20130805_seoulbeats_ihearyourvoiceEven though we have begun to bid farewell to Summer, the K-pop scene shows no signs of cooling down with more come backs, debuts, and new K-dramas on the horizon.

The following are the top 5 Things that happened in K-pop last week that I think were a bit more special than the rest.  If you’re not up-to-date on your K-pop addictions and don’t like spoilers turn back now or prepare for an overdose of disappointments.
 

5. Who Are You?

One of the bright spots on a bleak K-drama week (my three current fave K-dramas all ended last week), was the discovery of a brand new drama with lots of potential, tvN‘s Who Are You. It stars So Yi-hyun as a detective who wakes up after being in a coma for 6 years after getting hurt in the line of duty. She also can now see ghosts. Taec plays her subordinate in the Lost and Found department who ends up helping her solve the mysteries behind the deaths of the ghosts that appear before her. Kim Jae-wook makes his return to dramas after serving his two years of military service as So Yi-hyun’s boyfriend, her dead boyfriend. Didn’t expect much watching the first two episodes and it wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely a solid start.

 

 

4. Grrrrrr

There isn’t much more that needs to be said about Exo‘s latest release “Growl” that I, or anyone else, hasn’t already said–so I’ll keep this brief. It’s probably my favorite Exo song and MV, LOVED it, replay. Also can’t wait to see what the rumored ‘other’ MVs for this song will be like.

 

 

3. Star Auditions

The next mission for the cast of Barefoot Friends was to audition like a K-pop Star–never mind that a couple of them already are. Their judges were the members of Dynamic Duo, Epik High, and Duble Sidekick–a venerable panel to be sure, but it must have been a little awkward for sunbaes like Yoon Jong-shin and Eun Ji-won to be auditioning for hoobaes even if it is for fun. I have a feeling that Barefoot Friends will be gone for good once K-pop Star 3 begins because of its consistently low ratings which is really a shame because I think its cast really had potential.  Check out Yoon Shi-yoon‘s ‘audition,’ one of the best things about Barefoot Friends has got to be Yoon Shi-yoon’s new found ability for variety–the boy has no shame in a good way.  The look on Gaeko‘s face and the rest of the cast’s reactions were priceless.

 

2. Real Men, Real Romantic

The cast of Real Men along with the rest of their suad got together for a special mission to help out their squad leader propose. They organized the event for his girl’s visit (with the approval of their commanders) with roses, music, kisses and love (a few tears, too). The cast were later treated for their help when at dinner they were treated to the feast the squad leader’s girl brought for them.

 

 

1. A Monstar Ending

It was a tough week for K-drama fans as a bunch of good dramas  concluded including The Queen’s Classroom, I Hear Your Voice and Monstar.  Of the three, I’ll have to say that Monstar had the best ending: The Queen’s Classroom had a typical “O Captain, my Captain” ending, I Hear Your Voice had a good ending–but probably could’ve had a better one if it hadn’t been extended, and Monstar had a perfect ending. Monstar tied up some loose ends–but not all of them, kept some story lines unanswered and made you want more.  I still wanna know who won the competition, if Nana and Sun-woo hook up, if any of them get signed as idols, etc.  There was definitely more of the story to tell, can I get a Monstar 2! Mnet did a great job with the production of their first K-drama.

 

Those were the top 5 Things I LOVED in K-pop last week, were they yours?

(SBS; YouTube [5], [4], [3], [2]. [1])