EXO's Miracles in December

Hi, all! I've been MIA, I know, but it seems like this blog is doing well even without us constantly updating? Anyways, I'll join Alikiya later, and make a end-of-semester post talking about my courses and profs!

For now, I wanna talk about EXO's new mini-album that I've had on repeat for the past week or so.

K-Pop Fanatic Confessions

Since I started following unpopularkpop-opinions on Tumblr, I've seen a lot of confessions that I always wanted to respond to, but I didn't want to come off as being disrespectful (like so many of the other repliers I've seen), so I figured I'll just compile some here. Because I can totally appear rude here, right?

Let's start with some of my own confessions:

 [x]

So there's this girl I know. I wouldn't exactly call her a "friend", but we've spoken quite a few times during our high school days and we're on good terms with each other. So we follow each other on Twitter, and sometimes I just can't stand her tweets about K-Pop. She's said stuff like (not direct quotes), "EW why is this store playing SNSD omfg like i can't stand it i need to block this off from my ears ughh" or, "OMG B2ST <3 but i dont really like junhyung tbh and ew hyunseung wtf your hair is gross omfg yoseob stop being so manly and go back to being cute"

QUUUUURL, it's fair that you don't like SNSD, but that was just rude and uncalled for. If it bothers you so much, step out of the store then. Also, how can you so often claim to like this band, but hate this member, be bothered by this member, etc? Just enjoy the music then.

I'm Junhyung biased, but I love all the other members as well!

[x]

Everyone's always talking about how EXO is untalented and they're all just pretty boys, but I mean, I personally do feel that everyone's talented in their own way. They may not be the best at what they do, but it doesn't mean that everyone has to live up to your expectations of what a good singer/rapper/dancer is, right?

EXOtics haters. Where do I even start?

Let's begin with, "Stop calling yourselves EXOtics. it sounds pretentious/cocky. Besides, it's not even official that your group will be called EXOtics anyways. Just call yourselves 'EXO fans'". OK ASSWAD, first of all, a person can call themselves whatever they please. If they want to call themselves EXOtics, then who are you to tell them to stop? If calling yourself EXOtic sounds pretentious, then what about B2UTYs? VIPs? And lastly, the name EXOtics has been used for so long, that it might as well be the official name anyways. We're not going to stop calling ourselves that, and there's no reason why we need to type another character to express what fan-group we're a part of.

 
Then there's, "EXOtics are so annoying! They're all sasaeng fans. They're rude, obnoxious, elitists, and just so annoying! I can't stand them." Alright pal, can't stand them? Sit down then. Let me give you a nice coaching on common sense. If you feel like they're doing something wrong, tell them nicely. If you just can't stand to be around them, leave. Overgeneralizing just makes you seem like a douche. I mean, it's kind of like being racist, no? "Oh, all Asians have small eyes!" I mean, have you SPOKEN with all the EXOtics? Are they all really that unintelligent and annoying? I beg to disagree.

Lastly, the famous, "I'm an EXOtic, but I would never admit to it because being one is so embarrassing." I... actually don't even know what to say to this one. What's more shameful? Being an EXOtic? Or trying to hide something that you enjoy?

Totally irrelevant image, but this has me dying every. single. time.

I have a ton of other confessions of my own, but I'll stop with those two. I'm gonna go through some of other people's confessions now. I'm too lazy to read and link each and every one, so I'm gonna summarize: 

"I don't like that HyunA is made to look so slutty/sexy for their concepts. She should just be herself; she's so cute in real life, they should just let her do that."

To be honest, I think the biggest appeal of HyunA isn't that she's sexy. It's that she can do the sexy thing so well despite being a really cute and dorky girl. It really makes her stand out against other idols who can't really seem to be able to pull off a bunch of different concepts. Or at least, that's why I like HyunA.

"SM is not promoting f(x) very well. They're like the forgotten group. If they can't do it, then f(x) should just leave and go to a company that actually cares about them." 

I'm sorry, but at what point do these people become marketing experts? Just because f(x) has yet to reach SNSD or Super Junior level in popularity, doesn't mean that SM is doing a bad job? I mean how many groups out there really has reached those insanely popular levels? I don't know, maybe it's because I'm just being ignorant to the fact that they are being ignored. But at the same time, f(x) is still one of the top girl groups, no? But since you propose that solution, what other company do you think can honestly do a better job? What other company doesn't already have their own baggage trying to put their own girl group on top? Which company has the resources to get f(x) on top then? I just feel like each member has their own stuff going on. Without SM, do you think these five girls would be MCing? Taking on lead roles in dramas? Musicals? But hey, if you can make a valid proposal, I'll totally listen.

