Shinhwa Fan 20 Questions

*man, this picture is like a million years old! Eric’s got glasses, wtf, hahaha*

It had been a really long time since I visited my favourite Shinhwa forums. And today I was being a little nostalgic and lurked around there again. As I was browsing I saw there were a lot of discussions and QA between the fans about Shinhwa. Kind of like the usual 100 QA. I decided to indulge a bit and compile some of them for me personally, thus the whole “Shinhwa Fan 20 Questions”. So, let’s start!

1. What is your Top 5 Shinhwa songs? A tough start! 10 Studio Albums, 4 Winter Albums, 4 Singles and a bunch of other independent songs obviously make it hard to pick just 5. They have close to 200 songs and of course they’re not all perfect but man, I have so many favourites among those and they keep changing depending on the weather, hahaha. But anyways, with heavy heart I will have to leave a lot of my favourite songs. My pick would be Snowy Night, Perfect Man, One More Time, Eusha Eusha,  and Deep Sorrow. Reasons? My Shinhwa obsession started around the same time as Snowy Night release in 2007. Perfect Man is an addictive song that I can listen to 50 times a day, and I have done that in the past. One More Time is sentimental to me because this is one of Shinhwa’s last songs before they had to go on hiatus and I feel a little twist in my heart whenever I listen to it. Eusha Eusha never fails to cheer me up. Deep Sorrow has got to be one of Shinhwa’s sexiest songs ever.

2. If you win a date with Shinhwa, who would you take and how would your day be like? I remember answering I’d take Junjin before, but now that I think about it I think I’d pick Dongwan. Because stuff like this tends to get pretty awkward but I feel like Dongwan would be someone you can click right away. For one, he’s chatty and I think I would have fun laughing at his stupid silly antics too. I’d probably take him to the countryside because he seems to love traveling and taking pictures. I want to spend time talking about random stuff and about his life away from the spotlight. And of course I would prepare a gift, a mirror, because dude LOVES to look at himself in the mirror, hahah.

3. Out of all Shinhwa members solo effort, which one do you like? I’m more of a drama girl than a music girl, so for me I’ll give the crown to Eric for his drama Que Sera Sera, which is still one of my favourite dramas of all time. Runner up would go to 2 members, Minwoo for his 4th album M-Rizing and Dongwan for his 2nd album The Secret. Both of these are such great albums. Now, I like Andy’s and Junjin’s songs as well, but objectively, they haven’t displayed the level of quality that Minwoo and Dongwan did. As for Hyesung, he is an amazing vocalist and I’m sure his albums are great but I’m not really one for ballad so it’s not my taste.

4. What is your favourite Shinhwa variety show moments? Another tough one because they have appeared in numerous variety shows. I’ll pick some I can remember. One is: Shinhwa in Yashimanman. For a Shinhwa fan, this is like gold, man. A lot of secrets being spilled and there are so many hilarious moments in this appearance. Second: Shinhwa’s Love Letter. Not just that episode but basically the whole 1st season of Love Letter. W get to know the ‘Ideal Guy’ contenders with their hot date and the ‘Minor League’ losers with their intense training, and naturally chaos ensues, heh!

5. What would you do if Shinhwa breaks up? The million dollar question and my answer is that I don’t think Shinhwa will break up. That’s not exactly answering the question but I think that Shinhwa’s gone past the point where there’s a question if they will break up or not. They were to break up if their 2nd album didn’t sell well, but then it did. They almost broke up when their contract with SM Entertainment ended, but they stuck together and got through it. In short, they have weathered so many obstacles that breaking up at this point is just pointless and they know it too.

6. Do you miss Shinhwa? Err, duhhh! I became a fan when Shinhwa’s activities were winding down. So I had to be content with just watching their old shows, listening to their old songs, and keeping my ears open for the occasional news of the group. But more than that, I miss being obsessed with Shinhwa, getting home straight away from school so I could watch the next part of Shinhwa in X-Man or Heroine 5, going to youtube and type the word ‘shinhwa’ and just watched random videos. I also miss having chats and crazy discussions with fellows Shinhwa fans. Heh, let’s hope Shinhwa comes back soon. Next year Eric and Wannie are out of military anyway, wohoooo!

