Kpop Star 5 - Showcase

MSG

Kim Sa Ra (22); Choi Eun Ji (14); Park Min Ji (17)

They sang 'Kiss Me' by Park Jin Young

[Watch here]

JYP - Starting from the beginning, I was surprised with the first chord.

YG - I think the viewers also realized that the chord is different.

YHY - I acknowledge your efforts.

Jung loves Jung

Lee Soo Jung (22) & Jung Jin Woo (19)

They sang 'Almost is Never Enough' by Arianna Grande

[Watch here]

YHY - The part when your fingers touched, it was more electrifying than a kiss.

YG - Jin Woo vocalization is comparable to Soo Jung.

JYP - Jin Woo sang fancily while Soo Jung sang uniquely.

Soda

Park Ka Kyung (12) & Im Ha Eun (15)

They sang 'Lips Are Moving' by Meghan Trainor

[Watch here]

YHY - Although your voices are unstable, both of you give off good vibes.

YG - You didn't make utmost use of your singing abilities.

JYP - You have to have steady low and middle pitches.

Young Deok Crab

Kim Young Eun (18) & Seo Kyung Deok (19)

They sang 'Missing, missing, missing' by K. Will

[Watch here]

JYP - You shouldn't do a duet ballad if you're going to sing like that.

YG - Singing is like acting, but both of you look like strangers.

YHY - The good thing is you guys have the perfect voice to create harmony.

Mazinger

Kim Ye Rim (22); Joyce Lee (17); Denise Kim (14)

They sang 'Something' by Girl's Day

[Watch here]

JYP - I loved it. I feel your passion.

YHY - Great job with the song arrangement.

Popcorn

Kim Min Ji (18); Sophie Han (14); Baek Soo Hyun (18)

They sang 'I Wanna Dance with Somebody' by Whitney Houston

[Watch here]

JYP - You influence each other in a good way.

YHY - It was a great performance.

YG - Unintentional meeting is a lot more touching. Your group is the best.

Flutter Girl

Amy Jo (21) & Chae Ji Hye (19)

They sang 'My Style' by Brown Eyed Girls

[Watch here]

# I personally loved this song and their rendition. I think Amy Jo is really pretty. ^_^

JYP - Ji Hye has warm voice but lack of sharpness. Amy has sharpness but lack warmth.

I think you guys complement each other.

JunRyu 

Jun Ji Ae (22) & Ryu Jin (18)

They sang 'Can't Have You' by Bank

[Watch here]

JYP - I was moved to tears.

YHY - It's a hard song to arrange and you did a good job.

YG - You met the right partner.

Two Yoo

Yoo Jei (15) & Yoo Yoon Ji (17)

They sang 'Hello' by Adele

[Watch here]

# I loved this song too! I think it would've sound better if Jei sang solo for this song.

YHY - You guys are at the top for vocalization but at the bottom for confidence level.

YG - You guys look tensed.

JYP - I'm disappointed.

Kpop Star 5 - Ranking Audition (Part 3)

[Kpop Star season 5 Ep 5]

Bibimbap Group

Kim Young Eun (18)

(Into The Memory - Lee Eun Mi)

◆ She got a lot of praises during audition and she felt burdensome.
(JYP said she has a voice that inspired him want to write a song for her)
◆ JYP requested her to sing 'Into the Memory' by Lee Eun Mi
◆ The song was from 1992 and she hasn't heard of it before

YG - I know I didn't praise you much during audition because I believe you haven't showed everything. Today your singing is three times
more powerful than audition.
JYP - I felt tingly listening to you. You made your own interpretation of
the song which is difficult to do for a ballad
YHY - It's amazing to see how you improve from the first round

Monica Kim (18)

(Fallin - Keshia Cole)

◆ She is from Australia

YHY - The chorus part was appealing. But one thing you lack is power.. the explosive sound.
JYP - She didn't change her tongue position to make that 'R&B' sound. That's impressive!

Lee Hyo Rim

(Love Gets Forgotten by Another Love - Ha Reem)

◆ She received enormous pressure from other contestants and her parents,
being Lee Hi's older sister
◆ She thinks her parents would have higher expectations for her
◆ She would accept it if she gets eliminated

YHY - I enjoyed your solid way of singing
JYP - You sings well but the song need to be alive
YG - You sing well but you lack the charm to attract people with your singing

RESULTS!
1 - Joo Mi Yeon and Kim Young Eun
2 - Park Min Ji
3 - Lee Si Eun
4 - Monica Kim
5 - Lee Hyo Rim
#All of them passed!

