Welcome to the March 2025 edition of Pop Off! This month, Chris and Chantel Nicole go head-to-head with three of the hottest solo comebacks: TEN with "STUNNER", SEULGI with "Baby, Not Baby", and YEJI with "AIR". Weβre breaking down each release across song, video, and performance, giving our unfiltered opinions and plenty of love (and maybe a little shade). Who dominated the month? Who surprised us? And who left us wanting more?
- 0:00 - Intro
- 2:14 - Round 1 - Song
- 18:18 - Round 2 - Video
- 29:26 - Round 3 - Performance
- 41:07 - Final Winner
References:
- TEN ν - βSTUNNERβ MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfoIQZf9Hqs
- TEN ν - βSTUNNERβ Dance Practice https://youtu.be/UvXrTgTpchk?si=QQvwftieuh3bJCaq
- SEULGI μ¬κΈ° - βBaby, Not Babyβ MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-VLzICd2FE
- SEULGI μ¬κΈ° - βBaby, Not Babyβ Dance Practice https://youtu.be/suvhVcrTiG0?si=wf43ofTauH-ZzE04
- YEJI - βAirβ MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TamDOXponnM&pp=ygUIeWVqaSBhaXI%3D
- YEJI - βAirβ Dance Practice https://youtu.be/GKu0RKv9q4k?si=itiPxqTnlDRZeK-N
00:00:00 --> 00:00:12 Today's battle is going to be wild. We've got a pink haired chaos goblin, a destructive fairy, and a dreamy lover boy. That's right, it's time for the March 2025 K-Pop Pop-Off.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:38 Every month we put up polls on our Patreon, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube community pages at CCTV Pops. And you get to vote for three of K-pop or K-pop adjacent's biggest releases of the month to battle it out in our song, video, and performance rounds. And of course, our Patreon members' votes count for way more. So if you would also like some priority choice, come join us at patreon.com slash cctvpops.
00:00:38 --> 00:01:04 And you can join us and our crew members, Emily, George, Lily, Louis, Julianne, Janelle, Jonathan, Jasmine, Darius, Ren, Jessie, and Hillary. Woo woo! Welcome Hillary. Hillary is our newest member. Hi, darling. Yeah. So y'all, this is meant for pure fun, so don't take it seriously. In fact, you can join us and let us know what song went for you in the comments. But as we like to say, viewer discretion is advised. Your fave will be criticized.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:20 So this month you voted for Ten, Stunner, Sulgi, Baby Not Baby, and Yeji, Air. We have a solo star pop-off today. So let's get ready to rumble. Round one.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:44 All right, first in the ring is 10 with Stunner. And this was done by Park Tae-won, Lee Soo-ran, Mola, Jo Yoo-kyung, Jacob Warner, Elias Edmond, J.O.P., and Dara. Mm. Okay. Ooh. Yes. Okay, so the first round is all about the song itself. So...
00:01:44 --> 00:01:59 Stunner. First off, Ten. His voice is so nice. It's so smooth. It's so pretty. And he has such a nice mix and head voice as well. And this song utilizes that very, very well. Absolutely.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:28 I do think the production of the song is cool as well. Love the heavy bass line. The kind of staccato kind of boops in the back. And then adds all this kind of like 80s-ish kind of tension as well throughout it, especially in that pre-chorus. Yeah, I think the chorus is nice. I do wish it was a tad bit more melodic. Okay. Although I enjoy the kind of talky, whispery stuff going on in the background and the verses as well. But...
00:02:28 --> 00:02:53 I don't know. I feel like, I don't know, the chorus doesn't fully give what I want it to. Like, especially that post-chorus, the stunner, stunner, like, repeat. Mm-hmm. Not the most impactful. Like, it feels just a tad lazy for a post-chorus. Mm-hmm. But I do love the drama and the final choruses. Yeah. It builds up really nicely. The intensity is great there. There's that whispered outro, which is really fun.
00:02:53 --> 00:03:14 And I do think it's funny, his rapping style in that second verse, he is so influenced by Taehyung. No. He sounds like Taehyung. I'm in tears. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, you know, I like the song. I like it a lot more with the visuals. I think as a song itself, it's fine.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:39 Yeah. Okay. That's valid. Yeah. It's super valid. And, and, and talking about the retro, I think with this whole pop-off, there's a lot of retro sounds like none of these artists sound like they've created this new, no one's reinventing the wheel here. So I think it's interesting to hear this one because I was like, oh, I was thinking Neptunes. The only thing missing is that four beat hit in the beginning, but it sounds like the Neptunes to me. Um, yeah.
