ST165

Oh I guess I just haven't been following the music shows a lot. I remember there used to be Utaban, Heyx3, Doumoto Kyoudai, Bokura no Ongaku, and I think one that Nakai Masahiro hosted (like "Music on Thursday" or something like that?). I really missed Bokura no Ongaku's style.

What happened to all the music shows? Are they being replaced?

So the cover album came out, head over to her YouTube channel to see~~ I would have thought some people would be talking in this thread...

To people saying: how can you be a SONE if you give up so easily? You supported them for so long, so why are you changing just cause of what happened in the past couple of days? My response: The essence of SNSD are its members, and by extension, the bond between them. That is the number 1 thing that separates them from all the other girl groups: that they have lasted so long together, and that they supported each other like sisters. Now, they've lost their most important asset. They are no longer a group, they are now just the sum of 9 people that worked together for business. That doesn't mean they were always like this, but as of Sept. 30, they are now. So why not just support OT8 + 1? My response: If you are to believe SM or Jessica's statements, THEN ONE PARTY MUST HAVE BETRAYED THE OTHER PARTY in the worst way possible. If you believe Jessica, then the other 8 members forced her out of the group without just reason. To support Jessica is to recognize that the other 8 did her wrong, and it does not make sense to support those that betrayed her. If you believe the other 8 (through SM statements by proxy), then Jessica threw the other 8 members under the bus. Therefore, it also doesn't make sense to support the person that threw your favourite group under the bus just for her own selfish needs. It doesn't make sense to just say "oh I'll support OT8 + 1"!! Because all that means is that you don't really care about any of the girls and their feelings, but you just want to pretend that everything is rosy and that the Soshibond was never broken. You can say that everyone is being manipulated, but even then, someone must have betrayed someone. I personally cannot see something like this happen and pretend that it'll all be ok if I just pretend as if Jessica voluntarily departed, because that's not true, she was forced to do something that she did not want to, and because of that, all of SNSD was affected. If you think that SNSD should be everyone's number 1 priority, then Jessica has done the utmost harm to it. If you believe in Jessica, then the other girls committed the greatest possible betrayal. How can these two things be reconciled??? They can't.

That is, in my opinion, the best SNSD performance of all time. Even though it was lipsynced, and the lighting was a bit too radical, their choreography, energy, outfits, hair, and beauty was out of this world. I have never seen another kpop performance in Japan that can match that performance. I was in Japan, watching Heyx3! Summer special, when they cut to SNSD's concert in Fukuoka, where they were going to perform Genie and Bad Girl for the tv audience. (I had heard Gee and Genie in 2009, but didn't think much about it.) The synchronicity, the way the Japanese lyrics flowed, and the alluring beat hit me hard, and I quickly searched up their song online. From then on, I was sucked in; I started watching all their videos, memorizing their names, watching their varieties, then following every news, update, or release from them. What kept me a fan was how funny they were, how in sync they were, and the amazing pop music that they've brought into the world. Even when sometimes a member or two would screw up the choreography, when delays happen, when members that can't sing pretend they can, when they say stupid things, when they do stupid things, I would still love them. Ultimately, I believed that they were NINE, that they were kind people, that they were sisters that were inseperable, even though the signs were there: the blind items of discord, Jessica being kicked out of TTS + her poor relations with the members, the marginalization of Hyoyeon, people fainting but still doing musicals or performances, and then mentions by the girls that they were preparing for a future without SNSD. I still had hope, though. I didn't care about dating scandals, I knew that I don't care if they got married or not, I wished the best for them. People said they were going downhill and that they were done in Japan, I didn't believe them. I didn't care that Taeyeon put pictures of Oreos and had open-car dates, heck, I thought that she should have the freedom to kiss and declare her love for Baekhyun in public if she felt the need to! Even with all the dating scandals, I had hope that they can marry and still be an active SNSD member; if Beyonce and the Saturdays can do it, why can't SNSD? But when I realized that Jessica did actually say that the other 8 members forced her out, I think I realized that I believed in one giant lie. There is no longer (if it ever existed) OT9. Soshibond does not exist anymore. I don't know everything that happened, but I expected the 9 to separate amicably, and not like this. At first, I thought it was just a mistake, why don't the other 8 members say anything? At that point, I think I learnt that OT9 was actually never that important, it was just a branding exercise. So now I'm still stuck in limbo, with a bit of hope but a lot of anger, sadness, and disappointment at what has happened. I'm in the process of leaving the fandom but I can't help but read every single thread and soak up every little piece of news, hoping for an amicable resolution. But even if everything goes back to the way it is, Jessica is welcomed back and they perform their next giant smash that has the entire world singing, I know it won't be the same, because the illusion has been shattered.

