End of the Year Special: KBS Gayo Daejun 2012

Opening: The opening performance was very KBS. The dark lighting, the unimpressive stage and a camera being caught by the current camera. Kikwang looked surprising well. Son Dambi looked pretty. I didn’t like Hyuna’s performance because the pre-recorded Hyunas dancing on the screen didn’t match with the Hyuna dancing on stage. It was too distracting for me. I know it happens a lot, but still. I don’t like it.

Miss A:

There was nothing really special about this performance. It felt like another promotional performance. The dance break didn’t seem forced, but it did seem like they added one just because an end of the year special calls for a dance break or a remix. Their voices were very dull. They were just there. I liked the fabric design of their stage clothes though.

B1A4:

I’m not a fan of this group and I don’t know anything about them. What caught my attention was some guy entering the stage on a toy car wearing a jacket with giant pink feathers on the shoulders. Then to continue being a fashion terrorist, during the song, he puts on a shimmering black jacketover his pink feather jacket. Gross. I’m assuming the dance break isn’t part of the original song because that was so out of place. It didn’t even fit in with the style of the song. Awful song too.

T-ara:

I did like how they started off different with a runway and you could tell who were the members and who were the backup dancers based on the different style of masks they wore. The new girl had the best energy out of all of them, which isn’t saying much because all of them were dead. The remix was okay. I think I like it more than the original, but I hate the original. Although I praised them a little for being different in the beginning, still a boring performance. Tough year for them.

2AM:

Very 2AM. Nothing special either. It kind of felt like a Goodbye Stage or maybe a Whatever Stage.

Secret:

Get well soon, Zinger. For those that don’t know, Secret is a 4-member girl group, not 3. Finally, a decently entertaining performance. Well, it didn’t get interesting until Talk That. Poor backup dancers, having to hold that coffin-like thing while the girls squirm to strip their jackets. I’m a little disappointed the Sunhwa wasn’t lifted up during her part - I like that part. I don’t know if it was the video, but Jieun had dark circles of death. Hyosung had the best energy as she usually does. Jieun seemed a little dead at the beginning, but then found some energy as the performance went on. The male dancers inTalk That are just in the back standing and occasionally rocking the coffin back and forth, lol. Compared to the other previous performances, I enjoyed this one and the girls did well without Zinger.

Hyorin&Park Juwon:

Nothing to do with the performance, but that is one ugly dress Hyorin is wearing. It’s also interesting how Hyorin is all dressed up and Juwon is in casual clothes. She’s a good singer and she did well in this performance. Nothing spectacular, just typical Hyorin. I didn’t find it as amazing as her singing other songs. I don’t know anything about guitars, but I have to say, I loved watched Park Juwon enjoy himself on the guitar. There was a close up on the guitar and I liked that there seemed to be some sort of scratch marks on the guitar. It made me feel like he’s been playing a really long time with that guitar.

K.Will&Kwon Soonhwon:

This was nice. I like K.Will so that helped. Nothing to say, nothing to criticize. It was nice.

Ailee&Kim Kyu Shik:

Wow. A cello. I love how they sound. Plus 1. I loved this. I know she did a cover for Halo before, but I found this one so much better. I like her hair better here. Another beautiful cover by Ailee.

Son DamBi:

Yay! Another interesting performance. I didn’t like how her clothes glowed though. I guess it looks better in real life than on camera. I didn’t like how she was behind that container for that long either. Partially because of her glowing clothes which made it hard for me to actually focus. Her backup dancers’ clothes are horrible. The performance itself was good. At least it wasn’t dreadfully boring.

Teen Top:

Haha, a little Michael Jackson going on in the beginning. Before anything, I’m not a fan of Teen Top and know nothing of them. Whoever it was that sang first has a horrible voice. The camera bothers me a little in this performance. Okay, horrible performance. Skip. I went to the end to get their pose and what’s with the angle. You only really see two members.

Suzy vs. Hara:

Hara is so short and skinny compared to Suzy, haha. I hate how during the transition from Hara to Suzy, the cameraman decided to focus on a random part of the stage. Oh, KBS. I have to say that Hara won. There’s noif’s, and’s, or but’s about it for me. Hara wore sneakers which is the smarter choice if you’re doing a dance battle, in my opinion. Suzy’s choreography was way to sexy for her and it was uncomfortable to watch. She didn’t seem comfortable either. Hara had more feel to her moves and stage presence. Although there was a lot of waves in her choreography. Suzy just did the moves and had the attitude oflook, I’m moving around making motions. I’m dancing.

Beast:

Why did Yoseob hold his mic like that? Okay, I was getting really tired of these lackluster performances. The moment I saw them I was already thinking this would be boring because they looked dead as well. But then, yay, Beast! They jumped off the stage and to the audience. Just when I was thinking,they used to be so much more energetic and lively on stage. I’m so proud. It got energetic after that. With them telling the audience to put their hands in the air and to scream.The stage even lifted them up. Excited. Yay. Good for them. Aw, and they’re the first ones to say ‘Happy New Year’ too.

