Another week, another Best of Weekly Music Shows. We give you a rundown of our favorite performances of the week. Making their solo debuts on stage this week were Super Junior’s Yesung and A Pink’s Eunji; Bolbbalgan4 made their group debut. Also, Berry Good, Bizzy, Defconn, Park Boram, and VIXX all held comeback stages. Block B grabbed three wins this past week, claiming victory on Show Champion, M! Countdown, and Inkigayo. CN Blue claimed first place on Music Bank and The Show.
Here are my picks for the week, but please do include yours in the comments below!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWdG2QfWeJc]Block B’s “Toy,” MBC Show! Music Core, April 23, 2016
This song has been spinning in my head all week long. “Toy” is a great single that plays to the softer side of Block B. I really like the styling in their Show! Music Core performance, with the nutcracker styling helping them gain a closer semblance to toy figurines. “Toy” demonstrates Block B’s evolving sound and ability to handle mid-tempo numbers versus the more upbeat title tracks from their past. Most of all, they are connected to their material and it comes across in this underlying conviction behind their vocal and rap deliveries.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWYbey0w3to]Cheetah and Moon Hee-kyung’s version of EXID’s “Up and Down,” JTBC Hip-hop Tribe, April 22, 2016
Before you judge me about putting a clip from the show with grandmothers rapping, I just want to point out that the coaches make a strong case for this clip being featured. Cheetah is consistently electric on stage, and she brings out that ferocity with her partner, Moon Hee-kyung, in a rap rendition of EXID’s “Up and Down.” Cheetah busts a few moves and drops a few bars. Moon Hee-kyung holds her own, and while I wouldn’t call her rapping a strength, she does have a certain charisma while performing.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wqrofK4yoI]Outsider’s “Loner,” MBC Dreaming Radio, April 18, 2016
Can we talk about this classic right here? Outsider has a particular flow and style and that speed of his is incredible; I’m not usually one to be blown away by speed — because you can spit fast bars but still not have good flow or lyrics — but in this case, the amount of syllables he’s able to get out in a short amount of time is astounding. He’s a legend in his own right and this song is one that is emblematic of his legacy.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVe1RIJZO5Q]VIXX’s “Dynamite,” KBS Music Bank, April 22, 2016
To me, this is VIXX returning to form on stage. While I’ve enjoyed their last few comebacks, I think this is the sharpest they’ve been in a while. The choreography accentuates the music and those callbacks to their older set of choreography have the fan in me excited. They are sharp and show that they can excel in this funkier style. N‘s facial expressions and movement pulls focus, but the whole group are on beat, and I’m blown away by their stage (pun intended).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mNSUOT-Gsw]EXID’s Solji and Doo Jin-su’s cover of Brown Eyes’ “Don’t Go Don’t Go,” MBC Duet Song Festival, April 22, 2016
I was leaning on including VIXX’s Ken and his partner’s performance, but since I already featured VIXX on this week’s segment, I went with Solji’s instead. I’ve probably professed my love of Solji’s voice before, right? If not, then consider this my official declaration. Her voice never fails to get to me. It’s lush, precise, and powerful. Her voice is tender in all the right places, and she has the technical skill to harmonize incredibly well with her partner. Unfortunately MBC only posts half the performance, so we’ll just make do with what we have.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxMvQkcdPl8]Taeyang and Lee Seo-jin’s duet version of “Eyes, Nose, Lips,” SBS Fantastic Duo, April 24, 2016
There seems to be an ever growing number of specialized music shows popping up this season. On Fantastic Duo, Winner‘s Kang Seung-yoon and his reactions pretty much sums up me watching and listening to this performance. Taeyang and Lee Seo-jin have great chemistry on stage together, and this was an amazingly well done duet. Perhaps the one thing missing from Taeyang’s prior live performances of “Eyes, Nose, Lips” was a second Taeyang to fill in those adlibs and alternate verses with because the song is extremely tough to execute live. While Lee Seo-jin is not a second Taeyang — cloning has not been perfected yet — she does a damn fine job of pairing with the original Taeyang for his song. Those wonderfully embellished runs at the end cap what is one of my favorite live versions of the song.
