While my reviews for My Girl, Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang, and 3-Iron still remain unfinished, I suddenly wanted to dabble about the Korean music artists I'm personally rooting for, and can't help but post an entry about it. Randomness struck.

First in line, of course, is none other than SM Entertainment's boy quintet, SHINee. Now, this is a group that I love personally, and that is bursting with talent and potential. They've been wonderful during live performances since their debut days, and very professional too: people didn't call them "rookies who act like veterans" for no reason. With their young ages, fresh concept, and amazing choreography, it's no wonder they stood out. What I love most about SHINee, though, is that with each comeback, their improvement shows. Look at how Taemin and Minho have gone since 2008 -- two years ago they practically served as nothing more than dancer and rapper, respectively; now, they get more singing lines, and Taemin even gets to belt out Jonghyun's when he's not around. Since 2009, SHINee has become my official and sole Kpop life partner.

B2ST, or BEAST, debuted only last year, with such a candy-licious debut song, and they've been making very great impressions already. I love that all six members can sing. And I mean, really SING (unlike some other six-member group that only seem to rely on their "chocolates"...). I personally like Jun Hyung's rapping, especially in their song Take Care of my Girlfriend. I just wish I can say the same thing for his hair, though.

TVXQ, DBSK, or Tohoshinki. Fantastic vocals. Great dancing. Eye candy. Down-to-earth personalities. Sigh. Need I say more? (I think there's barely any chance for them to come back, though.)

BIG BANG was rather known as TVXQ's rival despite having different music genres, and with their talent and charisma, it's not hard to see why fans considered them as such. I've always acknowledged Big Bang's music, which often sounds so American (it's mostly hiphop), but it was only until recently that I began to like them and their songs. The group's blessed to have a very fierce and bubbly leader like G-Dragon, a talented rapper TOP aka He of the Deep Rough I-Like-It Voice, and three strong vocalists. Their Japanese song Beautiful Hangover has been on replay on my cellphone for a week now.

G-Dragon. Kwon Ji-Yong really is born to be in his field. What sets G-Dragon apart from many other Korean idol singers is that he composes and writes his own songs, even some of Big Bang's hit tracks. His first album Heartbreaker features songs he wrote himself, including one that talks about the hardship he went through as a twelve-year-old trainee at YG Entertainment. Personal favorites include Breathe and Butterfly (oh I love the latter's music video!). Oh, and I love his hairstyles.


Miss A surprised me a lot. Finally JYP debuted a group that can actually sing and dance better than the Wonder Girls (they can sing, but only decently). I'm not an avid Say A, but I support them, especially cute little Min, whose debut is long overdue. Bad Girl Good Girl was one of the nicest debut songs I've heard in a while, but Breathe? JYPE should've given that to WG. Surely Miss A deserves, and can do, better.

Girls' Generation always has me anticipating so badly whenever they announce a comeback. What new concept do they have? Are they going for sexy, retro, or cute (again)? Who's going to have the most drastic hairstyle makeover? The way I feel anxious before the concept photos are released is so similar to how I feel before every SHINee comeback. However, while their songs are undoubtedly catchy and mainstream-ish, I feel that there's little talent in them. I mean, they have four good singers, the rest good dancers, but I feel that without the pretty faces and the constant display of legs, they wouldn't reach as far as they have now.

Super Junior is, well, my first Kpop love. However I ditched SJ when I couldn't stand any more of their live performances -- they're pretty decent singers, but they almost always sing off-key, even Donghae and Heechul, even with just a simple choreography. The guys owe a lot to K.R.Y. -- these guys always save their butts. As a music group, SJ and I don't get along together, although I do like their songs (my favorite is It's You and Why I Like You). But when they work as radio DJs or TV hosts, I'm all up for them. Most SJ members are better suited to be entertainers, honestly. I mean, how can you NOT enjoy watching Hyuk and Leader-ssi together?

2NE1 is... Okay, they're pretty good singers (Dara is decent). They have great, Western-type, catchy music and nice lyrics. They're far from the exasperatingly boring, cutesy girl-group image. They have talent. They are spearheaded by the female version of G-Dragon (read: fierce and with talent) and maknae-ed by a sexy sixteen-year-old dancing machine. They have potential -- lots of it. And they...are not the right group for me. There's something about 2NE1 that makes me hold back. Can't deny their talent, but I'm not a fan. (Funny since this post is supposedly about groups that I "root for.")

Other music artists that I keep my eye on include After School (Becca is the bomb), Brown Eyed Girls (Narsha and Miryeo, swooooon), and BoA (hello, she's the queen)....

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