I officially give up understanding
Mar. 4th, 2011 08:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieWas reading an article on dramabeans about Kim Su Hyun's increased popularity after Dream High and came across this phrase:
"he was that good [to make her think he was dubbed by a professional] — better, even, than some of the cast’s idol singers, I thought."
There are multiple pages of comments agreeing with that statement.
And all I could do was boggle. Sure, looks and charisma are subjective, but vocal quality is much less so.
And Kim Su Hyun? Kim Su Hyun? As a great singer - wanted by companies for his singing, praised by dramabeans and commenters as better than professionals? Have I fallen into some parallel universe? I literally laughed when I read that.
I have nothing against KSH. He's a talented, hard-working guy and deserves his success. He was certainly the best actor out of the young cast and, while his looks aren't my thing (too young!), I can certainly see why people find him attractive.
But singer? Singer? Heck no. Sure, he's not bad for an amateur. He's actually amazingly, shockingly good, for one. Key phrase being "for an amateur." To compare him to Wooyoung, IU, Eunjung or Suzy is pretty much insane! (Taec being a rapper and not a singer, I'd give it a "fair enough" pass). I don't follow kpop and first found out about these people's existence from the drama, so I am no offended idol fangirl. I just find this beyond bizarre.
In fact, my biggest problem with Sam Dong ending up as K was my suspension of disbelief - the guy clearly can't dance much (when he replaced Wooyoung in that solo, I cringed), his singing isn't up to par with his castmates', and he doesn't have that raw on-stage charisma that the idols in the cast actualy do - that charisma is a large chunk of why they are picked to be idols!
Now, I don't have a problem with that being a fact of life, as KSH is an actor not a member of 2PM. His job is to act, which he does excellently and better than all 2PM members combined, I suspect. But to buy him as super-idol K (out of all those kids!) required quite a suspension of disbelief on my part. And to believe he's good enough to be a professional singer/idol without further extensive training and is better than his idol castmates at it - I am sorry. I can't. My disbelief stretches only so far.
OK, enough of my blabber. Proof is in the pudding, as they say. Here's a vocal 'battle' between Wooyoung and KSH. Compare the singing skills between them, please:
And here is a "real" singing superstar, Lee Seung Chul, doing the same song:
Case closed.
"he was that good [to make her think he was dubbed by a professional] — better, even, than some of the cast’s idol singers, I thought."
There are multiple pages of comments agreeing with that statement.
And all I could do was boggle. Sure, looks and charisma are subjective, but vocal quality is much less so.
And Kim Su Hyun? Kim Su Hyun? As a great singer - wanted by companies for his singing, praised by dramabeans and commenters as better than professionals? Have I fallen into some parallel universe? I literally laughed when I read that.
I have nothing against KSH. He's a talented, hard-working guy and deserves his success. He was certainly the best actor out of the young cast and, while his looks aren't my thing (too young!), I can certainly see why people find him attractive.
But singer? Singer? Heck no. Sure, he's not bad for an amateur. He's actually amazingly, shockingly good, for one. Key phrase being "for an amateur." To compare him to Wooyoung, IU, Eunjung or Suzy is pretty much insane! (Taec being a rapper and not a singer, I'd give it a "fair enough" pass). I don't follow kpop and first found out about these people's existence from the drama, so I am no offended idol fangirl. I just find this beyond bizarre.
In fact, my biggest problem with Sam Dong ending up as K was my suspension of disbelief - the guy clearly can't dance much (when he replaced Wooyoung in that solo, I cringed), his singing isn't up to par with his castmates', and he doesn't have that raw on-stage charisma that the idols in the cast actualy do - that charisma is a large chunk of why they are picked to be idols!
Now, I don't have a problem with that being a fact of life, as KSH is an actor not a member of 2PM. His job is to act, which he does excellently and better than all 2PM members combined, I suspect. But to buy him as super-idol K (out of all those kids!) required quite a suspension of disbelief on my part. And to believe he's good enough to be a professional singer/idol without further extensive training and is better than his idol castmates at it - I am sorry. I can't. My disbelief stretches only so far.
OK, enough of my blabber. Proof is in the pudding, as they say. Here's a vocal 'battle' between Wooyoung and KSH. Compare the singing skills between them, please:
And here is a "real" singing superstar, Lee Seung Chul, doing the same song:
Case closed.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:09 pm (UTC)That make sense, I guess.
