Category: Special

[Special] 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Awards – Artist-Based Categories

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It is that time of the year again where I announce the winners for the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. In December 2019, I allowed the audience (you all), once again, to vote for their favourite songs and artists for the December 2018 to November 2019 period. Thank you to all who voted and particpated in the KPOPREVIEWED Awards this time around. Even more people voted this year, making this year more intense than ever in many categories. This post will focus on the artist-based categories, which will involve the New Artist categories, Elemental-focused (i.e. rap, vocals etc.) categories and Best Artist categories. The winners for the artist categories will be posted in an accompanying post today, while the Top 100 songs of 2019 will be posted tomorrow.

Here is how things are going to work. Each category (aside from the non-fan voted categories, which are specified) will have a WINNER (the song/performance/video that ranked first), a Honourable Mention (the song/performance/video that ranked second) and a KPOPREVIEWED Choice (my personal choice if I voted, which I didn’t include this year). And let’s go!

Best New Male Soloist

Nominees: Baekhyun (EXO), Chen (EXO), Ha Sung Woon, HUTA (Lee Min Hyuk – BTOB), Kang Daniel, Kim Jae Hwan.

WINNER – Baekhyun (EXO)
Honourable Mention – Kang Daniel
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – HUTA (Lee Minhyuk – BTOB)

Best New Female Soloist

Nominees: Hwasa (Mamamoo), Jeon Somi, Kim Ji Yeon (Kei – Lovelyz), Oh Ha Young (APINK), Sulli

WINNER – Hwasa (Mamamoo)
Honourable Mention – Sulli
KPOPREVIEWED – Hwasa (Mamamoo)

Best New Male Group

Nominees: AB6IX, CIX, ONEUS, TXT, X1

WINNER – TXT
Honourable Mentions – ONEUS
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – AB6IX

Best New Female Group

Nominees: BVNDIT, Cherry Bullet, EVERGLOW, ITZY, PURPLEBECK

WINNER – ITZY
Honourable Mention – EVERGLOW
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – EVERGLOW

Best Band

Nominees: DAY6, FT Island, IZ, N.Flying, ONEWE

WINNER – DAY6
Honourable Mention – N.Flying
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – DAY6

Best Vocals

Nominees: AKMU, Brown Eyed Girls, Chen (EXO), IU, Mamamoo

WINNER – IU
Honourable Mention – Chen (EXO)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – IU

Best Raps

Nominees: J-Hope (BTS); Jackson (GOT7); Mark (NCT); Ravi (VIXX); Zico

WINNER – Mark (NCT)
Honourable Mention – Zico
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Zico

Best Subunit

Nominees: Block B Bastarz; EXO-SC, Jus2, NCT 127, NCT Dream

WINNER – NCT Dream
Honourable Mention – NCT 127
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – NCT Dream

Artist With Most Weekly KPOP Chart Wins

This is not a fan voted category.

WINNER – Seventeen (5x)

Rising Star

Nominees: ATEEZ, CLC, N.Flying, UP10TION, VICTON

WINNER – ATEEZ
Honourable Mention – CLC
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – CLC

Most Underrated Artist of 2019

Nominees: A.C.E, Dream Catcher, LOONA, ONF, Pentagon

WINNER – Dream Catcher
Honourable Mention – Pentagon
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – LOONA

Best Male Soloist

Nominees: Kim Dong Han, Leo (VIXX), Nam Woohyun (Infinite), Taemin (SHINee), Yesung (Super Junior), Zico

WINNER – Taemin (SHINee)
Honourable Mention – Zico
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Nam Woohyun

Best Female Soloist

Nominees: Ailee, Kim Chungha, IU, Park Bom, Sumni, Taeyeon (SNSD)

WINNER – IU
Honourable Mention – Kim Chungha
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Kim Chungha

Best Male Group

Nominees: ASTRO, ATEEZ, BTS, DAY6, EXO, GOT7, iKON, MONSTA X, NCT, NU’EST, Pentagon, Seventeen, SF9, Stray Kids, The Boyz, WINNER

WINNER – EXO
Honourable Mention – BTS, ATEEZ
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Stray Kids

Best Female Group

Nominees: (G)I-DLE, BLACKPINK, CLC, Dream Catcher, EXID, GFriend, IZ*ONE, LOONA, Lovelyz, Mamamoo, Momoland, Oh My Girl, Red Velvet, TWICE, Weki Meki, WJSN (Cosmic Girls)

WINNER – TWICE
Honourable Mention – Red Velvet, Mamamoo
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Oh My Girl

And that brings us to the end of the Artist-Based Categories for the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. If you haven’t seen the Song-Based Categories yet, click here.

Tomorrow, we will get to see which artist ranked on the Top 100 of the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Charts, where the song that ranks first becomes the ‘Best Song of 2019’. Remember this is decided based on the votes for Best Song of 2019 (50%) and the Weekly KPOP Charts that I post every Sunday (50%). You can find out by clicking here (hyperlink will be updated once the post is published).

[Special] 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Awards – Song-Based Categories

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It is that time of the year again where I announce the winners for the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. In December 2019, I allowed the audience (you all), once again, to vote for their favourite songs and artists for the December 2018 to November 2019 period. Thank you to all who voted and participated in the KPOPREVIEWED Awards this time around. Even more people voted this year, making this year more intense than ever in many categories. This post will focus on the song-based categories, which will also involve the Performance categories, Best Music Video, Best Concept and the most voted song (by you all). The winners for the artist categories will be posted in an accompanying post today, while the Top 100 songs of 2019 will be posted tomorrow.

Here is how things are going to work. Each category (aside from the non-fan voted categories, which are specified) will have a WINNER (the song/performance/video that ranked first), a Honourable Mention (the song/performance/video that ranked second) and a KPOPREVIEWED Choice (my personal choice if I voted, which I didn’t include this year). And let’s go!

Best Special Performance

This is not a fan voted category.

WINNER – Egostistic Cover (AOA) at Queendom

Best Concept

This is not a fan voted category.

WINNER – HIP (Mamamoo)

Best Solo Choreography

Nominees: Blue (Ha Sung Woon); Focus (Kim Dong Han); Gotta Go (Kim Chungha); LALALAY (Sunmi); L.O.V.E (Park Ji Hoon); Twit (Hwasa – Mamamoo); WANT (Taemin – SHINee); What Are You Up To? (Kang Daniel); What You Waiting For? (Anda & R.Tee); Ya (Lee Minhyuk – BTOB).

WINNER – WANT (Taemin)
Honourable Mention – Gotta Go (Kim Chungha)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – LALALAY (Sunmi)

Best Male (Group) Choreography

Nominees: All Night (ASTRO); Boom (NCT Dream); HIT (Seventeen); Hollywood (AB6IX); Humph! (Pentagon); Love Shot (EXO); RPM (SF9); Say My Name (ATEEZ); Side Effects (Stray Kids); You Calling My Name (GOT7).

WINNER – Love Shot (EXO)
Honourable Mention – HIT (Seventeen)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Side Effects (Stray Kids)

Best Female (Group) Choreography

Nominees: Bon Bon Chocolat (EVERGLOW); Boogie Up (WJSN); Butterfly (LOONA); DALLA DALLA (ITZY); HIP (Mamamoo); Pinky Star (Run) (GWSN); Sunrise (GFriend); The Fifth Season (Oh My Girl); Violeta (IZ*ONE); Zimzalabim (Red Velvet).