Unique Vocal Group

Yuyu Liu (17)

(Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars)

◆ She is from Changsha, China
◆ She is working as a commercial and magazine model in China
◆ She likes CL and Tablo from YG Ent
◆ She wants to hear YG comments on her
◆ She wishes to be in the TOP 10


YHY - It seems so surreal. I thought I was watching a professional.
YG - I liked it better when you focus on just singing. So just focus on that next round.
JYP - Your dancing is your weakness. But you have expressive eyes and powerful aura.

#Everyone might thought of the same thing. "She looks a lot like Kiko Mizuhara".  
Very charming indeed~

Lee Soo Jung (22)

(Fallin - Alicia Keys)

◆ She lived in Chicago
◆ Her parents divorced when she was 11. And her dad moves to Korea
◆ She wishes to sing the song with her own color

JYP - That was sexy and awesome. There's not even 1% of Alicia Keys
YG - I can't concentrate because of JYP. You are stylish without even trying too much.
YHY - You have tremendous charisma. Very charming.

RESULTS!
Yuyu Liu and Lee Soo Jung passed!

Keyboard Group

Chae Ji Hye (19)

(Nagging - Kim Gun Moo)

◆ YHY told her that she don't have the Korean sentiments during audition

YHY - I guess I was wrong. You do have Korean sentiments. You sing like it is your song but it sounds kind of still
YG - It's boring because you stretch out every single phrase of the song
JYP - Your vocalization is better. I am impressed

Jung Jin Woo (19)

(Haa.. - Own song)

◆ He was grateful for all the praises he received so he
thought that the past 2 years did not go to waste
◆ However, at the same time, he felt a tremendous amount of pressure
◆ He said he is not perfect so the judges could be disappointed later

YG - It reminded me of an old song
JYP - The lyrics and motif are not interesting. The chord progression is not stylish.
But your voice is still amazing
YHY - You have excellent ability for that 8 measures during the hook part

Woo Ye Rin (20)

(Fishbowl - Own song)

◆ She was trained by Antenna Music but YHY said the song was too difficult to understand
◆ She agonized whether to change the lyrics or not but in the end, decided to stick to the original version

JYP - I think it has an amazing lyric. The progression still have some room for improvement
YG - I hope whatever hardship you're going through, you managed to overcome it
YHY - I didn't realize the deep meaning of the song. I think you have your own world.
I hope from the fishbowl, you will swim to the ocean

[Kpop Star season 5 Ep 6]

Ryu Jin (18)

(Come Back to Me Again - Byeon Jin Seob)

◆ During pre-screening training, she said YHY was so kind and detailed.
◆ She used to sing for textbook and commercial songs but during audition
JYP said even when sing, it sounded too much like commercial song.
◆ She thought by singing to textbook and commercial songs, it will bring her
closer to her dream as a singer but was disappointed when it works against her.
◆ For this round, JYP said she choose a very difficult song

YG - I think she got the most beneficial help from Antenna's training.
I was prejudiced at first that you will still sing the same way as you did in audition
but you actually have an amazing power to carry a song.
JYP - You're way too clear-headed when you sing. It still sounded
as if you're trying to pleased someone.

Joyce Lee / Lee Ha Rin (17)

(Can't Take My Eyes of You - Frankie Valli)

◆ She auditioned for season and received a pass from BoA but her
parents didn't allow her to go because she was only 12 at that time.
◆ She showed to her parents how passionate she is with singing and
got permission from them this time.

YHY - Last time I criticized your singing sounded too old-fashioned. This time your
voice sounded more natural and strong.
YG - Your volumes varies too much. If you advances, why don't you
choose a Korean song.
JYP - The important thing for me when people sing Soul or R&B is
spontaneity and ad-lib. I'm glad you have both qualities.

Kim Ji Yoo (19)

(Long Long Time - Wonder Girls)

YHY - This is the first time I heard of the song. I think the song
sounded good because you delivered it well.

