Old Cat Lady

Yes, I'm aware that JK and Jimin get the lion's share of the awards and the streams which are largely based on popularity & numbers. But they're not on any of the "best of" lists from the critics, which is a whole different animal. Makes me wonder if these critics just avoid the most popular things to be "cool"- but I haven't looked closely enough at them to see if Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, etc. get the same treatment, not that the way Western artists are treated is at all indicative of attitudes toward Asian artists. Billboard did nominate JK in a non-Kpop category, but of course it's a category based purely on stats. JK won for "Song of the Summer" at MTV awards 2023. We all know that MTV awards are a farce but hopefully it's a tiny baby step in the right direction. However, I think the awards are more and more about backstage deals and politics so as long as Hybe is unwilling to play ball, I think they'll be relegated to Kpop categories - I think it's their way of trying to placate the fans while still leaving room for deals in the important categories. Speaking of year-end accolades: I never did understand how the "top artist" ranking works. I know it's some combination of the stats from sales and streams but beyond that, it's a mystery

Another "Rap/Hip Hop" album instead of "Kpop" It occurred to me today that I don't recall seeing any critical accolades for Jimin or JK this year or last in spite of widespread success. Magazines just wanting to be cool by being contrary?

Good to know that I didn't just imagine the 2nd nephew (I'm quite addle brained). I saw an article saying he only had 1 so thought I was wrong but must have been an old article. Yay! Another magazine saying "Best RAP Album"

More love for Joon lol. Another Korean on the Namjoon for President campaign @rockstaryuzu I guess Jin only has 1 nephew. I must have been thinking of baby Butter's sonogram.

I never thought of Dobermans as cute until I "met" Bam. He is by far the cutest one I have ever seen. His face and personality reflect JK's love

Starting with Run Jin then figuring it out from there https://w2g.tv/?r=8o51pxl99pe0eimz7n

More flowers for Joon

Oh yuck! It's gin. It's so Jin to be drinking gin. ETA: I'm confused. The first article says it's gin but the post from what looks like the company says it's made from rice and apples. I'm guessing the author of the first article got confused because of the name? ETA 2: looked again and it says right on the bottle that it's gin. still confused that gin would be made from rice and apples. The fact that the label is in English makes me think it's intended for international distribution so hopefully I can find it here I've only had really bad gin. Supposedly good gin has a balanced flavor as opposed to pure pine trees so hopefully I'll like this if I ever get a chance to try it. So far, only a store in Korea was mentioned. Sometimes some of the guys seem like they have no concept of how popular they really are. Even though he's not nearly as popular in the US, it'll still fly off the shelves here. And I read that Igin means "winner"

I wonder if this is going to get sold internationally. Several celebrities have gotten the bulk of their wealth from alcohol sales. Some are even billionaires

Even with the influx of Christmas songs, Jimin continues trucking along in the middle of the Hot 100 ETA: woops. I guess this was last week's Hot 100. Jimin is predicted for #49 this week with Mariah Carey already being declared #1 again. I don't hate it, but "All I Want For Christmas is You" is so overrated.

So far, no one seems to be recognizing my favorite song (Nuts) but excited to see RM continuing to get critical acclaim Jin's success in Japan is kind of incredible. I'm always excited to see the less popular members get support in at least some spheres and "Winter Ahead" made the Hot 100

Bam's Dad started a Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@BamsDad

RM takes the crown. He was also names as the best Album by a Korean artist from Rolling Stone, NME, and another major music magazine that I can't remember - Hypebeast(?). A bit of a backhanded compliment but both Indigo and RPWP were #1 "Kpop" albums of their respective years by Billboard. Happy by Jin was #22 on the list, which, again, I feel ambivalent about. Muse and Hope On the Street didn't make it at all, which is just an insult, but, to be fair, I haven't heard the other albums so I guess I can't really judge. ETA:

Found a longer performance of I'll Be There. You can hear a backing track for this, but at least it's not loud. I imagine the backing track helps as a guide for the singer to stay on key. The Japanese crowd really deserve him - they're really into this Jin MC'd another one of his friends' weddings. They did the Super Tuna dance - saw a clip of it somewhere but, alas, I misplaced it According to this tweet, Jin's MC'd 10 of these. Yet he claims he doesn't have many friends - he must be comparing himself to his bandmates. I'd be exasperated if that many friends wanted me to MC their weddings.

