K-World Fetish Part 2

K-POP FETISH: Part B

Kim Hyun Joong

9 years ago, it was the dramas that diverted the whole world’s attention to Korea’s entertainment industry...then came Rain and Boa, followed by idol groups like TVXQ and SS501...and today, the K-POP waves have spread all over the world with their energetic dances, catchy and captivating music, adorable fashion style, amusing variety shows and entertaining entertainment programmes...today, the global phenomenon of Super Junior, B2ST, 2PM, 2AM, Girl’s Generation, KARA, U KISS, MBLAQ, CN BLUE, FT Island, 2NE1, 4 minute (and the list goes on..too many to list down) seems to be unbeatable...


And because of this huge and wide phenomenon of the Hallyu Waves, my addiction towards K-POP world continues one after another...generally, I love most of the songs by the Koreans artistes, be it Ballads, Rock or just pop...for me, those songs are just favourable, easy for the ears even though the lyrics that I can understand are only of a few common words such as “ Sarang”, “Gaseum” “Appa” “Ara” etc..

Jejaka Idaman? hehe

I love SS501, but after their last album in 2009, the members are doing separate projects individually, so, I thought that my addiction will stop there and then...nah, how wrong I was for then, CN Blue debuted with I’m a Loner...hence, I’m hooked with the web of K-POP again and again..

SS501

K-POP world is so huge...and here I would love to divide them into several categories (macam nak bagi awards plak..kekeke)...these are all based on my favouritism...(sorry to those who disagree *wink*)

• FAVE BANDS
--- > It’s CN Blue for their unique talents and taste in music...I love most of their songs...they composed, wrote and produced their own songs! Even the “Banmal” song was composed by Yong Hwa with Seo Hyun in their WGM show..how cool is that? And honestly, the song is just so nice...=)..their music alone is able to grab hold of my attention without the need to do extra like dancing in their performance...It’s just so cool to watch them playing their instrument confidently and with ease...

The talented boys of CN Blue

• FAVE IDOLS
--- > haha... this one goes without saying...they are Kim Hyun Joong (SS501) and Kim Heechul (Suju)...it seems that I like the descendant of “Kim” quite a lot...haha...as for Hyun Joong, it is his 4D unique personality – unpredictable, mysterious, blunt, witty and intelligence...the image of him with the combination of humorous and mysterious elements appeals to my taste in ‘namja’..haha...and for Heechul, he is quick and super funny! And of course, I won’t deny another important factor of liking these two is their physical appearance...Both are just so beautiful =) *Wink* cantik mengalahkan orang perempuan..adoyai..

• FAVE IDOL GROUP
--- > SS501! Well, the reason why I like these 5 boys so much is because they are just so funny together...the Tom & Jerry fight between Park Jung Min & Baby Hyung Jun brings laughter to the atmosphere while the nice Kyu Jong could be mischievous at times...the Prince, Young Saeng is the by nature the quiet one but still able to create loveable moments and with his members, Hyun Joong is his real self...You can’t never see his 100% unique 4D personality at other shows except when he is surrounded by the people that he is comfortable with...and among them are his members in SS501! =)


• FAVE SONGS
--- >there are too many to list down every one of it but the ones that keep on playing over and over again on my Vivaz Pro are:

--- > CN Blue – I’m a Loner, Intuition & L.O.V.E GIRL
--- > G.NA – Black & White and I’ll back off so You can Live
--- > SS501 – Love Ya
--- > Beast – Shock
--- > FT Island – Love Love Love
--- > Kim Hyun Joong – Thank You

Basically, my taste is more prominent towards the energetic songs that could pump up my body to dance along the music as listed above...an exception for Hyun Joong’s Thank You...this song just reminds me of the variety show We Got Married that he did with Hwang Bo...I am one of the JoongBo Believers...I think they will be great together although it was awkward in the beginning...

• FAVE MVs – Really love G.NA’s “Black & White”...the chemistry between both G.Na and Jin Woon (2AM) is so sweet...I also love the mischievous things that the girls of 4 Minute do to Jung Shin (CN Blue) in the MV “Heart to Heart”...and another one that I enjoy is Suju’s “Full of Happiness” especially the part for free hugs...hahaha...just imagine if that really happens, wow, I guess the fans would all go crazy!

The sweet chemistry between G.NA & Jin Woon in Black & White

• FAVE OSTs – No. 1’s choice is of course all the AN Jell’s songs from “You’re Beautiful”! the quadruplets are so amazing! This will be followed by Howl “Have I Told” from the drama Playful Kiss

• FAVE DANCES – for this one, Nuruddin won’t like it but I love 2PM’s ‘tukki’ (Rabbit)+shuffle dance in “I’ll Be back” MV (hehe)...the Bad Boy image in SS501 “Love Ya” is also my favourite along with Girl’s Generation famous leg line dance in “OH”

• FAVE VOICES – Yong Hwa’s (CN Blue) husky voice really turns me on! *wink* he is definitely a singer who really can sing! Plus, FT Island’s main vocalist, Lee Honggi...actually, Honggi’s voice is really unique and rare...it can’t just be found anywhere...it reminds me of my best mate, Baya’s favourite group Radja *terkenang zaman muda-mudi*...and don’t forget the powerful voices from 4 Minute & 2NE1...these 2 idol girl groups are different than the others because they focus on their voice and music rather than just dancing!

