Welcome to the SHINee WORLD
March 19, 2014 9:39 PM Subscribe
EVERYBODY every every body
네 맘을 흔들어
Once known as the flower boys searching for a "noona romance" due to their May 2008 debut song at very young ages (ranging from 14-18 years of age, by western standards), "누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)," which roughly translates to "[Older girl] is so pretty," SHINee's most recent promotional single "Everybody" is different in almost every way. True, they are a manufactured Korean boyband, but SHINee are considered one of the best live performers on the scene in terms of both vocals and dance. They have their share of cutesy, cheesy songs just like any other boyband. But they're capable of belting out a solid ballad (subbed) and a good slow jam too.
From the very beginning, SHINee's dance skill has been tip-top, with the songs 산소 같은 너 (Love Like Oxygen) (1:16), A.Mi.Go, and Juliette following up their debut single. Even so, SHINee stepped up their style game with the release of Ring Ding Dong, and their dance level with Lucifer.
Like many KPop acts, SHINee also has activities in Japan. Similar to their Korean activities, Dazzling Girl's choreography is fast-paced with skips and jumps, and Breaking News is just as upbeat. However, SHINee have released Japanese singles that have little (1:08) or no dancing at all.
SHINee's concept may seem random and non-existent until you hear it: SHINee are a contemporary band. Yes, 'contemporary band' is their concept. The main choreographers of SHINee's dances are Rino Nakasone, BEATBURGER, and most recently, Tony Testa. For much of their career they were not popular in South Korea, especially when compared to other groups who debuted in the same year. But after being inactive in South Korea for the entirety of 2011, they came back strong with the release of their 4th mini album and its lead single, Sherlock. (SBS Gayo Daejun performance, MBC Gayo (5:49) performance.) Along with Sherlock they also performed Stranger. Last year, SHINee released their third album and promoted Dream Girl and Why So Serious?. In the latter half of the same year, SHINee once again amped up their dance with the release of their 5th mini album, Everybody. Other songs from the 5th mini that SHINee performed live: 1분만 (One Minute Back), 닫아줘 (Close the door), and a recording of Symptoms that doesn't have a camera rocketing about. At the end of 2013 SHINee released a music video for Colorful (subbed), but so far as I know they haven't performed this song for a live broadcast.
It's not just SHINee themselves who are high quality; the fans can be too, and especially the photography of fansites. For more HQ photos, visit the individual fuckyeah sites: Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, Taemin.
Extra clips, just for fun: A clip about a mishap during a stage for Dream Girl. Everybody: Lipstick encore. SHINee covering Lady Gaga's Just Dance. And a dance practice video of Replay. Thanks for visiting the SHINee WORLD and enjoy your stay!
Once known as the flower boys searching for a "noona romance" due to their May 2008 debut song at very young ages (ranging from 14-18 years of age, by western standards), "누난 너무 예뻐 (Replay)," which roughly translates to "[Older girl] is so pretty," SHINee's most recent promotional single "Everybody" is different in almost every way. True, they are a manufactured Korean boyband, but SHINee are considered one of the best live performers on the scene in terms of both vocals and dance. They have their share of cutesy, cheesy songs just like any other boyband. But they're capable of belting out a solid ballad (subbed) and a good slow jam too.
From the very beginning, SHINee's dance skill has been tip-top, with the songs 산소 같은 너 (Love Like Oxygen) (1:16), A.Mi.Go, and Juliette following up their debut single. Even so, SHINee stepped up their style game with the release of Ring Ding Dong, and their dance level with Lucifer.
Like many KPop acts, SHINee also has activities in Japan. Similar to their Korean activities, Dazzling Girl's choreography is fast-paced with skips and jumps, and Breaking News is just as upbeat. However, SHINee have released Japanese singles that have little (1:08) or no dancing at all.
