[2011 Gayo Daejun Special] SBS - The Good, The Bad, and The Promising

It's January first pretty much everywhere now, I guess, so happy new year to all you guys! Thank you for making 2011 such an amazing year for me, without you guys and your constant pestering and all your tear-jerking comments, as well as all the trolling I got this year, I would've never been able to get through the year in one piece, and win my very first Philippine Blog Award! Thank you so much for taking time out of your lives to read my work, and even more time out to comment on my posts. I may not answer your comments, but I read every single one of them. You've made Pop Reviews Now one of the leading critical K-Pop review blogs, and although I still have a long way to go, I promise to make an effort to repay you guys this year for all your support. Also, thank you for reading this, because it means you're sticking with me this 2012!

Allow me to explain this post first though. I really meant to do a recap of the 2011 Gayo Daejuns, but the original plan was throwing everything in to one huge post with all three networks' shows divided into several categories. However, due to the fact that I want to get the Gayo Daejun post out as fast as possible before it becomes stale news, and also the fact that I'm still in the process of getting a copy of the MBC show (which I've heard is the best out of the three), I've decided to split the posts by network. Today's recap is of the SBS show, which was broadcast on December 29th. Tomorrow I will be recapping the KBS show, and on Tuesday the MBC show (hopefully I have a copy of it by then), if everything goes as planned.

The first of the three Gayo Daejuns this year, SBS delivered a solid show with 170 singers packed in to three and a half hours of running around stage. The show was divided into several themed stages, including a special suite for SM Entertainment artists (and the debut of several EXO members), one which featured CN Blue and FT Island collaborating with f(x) and the Wonder Girls, and a hip-hop stage. The SBS show was a balance of familiar, hit singles from 2011, and special stages.

But that doesn't mean it was immune to disasters, because there were quite a few. And there were those performances that could've been really amazing, but didn't really come out right. I won't be recapping the entire show, instead, we'll talk about the best, worst, and the most promising performances.

THE BAD

B1A4 - Beautiful Target
And the award for the worst performance of the night? Well, that goes to none other than B1A4. For several reasons. First, obviously the song itself is a complete and utter disaster. It's all over the place in the most spread-out way possible. You look away for a while and the song sounds completely different, plus, about 99% of the song has to utilize a backing track, because the vocal treatment changes every five seconds, so basically all these guys are doing is screaming "yeah!" and running around stage. I'd hardly call that a performance. Second, what is with that choreography? My eyes. And third, when you put the song, together with the horrid choreography, and the fact that they're actually trying desperately, it's hilarious.

Gain (Brown Eyed Girls), Jiyeon (T-Ara), Hyun A (4Minute), Sunhwa (Secret), Fei (Miss A), G.NA - "Run the World"
Oh wow. Where do I start. Well, I appreciate the effort, and I appreciate the fact that they included Ga-In (even if she forgot some of the choreography), but this performance was another mess. Too many girls, and I guess they didn't have enough time to learn the whole song, because for the majority of the song they danced in shifts, and yeah, choreography was forgotten. The dancing in shifts really irritated me though, because it really shows how unprepared they were, and it's like the performance was half gyrating all over the place, and half dead air. At the same time. It's inconsistent, three or four of them are dancing, then there are two or three just standing there on the side. What are they, mannequins? If they didn't have enough time, then they should've just done one verse and a chorus or something. I'd rather they did that then haphazardly do a full, 3-minute performance. And really, people can only take so much of that kind of dancing.

G.NA - "Top Girl"+"Black&White"
It really breaks my heart to see G.NA like this. With that horrid choreography at the beginning, those pretty weak vocals throughout, and the cheap repertoire. She's talented, she shouldn't be singing songs like this, because they do her absolutely no justice.

KARA and 2PM - "Every Little Step"
Everyone was so dead during this performance. I mean I understand that KARA and 2PM aren't the best singers around, but what makes this so bad is that it was already lip-synced for heaven's sake, and yet the singing was wimpy and lifeless. I would've written it off anyway if the vocals were fixed up, but not as much as I am now. If you're going to lip-sync a performance anyway, at least use all those studio tricks to make the track sound damn good. Such lazy, lazy people.

THE PROMISING

Miss A - "Goodbye Baby"
I adore this arrangement, I really do. It's so fierce, and it matches the melody so well. It's obvious that this was thought about. However, their vocals on this were so disappointing, bad almost. Like, really, they were weak and everyone sounded like they were being strangled all the way through. I've dealt with the regular Miss A breathlessness since they debuted, and they got better this year, but this performance was so painful to listen to. It's such a waste though, because the arrangement was really good.

