Apple TV+’s "KPOPPED" series promised a global pop dream: legendary Western artists teaming up with K-pop idols to remix iconic hits. But did the execution live up to the concept?
In this special CCTV x Right Back At Ya! crossover, Chris and Chantel Nicole join Joel and David to break down the full first season of KPOPPED - from the music and performances to the cultural clash, creative choices, and what actually worked (and didn’t). We’ve got opinions - so many, in fact, we fully volunteer ourselves as consultants for Season 2. Call us, Apple. We've got notes.
Right Back At Ya! The 2000s Pop Music Podcast: https://linktr.ee/rightbackpod
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- 0:00 - Intro
- 1:09 - Update from Right Back At Ya!
- 2:45 - "KPOPPED" on AppleTV+ concept
- 8:55 - Meghan Thee Stallion x Billie - “Savage”
- 13:45 - Patti LaBelle x Billie - “Lady Marmalade”
- 22:37 - Spice Girls (Emma and Mel B) x ITZY - “Wannabe”
- 27:18 - Spice Girls (Emma and Mel B) x ITZY - “Say You'll Be There”
- 34:00 - Vanilla Ice x Kep1er - “Ice Ice Baby”
- 38:43 - Taylor Dayne x Kep1er - “Tell It To My Heart”
- 45:17 - Kesha x JO1 - “Joyride”
- 50:50 - Eve x JO1 - “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”
- 54:23 - Kylie Minogue x ATEEZ - “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”
- 1:02:13 - J Balvin x ATEEZ - “Mi Gente”
- 1:07:59 - Boy George x STAYC - “Karma Chameleon”
- 1:13:22 - TLC x STAYC - “Waterfalls”
- 1:21:00 - Ava Max x KISS OF LIFE - “Kings & Queens”
- 1:26:00 - Jess Glynne x KISS OF LIFE - “Hold My Hand”
- 1:33:18 - BOYZ II MEN x BLACKSWAN - “Motownphilly”
- 1:41:36 - BOYZ II MEN x BLACKSWAN - “End Of The Road”
- 1:46:22 - Overall Thoughts and Plans for Season 2
References:
- Amerie x 4Minute - “Heard ‘Em All” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgjwkCmQruM
- Meghan Thee Stallion x Billie - “Savage” https://youtu.be/bUmuaVeDUDc?si=YxhL9CRbBf6ITYP7
- Patti LaBelle x Billie - “Lady Marmalade” https://youtu.be/pJnDXcCj_go?si=BRlkL0tkciDdxr73
- Spice Girls x ITZY - “Wannabe” https://youtu.be/xlTZKsqP3_E?si=OLcK4mNNrRSc_HbG
- Spice Girls x ITZY - “Say You’ll Be There” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHc6cUo5ahM
- Vanilla Ice x Kep1er - “Ice Ice Baby” https://youtu.be/2IXnm1UPzJw?si=waFhNTe5MyY8IZsy
- Taylor Dayne x Kep1er - “Tell It To My Heart” https://youtu.be/sN6XxjRFG-g?si=-7jGy75puVzZQeb_
- Kesha x JO1 - “Joyride” https://youtu.be/1tEKYIOZu3I?si=wS5-F3kG3cRlGegh
- Eve x JO1 - “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” https://youtu.be/VrVEeqNh4OA?si=zT9wXeQKDBPiUFEZ
- Kylie Minogue x ATEEZ - “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” https://youtu.be/EM01sxWIOtE?si=8y15wgmLBYyPpXfW
- J Balvin x ATEEZ - “Mi Gente” https://youtu.be/krVKWJJ622s?si=fpKk_Vi5fTJSFpub
- Boy George x STAYC - “Karma Chameleon” https://youtu.be/hI5b4453L0s?si=QEynDtLppypQ2ZYn
- TLC x STAYC - “Waterfalls” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwH_JHlPsAs
- Ava Max x KISS OF LIFE - “Kings & Queens” https://youtu.be/FPLIJ-ZGdx4?si=wMpKqibrInid5yi4
- Jess Glynne x KISS OF LIFE - “Hold My Hand” https://youtu.be/4cK8jK7jTus?si=9ywgLF9YElG4mMXu
- BOYZ II MEN x BLACKSWAN - “Motownphilly” https://youtu.be/15hkO238oCw?si=Ru_ftzhFK1BcI2aV
- BOYZ II MEN x BLACKSWAN - “End Of The Road” https://youtu.be/Wicq5R0f8D0?si=ZAfPKC9Kzx6A701b
00:00:00 --> 00:00:12 Take a legendary Western artist, pair them with a current K-pop group, and flip an iconic hit into a brand new K-pop track. What could go right? Or very wrong? Let's discuss Apple TV's K-pop.
00:00:15 --> 00:00:43 We have reached over 5 subscribers on YouTube. Thank you all so much for joining the CCTV crew. If you're on a podcast platform, please give us a rating, follow, and share the episode as well, because it really helps us grow and find other global pop fans. And today, we're so excited because we are joined by the hosts of the amazing 2000s Pop Music Podcast, right back at ya! Welcome, Joel and David. Yay! Thank you so much for having us back, guys.
00:00:43 --> 00:01:08 Yes, love to have you back on. The second this show was announced, we were both like, this is the perfect opportunity to get the right back at you boys back on. Yes, as we thought. We were like, oh my gosh, love it. A lot of the artists were like UK based anyway. So I was like, oh, this is even better. Yes. Yes. Because Western artists over here don't want to share the stage. Yeah.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:19 But yes, give us the update. How's the show been going? We love all the latest episodes you've been doing. We saw you did BOA. Yeah. We got some Victoria Beckham, timed perfectly with the Netflix documentary announcement. Yeah.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:38 We think that Netflix saw our episode drop and they went, right, we've got to get this update out. Strike while the iron is hot. Everything's been going so well. We're just seven years. We just celebrated our seventh anniversary and just going strong, celebrating the 2000s pop love, you know?
00:01:38 --> 00:02:03 Yes, I love that. And I really was thinking about you guys a lot when we did our BOA episode because, you know, the only other time I've ever spoken about K-pop was with you guys. Because we hadn't even done that on Right Back At You before. But this was really something that, yeah, Joel and I wanted to do. And it just kind of got around to August and it was BOA's 25th.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:30 Yeah You know, since her debut And I thought, okay, like maybe now's the time we do it Let's just do it And we celebrated the English album that she did, the US album Oh yeah Because we just thought, if we're going to like pitch K-pop to our listeners Like what is the most, you know, zesty main pop girl from the 2000s kind of record And obviously it's that one Like that is the cousin of Britney's blackout We just thought, okay
00:02:31 --> 00:02:42 hopefully they get it. And yeah, it was just, I was thinking about you guys so much that time because I was like, oh my gosh, it's actually so much fun to talk about K-pop. The CCTV impact. Yeah.
00:02:44 --> 00:03:05 We love it. We love it. Yes. So we have brought you here today to talk about K-POP'd, which is Apple TV's latest reality competition series, which was executive produced by Psy and Megan Thee Stallion. And as Jental mentioned, each episode pairs a legendary Western artist with a K-POP group to remake his iconic hits into fresh K-POP'd tracks.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:17 And the group then splits into two teams battling on stage alongside the legends. And then the audience votes to decide which version comes out on top. So what do you think of this whole concept?
00:03:18 --> 00:03:44 I would say I like the concept because for a really long time, we've all been even seeing collaborations of K-pop artists with Western artists for years, like Lil' Kim and Seven with Girls. Boa and Britney never performing together, but performing in the same stage in Korea. The Wonder Girls on Jonas Brothers tour. So it's always been kind of bubbling, you know, coming along. So to actually have it be this TV show or this show,
00:03:44 --> 00:04:04 streaming show is actually really impressive. I would say I feel like K-pop is really hitting this peak. And I'm like, I don't want to be negative. I'm like, I wonder if it's going to get any bigger than this. Because it didn't hit network television. But it did hit the streaming. And I was like, this is exciting. But when I heard some of the names, I was like, how are they going to do it? What songs are they going to do?
00:04:04 --> 00:04:26 I don't know how I feel about this. So there's a lot of mixed emotions, excitement for sure. Like, yes, finally a main stage. But I was very curious to see if they were going to cater more to a Korean audience or to the Western audience. And I think we got our answer. And we'll talk about it a little bit more as the show goes on. But, yeah, I think K-pop artists, they were all super new, which I was like, hmm.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:47 Could have thrown some legacy K-pop artists in there as well, because those girls should not be working at convenience stores. Am I right, y'all? Because some of them girls are working at convenience stores now. Oh, no. But the lineup was pretty decent, I would say. The Western artists, super impressed with some throwbacks to the 80s people. The 80s people was kind of surprising, too. So, yeah, I think it was pretty cool. Yes, Joel, how about you? Okay.
00:04:47 --> 00:05:16 Yeah, super interesting. I was just very intrigued. And obviously, the way the news hit us was very headlined by Spice Girls and Kylie. So that pricked up our eyes and ears right away. And yeah, I was just sort of curious to see how they was going to go about it. And what's brilliant is because I knew we were going to be watching... When I was watching it, I knew we'd be doing this episode. So the whole time, even now, I can't wait to just...
00:05:16 --> 00:05:42 See what your guys' opinion was as we get through it. I thought it was so interesting that this is the point that we get a show like this. Because it felt like for so many years that K-pop was going to cross over. And there would be an opportunity like this. Even when BTS was active. Or like pre-Blackpink going, you know, on their solo voyage before this comeback. I really thought by that point...
00:05:42 --> 00:06:05 We had NCT being so active at that point as well. You know, they were doing the EMAs. So it's interesting that this is the year, but also can't fault it with how the universe has, you know, fallen into place with K-pop demon hunters doing so well. So it really felt destined to hit at this point.
00:06:05 --> 00:06:29 It does feel like every lane in the entertainment industry kind of goes in its own way. So music's finally got there. Maybe if you're tapped in a few years ago, it felt like this should have happened. But then it's like we see with kind of formatted television, one hits off and then they all clamber to it. So we've seen, as you said, K-pop Demon Hunters. We have Popstar Academy. It's kind of like a positive domino effect because...
00:06:30 --> 00:06:36 we like Backstreet Boys, we want NSYNC, you know. Yeah. It's a good thing. But yeah, if it popped off...
00:06:37 --> 00:07:06 A few years ago, TV or streaming, as you say, is finally catching up. And I think this will be just the beginning of even more to come. As you said, Chantel hitting this mainstream for better or for worse, hopefully for better. Yeah. Yeah, I'm actually curious how this has been doing, like, in the ratings. I know with these streaming platforms, you don't really get the numbers. But definitely watching it, this reminded me of, like, on X Factor and Idol, when they'd have pop stars come in and perform with the finalists. When they could afford it, yes.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:22 Yeah, like Alexandra Burke and Beyonce. Exactly, yeah. You got that iconic, I mean, Nicole stealing Jermaine's microphone. Oh, bro. You know, this kind of reminded me of that because it was these newer K-pop groups with these Western legends, I guess. Well, I mean, legends is...
00:07:22 --> 00:07:41 is subjective, I guess. Right, true. But yeah, you know, I agree with you, Gentile. Like, of course, as a second-gen K-pop fan, originally the caliber of K-pop artists, when just seeing the lineup, I was a little bit disappointed by. But, you know, let's talk through it and we can see how the execution went.
00:07:42 --> 00:08:03 Okay, quick question. Has anyone ever seen Four Minute and Amory perform together? Please. Okay, thank you. All right. Listen, y'all. I'm not sure if it's still on YouTube, but it happened. It was basically like K-popped, basically. I just want to say that. Okay, I just want to just double check. I just remember just now, Amory would have been a good option too, just to bring it back around. She's half Korean, you know. Yeah, yeah.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:22 Did they do one thing? They did, um, Heard Em All Talk. And then they did, um, I think they only did Heard Em All Talk. And I think, I think they may have done a four-minute song, but I can't remember. But I just remember them switching the, Heard Em All Talk with Homo Chumami and the, Keep watching it. They said something in Korean. I did not know what it was. I was like, yes.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:47 Wow. Yes. The faces are indicative of the reality. No one else saw it. It's like lost media. Am I the only person? Drop it in the comments, guys. If you are watching or streaming, drop in the comments if you have seen it. We're going to get right into episode one of K-popped. All right. So we had Megan Thee Stallion with Savage and Patti LaBelle with Lady Marmalade with the girl group, Billie.
00:08:55 --> 00:09:22 Mm. Okay. Yeah, so let's start with Savage. First, let's talk about what they did to change the song. Ugh. There wasn't much. It was kind of just what would be a live performance version, you know, just some more dynamics that they could use for the choreography. That opinion may come up frequently. Yes. Big shout out to Jock Hill Knight, though, as a choreographer.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:52 I think obviously that's like the song you want to do with Megan. Yeah. It's ready made for it already. I thought that they would maybe zhuzh it up a bit more and give it more like a YG style production to really like, I don't know, make it a lot more obvious to the kids that this could be a Blackpink song. Throw in some cheap horns or like really turn that shit up, you know. Yeah. And just make it a little bit more ratchet. I thought it was going to be a little bit more riskier.
00:09:52 --> 00:10:05 I think what I got was, it was kind of good to get that synergy of the different voices together with her. But I think production wise, they could have really taken more risk.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:32 Oh, you know, there's a, was it Dance Hall, some EDM in there. Yeah, I think they kind of did play it safe. I will say the Billy girls did what they needed to do. They usually do quirky, sassy. I mean, like, was it Ginga Minga Yo? They had the other song. I can't think of it right now, but I do listen to some of their singles, and it's very quirky, very, like, whimsy. So this was a nice little switch up for them. It was giving a little hot girl-ish.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:58 you know hot girl real hot girl ish um so i don't dislike their performance of it but i do understand like the whole um it didn't sound fully remixed it just sounded like here's the billboard music award version of like featuring like the the next tick tock viral k-pop group you know i'm saying like yeah i mean anyone else could have done it um
00:10:58 --> 00:11:16 I think... I'm getting some nods. Also, Joel, you do notice that too. It was kind of just like, okay, I could have placed anyone in here. Because I got that feeling. Yeah, I mean, I thought it was good. I thought it was a great way to start off the show. Like, up-tempo, fun, dancing performance. But yeah, it was...
