But that doesn't mean it was immune to disasters, because there were quite a few. And there were those performances that could've been really amazing, but didn't really come out right. I won't be recapping the entire show, instead, we'll talk about the best, worst, and the most promising performances.
THE BAD
B1A4 - Beautiful TargetAnd the award for the worst performance of the night? Well, that goes to none other than B1A4. For several reasons. First, obviously the song itself is a complete and utter disaster. It's all over the place in the most spread-out way possible. You look away for a while and the song sounds completely different, plus, about 99% of the song has to utilize a backing track, because the vocal treatment changes every five seconds, so basically all these guys are doing is screaming "yeah!" and running around stage. I'd hardly call that a performance. Second, what is with that choreography? My eyes. And third, when you put the song, together with the horrid choreography, and the fact that they're actually trying desperately, it's hilarious.
Gain (Brown Eyed Girls), Jiyeon (T-Ara), Hyun A (4Minute), Sunhwa (Secret), Fei (Miss A), G.NA - "Run the World"
Oh wow. Where do I start. Well, I appreciate the effort, and I appreciate the fact that they included Ga-In (even if she forgot some of the choreography), but this performance was another mess. Too many girls, and I guess they didn't have enough time to learn the whole song, because for the majority of the song they danced in shifts, and yeah, choreography was forgotten. The dancing in shifts really irritated me though, because it really shows how unprepared they were, and it's like the performance was half gyrating all over the place, and half dead air. At the same time. It's inconsistent, three or four of them are dancing, then there are two or three just standing there on the side. What are they, mannequins? If they didn't have enough time, then they should've just done one verse and a chorus or something. I'd rather they did that then haphazardly do a full, 3-minute performance. And really, people can only take so much of that kind of dancing.
G.NA - "Top Girl"+"Black&White"
It really breaks my heart to see G.NA like this. With that horrid choreography at the beginning, those pretty weak vocals throughout, and the cheap repertoire. She's talented, she shouldn't be singing songs like this, because they do her absolutely no justice.
KARA and 2PM - "Every Little Step"
Everyone was so dead during this performance. I mean I understand that KARA and 2PM aren't the best singers around, but what makes this so bad is that it was already lip-synced for heaven's sake, and yet the singing was wimpy and lifeless. I would've written it off anyway if the vocals were fixed up, but not as much as I am now. If you're going to lip-sync a performance anyway, at least use all those studio tricks to make the track sound damn good. Such lazy, lazy people.
THE PROMISING
Miss A - "Goodbye Baby"I adore this arrangement, I really do. It's so fierce, and it matches the melody so well. It's obvious that this was thought about. However, their vocals on this were so disappointing, bad almost. Like, really, they were weak and everyone sounded like they were being strangled all the way through. I've dealt with the regular Miss A breathlessness since they debuted, and they got better this year, but this performance was so painful to listen to. It's such a waste though, because the arrangement was really good.
After School - "Diva"
This was a really interesting song choice, but also a very logical one, because "Shampoo" would bore people to death. Just the idea of hearing them perform "Diva" after so long is enough to get people interested, but in true After School fashion, they failed to deliver. Add the fact that line-stealer Raina struck again, STEALING LINES FROM JUNG AH (HOW DARE SHE), and that they didn't do the entire song and it just disappeared into them and Pledis boys dancing to dubstep (snore..), the originally good idea turned into bad execution.
KARA - "Step"
This is another arrangement I really like. "Step" in itself is already a big performance-ready song, and there's little you can do, but I like how they made the percussion sound a lot more real as if they had a live band behind them. They didn't lose that high-energy, yet girly, sound, but they made it a lot more apt for a live performance, and the transition to and from the dance break was very smoothly done. The let down? Again, the vocals. I'm not surprised, in fact I was expecting worst, but just because this is the best they can do, doesn't mean I'll forgive them for being inferior. They can't sing live, and it's such a shame because their material is really, really good, fun, pop.
T-Ara - "Cry Cry"
If this was done completely live and pulled off just as well as it was lip-synced, this would've been one of the best performances. But no, the backing track wins and you hear next to no live vocals. The arrangement is brilliant, the dance break is different but not disjointed and they kept the distinct piano line, even a bit of the original feel of the song, but made it fresher, and interesting. And believe me, after looping this for over 200 times this year, thus making the original arrangement pretty stale for me, this is really a strong, new, but faithful take on the song. It's an amazing arrangement ruined by bad production decisions and possibly the lack of solid live vocals.
CN Blue and The Wonder Girls - "Tainted Love"
First of all, Yoobin shouldn't have been the first to sing, because I was turned off right away. Yoobin isn't a bad singer, but you have to have a certain level of proficiency to sing songs like this, and she doesn't have that. She sounded like she was drunk and singing this on karaoke or something, not on stage. But Sohee and Lim don't have that proficiency either. Lim needs more power and this is a song she can't get away with because she has an American accent. And really now Sohee, why do you even try. Her line was all air and no singing, she was useless. It should have been just Ye Eun and Sun Ye doing this, because if it was it would've been an amazing performance.
Wonder Girls - "Be My Baby"
It was a classy performance, with decent vocals and a very polished arrangement, but even if the arrangement was fresh, it was boring. Pretty piano line, yes, and if you think really hard it's actually not a bad performance or anything, it surprisingly matches the lesser members' vocals even if it's now more dependent on the melody, but this is a performance, it's supposed to really catch your attention from the very beginning. In a sense, this arrangement was so predictable, but on the other hand, had they done a rock remix it would've been boring too considering all the other rock-ish arrangements that came before them. But actually, I liked the track that was playing during the intro, if they turned that into the remix things would've been interesting. Basically, what this performance lacks is shock. I know I have very high expectations of them, but after "Wonder World", why wouldn't I?