00:03:39 --> 00:04:06 There's slinkiness that I enjoy, and I also said that I like the tone that he has with his singing, his rapping. I'm happy with it all in terms of his sound, like his tone. I will say the pre-chorus is the only part that really gives me my oomph. You know, I feel like where the song sort of lacks with a lot of 2000s throwback songs, or even like a lot of just throwback songs in general, that nostalgic sound, is that robust, explosive chorus. I mean, we grew up listening to like Britney kind of like,
00:04:06 --> 00:04:26 saying you drive me crazy, but it explodes. It goes somewhere, you know, NSYNC. It goes somewhere. Even if it's a solo artist, get out. JoJo, it goes somewhere. And then fortunately, this actually dials it back. And I mean, I wanted something. Even Justin Timberlake would have given us something. So in terms of like, yeah, it sounds like the Neptunes, yes.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:54 But the chorus is where it's lacking. So it's lacking the essential spirit of what made all that music so good. It wasn't just the beat. It was like the chorus came somewhere. Like you remember those parts of those songs. I will say the chorus is smexy. Like the head voice and the cadence sit in the pocket really nicely. So that part I enjoy. I think they're leaning more toward like an R&B delivery where it's more smooth, more usher-like as opposed to like more pop-like. And...
00:04:54 --> 00:05:21 I think because, I think many people have said it, K-pop has become so westernized, like, this is what's cool. Like, this would be cool on a radio station. Like, Usher could release this, and it could be, like, what, top 10, maybe freaking top 20. Either way, it would be good, right? But because we're thinking about K-pop, we're thinking about the grandioseness of it all. It's just kind of lacking in a sense. The Pulse Chorus stamps the title in your head. The stutters, don't know. Like, it just stamps it over and over again, just in case you didn't know the title before.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:44 of the song there it is um but yeah even there's some flourishes in the chorus that i like um and the ending i feel like definitely builds a lot more and in a way where i'm like okay i'm satisfied with this and he gave us some ad-libs and then the outro there's some whispering so at least the textures of his vocals did change throughout which i appreciate and which kept the song from being super stagnant
00:05:44 --> 00:05:56 Because production-wise, it was pretty much samey, samey, samey, and then some little flourishes here and there. But at least with the vocals, we were presented with different parts of his tone. And I appreciate that, for sure.
00:05:56 --> 00:06:16 Yes. Okay, moving on to player two, we have Sulgi with Baby Not Baby. And this was done by Kenzie, Stella Cole, Becca Kruger, Charlie Snyder, and Eric Serna. My baby not baby. Alright, so B&B
00:06:16 --> 00:06:36 It's interesting because like this one is fun. 28 Reasons was dark and edgy, but this one's more cheeky and confident. It's bratty and charming, like a K-pop baby one more time. Like the kind of has the same, you know, early 2000s, Shayron Studios, teen pop style.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:50 Retro, gritty. I wanted more of that rock guitar. I wanted more of it. Lean into it. Lean into it a little bit more. That, for me, would elevate the song. That's unexpected. At this point, the song is going to be good. It's SM.
00:06:50 --> 00:07:20 Okay. Like, are we going to like the song? It's going to be like, you know, mixed. Well, it's going to sound good. Yes. We know that, but what's going to take it to that next level. And it's like adding a little bit of a extra something, something. The lyrics, I think are very interesting. Cause she's talking about that, do that duality, that juxtaposition of being perceived as something really sweet, but absolutely, absolutely being the opposite. I think at one point she even says, oops, I did it. I did it again. So I love that shout out. And then she,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:49 In the pre-chorus, she says, I'm dangerous, pretending to be complex. I'm innocent. I'm so perfect. So again, it's kind of one of those like, am I this? Am I that? Like, you think I'm this? I'm, you know, but I might not be. It's very cheeky. It's very fun. The chorus, I would say, is like, okay. I'm singing it because I just remember it. So it definitely stands out. Again, another stamped chorus. The B&B part is simple, but the spoken part is like, I'm so effing sorry, stands out to me. So I feel like this song...
00:07:49 --> 00:08:09 leans nicely into her voice. I would say like the belty moment that she has, um, toward the end was a little like, uh, not much shrill, not the word I want to use here, but I feel like the 28 reason belt was a little bit better and it had an effect on it. So it was like, okay. But for this one, I was okay. Um, vocally, she wasn't really pushing herself. Um,
00:08:09 --> 00:08:39 Um, and they leaned away from the R&B styling that she actually excels in and kind of leaned more to like this pop thing. And I don't know if that was like the best choice. It was fun, but I'm like, she's like my, like my old member of Red Velvet. So for me, I was just like, it wasn't bad, but I know what she can do. So it was one of the things it's like, I like it, but not like it, you know? Yeah. I have similar feelings. I like it. Don't love it. Yeah. Um, yeah, I think.
00:08:40 --> 00:09:08 I think you can tell she didn't write it. Mm-hmm. You know? Yeah. Not that she has to write any of her songs. Right. I'm not saying that. But they didn't... More so, not so much that she didn't write it. It wasn't written for her. Or her. Maybe that's actually the best way to say it. For her. I think she actually executes what she was given quite well. Yes. But she... This is not where her vocals shine the most, which I think is kind of similar to what you were saying. Mm-hmm. Like, she...