WINNER – Butterfly (LOONA)
Honourable Mention – HIP (Mamamoo)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Zimzalabim (Red Velvet)

Best Collaboration

Nominees: Blossom (Eunha & Ravi); Boy With Luv (BTS ft. Halsey); Don’t Need Your Love (NCT Dream & HRVY); I Wanna Be (Key ft. Kim Soyeon); Spring (Park Bom ft. Sandara Park)

WINNER – Boy With Luv (BTS ft. Halsey)
Honourable Mention – Don’t Need Your Love (NCT Dream & HRVY)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Boy With Luv (BTS ft. Halsey)

Best Music Video

Nominees: Abandoned (Brown Eyed Girls); Above The Time (IU); Crown (TXT); Feel Special (TWICE); HIT (Seventeen); Love Drunk (Epik High ft. Crush); Noir (Sunmi); Snapping (Kim Chungha); You Calling My Name (GOT7); Zimzalabim (Red Velvet)

WINNER – Obsession (EXO)
Honourable Mention – Feel Special (TWICE)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – HIT (Seventeen)

Best International Song By A Korean Artist

Nominees: Breakthrough (TWICE – Japanese); Flower (GFriend – Japanese); Lights (BTS – Japan); Moonwalk (WAYV – China); Someone’s Someone (Monsta X – US).

WINNER – Breakthrough (TWICE – Japan)
Honourable Mention – Moonwalk (WAYV – China)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Breakthrough (TWICE – Japan)

Best Official Soundtrack (OST)

This is not a fan voted category.

WINNER – We All Lie (Ha Jin- Sky Castle OST)

Most Viewed Review of 2019

This is not a fan voted category

WINNER – Goblin (Sulli)

Most Viewed Album Review of 2019

This is not a fan voted category.

WINNER – BXXX (Ha Sung Woon)

Songs With Most Win on Weekly KPOP Charts

This is not a fan voted category

WINNER – Time Of Our Life (DAY6)
WINNER – HIP (Mamamoo)

Best Non-Title Track

This is not a fan voted category

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSWNU3yNk_o

WINNER – Ten Nights (Mamamoo)

Best Album

Nominees: Love Poem (IU); Narcissus (SF9); Purpose (Taeyeon – SNSD); The Book Of Us: Gravity (DAY6); Want (Taemin – SHINee)

WINNER – Love Poem (IU)
Honourable Mention – The Book Of Us: Gravity (DAY6)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – The Book Of Us: Gravity (DAY6)

Most Voted For Song of 2019

WINNER – Obsession (EXO)

And that brings us to the end of the Song-Based Categories for the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. If you haven’t seen the Artist-Based Categories yet, click here.

Tomorrow, we will get to see which artist ranked on the Top 100 of the 2019 KPOPREVIEWED Charts, where the song that ranks first becomes the ‘Best Song of 2019’. Remember this is decided based on the votes for Best Song of 2019 (50%) and the Weekly KPOP Charts that I post every Sunday (50%). Will EXO’s Obsession become the ‘Best Song of 2019’ officially? You can find out by clicking here (hyperlink will be updated once the post is published).

[Special] My Favourite Performances from the 2019 End Of Year Music Festivals

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At the end of each year, the three major broadcasting companies in South Korea (SBS, KBS and MBC) organises and broadcast a very fruitful and dynamic music festival, bringing together the top KPOP acts of the year. 2019 is no exception and with a year as busy as 2019, it is often quite hard to get invited to these festivals. And with each show running for a couple of hours, different stages/performances/remixes of the year’s hits and one-of-a-kind collaborations, it is often hard to keep up with these festivals. Today, I have decided to organise a list of performances from each of these three festivals that I thought were excellent, different and worthwhile in checking out. I have done this before but over the years dropped it as I had very little time. Now that I have some time on my hand, I thought I return to this segment for the 2019 festivals.

SBS Gayo Daejun – 25th of December 2019

When we talk about the SBS Music Festival, we need to address the issue of safety. After all, it costed Red Velvet full group promotions for their Psycho comeback, due to injuries sustained by Wendy due to the unsafe nature of SBS stage. We did manage to get one full lineup of the group performing Psycho on stage as it was pre-recorded. because of that, I put Red Velvet’s Psycho performance on my list of favourite performances from that day. Other performers also had falls on the SBS stage, from what I remember reading. Other stages at stood out for me were:

  • Stray Kid’s Miroh – I did not know how Stray Kids could top Miroh’s intensity by rearranging the performance to be even more intense.
  • NCT Dream’s Boom & NCT 127’s Superhuman – Both tracks had a really cool dance addition to it. On top of that, we got to see the same ‘switching of jackets’ that Mark did at the 2018 SBS Music Festival between Dream and 127’s performance. Only this time, it was Haechan!
  • Oh My Girl’s Bungee (X-mas Version) – Always good to have a X-mas themed remix on Christmas Day. It made Bungee, an already vibrant and colourful track, more suitable for the season.
  • Mamamoo’s Gogobebe – The rock remix for this performance was superb.
  • Seventeen’s Home and Snapshoot – We got to see a warmer side of the group and the more joyful side, especially after all the darkness we got from HIT and Fear.
  • TWICE’s Medley of Tracks – I really liked the band element to their performance and how they tweaked the concept for Fancy and their more light hearted tracks. I just wished the band was DAY6 (where is DAY6 in all of these festivals), which would have made the performance even more worthy of a view.
  • BTS’s Dionysus – I have always been a fan of BTS’s darker side. This performance is a return this side, which I greatly appreciate.

KBS Gayo Daechukje – 27th December 2019

I personally did not have much interest in the KBS Music Festival as I thought the stage looked really bad and the camera work wasn’t the best. This wasn’t also the only problem that occurred that same night. APINK’s %% performance was cut short, disappointing fans, APINK and viewers in general. If I were to choose one standout stage, it would have Golden Child’s Wannabe stage. Their dance intro was very good and showed off intensity that was aligned with their new look/concept. And I really liked how smooth the transition between dance intro and actual song was. Only a few toehr performances caught my attention and they include:

  • Song Gain’s Introductory song – Song Gain, for those who don’t know is a trot singer that trended this year. For Song Gain’s performance, she managed to incorporate all artists into her song, which I think would be a challenge.
  • NU’EST Love Me – It wasn’t so much their choreography or song that caught my attention. But I thought the raised stages for the end really highlighted the good parts of their overall choreography, providing what could be said as an epic end to their stage.
  • ASTRO’s All Night + Blue Flame – I was waiting for ASTRO to do All Night in some capacity during these festivals. But with Moonbin out of action, it seems like the group would opt for the 5-member Blue Flame instead. So automatically, ASTRO’s stage for All Night alone would make this list. Blue Flame ended up being very epic as well, which is why their entire segment is on this list.
  • Oh Ha Young, Joy and Yerin Mr. Mr. collaboration – I haven’t heard this song for some time now and I really enjoyed this throwback. Also surprised that they covered the entire song, which usually isn’t the case.

MBC Gayo Daejejeon – 31st December 2019

MBC’s Music Festival is one to always watch. Their stages always have a look that shows that they have been planning for a while. The collaborations for this festival are always something to talk about. And why not watch it live as the year goes out! There is nothing like ending 2019 and start 2020 with KPOP! However, the MBC Music Festival was also plagued with an early termination issue. This time around the victim was Kim Jae Hwan, who only got to perform Nuna (he should have performed The Time I Need as well. For standout performance, I am putting down ASTRO and Oh My Girl’s creepy and jazzy cover of IU’s Red Shoes. It was different and colourful. Other stages to check out:

  • Stray Kid’s Side Effects – Another intense song that they managed to upgrade and make darker. The creative minds that put together these stages for Stray Kids are killing it (and need a pay rise instantly).
  • Seventeen & Mamamoo Collaboration – Two of my favourite groups have come together to form one dream team. And this was such an amazing stage.
  • Seventeen’s HIT – Mingyu shouldn’t be playing with fire. It is dangerous. But one epic opener to the stage. Also, somehow Seventeen managed to insert a dance break in the midst of the stage, which I think earns a mention at the very least.
  • Hyuna’s Flower Shower – Her choreography is essentially the same as the one she performed in the past. But the chorus instrumental is changed slightly, which I thought made the stage a lot cooler for the end of year festival.
  • Taemin’s Move & Famous – MBC’s Music Festival had a theme, The Chemistry. And you can’t have a theme about Chemistry without Taemin. While he didn’t do anything special to Move‘s stage, his dance alone is already 100% fitting for a ‘Chemistry’ themed music festival.
  • (G)i-DLE’s Lion – Another reason to why we need to look out for this girl group is their special stages. Lion is practically a game changer for the group.
  • Lovelyz’s Beautiful Day – I really like their ballad start to their stage and how they built it back up to the original song in an effortless manner.

