domination

It's been so many years...this running joke of YG = talent/ quality is still a thing. Facepalm.

I'm interested in the actress one! Thought of Rain and Kim Tae Hee too due to Rain's track record but then it says the actress' financial situation will deteriorate. I think Kim Tae Hee herself can earn well enough? It seems to imply the husband is richer than the wife so I thought along the lines of Lee Byung Hyun, Jang Donggun etc...both of which also had history.

I hope you know Chinese are as brutal or even worst when it comes to idols/ trainees. These people were obviously put there to create buzz for the program, which it definitely did. Not saying people with such looks can't succeed in the entertainment field, there's alot of examples in both china and Korea (Kim Tae Woo) but let's be real they are a little misclassified in a program supposedly looking out for idols.

I think Taeyeon is a very apt choice as a SM representative female singer. Similarly I will argue that Baekhyun alone is a better choice than NCT, though I will acknowledge that he might not have accomplish as much compared to Taeyeon given his shorter career.

Idols, at least those from the big3 and certain more established ones, should flat out reject fan gifts right from debut. No offence but I think it's rather clear that a proportion of idols are also into enabling this kind of fangift culture, whether it's because there's some sort of underlying popularity competition they have within/ between groups, themselves having an inflated sense of self entitlement or just because everyone love free stuff isn't it? I find this so unhealthy and unnecessary so companies should just flat out ban it right from the start. Idols already have a very complex and difficult relationship with materialism, as part of their job they are supposed to follow trends and dress glamorously but also throw in competition within/ between groups to see who shines the most, lack of financial literacy etc...it's honestly complicated. I'll take EXO for example. Back then there was a scandal of Sehun/ Chanyeol trying to hint to fans to buy them Rolex via Instagram which to me is such disgusting behaviour. It's fairly obvious within EXO that there was a Rolex competition at that time, given that Baek has a super well-known algae constantly gifting him Rolexes and Baek will wear them, thus enabling that fan to buy more. Or how about the well-known 'fashionista' Kai? Recently on I Live Alone he revealed that he never cuts off the labels of his clothes and of course he explained his rationale really nicely on TV, about how he loves fashion and how earning money is difficult for him so he really treasures them. I'm not denying that what he said might be true, but atm I'm ngl and say this behaviour can also indicate other things...he could be someone that sees clothes based on the price tag, or it could be that he never really felt comfortable parting such money but he has some sort of pressure to keep up with luxury goods or worst, I actually thought that he could be passing off his used items as new in the resale market. I have derailed abit but all in all, companies should just ban this once and for all. Many idols are already knee deep in materialism and are very shallow, insecure and what not, we don't need the fangifts to complicate things.

Easy for you to say. But for a country to impose such a blanket ban on this and actively enforces it, usually this means that they have had a bad history with it. I'm not entirely familiar with the topic but I read somewhere that gambling was really rampant in Korea and this really resulted in widespread societal issues. You need to understand that such things have knock on effect on families, crime and many other vices. This also applies to Asian countries' harsh stance on drugs because there's history with opium war and what not. People need to stop giving their two cents on other countries' laws.

Taeyong really looks like Jaejoong

Hyun bin looks a little like Sehun. Lol he actually comes across as a blend of several EXO members.

The sad thing is the tragedy continues till this date because obviously the 2 children must have some sort of mental trauma...it's particularly evident with the daughter

I believe this is due to panda's status as an endangered species, internationally there are agreements or restrictions preventing China from gifting the pandas to other countries. So they circumvent it with this "loan" concept as panda diplomacy is a thing and these animals are used to boost bilateral relationships. It works out for China anyway as they effectively still own the pandas and their offsprings, so all the more better for them.

These days I don't really think groups go for that uniform concept anymore. Sad because I think the teamwork and cohesiveness was one of the things that impress me about K-pop. For starters no two members are going to be dressed the same cos everyone is drenched in branded clothing now.

Another day another stupid shit from China. It's the zoo that is to blame. And let's be real blackpink prolly ain't the first celebrities doing this, I'm sure Chinese celebrities have done the same for entertainment. There are so many instances of worst animal abuse, be it by celebrity or not, in China or elsewhere. So sick of China and their tantrums.

She wasn't like a super huge thing in Refund Sisters (some even criticised whether she really wanted to be on the show) but nevertheless she managed to hold her own and that's really a feat. Hyori and Junghwa are super big sunbaes and Jessi is loud af, but Hwasa had her moments to shine and handled the project really well. Girl definitely got some skills.

Yea I'm well aware. It was obvious even when EXO were OT12, in that he was the least accepting of Korean culture. K-pop was totally a stepping stone for him to gain widespread popularity easily.

