Welcome back to another week of Best of Weekly Music Shows! This week saw domination of girl groups, since A Pink took home three wins for “Five” on SBS The Show, MBC Show Champion, and MBC Show! Music Core; Mamamoo won for “Yes I Am” on Mnet M! Countdown and KBS Music Bank, and Black Pink got their second win on SBS Inkigayo with “As If It’s Your Last”. M! Countdown broadcast performances at KCON NY in lieu of the normal music show stages.
Without further ado, here are some of my favourite performances of the week!
Twice’s “Bad Girl Good Girl + Nobody + Honey”, Mnet M! Countdown, July 6, 2017
“Signal” still hasn’t really grown on me just yet, but I really enjoyed their special stage here at KCON NY. The girls of Twice did a medley of hit songs by their seniors, including miss A’s “Bad Girl Good Girl”, Wonder Girl’s “Nobody” (which seriously gave me the feels), and the one and only Park Jin-young’s “Honey”. These were well-chosen tracks, not only showing their musical and stylistic diversity, but also representing JYP as a company. In the future, I would like to see Twice take on a stronger, darker, and more sultry concept, since they pulled it off well in “Bad Girl Good Girl”!
Zion.T’s “Complex + Your Song”, Mnet M! Countdown, July 6, 2017
Zion.T never promoted his album OO, so it was especially exciting to watch live performances of “Complex” and “The Song”. From his stages, it is clear that he is an excellent musician and performer. In “Complex”, Zion.T stripped it down to the bare basic with his mellow piano accompaniment adding some jazz vibes here and there; whereas in “The Song”, he got the crowd moving, even gesturing to members of the audience when he sang “It’s your song”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrghkX6rPOU
NCT 127’s “0 Mile”, KBS Music Bank, July 7, 2017
In my review of NCT 127’s latest album, Cherry Bomb, I remarked that “0 Mile” seemed to be a more public-friendly song, and this stage really echoes this sentiment. From the more casual styling consisting of sneakers, simple denim bottoms, and white and orange tops, as well as the cheerful vibes of the stage, they are like the boys next door (if the boys next door looked as good, that is). All in all, this is simply a fun and playful stage that is perfect for summer!
Red Velvet’s “Red Flavor”, SBS Inkigayo, July 9, 2017
SM is really hitting it with these summer comebacks — first NCT, and now Red Velvet! “Red Flavor” is such an earworm, and the stage is just so bright and fun. For once, the girls have really good styling (please keep up the good work!), and all of them look healthy and happy to be performing on stage, which is the best that any of us can hope for!
Mamamoo’s “You’re the Best + Aze Gag + Décalcomanie + Um Oh Ah Yeah”, KBS Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook, July 5, 2017
Instead of opting to perform a mashup of the latest summer hits, Mamamoo give us a medley of their own hit tracks over the years. In typical Mamamoo fashion, they spice things up with a big band sound and add some quirky comments here and there (I’m looking at you, Moonbyul, and your lame dad jokes). In the end, it’s just a fun stage that you can’t help but dance along to!