00:11:16 --> 00:11:40 Kind of as you guys have said, yeah, it's like award show performance or harking back to those X Factor days of two artists coming together, not necessarily forming a super group or, you know, a synergy. But fun, nevertheless. And, you know, Al Megan is one of the producers on this and a host throughout. So we've got to kick it off with her.
00:11:40 --> 00:12:07 Yes, that's right. I do think this was one of the better performances on the show. It did feel like they were all together energy-wise, like stage presence-wise. Even the vocals were actually pretty evenly split as well. And I enjoyed that little choreography moment at the end when they were all in the line. So this, I actually think, was one of the better ones overall. But yes, agreed they could have taken more risk with the actual song. Yeah.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:37 Yes, and more coordination with the actual outfits. That's a comment across the entire show for me. I'll say it now. I hated that no one was coordinated. Like, you know, I appreciate the whole cultural exchange. Like, they were having, like, the moments here and there coming into the show. But I was just like, where is the costume exchange? It's not just like, oh, here's a K-pop concept outfit. Like, here's a skirt over some jeans and a crop top. And they're wearing black looking like, you know, like, yeah. Yeah.
00:12:37 --> 00:12:47 All of our heads kind of ticked a little. But yeah, I think across the board, I'm going to say it now, I do not like the lack of coordination with the outfits.
00:12:47 --> 00:13:16 Yeah, it's fair. It feels like they weren't even talking to each other about it. No. Yeah. I think Megan may have been in Korea to film for Twice's music video because she was wearing a couple outfits from the music video shooting with them that she was wearing while she was filming with Billie. So shout out to her for being out there and making that magic happen. Listen, that styling budget is that styling budget for that trip. Yeah. So whatever you choose to do...
00:13:16 --> 00:13:46 it has to be from the selection. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe it's a styling budget thing. You know, you want to give Miss Patty her essentials, whatever she needs. Right. And the Spice Girls as well, because it looks like what they were wearing was more bespoke for the occasion. Whereas like you said, you know, for a lot of the artists, it probably was a tour outfit. Oof. Yeah. Ooh. Get to that later too. All right. So Miss Patty. Yeah.
00:13:47 --> 00:14:09 Ooh, Lady Marmalade. Okay, now we've heard the faces. So we've heard All Saints do it. We've heard Maya, Pink, Little Kim, and them do it. But how do we feel about the Billy version of Lady Marmalade with Miss Patty? I mean, don't forget that Suga Babes actually performed this with Patty, actually.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:33 Yes. Here in London, yeah, at the Royal Opera Hall. That's right. Okay, look, Patti deserved some vocalists with her, you know? Yeah. You got to give a little sass here, you know? Yeah. I think that Billy Girls kept it very light and very cute in the vocals. Like, really no sexiness at all, even in that. Yeah.
00:14:33 --> 00:14:56 So this pairing just made no sense for me. Like, there are even better options within the other groups that were cast in this, like Kiss of Life. You know, they would have killed this, for example. So it almost feels disrespectful that they paired the Godmother of Soul with these only OK vocalists. And this really just gave her and some new LaBelle members. Yeah.
00:14:56 --> 00:15:12 Oh, oh, Jesus. By grind kids, you know? Not LaVelle members. LaVelle Genius. They did change the production for this one a bit more, though. Yes, they did. It definitely felt like a K-pop song, I will say.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:32 Mm-hmm. Yeah, but, like, which K-pop group could have done it justice? Does anybody have any hats they want to throw in the ring? I feel like if brown-eyed girls weren't, like, tweaked out right now, they would have ate this up. Ooh, AOA, if they were still together. Okay. Yeah. Some miniskirt sexiness. A. Yeah. Maybe Mamamoo.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:52 Ooh. Or even Hwasa. Hwasa. Hwasa alone. She embodies Lady Marmalade. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. I mean, for me, I feel like I do have in my notes, like, they're like the main artists featuring backup singers. Like, where are my backup singers? Where are my backup singers? That's what they look like. Yeah.
00:15:52 --> 00:16:05 For people who don't know what I'm talking about, Patti LaBelle was performing, I think, for Christmas. Yeah, every Christmas. Yeah, and she didn't know the words. She didn't know the words. Didn't know the words of the song, but the background singers did. The background singers weren't there, so she was just riffing and ranting.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:32 you know, it was, um, she was going through her motions, but this time she had her backup singers. Um, to think about how older, how much older she is, is so crazy. I don't know if she was in her eighties, but she looks great. Um, the whole like lady madame outfit that she was wearing was, at least she matched the girls, right? Like she's wearing black. Um, Suki being amazed by Patty singing is indicative of what's not in the K-pop industry. Cause like, if you're around good singing, um,
00:16:32 --> 00:16:54 I'm not saying Patty wouldn't surprise you, right? You wouldn't be impressed. But if you're around it, you'd be like, oh my God, girl, yes. But she's like crying. And I'm like, oh, you're touched. I respect that. So I appreciate there's a respect aspect. And she gave her a little kiss at the end of the performance. But I think in terms of the whole performance, the dynamic was a little like, I don't know, flat. Flat soda.
00:16:54 --> 00:17:18 Guys, I don't know if you ever had anything equivalent in America, but here in the UK, we'd have things like Disco Mania or Abermania or Greasemania, and there'd be current bands or artists doing, like we have Rachel Stevens doing Knock on Wood, we have Girls Aloud doing Hopes He's Devoted to You. Yeah.
00:17:18 --> 00:17:36 this was really feeling like that. And that isn't a bad thing. Like, I love those specials so much. And they've given us so many fun moments. You know, we've got Girls Aloud singing I'm Every Woman with Feather Boas. And it is kind of just giving that, especially...
00:17:36 --> 00:17:51 Like with Purple Lighting, you know, like Purple is known for like game show, game show, flashy studio show. So that is kind of really giving that. And on those shows, you kind of can have...
00:17:52 --> 00:18:13 one singer that's segment and a more dance-ier band around them. And it doesn't matter if it's super in sync, because it's just sort of like a fun moment. I mean, speaking of other Lady Marmalade moments, we had the Girls of Coronation Street, which is a soap here in the UK, do Lady Marmalade on one of these specials. Stop. Stop.
00:18:13 --> 00:18:31 It's timeless. It's for everyone. It is. But I guess the worry is of like, what is there still to be done with this song? And do we need to do something new with this song? Because we've had a few definitive versions, which are all incredible. I'm not sure. You kind of need to really...
00:18:32 --> 00:18:52 Yeah. Recreate it if you're going to do it. Yeah. And I'm not sure if that was done. Oh, no, I agree. I agree. And, yeah, no, I feel like they should have gotten someone else. I don't think this is a fair matchup at all. You have someone that's, like, super current that even Korean artists know, and then one lady that they're like, oh, she sang that? And it's not...
00:18:53 --> 00:19:05 It's not fair. So although it isn't fair, I think like the winner is kind of clear this episode. I'm not sure about that. Yeah. I mean, David, did you have any other thoughts on Miss Patty?
00:19:06 --> 00:19:28 No, other than I love that she got a trip out of it. And, you know, she was like, oh, my grandkids love K-pop. And, you know, I feel like it's a big moment for her. You know, I was watching the VTs and her interacting. It really seems that she's like, you know, I've done so much in my career. Yeah. But I've never actually been on a show like this in Seoul doing this. Yes.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:52 That alone in itself is just, like, incredible for Miss Patty to still be getting these firsts so many decades into her career. And I'm sure, like, you know, if there was an opportunity, there should have been, like, a cooking show element. Yes. With her, like, really, like, getting into it. That is the spin-off show I want to see. Oh, my God. Yeah, it's Miss Patty's pies and all the other food that she cooked. Yeah.
00:19:52 --> 00:19:59 Yes, we had another artist that had a cooking segment instead, which didn't go very well. She was not happy about it.
00:20:00 --> 00:20:23 Don't. What do you say? Quick question. Uh-huh. How do you feel about there's only 48 hours to get this performance done, Ellen? You know, you two are performers. I have a performance background. We love slick. I don't want to see that, oh, God, we rushed and we can only have 48 hours. I want, like, the work is here and we do it and not a kind of, like, it's slapdash.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:53 oof yeah you know what that bothered me a bit as well because you have these k-pop groups who are receiving the tracks you can tell ahead of time not a lot of these girlies and boys know english and spanish so the fact that they've had time to sit with it kind of really marinate with it i thought was like okay great for them but then you have this western artist who's being challenged which brings back the thing that i was saying about this wasn't for k-pop fans this is for a
00:20:53 --> 00:21:10 to be like, what's this? It's right next to my severance. What is that? And then, like, they watch it, you know? So I think that's what happened, and I feel like it's just not fair. But I think for what they did have to do, they did rise to the occasion. But I also want to explain that wardrobe.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:34 discombobulation moments yeah yeah uh kind of bothered me a little bit with that you know yeah i think the whole idea of i don't know if this was staged or not but a lot of these western artists came in and their first time hearing these new versions was in the rehearsal studio i think it was only eve that was like oh when i heard the demo of this i was like uh i don't like it like wait till i hear a final a more final one yeah um
00:21:34 --> 00:21:51 So yeah, I wish there was actually more collaboration, like true collaboration, like a moment in the studio where a producer could at least explain some of the elements that they're, you know, adding into it. The court, you know, we always only got one line, you know, that was just like, we added more disco flavor.
00:21:51 --> 00:22:10 Or like, yeah, or like the choreography, like we just had one line of the choreographer just saying, oh, you know, they just they're really tight with their choreography. But there's no real collaboration within it. It was like all done already. And these Western artists came in and they just stepped in to where they were supposed to be. And every time they pushed back, there was actually...
00:22:10 --> 00:22:29 Like, fuck. Yeah. And it's like, okay, you've got 48 hours to rehearse, but we're also going to do all the VT. So we're going to go for lunch. We're going to go out and about. So, I mean, you have maybe 12 hours to rehearse, you know, or less. Oh, my God. Yeah. Oh, behind the scenes, behind the scenes. Yeah.
00:22:29 --> 00:22:50 That's insane. All right. Speaking of all the craziness and some rigidity getting challenged, we want to episode two with the Spice Girls singing Wannabe and Say You'll Be There with Itzy.
00:22:53 --> 00:23:16 Yes. First off, I was so excited. I was the most excited about this happening. I remember Mel B put up random stories of her in Korea, and she did tease that they were performing somewhere. I remember everyone just being like, what are they doing? So I was just very, very excited about this. God bless Mel B. Yes. What do we think, David? Did they execute? Let's start with Wannabe.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:38 Oh, Wannabe, yes. Oh my God, of all the songs that could adapt to K-pop, this is the one, you know. This has all the flavors, all the attitude in there. I'm kind of glad that they didn't go too crazy with it. It felt like it was honoring what it was, you know, because you really think about...
00:23:38 --> 00:24:05 the lyrics that the Spice Girls deliver in this, it's so unique to them. So actually hearing anyone cover Wannabe ever is tough. It's tough, isn't it? Oh, yeah. It is. Oh, my goodness. I feel like this was an okay mashup. Like, it makes sense to a certain extent. Like, I do wonder if they really had leaned in, like we're all talking about, and had, they have a song called Wannabe.
00:24:05 --> 00:24:34 Yeah, they do. Yeah. And I was singing the melody of Itzy's Wannabe to Spice Girls with this new remix, and it would have fit. All you have to do is just change the tempo just enough, and it would have just been like, oh, that's a moment. Or like, I want to be me, me, me, if you want to be my lover. Just throw it in there, like, in the ebub. Yeah. Something could have been there. That would have been such an awesome moment, very clever. I mean, Itzy's schedule is probably like crazy, crazy.
00:24:34 --> 00:25:04 But I think that moment would have been a little bit more like, wow. I think the only thing that really surprised me, it being episode two, was the music director going, we have something new for the bridge. Zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-a-zig-
00:25:04 --> 00:25:12 Is this the only time we saw an... Like, I know the whole Every Song Is New remixes, but I feel like this was the only time we saw, like...
00:25:13 --> 00:25:37 the wording or the sounding of how a bit of the song is actually changed. Mm-hmm. I think so. Yeah, without like a language adaptation? Yeah, I think so. Was anyone thinking, I was surprised when it got to the rap bit, I thought, oh my God, is there going to be some new rapping here? Like, is there going to be like a rapping in green? Are they going to talk about the other members in this new iteration? But no. No.
00:25:37 --> 00:26:06 Yes, that's actually what I had as well. I was like, that was the perfect part to actually change, is to reference the three ITZY members. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I will say, I agree with you, David. I thought the music was actually pretty well done. Actually, they changed up the drum patterns. It did modernize it a little bit, but it still felt like true to the original song. So I was actually okay with that. I will say the ITZY girls and the performance, they just went very sexy the whole time. Wow.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:29 Oh, yeah. It was kind of playful, but they're more sexy, playful. Yeah. Yeah. Which this song just doesn't really give that. So I didn't love that, I will say. And Mel B just proved just what a star she is. Because her stage presence on that. On this one especially was just insane. And my other complaint, I guess, was they didn't incorporate any of the original choreography. Oh.
00:26:30 --> 00:26:51 Oh my gosh, yeah, you would think... Give us a little staircase and give us that little chorus moment, you know? Because, you know, they do have a mini staircase in the props cupboard, which we'll get to in a little bit. I did wonder if they were going to... Because we see Emma in a pink dress, Mel B in leopard print. I thought, oh, maybe the other members will have...