After School - "Diva"
This was a really interesting song choice, but also a very logical one, because "Shampoo" would bore people to death. Just the idea of hearing them perform "Diva" after so long is enough to get people interested, but in true After School fashion, they failed to deliver. Add the fact that line-stealer Raina struck again, STEALING LINES FROM JUNG AH (HOW DARE SHE), and that they didn't do the entire song and it just disappeared into them and Pledis boys dancing to dubstep (snore..), the originally good idea turned into bad execution.

KARA - "Step"
This is another arrangement I really like. "Step" in itself is already a big performance-ready song, and there's little you can do, but I like how they made the percussion sound a lot more real as if they had a live band behind them. They didn't lose that high-energy, yet girly, sound, but they made it a lot more apt for a live performance, and the transition to and from the dance break was very smoothly done. The let down? Again, the vocals. I'm not surprised, in fact I was expecting worst, but just because this is the best they can do, doesn't mean I'll forgive them for being inferior. They can't sing live, and it's such a shame because their material is really, really good, fun, pop.

T-Ara - "Cry Cry"
If this was done completely live and pulled off just as well as it was lip-synced, this would've been one of the best performances. But no, the backing track wins and you hear next to no live vocals. The arrangement is brilliant, the dance break is different but not disjointed and they kept the distinct piano line, even a bit of the original feel of the song, but made it fresher, and interesting. And believe me, after looping this for over 200 times this year, thus making the original arrangement pretty stale for me, this is really a strong, new, but faithful take on the song. It's an amazing arrangement ruined by bad production decisions and possibly the lack of solid live vocals.

CN Blue and The Wonder Girls - "Tainted Love"
First of all, Yoobin shouldn't have been the first to sing, because I was turned off right away. Yoobin isn't a bad singer, but you have to have a certain level of proficiency to sing songs like this, and she doesn't have that. She sounded like she was drunk and singing this on karaoke or something, not on stage. But Sohee and Lim don't have that proficiency either. Lim needs more power and this is a song she can't get away with because she has an American accent. And really now Sohee, why do you even try. Her line was all air and no singing, she was useless. It should have been just Ye Eun and Sun Ye doing this, because if it was it would've been an amazing performance.

Wonder Girls - "Be My Baby"
It was a classy performance, with decent vocals and a very polished arrangement, but even if the arrangement was fresh, it was boring. Pretty piano line, yes, and if you think really hard it's actually not a bad performance or anything, it surprisingly matches the lesser members' vocals even if it's now more dependent on the melody, but this is a performance, it's supposed to really catch your attention from the very beginning. In a sense, this arrangement was so predictable, but on the other hand, had they done a rock remix it would've been boring too considering all the other rock-ish arrangements that came before them. But actually, I liked the track that was playing during the intro, if they turned that into the remix things would've been interesting. Basically, what this performance lacks is shock. I know I have very high expectations of them, but after "Wonder World", why wouldn't I?

SMTOWN - "The Sound of Hallyu"
I loved the idea of this, and I loved how, even if majority of them weren't playing live, it was made very obvious that the people who played instruments actually know how to play them in real life. And I like how the people who sang were actually the people who can sing, and they didn't force people who are dancers, not singers, to sing. Like Taeyeon and Changmin's duet. Even if Changmin out-screamed Taeyeon, she was definitely the right choice for the song. If it had been Jessica I would have raised hell. The Shinhwa and H.O.T. covers were tame, and that's one of the two reasons why this is a "promising", but not one of the best performances. The songs they chose need savage vocals. Raw, powerful, with minimal processing, but seeing as the people they got to sing those parts, although good singers, simply don't have the vocals to do those songs justice. Of course the Exo members were a big part of the thrill of this suite, but they, or actually just one of them, are the second reason I didn't put this down as one of the best performances. Towards the end, the second guy to the left of Changmin, I think he was the one who danced after Victoria, was TALKING to the other Exo guy beside him. That's such horrid stage deportment. It may not be a lot to you guys, because the standard reaction is "So what's wrong with that? They're just talking.", but this is one of the most basic forms of courtesy towards not only the audience, because they have a responsibility to give their full attention to the audience and their performance, but also towards the other artists on stage. How would you like it if the guy beside you was talking to someone during your big solo? If, this early, that kind of behavior is just let go, forgiven and forgotten, it will get worse. Trust me, I've seen it happen, and it definitely doesn't end pretty. And considering how Exo are being hyped to be extremely talented, if they don't have basic stage manners it will be a huge waste of their talent.

