Resa's Top 10 List of Kpop Dances

As you may know,  I have covered a number of Kpop dances and I realized I never shared my favorite dances.

When it comes pop idols, my personal preferred ranking or criteria include:

Top 10 Played Songs - Fall 2016

A while back, I wrote a list of my top 15 played songs of 2015. Well, that turned out quite well received and a couple people asked me to make another one for 2016. I will now do this seasonally, so here is my list of top 10 played songs of fall season 2016. Fun fact: none of the songs are later than 2013/2014. Yikes.

This time, in alphabetical order:

DGNA "Sad Story" (2013)- And this kicks off Flashback Friday, which is basically this entire list. I constantly adore DGNA because of their vocals and this particular song had been my favorite for a few months.

Evolution of Dance Covers (Summary)

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As some of you may know, I've been in various dance/masquerade competitions for a while, and Kpop competitions in particular since 2013. During which time the state of dance covers in general began to flourish and evolve. This will be a considerably more mixed personal post (even more so that fanaccounts and reviews) about this evolution, especially in the American internet. I will also be talking about Jpop and Kpop alongside each other.

Top 15 Played Songs of 2015

This is a quick summary of the top 10 songs I played in 2015. I have other plans for "2015 Review" type posts or videos, but they'll be coming soon/eventually. Note: not all the songs are from 2015- they just happened to be ones that I played.

1. Exo- El Dorado (2015)
I admit this is a guilty pleaser. The bridge, chorus, rap all blends together amazingly, a pleasant surprise since the original trailer in 2012. Bonus awesome dance that I eventually plan on covering.

Resa Reacts - Hithchiker's "Eleven" MV

I'm not a fan of music video reaction videos because it's simply not offering much info, but I wanted to slap out something about Kpop after writing soooo many unpublished reviews (really, I have about 101 published posts here and 68 drafts in the background of Kpop MV reviews... probably never to be finished).
So here you go, my first reaction video! (And not planning on making more of these).

As I stated, in the video, here are my theories about WTF is going on in the MV (both SM's & Original version)

Rania "Masquerade" Dance Cover

Breaking news...! I have a new kpop dance cover?!

Rania's "Masquerade", split screen version. I finally finally finished it. A solo practice version might be uploaded for practical performance purposes? More heartfelt details and how to do split screen covers below:

Official TV Debut!

I've officially debuted on TV!
The KPOP San Francisco Regional Contest 2014 is being aired on 24Hr Kpop, channel 32.6 for the next few days (July 24 to July 30), and my performance was aired last night on TV!

24hr Kpop, the TV station that broadcast the contest, also posted up links here. There is also a fancam of my performance here. Anyways, this is a clip of my interview and performance, and the actual full TV show as also been uploaded to Youtube at 7:15. In that show, they also have a freestyle dance break and I'm at 1:09:27.
Here's proof:

Excuse the extreme derpiness, but this is a necessary selca.

Summer 2014 Dance Cover Contests!

Hi everyone! As most of you probably know- I'm going to be joining multiple dance cover contests this summer! Mostly Jpop and Kpop and this post will be uploading all the lovely videos and how you can support! Thank you so much!

(1) Jpop Summit 2014
-Super Nuko World 

--You can go to my video and like/comment/share/subscribe/fun stuffs as well as the Jpop Summit page to boost my video!

(2) Coverdance Festival
- Before the Dawn (INFINITE) http://www.coverdance.org/contest/round1/685
- Sherlock (SHINee) - http://www.coverdance.org/contest/round1/1151
- Breathe (Miss A) - http://www.coverdance.org/contest/round1/1122
- I My Me Mine (4MINUTE) - http://www.coverdance.org/contest/round1/686

(3) Palo Alto Kpop Festival
- Love Like Oxygen (SHINee) - watch?v=1YnOK3zW-MA & watch?v=zi60dPJq8ak
- Love is Move (Secret) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_gugJCYkxs
- Goodbye Baby (Miss A) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uo-u9CRkNA
- Bad Girl Good Girl (Miss A) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5shvKhNTrQc

In the meantime, these are my other social media links!
Youtube (Vlogs, Dances)
Facebook - Resachiic
Twitter @resachiic

Infinite's New Subunit... Infinite-F

So, during Infinite's One Great Step Returns concert on February 28th and March 1st, 2014, they revealed an interesting surprise to us- the debut of Infinite F(ace/flower), a Myungsoo, Sungyeol, Sungjong subunit! (Should've been Infinite-M for maknae line).