2019 KPOPREVIEWED AWARDS – VOTING NOW OPEN

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It is that time of the year where us fans need to do some hard decision making and vote for the best artist, song, performance etc. For the third year running, you will have a say on who was the best in each category.

I had a very hard job of nominating the groups, songs, performances etc. for this year. To the point where I let myself go and nominated 16 male and female groups each for Best Group Awards and 10 different music videos released in 2019. And now I hand over to you so that you can vote and collectively determine who is the best of the best in each category for 2019. Remember that your votes decide winner, excluding the Best Song of 2019, which is made up of 50% votes and 50% my personal Weekly Music Charts that I publish on Sundays (see below). 

Voting opens on the 1st of December (0:00 AM) and will continue until 31st of December (11:59PM), giving you all exactly one month to pick and choose who you think deserves the awards. After that, I will be creating a post that shows you who won each award (like at the start of this year).

Please make sure you read the special instructions under some categories as I have made some changes to the voting process (namely for the Best Male and Female Group awards).

And once again, you all will have the opportunity to choose the BEST SONG OF 2019. There are a number of ground rules for this category, however:

  • Select your Top 5 songs and enter them in the provided section at the end of the survey.
  • ONLY 5 SONGS OR LESS WILL BE CONSIDERED. IF YOU ENTER IN MORE THAN 5 SONGS, ONLY THE FIRST 5 WILL BE CONSIDERED.
  • Include songs that were released between the dates of 1st of December 2018 and 30th of November 2019 ONLY. Songs released in December will not be considered this year (and will be considered for next year!).
  • Your votes will make up 50% of the criteria, whilst the other 50% will come from the Weekly Charts

Please note that all questions are mandatory. You will not be able to skip to through the survey until you answered all questions on the page. 

For those who are unable to see the survey above, please click the link here to be directed straight to the survey.

Good luck to all nominees and happy voting!!

[Album Review] The Book Of Us: Entropy (3rd Studio Album) – DAY6

Posted in Album Reviews, KPOP, SpecialTagged 3 Comments

Another Sunday and another album review. It feels weird posting an album review on the weekend after a long break from doing so. But I need to get back onto the routine if I were to catch up on all the albums that I had missed on previously. But as mentioned last time, I will be covering recent albums as well. Today’s artist is DAY6 who returned with Sweet Chaos the other week. Sweet Chaos is the title track off their 3rd studio album (The Book Of Us: Entropy), which is what I will be reviewing today.

day6-thebookofusentropy-2
The Book Of Us: Entropy Album Cover

1. Deep In Love – I really liked the rock and grungy vibes that came from Deep In Love, which is the route that I enjoyed most from DAY6. The instrumental break during the bridge was awesome! But over the last few comebacks, the band has taken on different routes that I have also thoroughly enjoyed. I really liked the filter they put their vocals in this song, which felt like they were shouting in a subtle way (i.e. not going screamo). Usually, I wouldn’t like the autotune filtered vocals but I really thought it added a really interesting texture to the rocking song. The song packs a punch and opens the album on a memorable note. (9/10)

2. Sweet Chaos (Title Track) – Click here to read the full review for Sweet Chaos. (9/10)

3. EMERGENCY – I thought that EMERGENCY is a fun little song and a slight change from the more powerful and emotional songs that they have put out. I really like the golden retro sound that comes from this, which bumps the fun out quite well. While I know they aren’t dancers, I can see them perform with some sort of small routine, which would enhance that fun vibe even further. Vocal work was fine and the song was quite catchy thanks to lyrics repetition. (8/10)

4. Rescue Me – After that fun number, the group launches back into the rock vibe with Rescue Me. A few things stood out for me. The first is the instrumental, since the song literally throws the rock vibes at you from the very start. The second must be the chorus, which had a nice ring melodically. The vocal work was nice. Sungjin’s raspy vocals during the chorus was my pick for the best in the song. However, I wasn’t blown away by the entire vocal package. I feel like the rock instrumentation, especially when it came to the verses, drowned out the vocals a tad bit. This might have been my personal preference, however. But still a decent track. (7.5/10)

5. 365247 – I like the song. It is a little unique to me, thanks to the various vocals we heard throughout the song. The normal pitch, the higher pitch and Dowoon’s deep voice (Yes!!! Dowoon is in this song!!!!) really made it feel like a rollercoaster. The instrumental was so so. But I did notice was a lot simpler than their past tracks and this made the vocals shine even brighter. The title of the song was a little odd. I understand the title (i.e. what the string of numbers mean) but I didn’t see the connection between it and ‘jumping into the fire’, which was more emphasised than 365 days, 24 hours and 7 days of the week. (8/10)

6. About Now (지금쯤) – The first thing that jumps right at me with About Now is its calmness. The sound is a lot lighter in comparison to the preceding songs, which I thought was nice. I liked the beat and the acoustic nature of the instrumental, which is a change from what we have heard so far as well. I did like the vocals for the most part. But I felt here the autotune was distracting. I know I have mentioned otherwise for at least two recent tracks. It did give off a nice texture. But I think it took away a wholesome feeling from the song. (7/10)

7. Ouch (아야야) – Ouch is another fun song in the mix on this album. It is also another interesting track. It seems to go almost towards a reggae direction, which would have been unique for DAY6 (I think). Some of the vocal work (i.e. the post-chorus hook sung by Young.K) seemed to take the song in that direction, despite the rest of the track being a little more typical. Come to the think of it, Young K’s post-chorus was pretty random. But hey, it caught my attention (and most likely yours as well), drawing your attention back to the song to really understand what had just happened. It is a smart tactic. (8/10)

8. Not Fine (나빠) – Not Fine is good song. I do admit that this one was a little plain and hence, I have very little to say about it. There was some grand vibe to it. But it just didn’t blow me away. The vocal work was good and the melody was nice. I just wished there was a little something more to this song. It also seems like we are in the heartbreak zone as this has seemed to be the theme for the last few songs. (7/10)

9. Stop Talking (막말) – We fuse some colour that I guess was lacking in the previous song. Stop Talking instantly feels more appealing and as the song progressed along, the likeable aspect continued to develop. The progression to the punk rock vibe for the chorus was really cool and this was thanks to the suspense building ‘pause’ that the instrumental took prior to actually launching into the chorus. Every other element was good, minus the rap that featured in the middle of the song. Sorry Young K, but it was a miss from me. (7.5/10)

10. Not Mine – Opening the track seems to be some violins. Slightly different from the usual band instruments we hear. Though, I am not sure if this is the electronic keyboard working its magic. It does make Not Mine intriguing. The band instruments come in a little later. Together, it develops into a promising track. The vocal work was quite fitting, and the chorus was catchy. The ad-libs at the end were top-notch, especially with the instrumental segment that it was paired with. (9/10)

11. Like A Flowing Wind (마치 흘러가는 바람처럼) – The final track on the album is Like A Flowing Wind. And given the album that they just put us through, a track like this one ends the album on a very pleasant note. The instrumental never ticks over to overwhelming or overbearing, which is why pleasant was used as a descriptive term. The same could be said about the vocals, but they do take it up a notch when it came to the chorus (bless Sungjin’s raspy vocals as they work so well with the style). (9/10)

Overall Album Rating = 8.1/10

day6-thebookofusentropy-3
The Book Of Us: Entropy Teaser Image

recommended red round grunge vintage ribbon stamp

[Special] Produce X 101 Music Review

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This is another long post. You have been warned. 

Another season of the Produce 101 series wrapped up. The season is a little different to the previous few and it all revolves around the letter X in the new season’s name, Produce X 101. For example, the season introduced the X grade (a lower ranking than the F grade); and that the top 10 trainees (selected based on the votes from the public during the final voting period alone) and an X member (the member with the most accumulated votes from the entire season) would go on to debut in the final group, X1. In the end, the 11 members debuting as part of X1 later this year are Kim Yo Han, Kim Woo Seok, Han Seungwoo, Song Hyeong Jun, Cho Seungyoun, Son Dong Pyo, Lee Han Gyul, Nam Do Hyun, Cha Jun Ho, Kang Min Hee and Lee Eun Sang.

