I Am A Singer 2: November Group B

We began covering last Sunday’s episode of I Am A Singer 2 a day earlier than usual as it contained all ten performances from the singers still trying to get to Super December.  We talked about Sinawe and another couple of wonderful singers yesterday and today we get to the rest of them. In addition to myself Dahee of Dahee’s Plastic Castle and Fabien of Kimchi Popcorn have contributed their opinions to this post. All performances can be streamed from the official site and if you live in the right country chances are you can watch some of them on YouTube too.


 
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Younha – “일생을” (Kim Hyun Chul cover)

Anna: A standard I Am A Singer ballad from Younha. I would lie if I didn’t say I’m a bit disappointed. Since joining the show I think she’s shown that she can do so much more and really deserves her spot. She sings well and all, but it’s a bit… boring.

Dahee: Hmm, Younha has fallen into the usual I Am A Singer style of ballad. I was pretty bored throughout. I mean, it’s pretty, and she’s pretty, and she sings very well, but there’s nothing exciting or fresh about it. I expect more from her than this.

Fabien: It is nothing less than a new demonstration of vocal power from Younha. But actually, with all the time since she joined, it has been already known that she can sing very well. The arrangement seems exactly the same as the original version. I would have hoped for more risk-taking on her part, but given what the audience has expressed of a strange taste so far, I can not really blame her for that.

 

Cho Jang Hyuk – “거리에서” (Dongmulwon cover)

Anna: Cho Jang Hyuk brings out that husky voice of his for another fairly standard I Am A Singer ballad, this time with a few rock elements thrown in. I’m finding this performance too to be quite dull and fail to pay attention several times while it lasts.

Dahee: Cho Jang Hyuk has such a great voice. I’m always struck by how charming his husky vocals are. I adore this Dongmulwon song, and I feel like it’s a perfect fit for him. He’s sticking fairly closely to the original in terms of arrangement, and I admit I wasn’t wowed or anything. But it’s still a decent performance, and I like that he didn’t go over the top.

Fabien: This is the same diagnosis than for Younha. A very interesting voice, that husky color is well controlled, but the interpretation of the arrangement is extremely poor. As Anna says, it is a standard performance, which is in this case synonymous of forgettable. But again, I concede that the public is difficult to please with more experiments.

 

Park Sang Min – “본능적으로” (Yoon Jong Shin cover)

Anna: Finally something different from Park Sang Min! This time with DJ Park Yoon Jung helping to bring more of a party feeling to the stage. While he’s been on the show I’ve grown more and more tired of his vocals, but rapping is something I’ve never heard from him before and that’s gotta count for something.

Dahee: Wow, Park Sang Min has chosen to try something a little different at the LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE. Sadly, the use of the DJ and his brief (and terrible) attempt at rapping were both a total miss. But at least it’s not a ballad, and I do like those little screams he starts and ends with. Otherwise, I can still hear some of his usual patterns in the arrangement. Please don’t let him make it to the Top 6…

Fabien: It has the appearance of something new from Park Sang Min, but there is not much difference than that compared to his other performances. The vocals do not really impress me, and the arrangement falls quickly in repetition. But I appreciate that he still made the effort to try to stand out tonight, and even to take the plunge into rapping.

 

Lee Young Hyun – “사랑앓이” (FT Island cover)

Anna: An FT Island song on I Am A Singer? That’s something I never thought I’d get to hear! Lee Young Hyun is going for a latin flair this time. Not the most inspiring performance this evening, but by far the best performance so far in this group. Her vocals are very strong and I’m loving everything she does with her hands and hair to add more emotion to the song.

Dahee: I don’t understand why Lee Young Hyun chose to bring out those dancers. They’re just distracting from her performance, and not bringing anything to it, really. And this song is rather cheesy, isn’t it? I do like the latin influences, and I like that it’s faster in tempo than many of her performances on this show. And like Anna, I’m loving what she’s doing with her hands and hair. But once again she’s doing what she usually does, really.

