So I went to a concert by Infinito Singers last week, courtesy of an invitation from my good friend Fenina Faine, one of their pianists. It wasn't like her to notify me about her concerts, but this time - being the ever observant friend that she was - she did because the concert was 1980's themed. And if you've been following this blog religiously, you know that I'm into the bygone era that was the '80s. The concert was held on November 24.
Anyway, before the concert the audience was greeted with a song from the gymnastics that were mandatory at schools in 1984. Let me give you a little bit of background on this one. Starting 1984, the New Order regime mandated schools to apply gymnastics for PE class, known as Senam Kesegaran Jasmani (roughly means "Gymnastics for Health", abbreaviated as "SKJ"). Every four years until 1992, a new SKJ was released with a new accompanying song.
Since I've lost the program, I can't recall the list of songs on their repertoire for the concert. However, I can recall being heavily impressed with their performance of Toto's "Africa", in which the singers made sound effects of rain, wind and thunder merely with their hands and legs. Mad props for conductor Irzam Dastriansyah.
Overall, it was an amazing concert. Some of the audience, especially the past middle age ones in the VVIP rows who clearly remembered the '80s, even gave a standing ovation and screamed for more. At this, the singers, percussionist and two pianists (including Fenina) performed Irene Cara's "Fame" one more time ("Fame" was their last song). This is where a blunder occurred. The singers performed some "Fame" (the TV series)-inspired dance moves for the song, and only the girls in the front were sure of what they were doing. The guys looked unsure of what to do. All in all the choreography was out sync.
The second blunder was the costume. While I liked how they captured the fashion loudness of the '80s, one female main singer in particular caught my attention - and not in a good way. She was wearing what seemed to be a pink spandex catsuit with a black tulle skirt. It wouldn't have been so wrong if (a) she had been slim and (b) she hadn't been wearing a hijab. Clearly the concept of hijab-wearing here had been misunderstood and Infinito should prevent this from happening again at their future concerts.
After the concert, the song for SKJ 1988 was played, and I applauded whoever that emerged with the idea of using SKJ 1984 and 1988 songs to greet and farewell concert-goers. Before I forgot, the concert was actually opened by a medley of theme songs from famous 1980's TV shows, which was another smart move. As a whole, the concert was a tribute to a dynamic era in which youth in Indonesia found freedom in extravagant fashion, good quality local music that far exceeded music of previous decades and national economic boost. A life never to be experienced again in the coming eras.
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
When K-pop does '80s...
Wussup guys! It's been forever since my last post. My GPA is 3.44, which is below the perfect 4.0 I aimed at. Hahahah. But considering how messy the process of my thesis and my defense were, things could've been worse, not just my GPA. So can't really complain there.
I'm currently crazy about Nine Muses, yet another Korean girlband. Not a ridiculous, over the top one this time. Debuting in 2010, its oldest member at the time, Kim Ra Na, was 27 years old, which was probably like 100 years old in Korean girlband age. Now that Ra Na has left, the oldest member now is Moon Hyun Ah, who'll turn 26 in January. Yes, Nine Muses have always been marketed as a mature girlband with real women as members, and these ladies indeed have a modelling background as they're all over 170 cm tall.
Anyway, check out this single.
Overall this single, which was out last year, have won favorable reviews from many K-pop fans out there, but one review particularly has bugged me and eventually inspired this post (I won't post the link of the review out of respect to the website owner). The review actually puts "Figaro" under the same light as Dal Shabet's "Bling Bling" and T-ara's "Roly Poly", just because all three singles are styled in the 1980's fashion. "Roly Poly" and "Bling Bling" sound playful and the videos don't look as sophisticated as "Figaro", so the two formers are definitely aimed at a younger audience. You just can't compare "Roly Poly" and "Bling Bling" to "Figaro" or even put them in the same sentence since '80s pop has a lot of subgenres, just like music of any decade.
And speaking of Nine Muses' mini album "Sweet Rendezvous", which was out earlier this year, the album features four songs that have 1980's sound. This album too has won good reviews, with many concluding that Nine Muses have finally found a niche. Looks like that niche is an older audience with a taste for 1980's music (most likely because they remember the period), and with the ladies' comeback which is rumored to be in December, I wonder how they will do 1980's sound next if they decide to stick to it...
I'm currently crazy about Nine Muses, yet another Korean girlband. Not a ridiculous, over the top one this time. Debuting in 2010, its oldest member at the time, Kim Ra Na, was 27 years old, which was probably like 100 years old in Korean girlband age. Now that Ra Na has left, the oldest member now is Moon Hyun Ah, who'll turn 26 in January. Yes, Nine Muses have always been marketed as a mature girlband with real women as members, and these ladies indeed have a modelling background as they're all over 170 cm tall.
Anyway, check out this single.
