It seems like lately, Kpop has been hit by Yankee fever- and I mean that in the worst way possible. Why the sudden need to expand into America??? Yes, the $$$ may be tempting, but really, seriously, can anyone name one famous Asian pop singer in America? For that matter, can anyone name any Asian singer in America? Just so you don’t have to, I googled ‘famous Asian singers america’ and managed to discover that Vanessa Hudgens of HSM and nude photo fame, is half Filipino and “there’s a Korean guy in Linkin Park.” Um, ok… even putting aside the fact that both of them were born in the US and speak perfect English, what exactly does Korea see in the US market that makes singers and their record companies think they have any shot at succeeding here?
Yes, I know nothing about the music industry but through a quick google, I found that last year’s highest selling US album was Josh Groban’s Noel at 4 million copies while Korea’s bestselling album was SG Wannabe’s “The Sentimental Chord” at 190,998 copies. Just for show, Japan’s highest selling album was Mr. Children’s Home at 1.18 million copies sold and Taiwan’s highest selling album was Jolin Tsai’s Agent J at (I’m guessing) 200,000+. Ok, so it’s pretty obvious, at least on paper, what the attraction is with the US market. I mean, JoGro’s album probably sold more copies in it’s first week then Korea’s highest selling album in a year. Even Japan, the biggest market in Asia, is no match to the consumerism of America. In fact, even if someone simultaneously conquered all the Asian markets at once, it still probably could’t top American sales.
All that being said, I just don’t think it’s a smart investment because, yeah the rewards can be great, but the competition here in the music industry is just insane. Of course I don’t think I’m smarter then Mr. SM or Mr. Whoever is Rain’s boss; I’m sure they’ve done their homework, but judging by what I’ve seen so far, it seriously doesn’t seem like any Kpopper can achieve even moderate, much less great success anytime soon here. Either way, here’s how I see it breakin’ down for the few confirmed/rumored Hallyu Stars venturing into our great country…
Yes, that is correct, I am a closet NASCAR fan too.
After calming down from the DBSK overload, I managed to watch the last 100 laps of today’s race. I’ll admit, I haven’t been paying as close attention to the Chase this year as previous seasons but I can’t help that Korean ghay seems more appealing then the COT at the moment. Anyways, the start of this Chase has just been ridiculous. The fact that the top three have finished top five in all the Chase races so far, including 1-2-3 in this race, has made this the most competitive chase yet. It is still too early to to say for sure that either JJ, Edwards or Biffle is gonna win the Championship, but at the rate they’re going they’re not really giving anyone else a chance.
Now, today’s race was pretty typical 1.5 mile COT racing ’till the last lap. Once again, the guy that got out first on the last pit stop (JJ) went on to win. While I’m happy my favorite driver won, I was seriously like alsdkfjaslk at that slide job Carl tried on the last lap. Seriously it would have been awesome if he managed to pull that off. Either way, I’m glad both guys went for it to get the win and not just raced safe for points cause playing it safe probably isn’t gonna win anyone the championship this year.
Speaking of guys who aren’t gonna win the championship, WTH happened to Kyle and the Gibbs’ teams in general? I don’t believe in Karma but even if I did, I don’t think Kyle deserves three mechanical failures in three straight races. I really hope that team can get their momentum back and finish the season with double digit wins even if they don’t win the championship. BTW, where’s the outrage for Kyle “getting robbed of his championship???” I seriously dunno who are the bigger hypocrites, crazy NASCAR fans or crazy ELF/Cassiopeia. As probably one of the like two people on the planet that enjoy both NASCAR and Kpop, I’m glad to see that there are some similarities between my fandoms even if it only involves crazy fans ; \
Next week: Ta Ta Ta Talladega!!! RP tracks aren’t my favorite, but the shakeup in points that will inevitably occur is gonna be exciting!
Edit: I’ll put in the links to the performances. That will also give me a excuse chance to watch again. Now that it’s daylight outside maybe I can act a little less spazzy though its not likely…
SERIOUSLY???SERIOUSLY???? HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO ME ???? I HAVE TESTS AND THINGS TO DO!!! I CANNOT SPEND THE NEXT MONTH INTERNET STALKING YOU!!! BUT YOU LIKE LEFT ME WITH NO CHOICE!!!!
