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sugar-petals · 11 days ago

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a taemin-appreciating loveletter on XLOV going viral with “1&only” right now as a genderless concept group which i absolutely love! have you seen how incredible they are? at a first glance i could already feel that they can shake things up, make a difference and enter a new, exciting cultural trajectory. and that was just the first watch. it gets even better from there! XLOV just leaves you wanting more immediately: the outfits, the dance, the sets, the beat, and so many killing choreo parts it’s ridiculous. what - or who - led to this beautiful culmination of art, kpop history-wise? i think we all know.

i wish i could thank taemin and shinee every day as due to their pervasive influence, kpop (think hyunjin, jimin, chungha, kai, haechan and more mentioning taemin’s impact on them) is so ahead of the curve and a female or neutral gaze on things is pretty much established, breaking the mold is celebrated, both a rarity. a group like this, then, is long overdue. to me, someone as courageous as XLOV (as a group comprised of otherwise often conflicting nations on top of that, uniting japanese, chinese, korean and taiwanese members as a statement) is what we’ve been waiting for. XLOV says, why not, what’s stopping everyone else? utopia is possible! they simply came to drop jaws without any compromise and delivered.

XLOV doesn’t have a “shinee” signature nor do they need it (nor can shinee be truly, fully copied ever), nevertheless i see what inspired them to go all out. taemin has never tried to pander to an existing status quo, much less emulating a stereotype-laden ‘straight’ or ‘gay’ pre-made mainstream formula, which i think is astounding at his scale of impact, in this politically challenging age. i think that art directors showcase an increasing feel for it, and we can slowly create a safe space where idols can come out or break free from oppressive standards like XLOV, even against the escalating odds of korean society and whatever backlash is there. taemin shows: you can prevail.

he has always taken an androgynous, bi-friendly, fluid, whatever you want to call it aesthetic for granted. that’s how ‘idols from the future’ like seonghwa, g-dragon or felix are created and i love it - it proves how the radicalizing shift in masculine norms over the last decade is not a thing of absolutes (think about CL vice versa, who has always had a successful alpha woman concept) and encourages everyone to do their thing outright. so i was giddily happy to see ppl discussing and protecting XLOV everywhere with their amazing sensual visuals and THAT incredible choreo. it’s a must-watch for pride month and beyond if you love unisex as a concept in kpop.

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catch-me-hello · 11 days ago

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Under Nineteen, Episode 2: I have no idea what’s going on here.

Welcome to Episode Two! And … everyone is crying. Why is everyone crying?

Everything was fine when we left our trainees! What happened when we left? What is going on?

Suddenly, we’re back at the ranking mission. Our trainees don’t know yet that doom awaits them. Here we go into the apparent abyss of despair that is this episode!

We’re flashing back to just after Jay Chang’s performance to find out his ranking. He ranks … fourth. They made us wait all this time to tell us he’s in fourth place? He’s very gracious, but we can tell he’s disappointed.

The next performer is fifteen year-old Jung Jinsung. He’s a stunning visual with eyes that are hard to look away from. He looks like an anime character come to life. The show seems to know this and keeps giving us close-ups of his face. Someone off-camera asks him if he thinks he’s sexy, and he says, “of course.” Again, he’s fifteen. I know there are underage trainees on all survival shows, but this is the first show I’ve recapped that actually brags about it in the title.

Jung Jinsung and Shin Yechan

He sings a G-Dragon song, and his voice is beautiful. I’m calling it now. This kid is going to win. It’s like he was genetically designed in a lab to be a K-pop idol. He does veer off key a few times, but I stand by my prediction, especially when he throws in some impressive dance moves. He also raps, but the show has to censor it because of swear words.

We get a lot of quick shots of other trainees who don’t do so well. I don’t they’ll make it past the first round of eliminations. We do get a glimmer of hope in sixteen year-old Shin Yechan. He’s handsome, fluent in English, and plays guitar, so the other trainees are a bit intimidated by him. He sings a sad song that moves everyone to tears and dances to a Justin Bieber song. He ranks second with 89 points.

