SHINee (シャイニー) - 1000 nen, Zutto Soba ni Ite... (1000年、ずっとそばにいて・・・)

A few days ago I decided that it might be interested to have a look at what other people thought I should review, therefore I posted a poll on Facebook with a number of suggestions along with the option for them to add some songs themselves. It turned out that SHINee managed to smash all the competition. Initially I had put off reviewing this song because of two reasons: it is a japanese song and I revert to a squealing lump of goo whenever I listen to this song. But seeing that there are so many besides myself that would like to see me review this song I will no longer deny myself the pleasure of reviewing my favorite Kpop group. Be prepared for a possibly very biased review.

Now when it comes to SHINee releasing a Japanese single I have split feelings. There is the obvious reason that they are no native speakers of the language resulting in an accent but I am nowhere knowledgeable enough of the language to notice and even if I were I would probably find it cute like I do whenever they try to sing in English. No, my major issue is the enormous lack of promotion. Even though according to my knowledge the song faired quite well on the Oricon charts it is close to impossible to find live performances of their Japanese singles, at the moment I  have only seen one for each while by this time with sherlock I didn't have enough hands to count them. Still though I like the fact that we're actually provided with the instrumental which seems to be rather rare with Korean songs and come on... This song is just gorgeous!

Even though I absolutely adore SHINee, sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to some of their songs, with this one that wasn't the case though. From the very beginning of this song I was immediately caught and my love of it didn't diminish over time. In this song they get great opportunities to show off what they can do with their voices in an amazing way. This does have the sad consequence that there is no choreography though, which is a little sad with a group that is so known for their dancing. Luckily enough the amazing story line and visuals make up for this.

The story is about a man (who's name turns out to be Miura Kenji), his wife and his son with appearances of SHINee here and there.

(Beware, many screenshots lay ahead)

Super Junior (슈퍼주니어) - Sexy, Free & Single

As I am getting more and more familiar with the Kpop music video's I come to realize that my standards where quite low when I started this thing. I had only ever watched video's bij Hello!Project and some stuff by SM Entertainment. Now I am not saying that I think the video's made by these entertainment groups are bad, but I do think that I am saying that they are quite simple. Both entertainment groups prefer to stick to simple video's that combine dance shots, close-up shots and random shots of the members looking amazing and that was it. This is why when I first stumbled across some video's with an actual plot or at least more than the idols looking gorgeous I was quite amazed and surprised. As a matter of fact, I still am at many occasions. That doesn't take away that I can still enjoy the more simple video's out there like Super Junior's Sexy, Free & Single.

In this video Super Junior use a combination of awesome dance moves and bared chests to let us know that they are there for fans of all ages. Even the oldest fans don't have to worry because these boys are sexy, free & single and ready to bingo. Isn't that a relief? So if you are in your older days and are no longer capable of joining these boys in their amazing choreography's in front of giant buildings without doors that have a crossroad in front of them parallel to the side walk, there is no problem since they are willing to join you for a nice game that involves crosses, balls & numbers.

I feel like the designer of this building had a strong need to overcompensate for something~

Super Junior strutting down the street since they are ready to bingo.

"You think you can beat me? Ha! You don't stand a chance."

"Watch how I beat you in bingo while showing off my sexy abs. Didn't see that one coming did you?"

"I know that if I win, my prize will be you~"

"Heh, I don't have to win to get you."

"Guys, can we just start already?"

"Yeah, let's start before this choker thing kills me!"

"No worries guys, I will be your prize."

"We're sexy, free & single and ready to bingo!"

"The first number is 2!"

"Ah crap, didn't need that one... and why is that guys headband around my neck?"

"I dunno but by the time we're finished my prizes will be piled up to here!"

"But my main prize will be your love."

...

"We're sexy, free & single and ready to bingo!"

"We're sexy, free & single and ready to bingo!"

Okay guys, I get it!

"Bam! Change of sets! Didn't see that one coming did you?"

"We will perform some amazing synchronized swimming while we wait for you to win."

"Well, we would do that, but we are airplanes! Airplanes don't swim you fool!"

Oooh~ I like you, I think I'll chose you as my prize!

"Are you sure you want me out of all these sexy, free and single guys?"

Ehm... Can I just have you all?

"Off course you can! We'll be there in a flash."