THE GOOD

Yoon Mirae with Gary, Dynamic Duo, Jun Hyung (BEAST), Hoya (Infinite), Mir (MBLAQ), Taecyeon (2PM) - "Get It In"+"Monster"
And the award for the best singing of the night goes to Yoon Mirae. All these idols should be ashamed to call themselves singers after Yoon Mirae, who I believe raps majority of the time (the new times I've heard her material), out-sings them all without lifting a finger, by just by singing a few lines. Backing track, yes, but you know she's rapping and SINGING live, it's so obvious, but she does it so well that to untrained ears it may be a bit confusing. But apart from the strong vocals, she has the stage presence to not have to jump around too much. She still does towards the end, but she has a certain air to her that you know she's having so much fun and you want some of it too, but she still commands the stage, and all the guys sharing it with her. This, my friends, is a true performance.

2NE1 - "I Am The Best"+"Ugly"
I didn't like "I Am The Best", but like I always say, you have to watch 2NE1 for their material to make sense. It's not that their recordings are bad, because the production on them is outstanding, it's not that they can't sing, because my God can Minzy and CL sing, it's that their material is made to show off their strengths, and 2NE1's strengths lie in performance. They don't exactly run around stage because the majority of their performances are choreographed, but they have a command of it that's like no other. It's not just stage manners, or presence, it's really a command and it shows in everything -- the way they move, the way they sing. Pair that with a very creative and accommodating talent agency, and you have familiar, but stellar performance.

Brown Eyed Girls - "Sixth Sense"
I noticed that hardly any of my favorite performances were full remixes. But I guess that it's harder to perform a familiar arrangement and still make it sound interesting. But that's exactly what the Brown Eyed Girls did. Apart from adding a few bits and pieces (literally pits and pieces) all over the place, and adding a dance break, the base is still the same. This is one of the best girl group performances, and, like the entirety of their "Sixth Sense" promotions, performances, songs, singles, this is girl group master class. To all the girl groups trying to be sexy with skimpy, but cheap, outfits, to all the girl groups trying to be fierce but failing, to all the girl groups trying to sing while dancing, this, girls, is how it's done. Watch and learn.

BEAST - "Fiction"
They didn't really do much to the arrangement of "Fiction", just softened a few parts, added bits and pieces here and there, and switched some things around, but the basic mould of the song is still the same. And that's the selling point of the performance -- it's familiar. However, despite it being pretty simple, the modifications were enough to keep things fresh and not bore people to death. It's also a very straightforward performance, but in being simple it's also very well-sung. And considering how good a song "Fiction" is to start with, it's a good thing that they didn't experiment too much, but still had the foresight to prepare for it. Like I said a while ago, I prefer a simple, but prepared performance over an elaborate but haphazard one.

DBSK/HoMin - "Keep Your Head Down"+"MAXIMUM"
Call it unoriginal, because the dance part most probably is, call it boring, because there were no significant changes to the arrangements, but what you can't deny is that Yunho and Changmin know how to perform, and they showed it. They hold the audience in the palm of their hands and they know exactly what to do to make them go wild, but they never, ever, forget the musical aspect of it all. Screaming, yes, chanting and interacting, yes, but stopping to sing just for the sake of it? Never. That's the kind of stage deportment that newer acts, even Super Junior and SNSD, lack -- they lack concentration and choose dancing, waving and being cute over singing. Image is important, yes, and they take care of that too, but they are singers before anything else, and singing should always be first priority. Yunho and Changmin are what idols should be, and THIS is how it should be done.

The 2011 Pop Reviews Now Holiday Special Part 1: "2011 SMTOWN Winter: The Warmest Gift"

Just a quick explanation of how I'm doing this year's Christmas posts. So, obviously this SM TOWN Christmas album is part 1, and for part 2 I'll be reviewing some of my favorite K-Pop Christmas offerings, both old and new. Rules and stuff will be discussed in part 2. But now, on to more important business.

It's been a good three years since any sort of SM Town release, the last being the half-SM Town Summer 2009 EP with Super Junior, SHINee and DBSK. If you remember correctly, we were told that the other half of SM Town, namely the girls, would be featured on the Christmas album. Well, clearly that didn't happen. But FINALLY, SM has decided to put something out in time for Christmas. Is it any good? Well, that's a pretty long story.

When news of this album first broke, I was ecstatic. Of course, SM Town isn't SM Town without a fail Yoochun English rap, a Jaejoong/Lina or Jaejoong/BoA duet, or some goofing around courtesy of Shindong and Eunhyuk's rap part, but I could do without that if it meant getting one song with everyone thrown in, acting happy in a fake-snow wonderland. Right? That was until I found out that not only was there no group song this year (WHAT KIND OF BLASPHEMY IS THIS?!), but the album would be 100% English. Let's just say that if Yoochun, who actually spent more than a few days in the US, manages to epicly screw up all his English parts, what more the others. And let's face it, there are only a handful of SM Town artists who can actually speak good English. I'm still thinking of whether or not BoA is in that handful.