I’m mega happy that Infinite’s maknae line finally gets a chance to shine by themselves officially. Sort of. However, much like Woohyun/Key’s subunit ToHeart, I feel like this is another Donghae/Eunhyuk subunit that’s just for fanservice and fun. (Minus the talent that ToHeart will have).

Infinite One Great Step San Jose Review/Fan Account [Resa]

Do Not Take Out Without Credit.
So now that I'm considerably more calmed down, I will attempt an unbiased fan account and review of Infinite's OGSSJ concert last night. It was my first any concert, and kpop concert at that, ever. So I kinda half guessed things to expect, but yea here goes nothing. :D

Sadly, the venue was big, but for a concert, it was pretty small. In fact there were two sections right up next to the stage that were completely empty, and only half the general admission pit was full. It also seemed like half the audience were parents or more casual friends dragged along by casual (or hardcore) Inspirits. So there was no gold ocean or very wild fans. Which I guess could be good for the sake of safety. I also couldn't hear if anyone actually did the fanchants, though I've a feeling the GA pit fans might have. Anyways, I was sitting in section 9, which was a direct, but very far back view of the stage. You can see how far I am from this photo I took. Security was really lax for me- I was able to sneak in two water full water bottles and my camera. And no one stopped me from taking photos xD.

Enough of that! Onto Infinite! Warning: Not in order.
Edit: Because I couldnt take any fancams myself, I'm making a list of fancams that I found here.

SHINee - "Everybody" MV [Review]

So SHINee came back a couple weeks ago with "Everybody" MV and I couldn't help cross-posting a review I made.

Basically this MV is two extremes: its either really bad or really good, not much in between.

Trouble Maker - '내일은 없어 (Now)' M/V - [Review]

Well. Looks like Cube achieved their desire for a 19+ MV, at least by Korean standards. Anyways, I feel like writing a spontaneous review.
     Compared to their first plot-based MV, this time I feel that the artistic direction was better and more cleverly shot even if the song and plot is just as shallow. That's probably one of the advantages of a music video over a TV show or movie and they were able to utilize it (adds another layer)! Awesome. SM can take a page or two out of their director's book (snickers at the Wolf/Growl drama MVs). So warning: spoilers below!

[Resa] Infinite - BTD Cover... in the Snow!

In Norwich, it snowed in January so I half-quickly grabbed this chance to cover a kpop dance related to winter/snow. :)

Why do people cover Kpop dances?

Hello everyone! This time I talk about why people cover Kpop dances?

SHINee Sherlock Freestyle Cover

Hey guys! Me and a friend participated in the SHINee Sherlock Cover Contest! We did a freestyle cover because there was no way we'd get it down in time and correctly, especially compared to all the other covers out there.
  Here's the video.
I also did a vocal cover with a Lunar☆ - you can watch that here.

 Please watch and support. Below is random ranting about the cover.

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So anyways, because we only had two people, even if we did learn it correctly, it wouldn't look quite as cool. So we decided to choreograph our own thing (yeah, not 100% freestyle, but the idea's there). I'm not telling you which one is me, but my friend, who has far more dance experience, choreographed the first 2/3 and the ending, and i choreographed the bridge. Honestly, I thought her ideas were amazing and, unfortunately, we had to change many things many times due to lack of time. When it came time for my part to choreograph... I honestly had no idea- I can only cover and be flexible at most. I ended up having to ask help everywhere and looked up a lot of my high school's dance company dances and kpop dance battles to get ideas. xD I guess I'm kinda proud of my first time choreographing something. (My shortcut? Make us do different things so that if we're off, its not obvious xD). Also, my friend had the brilliant of having us replicate the ideas in the music video, so we ended up being a burglar and a detective, searching for the jewelry (its hard to see- its actually a fake pocket watch), fighting, and then ending with a twist. So uh obviously, throughout we sprinkled "interaction" sequences that emulated fighting energy. However, one very unfortunate thing was that we couldn't pull everything together properly... in time. Thus, a big bummer was that we had to shoot it in segments and,especially towards the end, had to so so. many. retakes. And so we ended up having to wait until the 13th KST to shoot, and I just uploaded it today... Slight worry about whether or not it'll get in on time... 