SMTOWN - "The Sound of Hallyu"
I loved the idea of this, and I loved how, even if majority of them weren't playing live, it was made very obvious that the people who played instruments actually know how to play them in real life. And I like how the people who sang were actually the people who can sing, and they didn't force people who are dancers, not singers, to sing. Like Taeyeon and Changmin's duet. Even if Changmin out-screamed Taeyeon, she was definitely the right choice for the song. If it had been Jessica I would have raised hell. The Shinhwa and H.O.T. covers were tame, and that's one of the two reasons why this is a "promising", but not one of the best performances. The songs they chose need savage vocals. Raw, powerful, with minimal processing, but seeing as the people they got to sing those parts, although good singers, simply don't have the vocals to do those songs justice. Of course the Exo members were a big part of the thrill of this suite, but they, or actually just one of them, are the second reason I didn't put this down as one of the best performances. Towards the end, the second guy to the left of Changmin, I think he was the one who danced after Victoria, was TALKING to the other Exo guy beside him. That's such horrid stage deportment. It may not be a lot to you guys, because the standard reaction is "So what's wrong with that? They're just talking.", but this is one of the most basic forms of courtesy towards not only the audience, because they have a responsibility to give their full attention to the audience and their performance, but also towards the other artists on stage. How would you like it if the guy beside you was talking to someone during your big solo? If, this early, that kind of behavior is just let go, forgiven and forgotten, it will get worse. Trust me, I've seen it happen, and it definitely doesn't end pretty. And considering how Exo are being hyped to be extremely talented, if they don't have basic stage manners it will be a huge waste of their talent.
THE GOOD
Yoon Mirae with Gary, Dynamic Duo, Jun Hyung (BEAST), Hoya (Infinite), Mir (MBLAQ), Taecyeon (2PM) - "Get It In"+"Monster"And the award for the best singing of the night goes to Yoon Mirae. All these idols should be ashamed to call themselves singers after Yoon Mirae, who I believe raps majority of the time (the new times I've heard her material), out-sings them all without lifting a finger, by just by singing a few lines. Backing track, yes, but you know she's rapping and SINGING live, it's so obvious, but she does it so well that to untrained ears it may be a bit confusing. But apart from the strong vocals, she has the stage presence to not have to jump around too much. She still does towards the end, but she has a certain air to her that you know she's having so much fun and you want some of it too, but she still commands the stage, and all the guys sharing it with her. This, my friends, is a true performance.
2NE1 - "I Am The Best"+"Ugly"
I didn't like "I Am The Best", but like I always say, you have to watch 2NE1 for their material to make sense. It's not that their recordings are bad, because the production on them is outstanding, it's not that they can't sing, because my God can Minzy and CL sing, it's that their material is made to show off their strengths, and 2NE1's strengths lie in performance. They don't exactly run around stage because the majority of their performances are choreographed, but they have a command of it that's like no other. It's not just stage manners, or presence, it's really a command and it shows in everything -- the way they move, the way they sing. Pair that with a very creative and accommodating talent agency, and you have familiar, but stellar performance.
Brown Eyed Girls - "Sixth Sense"
I noticed that hardly any of my favorite performances were full remixes. But I guess that it's harder to perform a familiar arrangement and still make it sound interesting. But that's exactly what the Brown Eyed Girls did. Apart from adding a few bits and pieces (literally pits and pieces) all over the place, and adding a dance break, the base is still the same. This is one of the best girl group performances, and, like the entirety of their "Sixth Sense" promotions, performances, songs, singles, this is girl group master class. To all the girl groups trying to be sexy with skimpy, but cheap, outfits, to all the girl groups trying to be fierce but failing, to all the girl groups trying to sing while dancing, this, girls, is how it's done. Watch and learn.
BEAST - "Fiction"
They didn't really do much to the arrangement of "Fiction", just softened a few parts, added bits and pieces here and there, and switched some things around, but the basic mould of the song is still the same. And that's the selling point of the performance -- it's familiar. However, despite it being pretty simple, the modifications were enough to keep things fresh and not bore people to death. It's also a very straightforward performance, but in being simple it's also very well-sung. And considering how good a song "Fiction" is to start with, it's a good thing that they didn't experiment too much, but still had the foresight to prepare for it. Like I said a while ago, I prefer a simple, but prepared performance over an elaborate but haphazard one.
DBSK/HoMin - "Keep Your Head Down"+"MAXIMUM"
Call it unoriginal, because the dance part most probably is, call it boring, because there were no significant changes to the arrangements, but what you can't deny is that Yunho and Changmin know how to perform, and they showed it. They hold the audience in the palm of their hands and they know exactly what to do to make them go wild, but they never, ever, forget the musical aspect of it all. Screaming, yes, chanting and interacting, yes, but stopping to sing just for the sake of it? Never. That's the kind of stage deportment that newer acts, even Super Junior and SNSD, lack -- they lack concentration and choose dancing, waving and being cute over singing. Image is important, yes, and they take care of that too, but they are singers before anything else, and singing should always be first priority. Yunho and Changmin are what idols should be, and THIS is how it should be done.