Per usual, I didn’t tune into the program until the 3rd round when they performed their Concept Evaluation stage. This is the round which introduces original tracks in which the members would present on stage for the third round of votes. For this review, I will be focusing on these five songs, along with X1-MA and the few extra tracks they performed on stage during the final episode. Due to the length of this post, you can find the performances in the playlist at the bottom of the page.

X1-MA
Performers: Produce X 101 Trainees

X1-MA is, by far, the least annoying out of the theme tracks. Right off the bat, it takes on board an EDM instrumental like its preceding tracks. But it is not as catchy as Pick Me or Nayana, which might be the reason why I don’t see much fanfare from the track. However, X1-MA makes up this potential flaw with a palatable pop-leaning melody that makes the song enjoyable (and less annoying over time). I find the dance breaks to be quite cool. It amps up the EDM and features a bit of electric guitar as well. Pretty dynamic. Like the instrumental, I find the vocals to not be in-your-face, which also contributes to that less annoying factor. As for the dance moves, the X gesture features a lot. Apart from that, there isn’t that catchy move (as far as I am aware) and the overall performance looked fairly complicated. But it looks good and when on stage with 101 members, it looked cool! The dance break has to be the best bit for me.

Pretty Girl (이뻐 이뻐)
Group: Crayon Pastel (크레파스)
Trainees: Son Dong Pyo, Ham Won Jin, Kang Min Hee, Koo Jung Moo, Song Hyeong Jun, Lee Jin Woo

As much I dislike the cutesy concept, I really can’t complain about it here since this is what was given to their team. However, I found the track to be quite fun and playful, which is what I am sure is the intention of a song like this. The track had nice hooks, especially the ‘Pretty Pretty‘, which wasn’t repeated too much. I also liked the pop instrumental but really enjoyed the change-up with the electric guitar for the bridge. The vocals were good. There are two things that I was left questioning. The choruses ended up going soft, which I wasn’t sure why. And the rapping felt weak in this track, which was slightly disappointing. As for the performance, I found the moves to be nice and it managed to show that youthful and innocent side as one would expect for a song like this.

U Got It
Group:  Got U (갓츄)
Members: Kim Woo Seok, Hwang Yun Seong, Han Seung Woo, Cha Jun Ho, Kim Yo Han, Lee Eun Sang

I think U Got It can be passed off as a track for a number of active male groups in the industry. But its typicalness won’t get it to the title track status. It is a dance-pop track that feels quite ordinary and better served as a B-side track on an album. That being said, I did like the focus on the raps during the verses and vocals during the chorus (which is why I say it can be a track for a number of male groups, especially with many debuting with rappers). Though, I think the group would have benefited if the song was slightly more aggressive, that way the song could have come off as more interesting and bold. There was a nice melody and it was decently catchy. The dance moves were good and I liked their formations. I also thought it was good that they didn’t become shy regarding their dance moves, giving fans a chance to see something captivating.

Monday To Sunday
Group: Daily Vitamin (데일리 비타민)
Members:  Tony, Lee Se Jin, Lee Hyeop, Kim Min Kyu, Kim Dong Yun, Nam Do Hyun, Joo Chang Uk

Monday to Sunday starts off slow and slowly builds to find its footing during the chorus by adding a club beat to make it a little more dynamic for listeners. And I quite like this, as they keep on going back from slow to upbeat, which keeps the song interesting. I find the chorus to be catchy since the melody felt very simple yet smooth sounding. The vocals were impressive within this group, especially with that high note. And I really like the rapping just before the second chorus, which really packs an unsuspecting punch as it does come out of nowhere. The performance looked cool. Their moves were good. While the song did have a somewhat serious atmosphere thanks to the instrumentation, I thought the members did well by keeping it lighthearted with some smiles. This went well with the lyrics of the track, which was all about meeting their lover during the week. It also felt like they managed to strike a fine balance with the atmosphere as well.

Super Special Girl
Group: MamMam (맴맴)
Members: Kim Si Hun, Park Sun Ho, Song Yu Vin, Choi Su Hwan, Kang Hyeon Su, Keum Dong Hyun

Super Special Girl stands out for its energy. From the very first second, the song is loaded with a bright upbeat energy that really makes me want to groove along. It also feels very appropriate for the Summer season in which the show was aired. The brass in the instrumental adds to the energy and makes the track quite catchy (in addition to the hooks. My favourite was the ‘I Go I Go‘ part). The vocals here are quite strong for a fast dance track like this. And the rappers were exceptionally powerful with their parts, evenly showcasing all of the member’s potential. The performance is probably the most intense yet. They were constantly moving and at times, you could hear out that they were slightly out of breath. Despite that though, they pulled off a really fun and energetic performance, which I think is an amazing feat to do.

Move (움직여)
Group: SIXC (6 crazy)
Members: Cho Seung Youn, Kim Hyeon Bin, Lee Jin Hyuk, Kim Kook Heon, Lee Han Gyul, Choi Byung Chan

Move is probably the most intense track on the list of 5 Concepts. The start made it sound like the intensity we would get from a tough KPOP group. But as the song progressed, it loses this particular form of intensity and opted for something a little wilder. The track is also produced by Zico, who I am most familiar with and you can sense the hip-hop influence during the chorus. I find flute in the chorus still intense but in a more subtle manner. The vocals were good but I think the song really let the rappers shined more.  It is also a dance track that manages to show off the group’s potential in the dance department. The moves showcased here were quite cool. But it is the song’s wild side that I thought was well portrayed on stage, which keeps the performance from going into a strict dance routine and allowed a little more freedom on stage.

To My World
Members: Han Seung Woo, Lee Eun Sang, Kim Min Kyu, Lee Se Jin, Cha Jun Ho, Kim Yo Han, Keum Dong Hyun, Cho Seung Youn, Hwang Yun Seong, Song Hyung Jun

Well, they always say leave the best to last. And I think Produce X 101 did just that with the songs. One of the three tracks performed live during the final episode was To My World, a very dynamic and intriguing track performed by half of the final 20 trainees. It is a dance track that features catchy saxophones in the background and an addictive post-chorus hook that I thought was very smooth and very sleek. The track isn’t too intense and it is not underwhelming. Instead, it manages to be well-balanced in all regards. A similar comment could be made about the choreography. The best part of the entire performance has to the routine during the post-chorus hook. However, overall, I found the performance to bring forward very masculine and alluring energy, which I think suits the song so well. Their outfits were perfect for the performance for the same reasons. Out of all the tracks on this review, I think my favourite has to be this one!

Boyness (소년미)
Members: Ham Won Jin, Kang Min Hee, Tony, Koo Jung Mo, Lee Han Gyul, Nam Do Hyun, Song Dong Pyo, Song Yu Vin, Lee Jin Hyuk, Kim Woo Seok

Boyness started off with a more elegant and soft introduction. There is almost a sensual vibe that comes for this paced beginning and during the verses. But it slowly builds up to a club-like dance track. It is a bold route to take given the soft start. But the contrast really manages to make it captivating, especially how the song effortless moves between each section. The vocals were amazing in the track, with falsettos everywhere. The rapping was also quite cool, adding that masculine vibe to the song. And I like how the song goes full circle, ending like how it started. The elegance is revisited, reminding us what type of track it is. And I thought the performance managed to showcase the song in a similar manner. Slow movements during the slower parts and vice versa for the faster sections. The start reminded me of a blooming flower and I thought the red ribbon was a nice smooth touch to the performance, emphasising the smoothness of the entire routine.