Finally, the rankings are over. We didn’t get to see Bain or Wumuti perform, but hopefully that will change after we put everyone on a bus headed for training camp.

The place looks impressive. It’s a fully-furnished dorm instead of an actual campground. So much for my theory that everyone was crying in the opening shots because someone got eaten by bears. We watch everyone get settled in and gather in the practice rooms. And suddenly, we’re thrown into reverse and find ourselves back at the ranking process.

Wait, we weren’t done with the rankings? Why is the show structured this way?

Okay, I guess we’re still doing this. Next up is eighteen year-old Jung Hyunjun, and he’s from Ukraine. He’s majoring in business administration at Korea University and produces his own music. He performs his own song called “Amen,” and it raises the roof. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trainee do a gospel rap before. He gets ranked first in the rap group. Oh, okay. The last rankings were for the vocal group. Now we’re focusing on the rap group.

Kim Junjae

We get some more quick shots of other trainees. One standout is seventeen year-old Kim Junjae, who startles everyone with a magic trick, creating a flame in his hand.

We get another few seconds of different trainees performing. The coaches just look irritated. The translation says they’re getting a series of trainees with poor rapping skills. Again, coaches, YOU ALL are the ones who chose them for this show. YOU saw their audition videos on Instagram. WE’RE the ones who should be looking irritated for being subjected to this. WE were perfectly happy back at the training camp.

I swear, these shows…

Okay, here’s someone I’ve been wanting to see. It’s our twelve year-old show maknae, Lee Yechan. I’m a little disappointed that when his name is called, he ditches the red newsboy cap and takes the stage in a plain baseball cap.

In a flashback, we see how the other trainees are protective of him. That’s great, but most of these protective trainees are STILL CONSIDERED CHILDREN AS WELL and THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ADULT oh never mind. I’m yelling into the void, and this show aired six years ago.

Look at this. LOOK AT THIS. He falls asleep during practice because CHILDREN NEED NAPS. Okay, I promise I’ll stop. Let’s hear this kid rap before puberty hits.

He’s really good. He sounds like a baby, but he’s a good rapper. I’d like to see how his rapping evolves as his voice changes and he deals with things like losing his baby teeth. The coaches give him a high score and rank him third in the rap group.

Let’s move on to someone who doesn’t make me want to call child welfare services. Eighteen year-old Lee Junhwan is from Hong Kong. His unique voice and rapping style get him eighth place. Seventeen year-old Kim Sungho, the Pride of Jeju Island, gets sixth place. By the way, these rankings don’t really mean anything because when other trainees get highly ranked, the others get bumped down. Remember how Jay Chang ranked fourth on the vocal team? He wound up getting bumped down to tenth place.

Finally, we get to the last trainee on the rap team. This ranking mission has already gone on too long, and we haven’t even finished with the performance team. This last rap trainee is seventeen year-old Choi Sumin. He’s being built up as the best rapper and has been bragging to everyone that he will take the number one spot. He’s a bit arrogant.

Choi Sumin

He’s very charismatic and has great expression, but I think there are plenty of rappers here who are better than he is. The coaches like his performance, but they don’t seem as excited as they’ve been over some of the others. Then again, they’ve got almost sixty trainees to get through, and they’re probably losing steam.

Turns out I’m wrong. Choi Sumin ranks first. I do not understand these coaches. But at least we can finally move on to the rest of the performance team. I think the reason everyone was crying at the beginning is because this ranking mission JUST WON’T END.

Okay, let’s power through this.

Park Siyoung

We’re starting this round with fourteen year-old Park Siyoung, who will go on to become a member of MIRAE. He’s a former child actor. He’s very shy and nervous when introducing himself, but his dancing is fueled by wild, playful energy, and I love it. But the coaches say his balance is a little off, so they rank him sixth.

This show is rigged, isn’t it? it came out the same year as Produce 101, the show at the center of the Mnet Vote Manipulation Scandal. Viewers sussed out that scandal because the math didn’t make sense. I’m sussing out this one because I HAVE EYES.