Seo Kyung Deok (19)

(Incurable - Hareem)

◆ Recently he took college entrance exam while doing his
part-time job as a cook.
◆ He found it hard to choose a song but goes with a song he
used to listen to time to time.
◆ During training, he was criticized by JYP for not pouring out his emotions

YG - Your natural voice is good and I'm surprised to know that you have
powerful high notes too. But as a producer, your singing is mediocre compared
to the first time.
YHY - It was charming but although your singing it differently
than the original singer, it was not better.
JYP - Since you were praised a lot, you would become very pressured.
It's normal but you have to overcome the pressure and concentrate on the lyrics.
Regardless, you have an amazing voice.

Lim Ha Eun (15)

(Bang Bang - Jessie J, Arianna Grande, Nicki Minaj)

◆ She was known as a dance prodigy from New York after appearing
on Star King at the age of 10.
◆ Currently she lives in Seoul
◆ She hit a slump during 5th grade since she felt
she's dancing only to meet people's expectations.
◆ She naturally started singing after that to express her feelings
◆ The song choice was suggested by JYP.

YG - It was a fast song so it's an advantage for you since you were a dancer.
It's a perfect song choice since you get to show off you powerful skills within you.
YHY - This song allows you to show off your vocalization skills,
as well as your rhythm and talent.
JYP - You did fix you weird facial expression and
letting go too much air when you sing.

CONCLUSIONS!
41 contestants proceed to Team Mission

Ranking audition Part 1
Ranking audition Part 2

Kpop Star 5 - Ranking Audition (Part 2)

[Kpop Star season 5 Ep 4]

Lucky Six Group

Park Ka Kyung (12)

(Should I Tell You I Love You - Soyu)

◆ She had not confessed to anyone but someone did confess to her before, so she can sympathize how that person must be feeling

JYP - "Your singing is still unstable but it is not boring"
YHY - "You're a 'rough gemstone' to me"
YG - "Your singing is unstable and rough, but it manages to reach our hearts"

Brody B. (12)

(Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus)

◆ She choose the song to show her potentials
◆ Two of the contestants choose Brody as the possible number one for this group

YHY - "You are getting much better"
JYP - "The reason we're so attracted to her is that her eyes tell many stories. But your pitch are still unstable"
YG - "You did improve after these two years. You've become more solid, confident and mature."

# I'm a bit annoyed that YG and JYP keeps on admiring her face. I mean, she's there to sing! I think Brody's singing this time is just well-staged.  

Lee Kyu Won (11)

(My Everything - Arianna Grande)

◆ During the audition, she said that she figured out the breathing technique herself.
◆ When she introduced herself, she did say she's the 'smarty' one. She got perfect scores for all the subjects before. She's definitely smart!
◆ She took this song as a challenge to express herself well

YHY - "Your singing skills are incredible, I think you can even beat the older contestants"
YG - "If you were my daughter, I would train you right away"
JYP - "It's impressive that you manage to change from head voice to chest voice perfectly"

# I guess I'm really bad at judging people's singing. The feeling did not reach me with this one.

Iris Hwang (13)

(Suitcase - Emeli Sande)

◆ The song is about her boyfriend leaving with a suitcase and she don't know the reason
◆ She has never experienced it so she just imagine if one of her friends would leave her

YHY - "You have mature and deep voice"
JYP - "One thing I would like to point out is that there's no novelty"
YG - "This song needs someone with unique or charming voice to keep them listening till the end and you lack that"

# She has a really nice voice! Looking forward for her next performance.

Kim Shi Yoon (10)

(Come Back Home - 2NE1)

◆ She's from Vancouver, Canada
◆ She sings and dances to 'Come Back Home' - 2NE1

YHY - "Your singing need to be perfected before you can dance too"

Lee Yoon Seo (10)

(You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban)

JYP - "I'm glad that you no longer bend all the notes when you sing"
YG - "If in a drama, you can't take the lead role yet"

RESULTS!