I've never been like that though. E.g. I adore Vic Zhou and he's my favorite drama guy, but even at the height of my obsession, I thought he was a lousy singer and was glad when he finally gave it up.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 02:46 pm (UTC)I'm with
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Date: 2011-03-04 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 02:54 pm (UTC)really i'm just here to thank you profusely for the clips. the song is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
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Date: 2011-03-04 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 07:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 03:46 pm (UTC)i am going to argue that SD the character as K though, is believable. the battle sequence with jason was early in the drama, where he's supposed to be untrained vs. his trained competitor. jason was<\i> supposed to sound better. his solo dance? yet again, jason was<\i> supposed to be the better dancer at that time. which was why jinman was against SD doing to solo, which was why his team got 3rd and not 1st etc. (and umm, the perf from the entire team was cringe-worthy actually). in japan, HM was spotted by the agency, not SD. JG also won 1st at the 2nd showcase, not SD. so throughout the entire drama, SD was never supposed to be the best. his strengths are simply his innate talent for songwriting and his persistence. so then he got chosen in 2011 because he had potential, not necessarily because he was already the $h!t. he could've improved much in 2018 (which we didn't really get to see) to be the phenomenon that he eventually becomes.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 07:22 pm (UTC)I don't mind stories about "raw talent" rising above better trained performers, if they show the raw talent gradually improving and overtaking the rest (and no cheating by having "the rest" perform below their own par). To do that story justice, the "raw talent" actually needs to have talent, which the actor keeps in check early in the series but reveals bit by bit as the storyline progresses. KSH doesn't have it, period.
But frankly, the BS factor was apparent as they tried to sell the Pop >>> Opera agenda from the start. I'm a pop stan to the core, and I still call BS.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 07:32 pm (UTC)But then, this was the drama which made KSH's special talent being able to guess melody and lyrics before he heard them. How does that even work? Nobody can do that - not a matter of ability or genius, matter of things one can do or not.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 04:02 pm (UTC)I'm not very musical so I honestly don't hear that much of a difference. There were other things I found much harder to believe. Like him being able to sing when he can't hear. I think that's quite impossible :/
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 04:48 pm (UTC)There were a lot of things that didn't make much sense, and KSH not being the greatest singer in the world couldn't do much more harm. ^^
And still, I liked it. I guess I'm weird x)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 04:16 pm (UTC)the only thing that i was interested in was Jason and PilSook, everything else was just pure dirge.
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Date: 2011-03-04 05:07 pm (UTC)I find KSH as sexy as a bag of potatoes, but it might be my age. He's 9 years younger than me but looks 15.
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Date: 2011-03-04 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 05:27 pm (UTC)Sometimes I think I and fandom are watching two entirely different things.
Plus, KSH is a decent young actor but Lee Byung Hun he isn't - he isn't good enough to 'save' a drama all on his own or to compensate with charisma and acting combo for lack of vocals.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 03:54 am (UTC)And this opinion comes from Soo Hyun's fans..
no subject
Date: 2011-03-15 03:47 am (UTC)For me, Dancing and SInging in Dream High just apart for fan service and the theme.. ...
That's one of my problem for watching dream high, unfortunately...
For example, I LIKE Hye Mi's character, ALOT.. But I never cried for her character, Her emotional scene was quite bland. Same with Jin Guk, I feel nothing. And ironically, The character who make me sobbing so much were the character who I hated the most before episode 13 comes along, BAEK HEE's Character! *SIGH*
No wonder, because Eun Jung Acting skill is way better than Suzy.... (Eun Jung is a child actor before she become an idol). And her conflict is very touching as well. I just can cried for 2-3 character, Sam Dong, BAek Hee. And Teacher Kang... That's speak itself...
that's why i'm really looking forward to what's up.. (DAMN U, SBS!)
But I agree, it would have been better if the actor has good dancing, singing skill... But for me, it just bonus...
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Date: 2011-03-04 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 07:45 pm (UTC)MMV though.
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Date: 2011-03-05 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-05 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-05 06:37 pm (UTC)From the beginning I realized already that I needed to have a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief when it comes to Sam Dong so I don't mind him much. :D
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Date: 2011-03-05 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-06 04:07 am (UTC)I found the whole singing aspect so silly that it wasn't SD's lack of talent that bothered me when he won, I think it was more the inconsistencies in writing that bugged me with the drama.