00:09:08 --> 00:09:37 I don't know, like she could have given so much more than she did here. And I know SM loves kind of the more kind of pure pop kind of sound. Yeah. But imagine if Christina Aguilera was given this song. Can you imagine the grit that she would put in there? Like the extra runs. It's just too pretty. Yeah. Yeah, it's very pretty. And I say this a lot with some of these K-pop songs that are supposed to be like dark and gritty. Yeah. Because they're just a little too polished. Yeah.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:58 And I want the attitude to match what you're trying to convey. Yeah, because in 28 Reasons, she's like, make your dreams come true. She growled in that song. There's no growl here. There's no growl. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Like she almost sounds too warm a little bit in this song. And it almost sounds too easy for her.
00:09:58 --> 00:10:23 Yes. Like, you can tell she can do more than this. And, yeah, you mentioned that belt. Oh, my gosh. What a lost opportunity there because you got that little moment of silence right after the bridge. Yeah. And that's where I'm expecting a Christina, you know, whatever. Yeah. And, no, it's just a regular belt. It's, like, way in the back of the mix. Yes, that's what bothered me. It's, like, behind the chorus. Like, I was like, dang, that was a missed opportunity. Yes. Yes.
00:10:23 --> 00:10:50 But, you know, I like the song. Yeah. But, yeah, it's not my favorite. Yeah. Yeah. And up next is a player three, Yeji with Air. And this was done by Gahara P.K. Ooh. Degadingsese. Degadingsese. Okay. Degadingsese. Okay. Okay. Okay.
00:10:52 --> 00:11:17 start oh trisha trisha batini kristen collins batani trisha batani kristen collins jay park yeji bang haehyun and c from la la la studio
00:11:17 --> 00:11:33 Or is it sam? I don't know. It is sam. If it's Korean, it is sam. Yeah. It's either set or sam. Exclamation point. Oh, there's two words for three in Korean? Yeah, depending on what you're counting, like how many of or like the time. Yeah. Yeah. I see. Yeah.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:51 Okay, Yeji has made her solo debut. Mm-hmm. Oh, man. Can I just say? Yeah. I've always said, Yeji is the star. Oh, absolutely. Of Itzy. Absolutely. Like, when I saw them live, I was pretty much watching her the whole time. Ugh, lucky. Honestly. Ugh. Um...
00:11:52 --> 00:12:10 So yeah, very excited that she's finally out there. Yes. And doing her thing. I will say I was very impressed with her vocal execution in this song. Because Itzy, she tends to do mostly that kind of thin, nasally belt, kind of most of her parts. Their songs are too high.
00:12:10 --> 00:12:33 Songs are way rough. And you do get a little bit of that in this chorus. Yeah. But those verses, she sounds super full. She's a little more breathy, a little bit more relaxed. And she has a really nice tone. Yes. So that was just really refreshing to hear because I was a little worried that the whole thing was going to be like that kind of bratty. Yeah. Itsy. Like nasal. Kind of just vocal execution. Yes. That she's been doing. Yeah.
00:12:34 --> 00:13:04 Yeah, so I was very impressed by that. The production of this is super fun. It's kind of cold. Again, you got some great 80s synths in there. I do wish there was an electric guitar as well, just to kind of go off a little bit, especially in that pullback moment before the final chorus. Final choruses. Yes. But yeah, I really like this. The chorus is very, very catchy. It builds nicely. I think all the melodies in here are good. Again, you have the repeated word here with air, kind of repeated over and over again.
00:13:04 --> 00:13:26 it doesn't feel as lazy i think in this case okay because i think the actual melody of all the other hooks and stuff are good enough that kind of they kind of shine along with it so they're not relying on this repeated word for a hook that i and that's what i think maybe stunner was kind of trying to do see i'm very impressed i wasn't really sure what to expect from her solo debut and this was great
00:13:26 --> 00:13:50 Yeah, I think from... It's been a really long time since we've gotten a solo track from her. The last one was Crown on My Head, which wasn't terrible, but I think it was going for that really girl crush, rock, crunk thing. I hated the chorus for that one. But she can sing. And I think because it sees higher songs, it sounds more...
00:13:50 --> 00:14:13 more tighter than I wish it were. It was. That's the thing. I think pop needs to shift from like this whole, like sing a soprano and figure out how to work with alto voices or like, like not try to make people sing in a stratosphere. Cause when they have to perform it or sing it, they sound not great or they don't get a chance to actually grow into it. Like Momo, for example, in twice has yet to change her vocal styling because of what she's been pigeonholed into. Yeah.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:31 That being said, moving right along, I'm glad that Yeji was actually kind of singing a little bit lower. The song itself is very atmospheric in the beginning, and then it swells like a balloon before it pops. And I know it sounds so strange, but if you listen to it, there's like this riser that goes, I'm not going to make the sound because I can't do it. But there's a riser that goes...
00:14:31 --> 00:14:47 you know, it goes up and it goes pop and then she sings. It doesn't pop, literally. But something happens in the song sonically that makes sense with the whole idea of air and exhalation and inhalation and swelling and...