I guess Jessica should have shut up about all of this and have been the good little girl she is and take everything SM shoves down her throat, go on involuntary "hiatus" while SM media plays endlessly to make themselves the victim because that's what good obedient girls do

At this point, I am no longer a SONE. If this situation is not resolved well, as in either OT9 or Jessica reaches an agreement where she leaves voluntarily, I do not want anything to do with SNSD. I remember in 2011, I saw SNSD perform GENIE at Hey!x3, and I was hooked. I started following everything they did, I watched all their videos, I cried and laughed with their reality shows, I fell in love with their acting, and I believed every word they said about OT9. Now, I feel like I bought a lie, and I've been betrayed, and that I should have known better. At this point, we have heard SM's side of the story (Dispatch) and Jessica's (Weibo). Nothing SM has said made sense, there is no reason to kick out only Jessica from SNSD when Sulli has not shown up for work for months but still gets to be a part of f(x). It clearly is not about SM and their policies towards being missing from work. The two other possibilities are : 1) Jessica's BLANC is not involved with SM in anyway" This means that, unlike everything else SM artists do, BLANC does not generate revenue for SM, and as such, they must exercise control and force Jessica to stop BLANC. I personally believe that SM is ruining itself and ruining SNSD for such a short-sighted goal. THE GIRL HAS GIVEN 15 YEARS OF HER LIFE FOR YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HER???? Jessica should be able to manage it and more. We've seen Beyonce do it, we've seen Gwen Stefani do it, we've seen Avril Lavigne do it. I think that this is ultimately the most likely conclusion. 2) SNSD members themselves kicked Jessica out because they don't think her focus is on GG: While SM and f(x) are fine with Sulli, SNSD are not fine with Jessica. The problem with this is that Sooyoung, Yoona, and many members have missed major performances and events with no problem, yet Jessica has NOT MISSED ONE SINGLE EVENT. Is she lazy during performances, doesn't show up for practice, etc.? Yet, she still performs well, has the second most lines, and makes less mistakes than Tiffany or Yuri. At the end of the day, the longer that SNSD members don't say anything (because of SM, or because its actually reason #2), the more I am suspicious of them, and the more I do not like them. I never had a bias in SNSD, I can honestly say I have at one point or another had each of the members as my favourite. Now, I don't know what to think anymore.

READ: "They even sold more albums than Namie Amuro" Note that I was talking in past tense, in 2012, not talking about now. I was comparing then vs. now, not ragging on about your precious Namie Amuro. GG 1st Japan Album ranked 5th in 2011 and 25th in 2012 for the annual charts, with total sales of 870k+, certified million. Checkmate (2011) sold 580k+, certified 2x platinum only.

I'm glad that all the comments are respectful towards her, but I'd prefer it if they didn't ask her to take her sadness to write songs. I remember at the time of her mother's death there was a Japanese talent who mentioned that she wanted her to write a song about it and got a lot of flack for it. I think that Utada should be able to mourn her own way without feeling pressured to return to music.

OMG this thread From my understanding, BoA was the first big Korean music artist in Japan. TVXQ came right after SM saw BoA hit the jackpot. Both were promoted as Korean artists active in the Japanese music industry as Jpop. It wasn't until the much larger non-music hallyu wave, from dramas, technology, and everything else, that Kpop (meaning Kpop from Korea) became a hit; then we saw many Korean artists have their Korean releases reach 100k+. At around this time, SNSD and Kara were pushed in Japan. Kara was pushed as a more localized, but still definitely Kpop. SNSD was marketed on the idea of non-native, foreign Kpop girls. From 2010-2012, Kpop was absolutely publicly popular: Gee, Genie, Mr. Taxi, Mister, Jet Coaster Love, Go! Go! Summer! were legitimate hits that almost everyone heard, Kpop artists had tons of CFs, mentioned on television all the time, and plastered across covers of magazines and billboards of Tokyo. Nobody expected this. Kara and SNSD were both on the top 10 list of highest grossing music acts and performed at Kohaku. They even sold more albums than Namie Amuro! After that, the Hallyu wave died a quick and sudden death, prompted by political backlash and tensions between the two countries, which immediately ended the positive public perception of Kpop. Neither act had any major hits; all that was left was their still very strong, but gradually declining hardcore fandom that kept their Japanese careers alive. Through all this, TVXQ popularity didn't really change, mostly because they were not part of this 'Kpop from Korea' boom. And we all know that TVXQ is responsible for SNSD success in Japan, because on Music Station, Chagmin complained that they had to work hard to get to perform at MSte but SNSD got to perform right at debut. Seohyun then expressed her gratitude for BoA and TVXQ sunbaenims for paving the road for them.