00:26:52 --> 00:27:19 Little black dress. A sporty outfit. Yes. But no. Yes, and it's crazy because Yeji is like, I would say she could do a little ginger moment. Ryujin could have been the sporty and Chae-Dong could have been the posh. Like they have those elements again. Oh my God. It was just like K-pop summer on the stage. Yeah, and yeah, I think the sexy thing bothered me a little bit too, especially for Se-Yubi there.
00:27:21 --> 00:27:46 It was a little too, like, I don't know. It was giving a little too much press, you know? It was giving a little too much press. That's not what I want to say, but it was just so, like, you know. If y'all don't try to say it, I can't say it. You've clearly never seen Joel and I do Victoria's part and say you'll be there because there's a lot of press as well. Sex press, as we like to call it. What you call it? Sex puss. Yes! I don't want to say anything.
00:27:46 --> 00:28:02 You know what? Let's bleep it out. But yeah, it was giving too much push. Like a little bit of... They were ready to do holler in the black outfits. They were ready for it. That may have worked better, actually. Yeah, yeah. Maybe, maybe.
00:28:02 --> 00:28:22 I would say for me, I did not really care for the wannabe production that was giving karaoke for me. But Say You'll Be There, considering how it's already like 90s with like the, like that G-funk, the wiry synth that goes through it to kind of switch it up and give like a 90s, like New Jack kind of vibe. I appreciate it. I think Leah and Yuna, they were...
00:28:22 --> 00:28:44 confident about winning for a good reason i think um the intro was fully thought out uh the piano parts for the pre-hook it was just it just felt more fun and it just felt very more like uh more consideration was put toward like the performance um i mean during rehearsals they had some like do we have to dance the whole time conversations but i feel like
00:28:45 --> 00:29:11 I feel like for this one, it needs to be performed and sung. Like, people don't think that Spice Girls can sing. They don't think, oh, there's five-part harmony here? Now they're just singing about Wannabe, my lover. Wannabe's, like, not their worst song, but, like, it's not one of their better songs, right? But Sailbill there is, like, well-known. We all know it. I was expecting someone to hit Mel C's notes like, woo! And it didn't happen, but it's okay because Leah's not Mel C. I get it. But, like, certain moments I'm like...
00:29:11 --> 00:29:19 Yeah, this is why the Spice Girls are who they are. And Itzy Girls can learn from this. Because they're all standing in line, and Yuna's kind of just like...
00:29:20 --> 00:29:49 swing and, you know, you know, just, it just felt like she didn't have anything else to do because there wasn't any choreography. And I think this show really kind of shone a light on what K-pop's advantages are and their disadvantages. Like, you can't stand there and, like, command the stage. You can't look at that camera and say you're mine. That is not going to fly in every single performance. You break your leg, you're just gonna sit in the chair and, like, I can't perform. So, I think, overall, this performance was way better.
00:29:49 --> 00:30:18 better um the outfits did not make sense again but and even the dancers were dancing like in baggy clothes and then the itsy members were giving sleek high fashion um so yeah there's moments where i'm like costuming wise awkward but performance wise not too bad i did love emma and mel's dresses though in this yeah i love a metallic moment or a pvc moment so we've got you know emma in silver mel being like a red pvc dress
00:30:19 --> 00:30:44 If I could pull that up, I'd be wearing it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you know? It is. Yes. I loved the shade during rehearsals when Mel B was like, I think we're going to be the only two that are actually having fun. Because I think you were saying, again, I wish there was just a bit more collaboration because I think that's what was missing. The Itzy girls didn't look like they were really having fun. Yes. Yes.
00:30:44 --> 00:31:12 And if you can't have fun when you're briefly performing with the Spice Girl, when the hell can you in life? Exactly. Right. It was just very... They just didn't really come out of their shell the way that I think they could have. And again, they only had 48 hours, right? So the chemistry also wasn't... You know, it's hard to build chemistry in such a short time. But I do agree that this was more successful than Wannabe. But I think Wannabe actually won, right? So, yeah. Like by the live audience. Yeah, yeah.
00:31:12 --> 00:31:15 While Say You'll Be There had better choreo...
00:31:16 --> 00:31:43 I don't, if I'm watching a new subunit, a new formation, I don't love that we're doing stuff from the centre and then we're going off to the side stage and that's giving amazing choreo, don't get me wrong. But if this is film for TV and I get that and I'm watching it as a TV viewer. But if I was there at a concert, I think those people are just stood on stage and they haven't done anything in the middle still. Like it's very separate.
00:31:44 --> 00:31:56 And that was my issue. And that will actually be why this isn't my winner. All the pieces were there for this to win, but it didn't come together.
00:31:56 --> 00:32:21 And I respect that. Oh, you know, it's interesting. I feel like for me, a lot of the Korean people like know wannabe. I mean, like, you know, and then Say You'll Be There, they're like, oh, that was cute. You know, that was cute. Which is crazy because I love that song. Oh, it's amazing. Yeah. It goes off. I think we all like really like it. Yeah. Okay. So David, what wins for you then? I think it's a really close one because I...
00:32:23 --> 00:32:51 There's not like one super terrible one of the two, but I would say, yeah, maybe it's Say You Be There. You know, I was just more like reminded of what a great song it is. And I take your point, Joel, with the staging. But when you were saying that, I was thinking, oh my God, how many bloody K-pop performances have we seen that they love to, you know, three girls here and then one girl there with all the rest of the dancers having a moment and then it cuts back to this. So I was like...
00:32:51 --> 00:33:02 Yeah, the Spice Girls don't do that. No. You know, they're all there on stage. They're all giving it their thing. You know, no one is really, unless you're Vicky at the Olympics, you know, standing six feet away from the rest. No.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:22 Look, on the 2019 reunion tour, they gave us houses, House of Sporting, House of Ginger. Yes, that's true. So they did do separate bits of the staging. That's true, yeah. They weren't K-pop there. And in K-pop, when people are doing something, I love seeing levels and I love seeing something over there.
00:33:22 --> 00:33:49 But it's being owned still in the center. And I guarantee if you were in that studio, everyone's owning it to the right, but everyone's just waiting for their shot to be picked up in the center. And that was my issue. Yes. Oh my God, you're so right. Okay, I'm valid. That's valid. Oh man. All right, let's move on to episode three, which was Vanilla Ice with Ice Ice Baby and Taylor Dane, Tell It To My Heart. And this was done with Kepler.
00:33:59 --> 00:34:24 So, Vanilla Ice. I don't know if I've ever actually seen Vanilla Ice perform before, but he actually killed it. Yeah. Sorry, I'm laughing. The only time I've ever seen this man perform was back in the 90s. I wasn't a lie, but like YouTube videos. After that, I don't think about this man. I'm so sorry to this man. His last name is like Rip Van Winkle or something, right? Something Van Winkle? I don't know. I don't know anything about him.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:53 Oh, well, his last name is Van Winkle, and Rip Van Winkle is, like, an old man who lives, like, he lives forever or whatever. But, yeah, Ice Ice Baby is apparently timeless, because he's been getting remixed. Based on how he performed, he's been performing for, like, the longest time. Because when I tell you this man, his breath control, his grooves, it's just, he's dressed like Rob Dyrdek, but he's got, like, he's, like, 20 again. I mean, like, it was really impressive. I'm not sure about y'all, but he was, I was like, Vanilla Ice.
00:34:53 --> 00:34:58 Vanilla ice. He did his thing. Yeah.
00:34:58 --> 00:35:26 Well, I tell you, if you don't know anything about Beneath Ice, he made, and I've not seen it, believe it, like, I need to, he's made a movie, and one of the leads in it was Naomi Campbell. Oh! In, like, 1993 or something like that. I mean, he was hot back in the day, you know, so it was like, oh my God, White Rapper, let's get it, you know? That's amazing. Yeah, I mean, this song...
00:35:27 --> 00:35:42 It is interesting when this whole series, kind of the 80s songs, you go, oh, but then actually it does lend itself to what we're doing in this show quite a lot. Yeah. I didn't love his attitude in rehearsal when he's predominantly saying no to,
00:35:43 --> 00:35:59 I want to do this original move. And I appreciate, like, if that's special to him, that just the way it was with the girls and they were so ready to be doing what they'd rehearse over such a small, like, little turn, it's like, could you just update it?
00:36:00 --> 00:36:17 You know, it's interesting because it's like, why not use the wannabe stair choreography, right? Why do all the... And then he's like, you know, it's step, turn, turn, step, step, turn. That's the eight count. And then like, you know what? It is challenging. I mean, I've been in positions where it's like...
00:36:17 --> 00:36:33 Okay, we're changing it an hour before we're changing everyone's formation. You're like, what? And you have to make it work. So I can understand. They've been rehearsing for like weeks for a really long time. It's like, oh my God. But I think for the chorus, it was, he made it easier, essentially. Yeah. He made it easier.
00:36:33 --> 00:36:58 Yeah. But yeah, I mean, I like the remix of this. The electro pop of it all made the couple of girls feel like they belonged in it. And it didn't just like, you know, two little, well, one's Korean, one's Japanese, two little Asian girls like, yeah, we're rapping and yeah, but it didn't feel too like, you know, here's my little sister's best friends from high school. It felt like they belonged in there. They really do know how to do like...
00:36:59 --> 00:37:19 Kayfabe, if you will, you know, wrestler term, Kayfabe, where you have like the heel and the baby face. So a heel is like a villain. They play up the heel part of the rapper really well. Like they know how to really judge it up. Because in the rehearsal, they were like, oh, oh. I was like, dang, this is not going to work. The chemistry is not going to be there on stage. The girls were doing their thing. They ate.
00:37:19 --> 00:37:47 you know what I'm saying and they had to do the English and the choreography so it's like I get why they were like it's Daehyun Daehyun and Hikaru yeah I feel like they were really owned up to the whole like the hype of the performance what Ice needed as well because he is intense I didn't realize how intense this man was he'll smile on your face but be like F you you know what I'm saying like he's very strong willed I get it but the girls didn't get swallowed up by him and they didn't feel too background dancery and I think that's really important for this one
00:37:48 --> 00:38:17 Yeah, I think they lifted up what's something that could have been sort of, and this is no shade to him, and it doesn't, I don't mean this as horrible as it sounds, but they lifted up and modernised what could have been stagnant, like a guy that's just been doing this on these circuits. And I love that. Like, and I'm here for that. But it did, fresh on something, and it's actually maybe a smaller line-up than we'll see in a lot of the other performances. So it was really nice to see that unity, and it is an information we get a lot, one man, two girls. Yeah. Loved it.
00:38:17 --> 00:38:43 Yeah, I think they did a good job. Yeah, I think this was actually one of the most successful in the show. And definitely the biggest surprise, for sure. And I don't have too much experience with Kepler. Anyone who's listened to the show before, I hated some of their initial songs. But now they've kind of found their sound a little bit. But I was so impressed by these two. They really pulled up to match his energy. Yes, they definitely did. Definitely did. Now...
00:38:44 --> 00:39:13 I'm not laughing, sorry. I am laughing. Can I tell y'all that I've known Tell It To My Heart for, like, forever. We all know it, right? I didn't know Taylor could still sing like that, and I'm so sorry to that woman. I didn't know she could sing like that still. Because, like, back in the 80s, like, you know, everyone was sitting here in these big old vocals and singing in the back of the throat. You know, like, everyone was doing that, right? But I didn't know she still had it in her, and, like, the way she kind of holds herself and the way she kind of talks, I'm not eating that squid. I didn't think that she could actually...
00:39:13 --> 00:39:40 It was snail. Oh, snail, excuse me. It was, yeah. I mean, she may have had a point there, but still, it was kind of like, you know, she had a little taste of that salad with a bit of seasoning. It's like, this is all right. Yeah. You may cut a little bell, do this. And strangely enough, or maybe not strangely enough, a lot of these divas, you know, can't sing anymore. I met this one, like, amazing vocalist years ago when she was in her peak...
00:39:40 --> 00:40:04 I won't say what musical she was in, but she had an attitude. She can't hit the notes. The vibrato is like, it's not good, but she can sing her booty off. Taylor Deontay was giving vocals body in the fan. It was, you know, the gold suit, the gold body suit, the fan. The intro was very disco. Gloria Gaynor is clapping. Yeah.
00:40:04 --> 00:40:27 snapping we loved it the diva house of all of it the marching band moment the harmonies are actually present because one of the couple of the couple girls can really actually sing and one of them was sm train so she's like oh yeah this is this is this is where i live you know um i think this is probably one of the best remixes on the show like hands down overall one of the better ones i heard on the show
00:40:27 --> 00:40:52 Not that it went out. But yeah, I liked how it came across. It wasn't super 80s and cheesy like it used to be. I love 80s cheese. But this was different genres, different moments. And then you have like this really random like instrumental of marching band where the girls are doing salsa shines in the back. I don't know why, but the choreography was like salsa, salsa. And I was like, I'm here for it. I'm here for it.
00:40:53 --> 00:41:14 I thought we were very lucky with this episode because on paper, it was looking like the shakiest one. So maybe going into it with that very unfortunate thinking, I was pleasantly surprised. The Vanilla Eyes performance, I would say, is maybe my second favorite of the whole series in terms of how they really pumped up the production. Mm-hmm.
00:41:14 --> 00:41:31 And this one, I mean, I would have, no shade to the girls. I thought they did a really great job. But this really is a second gen K-pop song, isn't it? Oh, yeah. I wanted some of the, you know, legends to come on this one with Taylor De'Anse. Yeah.
00:41:33 --> 00:42:03 You know, someone from Girls' Generation, obviously it has to be Taeyeon. Yes. But anyone else, Tiffany, whoever's available. Oh, yeah. I just, I, you know, it was giving me nostalgia for second gen K-pop. Mm-hmm. You know, or even third gen. Like, I just think that would have just been so cool. But, yeah, tell it to my heart. It really is, like, a classic. And I think they did it really, really well. Really, really well.