Dream For You
Performers: Top 20 Trainees

Finishing off the entire season of Produce X 101 is a ballad. It keeps with the tradition, ending this chapter of their careers with a touching track and thanking those around them for supporting them this far. I don’t think any track is going to top Always on an emotional level. But Dream For You manages to still be touching and reflective at the same time. The vocalists shined with a beautiful melody during the chorus and the rappers had decent sections to contribute in this track. We all know how tricky ballads can be for rappers. The instrumental, when I guess the occasion doesn’t force you to cry, was rather pleasant and soothing to an extent. It was also nice to see the trainees in different pastel coloured outfits, as opposed to their uniform as previous seasons did. Overall, I thought it was another nice track to end the season.

And that is all. These are the new songs from the latest season of Produce X 101. Hope you enjoyed this review and agree with some of my thoughts. For the trainees, they have come so far. After reviewing KPOP releases for many years (almost 8 years now), I know how tough the industry can be. So, I hope every trainee who participated this season well with all future endeavours. We will obviously see some members return in the coming months as they rejoin their old groups or debut as solo artists. And I wish the very best for X1 as they prepare for their debut.

Thanks for checking out my review and I will see you all again for the next special post!

[Special] Top 10 Personal Favourite Songs from 1st Half of 2019

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As I have been mentioning over the past 2 weeks, I reflect over the 1st half of 2019 through two posts. The first post is the recap of the Number 1 songs from the Weekly KPOP Charts for the period between July 2018 to June 2019 and this was published last week. The second post is my pick for most favourite songs from the first half of the year. This is irrespective of the charts (or any charts for that matter) and reviews, as sometimes my favourite songs don’t reach the top. I have listed 10 songs below, in no particular order, which I believe represent the best of the best that 2019 has offered to us so far.

Boogie Up – WJSN (Cosmic Girls)

Q&A – Cherry Bullet

Woowa – DIA

Side Effects – Stray Kids

The Fifth Season (SSFWL) – Oh My Girl

Zimzalabim – Red Velvet

Valkirye – ONEUS

No – CLC

Sunrise – GFriend

L.O.V.E – Park Ji Hoon

I wanted to add a few more but think limiting myself to 10 would probably be best, otherwise, I’d be copying and pasting majority of 2019’s releases onto this page.

Do you agree with my picks? What about your favourite tracks of 2019 so far? Comment down below!

[Special] Number 1 Songs from July 2018 to June 2019

Posted in Special, Weekly Charts1 Comment

I have been doing these Weekly Chart posts for 3 years now. I started back in July 2017 and have not looked back with the segment. As I stated last year, it does eat up some of my weekends. But I still think it is fun and exciting to see how my listening patterns dictate the charts. So, it is safe to assume that the segment will not be going anywhere soon!

For the past two years, once we enter the second half of the year, I do a recap post of the Number 1 Songs of each Chart Post over the last year. And keeping to tradition, let’s celebrate the 3rd year of the segment in the same fashion!

I’m So Sick – APINK
(1st Week of July 2018)

Dance The Night Away – TWICE
(2nd Week of July 2018)

Oh My! – SEVENTEEN
(3rd Week of July 2018)
(4th Week of July 2018)

Between Us – Laboum
(1st Week of August 2018)

Now or Never – SF9
(2nd Week of August 2018)

Hann – (G)I-DLE
(3rd Week of August 2018)

Upside Down – BIGFLO
(4th Week of August 2018)

NANANA – IMFACT
(5th Week of August 2018)

Siren – Sunmi
(1st Week of September 2018)

Remember Me – Oh My Girl
(2nd Week of September 2018)
(4th Week of September 2018)

Lullaby – GOT7
(3rd Week of September 2018)
(1st Week of October 2018)

Love Bomb – fromis_9
(2nd Week of October 2018)

Crush – Weki Meki
(3rd Week of October 2018)

Oh! My Mistake – APRIL
(4th Week of October 2018)

Shoot Out – Monsta X
(5th Week of October 2018)
(2nd Week of November 2018)

Tempo – EXO
(1st Week of November 2018)

I Love You – EXID
(3rd Week of November 2018)
(4th Week of November 2018)

Simon Says – NCT 127
(1st Week of December 2018)

Turn It Up – Laboum
(2nd Week of December 2018)

Wind Flower – Mamamoo
(3rd Week of December 2018)

MILLIONS – WINNER
(4th Week of December 2018)

Getting Closer – Seventeen
(1st Week of January 2019)

Love Shot – EXO
(2nd Week of January 2019)

Valkirye – ONEUS
(3rd Week of January 2019)

Home – Seventeen
(4th Week of January 2019)

All Night – ASTRO
(5th Week of January 2019)

Sunrise – GFriend
(1st Week of February 2019)

No – CLC
(2nd Week of February 2019)

Piri – Dream Catcher
(3rd Week of February 2019)

Enough – SF9
(4th Week of February 2019)

Senorita – (G)I-DLE
(1st Week of March 2019)

Noir – Sunmi
(2nd Week of March 2019)

Spring – Park Bom ft. Sandara Park
(3rd Week of March 2019)
(4th Week of March 2019)

Bomb Bomb – KARD
(1st Week of April 2019)

Woowa – DIA
(2nd Week of April 2019)

Violeta – IZ*ONE
(3rd Week of April 2019)
(4th Week of April 2019)

Fancy – TWICE
(1st Week of May 2019)

Bet Bet – NU’EST
(2nd Week of May 2019)

The Fifth Season (SSFWL) – Oh My Girl
(3rd Week of May 2019)
(1st Week of June 2019)

Me & You – EXID
(4th Week of May 2019)
(5th Week of May 2019)

Boogie Up – WJSN
(2nd Week of June 2019)

Zimzalabim – Red Velvet
(3rd Week of June 2019)

Side Effects – Stray Kids
(4th Week of June 2019)

PS. I have also updated the ‘Weekly Charts’ tab on the menu while typing up this post. Sorry about my total neglect of that tab. To make up for the abandonment of the tab, here is my all-time favourite KPOP GIF.

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[Special] 2018 KPOPREVIEWED End Of Year Charts

Posted in Award Ceremonies, Special1 Comment

Welcome to the End of Year Charts for 2018. Yesterday, I announced the winners of each 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards categories, which you find by clicking here for the Artist based categories and here for the Song based categories. Congratulations to all the winners for that side of the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards.

For a few years now, I have been collating all the songs released in the year into one massive chart, to see which artist and song reigned supreme for the year. This year, the criteria were similar to the previous year. That is:

  • 50% of the End Of Year Charts was based on the weekly ranking from the Weekly Music Charts (i.e. my personal input) that I publish every Sunday.
  • 50% of the End Of Year Charts are the votes you had submitted through the voting period of the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. Each song you voted for was allocated 1 vote.

Due to the logistics of the post, I will only be posting the Top 100 songs below. If you wish to see the entirety of the rankings, simply click the link below the charts to see all rankings for the End of Year Charts.

Bolded in blue is the song that got the most votes from you all. Bolded in red are the 5 songs that I voted for during the voting period.

So without any more delays, I present to you the ranking for the End Of Year Charts!

