Hello~!
It's been a while since I had last updated but I am here for one more update before this year ends. I would say this year has been a year filled with roller coaster rides, both sadness and happiness.
As you guys might have already known, I kind of got into BTS only at the end of Feb when they won their first place for Spring Day at Mnet on 23rd of Feb 2017. So ever since that day onward, somehow my heart had decided for me that I would be stanning these 7 beautiful boys. And obviously since then, I have also never regretted what I have done for them. XD
23rd of Feb was also the day which I have first met them and the next time was a long time later. The next time when I saw the boys was during their first music show in KBS during DNA promotion. I was lucky enough to be able to registered under the fanclub and I remembered that time when I was trying my luck in the PC room, my hands were shaking after I made it. I felt like every time when that happened there would be this adrenaline rush. But honestly speaking, its pretty cool.
The third time was when I made it to the recording for The Show for DNA as well. The fourth time was during Mic Drop prerecording in Mnet. That was one of the most memorable one because the gathering time for the armies was 430am at Mnet. lol. I couldn't sleep well that night because I had to leave the house around 330am in the morning, took a cab and made my way there. It was also the end of autumn, meaning it was getting rather chilly and cold. But when I finally saw them performing Mic Drop, everything was worth it. I couldn't even do the fanchants properly because they were just that amazing.
The next time would be the most recent Wings Final Concert in Seoul Day 3. I only went for a day but it was my first concert after 4 years. It's really amazing and one of the best moments which I had in 2017. I thought it would be the last time this year meeting them but I was lucky enough once again to get into SBS Gayo Daejun 2017 on christmas day.
I'm sure it would definitely be the last for me this year because I would be travelling on Sunday which means that I would be missing out the MBC prerecording. I'm sure its going to be awesome and I trust the armies going for the recording would do their best in the cheering and everything. When the other fans recorded our fanchants on SBS that day, I am so so so so proud of our fandom. Of course there has also been incidents whereby fans fought among themselves but I feel like overall the army fandom is good and pretty harmonise? Yes.
I honestly thought that when I see BTS more and more often, my feelings for them would start lessen or stuff but no. It's strangely the other way round. I'm not sure why but it happened for me when I was in other fandom 4 years back. I guess it's just BTS's charm? XD
I will be going for the 4th Muster and hopefully it would be an awesome way to begin 2018. I'm sure it is going to be filled with lots of fangirling moments, ups and downs again. I just hope BTS would continue to shine even brighter and enjoy making music like how they have always done. I'm sure they will stay true to themselves and their fans.
^^
Have a great year ahead everybody~
Armies out there all over the world have been going crazy with BTS heading over to the US for the past week and with the worldwide popular shows which they had and will be attending, it is to no surprise that the US media are covering them heavily.
As a fan myself, I'm glad that they are receiving so much attention and love from people which they are working with. Yet, one of the main concerns which is also the reason why I have decided to write this post is because of the requests which some fans/media personalities have been making.
First of all, I believe that no one should ever pressure anyone to do something which they are not comfortable with. They were a lot of questions asking the group if they had ever thought of releasing songs in English and most of the time RM was saying perhaps in the near future. He mentioned in a recent interviews that they do have plans to release some of their title tracks in English. I mean yes, given the benefit of the doubt, I think besides the remix version of Mic Drop, I don't think they are going to release any other of their songs in English.
Why? Because I feel like remaking the lyrics will not convey the messages which they did in Korean lyrics. Language is a pretty big part of culture and I think that unless you have fully immerse in a certain culture, it is very hard to actually express your feelings through that particular new language. After all, Kpop is called kpop for a reason. I'm not sure if people are just purely curious about the plans they had in the future or do they just think that Kpop are that easy.
Another point I want to point out its I think that kpop songs should just remain in Korean. Looking back at the groups or singers which had debuted in the US, did they actually make it that big? There's WG which were pretty big but JYP ended closing up their US branch because it didn't work out well eventually. And for BoA who debuted years ago in US, she did way better in Japan as she did in US. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she knew Japanese better than English. I don't think. This are just my assumptions. And then let's take a look again at Psy. Did he have any English songs? No. Gangnam style did amazing without having it in English and it was one of the top moments Kpop could have ever achieved. You got to give credits to Psy too.
So what I'm trying to say is that I don't think Kpop singers should give pressure to themselves and remake the songs which they already did great with into English. Imagine BTS releasing 'Dope' in English. I'm still pretty sure armies are going to sing and follow the original version. Bite me if I'm wrong.
