Idol Chit-Chat: Sandara Park

According to The Telegraph, idle chit chat can make you unhappy….

But you know what will make you happy?

IDOL Chit Chat! (Teehee, like my little play on words there??)

I’ve decided to start a new segment on idols and just my own personal view of them. I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting on this segment, probably just once monthly… maybe a bit more once I get the ball rolling…. but without further a due, I’d like to welcome you to the first edition of Idol Chit-Chat!

This blog came about quite simply. All I knew is that I wanted to write a little something about Sandara Park aka Dara of 2NE1 fame and the idea of writing about other idols stemmed from that.

Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, 2NE1!

This is just my own personal take on Dara. Basically, I’ve been following her for awhile now. I come from a Filipino background and of course, my house has TFC (the Filipino Channel) blaring 24/7. Because of this, I was exposed to Dara back when she was good old Sandy – the Korean Beauty – on the TV show Star Circle Quest.

In all honesty, I didn’t think she’d achieve much after this show. She was a beautiful girl however she only came in at second place after Hero Angeles (her rumoured love interest).

Hero & Sandy :3

After having a successful career in the Philippines with a few movies, shows and songs under her belt , Sandara finally moved on to greater things (namely: 2NE1 and the YG family). After training with YG for four years (I think), Sandara’s star has only continued to rise and grow brighter. I mean, Dara’s kissed Lee Min Ho! OMO! (Inner fan girl coming out, I apologise)

She doesn't look too interested... if you want, I can take over for you Dara.

The one thing I absolutely admire about Dara though, is that she has remained humble over the years throughout her transition from Filipino reality-TV star to international K-Pop star! She always goes back to her roots, and her fans are always her first priority. I recommend that you read THIS post about her generosity to her fans.

But the one thing that attracts me to Sandara so much is the fact that she’s accomplished most of the things I have always wanted in life. Namely, 2NE1 recently performed at the Araneta Colliseum in the Philippines. I can only dream of one day accomplishing such a feat (but I’ll keep trying anyway… 화이팅~!) Also, she has become the face of etude house along with SHINee.

Mwah~!

Anyway, that’s all I have for now… keep an eye out for more Idol Chit Chat in the future (I promise it won’t all be YG family). I hope you enjoyed your first dose. As for now…

안녕~!

YG Family Auditions!

So as some of you may know, I am an aspiring singer and a major YG Fan! So when I heard YG Family were having auditions right here in Sydney, I grabbed the opportunity!

I won’t bore you with the minor details but basically, we got to Chatswood very early (mind you I live almost two hours away) and I got to be the 14th Auditionee (is that even a word?) !!

Like my haircut? 🙂

I sang 아파 (slow) by 2NE1. I knew it was a popular song…. but I didn’t think it was that popular… I was Number 14, and I met two other people who sang the same song before me. Can you imagine how many other people would have sung it after?

Anyway, here’s a little snippet from my audition….

The night before I had completely lost my voice from recording with my band, but thanks to steam inhalations, ginger, honey, lemon and prayers I got my voice back long enough to sing!

Did you audition for YG? Or any other Korean companies such as JYP last year? Rumour has it that SM Town will be having auditions in Sydney later on in the year, so for you Sydney siders out there, keep your eyes peeled!

Anyway, I’m keeping positive but if I don’t get it this time around, YG, you’ll be seeing me again. I’ll be auditioning in Seoul next year. 🙂 I’ll leave you guys with Park Bom’s audition for YG Family!

Extra trivia: Did you know Park Bom was rejected from YG multiple times before finally being accepted after three years? (So to everyone who auditioned, stay positive!)

안녕~!

YG Entertainment Month: 2NE1 vs BIGBANG

So in the past 72 hours alone, YG Entertainment have released two new videos from their two biggest acts: 2NE1 and BIGBANG.

Which one is your favourite? Check them out below:

Scream – 2NE1

Fantastic Baby – BIGBANG

Personally, I have no bias here. They are my two favourite K-Pop groups and I like them both on an equal level. I find that their colour schemes are very similar in their respective MVs however I enjoy 2NE1’s clip more. I find that 2NE1 are more into their clip (movement wise) and it makes me want to get into it more, whereas Big Bang’s MV is more laid back. On the other hand, I love Big Bang’s set design and just overall costumes more (however I’m definitely going to be stealing 2NE1’s style from “Scream”).

Don't make me choose.

In terms of the actual songs itself, I can’t choose a favourite. They’re both extremely catchy and both have great hooks… I don’t know whether I want to “Boom Shakalaka” or “Scream! Ah Ah Ah Ah!”

Anyway, I’ve just got to say that Dara looks amazing! Loving all her styles. And Minzy’s hair looks great!

Annyeong~!

What songs do you show a K-Pop n00b?

K-Pop is getting more and more popular with each passing day especially with all these groups trying to break into the International market. I mean, Billboard has a K-Pop Hot 100 chart, SNSD were on The Late Show with David Letterman a couple of weeks ago, 2NE1 are working with Will.I.Am, and Hyuna had so many comments from foreigners on her Bubble Pop video when it came out on Youtube (mostly because of not-so-innocent and non K-Pop related reasons).

I'm sure Bill Murray feels the heat!

But what songs do you show someone who’s never listened to or given K-Pop a chance?

I believe K-Pop isn’t too different to Western music. There’s something for everyone. This is just my opinion but I don’t think you can limit K-Pop to just straight pop. You have Big Bang for your Hip Hop lovers, CN Blue & FT Island for the rockers, Clazziquai for the Jazz Cats, (Some) Park Bom for the Balladeers, Wondergirls for the Motown folk, and SuperJunior for the “Big Band” fans (lel) … the list is endless.

I think all you have to do when you’re showing someone K-Pop for the first time is match their music tastes to the K-Pop group. Obviously you wouldn’t show an acoustic fan a B.A.P. song and you wouldn’t show a heavy rocker dude an SNSD song. It’s all just a matter of matching the music to the person.

B.A.P.

Anyway, the reason I came to writing this post was because I had an assessment at uni today. What we had to do was choose a song we like and re-arrange it into a new genre. Most of the people in my class have not listened to K-Pop (if they’re listening to world music, it would most likely be Latin) so what I did was sing “The Boys” by Girls Generation and I re-arranged it into a Motown shuffle feel. I got a few giggles from the class when I said I took a K-Pop song but in the end I definitely enjoyed it and I’m sure other people liked it too.

So here’s a list of what I think are some great introductory K-Pop tunes in no particular order:

1. Nobody – Wondergirls
   
   How can you go past this song? This song started my K-Pop journey for me, and along with the Korean version, there’s an English version too to slowly ween people onto the genre.
2. Fiction – B2ST
   
   
3. Trouble Maker – Hyuna & JS
   
   Two words: Sex Sells.
4. Hate You – 2NE1
   
   I put this one in the list more for the video clip. It’s different and I’m sure people will appreciate it.
5. Gee – Girls Generation
   

6. 직감 – CN Blue
   
   
7. Haru Haru – Big Bang
   
   Don’t think I’m going to finish this post without adding at least one Big Bang song. (VIP!) If you haven’t already checked out their  new tracks “Bad Boy” and “Blue” from their new album “Alive” do so now!

Anyhoo, these were just the songs that popped into my head as I wrote the post. There are so many more songs that I could add (but I’m sleepy now). Let me know what songs you would show a K-Pop n00b in the comments below!

Annyeong~!