Happy Boxing Day, everyone, and welcome to the last Roundtable for 2012!
As great as 2012 was for K-pop — great debuts, great comebacks, great scandals — it’s time to turn the page to a new year; and to welcome it, the Seoulbeats writers have drawn up their wishlist for 2013. What do you think of them? And what’s your 2013 wishlist?
Nabeela: OH MY GOSH I have so much on my K-pop list!
The EXO comeback— this better be a damn good song- Jun.K‘s solo EP with his own MV and promotional stint
- A killer 2NE1 album
- More K-pop socks!
- Block B follow up tracks
- The rest of ZICO on the Block 1.5
- I want the B.A.P. stylists to gtfo the bleach and give me dark haired BYG
- I want to see some rookie abs….
- More B1A4 in Korea
- I want to MBLAQ to win on the charts
- G.O. back on IS2
- 2NE1 needs to release that English album, like for reals now though
- Oh and I want the JunHara ship to sail on.
Aannd I think that’s it!
Lindsay: The condensed version of my wishlist for 2013
- Korean comebacks, lots of them, especially SHINee, EXO, MBLAQ and B.A.P.
- For B.A.P to stop being all blonde.
- Some good rookie debuts (although I’m probably the only one to wish for more rookies…)
- To hear less about Psy and “Gangnam Style,” please.
- For Boyfriend‘s Hello Baby Season 7 to live up to my expectations (at least I can dream).
- Less fan wars between EXO and B.A.P fans, and also world peace.
- For Lee Joon and Oh Yeon-seo to get married for real.
Fatouma:
- To permanently remove bleach off of the coordinoonas of B.A.P.’s shopping list
- EXO to finally comeback
- For Seo In-guk to become uber-popular (and marry me)
- For Seo In-guk and Jung Eun-ji to be a real couple already
- For Flower Boy Next Door to be as good as SUFBB was
- For tvN to release more great dramas
- For even better comebacks
- For Block B’s next album to top Blockbuster! #BlocktoberForever
- For Zico to release more mixtapes
- For Jaejoong to rock out hard in January (maybe a solo tour as well? I hear Canada is a great place to start)
- For JYJ to come out with a really good album (and perform onstage again)
- For DBSK to promote “Viva” live for once and to come out with more good material like “Catch Me” and “Tone”
- For Jaejoong, Song Joong-ki, and Kai to answer my love letters with a Yes
Gaya: To be honest, all I want is Jino solo debut, more than an Exo comeback (yeah, I said it!) But I do have other wishes for 2013:
- Kim Kwang-soo to retire already, and leave CCM in more competent hands
- More co-ed dance pop groups
- Sore songs with interesting lyrics (like “The Grasshopper’s Song,” “Face” and “Party XXO”)
- Another great crop of rookies like we had this year
- Hand-syncing laws to be overturned so that instruments can actually be played on music shows
- More idols publicly dating
- Joo Won and Park Ki-woong to take out the best couple award
- A great Epik High album
- SHINee to continue releasing great music in Japan, and at home
- Also, some Minho currency would be nice…
- Miss A‘s Fei to get more exposure and screentime
- Exo-M‘s Chen to get better at Mandarin
- … and yeah, OK, I want an Exo comeback. The fans are going insane, I swear. I’M going insane.
Bethany: Fatouma I will fight you to marry Seo In-guk.
- For more Song Joong-ki in any form or fashion
- For a year of great dramas
- For amazing comebacks from Infinite, Beast, B1A4, C.N. Blue, and Block B
- For B.A.P to get a well-deserved break (seriously, boys, as much as I love y’all, go get some rest!)
- For some new drool-worthy rookies
- For Taeyang to release some solo stuff (R&B, please)
- For more adorable idol couples to go on WGM (wouldn’t mind Eun-ji and Seo In-guk or Suzy and Kim Soo-hyun)
Ambika:
- Really good comebacks from everyone, in particular a wonderful full-length from B.A.P and SHINee.
- More collaborations between groups not necessarily in the same company (Block B.A.P anyone?)
- Continued Running Man wonders
- I’m being redundant but just good music, please.
Fannie:
- For tvN to continue producing quality material
- Still waiting for Yoon Eun-hye to make her appearance on Running Man
- JYJ to make a smooth transition back to normal broadcast channels (outside of dramas)
- Jung-ah to graduate After School and join with Kahi to form an official duo
- Solo Ye-eun promotions (putting my Ye/Sun duo wish on the back burner for a bit)
- More of Infinite H
Mark:
- Another big push from solo artists
- Return of industry legends Kahi and Hyori
- Top rookies from 2012 making strong comebacks
- A mature (dare I say sexy?) concept for IU
- Large campaigns from Starship, Pledis, and Cube to challenge the Big 3
- Another big year for YG and many of its artists
- The return of Hwayoung as an actor or singer
- More rookie groups featuring former underground rappers
- The next
laughableproduct designed to tackle the US market - Life after “Gangnam Style”
(Images via: JYP Co., Allure Magazine, YG Entertainment, Amped Asia)