SHINee's concept may seem random and non-existent until you hear it: SHINee are a contemporary band. Yes, 'contemporary band' is their concept. The main choreographers of SHINee's dances are Rino Nakasone, BEATBURGER, and most recently, Tony Testa. For much of their career they were not popular in South Korea, especially when compared to other groups who debuted in the same year. But after being inactive in South Korea for the entirety of 2011, they came back strong with the release of their 4th mini album and its lead single, Sherlock. (SBS Gayo Daejun performance, MBC Gayo (5:49) performance.) Along with Sherlock they also performed Stranger. Last year, SHINee released their third album and promoted Dream Girl and Why So Serious?. In the latter half of the same year, SHINee once again amped up their dance with the release of their 5th mini album, Everybody. Other songs from the 5th mini that SHINee performed live: 1분만 (One Minute Back), 닫아줘 (Close the door), and a recording of Symptoms that doesn't have a camera rocketing about. At the end of 2013 SHINee released a music video for Colorful (subbed), but so far as I know they haven't performed this song for a live broadcast.
It's not just SHINee themselves who are high quality; the fans can be too, and especially the photography of fansites. For more HQ photos, visit the individual fuckyeah sites: Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, Taemin.
Extra clips, just for fun: A clip about a mishap during a stage for Dream Girl. Everybody: Lipstick encore. SHINee covering Lady Gaga's Just Dance. And a dance practice video of Replay. Thanks for visiting the SHINee WORLD and enjoy your stay!
SHINee's back! I am a fan of their michael jackson-esque jams.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 10:33 PM on March 19, 2014
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 10:33 PM on March 19, 2014
Wow, great post. These guys were the first K-pop group I ever listened to, and "Lucifer" got me hooked right away. I may or may not have wrenched my knee trying to do the "Sherlock" stomp, too.
Jonghyun is also high-quality when it comes to supporting LGBT Koreans, at least compared to other idols.
posted by Recliner of Rage at 10:40 PM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Jonghyun is also high-quality when it comes to supporting LGBT Koreans, at least compared to other idols.
posted by Recliner of Rage at 10:40 PM on March 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
I always loved SHINee's dance routines, but I must confess that "Everybody" kind of loses me. Too many novelty moves in one routine, imho. It barely works in the dance practice (fixing your eyes on Taemin helps); in life performances the choreography often looks messy and overly gimmicky.
Don't get me wrong: I appreciate a couple of fresh gimmicks here and there to spice up a routine. The tutting that starts "Lucifer" remains one of my favorite Kpop moves to this day. But there comes a point where it gets too much, the novelty wears off, and you start thinking: "wait a second, this is supposed to be a pop group dancing to their song, not a dance crew using the song for their routine."
"Everybody" is not the worst offender though. The honor goes to "Wolf" by EXO; live performances of that song make me want to die, despite the amazing lead dancer Kai (Taemin's bff, go figure) and four other ~dance machines~. I'm not too thrilled with Nappytabs' latest choreography for TVXQ either. SM groups' dances have disappointed me a bit over the past year - they seem to err on the side of trying too hard.
posted by fatehunter at 11:30 PM on March 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Don't get me wrong: I appreciate a couple of fresh gimmicks here and there to spice up a routine. The tutting that starts "Lucifer" remains one of my favorite Kpop moves to this day. But there comes a point where it gets too much, the novelty wears off, and you start thinking: "wait a second, this is supposed to be a pop group dancing to their song, not a dance crew using the song for their routine."
"Everybody" is not the worst offender though. The honor goes to "Wolf" by EXO; live performances of that song make me want to die, despite the amazing lead dancer Kai (Taemin's bff, go figure) and four other ~dance machines~. I'm not too thrilled with Nappytabs' latest choreography for TVXQ either. SM groups' dances have disappointed me a bit over the past year - they seem to err on the side of trying too hard.
posted by fatehunter at 11:30 PM on March 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Ah, Shinee. One of my kpop guilty pleasures. They're having a concert in Mexico in early April, and I was briefly tempted to drop everything in California and just go.
They have a pretty great reality series (One Fine Day), about them going on different vacations: London (where Key stays at a regular hostel!), Thailand, Japan, and Switzerland. I still rewatch it every now and then, and I've never been known to rewatch ANYTHING.
posted by Xere at 1:09 AM on March 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
They have a pretty great reality series (One Fine Day), about them going on different vacations: London (where Key stays at a regular hostel!), Thailand, Japan, and Switzerland. I still rewatch it every now and then, and I've never been known to rewatch ANYTHING.
posted by Xere at 1:09 AM on March 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
These guys wear the best clothes!
posted by oceanjesse at 5:48 AM on March 20, 2014
posted by oceanjesse at 5:48 AM on March 20, 2014
Yay! One of the posts me and maybe 5 other mefites can relate to!
