Friday Music Favourites, 2 December - MAMA 2016

My dear O.!

It's Friday again and I must confess that I have been wondering what kind of music to write about for several weeks. Apart from the many songs of the Bangtan Boys, there weren't many new additions and I didn't want to bore you with (many) old pieces. 

But today is different, today is a day for the MAMA Awards. The event is really fresh and finished before a couple of hours (I was still at work and decided to log on to Twitter to see the trends, news and photos - big mistake!), so I am not going to give a very detailed summary of it. It will be a brief and biased glorification of some of my favourite artists and my joy of the awards they took. (Update: Or simply a post to celebrate BTS' existence, as it turned out to be). If I have time the next days, I will look for more videos and, maybe, write again. [Update from Christmas: Since I didn't have the time, I didn't write more, so I hope that you will forgive me for that.]

First, I have to mention that the artists from YG Ent didn't take part due to being busy preparing for comebacks (no Big Bang or iKON, for example). And, from what I have seen, not many of the SM Ent groups were there as a whole (no SNSD or SHINEe, just Taemin, but I am grateful!). Although EXO was there and I think that they were regarded as one of the big stars of the event - something like VIP among VIPs (no relation to the Big Bang fanbase). Anyway, I think that the absence of heavy popular singers, so to say, gave a little more space for other artists to be seen and heard - some fresh air and new, lighter energy. 

Okay, so let's start the fangirling... BANGTAAAN! Yay! They won a daesang (grand prize)! Artist of the year! They also won Best Dance Performance (for a male group) before winning the grand prize mentioned just now. And their producer also won an award! I'm really proud of them! Their performances are the ones I am going to post here tonight. Really energetic and passionate! I hope that they will be like this for many years! 

I am really sad that I can't find the exact beginning of their first performance, where, as I saw for a brief moment, Jungkook was hanging from above with hologram-like feathers floating around him and it looked stunning, but the other part of the video won't disappoint you also. J-hope's solo, combined with Jimin's light voice and both of them dancing amazingly... In perfect harmony. Lovely! And, of course, followed by Blood, Sweat and Tears.

Aah, Fire! My ringtone when granny calls me, hahaha! The prelude of the video is something that many fans were delightfully shocked to watch, as Twitter was literally burning this afternoon with comments and photos of Tae's well-done make-up of broken (or should I say torn or ripped out?) wings on his naked (oh, my!) back. I must say that his face was no joke. He will make his acting debut in a drama I am excitingly expecting this month and, from what I have seen from him during the past weeks, this guy has a lot of potential. I hope that my expectations won't be destroyed, as they were (partially) ruined when I saw EXO's Baekhyun in the first episodes of Scarlet Heart. So, yes, apart from the (typical) fanservice, they took the concept to a deeper, yet safe and aesthetic level. The rest of the video is history - energy and fun and you can see that they are really enjoying themselves. Fire is a song they really like to perform and you can feel it - despite the sweat and the exhausting dance moves, they are going crazy about it. Bonus: GOT7's Jackson and BamBam's reaction around the second minute is priceless!

Also, this:

Hahaaa, Tae-Tae! :D

[Update from Christmas: Here is the full version of their performance where you can see the exact beginning. Awesome!]
I will continue with another favourite boy band - EXO. Well, since I am too old to participate in any kind of fan wars, the whole complaining I saw in some tweets - about who does deserve more each award - was new to me. Even if I was younger, the society we grew up didn't teach us to be so fierce... Maybe we have other ways to show our love. But that's another topic. I always read about the consequences of the constant arguing and wars among the different fandoms, but never I have experienced it first hand and I hope that I will never have to. 

Anyway, back to EXO.

I was disappointed, O. They look very tired and lifeless. I know that they try to look tough, but that's too much. I don't know, that's what I feel. I think that they need a break for a while. The remix of Transformer was good - the background sounds sound better than the original ones, but their voices... sound bored. Monster was more filled with life, but, again, nothing can excite me in their performance. Even Baek's solo dance at the end wasn't so surprising. I may look like I have lost my interest in them, but if you look at their previous MAMA performances, you will see the difference. I hope that it won't last long. I am glad that they also won a daesang and that they are now approved as big stars and are not rookies anymore, but I hope that they won't lose their charm and energy. 

Taemin! He won the Best Solo Dance Performance award and his performance was epic! As I said above, he was the only member of SHINEe to attend the ceremony, which was pretty sad. And, I must say, that even there are new bands such as BTS (which I now adore), SHINEe will be forever my first k-pop love. They have this special place in my heart and seeing even one of them winning an award is something that makes me really happy and proud. Taemin deserves his award, for he is such a great dancer and singer and I know that he works really hard and continues to do so.

Well...This publication is meant to be a Friday post, but it is already Saturday. So I will stop here, with the plan to write again. Two more things: 

1. BTS reaction to Gallant (I hope that this video won't be deleted; you can search for it with these key words).

This is one of those songs I sent to you as a link to listen to via Skype a couple of weeks ago. I watched an interview of BTS and they were asked about their favourite singer in the US. V (Taehyung) mentioned Gallant and when I heard Weight in Gold, I was immediately drawn to it. I have never imagined that they will meet their favourite singer (especially Tae), so it's very interesting and funny to watch them. Actually, him, Taehyung. Watch him. He knows every single word and sings it, even the more improvised parts. His solo, Stigma, which I mentioned in my second post about them, has the similar vibe of Weight in Gold, although his voice is much milder. The other members are too ashamed to fully admit they enjoy Gallant's performance, although you can see that they like it. Haha, pure fanboys!

2. BTS Daesang Artist of the Year MAMA 2016.

This. Their speech, their emotions. Their pure hearts. They deserve it! Thank you, BTS, for bringing so much joy and positivism in my life!

"Let's fly with our beautiful wings in 2017 as well."