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KARA Project: Are They Reaching Their End?

KARA. A group which has been most known for their previous (but not initial) member line-up consisting of Gyuri, Hara, Jiyoung, Seungyeon and Nicole have basically been torn apart with the leave of their rapper and their youngest. They have been under DSP Media since their debut in 2007 with the lesser-known song, Break It, and reached their height with Mister in 2009 which topped charts and basically gave the girls their national popularity.

However, every group has to fall from their height, and though some can argue that they were already gradually decreasing post-Mister era, we can all agree that they have reached their rock bottom with the member change, as noted above, Nicole and Jiyoung saying their 'goodbye's early from the group and leaving KARA as three instead of their powerful five.

With what some call the money-hungry company shadowing the five after their split in half, they have had their eyes on repairing the group and replacing the two lost with two gained, starting a reality show entitled, the KARA Project, for eager fans to shit themselves watching and voting on who really is eligible out of the seven candidates to be in KARA. And though this follows YG Entertainment's Who Is Next? program in order to decide which group to choose to debut--Team A or Team B (none of them debuted--this is a closer and more personal-type of competition as you can connect with the members more and see their talents before deciding.

All the videos of the contestants are located below, their order as follows: SoJin, ShiYoon, Youngji, ChaeKyung, SoMin, ChaeWon and YuJi.

Out of all seven of the girls, I would say all of them have some potential for some market that KARA targets. Whether it be South Korea in general, Japan in general, people who dislike the lacking of KARA's vocal talent, people who value dance and more and though many people do not agree, I would say that all of them would have not been picked if DSP did not recognize their qualities.

Before I start analyzing the girls, I want to note how I feel as if this program and member addition is somewhat betraying the fans... that they have left. I mean, let's be honest here. Their first member change in which they added Hara definitely wasn't as detrimental since:

1) KARA was considered a new group in my standards, anyway.
2) The member change wasn't completely detrimental as Hara did a lot for the group's popularity.
3) The member change wasn't exploited as much as this one

However, with the group nearly a decade in the run and on fast decline, having two girls added to the group is somewhat like pulling a Wonder Girls' and adding Hyerim only to have her be there for a tiny bit of time until Sunye took her hiatus and SoHee got the hell out of that sinking ship. Likewise, unlike what the other commentors are shouting about: "make these girls into a group themselves and don't add them to KARA!", I have no doubts that DSP has considered that however, the line-up, just from my eyes, didn't exactly work and they still had one ship still afloat, KARA, to at least attempt to mend onto before giving up.

Therefore, long story short, I don't like this program however, it seems like it's the only option though the girls added would have a short duration in the group being that KARA is a sinking ship.

I already have your penises trapped in my gaze. Pick me.

In my opinion, the third girl, Youngji, caught my eye. Why? The same reason as everyone else. She's pretty. Let's be honest for a second: KARA is not the group to value talent over visuals and she seems to be impeccable in the visual department. She's even somewhat comparable to the lost member, Jiyoung, in visuals, therefore, I would not doubt if she would be chosen.

The first girl, SoJin, also seems like a doable condidate even though there is a chance that she probably will not get chosen. She seems talented and her visuals aren't lacking that much. In fact, she seems more like a down-to-earth kind of girl who, if she would not win because of her face, could possibly win because of the sob story she delivers on camera or her personality compared to the other girls who seem a bit less...authentic.

Likewise, the following girl as well as the fourth, ShiYoon and ChaeKyung, probably can as well. Their visuals aren't exactly up there with Youngji however, they looks talented and seems as if they can match both the cute and the mature concepts when comparing songs like Honey to Damaged Lady.

I'd doubt if the sixth girl, ChaeWon, aka the girl who looks like she's around eight years old would be chosen. I mean, she'd be great for a Japanese market but next to the other three girls as well as one of the candidates in a group? She'd look extremely out of place. Her immaturity should be delivered in a different group and although her confidence is shown in her walk, I have no other way to say this but she just shouldn't make the cut.

Girl number five, SoMin, seems one of the most out of place. Not only does she look somewhat like an old and less alien version of Hara, but she doesn't seem to be fit to actually be inside the group. She seems to belong to a different kind of group, such as SPICA, or at least if she is vocally talented.

Girl number seven seems like the most out of place. She seems to belong to a group that definitely is not KARA. Do I need explaining? I'm just thinking that if she was to be placed in KARA, she would stand out too much.