Responding to these are getting tiring, so here's some confessions I agree with: 

Alright, there's actually a lot more, but I'll stop here for now.

All photos are from unpopularkpop-opinions on Tumblr! Follow them if you have the time! Some of the opinions on there that are submitted will have you face-palming, but it's always interesting to see other people's comments towards K-pop (at least for me)!

Anyways, school is starting soon and I have to get cracking with packing and other crap.

SEE YA SOON GUYS!




- Dee

EXO - Happy Camp (快樂大本營) on 130706

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD


So after almost a month of postponing the broadcast, the episode for EXO on Happy Camp has finally been aired! The English subbed version might not be out right now, but by the time I finish this post, it might be. You hardcore EXOtic subbers out there. I see you. Last night, I watched the episode on TV, because we have this box thing that gives us access to shows that are shown in China. It's pretty good since we get to watch the episodes the same day it's aired!

HEADING INTO THE SHOW...

I felt like this episode really brought out the EXO-K member's variety show skills. If you're watching this show for Lay, Luhan, or Kai, you're out of luck because those three barely showed up. The whole episode basically centered around Kris, D.O., Tao, Suho, and Chanyeol. The rest of the members I didn't mention got some camera time, but not too much. Nonetheless, I still thought this episode was the best one that EXO has filmed with Happy Camp. It was really cute and funny, so I decided to point out some highlights!

So EXO came out with their performance of "Wolf" in Chinese. Pretty much expected...

As much as I love Happy Camp, there's just one thing I can't stand. I hate the bright-ass lights that they use for performances. There's hardly ever a good, clear shot of a member's face before some sort of bright-light special effect kicks in and ruins the shot. Thus, excuse my crappy ass screenshot. They looked better on TV.

 

So, during their introductions, Nana (one of the hosts) was saying Luhan doesn't really look like a wolf, but more like a little cat. So they told Luhan to do a scary wolf expression, and they'd make scary wolf sound effects for him. As soon as Luhan made the face, Nana meow'd like a cute little cat.

One of the best parts of the show was when they shrunk D.O. with special effects. When everyone was introducing themselves, Baekhyun, Chen, and Kris decided that they would mess with D.O. and announce that they too were also main vocals. Aside from Chen, Baek is actually a lead vocal, and Kris is mainly a rapper. So with the overcrowding amount of main vocalists sprouting up, the hosts said that it seems like D.O. is just getting shorter and shorter. 

So they decided to let those four have a little competition. Everyone sang a snippet of "Baby, Don't Cry", which prompted Kris to ask, "Is it ok if I sing in a lower pitch?" Yes, babe, of course you can. 

 

Then because Kris would have clearly failed as a main vocalist next to those three, he tried out as our lead dancer. They brought out Kai, one of the main dancers of EXO, who danced to Wolf. Kris failed three times in a row. First time, he somehow got confused, so he did some weird little freestyle thing. Second time, his hand got stuck/accessories started flying about. Then, he just completely missed the part of the song he was supposed to dance to since it took him so long to get ready. Remember, dumbzhang, I still love you.

Kris realizing he messed up, prompting everyone behind him to
collapse from laughter.

Then, they had this mini segment where they asked the members, "If you could go back in time, at what age/time would you go to?" I just want to take a moment to forget what they answered with, and just take a look at Chanyeol's baby picture. 

Chanyeol's baby picture.
ISN'T HE JUST THE CUTEST?!

Lay said he would have wanted to go back to when he was in his pre-teens (when he was a child star). He would have wanted to partake in more shows, so that he would have more clips to show everyone now. He also wanted to learn more from Weijia ge (one of the hosts of Happy Camp, who used to host other shows that Lay was on before). Oh my God, Lay, you sure know how to butter someone up, eh? Darling is so good with words. Then, as one of the main dancers of the group, Lay did a little freestyle dance for us which was the sexiest thing my eyes have seen. 

Then, Tao's response was my personal favourite. He said he wanted to go back to last year when he was on the show with only EXO-M. He said he felt like he came off really "silly/stupid" at that time. 