7. Shinhwa and plastic surgery? I’ve heard a bunch of speculations and actual facts regarding the members fixing themselves up. What I know is that Dongwan got a nose job and Jinnie got his eyes done. They admitted it a long time ago so it’s not exactly news. I’m still sore about Junjin’s surgery because I think he looked older and more tired after the work done. People speculated about Hyesung getting his eyes done and Eric getting his nose (or lips??) done. I don’t think Eric got surgeries, but I do think Hyesung got a double eyelid cause his eyes look pretty different now compared to his younger self. I think Hyesung looks better now tho.

8. Does Shinhwa have a big influence in your life? Not really, but it does creep in sometimes. It was only after liking Shinhwa that I seriously thought of visiting Korea for real and I did. There’s also the tiny stuff that is unconsciously influencing my daily life. A few weeks ago, I had to buy a headphone because my old one was falling apart and I just automatically picked an orange one. Why orange, you say? Cause orange is Shinhwa’s colour. Simple as that.

9. If Shinhwa wasn’t Shinhwa, where do you think they would be right now? I think Eric would have stayed in the States and got himself married to a Californian hottie. Minwoo would have become an entertainer anyway, or a dancer because this field is like his calling. Dongwan would have been a journalist, I think, because he’s very eloquent and loves to get his thoughts out there. Hyesung would’ve been a salaryman who frequented karaoke place (to sing) and was  married with children. Junjin would have been a PE teacher in Elementary school because he’s crazy about sport and little kids. Andy would have been a businessman because he excels in his finances and is independent.

10. What is Shinhwa’s best album so far? Although I like the 6th album for its slightly RnB sound, I have to give numero uno to 7th Album, Brand New. After parting with SM, people didn’t think Shinhwa could make it. But Brand New came out with such a bang. It was helped by intense promotions, different look, a positive attitude, but above all, the album itself is full of fabulous songs. It was a different sound than their previous albums and the reinvention was succesful.

11. If you can give presents to Shinhwa members, what would they be? I already said I would give mirror to Dongwan. I want to give a bunny for Eric so he can treat it better than his neighbour’s bunny, hehe (there’s a story behind Eric’s bunny signature). Hair mousse for Hyesung so he can style his hair to his heart’s content. Beanie for Junjin because he wears it even in the summer. Shopping voucher for Minwoo who is a total fashionista. Love potion for Andy so he can finally find love after years of being single.

12. If you can take one Shinhwa member to a desserted island, who would you take? Now, refrain from playing out suggestive scenarios! I want to take Andy, because he’s a great cook!

13. You know you’re a Shinhwa fan when… When you start a)to insist that orange is your favourite colour, b)compare every single boyband to Shinhwa and thinks that Shinhwa is better, c)scour all of internet to find if one of their rare DVD special is being sold, etc.

14. Who, among the members, do you think is…. a)the funniest? I think none of them is comedian funny, but all of them are crazy! b)the most shy? I used to think Hyesung, but after watching We Got Married, I think it’s Andy. c)the most playful? Like I said, all of them (or at least 4, excluding Minwoo and Hyesung, are) are crazy, but the king of it is ET Eric! d)the most talkative in interviews? Minwoo and Dongwan are like the speaker of the group. Andy and Eric would be in the corner playing among themselves and Hyesung standing around being quiet. Junjin would either join the RicDy madness or in a good day, help out MinWan answering questions, haha. e)up for fan service? Absolutely Minbong. f)he cuddliest? Hmm, I don’t know. Probably the two magnae, Andy and Junjin. g)looooves giving hugs? Eric, no question. Just how many times have we seen him jumping on Hyesung or Andy?

15. Favourite Shinhwa member? I’m going to change this question to: which member solo news do you follow most often? For me it’s Eric, Junjin, and Dongwan.