So anyways, I hope you enjoy! And even if we don't win anything... well that'd be a bummer cause we worked ridiculously hard on this... :/

MVNEGood? Tablo "Tomorrow" & Jinwoon (2AM) "If Not Now" MVs Review

This week, we reviewed Tablo's "Tomorrow" and Jinwoon (2AM)'s "If Not Now". Review vlog link here. Extra footage here.

Final Verdict: "Jinwoon has a good video... The style of the mv seems to fit Jinwoon, especially the rock aspect (see "You Walking Towards Me"), and it's a creative mv, which coincides with how 2AM's mvs usually go since they're strictly a ballad group."

"Tomorrow" Final Verdict: "This is a good, simple video. The song's meaning is obvious, all the video's components match up with it, and it tightly wrapped up and well made. It's rather similar to Big Bang's "Love Song" so I'm wondering whats up with YG repeating a similar concept."

MVNEGood? SNSD "The Boys" & Secret "Love is Move" MVs Review

This week, we reviewed SNSD's "The Boys" and Secret's "Love is Move". Review vlog link here. Extra footage here.

Final Verdict: "Secret has a good video. Everything is coherent, looks nice, matches, and their style is still the same."

"The Boys" Final Verdict: "This video has fallen into Super Junior video formula trap. It has great art direction for separate individual members and moments. However, SM has made a big mistake by randomly tossing those gorgeous scenes with modern sets with electro-pop music. Major disappoint."

MVNEGood? JYJ "Get Out" MV Review

This week, we reviewed JYJ's "Get Out" MV. Review vlog link here. Extra footage here.

T.S.AAV Final Verdict: "By far this is JYJ's most improved music video. The video's story seems rather shallow to me due the larger amount of relevant dance/singing shots."

Rayestar Final Verdict: "Better than Ayyy Girl by far, and it's simple and easy to understand without the dramatics.

MVNEGood? Brown Eyed Girls "Sixth Sense" MV Review

This week, we reviewed Brown Eyed Girls "Sixth Sense" MV. Review vlog link here. Bloopers here.

T.S.AAV Final Verdict: "Artistically, I think this video (and the song) is very well done. Great symbolism, art direction, costumes, set, etc. The only issue I have, is the fact that this is highly highly manufactured to imitate a Western MV. Nothing wrong with that, it just sort of raises the question of whether or not, then, all those protest songs from America and Europe actually mean anything anymore if an entertainment company can just produce one. "

Rayestar Final Verdict: "I wonder what the budget was for the video. The music video itself was great in terms of symbolism and overall visual, but the comeback itself is clearly lacking both music and dancing."

Infinite - Paradise MV Review

T.S.AAV Review Only. Look forward to my vlog version.

-To quote a YouTube comment: For those of you who want to know what the MV means... basically the boys have well, died, and this girl is still waiting for them. They're begging her to move on or accept it. The train represents the journey to Paradise, and at the end, she walks out of the house, basically saying, goodbye. and thats why when she looks back L's not there.

>Lovely interpretation, thank you. 

-I REALLY love the song. I don't really like the video. This kind of gives away my age, but the chorus really reminds me of Pokemon. You know that really old 1st episode in the original english dub Pokemon anime, when Ash is rescuing Pikachu for the 1st time in the rain…. this sounds like it. A lot. 

-It's really high tho, I wonder if they'll be able to hit it live. Nonetheless, Im really beginning to love their 90s pop music style.

-Sungyeol and Sungjong still have the least lines, but when Sungyeol is singing... you see the girl more clearly than him, whereas you see Sungjong singing + closeup...

-The flashing lights inside the bus goes with the beat and that.is.lovely. Also makes it appear that they are moving.

-Inside the house, its also great that each time she passes by a member, he's initially in the dark or on the floor (in Sungjong's scene, I like to think that under the cloth is actually his body and the one sitting is his ghost)

-One thing that really urks me about Infinite is that they tend to look the same- their hairstyles are either slicked up/back or bangs swept to one side. This also happened in their other videos, which is why it's so hard for me to distinguish them apart. Which is ridiculous cause Super Junior, which has 13-15 members still manages to look completely different from each other.