During the nine dash line issue, Lay made that picture his Instagram display picture. That's going above and beyond FFS. He could have just retweeted that picture on weibo like every other celebrity. But unlike most China celebrities, he had to take it outside onto Instagram and was even his display picture. Wtf Instagram is not even allowed under the Chinese firewall.

It's a really relaxing show and part of the charm is filming in other countries. Wonder if they're still filming abroad given the Covid19 situation.

Hyun Bin and Song Joong Ki

She's not gonna get booked in any gigs in the near future so she's going to lose exposure and popularity. Korea has a throng of girls with that sort of face that could replace her any minute. The brand hired her to sell the product, I think it's stupid of the marketing department to not change their ambassador. It's not about Irene but just how business works.

She might be nice and sweet to them because she perceive them to be in "her bubble". People with bad personalities often develop a "bubble" consisting of people they like and see everyone else as inferior. However, I imagine her bad relationship with other people is on display to the members from time to time and I don't think it's good for any members' mental health if they have to witness fights and/ or unpleasant situation often. Also, they will feel pressurised to let Irene get her way and will never be fully comfortable in whatever relationship they have with Irene, as they are well aware what treatment they'll get might be kicked out of the "bubble". TL;dr I doubt anyone has a fully wholesome and healthy relationship with Irene and they are probably her minions.

I mean they also have an incentive to protect her because they still need to profit from this project. Apparently the editor who started all these also had an IG post praising them. All the staffs in the ent industry, directly or indirectly, has an incentive to push a celebrity's image as how much they earn is somewhat related to how well the celebrities can sell. Just trying to give a different perspective here.

I feel bad for the other members having to take so much shit from Irene. I imagine in their usual day to day interaction her personality issues spill over to the members, even if she isn't nasty to them directly her members must be occasionally present in her run in with staff members. It's not a pleasant thing to witness shit like that on a constant basis. And then now that it's all exposed, they have to take a hit in their career as well, at least their group perspective.

It's not about the duration of the lines. The thing with Blackpink is that Jennie has alot of attention grabbing parts, she always opens songs and takes chorus parts. For instance in AIIYL, she shares the chorus with Rose and in the first run of the chorus she gets the first part, so the best of the best is always given to Jennie. Contrast that with Jisoo who is a second vocalist and parts are usually not as impactful. I think you can't deny that Jennie's presence is in every song, even if she sings it's to help her shine and she's not doing what a 'traditional' vocal will do that is to carry the group vocally. Knowing YG, it's obvious this is somewhat intentionally designed and thus easy for people to feel like Jennie has alot of lines, even if duration wise it might not be true. And I think given people's trauma with 2NE1 and CL, people are rightfully more sensitive about this. There was an instance where their pre promotional track (the one they sing before their title song on 1st week of promotions) was entirely performed by CL on those music shows because they cut the song short and CL had that many lines. She came in with a bird perched on her and the other 3 members stood on stage awkwardly.

If you ask me, equal line distribution is not what we are striving for. The word 'fair' implies that everyone gets a part they deserve. Now 'deserve' is very subjective, it can be based off vocal capability, popularity, giving members opportunities if they improved, particular member having strong affiliation with the song (personal story, involved in composition/ lyrics writing) etc. The thing is, I think most of the times when fans complain about line distribution it's when it's obvious certain members hogs alot of lines because of company's blind favourtism, in which this subsequently has an impact on their popularity. I'll take the most classic example of NCT with Taeyong/ Mark...surely you can't tell me they are deserving of taking up 50% and the most significant parts of the song. Off the top of my head, I can tell you that EXO has a similar favourtism problem with Kai and Blackpink with Jennie. It irks people because a company often push their desired members through many ways and now it's like they are eating into line distribution, usually at the expense of vocal members. The vocal members are already 'disadvantaged' in the sense that they traditionally carry the most lines yet it's the dancers/ visuals/ face that takes the center from a performance aspect. Now if their stans can't even get to hear their voice, obviously they will be displeased. For me, the Suju/ SNSD method with Siwon/ Yoona opening the song and having a center moment during the chorus was just right.

SEA will likely not be able to match the price Korea is able to pay as the latter is richer and more developed (based on current standing), so SEA people (with the exception of Singapore) will still be enticed to migrate to Korea from a monetary perspective. With the K-wave and Korea having an overall positive image given that it's safe, clean, developed etc, it's not difficult for them to attract SEA people. Similarly Singapore is propping up its population through immigration and due to its positive image and ability to pay, it's not difficult for them to attract immigrants. It's the typical brain drain situation for developing countries.

Donghae being in a relationship with anyone that isn't Yoona-tier is gonna blow the internet off. So looking forward to that day.