16. If you can find celebrity girflfriends for the members, who would you match them up with? For Eric, probably someone slightly older than him with a quirky charm like him too. One contender would be Choi Kang Hee. For Minwoo, I’d introduce him to Park Yejin who’s feminine but can be tough when necessary. For Dongwan, it has to be someone who can appreciate and endure his brand of wackiness and match up with her own crazy, I’d go for Koyote’s Shinji. For Hyesung, a super feminine lady but also full of aegyo, like former Jewelry Lee Jihyun aka Queen of Danghyunaji. For Junjin, a prettygirl who seems nice and the type to bring home to meet mom, like actress Han Damin. For Andy, definitely Solbi, no question. Hehe, sorry, my We Got Married bias is still so strong. Ansol couple FTW!

17. If you can get one member to perform one dance, what would it be? Aaahhh, tough!! Between Andy’s heart dance to Dongwan’s Doloop, everything is so entertaining. But I’ll have to go with Hyesung’s ‘Mom Buy Me That’ dance! Too hilarious!

18. If you can interview Shinhwa, what is the one question you would like to ask to each member? For Eric, If you can have only one solo career, would you rather be an actor or a singer/rapper? For Dongwan, Why are you so obsessed with Japan?? For Junjin, When will you get married, you’re not getting any younger?? For Hyesung, will you ever venture into acting? For Minwoo, Can you make one song especially for me? For Andy, Which one are you??

19. What do you think of Eric as a leader? Bias aside, I really do respect Eric as a leader. He’s charismatic to boot, but he knows how to lower himself so that the other members can treat him like a friend. It seems like he understands the inner workings of every single one of his members and can position himself so that everyone feels comfortable. I also like how Eric doesn’t hog the spotlight. If asked, he would answer. But if not, he would let the other guys have their moments. If you notice, Eric usually stands in the corner during interviews or variety shows. When Shinhwa was on the brink of breaking up, Eric united his members so that they can still perform under the name of Shinhwa. Look at what Yunho of DBSK is doing right now. Eric would be disappointed.

20. What would you like to see Shinhwa/members doing in the next 5 years? Only one. I want to see them have group activities under the name of Shinhwa again. The last time they did that was for their 8th album in 2006, which is like AGES ago. For the next 3 years, member will go to and come from military service. But after that, I would really like it if Shinhwa, not only holds concerts, but also promotes on TV so that even the new fans of K-Pop would know who Shinhwa is and how long they have been together!

Lee Seunggi’s 4th: First Listen

Thanks to the beeyotiful Bee who uploaded Seunggi’s tracks from his 4th Album Shadow to Youtube.

I’m listening to the songs as I am typing so this is really just a first impression kind of thing. The thing with me is that some songs I can really hate on the first listen, but the more I have it in my playlist, the more I get used to it and the more I like them. This has happened quite a few times, so with songs, I don’t really trust my first judgment. But usually, when I do like a song on the first listen, I will continue to love it. Still, the fact stands that I am totally no music master. I don’t analyze the rhythm or the beats or the lyrics, I just base it on whether the music is well, music to my ears or not.

Tracks:

1)Like a Flower;; 2)Wedding Veil;; 3)Let’s Break Up (title song);; 4)Melody;; 5)Love Spins Around;; 6)Love Is;; 7)I Got To Know It That Way;; 8)I Want You;; 9)Despair;; 10)Ore Ore Oh.

If I were to comment on each song, I Like A Flower is like a reminiscence of Seunggi’s pop rock in his 2nd album, whereas I feel that Wedding Veil and I Got To Know You That Way remind me of his 1st album.  Melody and Love Is are his contemporary pieces and they are so much fun to listen to. Let’s Break Up, Love Spins Around and Despair are the what I call Seunggi’s signature ballad songs. It reminds me a lot of stuff like White Lie and Words That Are Hard To Say, not a fan, but I’m not complaining either.

I Want You is the one song that stands out and that I feel most different than anything I’ve heard of Seunggi. It’s very upbeat and it actually sounds…happy. Listening to that was SUCH a surprise, a very pleasant surprise actually. Then I went down and listened to the very last track, Ore Ore Oh, and my surprise turned me into a gawking nut. It’s another happy song!!! OMG, 2 officially happy songs in one album! What I did to deserve this wonderful gift, I will never know.