Kpop is a big guilty pleasure for me too. I just realized, I've been into Kpop for years now-- original TVXQ was the first kpop group I heard (I bought a cheap CD at a stationary store; Mirotic had just come out) so, since 2008. Soon after I found SuJu, (Sorry Sorry is pretty much what cemented me as a Kpop fan) and after that I found SHINee. I think Juliet was the first song I had of theirs.
That said, I'm iffy on Everybody -- there's too many transitions in the beat for me. I was iffy on Sherlock for a similar reason, but the entirety of the song eventually won me over. Not so with Everybody though.
Still, love SHINee. I'm sure my closet full of brightly coloured jeans are at least in part inspired by SHINee.
posted by Dimes at 10:08 AM on March 20, 2014
Kpop is a big guilty pleasure for me too. I just realized, I've been into Kpop for years now-- original TVXQ was the first kpop group I heard (I bought a cheap CD at a stationary store; Mirotic had just come out) so, since 2008. Soon after I found SuJu, (Sorry Sorry is pretty much what cemented me as a Kpop fan) and after that I found SHINee. I think Juliet was the first song I had of theirs.
That said, I'm iffy on Everybody -- there's too many transitions in the beat for me. I was iffy on Sherlock for a similar reason, but the entirety of the song eventually won me over. Not so with Everybody though.
Still, love SHINee. I'm sure my closet full of brightly coloured jeans are at least in part inspired by SHINee.
posted by Dimes at 10:08 AM on March 20, 2014
I saw the "Everybody everybody" in the above the fold post and thought, "Are they referring to.. no.. it can't be! K-pop on MetaFilter?!" But it was! Great post one teak forest, thanks.
posted by jess at 4:11 PM on March 20, 2014
posted by jess at 4:11 PM on March 20, 2014
PS: SHINee is great but I'm currently going through a Block B obsession.
posted by jess at 4:12 PM on March 20, 2014
posted by jess at 4:12 PM on March 20, 2014
I'm embarrassed that this comment is so long and ranty.
Ah, upon checking through the clips for the umpteenth time, I can't tell if the 'Symptoms' link is live or not. Oh well, the same song is linked as a "slow jam" and is definitely live there. SHINee used to be terrible lip synchers but seems like they sort of learned how to do it while I was gone.
I know it's frowned upon to comment too much in your own FPP and I tried to avoid that, but it's impossible. Honestly, I'd rather talk about them than have made this, but I realize I'm likely one of the few Metafilter users capable of putting together such a post. Haha. Here's to hoping that the yt links don't get taken down. I'll try to at least catalog the dates of each one in a comment before the thread closes in a month.
I hear you about Everybody, as a song and especially the choreography. I probably shouldn't have focused so much of the post on it. It's bordering painful for me as a viewer, and I can't imagine what it's like for SHINee to perform it. (On a show that I can't recall right now, they said something like "even if you don't want to drop on the ground, this dance is going to make you anyway") Apparently they had a month to prepare for it, and a month is considered a long time! But because I'm still a hardcore SHINee fan at heart apparently, I now can get through watching them perform it.
Still, I remember being mad at SM and Testa and all for the choreo and didn't even try to follow the promotion period for Everybody at all when it was happening. I didn't and still haven't bought a physical copy. Onew hurt his neck with the "propeller" move and when they throw Taemin up into a standing position at the beginning of the choreo is still startling to me. And all that jumping! While singing! I mean, I get it, being a crossover of Pied Piper story with Toy Soldier concept, but still. I hope for whatever they promote next in Korean, that it not be yet another leveling up of dance. Lucifer was already something else. I can't believe they managed to top Sherlock. Unnecessary. I wonder what impact of 'Why So Serious?' charting relatively poorly had on their initial ideas for the next promo period. (Oh yeah: I think the 130523 WSS performance is better than the one I linked in the post, oops.) Dream Girl was a solid period. I just watched all three 2013 Gayo performances (131227 KBS, 131229 SBS, 131231 MBC) and they didn't perform Why So Serious?, only variations of Dream Girl and Everybody.
As for songs with lots of different beats/changes, Symptoms and One Minute Back are definitely guilty of it with the latter being the worst offender. Even so, those songs still work and I think the Everybody mini is the strongest set of tracks, of both mini and full album releases, they've had since the Romeo mini.