00:14:47 --> 00:15:15 you know, floating. Like the lyrics, like, taking my air got my head, locked in your gaze, you take my breath away. Like, things like that. These are the translated lyrics. It's not going to be as cute as it is in Korean. But the point is, it's a love song, which is, quote unquote, mature. Let's be real here. In K-pop, talking about love is like the ultimate, like, oh my God, she's grown. She's mature now. Like, she isn't talking about her confidence. Crying My Head was talking about, like, I'm a woman that's standing on her own two feet and you're going to watch me shine. This one's like, I'm in love.
00:15:15 --> 00:15:41 and this person's taking my breath away the chorus um the vocal effect under her uh her vocals for the hook is like a distorted vocal that's really like bassy i like that um this kind of sounds like something charlie xdx did on her crash album which is not a bad thing i like her charlie xdx but yeah when charlie was in her pop 80s bag this is what they totally fit um
00:15:41 --> 00:16:00 I did at first hope for something a little bit more sleeker in terms of Sonic. I was like, is this sleek enough? Because I started getting like to this 80s cheese. And I was like, no, this is not bad that it's 80s. I love 80s music. And it sounds like one of those like 80s songs with the little twinkling bells and the percussion. And I was okay with it. I'm like, JYP.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:27 is good at retro and this is a testament to that it's not a bad song I can sing it back to you right now I can almost sing the verses back to you know my Korean's not fluent I can sing to it you know so I like the idea they didn't lean too much into how fierce she looks and kind of was like let the fierce looking one sing about love it kind of is a little bit of a not a bait and switch but if you watch the teasers it was a bit of a bait and switch because she was serving looks and serving high fashion and then to have this song it's almost like oh
00:16:28 --> 00:16:49 Okay. Okay. I accept this. Okay. Yeah. All right. So we're at the end of round one. The song. So what wins for you? I'm going to give it to Yeji. This song is, I think, my favorite out of three. With, oh, I don't know if we've got a close second, but Yeji definitely takes one.
00:16:49 --> 00:17:08 Yeah, I think I have to agree with you here. I think when I first listened to them, I would have actually gone Seulgi. Yeah, same. But Yeji's air just kind of kept growing on me. So yeah, I'll have to give it to Yeji as well. They're also seasoned too. So there's like no one here is a rookie. It's all been X amount of years for all of them. So yeah.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:22 Yes, yes. We're kind of on more of an even playing field than some of our other episodes. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's not our fault, though. It's not our fault. Yes. Okay, moving on to round two, which is about the music video. Round two.
00:17:24 --> 00:17:42 So take us back to Stunner. Okay. What do you think? So in the beginning, I mentioned that we have a surreal dream lover boy kind of guy going on. I feel like the video is this artistic amalgamation of moments and not meant to be like a storyline that is adhered to like strictly. Um,
00:17:43 --> 00:18:10 I don't think it's meant for... You have to understand it. But if I were to put pieces together, it reminds me of Inception. This video... The song is romantic, but in true SM fashion, the focus is on the visual moments and it's a very loose story. I mean, in terms of shots and whatnot, him in his apartment, wearing a chill shirt, and all of these surreal things. How about the coin spinning? It reminded me of the totem in Inception. The cup...
00:18:10 --> 00:18:38 Coming toward him. Like these weird things happening. How love can possibly be supernatural. Or maybe he is the supernatural part of life. I don't know. But yeah, again, if you've seen Inception. When they're in... Not a hotel. Is it a hotel? But they're all wearing like business suits. Ellen Page at the time was playing the main character. A main like female character to Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character. And they were kind of like in this hotel...
00:18:38 --> 00:19:08 They were in a hotel. That whole brown, the neutrals, gray color, again, same thing. There's tipping objects in the video. Things are moving and shifting. The duet dancing that he had kind of reminded me of the Ariadne scene when they were in the hotel. The scenes that really stood out to me were the black and white ones. I liked his little full metal alchemist, you know, metal arm. There might be another movie reference I might not be catching because I haven't seen any real adult movies. I've only been watching...
00:19:08 --> 00:19:30 kid films or like family films in the movie theaters lately but i feel like this definitely had like a dream board for inception and like some other silly things but the video is just kind of a pinterest board of like cool visuals it doesn't really pertain to the song but makes me like kind of listen to the song more it's weird it's disconnected but it connected me more to the song
00:19:32 --> 00:20:00 Okay, yes. I mean, I think it connected me more to the song just because he is so great, honestly. True, yeah. He is great on camera. Like, he is... Yeah, he's very, very charismatic. He's very good-looking. Yeah. He's a great, great dancer as well. And so I think that's really what kept my interest because, I mean, props to you for trying to figure out how these all connected because this very much felt like to me, and I say this sometimes with other K-pop videos,
00:20:01 --> 00:20:24 It's like, oh, we have our moon set available today and our apartment sets available today. And so is our office set. And so here you go, you know, because the apartment made no sense to me. It's like if you're the stunner, why aren't you outside? You know, like be outside and captivate people. Like, why are you alone at home in your T-shirt?
