~ HAPPY HOLIDAYS ~ 

Hey fam, Happy Holidays!

Even though some of you don't celebrate Christmas, I do hope that you are well and surrounded by your loved ones. If that's not the case, I'm sending you all the love you need wherever you are <3 

The end of the year 2021 is near, and it's time to reflect on what has happened in our lives. As cliche as it might sound, I think it's a good way to help us grow and remind ourselves that even though we went through hard times, we ended up being a better person at the end of the day.

On my side, it has been a pretty busy year! I continued on with the blog and had fun writing articles, it was like taking breaks in the midst of all the work I had to do in college. I also had moments of doubts thinking that maybe what I was doing was not enough although I was exhausted from all the efforts I was putting in my work. But going through these moments have helped me grow up and become a better person, a person who's more confident and who trusts herself more.

One thing I am especially proud of is that I have been recognised for my skills but also for my qualities as a human being in the professional world which is very satisfying after weeks of hard work. Now I also invite you to mention something that you're proud of in the comment section, and if you don't want to share it that's completely fine, but just say it out loud to yourself. 

Lastly, this period is called holidays for a reason. I'm going to take a break and use all the time I need to rest, meaning that there is not going to be any articles for a while. I am working on the Top Kmusic of December and a "Playlist of the year" that will englobe my favourite songs of 2021. These are the two articles that will be up first when they're done. 

Take care and I'll probably see you in 2022 so HAPPY NEW YEAR (in advance)!

Love, Swan

~ THE SWANS AWARDS ~

1st edition: December 2021

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of The Swans Awards (hereafter referred as TSA)! Every year and around the month of December, Kpop award shows take place to reward the most deserving artists who have been feeding the Korean Music Industry and its fans with talent and incredible work. Some of these shows are the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), Melon Music Awards (MMA), Asian Artist Awards (AAA), Gayeo Daejeon, and many more. 

However, throughout the years, some fans have been contesting the legitimacy of these shows and the accuracy of the results, which is why I have decided to create my own award show: The Swans Awards. I have asked you to fill a form that was available from November 1st until November 30th, and it contained around 16 categories. I tried to include various and diverse options without making it impossible for multis to choose (and without making the form too long). 

I really want to thank every person who took the time to vote. I'm doing this for the community and I'm glad that you positively answered to that initiative. Now's the time to discover the winners of TSA, 1st edition! I'll also include the 2nd and 3rd place, as well as my personal picks :)

Best Male Group

WINNER: SHINee (14.3%) 

2nd & 3rd place (tie): TXT & BTS (13.5%)

Personal pick: SHINee

Best Female Group

WINNER: Twice (22.2%)

2nd place: Red Velvet (16.7%)

3rd place: Itzy (15.9%)

Personal pick: Itzy

Best Male Artist

WINNER: Taemin of SHINee (29.4%)

2nd place: Baekhyun of EXO (11.9%)

3rd place (tie): YoungK of Day6 & Kang Daniel (10.3%)

Personal pick: Taemin of SHINee (my shawol heart was aching when I had to choose between Taemin and Key...)

Best Female Artist

WINNER: IU (27.8%)

2nd place: Taeyeon of Girl's Generation (12.7%)

3rd place: Jessi (11.1%)

Personal pick: CL

Best Performance Group

WINNER: Stray Kids - Thunderous (15.9%)

2nd place: Tomorrow X Together - Lo$er = Lover (11.9%)

3rd place: BTS - Permission to dance (9.5%)

Personal pick: Stray Kids - Thunderous

Best Performance Solo

WINNER: Taemin - Advice (19.8%)

2nd place: IU - Lilac (17.5%)

3rd place: Kai - Mmmh (9.5%)

Personal pick: Taemin - Advice

Best Band of the Year

WINNER: Day6 (40.5%)

2nd place: The Rose (27%)

3rd place: N.Flying (10.3%)

Personal pick: N.Flying

Male Rookie of the Year

WINNER: Enhypen (46.8%)

2nd place: P1Harmony (11.9%)

3rd place (tie): Cravity & JustB (6.3%)

Personal pick: Enhypen

Female Rookie of the Year

WINNER: Aespa (46.8%)

2nd place: Weekly (19%)

3rd place: Purple Kiss (15.1%)

Personal pick: Aespa

Artist of the Year

WINNER: BTS (16.7%)