And you're welcome! I'm happy to see that this post didn't prove to be useless as I thought it would. Thanks for the interest, everyone!
Block B have excellent rappers. Glad to see they're still around. Very Good! ;)
posted by one teak forest at 1:14 AM on March 21, 2014
Ah, upon checking through the clips for the umpteenth time, I can't tell if the 'Symptoms' link is live or not. Oh well, the same song is linked as a "slow jam" and is definitely live there. SHINee used to be terrible lip synchers but seems like they sort of learned how to do it while I was gone.
I know it's frowned upon to comment too much in your own FPP and I tried to avoid that, but it's impossible. Honestly, I'd rather talk about them than have made this, but I realize I'm likely one of the few Metafilter users capable of putting together such a post. Haha. Here's to hoping that the yt links don't get taken down. I'll try to at least catalog the dates of each one in a comment before the thread closes in a month.
I hear you about Everybody, as a song and especially the choreography. I probably shouldn't have focused so much of the post on it. It's bordering painful for me as a viewer, and I can't imagine what it's like for SHINee to perform it. (On a show that I can't recall right now, they said something like "even if you don't want to drop on the ground, this dance is going to make you anyway") Apparently they had a month to prepare for it, and a month is considered a long time! But because I'm still a hardcore SHINee fan at heart apparently, I now can get through watching them perform it.
Still, I remember being mad at SM and Testa and all for the choreo and didn't even try to follow the promotion period for Everybody at all when it was happening. I didn't and still haven't bought a physical copy. Onew hurt his neck with the "propeller" move and when they throw Taemin up into a standing position at the beginning of the choreo is still startling to me. And all that jumping! While singing! I mean, I get it, being a crossover of Pied Piper story with Toy Soldier concept, but still. I hope for whatever they promote next in Korean, that it not be yet another leveling up of dance. Lucifer was already something else. I can't believe they managed to top Sherlock. Unnecessary. I wonder what impact of 'Why So Serious?' charting relatively poorly had on their initial ideas for the next promo period. (Oh yeah: I think the 130523 WSS performance is better than the one I linked in the post, oops.) Dream Girl was a solid period. I just watched all three 2013 Gayo performances (131227 KBS, 131229 SBS, 131231 MBC) and they didn't perform Why So Serious?, only variations of Dream Girl and Everybody.
As for songs with lots of different beats/changes, Symptoms and One Minute Back are definitely guilty of it with the latter being the worst offender. Even so, those songs still work and I think the Everybody mini is the strongest set of tracks, of both mini and full album releases, they've had since the Romeo mini.
And you're welcome! I'm happy to see that this post didn't prove to be useless as I thought it would. Thanks for the interest, everyone!
Block B have excellent rappers. Glad to see they're still around. Very Good! ;)
posted by one teak forest at 1:14 AM on March 21, 2014
I hope for whatever they promote next in Korean, that it not be yet another leveling up of dance. Lucifer was already something else. I can't believe they managed to top Sherlock. Unnecessary.
Yeah, the push to up the dance level with each comeback is precisely the problem. Dance is a huge part of K-pop for me, probably the biggest reason why I follow it despite misgivings about the industry. Still, I wish the choreographers (and the honchos who hire them) would mind the distinction between pop groups and dance crews. Pop groups dance to help sell their songs, and not every member can handle pro-level choreography. Pop group routines should be choreographed to make the whole group look good.
"Sherlock" is a great group routine - as good as it gets for a 5-member group with one dance machine, imho. The bang open and bang close, the boisterous chorus dance that's not too difficult but looks awesome fun, and most importantly, the attention to each member's skill level and particular strength. Taemin the dance machine does not hog the focus, because as sharp and fierce as he moves, he doesn't seem to feel it much. Jonghyun has feelings in spades, in his dancing as well as his singing, so he stays in the center more. When the spotlight is on athletic Minho with the model figure, he poses and jumps over Key. No member looks like he's struggling to keep up or forced to tone down. I had so much good will for Tony Testa because of that routine and TVXQ's "Catch Me".... then 2013 happened. Ugh.