00:20:24 --> 00:20:38 You know, that's valid. Like the office scenes, I thought were the best part because I liked all the dancers like falling over and kind of like being pulled into his orbit almost. And that whole idea of him...
00:20:38 --> 00:21:06 being that captivating and magnetic, I think that could have been the concept and you could just have done that in various settings as well. Like, I just, I don't know. I didn't fully understand it, but I enjoyed it because he's awesome. He's awesome, question mark. Yeah. That's valid. Ooh. I mean, hey, listen, NC-tizens. I gotta get it. It's such a mouthful. Are Wavy fans also NCitizens? Ooh. 10 fans. Hey, guys. It's delightful.
00:21:06 --> 00:21:29 Let us know what you guys think of the music video and let you know what their theories are. And also, if you've made it this far, why not subscribe? We're almost at 5K. We're going to be at 5K in like 10 seconds. Like right now. I can tell you right now. By the time you watch this video. But yeah, we're on the road to 10K. So, you know, join us. All right. But yeah, let's move right along to the second player. So do you with Baby Not Baby? This video. Chris.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:39 is so good yeah oh man like talk about elevating a song because it made me like the song way more
00:21:39 --> 00:22:05 I mean, look, she does the dark concept very well. Like, this is just her thing, right? But yeah, this whole idea of her just being a menace to society is just so much fun. You could tell that they had fun making this music video. Yes. And every scene is so distinctive and memorable. They actually reference each other. Yes. Unlike the 10 video, you know, they can kind of see all the connections throughout, especially at the end. Mm-hmm.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:34 The editing is awesome. Like the way they use the different lighting and the different cuts. Super effective. I especially loved her dancing alone in the mall with everyone staring at her. And then it goes into nighttime with the flashlight kind of lighting. And the other dancers and stuff. Also the fruit shop. Another huge highlight. Yeah, just such a fun video. And again, it then made me again a little mad that the vocal didn't match the grit. Yeah.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:41 And the attitude that was displayed here. But very, very, very fun to watch. Yes. For sure. Yeah.
00:22:41 --> 00:23:08 The first thing I thought of when I saw this video was Chaos Goblin. Oh, Chris, literally. She's on the road with the neck brace acting like a victim. Meanwhile, she's the one causing the issues. Like, I think that is so funny. The styling in this video was great. I think my favorite looks are so hard. I think I was just like all of them. But I think my favorite one was probably the pink hair one because that just stands out. And I like the red hair, white shirt, blue.
00:23:08 --> 00:23:38 black panty over the white short look um i think overall the video is a good play on what the song is about so there's a moment in the video where she's running amok creating chaos destroying the groceries and the worker is cleaning up the mess she's standing on top of the counter and these words me and then life and then sugi's being god just dancing around all the i think that's so funny but also it's like true to life i don't know what was happening last month but apparently
00:23:38 --> 00:23:57 Last month, I'm not sure if you heard about that, but I was like, Mercury isn't enough. So it was a lot. It was just so funny because I was talking to a lot of friends of mine when I was on the tour and we were all like, what the heck happened last month? But this video kind of encapsulates that the God me life video, the part of the video is so funny. What else I liked? I think.
00:23:57 --> 00:24:27 Like I said, the connection was interesting because episode one was free hugs where she's looking for acceptance. Episode two is her healing herself. But then like the whole causing trouble for others. And then the midnight snack where she's eating the fly. It's just so strange. But it is connected. Like you said, she's in the refrigerator at the end in the outfit. And then she actually got arrested and she's in the police station. So it's all connected. And then she never actually gets captured because she flies away with all her little in her little bat.
00:24:27 --> 00:24:56 you know, her bat energy, whatever the heck that was. But I think all of these strange things put together an amazing video. Yes. Yes, for sure. And then now moving on to player three. What did you think of Yeji's air video? I feel like this was a battle between the chaos and the cars, between Yeji and Surgi. Because they both had this shot of them on the windshield, right? Yeah.
00:24:56 --> 00:25:19 You know, them both. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They both had this weird absurdity to their video. Like Yeji falling out of the sky looks like it's really serious. Like, what the heck? And then she's in a couch and she's in this warehouse and she's walking in this very awkward kind of creepy, unnatural way just to trip over a piece of a log. You know what I'm saying? So it's very absurd.
00:25:19 --> 00:25:36 Um, then she's being served, um, at dinner with her clothes being on fire. She's, there's a red carpet surrounded by just destroyed concrete. There's so much strangeness to this, but in the midst of it all, she looks fabulous. And I think that's, that's really cute. Um...
00:25:36 --> 00:26:03 But overall, there's something shocking about the imagery of a car accident, of a demolished building, of all of this, the rain coming down on her, her still looking beautiful. So I think I'm happy that they did not go for all this like air concept where she's flying and floating. And in fact, she's getting dragged a couple of times. You know, if she's falling on the ground, there's that kind of creativity. Yeah.