Same goes for making songs. Singers out there, anyone out there, are free and have the rights to make whatever songs they want. It's their choice to do. I just hope that BTS would not be too affected by this trip in US. Hopefully their performance in AMAs would be an awesome memory for them but honestly I can't help but worry for them too. The difference between US and Korea media is huge and I can tell that I think the boys are getting overwhelmed too.
I just hope the US media will not put too much burden on the boys and let them enjoy the stay as stressful as possible.
Cheers.
alexander lee eusebio
Three simple steps to achieve the Kpop idol flawless skin
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Beyond that glamorous makeup and perfect
hairdo, Kpop celebrities especially idols have been gaining attention worldwide
for their flawless skin and timeless beauty. Fans from all over the world have
always wondered how it was possible to maintain and have such beautiful skin
despite their busy schedules.
Alexander Lee Eusebio, an ex-member of
boy group UKISS, gladly shared some of his beauty tips of how he was able to
have such smooth and porcelain like skin.
1. Anti-aging
prevention
The very first item which he strongly
suggested to use on a daily basis is sunblock. Alexander mentioned how it was “a must for anti-aging and prevention from
tanning”. Every day we are exposed to millions of UV rays and although the
sky might seem gloomy or dark, sunblock should still be applied for ultimate
protection.
2. Cleansing
After a long day at work, the most
important step for skin maintenance is cleansing. He recommended using micellar
water before washing again with a normal cleansing foam according to your skin
type. Some people may or may not have heard of micellar water but it works
miracle when it comes to removing stubborn dirt and make-up residues on the
skin. When asked which brand he used, he recommended Bioderma as it was
inexpensive and effective.
3. Natural
is beauty
Other than the basics anti-aging
prevention and cleansing, Alexander also mentioned how going natural is another
key factor of having good skin. Having a proper and healthy diet is important
as the nutrition from the food which we eat will affect the condition of our
skin. Another tip is to avoid having thick make-up on the skin. On normal
occasions, he would recommend using CC cream just to even out his skin tone and
shade.
Besides these 3 simple steps, he told us
that one’s daily lifestyle and diet also played a huge role. After all, having
a disciplined and well-balance lifestyle would be the key to having healthy and
dewy skin. It is never too late to start now and rejuvenate the youth in your
skin!
Seeing the success of national-created
idol groups such as ‘IOI’ and ‘Wanna One’, many entertainment companies began
to see the market value of survival programs such as Produce 101. Since 2013, there have been at least ten of such
survival programs, starting with WIN: Who
Is Next? in 2013, Kara Project in
2014, Sixteen in 2015 and many more.
The catch for such survival programs is
exposing trainees to the reality of survival shows and training them to undergo
the stress and hardship before debuting as an idol. On another aspect, it also
allows trainees to gain recognition and popularity before their actual debut. With
such fame, they would be recognized much more easily than rookies who might
have just debuted normally from an entertainment company. Although making to
the final round of the survival program does play a huge role, most of the time
as long as that particular trainee received positive limelight from the
audience, it would aid them in their future career even though they might not
be the final survivors.
Examples such as Jung Se Yoon from Produce 101 Season 2, debuted as a solo
singer with great success and recognition. His debut track, ‘Just U’, reached
the second place position on Gaon Chart when it was first released in
September. Such examples allow other entertainment companies to see the
potential success of their trainees. Furthermore, Kpop idol hopefuls were also
encouraged even though they might not have made it to the final round of such
survival shows.
On the downside of such survival
programs, it was brought to the attention of the harsh reality of entertainment
industry. The recent idol rebooting survival program by KBS The Unit specializes in giving idols who
had already debuted a second chance in their shot in fame. Through such
program, people found out that despite debuting for years, many of them did not
succeed as idols. To further elaborate, many had to do odd jobs in order to
make a living. There were also several controversies revolving around bullying
and sexual harassment scandals of trainees in the past.
Through media framing and strategic
marketing, there are a few significant reasons which allowed these programs to
succeed with high viewer ratings. A particular aspect of Produce 101 was the interaction the show had with the audience by asking
them to choose their favorite trainee by voting for their ‘One-Pick’. They were
considered to be the ‘producers’ in charged of creating the nation’s idol
group. Viewers enjoyed such survival programs as it had the elements of drama
and competition, stirring the interest for their entertainment.
With the increase of such Kpop survival
programs, it is no surprise that a saturation point would be reached in no
time. Currently, The Unit and Mixnine are being broadcasted on KBS and
JTBC respectively and already had received mix responses from the online
community. The repetition of similar programs with a few tweaks here and there
may seem interesting to viewers but it is unlikely that it would work in the
long run. Unless there is a turning point for such survival shows and the
capacity to accommodate such large amount of trainees and idols, the
competition for ultimate success and fame would be more competitive than
before.