00:42:03 --> 00:42:23 Yeah, this remix was successful, turning it into that full dance moment. I will say, I think if Kepler actually did a solo version of this, that would actually be more successful, because I think vocally, it did not work. Like, vocally and performance-wise, they were not on the same page at all. Title slog with them, yeah. Right. Well...
00:42:24 --> 00:42:48 As we say, Taylor looks amazing. If they sold those extensions ready to go, I'm a bald man, I'd get that on. Like, that is ready. And the gold as well. Fabulous. And when you've got hair like that, I've always had that and gold like that, you can stand there. You can say, pull me around on the stage. You can say, I'll move over there, but you are going to have to guide me. Right, right. She's a girl.
00:42:50 --> 00:43:09 She says, I can't do stage left, stage right, second to stage. Like, just pull me around. But when you have such a great song like this, like, I just, I want a little bit of movement. And that's my issue. Just a little bit of flowy on the stage.
00:43:09 --> 00:43:31 Yeah I mean they tried to give her even just a little Step touch moment and she couldn't Even do that She said no I agree with you David I think this would totally work As a K-pop song the kind of light Kind of tell it to my heart Like very babyish kind of like vocal Execution I think that totally works It just didn't work in a collaboration I think
00:43:31 --> 00:43:58 It's because, you know, Wonder Girls had the song that sampled Two of Hearts. So it's very similar like this. Like, get me sun on this from Wonder Girls. Like, with that big vocal. And she'll give you a bit of dancing as well. Yes. Hello. Yes. Okay, so what wins for you? I will choose Vanilla Ice. Oh.
00:44:01 --> 00:44:13 It's going to be Vanilla Ice. I cannot believe I'm saying this in 2025. But yeah. Vanilla Ice is me. I will download that and stream that now.
00:44:13 --> 00:44:40 I'm not gonna lie, if I close my eyes, it would go to Taylor Neonce, but if my eyes are open, if my eyes are open, Vanilla Ice was really good, I will say that, but I think I'm gonna give it the talent to my heart. I think it should've won. I think, maybe because she just sent her face off and off, I'm just so impressed. But also, I think, again, it's just, yeah. I think it was just the gold suit I got snatched. I don't know.
00:44:41 --> 00:45:07 Sometimes all it takes is a gold suit, you know. It's fancy. Yeah. But I got you guys picked Ice Ice, for sure. Yeah, I think I'd pick Vanilla Ice as well. But yeah, Tell It To My Heart. If they release that, I'd listen to it. I think the difference between Tell It To My Heart and Lady Marmalade is Tell It To My Heart is such a big song and it has been done so many ways, but it continues to work in every single way. Yeah.
00:45:08 --> 00:45:34 Yeah, if you're going to do Lady Mabalow, you better get Christina on it, because, honey. Right. Moving right along to episode four with Kesha and Eve, with Kesha performing Joyride, and Eve performing Let Me Blow Your Mind with J-O-1.
00:45:35 --> 00:46:03 Yes, they must not have really been able to find any K-pop boy groups here. Because it's just 80s and J01. J01 are not even K-pop. Team Top. Beast, aka Highlights. Shiny, EXO, B2B. I mean, not GOT7, they're like bone. But like someone. Just people. Yeah. All right. Well, let's talk about Kesha, Joyride. David, what did you think of this performance? Yes.
00:46:04 --> 00:46:29 Look, I think, isn't she one of the only ones that got to do, like, their current single? Oof. I think so. Yes. Yeah, which to me was surprising because we know she's got lots of big hits, but those might be in the terms and conditions. But I actually don't think that they even did that much to Joyride, did they? Because it actually feels already quite ready, like, to be...
00:46:30 --> 00:46:57 done with a boy group and her. I don't know. It just, maybe it's also too current in my mind, you know? That's valid. I think they made it a bit darker, right? They added some, like, extra kind of... So hard! So hard! Yeah. Yeah. Maguire? There was some more, like, metallic kind of synths and stuff in there to make it a little harder. But yeah, it is interesting that, obviously, I guess you didn't want to go with any of the Dr. Puke stuff. Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:58 --> 00:47:20 Not the headsting door. What did you think about it? No, I thought it was... I thought it was... I was shaking my head at Dr. Puke. I know, it's just so funny. Yeah, I know. Not that man. Right. I thought this was really good. I thought her with the boys had a really good dynamic of...
00:47:21 --> 00:47:39 She worked it, she owned it, and the boys felt like her backing dancers, but not in a bad way. Not as in she outshunned them. In a weird way, it still collectively shunned the whole thing, but it was very much like Kesha and her moment. Oh, yeah. Even though the boys were outdancing her, it was still...
00:47:40 --> 00:48:09 And in a way, I mean, maybe that's a strength to it because we see in this series a lot, the K-pop acts dancing and the Western acts not. And they kind of stand out for the wrong ways. Whereas this, she stood out in the right way. Yeah, I think having this co-ed moment was perfect because she is like this tall blonde, she's mother, you know, and to have these guys like, hi, your mother, you know, like, it's kind of cute. But then when they perform, like the redheaded guy,
00:48:09 --> 00:48:32 he seemed so sweet but when he was on the stage with kesha it turned on like again k-pop idols have the k-fabe down like if you're like the sweetest person off stage you're shy introverted when you hit that stage the shirt's getting ripped open no one's but no one ripped the shirt open i'm just saying but you know it's something very telling about how like well rehearsed they are but also how they went
00:48:32 --> 00:48:53 I don't know if it's above and beyond, but it's tough because they speak Japanese, right? And they know Korean. And then maybe some of them know English. But to have a full group of boys around you and maybe two or three speak English to you, but every single time you looked at one of them, it felt like, okay, she's going to the club with one of them. Oh, no, she's leaving that one behind. It didn't feel like, you know, a valet with...
00:48:53 --> 00:49:09 you know, give me some, I picked my keys. It was more like, here's my escort for the party. Oh, this one, that's cool. So it was nice. And then when she hit the floor and she was on her knees and the guys were dancing, it felt like a smexy club. It felt like a nasty party and I was here for it. And I think the production of Joyride here
00:49:10 --> 00:49:29 She needs to take it. Stick it on a deluxe because of original Joyride production. No offense to her. I know she's her. It's her like independent label. And I produced this. I get it. But this right here was just gritty enough. Because she is still very edgy. Especially after everything that's happened to her. It fits her edginess.
00:49:29 --> 00:49:57 And also, it's still really fun and smexy. So I think it was like a really just like, it was like kismet for these two to get together, for sure. Yeah, I think chemistry-wise, this was definitely one of the strongest performances because it did feel like a true collaboration on stage. Like, again, there was so much interaction between everyone. Esha got her moments. The group got their moments. They would come together. Like, it was all just staged really, really well, actually. So, yeah, I actually think this was...
00:49:57 --> 00:50:18 very successful and i was impressed by kesha because i've actually i don't really follow her career that much i had seen her live kind of way back uh like in the early 2010s like in the first album second album era um but i haven't actually seen as much as she's been doing now and i was actually really impressed like she has a really a strong stage presence so yes
00:50:18 --> 00:50:47 Yeah, I mean, David and I just saw her at Mighty Hoopla this summer, and she has an amazing stage presence. She was headlining for, I don't know how many, it is 30 on that stage, and yeah, she owned it, and everyone loved it. And I don't know if she'd already shot this first, because the sound of this fit very much into that live set. So I don't know if she brought it to the show, or if she went, thanks, guys. That's great. But thematically, it was more of that in Kesha's live show, so you'd have a great time.
00:50:48 --> 00:51:16 Amazing. Good to know. Okay, so she was battling Eve with Let Me Blow Your Mind. So, yeah, Joel, what did you think of this one? So, where there was and where Kesha was making the boys that like her backup dance in a good way, what I loved about this one was there was more synergy here. This felt more like a group collective. And I thought the chorus sounded fantastic, what they'd done with it. Mm-hmm.
00:51:17 --> 00:51:35 The production was good. I love the new version. The kind of slightly higher BPM. Again, it was just a performance track. Like they added so many extra dynamics and stuff just to make the choreography and the energy there really good. Almost like a live band arrangement. Also, Eve looks amazing. Phenomenal.
00:51:35 --> 00:51:54 This is what happens when you marry a man with that much money and also stay out of people's business. This girl's not on anyone's reality show. She's not doing no drugs that I know of. She is happy and healthy. She's a stepmother. That's why. She's a stepmother. That's hilarious. Oh, my gosh. It's just she is so effortless when she raps.
00:51:54 --> 00:52:22 Yes. And yeah, I agree with you. I think this was another situation where you could feel that the boys actually kind of took on some of what she was giving to try and match it. I do think in terms of the dance breaks and stuff, it wasn't as seamless as the way they staged Kesha's. Yeah. But I think when Eve was saying, look, I'm not a dancer, I'm a viber, they did seem to adjust to that. And those moments when they were just kind of vibing with her were maybe the most successful parts in this performance. Mm-hmm.
00:52:22 --> 00:52:46 Mm-hmm. No, totally. Honestly, like, both of these songs for this episode really works well for K-pop. Like, as a concept, they are so adaptable. And I don't want to be that person, but I was like, you know, the rap songs that are covered generally are the ones that I'm like, yeah, you know? I know it's a little bit obvious, but it also just gives...
00:52:46 --> 00:53:14 I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the kind of tougher, more attitude-driven songs that just feel very much in the K-pop playbook. Or maybe that's just my personal taste. You know, some of the more witsy, emotional stuff. I'm more like, oh, I'm not really sure, you know, if that is the kind of performance I enjoy. But something like this, you're like, wow, the chemistry between the main artists and these guys. Like, it's just, give me that remix now. Give me that version now.
00:53:14 --> 00:53:42 What a thought to have, because it's like, if these artists are working with the artists, like the, if the K-pop artists are working with the Western artists and they don't like the song, that can also affect like the engagement. So, oh, so many things to think about. Now I'm like retroactively thinking, did Itzy just not jive with Spice Girls? I'm teasing, I'm teasing. All right. So all that being said, who is this everybody's winner? Joel, kick us off. Who's your winner? Who's your winner?
00:53:42 --> 00:54:02 Mine is Eve. Ooh! That chorus really did it for me. Wow, okay. I, ooh, this is hard, actually. I think, performance-wise, I might actually give it to Kesha. I'm Kesha, too. Wow, you guys really almost swayed me, because I went in...
00:54:03 --> 00:54:20 With Eve on the card. And now you're really making me second guess it because maybe I was too, you know, not seeing what was special in the Kesha collaboration. But I think gotta go off the energy of everyone on stage. And I think the Eve performance really sold it more for me.
00:54:20 --> 00:54:34 I respect that. Go ahead. Ten toes down. Ten toes. Moving right along to episode five with Kylie Minogue with Can't Get You Out of My Head versus Jay Barvin with Mi Gente featuring A.T.'s.
00:54:45 --> 00:55:12 Okay. Now, this episode had Chris up in arms, but... Did it? No, I'm teasing. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. But I think the biggest conversation was, like, people don't realize who Kylie freaking Minogue is. Like, it's... I mean, don't get me wrong. J. Badveen is amazing. What he did with Mijente how many years ago was great. Right? But, like, but, but, but, but, but, but, it's Kylie. Yeah.
00:55:13 --> 00:55:37 Exactly. Four decades strong Kylie Minogue. Why did she not get her own episode? Like, it's okay. J Balvin's an awesome artist. I enjoy him for sure. But, you know, Kylie bias. And I think, Kyriss, you felt the same way. Like, why not get her own episode? Yeah, she should have gotten one episode. But look, I did see a lot of the discourse online. Like, I think the A.T.'s fans felt that J Balvin was not...
00:55:38 --> 00:56:06 very easy to work with, that you could kind of see that those ATs boys were maybe just walking a bit on eggshells with her. And it was just such a... Or with him, sorry, with Jay. And with Kylie, it was the full opposite, where she was just, of course, the most friendly person in the world and embracing this, you know, new situation that she was in. So I think just that juxtaposition, I think also I was like, Kylie deserved more than 15 minutes of this episode. Yeah.
00:56:06 --> 00:56:35 And Minogue never disappoints, you know, and that's why she was a pleasure to work with those boys, I'm sure. What would you have wanted the second song to be if it had been a Kylie and Minogue episode? Ooh, what would A.T.'s do well? Let's see. I'm trying to think of one of her more intense ones, maybe. Chocolate would have been. Very sexy. Sick. I'm just a chocolate fan. Slow. If she brought back some of the pas de deux in chocolate with the boys. Don't play with me right now. Don't play with me right now.
00:56:37 --> 00:56:59 Oh yeah, slow would have been amazing as well. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Ooh. It's got to be either slow or padam, right? Because padam is just so fresh. You could do something really interesting in a K-pop style with padam as well. Add a whole new Korean rap. Get it all going, make it absolutely bonkers.
00:57:00 --> 00:57:08 Producers, are we all signed on? Yes, Apple TV. If you need some consultants for season two, we're here. Yes.
00:57:09 --> 00:57:31 Oh my gosh. Okay, so Kylie, can't get you out of my head. I mean, she has actually done like a heavy metal version before on the Aphrodite tour. So this kind of sounded like that. And it just it did make sense because 80s is quite intense. And there's a lot of the big drums and stuff. So this new version didn't feel entirely fresh. But that's just because I'm a Kylie fan. I just know all the different versions of this song.
00:57:31 --> 00:57:53 But I will say, I love that the ATEEZ members sang some of the lyrics in Korean. And their moments actually truly elevated the song. Like, Jongho. Yes. Oh, my gosh. First off, he's already just one of the best singers in K-pop now anyway. But him belting that note. Yeah. That may be one of the best moments, if not the best moment that came out of the show for me. Heck yeah.