Why I think this was the best answer was because Tao used the term     

"傻不啦叽" (sa bu la ji). It's a term that mostly people from the NorthEast of China use. It's actually a term that I've grown up saying. I really love it when Tao accidentally let's his Shandong dialect slip out 'cause I think it's absolutely charming and it really makes him special!

Then, Tao did a little Korean rap for us. But it failed multiple times. He had apparently actually prepared a "surprise" along with the rap. Surprise? No wait, I meant 色卜瑞丝 (su pu rui si). Dear, your English is charming, you know that? Finally though, with Chanyeol beatboxing and Kris joining in the rap, Tao finished his su pu rui si rap. 

After this, Happy Camp put up 12 poles for the EXO members to stand near depending on their rank for certain titles. The first one was "the most immature member". Person at the #1 spot was most immature, and person at #12 was the most mature. 

Xiumin ended up claiming the 12th position. HE WAS SO CUTE HUGGING THE TALL POLE ALL CONFUSED.

Chanyeol and Tao were then dragged to the front by Chen, despite their protests, with Chanyeol as #1 and Tao as #2. When Luhan was asked who was in the wrong spot, he answered with, "Chanyeol and Tao". Tao, thinking that he had a chance to be put towards the end of the line (closer to the mature end), Luhan stated, "Tao is actually #1".

Poor Tao.
Stabbed right in the heart by his hyung, Luhan.

Next, it was "who's best at charming the ladies". In a secret vote before the show aired, almost everyone voted for Kris, who ended up winning the #1 spot. Like last time, Tao was not pleased. At the behind-the-scenes voting, Tao stated, 

"What does he have that makes people look at him and not me? Really, I'm pretty handsome too. There really isn't much difference between us. Sometimes, I think people are looking at me (when I'm out with Kris), but then I see their line of vision, and I end up being wrong. They were actually looking at Kris. Honestly, I'm a bit jealous. But I mean, I'm not that bad either. I think everyone can tell, just by looking, who really is the most handsome."

Stroking the face he's so proud of.

Then, they dragged Chanyeol down from the #1 spot to allow Kris to step up. He Jiong (main host) asked Chanyeol and Kris to comment on how they felt about their current position (Kris as #1 and Chanyeol was moved to #6), Chanyeol decided to answer this with a skit. Unfortunately, no one really understood what the skit had to do with anything. Poor Sehun and Luhan was dragged into it too.

Chanyeol asking for 100 bottles of beer in Mandarin.

Last question was: "Who's the biggest scaredy-cat/who get's scared the easiest?" Suho got the #1 spot. To help him overcome this, they played the trust game in which Suho stood on a higher platform and would fall backwards into the arms of his members. 

Poor guy was so scared, and you could see how worried he was with the look in his eyes. When a helper stepped off the platform, Suho was quick to ask, "Where are you going!?" in Mandarin, begging for them to not leave his side and to help him with the fall. 

Suho gave a very touching speech after the members caught his fall.

Afterwards, they played a game that split them into teams. Somehow it ended up being the short-team vs. the tall-team. And even though my biases were all in the tall-team, I was definitely rooting for the short-team because they were too funny!

He Jiong as "Snow White" and his 7 dwarfs.
Sehun and Kai crouching a bit to match their heights, LOL!

The fall of the tall team.

Short team's awesome teamwork vs. Kris
Xiumin as mother hen! Great leading, Xiumin!

Tall team (losers) forced to carry short team and do 5 squats.
Hai Tao (host) dropped Chen.
I mean... "Chne".

Lay had to carry Weijia (host).
Apparently Lay did well in the beginning but started making
constipated noises towards the end.
Weijia's face as he makes the noises, LOL!

And that was basically the whole episode!

There was a lot more funny parts, but I didn't want to make this post longer than it already was! If you're a fan of EXO, or you're just starting to get into them, watch this episode! You won't get to know all the members really well because only a few got to shine, but it's a really funny episode. 

Normally, I don't really care much for members like Suho, Xiumin, or D.O., but I feel like this episode really let them shine, and they were really funny and cool. It seemed like the EXO-K members really had a good time, so I'm glad they enjoyed themselves even though they're not great with the language.

Anyways, EXO's episode for "Weekly Idol" is coming up soon! I can't wait! 

- Dee