_
This is my article which I submitted for a job application. I feel like this blog would soon become a platform for some of the articles which I have written. ^^
Sometimes I wonder if I am so into BTS that it is affecting me so badly. And sometimes I wonder if I am the only person out there who experience this. Hopefully not.
I'm not sure if all of you guys received the 'Love Yourself' albums yet but mine came today and I was just reading the 'Thanks to' section. And Jin's Thanks To actually made me cry. It was not like a very significant sentence if you just read it like this but it gave me such a huge impact.
In his final paragraph, he wrote that he prays for armies everyday, wishing that we will always be happy and that good things will happen to us. For reason, I suddenly got emotional when I read that sentence and the next moment I was crying.
Yes, I feel that its very exhausting and tiring now which made me feel that I depend even more on BTS. Idol-fan relationship is really strange huh? Somehow I wonder what would I be doing now if I had not become a fan of BTS. Just like 'Piped Piper', its amazing how accurate they describe the situation of armies. You can't help but get hooked to them. You just want to check twitter constantly, daum cafe, watch their mvs and listen to their songs etc. Our parents or friends may think that we are overreacting and stuff but we just can't help it. Its pure dedication and it definitely came from our sincere heart.
Honestly I feel that I have no luck when it comes to ticketing for pre recordings and sadly to say, I failed for 3 round already and it really kills me when you see people you follow on people get into pre-recording. It's the same for fansigns. I'm pretty sure these days you need at least a minimum of 200 albums before you get into fansigns. And I'm not sure why is there a prejudice against foreign names?? I heard that you need twice the amount as compared to Koreans before you even stand a chance in getting into fansign. Despite that having set, I am still just going to try my luck to get into fansigns even though I can only purchase perhaps another set more.
Just like what 'Sea' has in the lyrics, '희망이 있는 곳에 반드시 시련이 있네'. Im going to stay positive although I know my probability of getting in that fansign is maybe 0.0001%? Hahahaha. Then again there is THAT possibility so not all hope is lost. It may sound delusional as of now but I always believe in the fact that unless you try, you never know. You really do not know what will happen and there is always this hope which you can depend on. And if you don't get chosen again, hey, at least you know you tried. And you just helped the boys increase their album sales. I believe it's all about perspectives and you have to trust yourself that you are doing the right thing.
No matter how much money you have, it doesn't matter as long as you love the boys truly. I feel that yes, it is sad that I'm a poor undergraduate in her final semester of university and I don't have the money to spend on 200 albums, I still do what I can do to support the boys. Melon streaming, youtube mv looping, spotify looping etc. Just do what you can do to help the boys. And things like voting too. It just takes a small percentage of your phone space to download apps to vote for the boys. It's not difficult. It just shows how much you are willing to support the boys, how much you are going to go for the boys. And please don't let what other people think pull you down.
Sometimes I get judged for supporting the boys. Yet I feel that I have the ability and I am not afraid to show the love I have for the boys. I mean, if you really love somebody, I am pretty sure you will go all the way for them right? So what's wrong with the idols? Hahaha..
Alright, this seems to get off track on what I originally planned I writing but I hope at least I made my point. I always get inspired by BTS and I feel like thats what I am living off from them now. They make me feel happier and gave me a new perspective about life. They will and continue will.
Love myself.
Love yourself.
We all know whose birthday it is as September begins. It's our lovely maknae Jungkook's birthday! ^^ This is the first birthday celebration which I did ever since I was into BTS. (I missed out on Yoongi's cause I was still in the phase of getting into BTS back in the end of February)
The fan culture here in Korea has been changing as time goes by and it is definitely different from how it was before when I just came to Korea back in 2012. Now in 2017, fans are getting much more creative with the way the celebrate with their idols' birthday and I think it is really interesting on how they did it.
The very first time which I had encountered fans making into a cinema theatre into a 'BTS' theatre was during their 4th anniversary back in June. It was really interesting because fansites actually went to design a whole stretch of wall with the photos which they took throughout the years. To me it was pure dedication and it allowed the movie goers to actually notice the design when they walked through the corridor leading them to their designated theatre.
For Jungkook's birthday, one of the his largest fansite, Snow Peach, as many of you would have known, went to create a JK theatre just for him. It only had one wall of his pictures but hey it was still dedication and effort. I really enjoyed how fansites spent so much time and effort in allowing not just the boys but also the rest of the fandoms to enjoy such tiny things. To me it was really cool because you don't get to see such level of fandom in other countries. If you do, please let me know.