00:26:03 --> 00:26:21 I welcome that. You know, even with Baby Not Baby, I didn't know what to expect with that video. But when I watched it, I was like, oh, snap, this is kind of funny. And there's so many different effects to the video. This one, it looked editorial, but was just straight up clownery. Like, what in the world? Why are your clothes on fire? Why are things getting destroyed? Why are you tripping? So I think it made it more fun.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:41 And it's completely different from the teasers that we got. Again, the teasers, she was serving looks. She was serving Vogue. This feels like 17 Magazine. Not 17. Maybe make Marie Claire. I don't know. Cosmo. Cosmopolitan Magazine. It's kind of sexy, but still have a little bit of humor to it. You know? Yeah. What did you think? Yes. Yes.
00:26:41 --> 00:27:11 I mean, like I said, she is a star for sure. She has such a memorable look and the charisma feels so natural. And yeah, this definitely could have felt like a fashion campaign, but it was those kind of more artistic, kind of more interesting moments, like the falling, that kept it kind of more fun as well. I'm glad it wasn't just her flying around the whole time, because the beginning I was a little worried when they show her falling. I was like, oh God, is she just going to be like flying around the whole time?
00:27:11 --> 00:27:31 flying around instead it's just a lot of really memorable moments you know like i only even after only watching the video once i was like i remember that pose on the couch at the beginning with her leg up yeah um i remember that sailor moon the sailor moon with her on the treadmill in the kitchen yeah
00:27:31 --> 00:27:53 um i love the lean back walk yeah as well yeah um of course the fall as well i love the little stranger things kind of portal moment and she like rolls out the red carpet for herself yeah as well i don't know all like that's i remembered all that after the first watch yeah so that's when you know you've made uh an impactful video
00:27:53 --> 00:28:12 Yeah. So, yeah, I am so here for her. I am excited to see what she does next. Because, yeah, Itzy, I feel like, has been a little stagnant for a minute. Yeah, they have. Yeah. So I kind of, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see kind of how she develops as a solo artist, because I definitely think she has it.
00:28:12 --> 00:28:38 Right. Same. Yeah. Same. Oh, I hope they don't mess this up. All right. So that being said, who takes this round for the video portion? Ooh, this is hard. Honestly, all three videos are pretty good, but I will give to Seulgi. Yeah, same. Seulgi takes it for me for sure. Okay. Without a doubt. Okay. We're at the final round, which is about the performance and choreography. Round three.
00:28:40 --> 00:29:08 All right. Okay. So, Ten first. I mean, look, like I said, I liked the music video mainly only because of him. I did not get the concept at all. But I knew then that I would love watching him perform it, right? Because the choreo is so good. It has a ton of grooves in it. You really need to be in the pocket for it to kind of get the textures right and get the attitude right as well. Because this really takes a...
00:29:09 --> 00:29:29 a confidence, I think, in order to kind of execute this right. Yes. Right, because there are moments where you have to go super full out. There are moments where you have to pull back. There are moments where you have to make it a little sexier, moments where it's just a bit more subtle or a bit more fun. And so he's always been really good at knowing kind of where to give what, I think. Yeah, yeah.
00:29:29 --> 00:29:55 And I like that this chore also gave him some looser moments too throughout where you can kind of just groove it out a little bit. Because then it makes kind of the craziness like that final chorus. Yeah. That looks absolutely insane and very difficult. Yeah. It makes those parts even more impactful. So I think this was a really well done piece of choreography. And yeah, he is just, he's so good. Like...
00:29:55 --> 00:30:19 I'm glad Wavy has started getting more flowers, I think, through the years. Yeah. But I still, I do still think it's a bit of a missed opportunity that he didn't get into any of the, like, the main NCT units. Ooh. Yeah. Yeah. No, I understand that, because they're missing a little something-something right now. Missing a little something-something. But, I mean, it is what it is. Um...
00:30:20 --> 00:30:48 I feel like I agree with you in terms of him as an artist. I think I've always liked him. And that's the only reason I kind of went over to Wavy. Because when like six, was it Sixth Sense? Seventh Sense? Sixth Sense. Sixth Sense. Seventh Sense. Girl, one of them Sense. So when that song came out. I love that. When that song came out, though, he stood out, right? Because he was always, I was like, he's like the best dancer in this part. But aside from that, his solo stuff has been good.
00:30:48 --> 00:31:17 I've listened to it. I'm like, oh, this is great. This is great. I think for this one, it's going to be kind of tough because like Ten, Surugi, Yeji, they're all great performers, right? I think this is going to be all up to the overall package of the choreography, the performances, and the styling. It's just, it's so hard to look at all three of them with different songs, different kind of charismas, and be like, oh yeah, this one's like the best because like the dancing's better. Ten, let's be right here. Probably the best, better dancer out of all of them. But there's something, I'm just like, oof.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:39 In terms of dancing, yeah, I'm like, yes, he's the one. The textures and the choreography is so good. The sharp movements, like he's sitting in the pocket like a stack of change. He's so good. Like folded money in the pocket. So good. The styling in some of the performances, though, again, comes to that whole what's so stunning about this...