The Tokyo Dome is Japan's premiere venue. It is an iconic venue that everyone in Japan knows, and all artists aspire to perform there one day. To be able to say that you performed at Tokyo Dome means that you are an icon. As it is primarily a baseball stadium, it has a larger capacity than the arenas that SNSD has done, although it is not the largest stadium in Japan. Probably KCON couldn't pay SNSD enough to do fan events.

http://netizenbuzz.blogspot.ca/2014/08/ice-bucket-challenge-won-bin-kang-dong.html "He makes it look like holy water instead of ice water"

We've already seen everything except the impressions and Seohyun's final pick for the ideal type world cup lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2u1l3fPn8w

If she leaves avex, there aren't many people that will take poorly selling female soloists. At least avex is still trying, and as long as she's having fun and still releasing good music, I can forget about the chart positions.

Lol that show would be too hardcord for Korea it'll just be her partying hard in clubs

I can't think of any Jpop concept/tie-in/music that worked as well as that one. I personally think that era was the best she's ever done. Not that Kose is bad, but just can't compare to 60s 70s 80s. I wished all her videos in that era were done with VS.

I wonder, does Hyoyeon learn dance on her own when she doesn't have group activities? Since she talked about dance sport so much especially after DWTS.

You Don't Know What To Do - Mariah Carey

Their Japanese material is, in my opinion, extremely consistent. For albums #1, 2, and 3, if you listen to them in a row, you will feel that they are very similar in style. Very electropop driven with a few alternative songs thrown in for each album. I don't see what's wrong with their hair styles? In this video, they went back to their Japan first album hair when almost everyone had the same shade of brownish red. Also, their image is quite consistent, with a hint of sexy (legs), a hint of cute, with a chic, foreign style. Don't forget that their second (and one of their most popular) Japanese singles was Gee, which was definitely cute-based. Cute has always been a part of their image. I also think that Galaxy Supernova really captured their Japanese image very well. Also, vast majority of their Japanese videos have been in the box, so there isn't a big change? In fact, I find Mr. Taxi to be their cheapest Japanese set. As for the tours, well, they certainly do look tired. But ultimately production values didn't change much between the three. The first tour had barely any special gimmick, only the opening box and a couple of lifts. The second one had a water system, which must have cost quite a bit. The third one used more smaller sets and had some LED blocks, I guess. The last 3 Korean singles have been extremely different from each other! The Boys, IGAB, and Mr Mr are not interchangeable. IGAB and Mr Mr are both radical for kpop, IGAB with its mesh-ten-songs-into-one, and Mr Mr with its unconventional song structure, and both of them really show that SM wants SNSD to be alternative. In fact, I would argue that SNSD have not done something as iconically catchy and magical as Genie, but oh well. I am quite confident that we will continue to see very different songs from Korean SNSD, and continued tours, etc. from SJJD. I appreciate SJJD because their releases and albums are mostly on time with consistent quality, while SNSD is not afraid to take musical risks with their title songs. I am looking forward to an English-language album.

Jessica does in this instance but she usually doesn't talk that much in Japan. Tiffany speaks in almost every Japanese interview. Remember during AMLIFY on Heyx3 she said "muri no!" and confused everyone by combining Japanese and English. Well, more Japanese people know what "ohayou gozaimasu" is then "good morning Sukkiri!"

For Japanese TV interviews, I would really prefer them to speak more in Japanese. Particularly, Sooyoung should ALWAYS respond in Japanese, and not in Korean. Its not necessary for the other members to know what she is saying, because she is conversing with the MCs and the viewers. Also, she should respond more, and not wait for the other members to speak up. It makes everything more fluid and reduces the awkwardness of having to translate everything. And I don't understand Tiffany's preferences to speak English in Japan because Japanese people do not speak English lol.

It's not like she was 'passed over' for it, she may not have even been in contention at all. I highly doubt that Seohyun, even if she wanted it very much, would have been selected over Yoona, given their drama experience. Seohyun has only been a supporting role in one drama, while Yoona has been lead for many, so I disagree that it would be "shady and sad". It's not like its the first time either, Tiffany also famously loved Legally Blond and it was her dream to play Elle Woods, but Jessica got the part. Its just show business.