Covers, Dance Practices and Performance Videos: K-pop Side of YouTube

Aside from devouring several books this week though not all of them brought out a review post, waiting for episodes of Idol Producer, and binge watching the season two of Go Fighting, I have been repeatedly watching several videos in YouTube. Not the Graham Norton nor the Ellen DeGeneres side of it because that was weeks ago, but the K-pop side.

When I finished watching the korean show Mix Nine which is an idol survival reality show back in January, I got curious enough about several contestants that I eventually looked them up. There were three of them that already belonged to a group and one that already debuted back in May last year. Straight out from wiki: Ace (Hangul: 에이스; stylized as A.C.E) is a boy group formed by Beat Interactive. The group is composed of five members: Jun, Donghun, Wow, Jason and Chan.

Wow (Kim Sehyoon), Jason (Kim Byeongkwan), Donghun (Lee Donghun) audition piece for Mix Nine:

I’m a Blackpink fan (Blink) so their covers of Playing with Fire and Stay immediately caught my eye among the many covers they have in their channel (not to mention the dance covers of several groups I follow as well). These boys are seriously talented. I only know three of them who participated in Mix Nine but now I’m interested in getting to know them all.

Stay is more or less my favorite Blackpink song and this is probably one of the best covers out there. I dare you to find me another. They covered the song staying true to the original but also incorporating their own unique colors to it. I mean this one being an acoustic version definitely earned points because I love acoustic versions! This one is just a treat to the ears.

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Did you hear? IKON is slaying it with their latest comeback with Love Scenario and while that one is definitely a bop, though in my biased opinion most of their songs are, this latest release Rubber Band really hit the spot. IKON is usually known for being a hiphop group heavily emphasizing their rappers Bobby and B.I, but their latest songs made the vocals of the group really shine (beware of June’s husky voice) with their rappers still in play to complement.

I’m including Love Scenario for good measure because why not. IKON and dancing is definitely a perfect match. June really catches the attention in this comeback with his parts — husky vocals and smooth dance moves especially at that melodrama ~ part.

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In the world of SMTown and the ever expanding NCT-verse, there are two members I would say I’m completely taken with. Ten who first made his debut with NCT U‘s The 7th Sense who later appeared on the dancing competition Hit The Stage, and the leader and front man of the group Taeyong. Well, never did I imagine SM would grant me this track intended solely for the two. SME for all its faults do know how to attract the fans with their artists.

Things to watch out for: Ten’s singing voice, Taeyong’s infernal whispering, their innate charisma, obvious chemistry between the two, the dance moooves, and literally everything else. Or better yet check out the music video version because that is another attack waiting to happen. Ten and Taeyong blend is definitely my cup of coffee..

I was so surprised by Ten’s vocals in Baby Don’t Stop, I just had to go back to this solo project of him where he also sang a bit in the track. Dream in a Dream is mostly a dance performance and you can appreciate the hypnotic song and creative choreography. You really can’t spell talent without T-E-N.

NCT U made their comeback this year with their song Boss and of course at the helm is Taeyong with his charisma and amazing dance sense. Seriously, not only the song is a definite bop but the dance moves are lit. Each member is really good but Mark, Lucas and Taeyong definitely stood out in this one. The  quality of this dance practice video is also crazy good that I just had to share this.

No dance practice video for The 7th Sense, but a performance video of their debut song is always a welcome rewatch for me.

Finally, if we’re talking about legendary dance practice videos, here’s one of NCT or as they were known then (pre-debut) SM Rookies.

A minute and a half dance practice video of trainees with 8 million views. Seriously, how crazy is that? There are several official music videos out there with less than half of that views. It could be because of the length of the video or how well known they already are even before debut, but most probably because of how crazy good they are here. Need I point out my biases? That’s Ten in a white shirt tucked front and Taeyong in a sleeveless top. I have lost count of how many times I went back to rewatch this.

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As of now, I’m still on the K-pop side of YouTube and happily staying there. But in a bit I’ll be back to binge watching Go Fighting which is a chinese game-variety-reality show and Lay is there so it’s still a bit of K-pop..

Anyway, hope you do check out even just one of these. Happy watching everyone!