The Kpop Superfan Member Test!

During last week's Kpop Music Monday on EYK, instead of doing their usual music video review, they put up this Kpop Superfan Test instead. And guess what? I was bored enough to do it.

So basically, they posted a list of all these kpop groups and how many members each one has and we're supposed to try and name all the members. One point for every correct answer. 

I tried my luck and got a 106/124. Which, according to their scoring system, tells me "101-119 points: Holy smokes, Kpop guru! What else do you know??!!"

I honest to goodness wrote down my answers without the use of Google. I swear it. And my answers are as follows:

The thing is though... I may know people's names, but not necessarily know who they are in the group specifically. Ask me to match the name to a face for groups like EXO and Teen Top and I'll be at a total loss. And like, I only know the name of B1A4's Gongchan because I see it on tumblr and it sounds like Gongcha, which is an awesome bubble tea place. I do not know how U-Kiss' Kiseop looks like either. Or the members of FT Island who are neither Hongki nor Jonghoon.

But also, I can't believe I missed out on some of the idols who I do know. Like, how can I not have remembered Baro? He's the only B1A4 member I actually know (thanks to We Got Married). And how is there only one other member of Infinite that I'm missing? And Kara! What's the name of the 5th girl from Kara? I know all their faces but can't quite remember her name. Damnit.

Have you tried to take the test? How did you fare?

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Time-travel drama Mi-rae's Choice confirms Yoon Eun-hye, Lee Dong-gun

Speculations over the cast of upcoming drama Mi-rae's Choice are put to rest as the production confirms its leads. Yoon Eun-hye (Coffee Prince, I Miss You) and Lee Dong-gun (Lovers in Paris) have been confirmed to star in the time-travelling drama alongside idol-actor Jung Yong-hwa (You're Beautiful) who has also been confirmed for the second male lead role.

The drama is being written by Hong Jin-ah of The King 2 Hearts and Beethoven Virus. While I haven't seen the latter, The King 2 Hearts is one of my all-time favorite dramas and I can't wait to see Yoon Eun-hye in a well-written drama again.

Mi-rae's Choice revolves around Yoon Eun-hye's character (who is of course named Mi-rae which means future) who intentionally travels to the past to change the course of her life. I see many ways in which things can go wrong but that's where the drama is found, I suppose. We won't have much of a story if every character in dramaland made good and well-informed decisions.

Romance factors in when Yoon Eun-hye's character encounters broadcast announcer Lee Dong-gun, and this love line will soon be rattled by chaebol-disguised-as-cameraman Jung Yong-hwa. I'm not sure how Yong-hwa's acting is going to hold up against the other two but I sure am crossing my fingers for him. I'm hoping he has chemistry with Yoon Eun-hye, at the very least, because I miss having a viable second lead in my dramas.

Mi-rae's Choice is set to start airing in October, succeeding current KBS Monday-Tuesday drama Good Doctor.

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YG's new reality survival show - Who Is Next?

I just saw the pilot episode of WIN: Who Is Next? on Mnet's youtube channel. For non-YG stans, WIN is a new 10-episodic reality survival show on Mnet that documents the debut of YG Entertainment's next boy group. In the same way the debut of Big Bang was documented in a reality show, WIN shows us the road to the debut of YG's first new boy band in 8 years, dubbed WINNER.

However, unlike Big Bang's debut, WIN seems more cutthroat and aggressive. While G-Dragon and the rest of the boys of Big Bang competed for a spot to be a member of the group, with Jang Hyun-seung eventually being cut from the Big Bang roster (he's now a member of the boy band Beast under Cube Entertainment), WIN's premise is having two set teams fight for the right to debut. Should the team beat out the other team, based on audience votes, they debut in 3 months. The losing team may face member changes, another 4 years delay in their debut, or be totally dropped from YG. The stakes are higher for the 11 trainees and this excites me.

While we have some familiar faces on the show (i.e. Kang Seung-yoon of Superstar K2, Lee Seung-hoon of K-Pop Star - both members of Team A), there are a handful of new and interesting trainees whom we will be getting to know more of throughout the course of the show. I'm not sure how much of an advantage Seung-yoon and Seung-hoon's team have on the show, despite already having made names for themselves, seeing as how they seem more like the underdogs in this early stage of the competition. While I give mad props to Team A's vocals, the younger guys on Team B seem to have an edge when it comes to teamwork and rapping and dancing skills, which CEO Yang Hyun-suk has clearly acknowledged.

Seems like I'll be keeping close tabs on this show. Not sure which team I'm rooting for yet, but we'll see how it goes.