Overall this single, which was out last year, have won favorable reviews from many K-pop fans out there, but one review particularly has bugged me and eventually inspired this post (I won't post the link of the review out of respect to the website owner). The review actually puts "Figaro" under the same light as Dal Shabet's "Bling Bling" and T-ara's "Roly Poly", just because all three singles are styled in the 1980's fashion. "Roly Poly" and "Bling Bling" sound playful and the videos don't look as sophisticated as "Figaro", so the two formers are definitely aimed at a younger audience. You just can't compare "Roly Poly" and "Bling Bling" to "Figaro" or even put them in the same sentence since '80s pop has a lot of subgenres, just like music of any decade.
And speaking of Nine Muses' mini album "Sweet Rendezvous", which was out earlier this year, the album features four songs that have 1980's sound. This album too has won good reviews, with many concluding that Nine Muses have finally found a niche. Looks like that niche is an older audience with a taste for 1980's music (most likely because they remember the period), and with the ladies' comeback which is rumored to be in December, I wonder how they will do 1980's sound next if they decide to stick to it...
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
What grabbed attention and what is overlooked...
Hey guys! I'm done with my thesis defence, so now I'm officially an M.Sc...which honestly I'm not too excited about. I'm not too happy about my thesis (which is on IRA), as I think it's just skin-deep and could've been deeper. But oh well. My final cumulative GPA isn't out yet. Will let you know you once it's out, whether or not you want to know...
Hokay, it goes without saying that it's not what I wanna talk about. I'm currently crazy about yet another Korean girlband - not a crazy, over-the-top one, mind. They're called Chocolat (funny how the members sometimes refer to themselves as "THE Chocolat" instead of "LE Chocolat"), they've been around since August 2011, but so far they've lost a member (Jae Yoon, the main singer, is reportedly taking a leave because of some health issues) and only released two singles.
It's funny also how they're billed as "South Korea's first multinational girlband" just because three out of four the members are American citizens...Aren't there many Korean bands whose members were born and raised in The US (mostly) and are therefore US citizens? Not to mention Miss A and f(x) that have Chinese members. Oh wait, these three girls are Eurasians. Yes, long-time readers, that's one of the things that drew me to them in the first place.
Now, on to the big (notorious now) name behind Chocolat. I guess by now you've all heard of Jenny Hyun, the writer of Chocolat's recent hit "One More Day" (Hyun once uploaded this song on her MySpace under the title "The Same Thing to Her"), and her major racist tirade on Twitter against black people, triggered by boxer Floyd Mayweather's racsim-laden twits against Jeremy Lin and Manny Pacquiao (read Hyun's rant in detail here). While I know this is nothing compared to the songwriter's (Hyun has also written songs for Girls' Generation) racist rampage, I find something noteworthy in Chocolat's music videos for "Syndrome" and "One More Day." Take a look.
Tia Cuevas (Korean-Puerto Rican) and Melanie Aurora Lee (Korean-German-Italian) get more camera time than the other girls.
Tia gets more camera time than the rest of the girls!
Mild racism, anyone?
Hokay, it goes without saying that it's not what I wanna talk about. I'm currently crazy about yet another Korean girlband - not a crazy, over-the-top one, mind. They're called Chocolat (funny how the members sometimes refer to themselves as "THE Chocolat" instead of "LE Chocolat"), they've been around since August 2011, but so far they've lost a member (Jae Yoon, the main singer, is reportedly taking a leave because of some health issues) and only released two singles.
It's funny also how they're billed as "South Korea's first multinational girlband" just because three out of four the members are American citizens...Aren't there many Korean bands whose members were born and raised in The US (mostly) and are therefore US citizens? Not to mention Miss A and f(x) that have Chinese members. Oh wait, these three girls are Eurasians. Yes, long-time readers, that's one of the things that drew me to them in the first place.
Now, on to the big (notorious now) name behind Chocolat. I guess by now you've all heard of Jenny Hyun, the writer of Chocolat's recent hit "One More Day" (Hyun once uploaded this song on her MySpace under the title "The Same Thing to Her"), and her major racist tirade on Twitter against black people, triggered by boxer Floyd Mayweather's racsim-laden twits against Jeremy Lin and Manny Pacquiao (read Hyun's rant in detail here). While I know this is nothing compared to the songwriter's (Hyun has also written songs for Girls' Generation) racist rampage, I find something noteworthy in Chocolat's music videos for "Syndrome" and "One More Day." Take a look.
Tia Cuevas (Korean-Puerto Rican) and Melanie Aurora Lee (Korean-German-Italian) get more camera time than the other girls.
Tia gets more camera time than the rest of the girls!
Mild racism, anyone?
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Oblivion to befall a Eurovision winner?
Hey guys! I'm really supposed to be working on my defense slides, but I feel like taking a break at the moment. Some of my friends have already got their defense schedule, some have even survived their defense and are officially Masters of Science in Terrorism Studies, but I haven't got my schedule...Here's hoping it's gonna be the last defense day (July 2)!
Anyway, I feel sorry for Lena-Meyer Landrut, winner of the 2010 Eurovision. The gorgeous German hasn't got one single catchy song since "Satelite", which earned her Eurovision win. Two years on and her singles have been boring ones, as follows...
