KPop Invasion

K-Pop is a mixture of trendy Western music and high-energy Japanese pop (J-Pop), which preys on listeners' heads with repeated hooks, sometimes in English. It embraces genre fusion with both singing and rap, and emphasizes performance and strong visuals. (source: KPop Definition)

Photo courtesy of Ms. A

For some unknown reason (maybe known to a few, unknown to us), our office decided to hold a KPop Dance Contest. Being a KPop fan for almost 10 years already, I wasn't really keen about it as the other expected me to be. Yes, I listen to KPop, I've memorized more than a couple of songs and maybe tried to dance to those songs as well. Key word here is TRIED. I'm not a dancer. So when they announced that it was going to be a dance contest I was really trying my best to get a way out. I did get a way out when they said that it was going to be on the 2nd Friday of June (I was on VL at the time), but then they moved it to the 3rd Friday of the same month and since my VL was not approved during that time, I have no choice but to join our team's production number. Yes, I WAS FORCED TO DANCE. ^.^

There are four teams in our Department. Each team has their own concept (when I say concept I mean their own KPop groups to cosplay). Every team practiced hard to follow the choreography, downloading practice videos on YouTube to be able to bag the most coveted price.

Here are the teams and their concepts:

First up is : MACRO with an M! Countdown style of presentation. They did Taeyang's I Need A Girl. A bit of background about Taeyang:

Solar - Tae Yang's first solo album

Dong Youngbae (born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Taeyang (meaning Solar) or Sol, and is a South Korean recording artist and model. After appearing in Jinusean's music video "A-yo", Taeyang began training underYG Entertainment at the age of 12 alongside fellow member and leader G-Dragon. After six years of vocal and dance training, he made his debut in 2006 as a member of popular Korean boy band,Big Bang.

And KARA's Step

Step, KARA's 4th Studio Album

Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek word "chara" (χαρά, lit. "joy"), which the group interpreted to mean "sweet melody".

This is MACRO's Tae Yang... I wasn't able to get pictures of the MACRO-KARA members so... This is Tey-Yang in action...

Photo courtesy of Tey-Yang's Facebook Fan Page ^.^

Next we have MINA' STOP. They did 4Minute's Hot Issue. As per Wiki:

4Minute's First Digital Single

4Minute is a five-member South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The members of the group are Nam Ji-hyun, Heo Ga-yoon , Jeon Ji-yoon , Kim Hyun-a and Kwon So-hyun. The girls released their first single on June 15, 2009 and made their first debut stage on June 18, 2009 on M.net M! Countdown.

This is a shot of MINA' STOP's neon-inspred version of Hot Issue.

Picture courtesy of Zayza's Facebook Page

Then there's Ana Rep's performance of Wonder Girl's Be My Baby. A little background of the the Wonder Girls, again as per Wiki:

Wonder World is Wonder Girls' 2nd Studio album

Wonder Girls is a South Korean girl group, which current line-up consists of five members Yubin, Yeeun, Sunye, Sohee, and Hyelim. They are managed by their producer and manager singer-songwriter Park Jin-Young under his talent agency, JYP Entertainment.

And this is Ana Republic's rendition of Be My Baby

Photo courtesy of Zayza's Facebook Page

Last but not the least is Aeriel Figther's KDrama/Dance Production/MV-inspired rendition of Miss A's Goodbye Baby. FYI, Miss A is:

Miss A's Goodbye Baby is taken from their first full album A Class

Miss A , commonly stylized as miss A, is a four member South Korean and Chinese girl group based in South Korea. They were formed by JYP Entertainment and are managed by AQ Entertainment. The group consists of Fei, Jia, Min and Suzy.

Since I wasn't able to get a picture of the actual performance, the following photos are taken after the win. Yep, our group won first place. Maybe it's because of the almost-real (or was it an actual sampal?) slap on our Team Manager's face who plays the role of the cheating gay boyfriend.

All smiles after the unexpected win

Still all-smiles, always ready for a photo op

Though it was a tiring 2-weeks going towards this specific event, with all the practice and the conceptualization and the trying to be just a bit more flexible (I didn't achieve being flexible, it was more of "may sapi si erin" day) paid off. It was fun while it lasted and I'm a true-blue KPop fan but you won't see me doing this again, EVER. Not unless I'd be dancing with these guys...