Yup, yup~ I think that if I had the chance I would definitely play some bingo with these guys. Though they might be a bit too passionate about it? I mean, they sang a whole song about it and even combined it with this weird but cool choreography and even made a video about it? But yeah, I do think the prizes will make it worth it.

Anyways, on a more serious note. I really do enjoy this song and I can't get it out of my head at times. It did take a number of listens though before I could really appreciate it. I think it would be a good thing though if these guys would work a bit on their pronunciation since I am quite sure I'm not the only person out there who hears 'bingo' instead of 'mingle' while listening to this song. On the other hand though, it does provide some amusement.

TaeTiSeo (SNSD) - Twinkle

Have you found yourself searching though the enormous list of Kpop songs in search of a song that has some  strong female vocals and amazing diva-like adlibs to the point that the song seems like one major adlib? Well, then I think that Twinkle might be the song for you. I don't even remember how I came across the song. But I do know that it did end up leaving quite an impression.

For this song SMent threw together 3 of SNSD's most powerful vocals and gave them a song where they get the chance to show their inner diva. Personally it kinda reminded me of Lady Marmalade. I know that they aren't strutting around in corsets asking people to sleep with them, but if you look more deeply the similarities are definitely there. They are both about some powerful ladies who spend their days in the spotlights and are both paired with quite some crazy adlibs. They even have shots of both these groups of ladies preparing themselves for the evening in front of mirrors. One thing that Lady Marmalade does have that Twinkle is sadly lacking though is variation.

Through Lady Marmalade there are many changes in sound while with Twinkle the instrumental seems to be the same during nearly all of the song and the melody seems to be a simple copy paste job. If it weren't for the adlibs I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. In the end though I still enjoy listening and I find singing along quite a challenge so I'll definitely give the girls credit for pulling it off.

When it comes to the PV I'm not very positive. While the song itself still managed to seduce me into liking it, the PV didn't have as much luck. It was nicely made and all that, but in the end all that happens is them strutting their stuff while preparing themselves to perform on an abandoned roof. Compared to the standard I've come to see in Kpop video's, this seems somewhat lame. I can't deny though that they all look gorgeous.

Oh my god guys! A car with an illegal number plate! Who are these criminals? We must bust them!

Any second now...

Taeyeon: "Uhm, guys, can we just pretend that you didn't see that?"

Tiffany: "Let's smile and wave... smile and wave..."

Chanyeol: "Aw man, the guys are gonna kill me if I don't manage to get a decent shot of these girls..."

Seohyun: "You do realize that you're tall enough to just see us without trying right?"

Oh well, let's just wave and dazzle them with our smiles. Maybe they'll forget our crime that way.

Looks like someone is immune to these lady's Mozes powers.

Chanyeol: "Ah crap, I have a clear shot. If there aren't other photographers in the photo the others will think I just took the pictures of the internet."

Chanyeol: "I must quickly get a spot where my view will be blocked!"

Tiffany: "Oh Fifi, what should I do? There are so many light pink dresses to choose from!"

Seohyun: "You think you have a problems? These shoes are attacking me!"

Baekhyun: "I really don't get what these girls are on about, it's not that hard to look gorgeous."

Tiffany: "Hey guys, like what you see?"

Kai & Sehun: "What the hell is her problem?"

I have to say that they look gorgeous in these shots! I especially like Tiffany's look. Though Seohyun is also rocking it.

Seohyun: "I can't stand this endless repetition! Let me change it up a a bit."

Taeyeon: "That's okay, I'll add some of my amazing adlibs and everything wil be fine!"

Tiffany: "What are you guys on about? Repetition is awesome! Let's repeat the same melody a few times more!"

The ladies look amazing in these clothes and they know it!

Forefore re forefore re forefore

Oh~ Oh, oh, beauty forest

Chanyeol: "So here I am... waiting on the streets for some girls that work in the same company as I do. Just because of some stupid bet."

Fifi: "Hey guys! Anyone wanna take me for a walk?"

Chanyeol: "Aw man... I thought I finally had a chance to take that picture. They're gonna give me a hard time when I get home..."

So yeah, as you might have noticed I quite enjoyed taking these screenshots. Hehe, those beautiful comeo's are amazing. All in all it is a nice song and a nice PV, but I think they could have added something extra to make the whole twinkle.