• FAVE VARIETY SHOWS – it’s OH MY SCHOOL! Love every episode of this show but the most well-liked one is the Christmas Special with Heechul in it! The Chocoball Group members are just so hilarious...=)...I also like We Got Married (Ssanghu Couple & Goguma Couple), 2 days 1 Night (oh, Lee Seunggi is really cute in it) and SS501 Idol World (old show)...

• FAVE DRAMAS – the all time favourite is “All About Eve” with Jang Dong Gun and Chea Rim as the lead cast...the rest are “Playful Kiss”, “You’re Beautiful” , “My Girl” and “Sungkyunkwan Scandal”...mostly, the main attraction is the storyline, and another factor is of course the gorgeous heroines and charming heroes! (Hehe..I guess, it’s human’s nature and also human’s fault to always like to see the beauty of everything including “saram”)

See? There are too many things to talk about K-POP world...Do you believe me if I say that I watch almost everything in KBS World including their Documentary (e.g. VJ on the Scene & Screening Humanity) just because I love almost everything about it! I just don’t watch the news – why? Because there is no subtitles and I don’t understand it...but, I believe that if I could speak Hangul, surely I’ll watch that as well....haha...

B2ST

Well...don’t misjudge me thinking that I am not patriotic towards my own beloved Malaysia! It is just that in the world of entertainment, their products are triple times better than us! I think that Malaysians artistes need to learn more from the Koreans...they are more humble, not that arrogant like some of our local artiste or Diva-like attitude of Bollywood & Hollywood actors...they work really hard to produce good TV shows and good performances... The effort that they put on makes us feel closer to their celebrity...whereas in Malaysia, we feel the distant feeling as if we can’t never reach out to them...

The truth - K-POP world is not only about human, it’s like a product, a business - that’s why their products are more likeable and selling like hot cakes in the market! And for their good quality product, they give us tremendous satisfaction and addiction! That’s why they are able to spread like a giant wave sweeping through Asia and other continents of the world...

Malaysians – learn something from them!

--- The End... ---

K-World fetish

K-POP FETISH: part A


If we read an entertainment magazines recently, there are a lot of K-POP news and articles being published...be it the local Malay entertainment mags such as HAI, Utopia, or the English ones like Galaxie and of course a magazine that feeds the addiction of the K-POP’s lovers in Malaysia, the ‘Epop’ magazine. I also read this kind of magazine just to satisfy my obsession towards K-POP artistes even though the language used is horrible and funny! I bet all the BM teachers will cry their heart out and faint if they read this mags (Hahaha)...erm, the point that I’m trying to write here is that how I can bear with the bad use of Malay Language written in the mags with its’ funny and awkward phrases and LOTS of spelling errors...I, the person who is very particular with language use, grammar and structures can BEAR all those eye sores just because of the contents presented in it are more appealing to me than those errors...imagine, that is the level of my fetish towards the K-POP world...unbelievable and unstoppable; those are the only words that can describe the phenomenon of K-POP wave that had affected me, my housemate and some of my students (ngee..I have company!)...the Hallyu wave is just like a plague in today’s Asia entertainment industry and it certainly is like a virus that is very difficult to cure in me..

winter sonata - the drama that started it all..

It all started with the first and foremost K-Drama in 2002 entitled “Winter Sonata”, produced by KBS. Bae Yong Jun (as Kang Jung Sang) and Choi Ji Woo (as Yoo Jin), were the main leads...they were so gorgeous that it dropped my jaw (literally) watching them acting the lovely scenes in the drama...plus, their acting skill was so convincing that it felt real to the audience...I cried so many times throughout the drama...and the bonus is the OST of it are so touching...I was only 18 at that time...and I remembered me roaming the shops at Kota Raya and Petaling Street just to buy the VCD box set and the soundtrack... and it was so costly at that time, priced at RM 99.90 per box set and another RM 19.90 for the soundtrack...half of my monthly allowance was gone just like that...

all about eve - the all time favourite

MY Girl - the one I used to be hooked in front of my lappy




dalja & taebong - the one that rekindled everything...

After “Winter Sonata”, there were a few other interesting dramas that hooked me up in front of the idiot box almost everyday...”All About Eve” (this is my all time favourite!), “Hotelier”, “Autumn In My Heart” “Stairway to Heaven” etc...then, the addiction stopped for a while after I went abroad until “My Girl”, “Full House” and “My Lovely Samsoon” came in...it continued for a year but after I started my career in SBPISB, I was too busy with my new world that I lost the passion for a while...even during the fever of “Boys Over Flower” that took over the whole Asia in 2009, I wasn’t really aware about it...until my colleagues Kak Mas & Kak Norah suggested that I watch “Dalja’s Spring” in the middle of 2010 followed by “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” and “Fugitive; Plan B” with hunky Rain and in it...these two dramas were aired in October 2010. Even though I don’t really like the action-spy story like the Fugitive; Plan B, but I figured out that K-Dramas have evolved a lot in their storylines...It has become more international, more sophisticated...it does not really focus on love anymore... Lots of new elements have been induced such as humour and sophistication...however...there is no more portrayal of innocent and pure love... some of them are even more bold with obscene and elaborate kissing scenes...

definitely, the historical fave =)

All in all, the K-Dramas are still enjoyable to watch...I still cry and I still feel the feeling of being stab right through my heart when it comes to sad scenes...and I believe that the addiction will continue so long as they produce good dramas...

--- To be continued --