2010: Kpop's Year for Comebacks

If 2009 was Kpop's heyday for debuting girl groups, 2010 definitely has something to brag- that it has been "the" year for some of the biggest comebacks. The international Kpop wave never ceased to conquer the world and it even marked for greater achievements this 2010. While SM Ent. strengthened it Asian dominanace, JYP had miss A as this year's best rookie group, and YG also created some of the best full-length albums (2NE1, Se7en, TaeYang, Gummy and Psy) which also topped internationally. 

For now, I would like to make a list of the best comebacks in the Kpop scene for the year 2010. We had numerous artists and group who are all strong contenders for this year's most successful comeback.

10

 

Psy (Right Now!) and TaeYang (I Need A Girl)

Top ten is a tight draw between TaeYang and Psy, The two share same record label (YGE). TaeYang released hi first full-length album this year after his successful release of several digital singles from 2008 and 2009. The album was well-received and TaeYang's growth as an artist was pretty impressive. Meanwhile, Psy, YG's newest artist is nothing new in the music business. He has been around for sometime and his confirmation of signing a contract with YG engineered him of releasing yet another critically-commended album which ha been successful.

9

 

KARA (Lupin)

KARA had to comebacks in 2010, one in February with Lupin and the other was on November with Jumping and my list gives the honor to the former. KARA's comeback this last November was a bit lousy and completely forgettable. While Lupin which was released earlier garnered much attention as it was group's most successful single in terms of sales to date.

8

Se7en (Better Together)

Though Se7en's comeback was 2010's most anticipated, it didn't much make it big, both in charts and sales. Concept photos showed Se7en's projected image which was strong, masculine and powerful, but apparently it failed the expectations of many Kpop onlookers. It wasn't floppy, somehow it managed to make YG some money, but considering Se7en's star value (note that he was marketed in the US) it was quite a disappointment. 

 7

BoA (Hurricane Venus)

Back with a predicted track type, Hurricane Venus, it didn't much upgrade BoA's musicality considering her longevity in the business. BoA's Korean comeback, I believe, was rushed , completely obvious with the songs in the album, the MV and the over-all conceptualization of the whole comeback. Yes, she had some of those awards they give in TV but it didn't much prove anything about her growth as an institution among her fellow artists. Her comeback could be paralleled to Se7en's.

6

Rain (Love Song)

2010 was quite a good year for Rain for three reasons, first is for the movie Ninja Assassin for being casted as the lead, second is his winning as 2010 MTV Movie Awards Best Bad-Ass Lead and lastly his Korean comeback.  I actually love his album, though of mediocre quality, again just like Se7en and BoA. But among the three, Rain's comeback came out with an attitude, with fierceness and angst.

5

Lee Hyori (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!)

Probably the hottest (as in sizzling hot) comeback of the year, but certainly not the most successful. Palgued by plagiarism issues, which she denied at first and then admitted after a while, Hyori held the Kpop world by storm. If not for the before said issues, she could have nailed the Album of the Year award. Personally, her bad-ass carrier single, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was terrific and awesome. She promoted it with a stand-out and trendy fashion statement. Hyori had never been this hot. Yo! Gurl!

4

SNSD (Oh! and Hoot)

 These girls had superbly sustained its stronghold and infamous status they had acquired in 2009 through the monster hit, Gee. Their two comebacks in February (Oh!) and November (Hoot) were all total success. Both comebacks proved the group's superiority among fans. Though, the success Gee enjoyed is still unparalleled by the group, it was still a quite good year for them.

3

Secret (Magic and Madonna)

Secret comeback in 2010 served as their gateway to be recognized and be a fully-established hit maker and a worthy girl group icon. The group debuted in 2009 but their first venture was a failure. Sure! they were noticed through their sweet and candy-coated "I Want You Back" but it didn't earn them commercial success. Their 2010 comeback was one of the least anticipated ones, but after the MV was released (Magic), the group's fate shifted. Their follow-up ingle Madonna, a rip-off from Magic, boosted their success.

2

2AM (Never Let You Go)

After a year-long hiatus in 2009, the ballad boy group had an early 2010 start by releasing their first full-length album with carrier single Never Let You Go. Though they had an unprecedented wrestle with fellow comeback act, SNSD, the group never failed to impress. Follow-up track I Did Wrong equally matched the previous single' success. A pretty good year for 2AM, unlike labelmate 2PM which received a mild success for 2010.

