakin mencipta nama in the world stage. Of course, lagu kegemaran aku is ‘Nobody’. Kalau dengar sejuta kali sekalipun, I am still not tired of hearing it. They also have several songs such as ‘Tell Me’ and ‘So Hot’ yang sedap didengar. Currently, their newest song entitled 2 Different Tears are currently on the loop in my MP3. Can’t get enough of it.My favourite member is Yoobin, the rapper in the group. Actually, she’s the first girl that I like in K-POP.

After School is the equivalent of Pussycat Dolls. The currently 7 member girl group sangat hebat di atas pentas dengan energetic and charismatic moves. Aku start minat grup ni masa akhir tahun lepas, with their haunting track, ‘Because of You’. Sekarang ni, they are promoting ‘BANG!’ dengan image sebagai sebuah marching band. Ahli kegemaran aku dari grup ni is their leader Kahi. In my opinion the best dancer out there among girl idol groups. She will owned Beyonce anytime. Such an energetic presence on stage. Noona nomu yeepo! (Noona, you’re so pretty!)

4) Brown Eyed Girls – 4 songs

BEG is more to a vocal girl group at first, but as soon as ‘Abracadabra’ kicks in, they become just like the other girl groups as well. ‘Abracadabra’ was such a hit last year, disebabkan oleh the hip-swaying dance move yang menjadi kegilaan K-POP last year, beside the ‘Gee’ dance from SNSD. That song truly put this group on the map. Favorite member from BEG is Narsha, simply because dia seorang yang sangat sempoi (watch Invincible Youth for more) and tak kisah walaupun she is 30 years old this year.

Penat pula tangan ni menaip dan otak ni dalam memilih ayat. Time for a rest and I will finish up this rankings in the next entry. Selain itu I will also ranked my favorite male idol groups too.

Au Revoir.

Notakecil:

-Aku sekarang sedang following closely ‘Cinderella Stepsisters’ series at channel 303. A tear-jerker to say the least. Gugur jugala sedikit air mata ni bila tengok series ni.

- R.I.P Paul Gray (1972 – 2010), bassist Slipknot yang telah pergi pada minggu lepas. I was shocked and sad when I heard the news. Truly a big loss for Slipknot and its Maggots, me included.

- Hopefully akan mendapat keputusan yang baik for last semester. But I doubt it.

- The build up for World Cup is as intense as ever. Aku akan membuat prediction sebaik sahaja kesemua team yang ada telah finalize their 23 man squad.

- A fully relaxing semester break sangat membantu aku dalam merehatkan minda dan badan. Harapnya will be fully charged when the new semester comes around.