00:31:39 --> 00:32:04 at all he's wearing like a sweater vest in one performance you know i'm saying like he's wearing like this baggy outfit from the music video in one performance he's wearing a suit in another so again like there's a there's a there's a lack of congruency that matters to the overall package because yes is he talented yes did he serve yes did he sing it live on the radio show at one point yeah yeah yeah sure but the overall package is like it's kind of kind of lacking just a little bit not because he's not great not because he's not good but
00:32:04 --> 00:32:26 Like we said before, if these things are disjointed, it just looks cool, but doesn't actually make sense. Because I'm not getting his artistry at all with his styling. I'm not getting who he is. I'm just getting like he's talented. We know that. But like, I almost feel like he hasn't actually found who he really is as a solo artist yet. It feels a little derivative of...
00:32:26 --> 00:32:49 of some of the other sm artists right now i don't know if that's his fault or if it's just the team around him maybe both maybe both yeah but yeah i i see that yeah because like great dancing i i think his dancing is probably my favorite out of all three but i'm like hmm what else does everyone else have going on you know yeah yeah
00:32:50 --> 00:33:17 Okay, moving on to player two. What did you think of Sogi's Baby Not Baby performances? Okay, so speaking on what I was saying about the artistry and like the concept, it was pretty solid. She's meant to look hot and dangerous. In every performance, she looked hot and dangerous. And on top of that, the choreography, she is so clean. All of them are super clean. But like looking at her, like...
00:33:18 --> 00:33:47 My goodness, her angles are great. I think the pictures in this dance are probably one of my favorite. Like, Tens' pictures and, like, the formation with the dancers, solid. These ones, I think, are my favorite because there's some cadences that she uses to kind of add to the lyricism of the words. There's some moments where she's kind of just standing there and just moving her hands or, like, moving her waist. It's all very subtle. It's not hard-hitting, but it never stops. Because the movements are all these, like, little teeny-tiny...
00:33:47 --> 00:34:05 little beads strung together to make this full necklace. It's a beautiful piece of jewelry. So her whole performance, it does not stop. And I'm just like, okay, let her sing, let her sing. But also it's strung together so lovely that I'm like, okay, I'm kind of okay with you not singing. Cause it looks good. She's so consistent. Like her face never drops. Yeah.
00:34:06 --> 00:34:20 You know, but also where are the vocals? Where are the vocals? I need to hear the vocals. So again, she has what I was looking for with 10. But where are the vocals? I mean, it's an SM thing. I totally get it. But she owns the stage for sure. I would definitely give it to her.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:46 Yes, she's definitely a good performer. But yeah, a lot of my notes were the same because we know she can sing live. And, you know, she still did a good job in these performances. Yeah. But like you were saying, they don't give her any breaks at all. I'm pretty sure she actually does more than the background dancers do. Like she is dancing while they're all posing. And it's like, I think this should be the other way around. Yeah, no, no. No, no.
00:34:46 --> 00:35:05 Like at least at the very end, let her belt that one note. Yeah. You know, like let her show off a little bit at the end. Yeah. Yeah. So I agree with you, but I do like the choreography overall. I think it matches the song very well. It's powerful. It does have some memorable moments in there. Mm hmm.
00:35:05 --> 00:35:32 I really like how the first two choruses basically use the same choreo, but the staging is completely different. So I thought that was very creative as well. And with the background dancers, I like that she touches them. She interacts with them throughout. They're not just background dancers. They're kind of part of the whole picture, which I liked. But yeah, she is a great performer. So I loved watching these. But yeah, I do wish they made it in a way that
00:35:32 --> 00:35:51 Again, I feel like it wasn't made for her. I feel like if they made it for her, they would have given her more space to sing. You know? Oh, goodness. Oh, goodness. All right. So, closing it out with Yeji's air. Okay.
00:35:51 --> 00:36:08 Interestingly enough, I noticed that every single one of them has turned their body to the side and leaned backwards. Have you noticed that Ten does it in Stunner? Surugi does it in Baby Not Baby. She swings her arm. Oh, yeah. And Yeji does it here, too. They all have... I don't know what's going on in K-Kaw choreography. Is that a...
00:36:08 --> 00:36:26 thing. I guess so. The whole weird zombie lean is working. I don't hate it, but I just remember all three of them having it. Is the dancing good for Yedgy? No doubt. She is the dancer of Itzy. I will say her precision is undeniable and her presence has definitely grown so much since debut.
00:36:27 --> 00:36:51 Much like what I said with the other two, she definitely owns the stage. While performing, she doesn't actually sing the breathy parts, but comes in during some of the verse and in the pre-hook. At first, I wasn't much a fan of that lack of singing, but she is such a strong performer that I looked past it and then realized I appreciated the choices that were made in terms of which part she's singing in. Because then I'm like, oh, all right.
00:36:51 --> 00:37:09 Okay, I can hear her here. This makes sense. This makes so much... Because for her to sit there and try to sing that breathy part in the beginning while she's dipping her body low and extending her arm... No. Talking about oxygen. She would need it. She would need the oxygen that she's singing about. I think...
