Welcome back to another week of music shows! Globally, this week marks the opening of the 2016 Rio Olympics, which featured a number of large-scale performances that are spectacular to watch. Unfortunately, this means things were a bit quiet this week on the music shows side, as many companies hold back from promoting their groups during this time period to avoid the Olympic hubbub. However, we did get the comebacks of Hyuna and Oh My Girl, as well as the subunit debut of Nine Muses A. The first places of music shows were mainly swept by GFriend this week, with the exception of Music Bank, which was won by the Wonder Girls. Without further ado, here are some of the highlights of the week!
Hyuna’s “How’s This?”, SBS Inkigayo, August 7, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjAx9g4T_XY
While I’m not a huge fan of the song itself, Hyuna never fails to impress with her live performances. Given the club music sound both the track and the music video were going for, the stages of “How’s This?” essentially recreate this atmosphere with the strobe lights and flashy outfits, though the latter is more of a gamble with her lives so far featuring a mixture of good styling (such as this stage) and bad ones (such as the Music Core ones). The choreography does not deviate far from clubbing style as well, being less of a complex routine and more of a simply move your body to the rhythm dance, yet Hyuna manages to captivate while performing it, making “How’s This?” more of an exhilarating watch than listen.
Taemin’s “Goodbye,” KBS Music Bank, August 5, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv4KFivIslA
Taemin is back on music shows for a week to perform the Korean version of his new Japanese release “Goodbye,” and it’s a good thing he did as viewers may not have had the chance to watch the masterpiece that is his performance otherwise. The song is a ballad infused with electronic elements, and the choreography does an excellent job of representing the music with the fluidity of the dance which then gradually introduces stronger, sharper movements. Taemin also not only performs it with a level of precision that is to be expected of his skills, but also impressive passion, living up to his reputation as a talented performer.
Nine Muses A’s “Lip 2 Lip,” MBC Show! Music Core, August 6, 2016
Nine Muses never to fail to deliver catchy songs, and the debut track of their new unit, Nine Muses A, is not an exception. Granted, I’m not quite sure what the purpose of the unit is, considering “Lip 2 Lip” doesn’t deviate much from the usual style of Nine Muses music or image-wise, but the selection of members performing it certainly does deliver. Nine Muses A convey the sexiness and femininity of the concept with ease, and the styling also emphasizes their model-like beauty. I also like the attention to colour scheme of the stage, in the matching of it to the song.
GFriend’s “Navillera,” KBS Music Bank, August 5, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36FJFUaJTm0
GFriend’s stages will never be not interesting to watch; although they’ve toned down the intensity of the dancing in this comeback, the more intricate details of the choreography and the group’s amazing synchronisation always make their performances noteworthy. I also admire Yuju’s fighting spirit this week – it’s impressive that she’s performing with a broken arm without a hitch, and more so if you consider that the performance for “Navillera” is relatively gesture heavy, meaning that Yuju is still popping with her injured arm. That being said, here’s hoping that the group ends promotions soon so that the members have time to recover.
Bada & Lee Hongki & Ailee’s “Butterfly + Victory,” KBS Music Bank, August 5, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiJHrexsu0Y
With the Olympics airing this week, Music Bank chose to celebrate this worldwide event by inviting three well known talented vocalists to perform a series of Olympic-themed songs in their Rio Olympics special. Bada and Lee Hongki, with their more mellow vocals colours, performed the motivational and largely hopeful “Butterfly,” and while the two are an unlikely combo, their voices meld together surprisingly well to create their smooth duet. Meanwhile, Ailee performed the more driving and impassioned English song “Victory.” While her powerful vocals are a perfect fit for the song on its own, her confidence adds to the performance, making her stage a refreshing watch.