Dynamic Duo:

I thank them for keeping the energy up after Beast. I was really worried that the next performance would be boring again, but nope. They were jumping and engaging with the audience. But as rappers, I suppose that expected? Either way, whoo! Wow, but just because those two are jumping does mean the camera has to shake. This was really good, you can even see that the audience was enjoying it. This is the energy everyone should have had.

Idol Super Band:

Why were the members in this band introduced as stuffed potato-with-hair dolls? Yoseob’s eye shadow is pretty. For a girl. Jonghyun was the most energetic out of the three vocalists. I wonder how his jacket stayed out his shoulder. Is it pinned? During the performance, I paid attention to the band behind the vocalists because the vocalists were just okay. Nothing exciting. Until Jonghyun. He made me pay attention to the singers. Taemin looked so bored, but then he was so cute during his small solo. Minhyuk is so cute. I love drummers. Wow, L, that smirk. Hello. I’m not a fan of the group you belong in, but hello. Jinwoon and JinYoung were the two invisible members of the band.

Return to the 90’s:

Aw, I like it when juniors perform songs of their seniors. It was pretty interesting how they had more energy in this performance than when they were performing their own songs. I loved the end when they all got together and performed with Moon Heejun. It was a little messy at the end though. People were getting in each other’s way and some of them had some problems going to the front. Or it could all be because of the camera. I liked this special stage.

Trouble Maker:

Not even for a end of the year special will I hear Hyuna sing in this song. I can’t hear anything from her. She’s a backup dancer for Hyunseung. If you pretend that her mic is an unfortunate face blemish then she’s just the main female backup dancer or a trainee, which is why she gets lots of face time. Hyunseung on the other hand, was fabulous. Even with his ear piece swinging every which way, he didn’t mind it one bit. His weird moves near the end of the performance was quite…interesting though, lol. No.

K.Will:

Ew, the things on his clothes needs to disappear. I love the band feel on this performance. Haha, his dancing’s so cute. Two performances with him and both of them have pleased me.

Shinee:

As much as I shouldn’t be judgmental…or…mean. The lady that appears in the beginning of the performance. HELLO. Wow. She looks so bored and mean. I hope she still enjoyed herself. Shinee, what are you wearing? Onew, what is that dangling from your butt. Moving on. I can always count on Shinee to prepare a good stage. Something about them. In these types of stages, they always deliver. One of the best performances so far. Clap clap.

Sistar:

The floor dance was so awkward. I don’t like revealing clothes, but I liked what Sistar was wearing. I’d like it better if they were wearing something more than a bra under there. The performance itself was lacking a little energy and watching this right after Shinee’s performance didn’t help. Compared to some of the other performances though, this was acceptable.

CN Blue:

Wow, Jonghyun is really enjoying the stage. They all look really lively up there, but Jonghyun stood out for me. I actually wanted to skip this performance because I wasn’t a huge fan of CN Blue anymore and I wasn’t familiar with this song, but I’m glad I didn’t. I was doing a mini dance in my chair while watching. Aww, they’re all giddy up there. They’re seriously enjoying performing, aren’t they?

Noel:

I think their performance was nicely placed so that it was after a lot of idols. Their music isn’t dance music so the audience can get a chance to reel in from their crazy spazzing to just relax and listen to calm music.

Brave Guys:

Aaaand back to the upbeat, get-off-of-your-seat-and-scream performance. I think the saying save the best for last means something in this Gayo Daejun because all the entertaining and energetic performances are in part two. Haha, and they do some gags too.

Ailee:

I love when this girl sings. Not only does she sing well, but she enjoys it. She performs so well. She knows that she a soloist and no one’s there to pick up her flaws, she’s got to do it all. And she does.

Infinite:

Someone has something on his hair. Is that an accessory or is it dyed that way? I’m not a fan of Infinite either, but I was able to watch the whole performance unlike Teen Top and B1A4 because Infinite wasn’t dead. Oh man, the green light show. I hate it. Not just in this performance, I don’t like it in general. Above average performance, I suppose.

Kara:

The dance is the beginning was much better than the dance break during the song. I love how for the next 4 minutes, they were on stage knowing that they owned the stage. It wasn’t a magnificent stage, but I never expect one from KBS.

Super Junior:

Okay, it’s hard enough to keep track of who’s who with an army, it doesn’t help when the cameraman is having a party. The remix. No. What is that. I don’t approve. It’s just a clash of songs. They looked really cool in the very beginning but as soon as they started performing…what happened. Like Shinee, Super Junior usually has unique stages, not this time. Are they missing Leeteuk?

DBSK/TVXQ:

I hate what they’re wearing. Did they run out of fabric. They missed a spot on the back. There’s a really close close-up of Yunho’s face. Their performance was really good, but that’s expected of them now. They did pretty well.

Ending: Everybody on stage singing together. The typical ending.

And of course, the MCs for the night.

Overall: It just another KBS Gayo Daejun. Meaning it was whatever. It was very Music Bank style and I don’t like that style. The dark stages and the drunk cameramen. The performances itself are never great from KBS Gayo Daejun so it wasn’t surprising that I didn’t enjoy it. In general, nothing was special.

-Cassis-