Alright, I overreacted, but the truth is even though I like Seunggi’s songs, his songs are rarely what I would call ‘happy’. A lot of them are supposed to evoke a sad emotion or failing that, at least a little melancholy. The only ones I can pinpoint that are remotely happy are Will You Marry Me and Smile Boy.

So this happier and lighter vibe of this new album is a big change and the one change that for me personally, is very welcome. I know Seunggi has a lot of fans for his sadder ballad songs and perhaps those will be disappointed at the turn of atmosphere, but for me, I am happy.

Lee Minwoo = Genius

This is some sort of part 2 of ‘Eat My Words’ series, if you will.

I expressed my hesitance in Minwoo’s new album a few weeks ago. I finally listened to his mini album, Minnovation and as usual, he delivered.

Despite my equal love for all Shinhwa members, I do have to admit that Minwoo’s music is just up there compared to the other members. Perhaps it is my own preference, but his albums have consistently been excellent. Ever since trying out solo, Lee Minwoo has been using M as his solo alter ego. Apart from working on his own music, Minwoo has also lend a composing/lyric writing hand to the other singers. He wrote Jewelry that song Baby One More Time that became like one of the most popular kpop songs in 2008. He also wrote for VOS, another band I love, Beautiful Life, which is arguably VOS’s most popular song.

The first album I listened to was his 3rd album, Vol. 3 Explore M and it was just love. I love practically every song in that album. That album is really perfection and I have lost count how many times I have listened to it. If I have to point my favourites, they are probably My Child, Play My Song, The M Style, and Boyfriend, but really, if you ask me, they are all awesome.

With this encouragement, I went back to listen to his 2nd album, IInd Winds. IInd Wind is generally a solid album, catchy songs. But after listening the awesomeness of Explore M, IInd Winds just paled in comparison. To be fair, it’s not a bad album, it’s an ok one. The songs are good, but the songs are kind of similar from one to the other, making it a little flat. I still listen to it, but don’t covet it as much as I do the other albums.

After the 3rd album, he released a mini album, titled The Sentimental Reason. A really different sound, he explored Jazz in this album, so this album strikes me as the most distinctive of all his albums. The title track, Love is such a Beautiful Word, is a slower but catchy song. To me it’s kind of a feel good song even if it’s not breaking any grounds.

His 4th album, M Rizing, is yet another win. I am constantly amazed at Minwoo, how can he continuously churn out all these uber catchy songs?? He might not compose all of them, but his involvement in making the albums is great. In his 1st album, he is involved in making 2 songs, but ever since, he writes or compose the majority of his songs. Again, I have a hard time picking a favourite song because I just love all of them. The title track is Don’t Trust Men, but I gotta say, I think all of the songs in his album can be title tracks. Along with his signature style, Minwoo touched on yet a different colour of music this time around. I heard that this album didn’t do well in Korea and personally I don’t get it. It is an awesome album. Some of my favourites are: Cool Life, Wink Show, Girl, and Honey.

And now, Minnovation, a new mini album. I had my reservation. I didn’t want Minwoo to sacrifice his style to follow the current electopop trend of people like 10 years younger than him. He’s a sophisticated guy and he should embrace that. (This kinda relates to how Junjin dresses himself for the promotions of Fascination, the album is fine, but the K-Fed style just don’t sit with me right.) I didn’t like the artwork for Minnovation at all, but knowing Minwoo as the music genius, I was still anticipating his new mini album.

I’m relieved to say that Minwoo proved me wrong. It’s an excellent album that I feel bad it’s only a mini album. The album consists of 4 new songs and 2 remixes of his previous songs. Minnovation, the title track, is hella catchy. I do think there’s a little of that electronic, but in the hands of Minwoo, he totally makes it his own. Love Me Ice Cream kinda gives me the feeling of going back to his earlier works, an nice song, nothing special, but okay nonetheless. Summer Time is another favourite of mine. On My Way Home is SUCH a relaxing song, it’s reflective and it just makes me emotionally sad, for some reason.

