~ LIGHT UP THE SKY ~

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY

 

 

 

On Wednesday October 14^th, 2020 Netflix released an 80 minutes long documentary about the worldwide-known K-pop girl group Blackpink.

Blackpink is a four-membered girl group who debuted on August 8^th, 2016 under YG entertainment. The members are (from the oldest to the youngest) Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa. In 2019, they went on their very first world tour that consisted of multiple legs: the Asian leg (Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta, …), the Europe leg(Paris, London, Amsterdam, …), and especially the North American leg (Rosemont, Newark, Fort Worth, ...) where they were able to perform at the Coachella festival, a whole new experience for the girls.

And although the documentary was supposed to focus on that world tour, it put the light in many other aspects of the girl’s career, especially their trainee days.

I’m going to try not to go too deep into the details first because I don’t want to spoil things, second because I’m not sure I’m allowed to. Now, I’m not a big fan of Blackpink, but I still wanted to talk about it because I found this documentary quite interesting.

 

The things I liked

First of all, I know this wasn’t the point of the documentary, but I did think that they would talk about scandals at some point, but THANK GOD they didn’t because god knows how many things these girls went through, and how many things this company went through in general.

Also, I was so happy to learn more about each member individually, because one of the reasons why I am not a hardcore Blink is because I didn’t really feel close to the members. I know they have a reality show that is being broadcasted but I never thought “oh, I want to know more about the members, let’s check variety shows and more content like that” because I wasn’t curious. But that documentary made me curious about them.

We learn about each member’s background, where they came from, what was their life before auditioning and becoming trainees. Then they jump to how they auditioned and how their trainee period went. The number of courses they had to take, the monthly evaluations, the elimination process, etc. Every member tells the story in their point of view and of course, every member went through different experiences and feelings before becoming a member of Blackpink. The feelings, they spent a good 20 minutes talking about how shy, exhausted, insecure, happy and excited they felt. That’s what I wanted to hear.

Second, it was nice how they presented the phenomenon of “K-pop going to America” when the Coachella segment came out. At some point Jennie said that they didn’t care to be perfect on stage but they wanted people to be curious about them, and after that performance a lot of people got curious about them indeed. They even talked about that in the first minutes of the documentary, when their producer Teddy said something along the lines of “K-pop is not pop music with just Korean lyrics otherwise every other country should be capable of doing what we do”, meaning that K-pop is not something characterized by its language, it’s something new and unique that hasn’t been done in any other country.

Last but not least, I was really happy to see some backstage moment. This is what makes an artist appear as a sincere human being. Not that they’re not sincere stage, but in what I like to call “backstage moments” they are spontaneous and truly themselves, they are Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa, whereas on stage they are formatted to be Blackpink.

 

What I think could’ve been better 

I am not a filmmaker nor any kind of professional in that field, but in my opinion, the progression was a little… messy. They kept going back and forth between milestones and that bothered me a little, but that’s not a major problem and it’s only my personal opinion.   

I also wished the documentary was a bit longer. They say it’s about their world tour but at the end of the day we don’t see that much concert footage or backstage footage from the tour. I also wanted to see what they do when they have some free time (I know it doesn’t happen a lot but that’s exactly the reason why).

Overall, this is what I call a well-done documentary. When you watch it, you understand the process trainees go through before becoming idols, the ups and downs they go through after debuting, and the reasons behind Blackpink’s phenomenal success. There are no unnecessary moments in it, you’ll feel captivated during the whole thing. I would definitely recommend it to anybody, whether you want to know more about the K-pop industry in general or want to become closer to these four talented girls.

 

That’s it! Let me know in the comments if you watched the documentary and what did you think about it. 

 

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Wikipedia

~ DREAMCATCHER ~ 

Members from left to right: JiU, Handong, Dami, Gahyeon, Siyeon, SuA, and Yoohyeon. 

Who is dreamcatcher?