00:57:53 --> 00:58:19 But honestly, just as a Kylie fan, it was just a pleasure seeing her in this new environment and seeing how much she was excited about performing with them, all her little interactions with them on stage and everything was great. But I will say I do wish there was a little dance break at the end, just to kind of climax it. Because that slow walk to the front and then it never really kind of hitting another level, I think was a missed opportunity.
00:58:20 --> 00:58:23 Yeah, the body roll?
00:58:26 --> 00:58:54 Oh my god, you're so right. Oh my god. I feel like Kylie's No Strangers to her remix. We already know that. AT's brought that dark Saja boy energy to the stage. The song is already creepy. Now, if you are new to our show, Chris and I have already discussed the Fever album, and we talked about how creepy the lyrics are. Like, there's a dark secret in me. You know, don't leave me locked in your arms. Set me free. It just makes sense. Shout out to the boys for singing in Korean. Honey, every time she looked and touched one of them, I was like, ooh, yes.
00:58:54 --> 00:59:21 Oh, yes. But that's again, you don't have to be attracted to someone to have good chemistry. And I don't know where everyone was looking. Maybe they were looking at each other's foreheads, looking through the person. I don't care. But the eye contact that was maybe sort of not really happening. I don't care. Great. You know, we got we got members dancing with women like, oh, my God, opposite sex. Amazing. Like the boys looked hot with her. And she's like all petite and tiny. And they're like standing over her. Like, come here, my queen. I'm like, I love it.
00:59:21 --> 00:59:46 It was giving reverse harem in the best effing way. But I do wish, I do wish she was not wearing her light camera action. Like, the dress that she was wearing when she was sitting down in the VIP lounge made more sense. And I was like, no. But aside from that, I'm not upset with that at all. Even my hair braider, she was braiding my hair. She stopped. She's like, oh, wow. Yeah.
00:59:46 --> 01:00:06 wow I was like yeah you see this right because who's this I'm like oh yes I was like it's Kylie she's like yeah so the whole KT's thing was fabulous I think it was really cool but yeah my note was the same at the end why are we not hitting and hitting head or something get on your knees something I don't that's just that's just my sick brain
01:00:08 --> 01:00:31 I thought she did a great job as well. Like, she may not have had her own episode, but she managed to bring you Kylie production. It might only be 15 minutes, but I'm making this a Kylie episode and a taste of a Kylie concert, while also working extremely well with the boys, being in sync with them. And what Kylie is amazing at is...
01:00:31 --> 01:00:55 she's a professional. She's been doing this for 40 years, but she'll also give you friendly and polite professional, not a professional that's just like, I'm here, let's get the job done and make it the best it can be. She'll give you personality. She's giving you a taste of who she is with interactions, saying, let's give ourselves a name and being the KTs. And I just loved seeing, you know, Kylie's very good at
01:00:56 --> 01:01:03 movement as opposed to like full choreo and I thought that just managed to come together really well with the boys
01:01:03 --> 01:01:32 Mm-hmm. 100%. I mean, you guys have hit it on the head there. The Korean parts and the big vocal part, letting that guy do a full belt. This is what K-pop does. This is the kind of intensity, the drama theatrics with like a really modern production that just makes you think rock opera. And sure, we're all big Kylie fans. So when the dubstep bid came in, I was like, yes, we know which tour that was pulled from. Yeah.
01:01:32 --> 01:01:56 But still, you know what? It was kind of magpied enough bits of jewels from different tours that was pieced together that it didn't feel copy and paste for me. But again, the voice, the vocals, the kind of intensity, the drama was just intoxicating. Like, hands down, the best performance of the whole series ever.
01:01:57 --> 01:02:24 Obviously Kylie biased, but if I wasn't, you know, we got eyes and ears. That's right. That's right. Also, can I just say, though, the shame is it didn't win the episode. Right. Hang on. Okay. So, I mean, there's no surprise with this round, but we're going to talk about J. Barvin. Imagine him as big as he is. And in Latin America, like, they love him. Okay. They love him. I'm... I'm...
01:02:24 --> 01:02:54 Point is, the fly over there, you're a little tired. He felt like he was happy to meet them. They met before at Coachella. I think he may have been a little bit like, girl, I don't be dancing. What's this? I don't dance. He hit the Zac Efron. Not Zac Efron, the Corbin Bleu. He wasn't feeling it. You know what I'm saying? He was like, I don't dance. Like, please don't do this. So, like, you're asking me to do something other than just be, like, that reggaeton, like, bringing that energy here. And it can be intimidating. You have, what, X amount of men? Was it, like, four other guys that are...
01:02:54 --> 01:03:17 Sitting there hitting every move, five, six, seven, eight. And he's like, oh my God, what is happening? Granted, it did not look good with him being on the phone and being like, yeah, sure, sure, sure, whatever. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever. But if I was somebody walking into a room where I didn't know anyone, barely knew the language, and then four other guys were like, this is what we're doing. And you're like, I ain't doing that.
01:03:17 --> 01:03:47 Yeah, there's a little bit of rigidity there as well, now from the Western side. But then juxtaposed with Kylie, he was just ragging on him. But it really wasn't but like a second or so, maybe like five minutes of him being like, let me get back in my body. So in his defense, it's like, I can kind of understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think his personality is just naturally, he seemed just very quiet and kind of introverted. And yeah, I mean, I guess his team didn't fully brief him on what this concept was.
01:03:49 --> 01:04:16 But no, I think it's more just the warmness of it. Like you could really see the four ATEEZ boys, like he seems really uncomfortable and you could tell they were like trying, they were like, are you okay with doing this? Yeah, Hongjun was trying a lot. Yeah, yeah. So I think I just felt more empathy from them, for them actually, because I can see how uncomfortable they are and even watching the performances or the performance, they really had to pull back their energy to kind of match his. Yes, yeah.
01:04:16 --> 01:04:41 which I didn't love because Hades are such good performers. And even like when they were in the crowd at the start, they're doing nothing behind them. They're like this. They're just like, like a little, like, like just kind of waiting for the next moment to happen. So yeah, I just think it just didn't reach the energy. I think it could have. I think the song inherently has the energy, right? And they kind of relied on that and they did nothing to the song. Nothing. Nothing.
01:04:42 --> 01:04:53 Oh my god. You know what? K-pop has a thing with reggaeton. Like, they don't know how to, like... I mean, reggaeton is so iconic, though. It's like that drum beat. How do you, like, go work around it? But there are ways...
01:04:53 --> 01:05:14 There are ways. Change the baseline. Hmm. I don't know. Actually, just don't do the reggaeton. Do like a little Ami Piano moment. Give Pila a moment. I mean, do you know what, as well? Because reggaeton is so used in K-pop so widely. They might have just thought, do you know what? This would actually be a song that we would do ourselves anyway. Yeah.
01:05:14 --> 01:05:35 But it's just, it did it a bit of a disservice because I was expecting it to be properly K-popped. But once I saw the song title, I was like, I already know how this sounds like. And they're not going to change very much. Like, we're going to get Korean lyrics. Yeah. We feel lucky a big dubstep-y breakdown. But even that, as I was going out, I was like, I don't think we're going to get that.
01:05:36 --> 01:06:06 No. They just made it like a festival, like EDM kind of-ish. Oh, like a festival remix. Yeah. Yeah. Which is okay, I guess. Oh. Whatever's the quickest sign off, you know? Right. You know what? Yeah, he goes, how much quanto? Okay. So what did you think about the whole thing with, like, the performance? Because you are right. There's a lot of moments going on in the center, but there are moments happening on the side. Like, how did you feel about the whole, like, staging of everything?
01:06:07 --> 01:06:27 Well, it's tricky because in this one, it didn't feel, as you guys have already said, it didn't feel like he came together with the boys. So maybe for this, if he's not going to do that, everything going on is going to be to its benefit. Instead of just this one guy like...
01:06:28 --> 01:06:47 one guy just bopping in the middle i would feel like the the it was regal like the vibes were regal i think the crowd work was awesome i think being in the crowd kind of creates this whole vibe but i think overall this is not the winner and i think the korean audience but john lee korean audience only picked it because they know this song
01:06:47 --> 01:07:11 Like for sure because you can't sit there and look at this and be like oh yeah you know Kylie Minogue didn't do a great job. I just feel like they just recognized this song and it was so big. Even Beyonce hopped on it. You know like I don't have any offense to anyone but like Beyonce was like I still love you with me. I was like yes. She even did it during Beychella you know what I'm saying so it's like the song was huge.
01:07:11 --> 01:07:30 Do you think if he's, you know, say how big he is in Latin America and the journey to get there, do you think this was worth it for him? Like, what's the benefit to his career to do this? I don't think. It's a bit of conversation at Coachella. We got to work together. Yeah, man, let's work together. Yeah.
01:07:31 --> 01:07:57 So, we're thinking... Just circling back. Yeah. Circling back, yeah. That's for my last email. But yeah, no, I think for the familiarity of it all, yeah, it makes sense. But J-Bobby has other songs that are good, but this is the most iconic one. So, you kind of should have won. So, Kylie. Oh, for sure. Bow down to Kylie on always, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
01:07:57 --> 01:08:05 Okay, moving on to episode six. We had Boy George, Karma Chameleon versus TLC Waterfalls with Stacey. Okay.
01:08:10 --> 01:08:39 I mean, the most bizarre matchup, I would say. Everyone's face. If you're not watching the episode, you need to hop on some type of viewing platform. Oh, man. All the faces. That was crazy. Yeah. So let's start with Karma Chameleon. Okay. Yeah, Chantel, you want to start us off? Okay.
01:08:40 --> 01:09:06 The production on this was whack. Horrible. Absolutely horrible. Okay, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen. Okay, hear me out, hear me out, hear me out. I am laughing. Not at Boy George. I'm not laughing at him performing. Anything that has anything to do with the artistes, all of them. The production was just whack. Okay.
01:09:06 --> 01:09:33 It was not good. It was so clunky and weird. And it's so crazy because, like, Stacey, they do quirky. They do 80s, maybe a little bit of 90s, early 2000s. They know, like, their production, was it Black Eyed Peel's song? He does great work with them. They sound so retro and they sound fresh at the same time. That's not who was working on this track in his shows. Like, the Stacey-ness of it was missing. It was just...
01:09:33 --> 01:09:55 This production really... This production and the Fallen production really embody with a lot of non-K-pop listeners think what K-pop is. Before K-pop Demon Hunters came out, they all thought it sounded like Sneakers by ITZY. They all thought it sounded like, I don't know, whatever JoJo Siwa was releasing back when she was like 12 years old. Yeah.
01:09:55 --> 01:10:21 So shout out Jojo. But the thing is like, this song could have gone in an 80s production, like really leading to the 80s like moments or even something K-pop country, shout out Double Yoon, four minute, you know, 24 seven, like the melody of a song wasn't even adjusted to really match the tracks. That's another issue that I have. It was just so like, shoot, we got to find someone. Um, um, like, yeah,
01:10:22 --> 01:10:48 It was weird. They tried to make it cool. Like they added these like trap beats and stuff to it, which was very odd. It was very, very odd. And like, I feel like they should have actually gone the opposite route and made it kind of cuter. Yeah. Like kind of what, like what Kepler did to tell it to my heart, like kind of that idea going more that route would have just matched the song more because melodically it just did not make sense with the production at all.
01:10:48 --> 01:11:11 No, that was so weird. I don't know whether if they thought, oh, it needs like a kind of rhythmic flow to it so the girls can do like some choreo to it. But I really listening to this track, you really do get a sense that, wow, these are songs. Same with Wannabe. Karma Chameleon is very much a signature of that decade and that time.
01:11:11 --> 01:11:21 And there are just certain things that you can't really force onto a song with such a clear DNA like this. Going more a rock route. I didn't even think about country. But.
01:11:22 --> 01:11:49 you know, what you said about country would have been cool. But I feel like, you know, sometimes maybe for the format of the show, perhaps they think, oh, we got to deliver what certain people think K-pop is. But really, K-pop has no allegiance to any kind of genres. They've done every decade, every style of music, jazz, classical, country, you know, a piano. Like, we don't need to confine ourselves to these airy synths,
01:11:49 --> 01:12:03 you know, and like just kind of, you know, fluorescent 80s kind of synth bass. Yes. Take a risk with it. And actually, but that's the thing that maybe is my biggest takeaway from this series is that when you take the music kind of,
01:12:04 --> 01:12:32 explanation or the kind of music commentary away from this show, it becomes so vacuous. It really cheapens what K-pop does. And, you know, it's a disrespect to the genre because the whole conversation, the lack of commentary about what the producers are doing, what makes it K-pop, none of that was ever explained in this show. It was so focused on, let's chuck these people together and let's see how they do it on stage to revamp a classic hit. Yeah.
01:12:33 --> 01:12:51 Yeah, I think it would have been really cool if, like, each episode had had a producer attached as well. Producer of these hit songs has taken it on, and then the producer saying, I've always loved these songs, and it's amazing to put my own spin on it. Just to, yeah, give a more 360 approach to K-pop.
01:12:51 --> 01:13:17 Yes, and also cash grab, money, freaking size, spinning on the roof every single episode. Oh my god. Yeah, I will say shout out to Boy George, at least for saying in Korean. Like that was at least the one little kind of moment there. And I know everyone's thinking for worse, but they did make the song sound different. A lot of these songs aren't sounding different. They did add...
01:13:18 --> 01:13:44 Some mixture to it. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. The next one, Waterfalls, also sounded very different. Very different. Oh, my God. Whoever did this was wilding. Wilding. Yeah, it sounded like a kid's bop version of Waterfalls. Lisa? Lisa? Would have been like, no. No.
01:13:45 --> 01:14:12 No, we're not doing that. No, we're not doing that. Because how in the world y'all got the disco dance version with T-Boz hitting too fast choreography, the bumps, the boxing, the oh my goodness. And it blows my mind. Because don't get me wrong. There is dancing featured in the music video, in the live performance when they go, don't go, don't go dance.
