Best of Weekly Music Shows: 9/3 to 9/9

After Amibka, this week I take a look at some of the best performances to take place one this week’s music shows. There are a lot of girl groups for this week, but a nice surprise at the end, too!

T-ara‘s “Sexy Love,” SBS Inkigayo, Sunday 9th September

T-ara was the comeback of the week, even though they skipped Music Bank this week. “Sexy Love” is undeniably an ear worm: I’m not too fond of the song, and yet have been singing it all weekend. Of the three comeback stages, I have picked their Inkigayo stage for the sake of continuity. It’s well known that a lot of songs are performed and recorded multiple times from different angles, but the Inkigayo performance had only one costume and one stage: as entertaining as the two other stages were, the changes in outfits and sets seemed too similar to a MV, and also made obvious the fact that the song was not being performed live. This could be just a personal preference, but seeing a song performed in one take is one of the reasons people enjoy a live performace, and T-ara’s Inkigayo stage was the best approximation of that.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLSoC0wd7DI&w=560&h=315]

Kara‘s “Pandora,” SBS Inkigayo, Sunday 9th September

Kara beat Psy to first place on this week’s Music Bank, but the teal colour of outfits from Inkigayo really caught my eye. “Pandora” is a rousing song, and Kara’s choreography certainly has the crowd cheering for them.

AOA‘s “Elvis,” MBC Music Core, Saturday 9th September

I think this is the first performance I’ve seen where AOA’s dance troupe has worn pants; also, I’ve come to a realisation that Jimin is the group’s best performer. Yes, her rapping voice is on the whiny side, but her singing voice is actually quite deep–this may even be why she was made rapper in the first place, because her voice does not fit in with the prescribed female vocalist sound–but even with her rapping voice, she still manages to engage the audience.

Exid‘s “I Feel Good,” KBS Music Bank, Friday 8th September

I hadn’t heard any of Exid’s songs before I saw this performance, but I loved it! Though I wish the outfits were better (what is that blue shirt?) Their performance impressed me enough for me to look up some of their other songs, and you could say I’ve become a bit of a fan now.

A Pink‘s Eun-ji and Seo In-guk‘s “Stil Our Love Continues” MNet M! Count Down, Thursday 6th September

A Pink’s Eun-ji and Seo In-guk’s “All For You,” MNet M! Count Down, Thursday 6th September

With the popular drama Answer Me 1997 about to conclude in the following fortnight, MNet, which is part of the conglomerate that also owns cable channel TvN (on which Answer Me 1997 is showing) had the drama’s stars give a two-song special performance. Both songs are delightful to watch, especially listening to In-guk and Eun-ji sing: they make it seem so effortless. I flippe-flopped over which song to include as my favourite, but I like both so much that they’ve both been included here.

And if you thought that was too much, you should have seen them backstage (bonus Kara footage, too):

So, Seoulmates, what were your favourite performances of the week? Which Answer Me 1997 Duet did you prefer? And what are your thoughts on comeback stages with multiple costume changes and sets? Leave your comments below! And also try to avoid spoilers!

(Image credit: Osen)