This one comes from one of our readers. Tina asks:
"To straight, male fans: what kind of boy groups do you guys like to listen to/watch? What do you look for? Looks? Muscle? Singing ability? Humour? Dance skills?"
The same question can be said for girls as well. What girl groups do the ladies love to listen to/watch performances of? What do you look for in them? Talent (haha)? Dancing skills (AHAHA)? Singing ability (LOL-erpalooza)? Sexiness? "Aegyo"?
Thank you, Tina, for your submission!
If anyone has suggestions for later Question of the Weeks, please send them to zomg.oppa.sareanghae@gmail.com. Thanks!
I rarely listen to boy bands. Only male groups I listen to are in the hiphop scene. I guess out of the boy groups, I look at talent the most. I can give a fuck about dancing, muscles and looks.
ReplyDeleteErp. I don't watch that many girl groups because I don't stan any group other than Suju [its not because they're girls, its because I only have the energy to properly stan ONE large, incredibly busy group of people]
ReplyDeleteBut I really have always liked Secret, because their music is easy to listen to and I think they're completely adorable [and Jieun is a pretty good singer, so yeah]
I tried stanning Sistar for a while, but my favorite member is Soyu, and Starship makes the whole thing seem like The-Hyorin-and-Bora-Show so I got sick of it.
As a straight girl I'm mostly into sexy girl groups. Aegyo and cute stuff is a big, fat no. And my definition of sexy is T-ara's IGCBY. Groups like Sistar, yeah, the girls are hot but their concepts and songs aren't. If they'd act like Girls Day on camera, they would be labeled as a cutesy group.
ReplyDeleteI really don't give a fuck about idols' personalities either, and this goes for both guy and girl groups. Catchy songs and decent singing is enough for me.
That said, T-ara is the only girl group I really like. Or liked. (Their first album was amazing, this new music not so much.) Rania had the right idea but their songs sucked. Pre-Shampoo After School was great too.
hmm... boy groups...
ReplyDeletedancing: 2PM, MBLAQ and BEAST
singing ability: 4MEN <- THE BEST lol
As a guy: I would look for a groups ability to sing and actually dance aka TVXQ.
ReplyDeleteAs a straight girl, I only look for vocal talents, and good songs (entertaining with good beat).
ReplyDeleteLooks are a bonus. As well as dancing talents. Just a bonus.
I honestly don't listen to boy bands. They are a waste of my time--I only want to see hot chicks dancing around and singing badly. Why would I want to look at a bunch of homos twirling around and singing----not me, never.
ReplyDeleteI only watch girl groups, that's it.
Only boy I like is Amber.
Big Bang
ReplyDeleteInfinite
Post Fiction & Fact B2st
All other male groups are either gay or have a sorry catalog of songs to choose from.
Girl (straight if that matters?):
ReplyDeleteI love T-ara! I love catchy, gimmicky, mindless pop music and they deliver it in steady supply! I know I’m in the minority, but I even liked Yayaya (it’s still my ringtone!). TTL is my jam! So is TTL Listen 2, Bye Bye, Falling You, Ma Boo…. Basically anything with a lot of Eunjung!
Don't care if they lip synced because I still listen to Britney Spears so obviously my standards are low (and really who in kpop doesn’t?). Don’t care if over half their members are glaringly untalented. Don’t care if I really dislike 2 of the members (Hyomin and Jiyeon) and really only tolerate the existence of 3 others (Boram, Qri, and Hwayoung).
I love Eunjung! She is flawless and my bias forever. She got me into kpop and she’s the only reason I stick around. (If she jumps ship to act, I'm out! ^^') She is actually talented (which, as we know, is rare in kpop). She’s not just a pretty face; she can sing, dance, rap, act, and demonstrates both raw sex appeal and painfully adorable aegyo effortlessly.
Oh, how I adore her! My dear, undervalued Eunjung! I like Soyeon too! One of the best voices in kpop (not better then Eunjung of course, but that's a matter in opinion).
Other then T-ara, I don’t follow any other groups, boy or girl, religiously, but if I find a song I like I’ll dl it in a second. Main requirement: Catchiness. The song needs to be an earworm. I love being able to listen to a song over and over again until I hate it (and then a month later falling in love again).