Pos. Song Artist
1 Good Evening SHINee
2 Fake Love BTS
3 Ddu-Du Ddu-Du BLACKPINK
4 Love Scenario iKON
5 Boss NCT U
6 Shine Pentagon
7 I Love You EXID
8 Tempo EXO
9 Really Bad Boy Red Velvet
10 YES or YES TWICE
11 Siren Sunmi
12 IDOL BTS
13 Remember Me Oh My Girl
14 Oh My! Seventeen
15 Lullaby GOT7
16 Shoot Out Monsta X
17 Egotistic Mamamoo
18 Heroine Sunmi
19 Bad Boy Red Velvet
20 Secret Garden Oh My Girl
21 I’m So Sick APINK
22 Now or Never SF9
23 Hann (G)I-DLE
24 Regular NCT 127
25 Thanks Seventeen
26 Our Page SHINee
27 Starry Night Mamamoo
28 Wind Flower Mamamoo
29 Bingle Bangle AOA
30 Killing Me iKON
31 Simon Says NCT 127
32 LATATA (G)I-DLE
33 Shinin’ Kim Jonghyun (SHINee)
34 La Vie en Rose IZ*ONE
35 Beautiful Pain BTOB
36 Shoot Me DAY6
37 Hi High LOONA
38 Dreams Come True WJSN (Cosmic Girls)
39 Time For The Moon Night GFriend
40 Spring Breeze Wanna One
41 Look GOT7
42 Complete ONF
43 Boom Boom Momoland
44 Save You Save Me WJSN
45 Only One For Me BTOB
46 Black Dress CLC
47 District 9 Stray Kids
48 No Air The Boyz
49 What Dream Catcher
50 Love Bomb fromis_9
51 Loved HIGHLGIHT
52 Between Us Laboum
53 BBIBBI IU
54 My Pace Stray Kids
55 Scientist VIXX
56 Baby It’s U Jung Sewoon
57 Jealousy Monsta X
58 I Want You SHINee
59 You and I Dream Catcher
60 That Day Lovelyz
61 Dance The Night Away TWICE
62 Boomerang Wanna One
63 LOST N FOUND Lovelyz
64 Goodbye Road iKON
65 Hot Potato N.Flying
66 Roller Coaster Kim Chungha
67 SOLO JENNIE (BLACKPINK)
68 Crush Weki Meki
69 Tulips Snuper
70 Lil’ Touch SNSD-Oh!GG
71 Naughty Boy Pentagon
72 Paint Me Mamamoo
73 SOME (You’ll Be Mine) NATURE
74 Always You ASTRO
75 My Flower JBJ
76 We Go Up NCT Dream
77 Black Heart UNB
78 I.P.U Wanna One
79 Bam Momoland
80 I Am YOU Stray Kids
81 Ride On The Wind KARD
82 Power Up Red Velvet
83 Countless SHINee
84 To Heart Fromis_9
85 Love It Live It YDPP
86 Help Me NU’EST W
87 Just Do It BSS (SEVENTEEN)
88 Blooming Days EXO-CBX
89 Sense UNB
90 Call Your Name JBJ
91 Not That Type Gugudan
92 NANANA IMFACT
93 Oh! My Mistake APRIL
94 Tell Me Infinite
95 What Is Love? Twice
96 Right Here The Boyz
97 Time Of Sorrow VICTON
98 Take Me Higher A.C.E
99 Woo Woo DIA
100 Get It Pristin V

For the entire ranking, click here to see the spreadsheet!

Thank you once again for voting and checking out this post! I can’t wait to see which song will reign supreme throughout 2019!

[Special] 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards – Song Categories Results

Posted in Award Ceremonies, SpecialTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Welcome back to the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards! On the 1st of December 2018, I presented my readers with many categories filled with talented and deserving nominees for the 2018 KPORPEVIEWED Awards. For the month of December, all of you voted for your favourite artists and songs from January 2018 to November 2018. And today, I present to you who the winners of each category were.

This is the second section, which will look at the categories surrounding the artists including Best Male and Female Choreography, Best Album and Best Song of 2018.

In addition to the fan-voted categories, I have also included 5 categories that were not fan voted and I had personally selected the winners (or were determined throughout the year). They include Best Special Performance, Best Concept, Best Non-Title Track, Most Wins on Weekly KPOP Charts segment and Most Viewed Review of 2018. They are labelled clearly.

Each category (with the exception of the non-fan-voted categories) will have a WINNER (the artist that received the highest amount of fan votes), Honourable Mention (the artist/group that received the second highest amount of fan votes) and KPOPREVIEWED Choice (who I voted for).

So, drum roll please, for the winners of the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Artist categories.

Best Male Choreography

Nominees – Fake Love (BTS), Tempo (EXO), Lullaby (GOT7), Thanks (Seventeen), Now or Never (SF9), Black Heart (UNB)

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WINNER – Thanks (Seventeen)
Honourable Mention – Fake Love (BTS)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Lullaby (GOT7)

Best Female Choreography

Nominees – Bingle Bangle (AOA), Woman (BoA), I Love You (EXID), Time For The Moon Night (GFriend), Siren (Sunmi), Dance The Night Away (TWICE)

giphy-12

WINNER – Woman (BoA)
Honourable Mentions – Siren (Sunmi) & Dance The Night Away (TWICE)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – I Love You (EXID)

Best Special Performance

This is not a fan-voted category.

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WINNER – Dreams Come True (WJSN) at KCON 2018 Japan

Best Music Video

Nominees – Bingle Bangle (AOA), DDU-DU DDU DU (BLACKPINK), Fake Love (BTS), Love Bomb (fromis.9), Really Bad Boy (Red Velvet), Now or Never (SF9), District 9 (Stray Kids), The Chance of Love (TVXQ), Yes or Yes (TWICE), Spring Breeze (Wanna One)

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WINNER – Fake Love (BTS)
Honourable Mention – DDU-DU DDU-DU (BLACKPINK)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Fake Love (BTS)

Best Japanese Song Released by a Korean Artist

Nominees – Electric Kiss (EXO), Memoria (GFriend), Chain (NCT 127), Call Call Call (Seventeen), BDZ (TWICE)

giphy-13

WINNER – Electric Kiss (EXO)
Honourable Mention – Call Call Call (Seventeen)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Call Call Call (Seventeen)

Best Collaboration

Nominees – Still In Love (Lee Hong Ki & Yoo Hwe Sung), Wow Thing! (Seulgi, SinB, Kim Chungha, Kim Soyeon), Dinner (Suho & Jang Jae In), Page 0 (Taeyeon & Melomance), Love It Like It (YDPP)

giphy-downsized-large-3

WINNER – Wow Thing! (Seulgi, SinB, Kim Chungha, Kim Soyeon)
Honourable Mention – Still In Love (Lee Hong Ki & Yoo Hwe Sung)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Love It Like It (YDPP)

Song With Most Wins on Weekly KPOP Charts segment

This is not a fan-voted category

giphy-17giphy-18

WINNER – Heroine (Sunmi) & Bingle Bangle (AOA)
[3 Weeks Each]

Most Viewed Review of 2018

This was not a fan-voted category

giphy-16

WINNER – Boom Boom (Momoland)

Best Concept

This was not a fan-voted category

giphy-14

WINNER – Love Bomb (fromis.9)

Best Non-Title Track

This is not a fan-voted category.

dystopia_crossgene_award

WINNER – Dystopia (Cross Gene)

Best Album

Nominees – Love Yourself: Answer (BTS), Don’t Mess With My Tempo (EXO), The Story of Light – Epilogue (SHINee), Something New (Taeyeon (SNSD)), 1÷x = 1 (Undivided) (Wanna One)

shinee_thestoryoflightepilogue_award

WINNER – The Story of Light – Epilogue (SHINee)
Honourable Mention – Love Yourself: Answer (BTS)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Love Yourself: Answer (BTS)

Best Song of 2018

Nominees – All title tracks released from January 2018 to November 2018.
The following song had the highest fan votes in the Best Song of 2018 category. The fan votes in this category will also contribute to 50% of the End Of The Year charts.

giphy-15

WINNER – Good Evening (SHINee)

And that completes the Song Categories for the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. The Artist Categories were previously posted so you can access it by clicking here!

And for the End of Year Charts – they will be out tomorrow. I will update this post with the link once it is out.

Thank you for all voting and checking out who you all selected to be the winners! I hope to do this again for 2019!

[Special] 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards – Artist Categories Results

Posted in Award Ceremonies, SpecialTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Welcome back to the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards! On the 1st of December 2018, I presented my readers with many categories filled with talented and deserving nominees for the 2018 KPORPEVIEWED Awards. For the month of December, all of you voted for your favourite artists and songs from January 2018 to November 2018. And today, I present to you who the winners of each category were.

This is the first section, which will look at the categories surrounding the artists including Best New Groups, Best Female and Male Groups and many others.

Each category will have a WINNER (the artist/group that received the highest amount of fan votes), Honourable Mention (the artist/group that received the second highest amount of fan votes) and KPOPREVIEWED Choice (who I voted for).

So, drum roll please, for the winners of the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Artist categories.