WIN: Who Is Next? airs every Friday night at 10pm on Mnet, with a replay at 11:20pm on tvN. Episodes are subsequently uploaded onto Mnet's youtube channel with English subtitles for international fans. Catch the first episode below.

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My Lists: 10 favorite idol-actors

I know it's been ages since my last post. I was down with a fever for a good week and that took away from quality online time. Heh. But anyway, I'm back now and thought it a perfect opportunity to write up another list.

There have been many casting news for new movies and dramas due out later this year to next year and, of course, a number of idols are being considered for big roles. What's a project without an idol-turned-actor up in the credits, right? While not all idol-actors are praiseworthy, there are certainly more than a handful of actors in your favorite dramas and movies who started out (and are still) idol stars. And for today's list, I'll be giving you my top 10 favorite idol-actors.

Yoon Eun-hye - I don't know much about Baby V.O.X but I do love me some Yoon Eun-hye. Though she got her fair share of criticism for her debut role as an actor in Goong, Yoon Eun-hye showed her detractors that she's actually got some acting chops in her follow up drama Coffee Prince. That drama, to this day, is still one of my all-time favorites and it put Yoon Eun-hye on my list of favorite actresses.

Eric Mun - Who doesn't love Shinhwa's leader, Eric? Not only is he tall, dark, and handsome, he's also such a charming guy with an insane sense of humor. Plus, the boy can act. One of my all-time favorite melodramas is the 2007 watch-it-and-weep Que Sera Sera where Eric played the lead role. That drama showed Eric in a totally different light, and boy was he legit in it.

Park Yoochun - This JYJ member is my favorite dorky actor. Sure, he's gorgeous and can do drama like a boss. But he's always especially adorable in those funny scenes where he's being a doofus. And this can be said for both rom-com Rooftop Prince and melodrama I Miss You.

T.O.P - A lot of people cringed every time Big Bang's TOP opened his mouth in action drama IRIS, myself included. But it's not entirely his fault that a lot of his lines were in English. While I have not loved TOP in any of his dramas yet, I was moved beyond tears by his performance in 71: Into the Fire. Even alongside big guns like Kwon Sang-woo, Cha Seung-won and Kim Seung-woo, TOP was able to hold his own and he totally stole that film.

Lee Seung-gi - I have not cried as much as I did while watching Lee Seung-gi's moving performance in The King 2 Hearts. This solo singer has done almost everything under the sun and he's been good at everything. He's a variety sweetheart, a CF king, and an actor to be reckoned with. While rom-com is his main game as an actor, it was the dramatic beats in his recent drama that knocked me off my socks.

Kim Dong-wan - There's just something about Kim Dong-wan that makes me wanna pet him and keep him in my pocket. And I don't just mean his size. Dong-wan, of Shinhwa fame, is insanely charismatic. Of the episodes of Cheer Up Mr. Kim that I've seen, Dong-wan has always shown such strong presence on screen and he always makes you want to root for him.

Jung Eun-ji - Who can even forget her character from Reply 1997? Eun-ji brought Siwon to life. With every stilted line delivery, every prolonged whine, every smirk directed at Yoon-jae, we all simultaneously fell in love with Siwon and A Pink's Eun-ji.

IU - I have a lot to say about how You're The Best Lee Soon Shin is turning out but none of them would be about terrible acting. Because, truth be told, the only good thing remaining about the show is its awesome cast. IU has been delivering well week after week, and her efforts are obvious and praiseworthy. P.S. I also loved her Pil-sook in Dream High.

Seo In-guk - Just as we could all relate to Eun-ji's fangirl character in Reply 1997, we also wanted a best friend like Yoon-jae. Sure, he was surly and broody, but he was also a gorgeous dork who was incredibly sweet to his best friends and brother. Seo In-guk continues to make us fall in love in this year's new Hong Sisters' drama Master's Sun.

UEE - I used to hate UEE, if only because I hated her character in You're Beautiful. But I guess you can call that effective acting. Hah. Later on, I fell in love with her in Ojakkyo Brothers and I haven't looked back since. It really helped that she had amazing on screen chemistry with Joo-won.

What about you? Who are your favorite idol-turned-actors?

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Current Addiction: EXO's "Growl"

I've just recently started listening to EXO, ever since they came out with "Wolf" and their new album XOXO. For some reason, previous tracks "Mama" and "History" just weren't able to hold my attention for more than a few listens. But the moment I heard "Wolf", I knew I had found my new crack. And even more so when they released their latest single "Growl".