Okay, WOW, um what? I seem to be incapable of writing complete sentences right now… Normally, DBSK performances do nothing for me, as in, their live performances don’t make me like a song any more or less but wow, like really, that was just so beyond awesome!!! Seriously, this is not a good time for my obsession to deepen, but whatever, DBSK is BACK!!!!
Love in the Ice The boys start on this like round thing in the sky and there’s dry ice and singing and boys and pretty and… and ♥♥!!! I still think they overdo the emoting a bit whatever not important. Jae cracked a little in the beginning (edit: ok I just read the he has the flu, which sucks but I really couldn’t tell aside from that one part so IMO he did an amazing job cause when I have the flu all I want to do is bitch and sleep) but whatever still a great performance!!!
Hey! Don’t Bring Me Down Still not my favorite song but me likey MATCHING WIFEBEATERS!!! on everyone!!!! THE DANCING IS SEKKCHY!!!! I think they are kinda going for gansta look with the wifebeaters and gloves and weird Jackson Pollock pants which are fugly baggy but whatever, they brought it with the dancing ♥♥♥♥ Yunho!!!
Mirotic THIS WAS SUCH A GREAT LIVE PERFORMANCE!!! Seriously, it was so awesome! They sang LIVE and it sounded perfect! Changmin’s high note was spectacular. How many other groups out there can sound that good while dancing like that???!?!?! You can tell the crowd was like super into it. I seriously felt like screaming with them ahhhhh. I take back what I said earlier about Yunho flashing his chest cause watching it in motion is like ten billion times greater then in a picture. NEVER PUT ON CLOTH AGAIN YUNHO!!!!!!!! Junsu and Yunho were like really into it, such great faces!! Just a great performance and great comeback ♥♥♥♥♥ ♥
IT IS WAY TOO LATE FOR ME TO STILL BE UP! whatever, for the Dong Bang boy’s I’ll sacrifice sleep lol.
I’ll admit I’m not really a huge fan of S.H.E. but unlike many other idol groups from Taiwan, they are actually pretty great singers. Selina, Hebe and Ella all have unique voices and they harmonize quite well. All of them seem to be genuinely cute and easygoing without that air of fakeness a lot of other girl groups possess (have you seen hei girl? ‘nough said). I haven’t gotten a chance to listen to the other songs from their new album, FM S.H.E. yet, but here’s their latest mv. It’s pretty much quintessential Cpop but the girls look fabulous! I dunno how they manage to look cute and sexy at the same time but moar plez, kthanks!!! The song has a kind of retro electronica vibe and it’s pretty different then the their previous stuff. I especially like the robot dance thing they do in those white outfits ♥. If you get a chance, check out their radio show as well (it’s uploaded on youtube, search FM SHE). I found out today that Ella is a Jack Johnson fan, which for some reason, greatly amuses me lol.
So I saw a discussion on asianfanatics about whether SJM or Fahrenheit is better. I dunno why, but it seems like people have this great need to compare everything and declare that one is better than the other. I guess I’m no different since I’m making a post about this. Lemme just say first, I was a Cpop fan long before I really got into Kpop. I think I watched a few DBSK mvs just to see what the hype was about but they didn’t really appeal to me. I guess I didn’t think I would like listening to music I don’t understand. Anyways, for a while, Fahrenheit was like my number one, but really, there aren’t exactly that many boybands to choose from in Cpop.
Ironically, I got into Kpop through SJM, and I got into SJM through Fahrenheit. I was watching that award show they attended together on YouTube and I saw so many comments like “Super Junior!♥♥♥♥!!!!” that it piqued my interest to check them out. To be honest, my first impression of the SJM boys was that they looked so mature (yes, I see the irony in that statement) and mafiaish in their all-black suits. I honestly didn’t know why they were called Super Junior cause they all looked really old to me (I thought Hankyung was like in his thirties or something no joke). Anyways, I then decided to check out their U mv and seriously wow, my obsession just exploded from there. I do love SJ more then Fahrenheit now, but because this is so important!, I’ll try to objective lol. Rambly ramble aside, breakin’ it down:
