Chocolat was one of the dozens of girl groups that had debuted last year, making headlines and stirring up controversy through their concept of biracialism with three members being biracial. Since then, Chocolat has remained in the K-pop industry, continuing to perform on shows and drawing media attention, so you could say they’re one of the better off groups that debuted in 2011. Recently, the group released their newest single album, Chocolat, and with it a music video for the song “One More Day”, featuring Sung Hyo-ram from X-CROSS.
Before I begin this review, let me first get my feelings across about Chocolat. Honestly, I never really cared about them. They were on my “Rookies to Watch” list before I saw their performance of “Jingle Bells/We Wish You A Merry Christmas” after which I immediately lost interest. Their performance bored me and I found nothing remotely impressive about their vocals or dancing. Still, I was willing to give the girls a chance.
I had several different reactions to this music video:
Pros:
- The song (although similar to Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle”) is smooth and highly reminiscent of 90s pop. The girls sound great, Melanie sounding the best in my opinion, and I didn’t detect very much use of autotune. The song worked with the girls’ vocals and I think it suits them better than something cutesy and bubbly. Also, the rapping was good. I’m glad they hired an actual rapper rather than have one of the girls do it themselves.
- The masks. So they were a little creepy, specifically the long-nosed ones the girls wore in the van. But I found them amusing, adding some comic relief to the song and ambiguity to the guy that was kidnapped and supposedly tortured. He is faceless and doesn’t have an identity–he represents all cheaters out there. And he also reminds me of Jack from the Jack-in-the-Box commercials.
- The hair and makeup is better. The makeup they wore in “Syndrome” was a bit weird – there was too much emphasis on the eyes, making the girls look like aliens. Here, the girls look gorgeous, eyeliner applied correctly to bring attention to their eyes but not make them jump out at you. Tia and Melanie looked especially pretty to me — they’ll be bombshells when they get older, no doubt. The hairstyling was better as well, the buns and bouncy waves adding to the girls’ prettiness. Melanie looks better with longer hair; her old hairstyle made her face look too pointed.
Cons:
- The first thought that jumped into my mind after watching the choreography was nymphets and lolita. How old are Tia, Melanie, and Juliane? Fifteen? Fourteen? It’s disturbing to see girls that young perform choreography that’s so incredibly sexualized. The dance looks like something Hyuna would perform. And the up-close shots of the girls’ hips and Tia’s breasts at 2:19 added to the creepy factor. With the gyrating, body waves and booty popping, I wouldn’t be surprised if this dance got banned and they were forced to change it. Why aren’t netizens stirring up trouble over this?
- SO MUCH TIA. Tia’s a pretty girl, but so are Juliane and Min Soa. Poor Juliane and Min Soa hardly got any screentime. Melanie got a fair share, however. Tia’s the dancer but Melanie’s the fiercest of the group and Min Soa is the oldest – I would’ve focused the camera on Min Soa during the more provocative moves to make the music video look less pedophilic.
- The styling. The hair and makeup were fine, but the outfits were not. The skimpy black and white outfits looked cheap and rip-offs of SNSD‘s “Run Devil Run” attire. And what is with those knee straps?
- The overall music video looked a little cheap to me. The lighting could’ve been better, especially in the white room.
Overall, I would give the song a 4/5 and the music video a 1/5. I’m subtracting points from the music video for it being creepily pedophilic, cheap, and not having an equal amount of attention to all members. The song is good, not amazing, but the girls are improving bit by bit. “I Like It” was a step-up from “Syndrome” and “One More Day” is two-step ups from “I Like It.” Despite growing disinterested in them for awhile, I do believe Chocolat still has potential. Most of the girls are incredibly young, there’s plenty of room for improvement in the coming years.
What do you think of Chocolat and their latest release?