Bottom line is, Lee Minwoo can do anything yet his music will always be of quality. That’s for sure. He might have ‘scandal’ relationships (what with the whole Amy, Shinae, and Seo Jiyoung), but no one can deny that this guy is a music genius. He’s a superb performer and musician and for that I will always respect him.

*Gotta love the shrimp eyes!*

I’ll Eat My Words

I am trying really hard to exercise some self control in posting too much Lee Seunggi/Brilliant Legacy related.

Alas, I need to do this.

I’ll gladly eat my words. I retract what I said about not liking Lee Seunggi’s music.

Yesterday, I sit myself through the longest Lee Seunggi playlist I could find down at Imeem (here) and I realized that I came to a conclusion way too fast. While I stand by my opinion that I am not into his purely ballad songs, I have come to know that Ballad is not ALL Lee Seunggi is about. In fact, he has considerable amount of songs which have a more rock-ish/pop rock sound.

It turned out that I was mostly exposed to his remake albums which consist of perhaps 90% ballad songs, plus some of the title tracks from his actual albums, which are curiously also ballad. Therefore, upon listening his 3 full albums, I got confused. He’s got lotsa rock, why are his title tracks consistently ballad? Is this his way to establish his image as a balladeer? Well, I don’t know.

For the record, his songs are so awesome I’ve been listening to them pretty much nonstop since yesterday.

Here are some smokin’ hot performances:

credit: bedifferent2

Mr. [M]innovation

Lee Minwoo’s new mini album!

I love that photo of him sporting a heck of a six pack (Minwoo might be on the short side, but he makes up for it by possessing the most perfectly sculpted body, in my opinion, the best body in Shinhwa…fine, tie with Eric…Que Sera Sera days). I love that jumping pose, with his arms splayed open and legs slightly crossed. I’ve seen Minwoo doing this kind of pose, but usually, he does this pose in a more joking manner, so it’s usually more cute and funny than sexy. But now that it’s captured in a picture, it’s one great job.

Having said that, I do not care for the multicoloured backdrop. I haven’t heard the album, obviously, but I will be disappointed if he does electronica. I’m fine with Minwoo experimenting and doing different type of music, but if he does electronica, than I would just account for it as following the mass taste. God knows that Big Bang’s done enough electronica, now 2NE1 and the new girlband 4Minute is also sporting similar music, with coincidentally, similar multicolour concept. Junjin’s Hey Ya has a bit of that too.

When I first saw this promotional still, I immediately thought of those younger groups and I don’t like that feeling of Minwoo trying to conform to their taste. I like Minwoo’s music a lot, I have loved all of his albums, the full ones or minis so I have faith in his abilities, but it is disheartening to think that to succeed commercially, he has to sacrifice his sophistication.

I hope I will be proven wrong today, when the song comes out.

What Is It About 2NE1?

2NE1 is a new girl group from YG Entertainment. They are dubbed the female Big Bang, adopting similar fashion and overall style. Comprised of CL, Park Bom, Gong Minji, and Philippine star Park Sandara, 2NE1 is apparently taking the Korean music scene by storm!

I personally do not get all the fuss about 2NE1. I listened to their songs, Lollipop and Fire and I was not impressed. I mean, the songs are okay, but they are not exactly up to the hype. Everywhere I look in Kpop blogs these days, more often 2NE1 would be in one of the coverage. Be it their performance, their media appearance, heck, even just the fact that they reveal their makeup-less faces is worth a blogging. It’s not that I complain but I’m just stating the fact that they seem to be so hugely popular now and I don’t understand why.

Entry to KPop World

This July would be my third year as a Kpop fan. I’m not exactly a super long time fan or anything, but it’s been almost 3 years since I did become a fan. I just wanted to journey back to the time when I first got into Kpop and all the firsts of Kpop.

My first 3 dramas are still memorable to this day. Full House, my first, remains one of my favourites and one I still regularly look up and watch. Yes, it gets draggy around the middle. Yes, Bi’s fashion in the drama is mind-blowing in its ugliness. The drama’s got lots of boo factors, but it’s still one of the most hilarious, fun, and cutest. Song Hyekyo and Bi went on to become like huge superstars. This drama is a testament of their awesome chemistry together.