2nd place & 3rd place (tie): Tomorrow X Together & Stray Kids (13.5%)

Personal pick: Tomorrow X Together 

Song of the Year

WINNER: Tomorrow X Together - Lo$er = Lover (15.9%)

2nd place: BTS - Permission to dance (13.5%)

3rd place: Stray Kids - Thunderous (10.3%)

Personal pick: Tomorrow X Together - Lo$er = Lover 

Album of the Year

WINNER: Tomorrow X Together - The Chaos Chapter: Fight or Escape (22.2%)

2nd place: Stray Kids - Noeasy (15.9%)

3rd place: SHINee - Atlantis (9.5%)

Personal pick: Stray Kids - Noeasy

MV of the Year

WINNER: Stray Kids - Thunderous (17.5%)

2nd place: Aespa - Next Level (16.7%)

3rd place: Enhypen - Drunk Dazed (15.1%)

Personal pick: Kingdom - Karma

Best Collaboration

WINNER: Coldplay X BTS - My Universe (26.2%) 

2nd place: Hyuna & Dawn - Ping Pong (25.4%)

3rd place: Key ft. Taeyeon - Hate That (17.5%)

Personal pick: Key ft. Taeyeon - Hate That

Best non-korean song by a Kpop artist

WINNER: Tomorrow X Together - Magic (13.5%)

2nd place (tie): BTS - Film Out / Twice - The Feels / Ten - Paint me naked (12.7%)

Personal pick: Yuqi - Bonnie and Clyde

Best B-side

WINNER: Tomorrow X Together - MOA Diary: Dubbadu Wari Wari (15.1%)

2nd place: Ateez - Eternal Sunshine (11.9%)

3rd place: Itzy - Swipe (11.1%)

Personal pick: Ateez - Eternal Sunshine

 

And that's a wrap for the first edition of the Swans Awards! I want to take the time to thank every person who has participated in the voting process. See you next year!

 

Love, Swan

~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY ~

생일 축하합니다! Happy birthday to my beautiful K family!

One year ago, on September 15th, 2020, I decided to take on an exciting challenge: Creating my own blog.

The reason why I clicked on the "create" button and the reason why this blog is still alive is because I felt the urgent need to share my passion for Korean Music and Asian Dramas. I always felt uncomfortable talking about this passion of mine whether with my friends or family, mainly because they didn't understand me and even worse, judged me for liking something "too different". So there's something I want to tell you: NEVER BE ASHAMED OF LIKING SOMETHING DIFFERENT, because that's what will make you a more open-minded and happier person. 

After creating this blog, I felt so much more fulfilled and free. I always loved writing things, whether theoretical, educational or entertainment-related. Therefore, the writing part was always the easiest one. What was more difficult was all the other things that came around that, which are: content management (whether I should talk about certain topics or not, depending on the degree of controversy especially in the "K-news" part), social media marketing (mainly promoting the blog on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and YouTube), and getting feedback from people. 

I'm a perfectionist, and I really want things to work out well. I always go by the fact that there's always room for improvement, so don't be afraid to give me your feedback, whether positive or negative. I am also open to suggestions when it comes to group/artist presentations, drama reviews, or news topics (this one is a bit more sensitive because I don't want the "K-news" section to become a gossip room).

Overall, I think the current format of the blog is pretty close to what I had initially in mind. I don't think the categories will change much (I may add a "survival show" category when I'll review something else than MNET's "Kingdom"), and I might do some further stylistic changes in the near future. 

I really want to thank from the bottom of my heart every single one of you who are giving a bit of their time to reading this blog and to share it with their family and friends. Without you, I would've probably lost the motivation. I know the name "K family" is not far fetched, so comment down below what name you'd like to go by ^^ I hope that we'll share many more things together, and that the family will grow as time goes by.

Last but not least, I haven't been able to upload articles regularly during summer simply because I had lots of things going on. And I think that in order not to have a burn-out, I shouldn't impose myself an unsustainable rhythm. I will therefore post an article whenever I have enough time to create quality content, without rushing it to meet a "deadline". To get notified as soon as an article comes out, subscribe to my newsletter! You can also follow me on social media: Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, that's where I'm the most active and that's where I'll post some news about myself and upcoming articles. 

Take care, and I'll see you soon!

Love, Swan