01:14:12 --> 01:14:31 the VMAs performance I know it so they're wearing the checkerboard I love that performance how the heck he gonna take a song about AIDS you know dealers and life lessons and sit there and turn it into this weird like graduation for 8th graders remix yeah
01:14:32 --> 01:15:01 How dare you? I am so mad. It just made everything sound super juvenile. Do I hate the disco-ness of it? No. I love a good disco moment. Give it to me, honey. But this song is not it, because then the girl is in there, Lonely mother gazing out of her window. Yeah. And they're doing the bump. They're doing the bump. And I don't have the direct Korean translation, but the girl sat down at a donut shop. Stacey and TLC sat down at a donut shop to discuss the lyrics. And the first thing you do is,
01:15:02 --> 01:15:28 You know, you start, I just don't know what the creative direction was for this. Like they could, no scrubs would have been just fine. Yes. I wrote that down as well. It should have just been no scrubs. Yeah, because that could give you such fun, sassy girl band, like back and forth. Yes, because why are we not doing no scrubs? Why is that we choose waterfalls?
01:15:28 --> 01:15:50 Why? That's like Eve singing Love is Blind. Why would she want to sit there and sing Love is Blind about DV on a show? Like, it doesn't make sense. No Scrubs. It was a pop hit. Just put the K in front of it and it's K-pop. But yeah, I'm going to get off my soapbox. But yeah, no, I feel like...
01:15:50 --> 01:16:10 They didn't sound bad. No one sounded terrible. Thank you for the Korean lyrics, but it just did not make sense. The girls are wearing dresses and then T-Boz and Chili are sitting there wearing like these, you know, updated versions of what they wore in the music video. I just don't like... Get me out of here! Guys, don't be good.
01:16:10 --> 01:16:34 Joel, like, what the hell? The only, look, at least... Okay. My biggest upset with the whole show is if you're telling me I'm watching a show called K-pop, which is mixing K-pop and Korea, mixing K-pop and Korea, which is mixing K-pop and Western artists, bringing them together...
01:16:34 --> 01:16:56 all some of the best in the biz bringing them together i think wow i'm gonna see some of these performers perform like i've never seen them before i think i'm gonna get dancing i think i'm gonna get synergy this show sorry everyone was from the western artist choreographiness and i appreciate it was a short amount of time
01:16:57 --> 01:17:24 budget in some more rehearsals, you know, or some different artists. I thought, because I think if we're going to go surface level with K-pop, which we never should because it's so layered and extraordinary. But if we are going to be surface level, which maybe some people on this show did take it when they were making it, I would make choreography a huge element of that. And not just on the Korean side of things that would have to be from everyone. If you're going to be K-pop, we're not just changing the song. We're...
01:17:25 --> 01:17:47 changing the performance as well. So at least there was a little bit of movement in this performance. That's all I'm going to say. Yes. And they did incorporate the original choreography as well. Yes. At breakneck speed. The big head bounce never, ever, ever has to be that fast. I don't know why. Yeah.
01:17:48 --> 01:18:03 Yeah, I mean, look, at least Chili... We know Chili could keep up, though. You know, Chili was killing it. T-Boss, maybe not as much. She's unwell. Yeah, yeah. I mean, she doesn't normally do that much choreography on stage anyway, right? Yeah. I think the actual performance, given...
01:18:04 --> 01:18:30 Given how horrible the remix was, I actually thought the performance itself was actually okay. Like, if you don't take into account how the meaning of the song and how it just removed all emotion, I actually think it was fine. And the chemistry between the TLC ladies and the Stacey girls was actually not bad. But yeah, I don't think I will ever listen to this version ever again. Yeah. Yeah.
01:18:30 --> 01:18:51 Now you've said like no scrubs, I'm just thinking about everything else they could have done, like even doing like Creep, you could have done something amazing or, you know, let's not do leaning up tempo, do up Unpretty and do a big vocal moment and like back and forth and just really give you a big K-pop ballad. How incredible would that be?
01:18:51 --> 01:19:03 Yeah. Oh, the opportunities. You know what? Once again, if y'all need people to write the show, call the fans. We got you. Yes. Yes. David, how about you? What'd you think of this one?
01:19:03 --> 01:19:32 It's just a real disservice to the original. And it really does bring a concern that, yeah, we're not maybe listening to the lyrics of the song and we're not adapting a performance for it, you know. And that in itself doesn't do anyone favours, doesn't do the artists, doesn't do K-pop as a genre favours, doesn't do TLC any favours. It just felt like, yeah, someone needed to just stop, slow down, take a deep breath in the words of Victoria Beckham.
01:19:32 --> 01:20:02 And just reevaluate what are we actually doing here? Hmm. Ooh, yes. Yeah. They probably did ask that, but they thought we're on episode six, so we're not going to think about it. We're going to continue. Too late. Project been fine. Dallas Austin got his money. Like, it was happy. Okay. What wins between Boy George and DLC? Worse and worse. Oh, no. Oh, no.
01:20:02 --> 01:20:27 You know what? I don't know. All the hundreds of televisions behind Boy George was just haunting. And they didn't get the concept of the song either. No one got the concept. Karma Chameleons actually has quite deep lyrics as well. Yes. It was concept-less. That was the concept. There is no concept. It was X. There is no genre. Um...
01:20:27 --> 01:20:45 This is actually really hard. The least offensive, sonically, would actually still be Waterfall. I think I agree. Yeah, it's TLC to me. It's Kidzmop, Tear, and it's cheap disco beats. Yes. But at least it's not offensive to the ears. Yes.
01:20:46 --> 01:21:05 Yes, I'm on the same page. Okay. Yeah, Boy George did his thing, though. But it just wasn't, it was yet. No, it's not their fault. This episode is probably the worst one of the season. Oh, well, we'll see. Okay, let's get to episode seven. Ava Max, Kings and Queens, and Jess Glynn, Hold My Hand with Kiss of Life.
01:21:16 --> 01:21:43 Okay, Ava Max, maybe she really is the outlier, I think, in the cast here on the Western side, just because she's just so new compared to everyone else. You know what? But K-pop, like, I wouldn't say that K-poppers love her, but like a lot of the Koreans like love her, like Sweet But Psycho was in almost every Dance Cruise video. King and Queens, they just love her sound. Yeah. All right. I mean, if she counts as a legend alongside Patti LaBelle, then sure. Yeah.
01:21:45 --> 01:22:07 I mean, I am sounds just like I am and then Bite Me by in-hyphen sounds like Ava Max. That's true. No, that is very true. Modern K-pop does sound like Ava Max, for sure. I don't know what it is, but they had like Tinashe. I don't know what happened, but they love her out there, too. You know? Tinashe would have been great. Oh, she would have been great. And that is someone that would have given you an amazing performance. She's ready to be K-popped. She'd be...
01:22:07 --> 01:22:34 Dancing circles around everyone. They'd all be dancing circles around each other. It'd be amazing. Oh my gosh, hire us now. Okay. All right. So, all right, David, kick us off. What'd you think of Kings and Queens? Look, this song is just perfect for the show. Like, it is just, it's maximalist pop, big vocals. It's giving drama. In that sense, I feel like, okay, maybe they don't need to do anything to it. But I just thought...
01:22:34 --> 01:22:56 why does it still sound like a version of a performance that we've seen several years ago? Yeah. You know, I was hoping that after so much distance with Kings and Queens, that I would come back to this and be like, oh, I didn't realize I could enjoy it in a new way. And I wasn't. I was hearing familiarity. Yeah. It wasn't enough for me.
01:22:57 --> 01:23:11 That's valid. It was giving for me, it was like beautiful gowns, beautiful gowns. Oh. Because what happened with that performance, I don't know, even when they're rehearsing, she goes, I want them to have a guitar moment.
01:23:11 --> 01:23:33 Nati don't want us to be playing no air guitar. She want me whipping and flicking and, you know what I'm saying? She wants to sit in the hip and give you, like, you know, boots to the puss. Like, it was not, like, it was. But I think that's what was missing. There was, you have Kiss of Life who, although had that misstep, are very hip-hop R&B based. Mm-hmm.
01:23:34 --> 01:23:55 Kings and Queens with a little bit of like a, like a little free hook. That's not a kind of R&B would have been leaning a little bit SME, whatever, but it would have been something to kind of strip away from the already recognizable sound of what it is. And then Ava, she's a great singer. We know she can sing. Belle held it down with her little ad lips. I was like, great, but it go off. Yeah.
01:23:55 --> 01:24:23 But again, it wasn't giving anything. You had vocalists with another vocalist. Had you swapped it, I think, Hunter and... What's her name? Julie. I'll be doing this. But Julie, she... Maybe a little rappy moment. Because Ava can sing. You don't need three vocalists singing that song. Because Ava is Ava. She's iconic. We love it. Blah, blah, blah. But something was missing that was K-pop. And every K-pop song has a rap.
01:24:24 --> 01:24:44 for whatever reason, but it, but that would have been something that would have been like, Oh, interesting. But aside from that, the performance was decent. It just sounded like an AMA's performance, special stage, like SM with Britney and Rihanna. Nothing was switched up. It was just, wow, they're both good. Great job, you know, consistent.
01:24:44 --> 01:25:00 Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think Ava, like, her vibe has always been this kind of, like, lazy-ish, kind of, like, slinky... No, I don't mean lazy in a bad way. Like, I mean, like, her vibe is that she doesn't need to try that hard, right? Effortless, yeah. Yeah, it's all just kind of a bit, like...
01:25:00 --> 01:25:30 Like she could barely walk in her shoes, right? Like the whole vibe is you don't have to push, you don't have to do too much, right? She's never been that type of performer. And as you were saying, Kiss of Life are amazing performers, actually. And so then it was kind of the same case as another artist I said before, where they kind of had to just kind of pull back to match the Western artist. And then nothing was actually elevated by them doing that, I think. So there was nothing bad about the performance. It just wasn't very memorable. Just didn't really make much impact. Yeah.
01:25:30 --> 01:25:54 Yeah, my notes is exactly that. It's amazing performance, but was any of it K-popped? You know, it's sand we've got. But I love a little throne to start on. I love stairs. And even though it's only about three or four stairs, we've still got them there. Stairs, yes. On the stairs. I like the costuming for this. I felt like they all matched. Yeah.
01:25:54 --> 01:26:14 Oh, yeah. Yeah. They did look like a girl group, actually. Three of them. So shout out to them for that. Give them that. Okay. And then, okay, speaking of what I was saying about maybe swapping the mashups and the units, I think Hold My Hand unit was, I think, the weakest we've seen so far.
01:26:15 --> 01:26:43 That rehearsal moment, I had to rant. I think I ranted to you, Chantel, and a few other people when Jess asked if they could do that very simple three-part harmony. I'm ready with this. And they were very scared. And it's not, is it even in the backing track? Like, I feel, did they even record it? Like, to just have in the back? I don't think so. Like, that was horrifying to me because going back to what we were saying earlier, there's so many K-pop artists that could have done that in a second.
01:26:43 --> 01:26:54 You know? And so this was almost embarrassing. Like, again, it does a disservice to K-pop because I think if you are leaning towards a Western audience, like, I would be horrified by that.
01:26:55 --> 01:27:21 Yeah. I mean, we've always talked about it on the show. K-pop will always be, wow, because it's a spectacle. And the productions are also very good. I'm not going to take that from the producers and the songwriters and all the top liners and whatnot. But without the visual aspect, these songs could, quote unquote, depending on the artist, go to anyone, depending on the artist, not everyone. And I think for them, like Julie, she does sing sometimes.
01:27:21 --> 01:27:40 She's not just the rapper, so I don't think she was actually, that was kind of like not fair to herself either. But then Han Solo has harmonized with Belle in their debut song during the bridge. So again, it's like you can't be that rehearsed where if someone gives you a no on a piano, you can't practice it within like two hours.
01:27:40 --> 01:28:01 Don't get me wrong. I've had the homies and when I was in little shop and I was like, girl, what's that note? What is that? Pluck it out for me. I'll record it and I'll practice it. But you're right. I think they should have recorded as well. I think this was kind of one of those like, this is the weaker side of K-pop. They didn't dance either. Neither one of these girls dance. They're built their face off baddies, you know? And then what happened?
01:28:03 --> 01:28:24 Nothing, that's what happened. Literally nothing. But on that point, come on, unless you will really disagree, the vocals aren't live in the whole show. Oh, no. No. So we can pre-record that three-part harmony. Yeah.
01:28:24 --> 01:28:50 Yeah. They didn't want to go on a Jet 2 holiday. No. No Jet 2 holiday for them. Which is like, you know, this has become like the song of the summer in a really novelty way here, like Jet 2. But if they'd really pulled this out of the bag, it could have continued the moment of this song. Could have really been something. And it could have been really great for them, actually. And do you know what? I was just actually thinking this, because we were all...
01:28:50 --> 01:29:06 talking about the different artists that are on, we're very much focused on the guest artists, the Western artists that are coming in. But would you say very many of these K-pop stars showed what they could really do other than 80s? Because I think 80s, both sides of the episode...
01:29:06 --> 01:29:34 got to do that. But I feel like everyone else that's been thrown into this episode have left a little bit vulnerable because Kiss of Life was going to be my number two most bankable performers of this whole lineup. And all the stuff I know these girls for, and I'm very limited in my Kiss of Life knowledge, but I know they can do R&B. I know they have a certain flavor. Yeah. And I just don't think it was the right...
01:29:34 --> 01:29:59 pairing of songs and artists for them and even if even if that was the case like why don't you girls just put your foot down a little bit more and just do what you do best yeah yeah it's it's that's where the cultural thing comes and not just like sonic cultural things but also personalities you know like it is tough but honestly I feel like if Kiss of Life would have been put maybe with like
01:29:59 --> 01:30:23 Let's just say we switch it around, right? Maybe if they would have been put with Spice Girls. That would have been interesting. And then give Itzy, the Jess Glenn, Ava Max, and then let them kind of do something. Because Yeji can sing the, it's a little high. Leah could sing it. Or just maybe harmonize. They could have done it. I think they could have done it. Even Billie, they sing it.