To be fair to Testa, he's not responsible for the arms race in dancing between K-pop groups. There are too many groups fighting for attention, and dancers keep getting better at younger ages (this is a worldwide phenomenon, but only K-pop is taking full advantage as an industry). Within SM, I feel that the tipping point was SM the Performance and/or Younique's Maxstep toward the end of 2012, when they got together dance machines from several groups to dazzle us. We were dazzled, so they decided that each group should aspire to that level of dance. Like, impossible much? "Wolf" embarrassed me so much that I steered clear of EXO for months (but failed to escape the constant cries from Exotics as one member after another got injured), and I still can't bring myself to watch TVXQ perform "Spellbound" live (the MV looks pretty great actually, but the routine is too intricate for live).
posted by fatehunter at 3:28 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, the push to up the dance level with each comeback is precisely the problem. Dance is a huge part of K-pop for me, probably the biggest reason why I follow it despite misgivings about the industry. Still, I wish the choreographers (and the honchos who hire them) would mind the distinction between pop groups and dance crews. Pop groups dance to help sell their songs, and not every member can handle pro-level choreography. Pop group routines should be choreographed to make the whole group look good.
"Sherlock" is a great group routine - as good as it gets for a 5-member group with one dance machine, imho. The bang open and bang close, the boisterous chorus dance that's not too difficult but looks awesome fun, and most importantly, the attention to each member's skill level and particular strength. Taemin the dance machine does not hog the focus, because as sharp and fierce as he moves, he doesn't seem to feel it much. Jonghyun has feelings in spades, in his dancing as well as his singing, so he stays in the center more. When the spotlight is on athletic Minho with the model figure, he poses and jumps over Key. No member looks like he's struggling to keep up or forced to tone down. I had so much good will for Tony Testa because of that routine and TVXQ's "Catch Me".... then 2013 happened. Ugh.
To be fair to Testa, he's not responsible for the arms race in dancing between K-pop groups. There are too many groups fighting for attention, and dancers keep getting better at younger ages (this is a worldwide phenomenon, but only K-pop is taking full advantage as an industry). Within SM, I feel that the tipping point was SM the Performance and/or Younique's Maxstep toward the end of 2012, when they got together dance machines from several groups to dazzle us. We were dazzled, so they decided that each group should aspire to that level of dance. Like, impossible much? "Wolf" embarrassed me so much that I steered clear of EXO for months (but failed to escape the constant cries from Exotics as one member after another got injured), and I still can't bring myself to watch TVXQ perform "Spellbound" live (the MV looks pretty great actually, but the routine is too intricate for live).
posted by fatehunter at 3:28 PM on March 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thanks for your thoughts w/r/t pop group and dance crew + Sherlock's routine, fatehunter. I've never made the distinction and I agree with it. Pop group routines, please!
I love the Catch Me choreography. I've avoided EXO for a variety of reasons, but you have me curious about "Wolf" live. Maybe I'll gather up the will to watch a couple performances of that. And Younique gave me a good laugh. I thought I'd like that project more than I actually did. I definitely agree that it was a tipping point. I'd forgotten about that unit.
For anyone who is interested, and especially Xere, the DVD commentary of One Fine Day has been put onto YT by a kindly fan! Unfortunately, it looks like the first (and best) subber for the first/original broadcast of the show had her account deleted, so one has to dig around a bit to find them. Or, if you want them from me, you can mefi-mail me and I'll see what I can do.
posted by one teak forest at 8:46 AM on March 23, 2014
I love the Catch Me choreography. I've avoided EXO for a variety of reasons, but you have me curious about "Wolf" live. Maybe I'll gather up the will to watch a couple performances of that. And Younique gave me a good laugh. I thought I'd like that project more than I actually did. I definitely agree that it was a tipping point. I'd forgotten about that unit.
For anyone who is interested, and especially Xere, the DVD commentary of One Fine Day has been put onto YT by a kindly fan! Unfortunately, it looks like the first (and best) subber for the first/original broadcast of the show had her account deleted, so one has to dig around a bit to find them. Or, if you want them from me, you can mefi-mail me and I'll see what I can do.
posted by one teak forest at 8:46 AM on March 23, 2014
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By the way, I'm pretty sure this (and the Gaga cover?) was lipsynched, so its inclusion doesn't make this post 100% live as I intended but I felt I had to include it. And if you've somehow managed to get through all the previous links, here's a (topless, so possibly NSFW!) performance of their cover of Internet War.
posted by one teak forest at 9:41 PM on March 19, 2014