On the 18^th of September 2014, a five-membered K-pop girl group formed by Happy Face Entertainment debuted under the name of MINX with their single “Why did you come to my home”. The members, back then, were JiU, SuA, Siyeon, Yoohyeon and Dami. However, on January 13 2017, the group re-debuted with a whole new concept “Chase Me” (every member representing a different kind of nightmare) and with two additional members, Handong and Gahyeon, under the name Dreamcatcher. The fandom is called “InSomnia”, meaning “in the dream” in latin. They made their Japanese debut one year later with their single “Full Moon”.

Their latest Korean comeback was on January 26, 2021 with their sixth mini-album entitled "Dystopia : Road to Utopia" and the title track "Odd Eye". This time, all 7 members participated to the comeback with Handong being back from China. 

Here are their official social media accounts: 

• Twitter @hf_dreamcatcher
• Twitter (Japan) @jp_dreamcatcher
• Instagram @hf_dreamcatcher
• Instagram (members) @goodnight_dreamcatcher
• Instagram (Japan) @jp_dreamcatcher
• Facebook Happyfacedreamcatcher
• Youtube Dreamcatcher
• Fan cafe Dreamcatcher7
• V live Dreamcatcher
• Official website Dreamcatcher
• TikTok @official_dreamcatcher
• TikTok (Japan) @dreamcatcher_jp

  

Stage Name: JiU

Birth Name: Kim Min Ji

Position: Leader, Lead Vocalist, Lead Dancer, Visual

Birthday: May 17, 1994

Nationality: Korean

Nightmare: Fear of being chased

Fun facts: Her English name is Lily. If she wasn’t in Dreamcatcher she would be a police officer or an owner of a macaron store (interview with Kpopconcerts). Her ideal type is someone who communicates with her well, also a man who can control her a little.

 

Stage name: SuA

Birth name: Kim Bo Ra

Position: Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Sub Vocalist

Birthday: August 10, 1994

Nationality: Korean

Nightmare: Fear of restraint

Fun facts: Her English name is Alice. She is a former MINX member. SuA learns dance routines the fastest and she helps others learn theirs too. Her hobbies are drawing and watching dramas. She is a fan of TVXQ and her role models are the Big Bang members. Her ideal type is a man who is sexy and who likes her more than she likes him.

 

 

 

 

Stage Name: Siyeon

Birth Name: Lee Si Yeon

Position: Main Vocalist

Birthday: October 1, 1995

Nationality: Korean

Nightmare: Claustrophobia

Fun facts: She is a former MINX member. Her English name is Monica. She can do voice impression for Pikachu, Squirtle, and Psyduck. Her role model is Sistar’s Hyorin. Her idal type is someone she can connect to and talk to, someone who has sense and matches her well.

 

Stage Name: Handong

Birth Name: Han Dong

Position: Sub Vocalist

Birthday: March 26, 1996

Nationality: Chinese

Nightmare: Scopophobia

Fun facts: Her English name is Della. She was born in Wuhan, China. If Handong wasn’t in Dreamcatcher, she would be a flight attendant (interview with Kpopconcerts). Her ideal type is a kind person who has a good personality and is tall.

 

Stage Name: Yoohyeon

Birth Name: Kim Yoo Hyeon

Position: Lead Vocalist

Birthday: January 7, 1997

Nationality: Korean

Nightmare: Being Lost in an unknown place

Fun facts: She is a former MINX member. Her English name is Rachel. She is learning Mandarin and German. She likes Harry Styles. Her ideal type is someone hard-working. As for celebrities, she named her ideal type Kim Bum. 

 

Stage Name: Dami

Birth Name: Lee Yu Bin

Position: Main rapper, lead dancer, sub vocalist

Birthday: March 7, 1997

Nationality: Korean

Nightmare: Oulinophobia or Agliophobia

Fun facts: Her English name is Emma. She learned kendo. She is a fan of the anime "One Piece". Her favorite author is Haruki Murakami. Her ideal type is someone she can learn from, someone who can talk a lot compared to her.

 

 

 

 

Stage Name: Gahyeon

Birth Name: Lee Ga Hyeon

Position: Sub Vocalist, Sub Rapper, Maknae

Birthday: February 3, 1999

Nationality: Korean

Nightmare: Basophobia

Fun facts: Her English name is Lucy. She studies in the Philippines for a few months and was a honor student for 3 years. Her ideal type is someone who smiles prettily, is fun and has a good voice. 