Best New Male Group

Nominees – ATEEZ, NOIR, Stray Kids, The Boyz, UNB

giphy-downsized-large

WINNER – Stray Kids
Honourable Mention – The Boyz
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – The Boyz

Best New Female Group

Nominees – fromis.9, (G)I-DLE, IZ*ONE, LOONA, NATURE

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WINNER – (G)I-DLE
Honourable Mention – LOONA
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – fromis.9

Best New Soloist

Nominees – Kim Dong Han, Leo (VIXX), LONGGUO, SOHEE (ELRIS), Yuri (SNSD)

giphy-1

WINNER – Yuri (SNSD)
Honourable Mention – Leo (VIXX)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Kim Dong Han

Rising Star

Nominees – (G)I-DLE, Lovelyz, Momoland, Oh My Girl, Pentagon

giphy-3

WINNER – (G)I-DLE
Honourable Mention – Pentagon
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Momoland

Most Underrated Artist of the Year

Nominees – A.C.E, CLC, N.Flying, KARD, Snuper

giphy-5

WINNER – KARD
Honourable Mention – CLC
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – N.Flying

Best Unit Group / Subunit

Nominees – EXO-CBX, NCT 127, NCT Dream, Oh My Girl BANHANA, SNSD-Oh!GG

giphy-4

WINNER – EXO-CBX
Honourable Mention – SNSD-Oh!GG
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – NCT 127

Best Male Solo Artist

Nominees – Eric Nam, Hwang Chi Yeul, Jung Sewoon, Samuel, Seungri (Big Bang)

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WINNER – Seungri (Big Bang)
Honourable Mention – Eric Nam
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Eric Nam

Best Female Solo Artist

Nominees – BoA, Hyolyn, Kim Chungha, Sunmi, Taeyeon (SNSD)

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WINNER – Taeyeon (SNSD)
Honourable Mention – Sunmi
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Sunmi

Best Band

Nominees – DAY6, IZ, N,Flying, The East Light, The Rose

giphy-11

WINNER – DAY6
Honourable Mention – The Rose
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – DAY6

Best Raps

Nominees – B.I (iKON), Ilhoon (BTOB), Jooheon (Monsta X), Mino (WINNER), RM (BTS)

giphy-7

WINNER – RM (BTS)
Honourable Mention – Mino (WINNER)
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Jooheon (Monsta X)

Best Vocals

Nominees – BOL4, BTOB, Hwang Chi Yeul, Mamamoo, Minseo

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WINNER – Mamamoo
Honourable Mention – BTOB
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Mamamoo

Best Male Group

Nominees – BTOB, BTS, EXO, GOT7, iKON, Monsta X, NCT, NU’EST W, Pentagon, Seventeen, SF9, SHINee, VIXX, Wanna One, Winner

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WINNER – BTS
Honourable Mention – SHINee
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – iKON

Best Female Group

Nominees – AOA, APRIL, BLACKPINK, CLC, Dream Catcher, EXID, GFriend, Lovelyz, Mamamoo, Momoland, Oh My Girl, Red Velvet, TWICE, Weki Meki, WJSN (Cosmic Girls)

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WINNER – Red Velvet
Honourable Mention – BLACKPINK
KPOPREVIEWED Choice – Mamamoo

Artists Who Topped The Weekly KPOP Charts The Most in 2018

This is not a fan-voted category

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WINNER – Monsta X, Seventeen & Sunmi

And that completes the Artist Categories for the 2018 KPOPREVIEWED Awards. The Song Categories will be unveiled shortly and you can access it by clicking here!

And for the End of Year Charts – they will be out tomorrow. I will update this post with the link once it is out.

Thank you for all voting and checking out who you all selected to be the winners! I hope to do this again for 2019!

Merry Christmas from KPOPREVIEWED!

Posted in SpecialTagged Leave a comment

Today, it is just a very quick post to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas, filled with joy and laughter. I hope will be having a splendid time with their family, friends or whoever they are spending Christmas Day with this year.

To those who do not celebrate Christmas, I just hope you all have another wonderful day with whatever you are doing. Just because you don’t participate in the festive holiday doesn’t mean you get to miss out on all the well wish.

And as part of the holiday cheer, I have stuck all the Christmas songs released in 2018 into one playlist. Celebrate Christmas with your favourite artists! Press play and enjoy the festivities!

There are a few more posts lined up in the coming days, so don’t you worry. Reviews and album reviews will continue to be published in the coming days! Hope to see you then!

2018 KPOPREVIEWED AWARDS – VOTING OPENS!!!

Posted in KPOP, KPOPREVIEWED Awards, Special3 Comments

Last year, I gave all of you (the readers of this blog) the opportunity to vote in the very first special KPOPREVIEWED AWARDS for 2017, where every category was fan-voted!. And since that was hugely successful, it is time to vote in the 2018 KPORPEVIEWED Awards.

This year, choosing the nominees was a lot harder and took much longer than expected. But don’t you worry, I believe I chose a representative bunch of nominees throughout all the categories. I have even split some categories to make it fair (Best Male Dance Performance, Best Female Dance Performance) and added a few extra new categories for potential awards that I missed out on last year (Best Band, Most Underrated Artist and Best Album)!

Voting opens on the 1st of December (0:00 AM) and will continue until 31st of December (11:59PM), giving you all exactly one month to pick and choose who you think deserves the awards. After that, I will be creating a post that shows you who won each award (like at the start of this year).

And once again, you all will have the opportunity to choose the BEST SONG OF 2018. There are a number of ground rules for this category, however:

  • Select your Top 5 songs and enter them in the provided section at the end of the survey.
  • ONLY 5 SONGS OR LESS WILL BE CONSIDERED. IF YOU ENTER IN MORE THAN 5 SONGS, ONLY THE FIRST 5 WILL BE CONSIDERED.
  • Include songs that were released between the dates of 1st of January 2018 and 30th of November 2018 ONLY. Songs released in December will not be considered this year (and will be considered for next year!)
  • Your votes will make up 50% of the criteria, whilst the other 50% will come from the Weekly Charts.

So without any more delays, best of luck to all the nominees! Stretch your fingers and start voting!

If you are unable to view the survey embedded in the page, please click on the link here to be taken to the survey.

[Music Video Theory] Dream Catcher Horror Series – Good Night

Posted in Music Video Theories, SpecialTagged 2 Comments

Welcome to my latest attempt at interpreting music videos. I will be posting 4 posts for Dream Catcher’s horror-themed music videos, which are all interlinked. I will be posting the theories in the order in which they occur in chronological order (Fly High > You & I > Chase Me > Good Night) throughout the day. Like Monsta X’s review, I have a special code when I mention the members to make it easier to write.

Jiu – JIU
Sua – SUA
Siyeon – SY
Handong – HD
Yoohyun – YH
Dami – DM
Gahyeon – GY

Setting The Scene

The video opens up with the guy in his office, which seems to be filled with research into ghosts and darkness. It makes me think like he is some sort of evil destroyer, seeking out evil spirits and removing them from their setting.

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The Forest

We then see YH and SY running throughout the forest in coloured dresses. It seems like they are running away from someone (it is shown to be the guy – I think). However, they don’t seem to be hiding from whoever they are running from. Instead, SY looks like she is checking something. Halfway during the video, we see him get a little too close to them. So YH and SY create 3 stick people and hang them in the tree for him.

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The Book and The Mirrors

The guy has a chained book on his shelf. He takes the book and proceeds to unlock it and read it. In the book, it shows how the girls are trapped inside in the book. Their ghost may be bound to the mansion but the evil beings are shown to be inside the book. GY is seen inside the book, falling into darkness. SUA is shown to be held onto by shrunken hands. All of these shows how the members are trapped.  Some of them seem to be stuck in mirrors, which show the parallel universe to the one the guy is in. 

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Opening the book may have been a bad idea, as the girls start to reappear around him within the mirrors.  He approaches the mirror, where he sees JIU once again.

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We then see 3 girls (DM, JIU and HD) staring back at him. They do another ritual, allowing DAMI to enter the universe the guy is in and steal the locked book. They take pages out of the book and burn them, setting the trapped members free. (Sua doesn’t burn but the leaves and hands on her do). The passing of leadership might be present here as DAMI is in charge of saving the members.