Looks like Jin did the Japanese show without any back track. The Astronaut sounds so beautiful. Running Wild doesn't sound quite as powerful as it has before. I haven't been able to find a full performance of it yet, but I'll Be There sounds amazing.

wow! looks like the Seokjinnies have made a new goal. TBH, I don't consider this a particularly important chart, but it is a nice little milestone and I hope Jin gets joy and pride from it. and Dicon giving full support to their cover guy

Lately, I've been listening to HybeBoy. All he does is read Korean articles with minimal commentary. Normally, the 1st half is read in Korean and the 2nd half in English He read the Dispatch article on MHJ. It looks like one of her inner circle turned on her. If true... finally. I would think that even if NJ is completely brainless and set on destroying their careers, then at least someone who loves them would want to do something. Looks like Jin made plans for his birthday

OMG! This really did make me cry. My biggest fear with them being in the military is their pets dying and them not being able to say goodbye. I was so worried for Mickey - it never occurred to me that it'll be Yeontan

I don't know much about them or Kpop in general, but I've been hearing a lot of misgivings about it on Youtube. Seems that they're catering to SM and sponsors. Not sure if it's always been this way to an extent, but that would make it even more extraordinary that BTS managed to break through in the early years. These days, they're so successful that they can't be denied due to the structure of the point system - of course, that also explains why they decided to revamp the nom/winner process. And it looks like they did a tribute to BTS but excluded Yoongi? And this is getting ridiculous - Jin looks young enough in this pic from the High touch event to be a part of the Enhypen lineup instead of BTS. Seriously, he's managed to be both sexier and more cutie patootie marshmallow princess than ever. ETA: also think it's interesting that on multiple occasions, he's previously expressed being annoyed at being "mis-gendered", but now he's telling people to call him a princess instead of a prince. Did finishing military service make him feel comfortable with his baby gurl side? @Faithyu GG talk

I definitely misinterpreted the MV. I thought he was mourning the loss of someone he loved and the "Winter Ahead" referred to having to live without her and he was sculpting the statue in remembrance and longing. I'm kind of glad that I misunderstood - I don't think it would have hit me as much emotionally if I thought it was a Pygmalion story. There was at least 1 naughty fan at the show in Japan. Fan cams are interesting because they tend to differentiate the live voice from the backtrack more clearly than broadcasts. this reminds me, @Faithyu, I think when most people talk about lip synching, they're referring to when the artist is trying to pass off a performance as live singing. It's common practice to use a backing track to support live singing to fill in potential gaps and allow the singer to take breaths and rest when necessary but this isn't the same as pretending to sing. When Jin did his Happy special stages in Korea, they had loud backing tracks that were very prominent in the broadcast but on the fan cams, you could very clearly hear Jin's live singing throughout the specials. If you interpret lip synching loosely, you could argue that he lip synched, but most people don't consider singing on top of a backtrack the same thing. There were very obvious parts where he wasn't singing and you could hear his voice but since he wasn't trying to pass it off as live singing, I don't consider it lip synching.

awww... BTS makes the best seniors

TBH, this isn't my type of music (I don't like Jazz in general), but the music, the acting, the MV create a cinematic experience. I almost cried - I felt the melancholy so deeply. And even though it's 6:22, it didn't feel that long. Park Hyo Shin has an incredible voice - I'm not sure, but I think DJ Jino said this is the guy that's widely considered the best singer in S Korea. My one very minor nitpick is that Park Hyo Shin's pronunciation is so good that it makes you notice V's slight imperfections. It's not something I even think about normally, but the contrast makes it stand out a bit more.

aw maaaaan... looks like we won't be able to watch the concert in Japan I have no clue if Philippines is considered a big market but it's all over my timeline. We get so fixated on the USA but Happy did really well in Asian markets and I have to remember that the guys are getting marketed differently. Still doesn't excuse all the bumbling with the USA distribution and reporting This just made me laugh

Oof! Geffen is getting roasted like crazy on this thread. Literally not one comment that isn't angry at the company