Miss A is cool, but I dislike Suzy (more then Jiyeon, less then Hyomin).
2ne1 had an awesome comeback (loved every single), but Bom’s face scares me and Dara is just all kinds of useless.
Rainbow’s Sweet Dream was a nice song, but the live performance bored me to death.
I like 5 Dolls (again in the minority). There songs are catchy, but they are crap live, not even fun to watch.
I really liked Rania’s debut. Sex sells and I definitely bought it (or at least downloaded it).
4minute, f(x), KARA, SNSD, Dal Shabet, Sistar et cetera, et cetera… have yet to produce any music that interests me. Not to say they are bad or untalented (but let’s be honest), just haven’t come out with a song that’s hooked me… Still waiting…
Groups like Girls Day drive me up the wall! That level of cutesy makes me want to hurl! T-ara draws the line for me— equal parts cute and sexy.
Well, that’s all… Thanks for letting me escape the monotony of my job for 10 minutes!
^ I stopped reading @ Soyeon not being better than Eunjung.
ReplyDelete@9:52
ReplyDeleteI love Soyu too and even Dasom but they never get any focus. Soyu's a main vocalist dammit she shouldn't just get 1 line per song.
I rarely watch boy band performances. Their dances ruin the song for me. I like some boy band songs though.
Infinite and Dalmatian are the only groups that I look out for in terms of comebacks and other news.
I don't watch 95% of idols perform live in general, it's a huge waste of time. Watching them live is so depressing that I have to go watch a performance by Beyonce on YT to cheer me up.
ReplyDeleteAs a straight guy, this goes for either boy groups/girl groups/solo artists, having good music and good songs is priority #1. Even though it's not necessary, I also like when groups have cool dances to go along with their good song.
ReplyDeleteExample: Shinee - Lucifer
It's been my favorite song since it came out.
Looks can definitely affect whether or not I like the song. If you're hot I'll probably be more inclined to look what you put out, rather than if you're ugly.
I honestly don't care if you're the greatest singer or not. If you have good music, then who cares if you can't perform live. If Taeyeon<3 had the singing talent of Hyoyeon, I'd probably still like her. I just view singing talent as an added bonus for any artist.
But like I said in the beginning. Putting out good music should be priority #1.
I like dalmatian... and... outsider... I think that's all xD I liked heartbeat because I love sad songs... but that's all...
ReplyDeleteGuy groups? 1) Beast 2) Dalmatian 3) SHINee
ReplyDeleteThe Rest: DON'T CURRRRRR
What do I look for?
Cool songs: Most boybands have emotionally pandering bullshit songs that have no thought put into composition. I hate gimmicks. Give me good music.
Masculine: Most groups are too girly with girly voices. There is a big difference between that charismatic FIRE and being a showy flamer. I can handle makeup as far as eyeliner, more than that and you better be damn impressive to make up for looking stupid.
This isn't about homophobia or anything, it is just the nature of enjoying things involving guys. With girls, there is admiration in the form of desire. With guys that desire is not there, so obviously the admiration will be by way of identifying with them. If I did what they did, would it feel cool? I am not effeminate, so I don't identify with effeminate characteristics. It doesn't give a cool feeling, but it's just goofy as fuck, so I don't consider those guys cool.
Singing ability: Most simply suck at singing.
Dancing: I think I can sum this up by saying Lucifer > Y
Fun/cool guys: A lot of boybands have total douchebags in them like Heechul or Kwanghee. I have to feel like I would enjoy hanging out with the guys.
Good-looking: Even as a guy I have standards. I can't stand looking at fishboy from Teen Top.
Bands that don't qualify and why:
Big Bang is good individually but forgot how to be good as a group. They're a total conflicting mess on stage. I especially hate GD's voice and incessant shouting and jumping. It ruins any momentum in the music.
MBLAQ are way too effeminate.
Infinite is girly not in fashion/mannerism style but in singing style. Their music is also kind of boring.
Super Junior is sloppy on stage, mostly sucks at singing, has mostly garbage music, and are full of themselves.
2PM can have some really cool performance concepts but they aren't good singers. To try and make up for it, they play up the emotions to the point of being cheesy, which only makes things worse. They also generally seem like they'd douchebags in person.