00:37:09 --> 00:37:31 Her costuming was great. Obviously, it's all from the music video. Her music bank performance with the music video costumes with the silver top is my favorite. Her pigtails on NBC was impressive because how the heck are you dancing with all those pigtails? I think overall the jerky movements of just her arm motions and then her finger tutting, that was impressive.
00:37:31 --> 00:37:45 for sure. Like, she moves a lot, but then she also connects with the camera, and she's also singing. So I think overall, hers clicked a little bit more for me than the other two.
00:37:45 --> 00:38:11 Hmm. So. Not you giving away your winner already. I know. At this point. Yeah. No. I think precision is the kind of the perfect word actually for her. Because she. You could just tell she is so well trained. Yeah. Like she finishes every movement to its fullest. She hit things super hard. You can tell she's super flexible with just how far she kind of leans into things. Yeah.
00:38:11 --> 00:38:36 There are moments where she really just shows up her dancers. Oh, my God. Yeah. Like, she'll hit things harder than them. She'll extend further than them. Like, she has more presence than all of them. It's very, very impressive. Yeah. And, yeah, I think it was staged really well. Like, I think it has a journey to it. It builds really well. I think it was very enjoyable as just a piece of choreography. And, yeah, look, her mic was on, like you said, at first.
00:38:37 --> 00:39:03 I think like I do think that she made good choices there because I think she would have not sounded good if she tried to sing any more than she did. Just given just the way the song even is. I mean, to sing breathily like that live is tough. And if you're dancing like that, it's even tougher. So I'm glad they did not do that to her. I one little nitpicky thing. I do wish they made a performance edit that didn't fade out.
00:39:04 --> 00:39:27 Oh, yeah. It's always a pet peeve of mine. Whenever anyone performs with a fade out, like Chantel, never perform with a fade out. None of my songs fade out. I will be mad. You know none of my songs fade out. But it is such a pet peeve of mine. I feel like it feels unprofessional. It feels like. It feels lazy. Yeah, like where's the blackout? There's no blackout. It's not a dance recital. Give me my button. Give me my button.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:46 Even a dance recital, I want you to make an edit with a real ending. Right, right. Anyway, that's just a little nitpicky thing. That's so funny. It doesn't take much effort from the producer's side to make an ending. Yes, true. For the performance edit. True. But no, I think she is such a good performer. I was so impressed watching her.
00:39:46 --> 00:40:15 And I think when we've reviewed other solo artists in the past, sometimes I often say that I'm distracted by the other dancers. You did say that. And in her case, I am never distracted. I don't know. I couldn't recognize one face in any of those. I was watching her the whole time because she is such a good performer. So, yeah, she wins for me, too. Joke's on you. I picked Surgi. Really? No, I'm joking. Yeah, she wins. Oh. I was like, you just lied earlier then. Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:16 --> 00:40:46 Okay, so overall thoughts. Oof. And winner. Okay, so this one is tough because I like all these, like literally every single one of the artists. Me too. This was a tough round. Yeah, all of them are my favorite from their respective groups, right? So it's like, oh man, the battle of the biases. What can I say? But again, it's going to have to just go back to the overall like setup. It's so difficult. It was so, so difficult. Dang. Dang.
00:40:46 --> 00:41:04 Oh my God. Now, oh no, let me think of my thoughts. Oh no. Okay. Anyway, like I said, the overall picture, the overall sound, the overall performance quality does matter to me. And I'm thinking about like, what song is it that I want to keep repeating? What songs do I keep singing? Um,
00:41:04 --> 00:41:33 Surugi is a second for me, like a number two, very close second, but I'm going to give it to Yeji. Yeji's overall package, I feel like was just cohesive. Sonically, I like it. And then dance-wise, I was just like, wow, she commands the stage. I want to see more. I wish it wasn't just one single, you know? Yeah. I have to give it to Yeji as well. And it's so interesting because out of the three groups that these three members come from, Itzy's actually probably my least favorite. Right. Of the three. Okay. Okay.
00:41:34 --> 00:41:59 But I can't deny how good this is. Yeah. And consistent across all three categories, like you said. So yeah, I have to give it to her. Ooh-wee! It's like gold! Yeji takes it. Yeji takes the gold medal, the gold trophy for this. All right. Yes. Ooh, wow. Mitzi. Mitzi? Mitzi. That's such a hard name to say. So awkward.
00:42:00 --> 00:42:07 All right, so Midzi, NC to Zins, and Revelovs, y'all listen.
00:42:07 --> 00:42:32 Let us know who wins for you. Don't be biased or do. Either way, keep it civil in those comments, okay? Don't forget, we are available on all platforms. And make sure to comment and DM us at CCTV Pops to tell us what wins the pop-off for you. Okay, guys, make sure you hit those follow and subscribe buttons because we really have some fun episodes coming up. I promise you, we are a good time, honey. Until next time, that's Chris.
00:42:33 --> 00:42:41 That's Chantel. And you are tuning in to CCTV, the nonstop pop show.