And once again, my psychic powers did not fail. The English is horrible. I'm an English major(well, comparative literature, but I'm still under the English department), I know. But the bad English isn't really the big problem, it's the fact that it's in English.

Let me put it simply, the album is too Americanized. It's hardly K-Pop anymore. Say all you want to say about how K-Pop is just a rip-off of Western music, but you know, even if majority of the songs probably are, you can tell the difference between K-Pop and American pop. You know why I'm into K-Pop? It's because I'm so sick of US Pop, and here we are, back to the very sound I want to avoid.

The problem with it sounding too American is that one, obviously they're not American, but two, really now, what good, distinctively Christmassy POP songs have the Americans contributed to the standard Christmas repertoire? "All I Want For Christmas Is You"? Seriously now. "Last Christmas"? You have got to be kidding me. They're merely pop songs with Christmas lyrics about gifts and snow. There’s so much more to a Christmas song than that. This SM Town album sounds like a confused Rat Pack-turned-makeshift Christmas album, to be completely honest.

This album is massively confused. Massively. So either the song itself isn't K-Pop enough, or when they finally get the song choice right, they screw up the execution. My prime example? Jang Ri In's version of "Oh Holy Night", which is actually one of my favorite Christmas songs. The girl has a gorgeous voice, she really does, and what does she do? She murders the song. All those runs and those strange sounds she makes with her voice. No, just no. There's a reason why the Christina Aguilera Christmas album was a complete failure.

Yes, I'm very picky with Christmas songs, but that's only because my childhood was filled with some of the most gorgeous Christmas songs anyone will ever hear. I grew up not only listening to them, but singing them as well. I know my Christmas repertoire - everything from the classic Handel's "Messiah" to Filipino novelty Christmas songs where you make sounds out of combs and pieces of wax paper, to the most tear-jerking, yet most distinctly Filipino Christmas song you will ever hear, I've sung them all. So imagine going from all those, to a bunch of pop songs that don't even sound like Christmas. They are inferior not because they are pop songs, there are some gorgeous pop Christmas songs (DBSK's "Winter Rose" for heaven's sake!), they are inferior because they don't sound like Christmas, they don't serve their purpose.


You want me to tell you what Christmas sounds like? Christmas sounds like a cup of hot chocolate, rich and creamy and sweet, it sounds like a thick blanket wrapped around you, keeping you warm. It sounds like bells ringing in the distance and lights all over, it sounds like you're being surrounded with your family and friends and you're all happy. Christmas songs literally wrap you around in a nice, warm, hug, and refuse to let go. Christmas is such a simple feeling, but it overpowers everything else. Now regardless of how that gets translated into music, that's the standard framework of a Christmas song, and the minute you deviate from that even a bit, you lose the Christmas. All of it.

I don't care if you want to add electric guitars (like Aly&AJ's "Greatest Time of the Year"), go all-out with synths and loops and the works (surprisingly, JYP Nation's "This Christmas"), make everything epic and waltz-y (a-la DBSK's "Winter Rose"), keep it to a bare minimum (Josh Groban's "Thankful), or even make it kinda reggae-ish (like the brilliant Nota a cappella version of "The Little Drummer Boy", complete with a RAP PART), bottom line is that it has to leave people warm and fuzzy.

With the SM Town album, I felt nothing. Nada. Zilch. The entire album sounded like a pop album released any time BUT the holidays, it sounds so clean, too clean almost, and Christmas is not a cleaning contest on who can use the most sanitized production, it’s a contest of who can make the most emotional, goosebump-inducing song. No feeling whatsoever, they all sound like robots. Don't get me wrong, there are gorgeous songs on this album, namely BoA's "Distance", that song is stunning, but they're just not Christmas. Let me put this nicely, even T-Ara's "O My God", which I'm not even sure if it's a Christmas song, sounds more like Christmas than this entire album put together.

Unlike your usual pop song which lasts for a few months before becoming completely irrelevant, when you release a Christmas song, the standard shelf life is forever. Yes, forever. For the good ones, at least. My Christmas playlist this year includes pop Christmas songs that were released as early as 1998. 98 Degrees, BSB, that staple *NSYNC "O Holy Night" 5-part a cappella arrangement, Blue's "Gift", Aly&AJ, and even the DBSK Christmas EP - they're all still relevant. That's because Christmas never grows old, and people will always have a need for a Christmas repertoire. Which is why no one should be surprised that the most familiar "classical" pieces are in fact the Christmas offerings.

