#asia idol

[asia-japan]

[sweetbunnytears]

✨glass skin✨

[diamantdog]

at every minor inconvenience

[baeklist]

blackpink

metadinhas . 💕

[k-worlddd]

Kakao Friends Happeach Day 🩷

[gykmolly]

Cover Magazine

by Korea

[artezzo]

[wenjunting]

[todayisafridaynight]

List of rgg charas with in-universe Wikipedia pages. Go

ryo aoki

r. ryo aoki :)

[louismygf]

After his twitter rant totally ignoring asian fans and our show, i felt nothing about new pic

yeah,, i get it. i'd probably be 10,000x more enthusiastic if the asia 'leg' was given half the thought and care (i would take just acknowledgement at this point) other legs were given (europe/uk/usa) lol

you know, a tweet just mentioning jakarta (ONLY ASIAN DATE IN 2024) would've been a nice gesture, but i guess he can't be bothered to do just that. i bet he can't wait to go to australia though!!!!!!!!!!

anon u are valid 🫶🏽 know that youre not a bad fan by holding him accountable and expressing distaste/disappointment because of his/his team's actions 💗 asian louies hold my hand...... it's going to be ok..... and Maybe nothing will change, and maybe it will only get worse. maybe it will never be ok. anyway, however you decide to view him / consume content / interact with the fandom is up to you <3 curate your own fandom experience. do what feels right to you!

[asiamania]

Taemin ❤️

[asia-japan]

[mjohnso]

Quarterly Debut Review: Q1 2024

Quarterly Debut Reviews are a supplementary series to my biannual Periodic Rookie Group Reports, which are published quarterly. Each installment covers three rookie groups that debuted over the past three months. For the fifth installment, I covered ALL(H)OURS (January), YDS (February), and Heimish (March).

As always, a full list of rookie groups that have debuted thus far in 2024 is available here: 2024 Rookie Groups Debuts

January / ALL(H)OURS Debut: January 10, 2024 Debut Song: “GOTCHA”

Although I have been tracking rookie groups for over a decade, I am no soothsayer. I cannot predict with any accuracy the number of new groups that will debut in 2024 or if more groups will disband this year than last year. Nor can I tell if the recent reversal of a multi-year decline in the number of boy groups I covered in Periodic Rookie Groups Report No. 22 is permanent or a temporary deviation. At best, what the numbers tell me is. 2024 is not off to a bad start, especially regarding boy groups. The four boy groups that debuted this year in January mirrors the previous year's total. While this may not crack 2019’s record of nine boy groups in January, it is better than 2018's where boy groups' poor performance was foreshadowed by a single debut at the start of the year.

No matter how this year shakes out for boy groups, it cannot be said that boy groups did not try like ALL(H)OURS who was one of the four boy groups to debut. Their name externalizes their ambition signaling, according to Korea JoongAng Daily, their intention to “pour everything it has at all times.” Their debut song doubles down on this message with the chorus, punctuated by a deep bass sound, emphasizing their laser focus on their goal.

Of course, it takes more than focus and hard work for idols to achieve their dreams—or stardom —in the industry. Those are only parts of an equation with multiple variables, many of which idols have no control over, including their image, musical director, or whether a group gets to come back and try again or build on the momentum. But at least ALL(H)OURS are committed to doing what they can do and working with what they have control over.

February / YDS (YeoDongSaeng) Debut: February 21, 2024 Debut Song: “A Fluttering Love”

YDS’s debut single “A Fluttering Love” can claim more so-called ‘firsts’ than your average debut single. The song is the group’s first release under a proper label, as well as, their official debut and first single. Contrarily, it is also the first song in the industry's history to qualify as both a debut and a comeback single, a fact that the marketing has not hidden but highlighted. On a teaser image released to promote the song’s release, above the two members seated back-to-back on a white table, it reads “YDS 7TH DIGITAL SINGLE ALBUM.”

This discrepancy in qualification is a byproduct of YDS’ unorthodox career trajectory. The duo began their career uploading covers of k-pop songs to their YouTube channel, before pivoting to producing their original songs in 2022. They released six singles and built up a small following before according to their December 2023 Instagram post, signing with HO Entertainment. Then as established above, in February they released their seventh single that doubled as their major label debut. In other words, unlike most k-pop groups who debut after being assembled through the industry’s traditional top-down method, YDS debuted in reverse.

While there are tradeoffs for both YDS and HO Entertainment for bypassing this usual path, I see the appeal. For HO Entertainment, in particular, it is a cost-saving measure. A group with a pre-determined lineup eliminates the need to recruit and train future members of a group, a process so expensive that according to the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)’s 2023 Pop Culture & Arts Industry Survey, most agencies do not even maintain a pool of trainees. They also come with a pre-defined image and sound, which although certainly adjustable, HO Entertainment has left unchanged. Indeed “A Fluttering Love”, features their signature sweet acoustic sound and lyrics about a love confession. This is consistent with their previous releases, only this time it comes with a name attached to it and an accompanying promotional rollout, typical of your average group.

March / Heimish Debut: March 15, 2024 Debut Song: “Golden Hour”

So far, this year has gone according to Rainbow E&M’s plan. That plan, laid out across their 2023 year-end Instagram posts, indicated that they aimed to debut one group per month – a feat they have pulled off. Three months into 2024, they debuted at least one group under the Future Idol Asia banner every month: Flora in January, Bluebell in February, and now Heimish and Pearlys in March.

Practically speaking, these are all new groups in the sense that Future Idol Asia has never debuted a group under these names or with these lineups. Of the four groups that debuted, Flora and Heimish’s lineups are partly a patchwork of members from prior Future Idol Asia groups. In the case of Flora, of the group’s six members, four previously debuted under Redplum and Closer, respectively. As for Heimish, their group is comprised of one new member, two members of Blossom, and one member of Winsome. This is a byproduct of the nature of the project. As I have written before Future Idol Asia groups are not intended to be permanent homes for aspiring idols but a temporary waypoint on their journey. Ideally, a member who debuts as part of a Future Idol Asia group would catch the attention of an entertainment agency scout at a showcase who invites them for further auditioning before inviting them to join their agency. In reality, though not every member gets picked. For example, in the case of Closer, two of whose members re-debuted this year as part of Flora, only one of the ten members in the group was chosen for additional auditions with other agencies.

This poses a conundrum for the Future Idol Asia project, as they are left with groups with gaps in their lineup, although groups like Flora and Heimish point to their solution. Since last year they have been repackaging members from their previous groups into these new groups. That allows the project to pad its numbers, giving the illusion that the project has more recruits than it actually does, especially if recruitment does not meet expectations. More importantly, it also gives those not picked the first time another chance. With a new group, concept, song, choreography, and opportunity to perform at the showcase this time might be the charm.

[saebaragi]

asy is so frustrating, I need to rewatch idol producer

[k-worlddd]

BT21 💫

[baeklist]

aespa winter

polaroid aespa

polaroid winter