1

2NE1 (Clap Your Hands, Go Away and Can't Nobody)

Talk about an epic comeback then you got 2NE1 on your bucket list. The girls took 2010 to create history by being the first and only Kpop artist to date to simultaneously promote three singles from an album. That's just not it! The album as well received an enormous success on foreign chart. It managed to top on iTunes for weeks and entered Billboard World Album at number 7. Their album was also a hit in Japan which secured their Japanese debut sometime from now. The three singles promoted showcased the variety of genre the group can perform. Astonishingly, these three singles all received awards from Mnet, KBS, and SBS. It Hurts, their follow-up single from their album, was released by with a spooky MV and the girls did it live amazingly.

The Art of Fast Downloading

Downloading songs, videos and other documents from different sharing websites was an impossible task for me before. Imagine before that I had to go to shops wherein they download songs and you pay them for P2.00 per piece. More to that, video downloading fee was relatively higher. By the time that I became a college freshmen, I busied myself looking for fast downloading software wherein I could download videos from YouTube in a fast manner. Then my cousin introduced Internet Download Manager (IDM). Internet Download Manager (IDM) is a shareware download manager which enables you to increase download speeds by up to 5 times, resume and schedule downloads. 

Internet Download Manager running under Windows 7

IDM allows users to automatically download any file types, divides downloads into multiple streams for faster downloading, supports multiple queues and lists recent downloads for easy access to files. It can search for mirrors in order to increase download speeds and also supports downloading videos from many streaming video sites. The IDM algorithm includes dynamic segmentation throughout the downloading process.

What I really like about IDM is that it could be installed in almost PCs that are available in public, especially at Cafes and it also downloads all types of files. But, the best thing about it id the speed it does when downloading. Files with heavy sizes can be downloaded in just 10 minutes. Movies, albums, PDFs, programs and things such as can be simultaneously downloaded. Just click this link http://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/ and then press the orange "TRY INTERNET DOWNLOAD MANAGER FOR FREE" button. After clicking it, the system will automatically download it and when you;re done. Click it to install but don't forget to close all other Windows that you are using. After this simple step then you'll have all the leisure time in the world in downloading whatever that your mind will let you.

Burning My Eyes With Tears

This day seems like it never existed and is just a part of my long and stressing yesterday. Pulled  the sheets and had my feet on the floor at 2 PM was completely uncool plus the scorching heat of the afternoon made it even worse. I was completely terrified with doing nothing. The first and I guess the only emotion that inflicted me was NOSTALGIA, probably the thing I least want to face right now. But, you just can't ditch some of the things and memories that your mind takes you. Out of all the experiences I've had been exposed for the past 15 years, June to October of 2010 was most memorable and totally the time where I want to go back if given the chance. This was the time that I joined a Leadership Development Training in Bukidnon. The idea of going there was completely out of nowhere. A friend of my Dad came to our hose looking for a young person who's not busying himself for a moment. Training started first week of June. Wake-up call comes at 4:45 am as you prepare yourself  for Bible Reading that starts at 5 and as for me I was required to read Qur'an. First reaction after knowing that we should be up at such an early time of the day devastated my mental being. I was like “ Are you completely sereious?" and it was sorry for me because they really are stern with the whole waking-up-at-five-am-in-the-morning-reading-a-more-of-a-sleeping-pill-book. Amazingly, I have managed to be up at the prescribed time at a short span of time, I don’t know but it must be divine intervention. After the reading, you get prepped up with your working clothes that includeb oots, cocout-made hat, long sleeves, and a worn-out pants. Some of the works we usually did were harvesting, weeding, planting, seeding, watering, and things such as. They have there a caprine dungeon with 5 humongous goats which I really loved and luckily most of the times I got the chance of feeding them, grooming them and taking them down to be exposed to the sun.

Me doing some work

At 10, work at the field ends and we get the chance of a relaxing rest until 12 wherein everyone's tummy must be dealt accordingly. You imagine fried fish or a sauteed veggies into something you have never eaten before, that it tastes like better compared to any expensive food you use to dig before.If we don't run out of budget we get the chance of having a boodle fight which personally enjoy.

One of our boodle fights

Then, 1:30 comes wherein we have this small talk about our reflections and assessment made during the Scripture reading. I personally like this part of the day since I get all the time to discuss to my fellows about what have I personally learned from the Qur'an noting that I am the only Muslim from the bunch. They have this tons of misconceptions about Islam that I was able to correct. Partly, I felt proud about myself for being just nice to them and honest enough to deal with them on my ways. After the sharing of thoughts, a lecture from 2 to 5 follows wherein different topics that concerns being a better person for GOD and for the community. Generally, most of the topics are of biblical bases but it didn't bothered me since I noticed that the stuff they discuss seemed to be so practical. Different aspects of life were all discussed using a uniform perspective. Mondays to Fridays run like this everyday. And when Saturday comes we start it with a Dawn Prayer wherein prayer requests were laid. I was not required to attend in this part of the training, but I let myself to go out of respect. 

