This week saw the much anticipated comeback of Orange Caramel and the debut of the SM-Woollim offspring, ToHeart. In addition, Troy and SoReal set foot into the K-pop industry while groups like Lunafly and 100% enthralled their audience with practiced ease with their comebacks. SNSD‘s “Mr. Mr.” came out victorious as it picked up trophies on M!Countdown, Music Bank, Show Champion and Music Core. I have chosen my favourites below, but do mention yours in the comments!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JN_VglmAuM]2NE1‘s “If I Were You” on Mnet M!Countdown, Thursday March 13th 2014
There are certain songs which are better off without dance routines, and I believe “Come Back Home” is one of them. While “Come Back Home” with its botched choreography disappointed me, “If I Were You” escapes that fate as it surrenders itself completely to the expansive vocal skills of 2NE1. This performance puts into focus the vocal abilities of 2NE1 and they excel with flying colours. While Park Bom and CL execute the meaty portions of the song quite well, it’s Sandara‘s haunting beginning which sets the right ambience.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKC3itehEE0]
ToHeart’s “Delicious” on MBC Music Core, Saturday March 15th 2014
Their performance is just as colourful and energetic as the MV. While the dance adds to the vibrancy of the performance, there are times when Key‘s voice tends to overpower Woohyun‘s dimming the act a little. The duo maintains an animated conversation of competition throughout the performance keeping with the storyline of the MV, the highlight being an interesting dance sequence involving a flower and in some performances, a lollipop.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao1mLUnvWfk]B.A.P‘s “SPY” on KBS Music Bank, Friday March 14th 2014
If the vocalists remained in the limelight with “1004 (Angel)”, it was time for the rappers to shine with “SPY.” The performance is arranged a little randomly but that adds to the casualness of it. It almost seems like an impromptu with the members doing whatever they feel like without making the whole performance seem nonsensical. The best part about this performance is that the boys are obviously having a lot of fun especially Yong-guk who even gets down to wiggling his butt. Also, Jong-up flays everyone in the dance battle.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYt7uF2zwTo]f(x)‘s Luna‘s cover of Lee Sun-hee “I always thee”, MBC Music Travel Yesterday Saturday March 15th 2014
May be it is because I don’t follow f(x) closely that I was unaware about the extent of Luna’s vocal prowess but this performance cleared my glaring and unfortunate ignorance. The song is relatively simple but with Luna’s powerful voice it becomes phenomenal. I honestly loved this performance not only because Luna sang it very well but also because the background music was kept to the minimum allowing only her voice, singing the blues, to take centre stage. SM the Ballad needs Luna.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk1HW9WMAmE]Orange Caramel‘s “Catallena”, MBC Music Core Saturday March 15th 2014
The performance proves to be just as entertaining as the MV. Compared to their M!Countdown performance, this one was much better solely because of the sushi-themed outfits and background as opposed to the polka-dot one. The performance thrives on their simple but well coordinated dance, and more importantly, their expressions. However, the Octopus was sorely missed.
