Saturday, April 19, 2014

K-Pop Star 3: Hong Jeong Hee (홍정희)

WARNING: Contains spoilers.

I'm not supposed to write down a post today but I just feel so down, I have to let out these unfair feelings stirring up inside me. So as you probably could tell, I've been into watching K-Pop Star Season 3. Yesterday, I posted about Brody from episode 8, thinking she got really eliminated. It was a sad event but during that time, I think the judges were in the right position when they made this choice.

Today, however, as I was watching episode 12, my heart was wrecked, almost literally. This post is in tribute for this one talent who, in my opinion, should not have been eliminated- Hong Jeong Hee (홍정희). During the battle audition, Hong Jeong Hee was up against Bae Min Ah and Almeng, both formidable opponents for this 'make it or break it' round. They will be ranked in this battle. The one who goes first goes straight to the top ten contenders and the second place goes for a re-match. The one who goes last, however, gets eliminated. And as stated above, Hong Jeong Hee was eliminated. And for me, it was just unfair. I think this is one of the most unfair situations I have ever seen in my life. And yes, I may have exaggerated a little bit on this. It was so unfair that I didn't really find it weird that YHY couldn't control his tears during the announcement of ranking.


Let me give you a little bit of an overview of what transpired during this stage. In my opinion, Hong Jeong Hee did a really good job. YHY chose a trot song for her to sing- ballad style. During the performance, she was really able to showcase her abilities in singing. I especially liked the quality of her voice, the technique and interpretation. I think the song fit her really nicely and that she really put out a really nice stage, fitting for the said crucial stage. Just so you have an idea, here's an audio of her performance:



Just hearing the audio shows how good her voice is but if you like, you can also view the whole stage here:

You can watch starting from the 5:24 mark.

Now her rival for this stage would be, in my opinion, is Bae Min Ah. She did a really good job. I thought if they didn't particularly like Hong Jeong Hee's song choice, it would be Bae Min Ah who would get the top spot. But no, it was Almeng!


Now before all Almeng fans lash out on this post, I would like to clear that I have nothing against them. I feel that they are musically talented. They are very passionate and it really shows in all their performances. They produce their stage very well and arrange their songs perfectly. In fact, I have this high regard for Almeng basically because I feel that they are good, but not only because they are naturally good. It is also because they work hard to be good and it shows. The only problem during this performance was that Choi Rin's voice was not in its best condition. To better explain, you can watch their performance below and you would see that her voice cracked several times during the performance. There were also a number of times when her voice sounds like it's having a hard time coming out. On another note, without a doubt, the arrangement and lyrics were the best out of the three. But for this stage, their delivery was the worst. I mean, I could see the passion and hard work that was placed just to finish the performance. But the thing is, I don't know if I've heard it from other judges or in other audition programs, voice management (taking care of your throat) is a vital part of preparation for every performance. I agree with this because you will be judged on the delivery itself don't do it properly, your song and arrangement won't come out as good as expected. This was very evident in their performance here.


If you watch it objectively, it was obvious that their performance wasn't good enough mainly because of the quality of the voice that came out during the performance. Surely, Almeng has one of the most potential out there but more than potential, performance must be taken more into consideration. I just felt like they didn't deserve first place during this stage. I know how good Almeng is but if I just compare the two performances, Hong Jeong Hee did a lot better. For this very reason, I am sleeping with a heavy heart.

Oh, and to make it clear, I don't mean to say Almeng must be eliminated, because they are good and they will probably create great stages for the live performances but just judging from these performances, they were clearly last, in my honest opinion.

I made this post just because I felt that it was so unfair for Jeong Hee's part. What do you think?

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