In simpler terms, "2011 SMTOWN Winter: The Warmest Gift" is more novel than it is lasting. The arrangements are faddish, the over-all sound very current, but under those you have nothing that can transcend time and cement these songs as Christmas staples. In colloquial Filipino/Taglish, this album is a "one time big time", and does not have the lasting qualities of other, better, Christmas releases. And actually, some of the songs on this package sound more like they belong on the acts' respective albums, and not a CHRISTMAS-themed compilation.

Super Junior's "Santa U Are The One", excusing the horrid English on the chorus (Ear after ear? Seriously?), sounds like a pop song they just slapped some bells on, and some lyrics about happiness and Santa. That's it. It's SO Big Time Rush (but even BTR made a better Christmas song than SuJu)/One Direction ala-"What Makes You Beautiful". I mean it's an okay song, nice and happy and upbeat, and I'd probebly listen to it a lot if it were not for the "ear after ear", but that's all it will ever be, and that's not it's purpose. When I first heard this, I thought it sounded nothing like Christmas, as in nothing at all, but actually, after listening to the rest of the album, this is probably the song that's closest to getting what Christmas songs should be. But still not enough.

I hate the covers on this thing. I hate them. DBSK's "Sleigh Ride" is the biggest disappointment. Because seriously, we went from "Winter Rose" to this monstrosity. This is one of the rare instances that I will consent to a version in another language, because seriously, DBSK should've just done an English version of "Winter Rose". Now THAT is a song that can be milked for all it's worth, because it’s shelf life is literally forever. But no, they had to give DBSK a cheesy cover of "Sleigh Ride", that actually makes them sound sleazy, to be honest.

And really now, SHINee's "Last Christmas" has got to be one of the worst covers of one of the most cheesy, cheap Christmas songs ever released.

It was bad enough when Wham! did it, for heaven's sake. Then they SM-ify everything? Oh dear. The production is okay, and I kinda like the outer space-like synths, but you mix those with some of the most uninterested, boring and lazy vocals I've ever heard from SHINee and you have a disaster. I'm serious, they all sound bored out of their wits, which they probably were, and for once, I would've liked Jonghyun to go wild, because seriously, I fell asleep listening to this song, and not in the good way.

J-Min's cover of the John Lennon song "Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)" is okay, nothing special, and the girl has a nice voice, but once again, it sounds so uninspired. And boring.

As far as "The First Noel" covers go, DBSK win by light years. So I thought that since SM was behind their cover, the Jang Ri In verson would be really good too. Boy was I wrong. I like some parts of the arrangement, like the simple piano part, those gorgeous strings, and the drums, but you know what it sounds like as a whole, including that oriental-sounding instrument? It sounds like an American's attempt to make something "oriental", like "Ninja Assassin" or whatever. And that really disturbs me, because Jang Ri In is CHINESE, and SME is a KOREAN company. I don't get it, and don't think I ever will. To top it all off, like I said earlier, the vocals totally ruined the song. Totally. Why do you have to put all those unnecessary runs and strange vocal techniques into a song that's supposed to be nice, and quiet and simple then it's supposed to explode, but in the really big and tasteful way. Then Ri In just does a Christina/Mariah on it.

BoA's "Distance" is gorgeous, it really is. I love it and I'll probably be looping this for the next few days, but it's still not Christmas enough. "Distance" actually reminds me a lot of a Stacie Orrico/Young CCM-type song, in terms of treatment. The harmonies, and even the instrumentation, sound like something straight off Stacie Orrico’s self-titled album. Which is very, very, VERY far from Christmas. And that bugs me. There's a difference between "gorgeous pop song" goosebumps and "Christmas song" goosebumps, and the goosebumps I got this time were the "gorgeous pop song" ones. Basically, the only part of the song that made it remotely Christmas is the lyrics, and that's a foul. Which is such a shame because BoA has had some really amazing, really Christmassy, releases over the years, and even if "Distance" does match up in terms of gorgeousness, it fails at being Christmas. When you talk of BoA Christmas songs, "On December 27th" is still, hands-down, the best of them all, not even "Meri Kuri" comes close.

SNSD’s “Diamond”, and I'm not sure if I've ever used this analogy, but it kinda sounds like something that would fit right in to the Christmas talent show set list on "Mean Girls", you know, when the slutty, popular girls trying to sing and dance at the same time in skimpy Santa outfits and high heels? Maybe not that drastic, but the chorus is EXACTLY like that. However, the middle 8, and that small bit before it (which I presume is Sunny's part) is gorgeous. Stunning, almost. And actually, it's probably the most Christmas I've heard on the entire album, but then we go back to the uninspired chorus. It's not as boring as the SHINee track, but even for SNSD they can do better.

f(x)'s “1,2,3” also sounds nothing like a Christmas song, bar those strings which were probably just thrown in last-minute. It actually sounds more like the theme song for a FRIENDS rip-off, like, really. It sounds like it belongs on a Disney chick-flick soundtrack (Kinda like that song that's on the "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" soundtrack, which, conveniently, is also called "1,2,3"), not an SM Town Christmas album.

