Pops in Seoul

When people come over and see my television their first reaction is to laugh. It’s a boxy, wood paneled, relic of the late 80’s and it doesn’t get any channels. I like it because it’s a good place to set my drink down. I needed to set up the digital converter box my Mom gave me last week but I couldn’t figure out how it works. After about twenty minutes of struggling with the box and wrestling with the wires, I pounded on the TV and was finally able to get one fuzzy channel to come in. Having no choice in the matter I watched Pops in Seoul on Korean Global Television.

Beautiful, My Life by Kim Jung Min was the first video. A soaring power ballad described by the text on screen as being “rough, yet powerful.” Periodically, text will run across the screen with information about the artist or song. Beautiful, My Life, the text informs me, is a “song about never giving up despite hardship.” These little tidbits of information were helpful to me as I don’t understand Korean.

Pops in Seoul differs greatly from the average American music program. Unlike many American shows which often feature a live studio audience, there is no audience in the studio on Pops in Seoul. The music videos are much more simplistic than American ones. Here the singers are the stars of the videos, there are no giant casts of extras filling up space. Probably the most notable difference though was the fact that the entire music video was played. In America the video is usually cut short on TV so the host can blabber.

The hostess was also much different from what you’d find in the States. She was awkward, unfashionable, and probably not the cutest they could have picked. Her accent was strangely American but something was off. The show was in English, but the word choice led one to believe that it was first scripted in Korean and then translated, poorly.

The next video was by Ipani who the hostess described as having a “well shaped body and pretty face.” The onscreen data fills in the details again. The song, Oppa, is about a girl who is in love with an older guy. It has a “trendy, vocodor sound,” and Ipani has recently been recognized as a “sexy icon.” Then there was the music video for Luv by Memory from her album The Peacock 001. She was described as having a “lucid voice, and lucid melodies.”

Between music videos they showed the “News Flash” segment. Surprisingly, the news was relevant to fans, giving information about one star’s on stage injury and how it would affect his tour over the next few months, or another singer’s new show and the band he produces opening up for him. Not one mention of a scandal, no celebrity feuds, no trash talk. The “News Flash” included information that music fans would actually care to know about.

Watching Pops in Seoul was an unexpected joy. Although it wasn’t exactly a great show with the low production values, awkward English, and mostly terrible music, I found the detour from regular American programming refreshing. And best of all no commercials were shown until the show ended. So if you ever find yourself bored, without anything to watch just check out KGTV where you’ll find all your favorite KPOP stars like DJ Tukutz, Kim Jinho and Kim Jung Min.