1 - Lee Kyu Won
2 - Brody B.
3 - Park Ka Kyung
4 - Iris Hwang
5 - Kim Shi Yoon [Eliminated]
6 - Lee Yoon Seo [Eliminated]

[Bibimbap group]

Park Min Ji (17)

(I'm in Love - Ailee)

◆ She initially prepared the song 'That I Was Once By Your Side" by YHY
◆ YHY in the end assigned her to find out what she wants to show for the next round and find a song that suits her the most
◆ She chooses a song that she heard a lot of times but never sung to people before

YHY - "You could win 1st place at any show if you sing like that"
JYP - "I wish you could loosen up a bit when singing"
YG - "I could hear every word you sing and it's like you mean it"

Lee Si Eun (21)

(Cactus - Sung Si Kyung)

◆ She felt a lot of pressure since the other contestants are talented too
◆ This round, the song is about sadness after breaking up

JYP - "You sounded like someone's real girlfriend singing but not a singer. It's amateurish"
YHY - "I think you sing really well. Nothing much to criticize about. But find your own style"
YG - "You sing well but you lack uniqueness"

Joo Mi Yeon (24)

(You Bring Tears to My Eyes - M.C. the Max)

◆ She has stage fright problem since she lose her confidence on herself (not getting accepted to any university and the way she look)
◆ She used to enjoy singing in front of people but now she felt she's being judged all the time

YHY - "Every line of the lyrics just pierces my heart. Wow~"
YG - "You're a great singer and your voice is unique"
JYP - "She has some old sentiments but it doesn't sound old"

Ranking audition Part 1

Ranking audition Part 3

[Review] The Liar and His Lover (J-movie)

I was browsing for some good Japanese movie recently and came across a few recommendations. I decided to write a review on this movie since I really love this movie among the recommendations I read. I couldn't find it on Youtube, so you can go to this site to watch it.

The movie was originally based on manga 'Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru' (literally means 'The Girl Who Loved Lies') by Kotomi Aoki in 2009.

SUMMARY

Ogasawara Aki (Takeru Satoh) is a talented songwriter and was the bassist of Crude Play. Crude Play consisted of his childhood friends; Sakaguchi Shun (Shohei Miura), Ono Kaoru (Kouki Mizuta) and Yazaki Teppei (Koudai Asaka).

The original members of Crude Play; (from left) Teppei, Shun, Aki and Kaoru

Aki decided to leave the group before debut because of some personal reason. He was replaced with Shinohara Shinya (Masataka Kubota), who is a professional bassist.

Crude Play was first discovered by a materialistic producer named Takagi Soichiro (Takashi Sorimachi).

# I am a fan of this actor since Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO). He's still hot for an ahjusshi/ojisan.

"Music.. has no meaning if you can't sell it"

Even though Aki has backed out from the group, he still wrote songs for Crude Play, which made the band famous. His identity was totally concealed from the public, though. Despite all his achievements, he felt empty inside and he don't seems to understand why too.

He seems to lose interest in music and plus, being the ghost-writer for his famous girlfriend, Mari (Saki Aibu), who ended up cheating on him with that producer guy.

Having your ex's face on billboards is the worse

At that time, he was heart-broken and coincidentally met with Koeda Riko (Sakurako Ohara), a normal high-schooler who is also the daughter of a vegetable store's owner.

Riko fell in love with the song that he was humming at that time. Riko is a big fan of Crude Play. Aki didn't want her to know that he's the mysterious songwriter of Crude Play. So he lied about his name and even his job.

"Why are you crying?"

He lied again saying he hates music and girls who sing. Ironically, Riko was someone who does sing but she kept it a secret from him.

Riko, Yuu, Sou

Things became more complicated when the evil producer scouted Riko and her friends on the street, on the way to Aki's place. At this point, the truth has to be revealed..

Mush & Co.

PERSONAL REVIEW:

I love the storyline and I have some weak spot for vulnerable guy like Aki. My heart hurts when I see Aki suddenly cries in front of Riko. And the kiss that follows make my heart flutters. It's too early for a kiss but maybe Aki was just carried away by the whole "I will protect you" phrase. I'll take it as a way of him saying "It's so sweet of you to say that, although you don't know me that much".

"I believe in love at first sight!"

I would say Aki was having some inner conflict with himself since he felt as if he is being used by the evil producer and Mari. Actually, the reason he backed out from the group was the fact that he felt offended because all the instruments were played by some professional musicians and they would need to pretend playing them on stage. For bassist part, Shinya was playing for him. So, might as well let him be in the group right? What's the point of becoming a bassist when you can't play the instrument yourself?