While we're on the topic of songs that sound like they belong elsewhere, CSJH (DANA&SUNDAY)'s "Amazing" sounds more like a charity single ala-Destiny Child's "Stand Up For Love". Pretty far from Christmas, if you ask me. Not that I oppose to Christmas ballads, but again, there's a way to do it without completely missing the point. And it's not that I don't like the song either, I do, it's gorgeous and Dana and Sunday's voices are stunning and the middle 8 kills me every single time, then by the time that stunning piano line comes in just before everything explodes with the chorus behind I die again, but yet again, THIS IS NOT CHRISTMAS. Same goes for Kangta's "For The First Time", Kangta's voice is stunning, but this sounds more like a Disney animated fairytale song that plays just when the prince is about to kiss the princess/girl. It actually sounds like something straight out of Aladdin. Again, pretty far from Christmas, if you ask me.

TRAX's "Like A Dream" sounds like what I kind of expected TRAX to do, but it's too clean, like they sucked all the emotion out of the song and left it to rot. In terms of "band"-ish K-Pop Christmas offerings, actually Infinite's "Lately" takes the prize. I'm sorry, TRAX, but this song sounds more like those tracks you put behind a montage of tour videos and screaming crowds and bands going wild on stage. All in back and white. And in reality, those tracks are usually the cheesiest, filler of filler tracks.



And, of course, a special Christmassy wrap-up:
The most Christmassy song: Thankfully, "Santa U Are The One"
The great, but not Christmassy songs: "Distance", "1,2,3", "Amazing"
The worst song: "Last Christmas"

Guys, "Rising Sun" has been re-recorded, and a longer version was just broadcast last night.

OK so all these non-reviews I'm doing, and am going to do, are more desperate attempts to get back into writing. I don't know if they're going to work, but it's worth a shot. Yes, even now that I literally have a mountain of schoolwork waiting to be done - I'm choosing to ignore them. LOL. Don't worry, they'll get done - just not now.

To many, "Rising Sun" is THE ultimate DBSK song - it is everything they stand for and has all the qualities that have made them the group they are. Intricate choreography, an epic arrangement, raw vocals, Changmin's scream, so many things going on in just one song and spectacular performances - Rising Sun is truly a feast to your senses. It may not have turned fans into rabid fans like "Mirotic", but it has become a trademark DBSK song. "Rising Sun" is theirs and no one else's.


A big factor of the song's so-called "immortality", is the fact that six years later it still sounds relevant - six years later it is still as glorious as it has always been. SME has made so much money from this song - because it is outstanding. Other artists will perform a song for less than a year, then move on - but even when DBSK moved on, "Rising Sun" remained one of the best songs they've ever done, and they made no secret of it.

So it would only make sense for SME to have HoMin re-record a two-member version of the song, now that they obviously can't use the five-member one, but the song still has to be performed. We heard a portion of the new arrangement when they performed it for the first time as a duo on that "legends of Music Bank" thing, but one, it was shorter, and two it was live - it will obviously sound like the Rising Sun we've all come to know because of the lack of fancy vocal treatments.

However, we saw a mimed performance of a longer version yesterday when MBC aired SM Town Paris - mimed. Which means the vocals, the arrangement and everything about the song went through another around of technology. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing.



So many things have changed, for very obvious reasons. What was once done by 5, now has to be done by just two. And they did very, very, very well. Whatever you say about the song lacking three voices and whatnot, you have to remember that Yunho and Changmin were also part of the magic that the five made - they do it just as well as the other three. And on a side note, "Rising Sun" has always been somewhat Changmin's song.

I know I have no authority to say what I'm gonna be saying for the rest of the article because Yoo Young Jin was most probably also responsible for this re-recording, and he wrote the song in the first place so technically he can do what he wants to with it, but I've noticed a lot of changes, and I'm not falling at my feet over them.

One drastic change, that has come with new technologies and trends in recording, is the change in the vocal treatment. I have no problem with smoothening out vocals and making things more current, but in the process of updating the vocals, it seems to me that "Rising Sun" lost that raw sound it had before.

One way to describe "Rising Sun" would be that it's really a savage song. The screaming, the delivery of the rapping, and even the vocals - the song depends on the strength and fervency of the vocals. When HoMin performed it live on Music Bank, the strength was evident, you couldn't miss it. The vocals had passion, conviction - the song just exploded.

Now, imagine the vocals being autotuned.