 

 

 

 

 

How I discovered them 

Dreamcatcher is one of those underrated groups that has a really distinct sound. They still didn’t score a first win on a musical show, and they rarely appear on Korean variety shows, so the odds you find them by pure coincidence are low. I personally found out about them watching one of K-ville’s “new kpop songs” video, and the first song I heard from them was Piri. I saw them a lot in “underrated K-pop groups” videos. I hope that I will help them getting the recognition they deserve. 

My Bias is Dami, and my bias wrecker (the runner up to the “bias” title) is Siyeon. Dami has a very unique tone of voice, and her singing is as good as her rapping. And I think she became much more confident in the past comebacks. As for Siyeon, her voice is getting better and better. That falsetto right after the bridge in “BOCA” is amazing. But don't get me wrong, all the other members have that "something special".

About their discography:

Dreamcatcher has a very unique sound that is more on the rock-electronic side. Their debut song, Chase me, is pretty soft compared to all the songs they did after that. It is a good debut song but it’s clearly not the one who showcases the members’ talent the most. After that, they respectively released their title tracks “Good Night”, “Full Moon” and “You and I” that follow the same Nightmare concept, all sounding almost the same to me but still being good songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On September 20, 2018 they come back with their third Korean mini-album “Alone in the city” with the title track “What” that marks a small change in their sound even though the concept didn’t really change. “What” goes really hard for me and hits differently, the girls really get to show off their vocals, and the instrumental portion in the beginning of the song is *chef’s kiss*.

Their fourth Korean mini-album “The end of Nightmare” out on February 13, 2019 with the title track "Piri" marks the end of the Nightmare era. Piri is very much different from what they've been doing before. I won't put it in the rock register although I consider Dreamcatcher as a K-Rock girl group.

They come back seven months later with their special mini-album “Raid of Dream” with the title track “Déjà vu” on September 18, 2019. Now let’s talk about Déjà vu… DAMI IS SINGING GUYS, QUEEN DAMI IS SINGING!!! Déjà vu is definitely one of my favorite songs of theirs. The instrumental, the song, the lyrics, the MV, and… Queen Dami. It might not go as hard as you could expect, but the song definitely has an impact. I just had a hard time understanding the meaning behind the MV but let me tell you: I suck at finding and understanding theories. 

2020 marks the beginning of a new era for Dreamcatcher. On February 18, they publish their first studio album “Dystopia: The Tree of Language” with the title track “Scream”. However, Handong won’t be promoting alongside her 6 group-mates because she’ll be participating in the Chinese show “Youth With You” (season 2). And let me tell you that there is a huge difference between the pre-scream era and the post-scream era. The members improved a lot, Siyeon’s singing got so much better (she’s my favorite vocalist of the group), Dami gained so much confidence and her rap got better too (I thought that it wasn’t possible but she did it because she’s a queen), and Gahyeon revealed herself. Scream is the song that, in my opinion, made Dreamcatcher more known to the public (even though I think they are still underrated). 

On Agusut 17, 2020, Dreamcatcher came back with their fifth Korean mini-album entitled “Dystopia: Lose Myself” with the title track “BOCA”. Handong won’t be participating in the promotions for this comeback again because she’s stuck in China for Covid-19 reasons. BOCA is the apotheosis to me. EVERY MEMBER had its time to shine in the MV (I can't wait for Handong to come back) and I think they outdid themselves (again) in terms of the aesthetics. The MV is really gorgeous, and there's definitely a contrast between the "warrior" theme and the "goddess" theme if I can put it like that (I told you, I'm not good at understanding underlying meanings). 

Finally, on January 26, 2021, the girls put out their sixth Korean mini-album entitled "Dystopia : Road to Utopia" with the title track "Odd Eye". Again, I'm really bad at understanding theories, but there seems to be something to do with the five senses. They first did "Boca" (which means mouth in spanish), now it's "Eye", and maybe ears or nose are next? The only thing I'm sure of is that they nailed this comeback as well. 

All in all, my favorite title track from them has to be Déjà Vu, with What being a close second. But my favorite album has to be Dystopia: Lose Myself (Dystopia: The tree of language being a close second). All the songs in it are beautiful, with Break the Wall being my favorite B-side from them.