01:30:23 --> 01:30:43 Their harmonies, I forgot what song, and I can't think of it right now, but they have this one song, and their harmonies are so wonky and crazy, and I'm like, you guys can sing this. You guys hear each other singing. They're more vocal-based. But, yeah, it's just tough. Again, it just goes back to what's being focused on in these latter half of these K-pop generations. It's all like...
01:30:43 --> 01:31:07 Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance. They're the best dancers ever. They're the best dancers ever. Yeah, but can they sing? And because they're not singing, why do you think Golden was so big? Because EJ is singing her effing face off. You don't need to see her shake her butt. They were animated characters. They weren't dancing. She was singing her face off, and everyone knows the song. Now, if you have this happening here, it's just like, oh, that was cute. That one girl who kind of, you know, that was cute. Yeah.
01:31:08 --> 01:31:24 I mean, and then it goes back to your other point where if they're not given choreography, they seem very awkward. They don't know how to really command a stage without it being fully staged. So, yeah, I think like what one of you were saying, it does show some of the weaknesses in the K-pop training.
01:31:24 --> 01:31:49 And I think I've never even thought about that, how you sang about Golden, because I forgot of like, big part of the reason of why I initially got into K-pop was that euphoric feeling that it leaves you when you have these big moments, you know, listening to the Wonder Girls for the first time and they go, like, da-da-da, da-da-da-da, like, you know, it's like, and you're picturing them and you're like, it can raise up and this is just all like...
01:31:49 --> 01:32:07 I know exactly what you're talking about. Nobody, right? Yeah. Yep. Honey, you know. It's you that's not what. And then you're like in the shower and I'm like, I'm the sixth Wonder Girl. You know, like, come on. I love that. Yeah. And I think that's what was missing. There's a lot of...
01:32:07 --> 01:32:34 notes to be had about k-pop not terrible very like down the middle of the road so with these very okay performances who are our picks david's face is giving he doesn't know yet so we're gonna go right to you chris ava i think was the more successful performance here yeah i'll give it to ava yeah yeah just to see her face off on oh yeah yeah yeah
01:32:34 --> 01:33:02 I don't know if she can sing like that. You know how people sing their records live? You're like, it's kind of high, girl. You going to change the key? She said, darling, hold my hand. Y'all can't hit that? Yeah. Amazing. I love that part. And I always say keys were made to be changed. Me. I love it. Not to Jess, to me. Hang on. Beyonce was sucking that because there was some notes she goes, lower. So I hear you.
01:33:05 --> 01:33:30 It is so true. If you're going to be sitting there singing, like, how many days a night? I mean, how many days a week? Just get it. All right. Speaking of key changes, maybe this last episode could have dealt with some. This is episode... This is episode eight. Boys to Men with Motown Philly and End of the Road featuring Black Swan, the girl group that I almost got into. Fun fact. Oh, yeah.
01:33:30 --> 01:33:52 yeah i am auditioned for black swan years ago and i was in the round where both um shria and um gabby were in the brazilian and the i think she's indiana i think she's sri lanka i think she's indian but yeah so i was in that same round of picks but i think i had a black member so that's what it is you know
01:33:52 --> 01:34:17 I don't know the reason why I didn't get in But the point is I was a finalist as well But yeah this is my almost K-pop group So girls Hmm I'm not gonna say anything crazy I will say that But I do have notes
01:34:18 --> 01:34:43 Having such a strong vocal group with these girls, I don't know was the best idea. That's all I'm going to start off with. Joel, what are your thoughts? Motown Philly, great big production number. Fantastic. Like, you know, we need to end on that. But again, like, was it K-popped?
01:34:44 --> 01:35:10 it was swing dancey like if you think like tbxq um she's got that something or like uh you you and b black heart they kind of like a swing dancey thing um okay all right put me in my place guys put me in my place i'm trying i was trying there were some like house elements and stuff in there i do think some of the production was actually okay here um i just think the pairing itself was really just where i had a big question mark
01:35:11 --> 01:35:29 The pairing was, I mean, with Motown feeling, it really like rejuvenated the song. It really made me want this version of it. So I think in terms of production, it was just the right level of upgrade. And I would say it's one of the more successful upgrades of the whole series. Yeah.
01:35:29 --> 01:35:47 Yeah, sadly, Black Swan was nowhere to be seen or remembered in his performance. I felt like the three guys completely dominated. And the parts that they threw over to the girls, it just felt like they weren't keeping up or they didn't have... I don't know, they didn't...
01:35:48 --> 01:36:07 they weren't able to bring themselves into this song, which I think is really hard, right? Because there's such a historical setting with this particular song. It's so infused with the groups. It's of a certain time. It's of a certain kind of cultural location. I think it would have been nice to have each of the girls sing in their native tongue.
01:36:08 --> 01:36:26 Oh! Something to make them look as if they were like a K-pop group, even though they have no Koreans in the group. Yeah, nice David, very nice. Yeah. Did you guys think it was weird to split the group into three and one? And the one is the newest member. Made me feel really sad.
01:36:28 --> 01:36:52 Maybe she was wanting her own moment. And she got it. And I'm not getting to the next one. But I just, I don't know. You know. And Chantel, if you were there, they would have been three and two. So there's plenty of room. Yeah. Vocally, I don't think the other three could have handled any of End of the Road. So I think they had split it this way. Yeah.
01:36:52 --> 01:37:18 um yeah i don't know i just feel like imagine boys to men with like the three lead singers of exo or boys to men with 2 a.m like from back in the day right even zero base one they can sing there are some amazing okay even one female right like mama moo you know bring in solar in here you know there's so many or taeyeon you mentioned taeyeon earlier red velvet yeah yeah
01:37:18 --> 01:37:42 Like, there are so many, like, this felt, and I think I used this word already with another artist, but this felt a little disrespectful to Boyz II Men. You know, that they were paired with Black Swan, who are not vocalists. No. Do you think the show faltered in, it seems from Western side, we've got a lot of legacy acts.
01:37:42 --> 01:37:59 And then from... And I know we're circling back to things we've already spoken about, but then from the K-pop side, it is a lot of more, like, new up-and-comers. And I appreciate they wanted to do full bands and split up, but what if it was more like Legacy Act and Legacy Act? So you have got Emma and Mel B of the Spice Girls, and then it is...
01:37:59 --> 01:38:20 one or two k-pop songs they don't even need to have been from the same group it could be a soloist joining them and yeah mixing what's how do we bring some spice together with what you dominated with k-pop in the 2000s and bring 90s and 2000s together and let's create something special do a spice girl song and do a famous k-pop song you know
01:38:20 --> 01:38:36 Mm-hmm. I think people are worried about the ratings. Like, how can we get this person? You know, like, acting even now, it's like, how many followers do you have? It's just like, that's kind of stupid. The song should be good. The show should be good. People will find it. Yeah. But even then, with the casting of the K-pop artists, some of them are very random.
01:38:36 --> 01:39:01 you know like jo1 are not even really k-pop i mean black swan let's be honest like their following is not that big right 80s is the only true a-lister i would say in this and it's yeah yeah and so i feel like there may have been just a struggle there maybe they just couldn't get some of the artists to do it yeah i mean all the budget went to the stage separating split the popping of the person hot
01:39:03 --> 01:39:25 And all those light sticks that had to get made. Those sugar cubes. Yeah, the sugar cubes. Oh, man. But yes, I will say, I think the best moment from the Motown Philly performance was Sean doing that little dance with the other three of them. That kind of felt the most integrated. They tried to do a little fun little moment at the end, but it ended up just being a bit awkward. Yeah. Yeah, the boys really showed them up.
01:39:25 --> 01:39:44 Yeah, they performed really well. I think for me, I'm not going to say anything too crazy because, you know, could have been me. But all jokes aside, I think what the weaker point of this was, again, you have K-pop, you have Fatou, who is a rapper, you have Gabby, who's not the strongest, and you're like a sub-vocalist, the visual or whatever, and Sharia,
01:39:45 --> 01:40:11 I'm probably saying her name wrong. I'm so sorry. But the point is, Syria can sing to a certain extent as well. Yes, they can sing, but like, why aren't they doing some of those ad-libs? Like, oh, the Philly Steaks you can eat. Something. A rap. Some Korean, like you said, David. So I think for that, that was a little bit like, mm. And then the pre, I think what really helped me be like, okay, this performance, thank you, something happened, was the battle of the dum-dum-daras.
01:40:11 --> 01:40:34 Right. Even though it may have been prerecorded, can't tell right now because I'm just like, I see the mouths moving, but, you know, the halls coming from inside the house. I'm not sure. But it's just one of those things where I'm like, OK, at least that sounded good. So, you know, they did prerecord it. I'm fine with it because they did more than what Kiss of Life did with Jessica Lynn. So it's like, OK, thank you for the nugget, the little crumbs. Yeah.
01:40:34 --> 01:40:52 I'm all for a pre-recorded vocal. It is your voice, doesn't matter. What did I say to you, David? I had a Facebook memory come up recently. Like, I've gone through in life where you were so cringed by what you were saying to now it's funny. And it came up like 2009, I put like, live vocals are overrated.
01:40:53 --> 01:41:16 What artist was that referring to? Right. It would have been like Saturday night watching The X Factor, because that was when we're all in like our Facebook status era thinking we can comment on everything. Oh my God, yes. It's just like, this is something that comes up on our podcast a lot. The classic line is, the vocals were live at one stage.
01:41:18 --> 01:41:40 I love, oh my god, I love it. That's what I'm saying, because they were live at one point or another. The point where I caught them, yeah. The point that I caught it, I was like, okay, that's their voices. I hear three girls. Thank you. You know, so I'll take that. But yeah, something Korean should have happened. Something Korean should have happened for sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so end of the road. You got Envy Alone.
01:41:40 --> 01:42:03 with them yes um first off i'm sure that was a really intimidating experience for her oh my god so good for her for trying to lead that situation yeah yeah yeah oh my god the new version though i hated the new production on it it just felt it just sounded very cheap like i just sounded karaoke with kind of the fake strings and stuff yeah but again that's hard though it's hard to do something to end of the road so
01:42:04 --> 01:42:32 I mean, not unless you go for like that real old school, like there's a song called While You Were Sleeping by I think not Narsha, but one of the members, Gia, J-E-A, While You Were Sleeping from one of the brown eyed girls. Honey, she could take some strings. Even IU, for example. All you have to do is just go back a couple more years and you'll have a bunch of singers, soloists who do ballads. Listen to an OST for a K-drama. Yeah.
01:42:32 --> 01:43:02 BS. No, if I see a course, I'm sorry. But I think they could have been like something with the strings. They don't need a real string. But, you know, like, I get what you're saying. It sounded very karaoke. And I'm like, you guys are not really doing your homework. Cool. That's what you were saying, David. What you were saying, Joel. All of us are saying, try harder. Try harder. Because it's not difficult. And it just didn't feel like the performance was leaning toward them all performing. It was just more just like, we got this really expensive ass group.
01:43:02 --> 01:43:12 yeah you can sing with them and I think that's why it also kind of felt like she was just there it wasn't giving one sweet day
01:43:13 --> 01:43:39 You know? And it could have been given that. And I actually thought, is the problem that they're all standing in a line? Like, is the stage too empty? You know, if you're saying that, okay, K-popping something, you know, let's boil it down to what that means. Visuals and stage production. That doesn't mean having dancers all the time. You know, give me a pumpkin coach or something on stage. Yeah.
01:43:39 --> 01:43:58 Yes. She can be in there. The guys can be swirling around it, you know? Yeah. Just something. Like, someone build a set, please. Something. Other than the parting of the hearts, but... Parting of the heart. It just felt very X-Factor performance of the Eliminator performer of that week. Oh. Oh.
01:43:58 --> 01:44:20 It's like, oh, we're not turning on a good pyro for this one. Yeah, you're just getting the LED screens. Yeah, like amazing vocals, but yeah, bare stage. And then it feels bare with just standing there. But what it really could have been, and like, I keep referring to them because they are like...
01:44:21 --> 01:44:41 my first k-pop obsession but like when you looked back at the wonder girls and there would be like there would be like sun and yenni singing whitney and mariah when you believe and that's the video i would show people when they go in the early 2010s or late 2000s oh you like k-pop like what tonight what's an even thing do i'll be like watch this
01:44:41 --> 01:45:11 Yeah. And it's like, wow, that is mind-blowing. And then imagine if there was a world where this show was 10 years ago and it wasn't just them singing it with each other. They were joined by Mariah or something. That's the level we want from this show. Oh, my God, yes. Diva's having a diva off. But what we had was wonderful vocals. But it just, great opportunity for her. But I just, I don't know why I kept thinking like, oh, my God, imagine being a new member in a band and it just feels like you're being thrown in the deep end. Yeah.
01:45:11 --> 01:45:15 Oh, I mean, she is the only vocalist. I hate when they say that. I'm like, then learn how to sing.
01:45:18 --> 01:45:46 That will always... Listen, we all knew Kai from EXO. He wasn't that guy. He was giving you hot on a stick. This man just had a concert, a solo concert that he went to, and it was singing live most of the time. It sounded good. Even Chan Yeo. No one looks like they haven't got old vocalists, but this man sings all the time now. Can't give him the staff. You know what I'm saying? The point is learn. Try. Don't use this excuse. I'm the rapper.
01:45:47 --> 01:46:13 What? And at least if you think, oh, it's going to be split up like that. Maybe again, as you'd already said, Chantelle, like, can you mix up who the pairings are? Because she sat alone in the VIP area, whereas any of the other episodes, she would have had someone else with her. Yeah, because she was a whole... It was giving stepchild. It was giving stepchild. Oh, and me. Oh, my God. But yes, okay. So...