We get a few more trainees, and then, finally, we see Bain! (He’s called Song Byunghee on this show, but I’m calling him Bain.) He does a modern dance that is amazing, but he’s only ranked sixth, bumping down Park Siyoung. This. Show. Is. Rigged.

Bain

Another standout is sixteen year-old Oh Dahan. He’s a b-boy dancer. After his performance, he pulls off his heavy sweater to cool off. He’s wearing a tee shirt underneath, but the coaches react like he just dropped his pants. He’s really blunt in the way he talks to them, telling them he needs five more years to become a better performer. They rank him at the very bottom. I see tape on his neck and wonder if he’s covering a tattoo, like Ricky on Boys Planet.

Oh Dahan

Suddenly, for some reason, we cut to Incheon International Airport. We see the arrivals of the foreign participants of the performance team. Why we’re getting this now, I have no idea. I also don’t know why we didn’t get this scene before we saw our other American trainees. Maybe Jay Chang and Kim Youngwon swam here. I’m guessing the showrunners were too busy rigging the rankings to edit this show properly.

Back at the stage, we get introduced to eighteen year-old Christian. He was born in Las Vegas, but he introduces himself as being from Florida. He does some b-boy moves and ranks thirteenth.

Christian and Min

Seventeen year-old Min is from Thailand. We only see him for a few seconds. He ranks eighth. These rankings are anticlimactic after the footage of their arrival at the airport. This show has some weird editing.

Wumuti

Finally, Wumuti! We learn that he has already debuted in China after doing a survival show there and is trying to make a name for himself in Korea. He only ranks tenth. The coaches have nothing but raves, but they rank him tenth.

This would be a great time to announce that, as of this writing, Wumuti’s group XLOV has dropped their single and video called “1&Only,” and it’s passionate and mysterious and sexy and beautiful. I strongly recommend checking it out.

1&Only music video

We have time for more rankings, apparently, because God forbid we go back to camp and find out what everyone is crying about. But I am interested in our next trainee. Meet another American, nineteen year-old Eddie from Los Angeles. Judging by the cheers, he’s very popular among the trainees.

Eddie

As soon as he introduces himself, we cut to Los Angeles, with the Childish Gambino song “This is America” playing on the soundtrack, which tells me none of the showrunners have listened to the lyrics. We get to know Eddie a little as he tells us about his dance experience. He loves K-pop and is part of a troupe that has performed concerts in Korea. This show is really building him up.

Time for his performance for the judges. A table is brought onstage for him.

The dance is sensual, playful, and full of attitude. Unlike with other trainees, we get to see the entire performance. The coaches are cheering him on, and several of them give him a standing ovation when he finishes. He also gets wild applause from the other trainees.

His choreo was set to a medley of girl idol songs, and the coaches ask to see more masculine energy from him. So he dances again to an NCT song. He pulls off that whole different vibe flawlessly. I love this kid. So does the show, because he gets the number one ranking.

In confessionals, the other trainees admire Eddie, but they admit to being shocked by him and say he broke boundaries. (“It felt like watching a woman dance,” one of them says.) The show doesn’t say it, but according to his online bios, he is openly gay. And it’s partially because of this that I know he won’t win. I know he’ll make a name for himself in the industry, but there’s no way an openly gay foreigner is going to win this K-pop survival reality show in 2019.

I look up more about him, looking for spoilers, and I’m right. But he hasn’t given up. He’s still dancing, and I am 100% pulling for him.

Okay, so NOW we are REALLY TRULY FINALLY done with the rankings! Now let’s get back to the training camp!

Not yet. Our host tells all the trainees that their next mission is a “position-based theme song challenge.” All three teams will perform the same song. Viewers will vote for their favorite team. The top team will be safe from elimination. The second-ranked team will lose three trainees, and the third-ranked will lose five.

And the episode abruptly ends.

Um… okay. See you next time, I guess. Right after I send the showrunners a little gift:

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