Random Facts

The company went from “Happy Face Entertainment” (2009-2019) to literally “DreamCatcher Company” because the company wanted to show the group their support (source: AllKpop).

That’s it guys, I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you’ll be checking out DreamCatcher. They have enough talent and experience to be more known in South Korean and Worldwide, they really deserve better.

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Wikipedia, Kprofiles

 

 

~ The government at the rescue of underage idols and trainees ~

 

The Facts:

In an article published on the fourth of October 2020 by Soompi, the South Korean government is in the process of taking actions to protect underage celebrities and trainees. "The Office for Government Policy Coordination prepared a plan of action through discussion with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; Korea Communications Commission; Korea Entertainment Producer’s Association; Korea Management Federation; and Korea Entertainment Management Association". It is clear that young people, especially young trainees, are filled with dreams and hopes to become an idol one day. And some agencies, without giving any specific names, are taking advantage of the situation by asking for money and other kinds of valuables from the young trainees in exchange of "fraudulent promises of debut" (basically fake hopes of debut). 

"Most auditions, the main route through which celebrities debut (41.5 percent), are taking place through personal connections, creating information asymmetry and the possibility of fraud. In the future, audition notices will posted on the websites of related associations and foundations. An audition guideline will be created as well to further enhance the transparency of auditions." I think those are the right initiatives to take. With a specific guideline and a better control of auditions, there will be less room for misinterpretations and misunderstandings about the work conditions and other similar issues. 

"To relieve the stress and concerns underage celebrities and trainees have, the psychological and career counselling provided by KOCCA’s (Korea Creative Content Agency) Popular Culture and Arts Support Center will be expanded to allow 350 clients from the current 100 clients". Providing professional help for the trainees should be mandatory for every company, especially for underage trainee. A lot of trainees fear to share their struggles, especially when it's about psychological struggles since mental illness is a taboo in South Korea (hence the relatively high suicide rate). So yes, providing psychological and career counselling will definitely help, but only if done the right way.

The government stated, “We will semi-annually inspect each department’s situation with the improvement measures so that the protection of underage celebrities’ rights can be implemented smoothly.” Yes, control is definitely necessary. But in 6 months, a lot could happen. If you come and inspect a department, then leave, a split second later everything could go back to chaos, and a lot can happen. I think they should do more regular inspections, but that's only my personal opinion.

The article doesn't state what are the exact sanctions that will be applied if measures are not taken seriously, but it clearly warns all those companies out there who thought they could take advantage of young people's dreams. 

You can read the entire Soompi article here.

My Opinion:

To put it in a nutshell, I believe the core problem of underage idols and trainees is that they are young and very vulnerable. The average age of Kpop idols who debut are between 16 and 21 years old, and you do have to train for an average of 3 to 6 years depending on a lot of factors, so auditioning and training should start around 13 to 16 years old. Some idols started even earlier. The common thing to think is that they have their parents who will help them taking the decision, but not all the idols have their families backing them. It is not easy to see your child taking the path of an idol at a really young age. The point is that they are young and sometimes alone. So it is  easy to say that they should be thinking carefully before taking some important decisions. In order to stop this, I think to a certain age the children/teens should be accompanied by designated specialists, and the parents should have a say on all the decisions taken regarding their child (aside from him being under contract with an agency).

I also mentioned earlier that mental health is a taboo in South Korea, and the problem is that you can't change deeply-rooted cultural beliefs. In South Korea, being ill or weak mentally is a synonym of failure and inferiority. I know this might sound weird to you, but admitting that you're not strong mentally and that you have anxiety problems in South Korea is like admitting that you're inferior and won't last in this entertainment world. And admitting that is hard for a lot of idols and trainees who have work so hard to achieve their dreams. So yes, they can seek professional help, but we can't force them to do so. It will take a lot of time and effort for people to admit they need help, and what we can do as part of the Kpop and Kmusic community is supporting them and spread positivity around them especially during those hard times. 

Let me know down in the comments what are your thoughts about this, and I'll see you next time.

 

Love, Swan

 

Sources: Soompi