SMTown's I AM, the movie

A little late but I just saw I AM, the movie from SM Entertainment at the HIFF.  Go and see it, if....

If one of your favorite idol group is either Super Junior, SHINee, TVXQ, Girls Generation, f(x), Kanta or BOA and you have never gone to any of their concerts.  Actually, you should see it on the big screen if you haven't seen their concerts.  It shows some of their concert performances of their popular songs and it is like being at their concert. Plus, you get up close shots of their performances.  It helps if you sit a little back and you have a bunch of fans in the first six or seven rows screaming when the group performs on stage.  It's like being in the front row at a real concert.  It felt amazing.

If you're a fan of any of those groups, then you should see this movie. You get to see their pre-debut days and how they auditioned and practiced.  They were so young, normally around 14-15 yrs old.  They are interviewed and they explained how they felt auditioning, performing and practicing.  There were times I got all teary eyed because of how hard they practiced and how much they love their families and the sacrifices they made.

If you're into Kpop, then you should see this movie.  I would think in any of the Korean groups or idols in any of the companies feel the same way,auditioning and practicing in a similar fashion.  Watching them and listening to them is a little heartbreaking.  It really made me appreciate all the hard work they have done.

One thing I felt sad about was Kangta and Boa.  When they appeared on screen, there weren't any screaming fans in the theatre for them.  They were popular back in the day.  I discovered H.O.T. just last year, so I pretty much knew about Kanta.  I knew of BOA just because she's in the SM company and I recognized the name.  I hope the fans went home to look up Kanta.  I believe H.O.T. was the reason why Kpop groups continued on until today.

I would love to go and see the movie again.  The DVD and Blu-ray box set was released on Oct 3rd. I think it's a set I would love to own and if you're a fan you would too.

Source: SHINee Forum International
Photo: Korean Updates

H.O.T. - debuted 16 years ago

After my first post on H.O.T., I didn't realize that it's been 16 years since their debut, Sept 7, 1996.  A fan had sent Jang Woo Hyuk an anniversary cake celebrating their debut.

The boy band is considered the forerunners of the Korean idol groups.  They were created by the chairman of SM Entertainment.

Members "Sexy Guy" Kangta was the first member and the leader.  "Radiant" Moon Hee Jun was the second member to join and he also had his friend "Shy Guy" Lee Jae Won to audition and then became the third member.  "Wild Guy" Woo Hyuk became the fourth member of HOT after he won a dance contest.  "Mood Guy" Tony An auditioned in LA along with Andy Lee and won the fifth spot.  Andy Lee later became a member of Shinwha.

There's talk of a reunion since last year, since the final member completed his military duty . It would be really nice to see them together.  I don't know if it will come true since there were issues between the company and the members when they disbanded after 5 years.

In any case, in celebration of their debut, here's Full of Happiness, just because Super Junior did a remake of this song.  We are the Future was considered one of their best songs.  My favorite song is Candy.

I don't own this video. Credit: mutjinnamja88 from SM Entertainment.  Sorry for the quality. =/

Photo Source: Allkpop

H.O.T. Candy

I just needed to share as I was looking at some videos in YouTube.

I had this one as one of my favorites.  H.O.T. - High-Five of Teenagers.  They were so popular during their time.  I think I found this last year because SHINee did a cover of this song on a SBS show.  SHINee looked so cute in their big puffy mittens.  Too bad they didn't sing the whole song.

So, of course, I had to find the original group who sang "candy".   I came to love this song as well.  The members are Kangta the leader, Hee Jun, Woo Hyuk, Jae Won and Tony.  When "candy" first came out they were so young, younger than their performance in this video.

When I first saw Hee Jun I thought he was just a MC or Korean comedian.  I didn't know he was an idol.  I just saw him in so many variety shows.  He was funny so I thought he was a comedian.

Kang Ta still sings for SM Entertainment and still tours with SMTown.

Tony, just left his 1.5 year position as MC for Mnet's M! Countdown.

They had many hits after Candy, We are the Future, Warrior's Decendant, Haeng Bok Full of Happiness (which Suju redid).

I wish I had their song on my iPod but I just have to settle for this YouTube video.

There were many covers of Candy from Big Bang, Infinite, TeenTop but my favorite is SHINee. Too bad JongHyun didn't perform.

I do not own these videos.
Credit: misquesis for HOT video and mrsrehmacmd for SHINee cover.