As a straight girl and a follower of k-pop I usually like to watch out for talent and the quality of the song that they are currently promoting. In fact, I usually watch MR removed vids, and if they're not to par then I stop watching them. I'm worse than the netizens when it comes to judging live perfs. Same for the boygroups. :D
ReplyDeletei'm a "straight" girl, but i listen to pretty much exclusively girl groups and girl vocalists in general (i wouldn't be surprised if i turned out to be some kind of lipstick sapphist, but alas, it's hard to find girls irl who compare to your fav idols)
ReplyDeletesince i've been in theatre my whole life, singing ability means noting to me. it's not that hard to find a "good" singer, and once you do, they are probably big headed and annoying.
it is, however, hard to find someone with good coordination. so i am more impressed by good dancers.
i stan Hyosung to the max so you can pretty much tell what kind of abilities i look for. (i also love GaIn and Eunjung, and Koda Kumi is my jpop queen)
as far as boy groups i only listen to Shinee and Teen Top (read: Taemin and Niel, but they both look like girls anyway so i don't feel like i'm betraying my girl group love)
hmm, knowing the percentages of male and female fans that groups have it's safe to say that girls listen to f(x), 2NE1, Miss A, Sistar, 4minute and SNSD. The last three groups have about 50-50 ratio of female to male fans, and since SNSD has such a large amount of fans in general, it's safe to say that obviously girls listen to them a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm a straight girl, but I am more into girl groups because boy groups are now becoming more bleh. At least for girls, I try to learn how they style. So basically I look for fashion and makeup.
ReplyDeletestraight girl here, i like catchy songs, i don't know shit about music, so i can't really tell the difference between good quality songs from bad ones,
ReplyDeleteif i like the song i like it, simple as that.
For girlbands the only one i'm truly interested is f(x), I like their voices, and their performances are pretty good mostly. But what lures me in are the members.
I love Luna's talent and personality, i found her really adorable. Krystal is really cool, and too sexy for her age. Amber is ok. I don't care about Victoria and Sulli (i find them a little useless, after all)
if i were in k-pop for the talent, i would choose Miss A, though
As a boy I like to spazz about Beast and Block B. I also enjoy Infinite and Yanghwajin Band!!!
ReplyDeleteBlock B has a lot of hype and I liked the rap the guy did with Hyunah. I should actually watch a performance of theirs sometime.
ReplyDeleteAs a girl .. I listen to miss A and Wonder girls alot. They are a flavor of everything. They are not the most talented or whatever but they have some of the catchiest songs. Otherthan them I occasionally listen to the non cutesy songs of SNSD. their new japanese ones such as Bad girl, etc and the old t-ara/2ne1 songs. and after school's oldies too.
ReplyDeleteBoybands i listen too..old(5)tvxq~ (Their japanese ones..korean not so much) and Beast! 2am! 2pm! g.o.d~ shinhwa.. etc etc!
Just checked out a bunch of Block B. They suck ass.
ReplyDeleteLOL i'm a girl and i RARELY listen to boybands. they're too GAY and their music is so cheesy and boring. 2009-2ne1, t-ara, BEG, after school (before shampoo of course), japanese snsd......um yeah it depends on the song. I can't understand shit so it might as well be catchy.
ReplyDeleteI am no singer so I really wouldn't know what a good song from a bad song is. But if it is catchy then I'll probably fall for it.
ReplyDelete2NE1's lonely is the only song i liked by them ,tara's old stuff (new stuff sucks) and 4minutes old stuff is probably the only songs I listen to by girl groups. I did like leaderS and rania in the beginning but I got bord.
I like kahi as a dancer and nanas hair but other then that I don't look for anything except catchy while listening ti girl groups. Boy groups on the other hand I have more rigorous rules.
So does that mean gay dudes can't answer this question? Hmm?
ReplyDelete^ Obviously.
ReplyDeleteI kinda like Beast, SHINee, Infinite, and 2PM, and that's about it. Oh, and X-5, but only saw 1 perf by them, so.
ReplyDeleteMostly because these guys are cool and fun, although 옥발기 can be douche-bagish at times, I kinda like that guy (no homo, obv).