My second and third! Goong and My Girl. Goong, I gotta say, lacks in so many aspects. Because the main actors were mostly green actors at the time, the drama was full of bad acting, to say the least. The 24 episodes didn’t help either, it was just way too long, thus the drama had a lot of long winded moments. The saving grace lied in the gorgeous visual and photography and chemistry between the leads. My Girl isn’t perfect either. But at least, the acting was still acceptable. It does drag a bit towards the end, but I think 16 episodes are appropriate. There are many scenes in the drama that are copied (sometimes blantantly) from the PD/Writer’s previous drama, Delightful Girl Choonhyang. But I have to admit that I have a soft spot for MG. I really love the pairing Lee Dongwook/Lee Dahae and even until now I still follow their news occasionally.

My Sassy Girl is my first ever korean movie as I’m sure is the case with a million other people. It’s a hilarious movie to boot yet at the same time, it was melancholic and sad. There’s death (of course!), there’s love, there’s relationship. Even Hollywood took this movie as an inspiration and made an american version out of it, which yes, went straight to DVD, but still.

Look at that adorable face! How can you not fall in love with him? Wait till you see his perfectly sculpted body. My first korean crush is Gong Yoo circa She’s On Duty, way way before his big break in Coffee Prince. I had no clue how to spell his name as I couldn’t read Hanggeul then. So I had to rely on the cover of that one borrowed, pirated DVD and googled him. I began watching more of his projects such as S-Diary, Spy Girl, My Tutor Friend, Biscuit Teacher, and of course Coffee Prince. Heck, I even suffered through a few episodes of the semi-incest drama, One Fine Day (really atrocious drama ) before removing myself out of that misery.

My first korean music, I honestly cannot remember. I was always dabbling in dramas or movies so my musical exposure tend to be from the soundtracks. If the drama has nice music, I would try to look them up, but nothing more than that. I think the first time I took an interest in the singer themselves was either Bi’s 4th album or SG Wannabe’s 3rd album. It wasn’t until a year later when I got into Shinhwa that I began listening to more KPop.

So anyway, those are some of the firsts of my introduction into korean entertainment. As much as people say Full House is overrated or that Kpop are trashy stuff, you gotta admit that these things DO contribute to the increasing popularity of Hallyu. Whether you like it or not.

Guilty Pleasure: It’s You!

I am admitting my sin. My very current guilty pleasure is Super Junior’s It’s You (Neorago).

So I was doing my assignment on a beautiful Thursday afternoon when my dearly beloved friend, Ms. S shoved me her Ipod and showed me It’s You video clip. I didn’t intend to like it or anything since I never saw SJ in a particularly favourable light. But I watched it till the end and I loved it. The song has been stuck in my head ever since.

credit:Sup3rJunior

I don’t know SJ well enough to make any sort of judgement actually. The reason I never touched SJ before is because the few perfomances I saw of them were, well, complete crap. But that was sometime ago, I guess. I have to admit that their 3rd album (which yes, sits in my mp3 player) is pretty okay. Sorry Sorry, the song, was very catchy, and the dance moves were actually interesting. Vocal wise, I don’t see anything special. But their songs are very easy listening and fun.

13 members. Let’s see if I can name them one by one. I’ve see Kangin in WGM. Eunhyuk and Leeteuk guested in WGM too. Heechul was the first member I knew from the days of watching Bad Family. Choi Siwon was in that drama with Seo Jihye. I’m loving Yesung right now. I’ve seen Hankyung in Yashimanman. I thought Shindong was really Kang Hodong’s brother. Okay, I’m starting to falter now. Umm, I know Kyuhyun is the magnae. I read that Kim Kibum gained weight. There’s also Sungmin. I thought Lee Donghae was cute in a show. Oh heck, who’s the last member?

Okay, whoever that last member, I’m sorry. His name escapes me at the moment.

credit:CodeMonmon