Changmin's vocals sound good autotuned, admit it, and even his natural voice has that thin, smooth quality - but his raw vocals are a big, BIG factor in the way "Rising Sun" is delivered. That's not to say that the original recording of the song didn't have any vocal processing whatsoever, but it was the very natural kind - strengthen the higher notes, smoothen out the melodies, soften the breaths. It was more of cleaning than processing.

One of the most evident autotuned parts on this new recording is when Changmin first starts singing - the "achime-en" part. Yes, it sounds very smooth and yes, it is esthetically pleasing because it matches Changmin's voice, but the original recording was straightforward. Two notes at the end - delivered without beating around the bush. And now you have this slide or "curl" (in Filipino, notes like that are called "kulot", and it literally means "curls") and it's so clean - too clean, emotionless almost.

And the chorus. The chorus has completely lost that big, epic quality. The most plausible reason I have for this is because of an addition of louder backup vocals - by Yoo Young Jin himself. He's been doing that a lot lately - heavily padding SME songs with his own vocals. He's probably been doing it forever already, but as years went by it got more and more obvious. Yunho's part in "Mirotic" was 25% Yunho, 75% Yoo Young Jin, in case you haven't noticed. Yoo Young Jin can sing, that's not something to contest, it's just that his vocals in higher registers (but not when he's belting), much like the chorus of "Rising Sun", tend to thin down and sound flimsy. And "Rising Sun" is anything but flimsy.

Not everything about this re-recording is bad though - the screaming still is still as raw as ever, and even without that epic Yoochun-Changmin dance break the song as a whole is still a feast to your senses. The delivery may have changed, but the foundations of the song - the melody, the instrumental - have transcended time. That's what I mean when I say that when all those fads have come and gone, a strong, outstanding, melody will last.

Things have changed over the years, this re-recording is not my personal taste, and there are things that I believe should stay how they were, but in the end, looking at just the re-recording and not comparing it to anything - it's an outstanding song. It's something that's perfectly fine when you hear it, but just explodes when you watch it. "Rising Sun" a performance standard - when you perform it you might die of exhaustion, but my god does it look amazing, whichever of the five perform it.

This Year's Christmas Playlist

I've been as lazy has hell compared to my other blogger friends when it comes to Christmas-themed posts so I guess I'll just sum everything up into one convenient post with 10 songs. Sound good? Let's start.


Let's set the record straight on what Christmas songs are though before I start.

There are the carols - the songs everyone knows and everyone covers but few get right. Then there are the pop songs written for Christmas - the melodies are built around carols and sometimes even the arrangements are but most of the time they're given pop arrangements. Pop Christmas songs are not pop songs with Christmas-themed lyrics. I repeat, POP CHRISTMAS SONGS ARE NOT POP SONGS WITH CHRISTMAS-THEMED LYRICS. I hate it when that happens, the songs have to SOUND like Christmas whether it be the melody or the arrangement.

When it comes to my Christmas songs I'm very, VERY picky - I like my carols with classic arrangements and I like my festive pop festive, none of that experimental crap. However if the experimenting is done well, I don't have a problem - I just really hate it when people start murdering Christmas songs. And which is why I draw a line between pop and not pop if Christmas songs are the matter because I hate it when the two get improperly mixed together.

So here are 10 (commercial) Christmas songs that one, really sound like Christmas to me and two, are just brilliant songs/versions/arrangements.

1. Carrie Underwood - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
I like the song itself as a carol but I like this arrangement in particular - it's got to be one of my personal favorite arrangements of Hark!. The gorgeous piano part and the REAL drums really make a difference. And one of the main reasons why I chose this arrangement is because Carrie doesn't murder the song (unlike a certain Mariah Carey who murdered Oh Holy Night) and her vocals are just gorgeous. Heck, it sounds like Christmas through and through! Hands-down one of the best arrangements of the classic.

2. Britt Nicole - Last Christmas
I know you guys will kill me for saying this but I have to - Last Christmas is one of the cheesiest, corniest festive songs EVER, I can't stand it. So why include it at all? Because Britt Nicole has managed to find/make an arrangement that actually makes it sound somewhere near good. I like her vocals (always have), I like how they changed up the arrangement and made it a little more tasteful and it's got all the elements of a standard pop Christmas song so it passes.

3. DBSK - The First Noel
You must be saying "WHAT? DBSK has a CHRISTMAS album?" because I was too when I first found out. But before we get to their version, let's talk about the song first. The First Noel is personally one of my favorite carols EVER, beside a few other staples, so I won't just settle for a run-of-the-mill version with a super pop-y arrangement (I'm talking to you, *NSYNC.) - I want a damn good one. Then there's the fact that I like boybands doing Christmas songs. I do, a lot. I like the a capella lines and I like everything about them doing Christmas songs.