This one is actually not bad, love the old-school Bond feel.
Not bad either, just far less memorable than "Satelite"...
Just can't stand listening until the end!
Lena just needs songs that will do justice to her outstanding vocal. Ones that will catapult her to international fame. Many Eurovision winners, with the exception of those who had already been famous pre-Eurovision, just fell into oblivion after winning. Does that sound familiar?
Anyway, I feel sorry for Lena-Meyer Landrut, winner of the 2010 Eurovision. The gorgeous German hasn't got one single catchy song since "Satelite", which earned her Eurovision win. Two years on and her singles have been boring ones, as follows...
This one is actually not bad, love the old-school Bond feel.
Not bad either, just far less memorable than "Satelite"...
Just can't stand listening until the end!
Lena just needs songs that will do justice to her outstanding vocal. Ones that will catapult her to international fame. Many Eurovision winners, with the exception of those who had already been famous pre-Eurovision, just fell into oblivion after winning. Does that sound familiar?
Monday, 4 June 2012
NKOTBSB, concert and Old Navy...
I went to a NKOTBSB concert here in Jakarta on Friday, June 1. The concert was awesome, the kids and boys (ahem, men) are amazingly talented. It was good to re-live a fond part of my childhood, as I came to see NKOTB live in concert also in Jakarta in February 1992. By the time Backstreet Boys came on the scene, I was over boyband music, but I had a good time singing BSB songs on top of my lungs at the concert - something I'd never be caught doing during the band's heyday. The best part of the concert was the reunion with cousins and old friends. I came with a friend and my sister-in-law, before the concert I met another friend and some girls I went to school with. After the concert I met many of my cousins and a friend I went to diploma studies with.
The NKOTBSB concert was the first I came to in eleven years. The last concert I saw was The Corrs'. I have to be kind of fanatical about a musician before I go to his/her concert. That being said, the next concert I'll go to is most likely Debbie Gibson's, if she ever comes to Jakarta or wherever I'll be in the future.
Anyway. That's not what I really wanna talk about in this post, if you know me. Still in the light of the NKOTBSB world tour, I bet at least some of you have noticed that Jordan Knight is in the latest Old Navy commercial.
Taurus pride! Hahahahaha.
While I think Jordan looks great in the super cute commercial, a random search on Twitter makes one wonder if his appearance in said commercial is a sign of "how the mighty has fallen." One twit from a Twitter user I'd undisclose is particularly telling to me...
Hmm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even during the heyday of NKOTBS the Kids were hardly in any commercial. The good thing about seeing Jordan Knight in an Old Navy commercial is that it shows he's still relevant to today's youth demographic...I think the target market for Old Navy is younger than those who actually grew up listening to NKOTB (again, correct me if I'm wrong.)
You know what I think really signals Jordan's fall from grace (and I thank heaven this is a thing of the past!)? This article, dating back to January 2006, which shows a drunken Mr. Knight amidst attempts to market one of his solo albums, "The Fix", and someone had to hail a taxi for him in the end. It's equally sad that in order to re-establish a successful solo career (he achieved success on his own in 1999), he had to turn to old material after "The Fix" on "Jordan Knight Performs New Kids On The Block" and "Love Songs" before, of course, reuniting with NKOTB in 2008...
The NKOTBSB concert was the first I came to in eleven years. The last concert I saw was The Corrs'. I have to be kind of fanatical about a musician before I go to his/her concert. That being said, the next concert I'll go to is most likely Debbie Gibson's, if she ever comes to Jakarta or wherever I'll be in the future.
Anyway. That's not what I really wanna talk about in this post, if you know me. Still in the light of the NKOTBSB world tour, I bet at least some of you have noticed that Jordan Knight is in the latest Old Navy commercial.
Taurus pride! Hahahahaha.
While I think Jordan looks great in the super cute commercial, a random search on Twitter makes one wonder if his appearance in said commercial is a sign of "how the mighty has fallen." One twit from a Twitter user I'd undisclose is particularly telling to me...
What the...Jordan Knight in an Old Navy commercial?! He couldn't be that hard up for cash...could he?
Hmm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even during the heyday of NKOTBS the Kids were hardly in any commercial. The good thing about seeing Jordan Knight in an Old Navy commercial is that it shows he's still relevant to today's youth demographic...I think the target market for Old Navy is younger than those who actually grew up listening to NKOTB (again, correct me if I'm wrong.)
You know what I think really signals Jordan's fall from grace (and I thank heaven this is a thing of the past!)? This article, dating back to January 2006, which shows a drunken Mr. Knight amidst attempts to market one of his solo albums, "The Fix", and someone had to hail a taxi for him in the end. It's equally sad that in order to re-establish a successful solo career (he achieved success on his own in 1999), he had to turn to old material after "The Fix" on "Jordan Knight Performs New Kids On The Block" and "Love Songs" before, of course, reuniting with NKOTB in 2008...
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