When he met with Riko, he thought he could run away from music. Aki started to fall in love with Riko for her cute and innocent personality. Plus, after he first listen to her singing, he began to enjoy writing songs again. Previously, he wrote songs because he was asked to but now it's because he wanted to.

I'm still confused on why he was so moody actually. I can make a few guesses initially but I became more confused as I listened to his explanations. I understand that he felt offended since he was asked to pretend playing bass. In the beginning of the movie, he said something about the value of music which I couldn't understand what his point was. Then, there was the scene when he told Shun that he was turning his back on music before he met Riko. Yet, he had wrote all these songs for Crude Play right? How is that called 'turning your back on music'?

He has the habit of closing his ears when a song came to his mind

Their love story is so sweet. Riko manage to see through Aki's deepest feeling through his song and Aki started falling in love with Riko because of her pure and innocent self. I envy Riko since she was able to reach out to someone who is struggling. I find it amazing since I am really bad at reading people. Like I said before, I love 'the broken ones'. I wish I could 'protect' someone too.

Overall, the movie left a very good impression on me. I read the manga after the movie and I would say the cast are similar to the manga's characters. The storyline in the movie might be slightly different than the manga but I was satisfied with the movie.

The only thing I would like to complain is the unnatural laughter of the actors. Their laughter was either too fake or not suitable for that situation. I'm referring to the scene when Riko dropped her stuff while running to Aki and when Shun found out that Aki uses Shinya's name to lie to Riko. Maybe the actors felt it's awkward to laugh at that moment too so they can't really laugh sincerely.

Trivia from manga:
• To read Aki's mood:
   Bad mood - he plays remote-controlled heli
   Confused - he eats chocolate
• Shun's family owns a confectionary factory and he was supposed to inherit it.
• Aki comes from a poor family so instead of cake, they had omurice for birthday.
• Dumpling are Aki's specialty. He can't cook anything else besides that.
• Aki also called Riko as 'Mush', before Shinya came into picture.
• Aki was reluctant to hold hands with Riko since he has sweaty hands.
• Shinya and Yuu also like Riko. Yuu had a crush on Riko for the longest time.
• Sou is Riko's childhood friend. In the manga, Sou is supposed to be chubby.
• Riko is known as a crybaby and that just makes Aki, Shinya and Yuu want to protect her.
• Riko is quick to understand the situation. It's almost impossible to lie to her.

Kpop Star 5 - Ranking Audition (Part 1)

[Kpop Star season 5 Ep 3]

Timbre Vocal Group

Kim Sara (22)

(Sofa - Crush)

■ She trained with YHY and received an elimination warning that's written 'Cliche'
■ YHY said when she moves between high notes and low notes, it sounded habituated and fixated
■ She tried to fix her bad habits but it comes unintentionally. When she tried to sing sincerely, it sounded bland to her.

JYP - "That was excellent"
YG - "I think you learn better with provocation"
YHY - "I can see the effort and struggle you went through"

Yoo Yoon Ji (17)

(Only You - Park Jin Young)

 ■ JYP previously commented she didn't deliver emotions well
■ She started to lose her confidence
■ JYP asked her to just lose herself when singing

YHY - "JYP should stop singing and just give his songs to other singers"
YG - "You could have bursted out during the climax"
JYP - "Finally you have released your soul"

Yoo  Jei (15)

(New York State of Mind - Billy Joel)

■ She chose the song to show how she loves living in New York
■ She becomes more cheerful and talkative after making friends with other contestants
■ She was chosen as the strongest contestant in the group

JYP – "This is the best performance on Kpop Star"
YHY - "You are unique, skilled and has great sensibility"
YG - "It's like seeing someone you dreamed of in real life"

#If her performance was the best, that means she just 'defeated' Katie Kim's performance for 'The Place You Should Be' by G.O.D

Unfortunately they did not show the full performance by the other three contestants:

Amy Jo (21)

Park Chan Hyuk (17)

Han Seung Yoon (17)

RESULTS!
1 - Yoo Jei
2 - Yoo Yoon Ji
3 - Amy Joo
4 - Kim Sara
5 - Han Seung Yoon
6 - Park Chan Hyuk >> [Eliminated]


Ranking audition Part 2
Ranking audition Part 3