Lastly, I would just like to note that I feel KARA is reaching their end. The members seem to not have that much else going for them as they are reaching double digits. DSP Media already screwed themselves up by screwing up groups that had potential yet focusing on KARA like Rainbow and now has to suffer the consequences. With this member addition, it seems as if they are realizing that they are on a sinking ship and had made bad choices yet are trying to fix them... even though the problems are somewhat unfixable. In the end, I genuinely wish the candidates the best. They all actually seem to want to want the idol life and maybe have waited years to get it, this, being their last hope. Regardless, even if they won, let's be honest. How long would their fame last?

Not very long.

What do you think of the KARA Project and who is your favorite member? Leave your comments in the best place ever... the comment section below.

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Tag : analysis, bogus blabber, KARA, kara project, web surfing,

Analyzing Female K-Pop Hair Styles

As a female, I love hair and I hate hair. I love my hair when I wake up in the morning and it needs little to no work done for me to look amazing. I hate my hair when I wake up in the morning looking like I just got gangbanged by Elmo and the Sesame Street bunch and have to either spend forever in front of the mirror trying to make it somewhat decent or I just say 'fuck it!' and throw my hair in a ponytail or messy bun since I don't really give a damn. Regardless, I think hair is just a beautiful thing. And when you see females in K-Pop throw their hair everywhere, showing you how much better looking (yet worse in quality) hair they have, you get a bit... into hair. And that's why, as a female, I stress again, I feel like it's definitely appropriate to talk about hair especially being the fact that I'm getting it cut in about an hour.

Short Hair

If you have short hair, you're most likely a rapper in the group. Of course, though there are some rappers who have had long hair for the majority or all of their careers (SISTAR's Bora, SECRET's Zinger/Jung Hana--weird how they're bad rappers... coincidence? I think not!), the rapper takes on the role of being the tomboy in the group... whether or not they actually are a tomboy in real life. In addition to the short hair being for the rapper, there's also a medium-short hair style that can most of the time show off the wearer's feminine side like Girls' Generation's Yoona or 2NE1's Minzy. [Warning: This is dangerously short and shouldn't be used by anyone whatsoever, sorry Minzy.]

Medium Length

The medium hairstyle is when you just want to keep it cool and look modest. There's no sexiness, there's no tomboyness... it's kinda like being trapped in a bubble so to say. Girls like YoonA and Sooyoung always rock the medium length hairstyle since they don't want to weigh too much on the super sexy or too much on the super cute side and would rather just go with wherever the new concept takes them. Regardless, the medium length hairstyle is kind of like a safety net for the girl group member as you will rarely ever see a medium lengther be one of the most talented in the group however, maybe the most pretty and most suitable for any concept.

Lengthening to add cuteness. I bet if she cut
it a few inches, she'd be sexier than in this gif

Long Length

Long live long length hair! That shit is a mess to take care of! Most of the girls with the longest hair in the group happen to be the cuter characters since it shows off more of a feminine and young side than both short and long hair can help you achieve. This is why you don't see groups with older/aging members wearing long hair being the fact that it shows youth... but youth + old woman would definitely equal lack of maturity. Regardless, long hair usually doesn't last long because most concepts change to either a sexier concept or simply the girl just isn't as young as she used to be therefore, the company cutting the hair a few extra inches to commonly match the medium length hair. Nevertheless, sometimes aging idols who still look young will inherit the long length hairstyle to add youth to their look.

Other Hairstyles

I've also noticed that crazy hair, for example, 2NE1's Dara can show one of two things:

1) Possibly the concept isn't necessarily going for the normal or cutesy concept where girls wear plain hairstyles which show youth. If you've noticed, more of 2NE1's sad-ish songs which are ballads show Dara with calm, normal hair however, their more bombastic tracks like I'm the Best show Dara with the craziest hair possible. It's not exactly masculine however, it's not exactly sexy. It's more of a fierce statement saying "I can do whatever I fucking want".

2) Experimentation which is probably half of Dara's hairstyles. Dara's a pretty girl, of course and having bad hair will only bring her down a bit. With 2NE1's more crazy concepts, she wears more crazy hair to experiment and to show the degree of craziness of the concept.