Fabien: For once that Lee Young Hyun brings a touch of originality in her performance, it has to be spoiled by choosing a horrible song … I can not enjoy this version more than the original one. The dancers are also far from being a good point. Fortunately she sings very well to avoid disaster.

 

Seo Moon Tak – “등대지기” (children’s song)

Anna: Seo Moon Tak apparently had enough of rock after last week’s failure and instead brings something of a gospel like arrangement, albeit with an electric guitar supporting her after a while. Her vocals are very strong, but I’m not wowed.

Dahee: The arrangement is pretty, and the gospel feel was integrated into it rather seamlessly, which impressed me. And she sings very well, as usual. So why was I kind of sleepy while watching it? Maybe it’s because it’s one of those children’s bedtime songs. Maybe my subconscious KNOWS, and wants to fall asleep every time it hears it. It’s like I’m freakin’ Pavlov’s Dog.

Fabien: Very good vocal mastery that goes wonderfully with music that has a strong atmosphere. The appearance in the whole of gospel pleases me particularly.

 

Personal Picks

Anna: 1) Lee Young Hyun, 2) Seo Moon Tak, 3) Park Sang Min, 4) Cho Jang Hyuk, 5) Younha

The only singer I actually liked in this group was Lee Young Hyun, so of course she gets first. The others were a lot more difficult to rank, but if I was to judge simply by vocal performance Seo Moon Tak gets second. Park Sang Min might not have sung as well, but at least he showed a new side to himself. And Younha might’ve actually done better than Cho Jang Hyuk, but although she is younger she is still his senior on this show and thus should be able to impress more.

 
Dahee: 1) Seo Moon Tak 2) Cho Jang Hyuk 3) Younha 4) Lee Young Hyun 5) Park Sang Min

They should’ve just chosen the top six out of the entire ten, instead of dividing them up into two groups. What was the point of that? I didn’t like any performance from Group B, really, and think it’s a downright shame that some wonderful singers from Group A got eliminated because of this stupid system. So it was hard to number them. But in the end I was most impressed by Seo Moon Tak’s arrangement, plus her singing was great, so she gets first. Cho gets second just because I love his voice, and he chose a great song. Younha gets the upper hand over Lee and Park simply because the arrangement was pretty and she stepped up her singing this week. And Lee was just more entertaining than Park, and at least she didn’t try to rap.

 
Fabien: 1) Seo Moon Tak 2) Cho Jang Hyuk 3) Park Sang Min 4) Lee Young Hyun 5) Younha

For the first time I place Younha in last as she really lacked of confidence to wow the audience. Park Sang Min and Lee Young Hyun both tried to bring a change and failed. Cho Jang Hyuk and Seo Moon Tak simply had the better vocals of the bunch and made some decent performances. Yeah I talked about my picks from the bottom to the top. That’s because there wasn’t someone worth winning in this group except Seo Moon Tak.

 

The Results

Top 3: Seo Moon Tak, Lee Young Hyun, Younha

Anna: Why weren’t the groups mixed a bit differently so we could see more of Han Young Ae and Byun Jin Sub too? At least Lee Young Hyun made it. And I’m glad Younha did too, even though I didn’t particularly like her performance this time.

Dahee: Phew, Park Sang Min’s out! And since this was his 14th performance, that means he’s out from this show FOREVER. Thank god I won’t have to comment on his performances again. Er, not that I hate the guy or anything. I think he seems very nice. He’s just not a good fit for this show, and it was WAY past time for him to leave. All in all I’m glad the ladies made the Top 3. Out of this group, they probably deserve it most. I just hope we’ll see Cho Jang Hyuk again in January!

 

No. 1: Lee Young Hyun

Anna: A fair win considering the others that made the top 3 from each group.

Dahee: What an annoying episode. Han Young Ae deserved to beat all of these singers into the ground this week, and she did, in a sense. So whatever. Lee Young Hyun may have gotten the bouquet, but Han Young Ae is top singer in my heart.

Fabien: I share my mind with Dahee about these results.

 

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