Not only does "Growl" have one of the best music videos to come out of SM Entertainment in years, possibly ever, it's also an awesome song in itself. The hook is catchy, the vocals are powerful, and it's just that type of song that makes you wanna dance. And need I even mention how awesome the choreography is? Good job, Exo. Good job.

So the music video is awesome. The live performances have all been awesome. And then SM goes and releases a dance practice video?! While it doesn't differ much from the actual music video, it is always refreshing to see the boys in everyday wear and dancing for the fun of it. Kai is especially adorable at the video's end.

How many versions of this song can I listen to and watch? Apparently, not enough. So it's a good thing 2BIC released a short snippet of their acoustic cover of the song on YouTube and I've been listening to it on repeat ever since. So. Good.

And yet I still want more. If you know of any good "Growl" covers, let me know. Dance covers too! I've seen a handful, but I'd love to see some more. I'm an Exotic now, apparently.

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Monstar, a look back

Mnet's music drama Monstar came to a close last week. And the main thing I brought with it: "God, I love Junhyung."

Overall, I’m okay with the finale. Though, yes, I would’ve appreciated more answers. However, the lack of direct answers is fine in that the emotional closure felt enough. You know what I mean? The show left off in a place where I know these characters will be fine. I don't have to worry about them.

Regarding the falling out of Seol-chan and Sun-woo, I think because Seol-chan was already abandoned twice (as was revealed in the finale), his biggest fear was to be abandoned a third time. When Sun-woo had told his mother about Seol-chan being adopted, Seol-chan’s main complaint was that he didn’t want to burden his mother. The fear in a child of being abandoned must be immense. Can you imagine? Sure, it carries lesser weight now that they’re older. But when you see that Seol-chan never really got over his abandonment issues (i.e. always tiptoeing around his mother, trying to avoid being a burden all the time) then it’s safe to say his resentment of what Sun-woo did would not have faded with age as well. And in hindsight, suddenly this makes more sense now:

The drama, while not the best of the bunch right now, was definitely gripping and poignant in its own way. I loved how whimsical it all felt when in fact it was a drama set in high school, which is nothing remarkable and is actually quite quotidian. But the aesthetic of the drama, plus the wonderful music of its soundtrack, made things a whole lot more interesting.

This drama made me fall in love with a lot of its characters and, sequentially, fall out of love for a number of them (Sun-woo, I'm looking at you). But that's life, I guess. Some people end up disappointing you and not everyone gets their happy ending. Actually, scratch that. Sometimes, people find out that their idea of a happy ending is not what its cracked up to be and so they find their happily ever after elsewhere. I truly believe Nana will be much happier with someone who appreciates all she has to offer. That may or may not be Sun-woo.

Although the whole Sun-woo/Nana romance never really took off during the course of the show, that's not to say it won't happen in this dramaland's future. When Sun-woo tried on the jacket Nana had made for "no one" and he casually muttered "I didn't think this would fit me" towards the end of the finale episode... That could be him admitting that he thought Nana wouldn't fit him, but she might after all.

With the main pair of the show, I am satisfied with how they played out. Sure, there will be trouble ahead of them. But Seol-chan is ready to be Se-yi's jjak, in laughter and in tears, so I'm happy for the both of them. And this serenade from Seol-chan? It is perfection.

For the most part, it was fun watching Seol-chan mature as the drama progressed. Sure, he was still pretty much a child towards the end, but he is a teenager and that's what's expected. But where it mattered, he has definitely shown how much he's grown. That scene where he was ready to kneel and literally kiss Ari's feet? That freaking moved me. It showed what lengths he would go to in order to save Se-yi. And all this from that conceited idol boy from the first episode? Man, that was so satisfying.

The same goes for Se-yi. Though she was never "childish" per se, she had her faults. She was always unforgiving of her mother - and at certain times, Seol-chan. So it was good to see her smiling with her mother towards the end. I trust she'd bestow the same kind of forgiveness to ahjussi when she eventually learns the whole truth behind her father's death.

As for the side characters, I'm happy for both Kyu-dong and Do-nam. I trust they'll be the best of fanboys to Nana. I couldn't really muster enough concern for Eun-ha, but I'm glad she's moved on. As for the All For One kids... I hope they grow up to be as fabulous as Noh Min-woo. That's the best I can think of for them. I still hate Hyo-rin and Jae-rok and I don't think I will ever understand Joon-hee. But that's neither here nor there. As long as my Color Bar babies are happy, I'm happy.

Thanks Mnet, for a good drama. I'll be looking forward to the next one.

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