Colors

Colors can also make or break a girl: colors that are more natural are usually for concepts that are either sexy, mature or towards the masculine side, colors like red trying to create an image of sexiness altogether (for example, Tiffany's red hair... unf) while the colors that are all over the place, unnatural and are shades like green, pink, blue, etc. try to show a more young side to the wearer and can also add cuteness (think T-ara's Qri and her never-ending rainbow).

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Tag : analysis, bogus blabber,

YG Bought a Useless Round Ticket to YG Land, USA

Fail after fail, these idol companies don't get it. Since out of the womb. the money-hungry fiends called "CEO"s have had their eyes set on the prize: United States of Amurrica, think that antic after antic can set their idol group to the top of the world's largest music market when time and time again, they fail. I mean, there was Oppan Gangnam PSY who seemingly ruled the world to YG Entertainment only to be cut down in despair when he took the same ol' funny, hahaha, "rook et pat ay-zee-ahn boi dawnce!" route with tips on becoming a Gentleman and no one gave two fucks about it. Nonetheless, entertainment companies still won't listen: skyrocketing success in America is nearly impossible to obtain... so why is YG Entertainment building YG Land in the abyss called "United States"?

As said by special YG representatives who have more things to do than sit on their fat ass and blog (me) or sit on their fatter ass and read the blog (you), YG Land will consist of the usual entetainment company blunder: recording studio, dance practice room, people in intimidating suits with intimidating moustaches to rule over all, bathrooms. Just like YG Mother Ship back in good ol, SK.

But why?

Is YG Entertainment planning to pull a JAY. WHY PEE? over here and fuck up 2NE1 while sending Big Bang, WINNER and the rest of their groups downhill? As numerous people already reiterated over and over, Amurricans ain't gonna poot down their guns (I live in the South, y'all), stop eating their McDonald's, and give two fucks about guys in tight clothing dance and sing while not even speaking English correctly. Hell, we barely care about One Direction and they speak sexy, British English, only pre-pubescent "tweens" shitting their pants over Niall and Liam's fanfiction.

So why care for YG's plan in YG Land?

Can you think of a reason? If you can't, you're like 99% of the population today who wish YG'd manage their own artists... before venturing out for more.

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Tag : bogus blabber, web surfing, yg entertainment,

All This SNSD & 2NE1 Postponing is Giving Me a Headache

It's one thing to have YG Entertainment postpone the shit out of things.

It's another thing to have SM Entertainment postpone the shit out of things.

But it sure as hell is yet another thing to have both companies do it simultaneously to show their competition.

And that's what both of the largest companies are doing with their most popular girl groups yet. Girls' Generation and 2NE1 are both said to be having a comeback... however, we will never know when since the second the companies released they were coming back, they've been postponing the shit out of each other, wondering who will finally just give up and release their comeback first for the sake of the fans who are shitting themselves, waiting for a new release.

I' m actually kind of excited about this since it might not be an all-dance video judging by the teaser?

As everyone should know, Girls' Generation and 2NE1 have been said 'rivals' since however long we can even remember. Coming from two rivaling companies, both of the groups having two completely opposite 'feels', both of their fans fighting through the interwebs ever since SONEs got tired of fighting Wonderfuls, ELFs, Cassies... yeah, everyone, for years, Girls' Generation and 2NE1 sure have a lot on their backs now and it seems like, as I remember my High School AP English teacher told me after we just got got finished reading Antony's Oration (for those who don't know, you're probably too young to have read Julius Caesar), if you want to win if a fight, it's better to show your side last and speak last since you'll have the longer lasting impression on the audience since everyone will forget what the hell the first one was saying... which is probably the same advice both companies are going by.

In any means, just like a few years ago with Girls' Generation and 2NE1 had the same "head-to-head" competition aka with Tell Me Your Wish and I Don't Care (wasn't really head-to-head, 2NE1 released their song shortly after Girls' Generation did), I feel as if SM Entertainment is now striking back for the extra two dollars they probably didn't make back then with delaying the shit out of Girls' Generation's comeback with every delay of 2NE1's song until YG finally drops the act and gives up then both of them literally do comeback head-to-head and on the same day, to show who the real winner is... and to show YG Entertainment that SM Entertainment is sure not going to break that fast when there's a clear challenge.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. This seriously just seems like a marketting strategy that both companies have picked up on, YG Entertainment even publicizing on their Twitter how it's going to be a head-to-head compeititon with Girls' Generation and acknowledging that both sets of fans are going to be at the edge of their seats, ready to buy the shit out of the albums, the digital songs and of course, attend live performances in which both groups would be performing to see which fandom can out-cheer the other. Either way, to be honest, I don't really care that much as others are, seeing how people are going on and on, posting article after article on just the littlest update ("omo omo! SNSD is postponing again?! omoooooo~") on the rivalry, I just think we're wasting our time. In a few days-weeks, they're going to stop postponing and finally settle on a comeback date, then, right after that, the videos and the songs are going to come out just as we waited for. Because let's be honest, this can't go on forever... right?