This arrangement of The First Noel has a gorgeous instrumental - the violins, the bells, everything is just beautiful. Although the Carrie Underwood arrangement is a close second, I'd have to go with the DBSK one. Then the vocals are spot-on, there's little screaming and the harmonies sound great if you listen to them as a whole but even better individually (although, I like the *NSYNC harmonies better, it's just that the arrangement is bleh). Gorgeous.

4. Varsity Fanclub - It's Christmas Again
I'd rather all these bands do what Varsity Fanclub has done than bastardize all these beautiful carols with crap-ly-executed pop arrangements and excessive vocals. There's a certain kind of song you can do that to but NOT and I repeat NOT to carols. Not only have they done that, they've managed to make it sound like Christmas - the bells and the melody are the main reasons. But I actually like the bells on this song in particular - they're especially Christmas-y. And the way they made it like a pop song without losing that festive thing is just brilliant. You can't listen to this any other time.

5. BoA - 12월 27일
Although on songs like this BoA's vocals tend to be annoying and she's not particularly my favorite singer, this song has sort of become my anthem this year. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous waltz (3/4 time signature - waltz.) with a string section and all but I love how it sounds like a Christmas song but doesn't sound like a Christmas song. There are times when the string section sounds like every other pop Christmas song but then suddenly out of nowhere it turns into something straight off The Corrs' repertoire - that's when I go like WHOA. The melody is a giveaway that it's Christmas and the lyrics (at least the ones I can understand) are even more obvious but I like how it's not in-your-face Christmas.

6. *NSYNC - O Holy Night
You can't have a Christmas post and leave out this song, you simply can't. This a capella arrangement has been used by a ton of other boybands after *NSYNC (including my beloved DBSK when they debuted) and so I think this version deserves a mention. A lot of their other Christmas arrangements are too pop-ized for my taste - this is probably the one that sounds the most festive of them all. The harmonies are beautiful and I mean STUNNING, if there's one thing these guys know how to do it's make the best harmonies. Throughout the song the harmonies are not only gorgeous but really well-executed - they're very tight and it sounds brilliant.

7. SM Town 2006 - Snow Dream
There was a time earlier this month when I couldn't get enough of this song - it's catchy, it's pop and heck, it sounds like Christmas. It may be in Korean and it may sound like an American pop Christmas song but isn't that the point? The bells, the arrangement and the vocals - they threw all the best SM vocalists into one gigantic pot, mixed it together and gave the crap singers like 5 seconds singing time. My ears are in heaven.

And this kinda also reflects what kpop is - you can't not have a rap part, it's criminal. LOL. But really, this is what the genre is and has been for quite a while now so to put it in a Christmas song is pretty ingenious.

8. Libera - O Come All Ye Faithful
Choral music is MY turf, my grandmother formed one of the most influential children's choirs in the country, so when it comes to choirs I know my stuff - sometimes even better than I know pop. But that also means that my standards are much, MUCH higher. O Come All Ye Faithful also happens to be probably by favorite carol - I love how epic the song can get but only if you want it to be.

Libera are to a certain extent commercial but they're to a certain extent not commercial - they're pretty good either way. I've heard better choirs than them but they're a little more well-known so why not.

In choral music less instruments is more - vocals have to take center stage. To a certain extent that's good because then you don't have to worry about the instrumentals not sounding like Christmas, just use a simple piano arrangement and it'll sound great. That is if the choirs is good. I like their harmonies at the end and I like how the vocals are very light - usually if a choir's to sing this song they'll just explode and keep pushing at the end. Solid effort.

9. Aly & AJ - Greatest Time of the Year
There are your usual pop festive songs and then there are Disney festive songs - about 60% of the Disney festive songs scream CHRISTMAS and this is one of them. How this can sound like both a festive song and an advertisement is beyond me. But then again a lot of festive ad campaigns have unmistakably Christmas-y songs so they work.

The instrumental complements the melody and the bells very well, surprisingly. And it's not like other supposedly pop/rock Christmas songs that sound more pop/rock - it is what it is and it's a Christmas song. It ends great though - the middle 8, the break-down and the explosion at the last chorus is brilliant.

10. Girls Aloud - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Girls Aloud do Christmas. Yay. The now classic Christmas EP boasts of some really great pop masterpieces and some of them really do sound apt for the season but this one on particular gets me every time. It's truly Girls Aloud do Christmas - it sounds like Girls Aloud and it sounds like Christmas. I think the vocals are a little iff-y and lack emotion (don't clobber me!), could be better, but the instrumental is brilliant - it's exactly how I imagined a GA song mixed with a carol to be like.