Four months and the routine cycled. After graduating at October 29, we departed the place and got back onto our own individual lives. Every time I think of this whole four months, I just can't help on feeling of being so doomed. I don't really, what its got to do with missing my friends, but that is just the way I feel. And today, unaware of the poignant mark that the experience left me, I burned my eyes crying. Before I leave I got to say that I hope divine intervention comes again and work magic on me.

Discover Fresh Music: Jessica Mauboy

When your ears get reverberated with almost identical tunes from your over worn ear piece, you'll have this uncontrollable urge of finding refreshment from music you usually don't dig from the past. We buy CDs and download music from hit singles and albums just for being the fact that they top charts. The influence of media sometimes limits us into discovering greater things. More to that, we simply go with a flow and with the hype. I, personally, can attest on this human tendency. I mean why the heck we force our selves to memorize and completely listen to Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" just because everybody does it, why do we buy Kesha's album just because she's the hot stuff right now? I really don't know. But then I got the nerve to finally delete 'em all in my playlist and fine some good tuning. Since Pop  and R & B are my favorite genres, I began my hunt with searching for artists that are not from the US. I had UK, Canada and Australia. I've had my post about my UK venture and now I am super glad to introduce Jessica Mauboy. And for those who already know her, I hope you will help me in this one.

Jessica Mauboy is half-Indonesian and half-Indigenous Australian raised in Darwin. Mauboy auditioned for Australian Idol in 2006 and ended as a runner-up of Damien Leith. After the contest, she signed with Sony Music and released her debut album "The Journey" which was recorded live. The album managed to top charts and earned numerous recognition. She also took part in the girl group Young Divas replacing an old member. The group disbanded and yet Mauboy enjoyed an enormous success by the release of two succeeding albums, Been Waiting and Get 'Em Girls, which were all commendable both critically and commercially.

 

 

Mauboy at Kia Soul Live at the Chapel

Saturday Night was the first song I heard form Mauboy and it completely captured my appetite for good and refreshing music. Her voice is extremely amazing, let alone the fact that she can completely pull a ballad impressively. When I bought her newest album Get 'Em Girls, I told myself that it is one of the things that good money can buy. Admit it, there are some times that when you buy an album, you just do it because of the carrier single in it. But trust me on this one, all the songs are all awesome and easy to the ears. Her voice in Empty is superb. Go watch her performance in The X-Factor with Saturday Night

British Pop Does it Better

While the international hype for pop songs reaches its heyday today, American pop tracks are of ultimate benefits. Billboard Hot 100 entrants are plagued by American pop songs and recordings released oversees find it hard to take advantage of the situation. The question of whether the Americans produce the best pop songs that can be heard globally is indeed should be put in a critical evaluation. Chart performance doesn't reflect to the quality of a song nor it can be a representation of what the song is capable of achieving. To be honest, American pop songs for me is a bit dull sometimes and could have the proclivity of an unintelligible and irritating meaning sometimes mixed with total awful hooks. Allow me to give you some of the British pop artists who deliver better materials. 

I have here three of the most successful girl pop artists in UK that have enjoyed enormous success locally and yet bring an awesome and astute recordings.

 

We have here the 27 year old gorgeous and always effervescent Cheryl Cole. Originally a member of UK's girl group Girls Aloud, Cole had a rough road in achieving the stardom she is getting now. Being one of Polydor's most celebrated singer, Cole's music are always fused with powerful and addictive hooks with an innovating dance rhythm. Her name is also a reputation of glamor and sophistication. The two albums she had already released were all a topnotch in UK.

 

Jessie J debuted in mid-2010 with a cocky and laid back digital single "Do It Like A Dude" which was written originally to be recorded by the the American R & B  and pop superstar, Rihanna. Jessie J co-wrote the song and after being officially excluded from Rihanna's album, she finally decided to record it herself and then history followed. She started with a mild perception from the audience but apparently seized the spotlight as she released the song's music video which showcased a strongly feminist theme which some criticized to be sexually suggestive and explicit. Her second single "Priceless" debuted at number 1 on UK Top 40 Chart. 

 

Twenty-year old Pixie Lott took UK by storm with her debut single "Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh) followed by other successful singles from her album "Turn It Up". Beyond the pretty face is a voice that has been creating many spectacles. In 2009, she almost took grand slam as the best newcomer for that year. Young and yet with a very impressive record. Pixie's career is predicted to soar even higher and eventually be recognized internationally.