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Tag : 2ne1, bogus blabber, girls generation, rant, snsd,

Throwback Moments of 2013

We talk about a lot of things on this blog--whether it's Girls' Generation's Sunny's new hair, the update on Ahreum's mental state or how KARA screwed themselves over, we just talk talk talk about what's new in the news. But despite the numerous things we talk about during the year, we always skip over some subjects. Whether we're too busy to discuss them or just too lazy to write an article about it those things are still important. So, since I was in the mood to go back down memory lane, here's the Throwback Moments of 2013 that we haven't discussed.

Park Bom's Plastic Surgery

So... Park Bom got surgery... again. I used to shit myself trying to defend her but now, I'm just nonchalant about it. Does she have a problem? Probably not, in my honest opinion. Maybe the surgery is just catching up with her age so it's starting to look weird like T-ara's Boram. Either way, she's still my plastic Barbie doll.

Lee Soo Hyuk's Utter Existence

I've never been so sexually frustrated in my life

Girls' Generation winning the YTMA

My reaction while watching this:

I can't even start to explain the awkward. No, really. I can't. Especially when Tiffany was all like "YOUTUBE IS MAH BEST FRAN IS YOUTUBE YOU'RE BEST FRUN". I bet all the people in the audience were shitting themselves trying not to laugh. I just cannot.

Hyeri and Tony's Relationship & Break Up

From the start I didn't like the relationship. No offense guys, but I didn't believe in the "age is just a number" mumbo jumbo. Hyeri is undoubtedly really young and Tony is undoubtedly really damn old (for a girl like Hyeri at least). But I was actually surprised at how super smart Hyeri was. Whether the relationship was real or for popularity for Girls Day, I don't know, but it definitely rose their popularity regardless. And when Tony got in the whole scandal, she left his ass immediately and gave her the perfect excuse to just drop him, making him seem kind of like the bad guy. However, towards the whole 'break up' deal, I can really say I saw that coming. Fuck your optimism; nothing like that ever lasts.

Crayon Pop on the Rise

I'm really proud of Crayon Pop though I'm not a big fan of them. They're a true success story--a group from a company that was in shambles that rose to the top due to their own work, not the help of older, more popular groups from the company helping them. They really showed that company isn't everything and regardless of whether or not no one knows their names or can't recognize them without their helmets, perseverance is the key.

Ilbe Everywhere

What's weird is that ilbe this year either made or broke a person. I know that Crayon Pop rose to the top with Bar Bar Bar even with the ilbe scandal whereas Hyosung got kicked in the butt with it (speaking of Hyosung, the new SECRET song sucked. I hate their cute concept. They should keep doing their retro, Madonna/Love Is Move/Magic shit). Though I'm not a native Korean and can't fully understand the hold of Ilbe on the society, I really do find it somewhat important on the cyber-universe's mind.

Plagarism Everywhere, too

KAY PAWP IS SOOOO ORIGINAWL

Jessica is Misseu Kolea & Other SNSD girls making a cover at their concert

I don't know how to react to Miss Korea. Lots of people don't like it while lots do. I don't like vagina so I can't say I was ravished by Jessica taking of her dress. But it wasn't so bad. I mean, let's be honest--prior to the stripping, it was boring. Just another performance. Then she took off her dress and I guess the net went wild.
Likewise, other girls like Sooyoung and Sunny made covers of raunchy or mature songs like Sunmi's 24 Hours and Ga In's Bloom and it just goes to show that well, Girls' Generation can't be Girls' Generation that long now--they're passed that. They've passed that long ago. So SM, enough of the fucking Beep Beep shit and give us some more of this.

Hwayoung is Back in The Picture

She's gonna act now and apparently to K-Netizens, she has the face for it. I just hope she doesn't suck like a lot of the other idol actors who are put into roles just because they have popularity yet can't act to save their lives.

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Tag : bogus blabber,