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Freedom

The final stage of their plan is to switch places with him. They somehow distract him by messing up his place, dropping the dream catcher in the process. He goes over to pick it up and realizes that is a mistake (he remembers the 3 stick figures from the forest). He suddenly becomes trapped in the mirror, while the 3 girls are free. Once they are free, they don black cloaks with gold lining.

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At the end, we see all them together once again. Each wearing the dame black cloaks. JIU has returned to be a leader and one of the girls end up dropping the book. It is safe to assume that they transferred him out of the mirror and into the book. Dropping the book in the forest where nobody would find it seems to be an excellent way of getting rid of their problem.

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And that is it. All 4 music video theories and how they are interlinked done. Apologies for how delayed this is. I had to postpone it due to a busy workload and once again for finetuning purposes.

So, do you agree or do you think there is something else?

If you have yet to read the other theories, click the links below!

Fly High Music Video Theory
You & I Music Video Theory
Chase Me Music Video Theory

[Music Video Theory] Dream Catcher Horror Series – Chase Me

Posted in Music Video Theories, SpecialTagged 2 Comments

Welcome to my latest attempt at interpreting music videos. I will be posting 4 posts for Dream Catcher’s horror-themed music videos, which are all interlinked. I will be posting the theories in the order in which they occur in chronological order (Fly High > You & I > Chase Me > Good Night) throughout the day. Like Monsta X’s review, I have a special code when I mention the members to make it easier to write.

Jiu – JIU
Sua – SUA
Siyeon – SY
Handong – HD
Yoohyun – YH
Dami – DM
Gahyeon – GY

Please note that I believe the scenes are somewhat jumbled and I have rearranged them to fit in with what I think is going on. 

Setting The Scene

Many, many centuries/decades passed. The camera in You and I and camera in Catch Me is proof of this.

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The guy checks into room 808. From the start, it is known that he is a paranormal investigator and that he is investigating the haunted castle, where the girls are bound to (JIU closed the gates to the mansion in the Fly High video). As he struggles to get into the door, the lights flicker, and we see JIU standing in the hallway, holding a doll dressed in red. He sees her but when he directs his camera to her, she cannot be seen in the camera view.

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Once he does get into his innocent looking room, he takes out his files that he had compiled on the girls and started to mark down that he saw JIU. However, his pencil broke and had a bloody nose. No doubt that the girls caused this time. He decides to take a rest, as a result.

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The picture he had acquired is the same as the girls shown in Fly High and You & I, confirming that they are dead and that they have been dead for a very long time. I also remembered that they wore their kimonos in the reverse order, which is commonly associated with the dead.

Let The Scaring Begin…

During his rest, he is hypnotized by SUA. (The way she swung the pendant was like how she rang the bell in Fly High). He wakes up knowing she is there but after turning back, she is no longer there. The hypnosis seems to be the start of something as he starts seeing that his reflection is delayed, and he starts getting nightmares when he sleeps.

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We are then shown a ritual scene, where DM is lying on the ground and all the members are surrounding her. One of the items around her, of interest, is the red doll, which JIU was holding onto (SUA is also in the middle). Their plan, whatever it is at this stage is taking into effect. As mentioned previously, JIU was leader after she became possessed/evil in You & I. The use of her doll in this ritual might be a transfer of leadership to another member. This will be important in the next video.

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Each member takes a turn at tormenting the guy. SY holds the door in place, GY throws books onto the ground. JIU floats in the hallway. YH changes all the room numbers to room 808, confusing him in a later scene.

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The Ending…

At the bridge of the song, we see him inspecting the surveillance system, which I assumed he installed himself. He sees confronting images of himself crawling away from something or someone. It isn’t shown on camera, but we see a flashback to JIU walking towards him. This convinces him that enough is enough, and he brings an axe to his room. He starts swinging the axe, the main goal being to break down the door and hotel, one step at a time.

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However, when he steps back into the room, we do not see his room. Instead, we see a warm coloured room, shown as one of the rooms the girls used to play in. On the wall is that old picture of the group, enlarged. He smiles in the room, which I am not sure why he does so.

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And that is my interpretation of the video. What do you think happened or do you agree with me? There are still many gaps that I am not sure of and despite looking into some other theories, I can’t think of anything that may fill up those gaps.

I will be posting my Good Night Music Video Theory after this one (The Final Part). If You haven’t read the theory for Fly High, CLICK HERE or if you haven’t read the theory for You & I, CLICK HERE.

[Music Video Theory] Dream Catcher Horror Series – You & I

Posted in Music Video Theories, SpecialTagged 5 Comments

Welcome to my latest attempt at interpreting music videos. I will be posting 4 posts for Dream Catcher’s horror-themed music videos, which are all interlinked. I will be posting the theories in the order in which they occur in chronological order (Fly High > You & I > Chase Me > Good Night) throughout the day. Like Monsta X’s review, I have a special code when I mention the members to make it easier to write.

Jiu – JIU
Sua – SUA
Siyeon – SY
Handong – HD
Yoohyun – YH
Dami – DM
Gahyeon – GY

Please note that I believe the scenes are somewhat jumbled and I have rearranged them to fit in with what I think is going on. 

Setting The Scene

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The events of the You & I music video is YH’s nightmare. She was possessed (in my mind) when she killed the spider but this could have been a weak curse (as the spider had to be killed before the full curse got to the other members), so the spider’s hold onto YH was weak. So when she is transferred to the nightmare, the curse is lifted and she follows the rules set by the other members (who were strongly possessed). For example, she follows SY and becomes a photographer (as she didn’t know how to get out). There is also a change in leadership, as SY was also the leader. This could have occurred during the forest trip in Fly High.

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Once each member was possessed, they get transferred to the nightmare (an alternate reality) alongside SY. We don’t see much of the others except for DM, JIU, SY and YH. HD is bound, GY interacts with her reflection, SUA is around. Not sure why some members are shown in a limited way and why they are where they are.

Dami & The Glass Dome

For DM, her inexperienced magic powers cause her to become stuck in the dome. As her magic matures, she magicked up a stick and broke the glass.

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Yoohyun’s Retransition to Evil (again)

While taking a picture, YH encounters a lady, who turns out to be the spider. Proof that YH had her curse lifted is that she became scared of the presence of the spider. She is knocked out. She then wakes up again with the evil inside her.

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JIU at the start is running through the halls. I assumed she had some ‘good’ within her because as she ran around, she looked genuinely concerned and scared. She stops at a spinning top, clearly not want to stop it spinning. Why she stopped? Nobody knows but it seems like she does – as if stopping the top will cause something bad to happen. One of the scenes showing an evil spirit almost getting to her, but we don’t see the aftermath of that close encounter.

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It seems like JIU is helping YH by doing some ritual that allows YH the chance to run to a portal that would get her out of the nightmare. That is what we are made to think. But in reality, the dark spirit got to JIU (as I said, we didn’t see the aftermath) and caused her to become fully evil. She baits YH into thinking this plan might work and that she can escape. My question is why would JIU help YH become free while the rest of the members are standing around them and not doing anything? SY is the ring-leader (she is the one in charge of the photos), so why doesn’t she stop them? Because JIU is evil and is tempting YH. Everyone else knows about the plan, everyone besides YH.

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The evil spirit is lifted (temporarily) allowing YH to run towards the now closing portal (I think this is linked to the top. If JIU stopped the top, she would have closed the portal and therefore she could not convince YH that this will work).

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The leader consistently changes, with JIU becoming the leader after she becomes evil. Hence, why nobody stopped her. 

YH runs towards the portal but it closes. And at the same time, the evil returns, latching onto her. As a result, she passes out and the members surround her once again, waking her up.

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And that is my interpretation of the video. What do you think happened or do you agree with me? There are still many gaps that I am not sure of and despite looking into some other theories, I can’t think of anything that may fill up those gaps.

I will be posting my Chase Me Music Video Theory after this one. Good Night will be published soon after. If you haven’t read the Fly High theory, the start of this story, CLICK HERE!