They were no big metamorphoses as K-pop moves into Spring as last week was still a fairly quiet week in K-pop, but I have hope that more K-pop blossoming is in store. Some of the Things that just missed the cut: SHINee making friends with Lee Hi, this great photo shoot of C.N. Blue’s Kang Min-hyuk in Nylon, and what I’m going to have to dub “manner bulge” as C.N. Blue‘s Lee Jong-hyun is the only one (out of 10 men) to grab someone else’s jacket during a stretching game on the last episode of Running Man to cover his ‘man-parts’–I mean what was the show thinking making them stretch like that in fairly tight pants?! Anyway, this leads me to believe that he has seen some of the pervy-er sites by K-pop fans which is really a bit funny–or embarrassing–I can’t make up my mind.
The following are the top 5 Things that happened in K-pop last week that I think were a little more special than the rest. As always, if you’re not up-to-date with your K-pop and don’t like spoilers, turn back now because spoilers will most definitely ensue.
5. The Day We Broke Up
ZE:A‘s been around for a while, but it’s only recently that I think they’ve been breaking through and making a name for themselves with Kwang-hee‘s K-variety antics, Dong-jun‘s athletic prowess, Si-wan‘s acting and Hyung-sik‘s growing popularity after being on Romantic and Idol. Their first sub-unit, ZE:A 5 made up of Dong-jun, Si-wan, Hyung-sik, Kevin and Min-woo, released their first Korean album last week (the sub-unit originated with Japan promotions) and the MV for their title song “The Day We Broke Up” the song is good, the MV better–I like their colorful clothes against the dull backgrounds, it mimicked the winter landscapes moving into spring in my mind whether or not that was their intent. It’s just good to see ZE:A
4. OFFROAD Headbanging
Seriously, I was only interested in checking these rookies out because Block B‘s Zico produced their new album… and so far, I like it. OFFROAD is definitely worth a second look.
3. 2000 Won cashed out
It was the end of the road for duo 2000 Won as they were eliminated from K-pop Stars 2. Their last performance on the show was a cover of trot singer Sim Soo-bong‘s ” One Million Roses” (which actually has an intriguing story behind it). I loved their performance and was a bit surprised that they didn’t get better scores and were cut from the show–I think they should have definitely made it for one more week at least. It would be awesome if a company like Amoeba Culture would sign these guys up. Check out their awesome performance below–another great stage on the show worth viewing was the special performance by Akdong Musician and Bang Ye-dam with Epik High.
2. Back to School on Running Man
It was a fun episode of Running Man with guests Kim Soo-ro, Min Hyo-rin, C.N. Blue‘s Lee Jong-hyun, Lee Jong-suk and Kim Woo-bin. The flower boys were pretty useless when it came to physical match up against the likes of Kim Jong-kook (Jong-kook literally just flicked off Woo-bin and sent him flying during one game–they’re too skinny!), or even Gary, but it was still fun nonetheless and of course the ‘Game Devil,’ Kim Soo-ro, kept things interesting. Check put their speed eating game below–who knew eating a popsicle could be soo painful?
1. Infinitely Challenging in Hawaii
For some reason, it’s just way more fun watching a K-variety segment that you saw shot live in person when it comes out, even if you did see the whole thing already. This week’s episode of Infinity Challenge began the cast’s adventures in the Aloha State as the ‘Waikiki Brothers.’ Like many other Hawaii fans, I headed to the Honolulu International Airport to see the cast and crew arrive. Unfortunately for the cast, shooting began the minute they stepped out of Customs (and apparently throughout the day afterward) as they encountered their first mission. Things looked bleak for Gil (and company) as he got thrown off the bus for being the last on because of their mission to transfer all their stuff to their ‘Hawaii’ bag, but later on in the episode we found out things wasn’t so bad for him. What was cute though, was that in his haste Yoo Jae-suk forgot a bag of goodies that a fan gave him on the ground, but immediately started yelling for the crew to bring it to him which he then proceeded to tuck away (also did you see Park Myung-soo sneaking some of the chocolate macadamia nut candy that a fan gave him while they were talking on the bus). Can’t wait to see the other Hawaii episodes–perilous times lie ahead for the cast as previews have shown them sky diving, rock jumping, and swimming with sharks?!
Those were the 5 Things I loved in K-pop last week, were they yours?
