Korean artists: checklist February

I cannot believe it has been 6 months since I came to Korea! Let’s see which artists me and my friends have seen in the past few months:

To start of with some big names:

• PSY – I am so happy so have seen him performing! My god, this man has so much energy and such a charisma! Ten seconds after he appeared on stage the whole stadium was already jumping up and down.
• Yiruma –  His Christmas concert ‘Picture Me’ was magical. It was such a special experience and while he was playing River flows in You I just couldn’t stop crying.
  

  
• BTS – okay Rap Monster wasn’t there, but still… BTS… was amazing!
  Those fanchants just make me feel proud…

 

• Sechskies – the feels 😥 I felt so honored to be able to see them live on the Busan One Asia Festival… They are Hallyu legends! And their fanclub YellowKies was simply the best! Look at all those yellow light sticks!
  
• In Suni – what a woman! Love her powerful voice and she was also the only person who came off the stage to greet and interact with the fans.
• BAP – front seats baby!
• Girls’ Generation (SNSD) – It was great seeing Lionheart, but what really got me going was Gee! Can’t believe that I was able to hear it live once again (memories of SM Town in Paris~~~~)

Let’s see… then there was also Red Velvet, Girls Day, B1A4, Block B, I.O.I, Apink and Infinite.

That’s it for today! I will try to keep you guys updated! ^^

Crayon popping in Sardinia

A few weeks ago I traveled Sardinia (Italy) by scooter. Our little Berty – yes, we named the scooter – brought us to such wonderful places!  I had never been to Sardinia and I had never ridden a scooter, but it was a great experience. ❤ Sardinia is simply so beautiful! Those beaches, those mountains! The colour of the water, the warm sun, the good food,…

As it was my first time riding a scooter, I couldn’t resist making a Crayon Pop video parody while wearing that funny helmet. My boyfriend and I filmed the video by the side of the road while taking a rest, so we did not prepare anything beforehand. We couldn’t even play the music. That’s why the choreo is pretty random and the ‘ group members’ make quite some synchronization mistakes… But we had so much FUN while making the video! 😀 So I still feel pretty happy with the result.

 

So here it is… My (very short and very unprofessional) impromptu Crayon Pop “bar bar bar” parody!!!

Lots of Love
Misty

 

JYP parody against domestic violence

Hey everyone!
I hope you all had a lovely Monday! Here in Belgium, mother nature decided to play around a bit. I’ve seen blue sky, grey clouds, sun, rain and even hail!

Today I wanted to share a wonderful video with you. Most kpop addicts must know JYP’s “Who’s your mama”, right? My apologies to the fans, but I don’t like this song. Now don’t get mad at me, but let me explain first.
I actually love the rythm and the awesome vibe, but I don’t like the lyrics and the music video. I enjoy listening to JYP’s music while working out and “Who’s your mama” has a really great beat and is super catchy.
But seriously… this time it’s just too much. The way the song objectifies women is not okay for me.

BUT… that’s not what this post is about! No, the wonderful video I want to share is not JYP’s music video!

I found a lovely “Who’s your mama” parody and you should really check it out! The lyrics got changed and some sketches were added in order to raise awareness of domestic violence in Korea. As in most countries, this issue is still a bit of a taboo. But government and several NGO’s are trying hard to raise awareness of this problem and establish shelters and group homes for victims.

The government also has emergency hotline centers for women who are victims of violence, including victims of domestic violence. The “1366” hotline offers counselling, protection and emergency services. According to UN Refugee Agency the centers help approximately 160,000 victims of all types of violence per year. The 1366 centers also provide interpretation services in eight languages in addition to Korean and a separate national 1577-1366 hotline that serves migrant women exclusively.

Anyway, press play, watch the parody and support this great initiative!

 

In the meanwhile, I will do my cardio warm-up and listen to JYP’s rythm without getting annoyed by the lyrics 😉
Lot’s of Love
Misty

Introducing: Geomungo Factory

Hey everyone!!!
Today I want to introduce a great Korean group called Geomungo Factory to all of you. The four members use traditional Korean instruments (geomungo and gayageum) to create amazing contemporary music.

You can find more information about them by clicking the following link: sonicbirds.com

I went to their concert in Brussels and I was simply blown away by their performance! They were so so good! I really couldn’t get enough of it! The sounds Geomungo Factory created that evening were so beautiful and deep and they really touched my heart.

Because the four members all have their own style and they all like different kinds of music, their songs are creative mixes of different musical genres. It was difficult to decide which song to chose for this post, but I think “Fly to the Sky“, “Geomungo&Tango” and “Bluebird” are all so great and can serve as a lovely introduction to these amazing artists.

90’s Kpop list 2!

Hello there kpop fans!

A few months ago, Jay and I made a list with our favourite kpop songs from the 90’s!
You can check it here: Our top 90’s kpop songs

Now, here is a second list with really great 90’s kpop. The songs are so lovely and bubbly, I hope you like them! 

