Best of Weekly Music Shows: 6/17 - 6/23

Welcome to another recap of the week’s music shows! KBS Music Bank did not air this week due to K-League soccer games. This week had comebacks from the likes of Dal Shabet, Sunny Hill, Baek Ah-yeon, and LED Apple alongside a debut from girl group 2Eyes. Sistar took away most of the wins, winning on Mnet M! Countdown, MBC Music Core, and SBS Inkigayo, with Exo grabbing the other win of the week on MBC Music Show! Champion. Listed below are my favorites of the week, but please do comment with your own favorites of the week!

BTS‘ “No More Dream,” MBC Music Show! Champion, June 19, 2013

This rookie group is continuously solid in their live performances. Sure the beginning was a bit cheesy with the fence, but the group’s vocals and rap are pretty much on point. And I can’t get over the ease with which Jung-kook lifts Ji-min for that run across backs.

Ivy featuring Rainbow‘s Woori‘s “I Dance,” Mnet M! Countdown, June 20, 2013

Ivy impresses with her great vocals and catchy song. I’ve watched each performance of this song because it’s just so good. I think I actually prefer Woori’s method of rapping to Yubin‘s for this song; it’s not the best, but it’s also not as suddenly jarring and holds some more emotion.

Teen Top and 100%‘s cover of Park Nam-jung‘s “As I Draw You,” KBS Immortal Song 2, June 22, 2013

The performance started off fantastically with Niel singing to the beat of some fancy cup movements. The additional of three members from labelmate 100% was welcome. Rok-hyun‘s strong entrance after the silence was just perfect, and the addition of Jong-hwan and Hyuk-jin with similarly strong vocals continued the excellent entrance. Both Teen Top and 100% usually have some type of nifty or intricate choreography, and this performance was no different, making it a great stage to watch.

Sistar’s cover of Justin Bieber‘s “All Around the World,” Yoo Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook, June 22, 2013

This is a short clip, but it was a soothing one with just the guitar and Sistar’s vocals. Soyu stood out in this performance for her softer voice that suited the mood. I could have done without Bora‘s contribution, but it was still an good, short listen.

Henry featuring Super Junior‘s Kyuhyun‘s “Trap,” SBS Inkigayo, June 23, 2013

If I’m being honest, I included this performance primarily for reasons unassociated with its quality. The first was to show how unfitting Kyuhyun is for this song except for his falsetto portion. His attempt at covering Taemin‘s part did not fit at all: his voice was too low and had too much vibrato to mesh with the rest of the song. The second reason was to show the utter discord between Kyuhyun’s typical image and the one he has for this song. The concept ages him, making him look like Henry’s disgruntled older brother, and makes me laugh. And lastly, no tattoos or bandanas wrapped around the head for Henry.

After School‘s “First Love,” SBS Inkigayo, June 23, 2013

The chosen performance was prerecorded before Nana’s fall, so it has the seven members doing their more complicated choreography. In light of Nana’s fall and subsequent removal from activities for recovery, currently the group is performing as six with a toned down version of their initial routine. Movements like those involving members reaching the very top of the poles or having two members on the same pole at the same time are out, replaced by single members spinning in less intricate formations. I really liked the pure athleticism of the original choreography, but the shaky poles and their placement near the edges of the stages really makes the more subdued choreography a safer and better option, especially if no changes to better the precautions for the stage are made. Despite the changes, the performance still comes across as sensual, keeping the spirit of the stage.

(Mnet, MBC, SBS, KBS, YouTube [1][2][3][4][5])