That aside, I felt that one of the reasons why I am writing this post today is because of some of the issues which I had noticed from the increasing number of fansites spending large amount of money for their idols. Personally I believe that if I had the amount of money which they did or if I'm rich I would definitely spend money on branded clothes and gifts for the boys.
Of course I would want to gift my idols clothes, perfumes, accessories which are branded but sometimes I also think that it would be better if those money were being spent in areas such as donation for the needier people. That would also definitely be a good cause because others would also get to know their name in a good manner too. I feel that because usually fansites get their fundings from the goods they sell and exhibitions most of them use their own personal money to get those expensive gifts. I have no right to tell them what gifts suit the boys because it is their money and they have their own choice to decide what they want to buy and how they want to spend they money which they had earned.
As a result sometimes I feel like it became a competition between fansites as to who is giving the boys better and more expensive gifts. Some fans might feel that I would want to support this fansite master more because he or she has the tendency and capability to provide the boys with better and nicer gifts. I view this as a rather negative point because I feel that you cannot judge someone's love for idols through the price of the gifts. It is the same as to how many albums or how many merchandises you have for your idols. No. They don't equate to your love for them. I believe is how you stay and support them when they need you. That's pure idol love.
And so which leads me to another point for Rap Monster, our leader of BTS. I will just refer him to Nam Joon here because I find it easier. I recently met an acquaintance who is a fan of Nam Joon and she used her own money to bought a really expensive branded autumn coat for him. It costed around one semester of tuition fee for me but I mean if she's rich and she's alright with it, I'm cool too. I was just surprised by her words. She told me she wanted Nam Joon to feel as loved as Jung Kook because there's honestly not a lot of fansites left for Nam Joon as compared to Jung Kook who gets like birthday buses and trucks etc. That made me kind of sad too because I really do like Nam Joon and I believe without him, none of the bangtan memebrs would be here now. There would be no JK in the team. I wish that people would see his talent and recognise him like how the fans do.
Well, this is just what I feel recently and feel free to let me know what you think about the fandom culture here in Korea. ^^
Cheers.
Before I get started on how I became a fan of BTS, I would like to share you with some of the basic details as well as background as to how I ended up living in Korea and some of the incidents related to Kpop which I had experienced.
I started listening to Kpop around 2009 when 'Gee' from SNSD became popular and I got intrigued by how cute the dance was and everything. I got a few classmates who were into the kpop scene as well and since then I began listening to Kpop. I was an elf and when Suju took flight with 'Sorry Sorry', my love for kpop too flight as well. Haha. I bought quite a few of their albums and then things happened in 2009 with Suju, Hangeng leaving and Kibum not joining in with promotions etc. I guessed that kind of made my love for them died or something because of the lack of shows I guess. There was sukira and stuff but I knew no Korean back then.
I entered high school in 2010 and then it took about a year later before I became an Inspirit. I even bought the third membership back then. Haha. I had fun fangirling over them and I was overjoyed when the hidden track for 'The Chaser' was my bias. That was my first album from Infinite. I started doing part time job and soon enough I had more money to buy their previous albums and stuff. So after graduating from high school, I think that was when I was the most deep into the kpop fangirling thing. I decided that my love for kpop idols would never be satisfied until I head to Korea to study Korean and pursue my tertiary education.
So, I went to Korea in the autumn of 2012 and began my Korean language studies after 5 years I'm at my last semester of university. Haha. It seems lie as if it was just yesterday that I had decided to come to Korea and right now I'm almost on the end of my university life.
I stopped following Infinite around the end of 2013 I think because I was getting busy with university preparation and I had seen them several times during open concerts and I had also attended one of their concerts. There was also several incidents with other inspirits which was rather traumatizing for me and for some reason, it just made me stop liking them gradually. I still care about them but I would not say that I was that into them as compared to 2011.
I was more involved in my university life from 2014-2016 and then suddenly there was a lot of things which happened to me at the end of 2016. I believed it was that period of time which made me feel really exhausted about life and somehow BTS just came into my life. I went to mnet since I was bored with my friends and I saw BTS performed 'Not Today' and 'Spring Day'. It was 20170223. That was the day which kind of changed my life I guess. XD It sounds really dramatic here but I guess it's somewhat true? Haha. Ever since then, I became more and more interested into them and boom! I rode the roller coaster. ^^ I'm still on the ride. Haha.
It's been over 6 months I guess? since I last saw them and I'm awaiting for their comeback right now on 18th September. I honestly can't wait to see them again and hopefully everything will turn out great!
Yeah... So I guess this was my simple summary of what happened to my kpop life for the past 7 years? XD