Video for talk talk Korea

In the summer of 2015, I participated to the annual Talk Talk Korea competition of KBS World. I had to make a video in which I promote Korean culture. I didn’t just want to show some pictures from the palaces or other famous attractions, because there already exist loads of videos about it.

So I tried to look at it from another point of view… If I think about why I personally would want to visit another country then the reasons would be…

• Good food, super important haha
• Beautiful nature, but also interesting buildings (this could mean anything: ancient temples or churches, old marketplaces, or new and modern infrastructure)
• Interesting culture
• Lots of new things to try out: having the opportunity to do things that I wouldn’t normally do at home
• Outdoor and indoor activities (after all, we cannot controle the weather)

So I thought about Korea and tried to mix these elements and put them in a video with a romantic theme where I also give a lot of explanation. Too bad that there was a time limit 😀 Else I would have added many more elements.
I got 4th place (together with some other participants) and I was really happy about it! Making the video was so much fun!!!!! (and lots of stress because – as I had my final exams – I only had a few days to make the video)
Whoo so exited to see the official KBS label on my video (ah ah, I’m so silly)

 

KBS World Speech Contest 2015 – Top 20

 

Hey guys!
Just wanted to share my 2nd video for the KBS World Radio speech contest with you. In my first video I talked about why I study Korean. I got selected, together with 19 other amazing people and we got 1 week to write, prepare and film a speech.
The topic we got was “What Korean culture portrayed via Hallyu contents (film, drama, K-pop etc.) do you most want to experience first-hand?”

In the speech I talk about the fact that these days I like watching Korean historical drama’s and that I would like to experience things related to these drama’s. I talk about traditional music and dance and about hanbok.

As a bonus, I say that I would also love to visit the filming location of “Il Mare” (aka Siworae 시월애) because it is one of my favourite films. And I also give my congratulations to Super Junior for their 10th birthday as a group. Aaand… that’s about it 😀

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Although I didn’t get into the top 10, it was an amazing experience! I’m very thankful that I got this opportunity because I learned so much and I had a lot of fun! Thank you KBS World Radio!! Next year I will definitely try again 😀

Lots of Love
Misty

Introducing: Sunwoo Jung-Ah

On the 3rd of October I went to a collaboration concert of Sunwoo Jung-ah (Korean artist) and Sioen (Belgian artist) at the AB in Brussels as part of the Korean Music festival 2015. I heard about Sunwoo Jung-A before because she produced songs for 2NE1, but I didn’t really know much about her.

Anyway, I really fell in love with her jazz music during the concert. Singing live, her voice was even stronger and more beautiful than recorded I think. Although her English wasn’t that good, she always tried to explain what her songs were about and what they meant to her. She really looked super beautiful and cool on stage. I definitely became a fan 😉

So I will just share this beautiful song with you (one of her more positive songs hehe)

And while I’m at it… I also want to share one of SIOEN’s songs called “Hongdae”. Yes, it is referring to the district near Hongik University, famous for its night life and urban art. I heard this song for the first time during the concert and I really missed those warm summer nights in Hongdae.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the songs. ❤

Lots of Love
Misty

Synchro & Kpop: Yiruma and Super Junior

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Hey everyone ❤

These days I’ve been working quite hard on my new synchronized swimming technical duet. I’m having so much fun and my new duet partner is so nice. I didn’t do a lot of sports in the past few months, so every time I’m in the pool, my arms feel like… spaghetti strings… you know what I mean? 😀

To keep myself motivated, I often watch video’s in which my arms aren’t like spaghetti strings. I almost feel jealous looking at “the me I used to be”. I really hope I will be able to get fit soon again so that I can keep up with my duet partner (she’s pretty damn good).

The video I am sharing is from 2014 (but I started to swim this choreo in 2011). As I really love Super Junior, I decided to use “One Fine Spring Day” by Kim Ryeowook. I just love his voice so much. And so did the rest of the swimming club. Although they do not speak any Korean, everybody was always trying to sing along.
I combined Ryeowook’s song with some very famous piano music from Yiruma. I started to listen to Yiruma when I was 13 and since then, I knew that one day I would be swimming a solo using his music. “River flows in you” is indeed very famous, but I think less people know the version in which Kim Ruvin is singing.

Anyway, here we go… please tell me what you guys thing about it 🙂

Lots of Love
Misty

6 items in the style of SNSD’s Lionheart @ yesstyle

On the 17th August SM Entertainment published the music video of Girl’s Generation’s Lion Heart. Although I really love SNSD, I somehow didn’t have time to listen to their Lion Heart until a few weeks ago. I know, S♥NE would say I’m a horrible fan. Anyway, my sister eventually forced me to listen to the song and wauw, I got addicted right away. I also think the music video is super pretty! Anyone who knows the name of the director? Choreographers Tony Testa and Shim Jaewon also did quite well.

But… I especially congratulate the stylists… I adore the clothes they are wearing! So many pretty dresses 😀
Inspired by the music video, I made a list of 10 adorable items. They are definitely not exactly the same clothes, just things that would fit the setting.