01:46:14 --> 01:46:35 Who's everyone's pick? I'll just say Motown Philly. Oh, yeah. Motown Philly, yeah. Yeah, Motown Philly. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, I guess closing thoughts. Everyone name a best performance of the whole show, worst performance of the whole show. And then just, if you have any dream collabs for season two, since we are pitching ourselves to be consultants. Right. Right.
01:46:38 --> 01:47:05 Okay, I would say... I think Savage is definitely up there as a performance. Of course, KT's is up there. And I think Kesha actually has moved up the ranks for me. Hmm. Solid top three. Okay. Okay, I would say Kylie and Ateez for sure. Vanilla Ice...
01:47:05 --> 01:47:35 Oh, yeah. Yeah. I love Taylor did what she did. I love what she did. I just think I liked it. I liked the way it sounded more. But I think production-wise, staging-wise, and the whole, you know, little gangsta Asian girls, I was here for it. So, yeah, that. And then, lastly, oh, Jesus. That might be it for me, dog. I ain't gonna hold you. Savage was okay, but I think that's, like, the bottom for me in terms of, like, wow-ness. It was just good for the first episode. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
01:47:35 --> 01:48:04 I mean, this is not going to surprise anyone, but the best is Atees and Kylie, KT's. They really met the brief and delivered and wowed us. And then, yeah, Kepler and Vanilla Ice. I know, I can't believe it, but it is the most thorough experience I could have gotten out of this series. And I just was so shocked that Vanilla Ice would not have been on my list at all.
01:48:04 --> 01:48:19 Right? Oh my God. And I'm actually like, do you know what? Like, this surprisingly worked. You know, he was in fighting form and the girls just matched the energy. That was super impressive. Yeah. Yeah.
01:48:19 --> 01:48:39 when they invite us all to be consultants and we breathe all our blues guy ideas, they're going to turn around and say to us, what is it that you've misunderstood because the magic of K-pop is that Vanilla Ice is the standout star of the show. Joke's on you. For me, Katie's,
01:48:40 --> 01:49:04 Spice Girls, Spice Girls, purely for you've given us some Spice Girls activity. You know, you've got to give it credit for that. Valid. And Sneel B there was actually not bad, I would say. Yeah. It wasn't terrible, yeah. Honestly, just seeing Emma and Mel D do their thing, I agree with you. Yeah. Makes it all worth it. Makes this entire series worth it. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Oh, man. In terms of worst performance, I would probably give it to Karma Chameleon. Yeah. Oof.
01:49:05 --> 01:49:32 Definitely. I'm so sorry to Boy George. Yeah. Lovely hats. Beautiful hats. David Franklin. And he sounded great, actually. He did. No, he was great. He was great. Just overall package. It was giving Amazon package compared to like... It was getting Camus. Ooh, there's no bubble wrap. Okay, got it. Okay. Ooh, Jesus. Okay.
01:49:33 --> 01:49:57 Joel, it's your worst performance. Other than Uncle George, I had, dare I say Jess Glynn? Mm. Ooh. Solid. Because I was just like, what is the point of this? Sorry. But like... You could have sung at home. They could have sung at home. Yeah, like...
01:49:59 --> 01:50:07 I can't be caught on camera laughing that hard. I'm so sorry. Okay. So, you know, I'm going to, for me, there's a couple.
01:50:10 --> 01:50:31 The couple haven't said, and I want to say that Wannabe for me was not good. I think not one of the worst ever, but one of the worst. It was weak. It was a weak performance. And the three girls were not into it. Like, yeah, Emma and Mel, yeah, they're into it. But the other three girls, again, it was just beginning. It's a check. And you would show up, too. I was an employee. That's what it was giving. Yeah.
01:50:31 --> 01:50:51 And I'm not, yeah, like, and, like, and Mix and Pablo Vitar. Have y'all seen Mix? Mix? The, the, the, honey? That's what you call collaboration. Well, I'll send it to the group later. That is what you call a JYP perfect collaboration with a different Western artist. So, yeah, WMB was not it for me.
01:50:51 --> 01:51:13 Okay, in terms of dream collabs, just off the top of my head, let's see. Avril Lavigne, Girlfriend. We already have all those other languages and Korean was not one of them. So it's time to make the Korean version of Girlfriend. You're so silly. Yes. Oh my god. Oh, and the song? Wow. Kelly Rowland, you know, she would whip them into shape.
01:51:13 --> 01:51:42 give us commander or when love takes over or something. You wouldn't be able to tell Kelly you're not allowed, like you can't do a harmony. If Kelly says in the room, can we do a harmony? Kelly will then work with you for hours till you get it. Listen, when Beyonce was singing and Michelle was singing, I was just trying to harmonize with them. I'm sorry, what is it? It's going to be Mary Had a Little Lamb. It could be the ABCs. It's always the same story, but it's just right. She's right. Yes. And then I would love a little gay moment, like ex-love with Lady Gaga. Yes. Or something like that.
01:51:42 --> 01:52:02 Yeah. So I was thinking out this before we went on, like once I digested the show, I then thought, okay, well, I have all my issues. So what's the solution? And for what I feel like it's missing is from the Western side is...
01:52:04 --> 01:52:29 give me an Addison Rae. Like she will give you an amazing performance. She'll be dancing with them. Give us a Tate McRae. Like give us those current giving you everything pop stars who will respect the K-pop songbook and performance book and give you everything. And then like I've already said, like if we have more legacy acts, like let's pair with some legacy K-pop stars.
01:52:29 --> 01:52:57 You know, oh, that's interesting. Oh, crap. I think for me, I think the artists, the Western artists matter first, I would say. Like Tinashe, she can go with any group, really. Yeah, that would be incredible. They reheated her nachos with Super Love, Daya, that girl group. So any girl group could do it, I would say. Not that Tinashe is like an easy Western artist to compare to, but a lot of her songs, a K-pop artist could hop on.
01:52:57 --> 01:53:18 You know, they couldn't do the trampoline dance, but Nasty Girl, they just have to be able to keep up with her. You know what I'm saying? So that's like a, what girl group? There's a girl group called VVS that's super new. I love them. Yes. Oh my God. VVS and Tinashe? Yes. Bone Apple Teeth. Okay. Hello, honey. Throwing Giselle from Esper. Yes.
01:53:18 --> 01:53:34 Yes. Because these songs, their songs are Giselle-esque. You know, you get it. Or like maybe, even if Kehlani was on, she dances, she sings, she has distractions, she has a higher tone. You know, so I get what you guys are totally saying on that. I don't think they can get anyone bigger than like,
01:53:34 --> 01:53:56 like a oh see now she's like like no she's like b and like ray amy she's already had k-pop demon hunters but she's a great artist already um let's see who else who else who else who else i had someone else in my head but in terms of k-pop artists it is tough like who would you get on here to sing um
01:53:57 --> 01:54:18 Well, let me think. Like Zero Base One, they have a lot of great singers in their group. I do not know these boys' names. Every time I listen to a song, I don't know who it is. Chris and I look it up and say, oh, Zero Base One, damn, they're good. So Zero Base One is good. Even some members from Twice, they're doing their own little, like Mina, like the, Mina So? Not Mina So. Not Mina So. Is it Mina So?
01:54:18 --> 01:54:40 Mimoso? Whatever. The little Japanese subunit they got going on. They could be on this. Even Jihyo. She needs a moment. She keeps... Like, she can sing her face off. She can do anything. She can rap. She can sing. So I think it just depends. Like, we don't need the whole group. Maybe just have one episode with two artists from the group. You know what I'm saying? With male singers...
01:54:42 --> 01:55:03 Kihyun from Monsta X with Benson Boon. You know, things like that. You don't need the full group. And if you do get the full group, incorporate the rappers. Incorporate the dance moments. Like Benson Boon doing a backflip amongst a bunch of dancing boys. And they're breaking their necks. It'd be great. It would be great. But yeah, it's tough. It's tough because there's so many new groups out right now.
01:55:03 --> 01:55:31 But I'm just like, who would they fit with? It all has to be legacy acts. It all has to be these old groups. You know, like CN Blue with freaking Adam Levine. Moving on 5 does not all have to be there. No offense. No offense. No offense. I'm just saying. But think about it. You don't need this large... You just need the face of the group. You know what I'm saying? Hayley Williams with... What's that singer from Dreamcatcher? You just need the one person that represents the whole group.
01:55:31 --> 01:55:57 Or just the, or the, you know, the good singers from that group with that one artist. You guys know the artist, the singer I'm talking about from Dreamcatcher. She's the one that's belting all the notes. And what's her name? Sua? Maybe Sua. I don't know. But yeah. My brother's going to be so mad. He's like the biggest Dreamcatcher fan. He'll be shouting, screaming at the screen. I am so sorry. It is Sua from Dreamcatcher, I think. Yeah. Sua. Not Sua. No, it's not her. She's not the one that's sitting there singing her face. The point is.
01:55:58 --> 01:56:17 You need to kind of like cherry pick, I think, a little bit more as opposed to wasting, not wasting, using the whole budget on the 11 members. Yeah. You only have 11 of them. I loved your suggestion, Chris, of Avril because, yeah, a rockier side of K-pop would be so fun to explore. I made my own kind of like...
01:56:18 --> 01:56:39 kind of boys of k-pop rock you know anything that was like a descendant of one direction i made a whole playlist of just mainly guitar driven boys big anthemic choruses and i was surprised by how many i loved i can't pronounce the name of this group guys you have to help me evan evney evan or something yes yes
01:56:39 --> 01:56:55 Yeah. They do that kind of One Direction, the Vamps style of high energy guitar driven pop. So let's bring those boys on. Let's get Bradley from the Vamps on or let's get Nile Horan on and give me that.
01:56:55 --> 01:57:21 throwback One Direction vibe. Yeah. Early Twins has, like, energy, because I think that will be so much fun to see what they can do there. And obviously there's always a rap verse in there, so it's like, okay, tick, K-pop, there we go. And then someone can do a big vocal moment. Yeah. And be dramatic. I would love Chungha to be part of this. Chungha needs something, yes. Oh, yeah. She can sing, she can dance. Yeah. Yeah.
01:57:21 --> 01:57:42 Sure, put her with Kelly Rowland. Put her with Ciara. Oh, my God. If Ciara would be great on. Okay. Yes, Ciara would be amazing. Where was Ciara booking for this? You know, her new album was just out. Come on. This was... Right. She would have danced circles around everyone as well. Like... Oh, my God. Can you imagine? Give me some dancers. Goodies would have to be the song. Not one, two-step. Mm-hmm.
01:57:43 --> 01:58:12 So much to choose from. Or even Got Me Good. Got Me Good would be good. That is underrated. I don't know if the kids know that. I don't know if the kids know that. It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart. Get up. Max Martin. Yeah. Yeah. Get up. Oh, my God. Katy Perry, at this point, she needs a win. So Katy Perry can go. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Any closing thoughts on K-pop? Anything last to pitch to Apple TV? I got a question. Who do you think this show was for?
01:58:13 --> 01:58:39 the bachelorette fans yeah so kind of like the masked singer meets k-pop isn't it yeah because yeah yeah it's definitely for the fans of the western artists who have never really dabbled in k-pop before yeah it's not for k-pop fans you can be a fan of k-pop but this is not for you no offense so if you're watching it's like why are they talking like this because we are the target
01:58:40 --> 01:59:07 But yeah, I mean, when I say the Apple TV, if you guys get a budget for another season, I think a lot needs to be changed. A lot of rejigging. Like some suggestions were made. Get different producers. There's so many producers. Groovy Room, Black Eyed Pilsung, Mordney Present. Remember Mordney Present? Remember Mordney Present? He would whisper on the track before he did Cahi's solo track.
01:59:07 --> 01:59:35 Yes, Morton E. Present. I'm talking about some old guys. Sweet Toon, where are they? Hello, Infinite. Hello. I mean, like, there's so many options here. There's so many K-pop producers in general. Even if you can't get, like, the big names, get the ones who used to make the music, who gave us something to latch on to when YouTube popped out. Yeah. I know Cut Fathers available. Yeah. Yes. And Cut Out the whole, like, we're eating each other's food thing. I don't care.
01:59:36 --> 02:00:05 Yeah, the cultural exchange, I would much prefer to watch more of the creative process for sure. And have more rehearsal time, yeah. Yes. Yeah, oh my god. And it's just a shame because you should come away with a show like this and every song feels like a fresh new remix that you want to download, you want to listen to. Yes. And they all just feel more like novelty tracks for the show. Yes. And then I think the biggest fault is, the best bit is when the K-pop act themselves perform a little bit at the end. You go, oh, that's...
02:00:05 --> 02:00:25 how it's done. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. You notice that there's no recorded tracks for these, right? No. It's not all up. No. So that to me says that they weren't confident in what they came out with. And also they weren't getting sign off from everyone to, to,
02:00:26 --> 02:00:49 Release the performance. So, yeah, again, more time needs to be invested in the music side of things, because I think we can all see now from K-pop Demon Hunters that the soundtrack was solid. Yeah. The film could have been whatever, take it or leave it, you can be a fan of it or not, but you can't deny the music was good. And that's what's charting and that's what's selling right now.
02:00:49 --> 02:01:12 So focus on the music because that's what makes K-pop special. Go back to the music. Yes. Perfect way to cap off this episode. Everyone listening, let us know what you all think of K-pop. If you have any thoughts on what a potential season two would be like, let us know in the comments. Of course, don't forget to like and subscribe to our show for more from other people.
02:01:12 --> 02:01:41 us and of course go subscribe to right back at you the 2000s pop music podcast as well david joel do you want to plug your show if you love 2000s pop music join us on right back at you the 2000s pop music podcast follow us at right back pod on all social platforms we celebrate the greats and the underrated gems from the 2000s there's no such thing as a kiwi pleasure kiwi pleasure we just celebrate great production and amazing pop music
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