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NB: TRIGGER WARNING!! Kim Jong-Hyun of SHINee is mentioned first in this article. Please proceed with this in mind else SKIP THIS ARTICLE ALL TOGETHER. I do not wish to make anyone uncomfortable or have them relive negative moments and memories.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
a) Kim Jong-hyun's Passing (April 8, 1990 – December 18, 2017)
There's not much I can say about this. I believe most people have already said what I had on my heart and my mind, but I do have a few things I want to say. SHINee is my 2nd bias male Korean Pop idol group and JongHyun being my bias in the group. I fell for his charisma and voice during the 'Ring Ding Dong' era and have never looked back. I was not a fan who followed or 'stalked' everything he did but whenever he popped up on my feed I would immediately click. When his first album was announced and released I immediately bought it on iTunes and continued to fall deeper in love with this man, who I never met. With every release I was so proud to see his growth as a person and as a musician, singer-songwriter and producer. However, I did know that he suffered from depression and was getting help over the years. I never thought it was 'that bad'. See my use of those 2 italicized words. I will never understand the mindset of someone who is suffering from depression, that is why I never dwelled on it for too long since I had knowledge that he had a support system and his friends and family (which includes SHINee because that is what they are). This beautiful man, who was blessed with such musical gifts, was a tormented soul. His passing has once again reaffirmed my belief that we should not judge people only by their exterior. We will never know what a person is going through, even if you are always by their side. I hope that his passing will not be buried under all the nonsense news and scandals that permeate the K-Pop industry, even more so today, and people will learn from this to be better people for others and themselves. I will not go into the culture of South Korea and its way of dealing with mental issue as that is out of my league nor the witch-hunting nature that some K-netizens have (especially when he openly supported marginalized and discriminated groups). It takes one to start a movement but it needs like minded people to fight for it till the end in order for change to truly take effect. JongHyun, you did well. Thank you.
b) Produce 48 Thoughts
Sigh. Will they ever stop with these survival show? I know....Never. It's a literally a cash cow at this point. People will complain about it but still watch it......cough. I.O.I was the experiment that was the initial success that did not deserve the horrible management of their promotions that they got. Wanna One is the extreme success story that are still making history with album sales and awards, but with a dark side of their obsessive fan issue. Both were/are profitable and the next will definitely as well based on the previous seasons' success. The twist is that it involves the 48 Franchise, with all the 48 sister groups eligible to join the competition. That twist alone is enough to get me to watch....for the competition and the mess of racial tension, nationality prejudice and whatnot that will definitely occur.
c) T-ara's Fight For Their Name
This one is such a complicated one that I won't spend long on. I'll link posts of well detailed articles about the legal and social issues regarding this or anyone interested. T-ara (as OT4 or OT6) have been through so much crap over the years and as a fan I want them to win. However, I'm not sure if they can. From a legal stand point, they are at a disadvantage especially they are no longer represented by any companies (except one I believe who joined a renown acting agency). I am keeping my eyes on this case and hope the best for them, It's been so long since their scandal and they deserve a break man.
Links to reliable sources:
http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/blog/Detail.aspx?g=b7c1b7d7-2ab1-4434-954f-4853950b36db
http://archive.is/ZHzuk
http://www.asianjunkie.com/2018/01/19/t-ara-are-fighting-back-against-mbks-attempt-to-trademark-the-t-ara-name/
http://www.asianjunkie.com/2018/01/20/t-ara-trademark-dispute-sees-mbk-backed-by-ukpca-who-colluded-with-sme-to-prevent-jyj-activities/
http://www.asianjunkie.com/2018/01/24/the-t-ara-mbk-fight-over-t-ara-gets-broken-down-by-trademark-law-experts/
https://www.soompi.com/2018/01/18/t-ara-submits-grounds-refusal-mbks-trademark-application-mbk-responds/
https://www.soompi.com/2018/01/19/union-korean-pop-culture-arts-releases-statement-trademark-issue-t-ara-mbk/
d) FT Island's Minhwan and ex-Laboum member's Yulhee Marriage
This one took me by surprise due to how similar it is to former Crayon Pop member Soyul and H.O.T's Moon Hee Jun's marriage (with the exception of the baby!) I'm a fan of both groups but never actively followed them except when music was released. I honestly don't have much to say since it just seems like a regular young couple that want to commit themselves to each other for life. It's a beautiful thing but the timing does seem odd and out of the blue. I'm not going to read too much into it as netizens (South Korean and International) have been doing. All the best to them.
e) First Openly Gay K-Pop Idol, HOLLAND, debuts with single "Neverland"
When it comes to music, I personally don't care about who a person is attracted to or their sexual preference. I only care about the quality of the music and the message that they, as an artist and entertainer, have to say. I am not an advocate for his lifestyle BUT I hope they are not using this as a gimmick like with the female group 4L (that was a disaster!! Never again!! Don't take advantage of people and try to profit off of marginalized groups!!!). That would be a disgusting act, taking advantage of a person like that. If he releases good tracks, then I'll give them a listen. End of story. In regards to the song itself, it was decent. Nothing ground breaking, music wise, but let's see where he goes from here.
That's it for this month's K-Pop Spotlight (late I know...I'm working on it).
Thank you for stopping by. If you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions just leave a comment below. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.
Till my February 2018 release.
Take care!
- chibiJ
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