Songs, they can be decent if they can pull off a good performance, although I am picky about what goes into my mp3 player.
Un-gayness: it's hard to define. I mean, I kinda like SHINee, so I must not be homophobic, but at the same time, bitchfaces (i feel like saying 기생오래비) irritate me pretty damn bad. Boyfriend is the worst boyband in kpop. EVER. IDK what defines this gayness exactly, but I think if a person can prove himself to be likeable or cool on TV, (he doesn't even have to be straight (I mean, I kinda like Hong Seok-Cheon as a celebrity... nothing wrong with that...right?) IMO that's a pass. That's why Key's a pass, while Kwanghee is not.
I hate Big Bang mostly because of GD; Taeyang is obviously likable (루통령 ㅠㅠ) and TOP's cool, while I don't like Seungri that much. Individually, they're ok, but VIPs have been irritating me pretty darn bad.
IDK why, but I really, really hate Super Junior. Siwon and KRY, and maybe Shindong are the only people I like in that group.
Really interesting to read everyone's opinions! (BTW, I'm the one who sent in the question. Thanks for asking it!) And I didn't mean to be biased against LGBT people or anything. I was mainly curious what guys like/look for in boy groups because I think there are not as many guys interested in k-pop, and if so, they're mostly into girl groups, right?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I guess I can answer the question too. As a straight girl, I guess catchy songs backed up by good/decent singing quality, and some uniqueness to the group. And I find a good personality to be an asset. No one fake or bitchy.
@ Tina: Hi! How convenient that you posted a comment this moment as I just signed on to reply to the anon asking about that.
ReplyDelete@ 3:16pm: Of course anyone can answer! The question was in no way meant to seem like it was only for straight people. For that I apologize for the wording.
@ 3:29pm: Psst. There's Daesung, too, in Big Bang >___>"
I like shinee because of talent and 2pm because of spunk.
ReplyDeleteAs a girl, I listen to girl groups slightly more than guy groups. Idk why, but maybe because I can identify with them more?
ReplyDeleteFor girl groups, I'm a fan of SNSD, Kara, miss A, Sistar, 2ne1, Girl's Day and A Pink. The reason I like them is simply because of catchy songs that stay with me, and because of reasonable ammounts of talent. (Even Kara can sing well sometimes...Kay, so one member can. Sorta) If they produce a song I sing to myself during the day, then I like them. Simple as that.
A cool mv is also a plus!
I don't listen to girl groups much, but good songs and vocal talent are usually what I look for first. Looks, cool outfits and good MV's are a bonus.
ReplyDeleteAs a girl, I like to watch the groups who have great vocal talent, such as Davichi, As One, Miss A?
ReplyDeleteI don't like girl groups who act cute and dance too much while their vocal is so-so and there are so many useless members in the group.
i'm a girl
ReplyDeletefor boy groups, i listen to DBSK's song, because their vocals and live perfs are amazing, and their songs are great.
and watched the variety shows because their so funny.
recently i just listened to INFINITE and i think their songs are great.
for girlgroups i follow KARA
i stan kara
i like their songs and esp i like nicole's voice. i like their personality and looks (altho sometimes i cannot stand gyul being fat or jing's aegyo, bloeeh) but i still stan them.
i like block-b but sometimes kyung's rap make me cringe, not a fan of yge's and jype's music(but i like the old wg with sunmi)
the only boy band I like is Big Bang. Because they win at everything.
ReplyDeleteMiss A. Talented . Awesome dance skills . Can sing live better then your bias while doing a difficult choreography. Super Sexy . Addicting song. BAMF girls . Suzy's KITTY EARS . Suzy's fail aegyo. Looks like they came from a James Bond or Charlies Angels movie .
ReplyDeleteOk. Hmm I still prefer girl groups > boy groups in terms of music. Obviously boy groups > girl groups in terms of anything sexual; being gay and all.
ReplyDeleteGirl Groups: T-ara (stan Soyeon),...and yeah T-ara. Also bits and pieces from others such as SeeYa, Miss A, 2ne1, Davichi, 5Dolls, etc. But yes mostly T-ara.
Guy Groups: A lot of SG Wannabe, H.O.T, B2st and a fair amount of Big Bang. Though I don't want to like SuperJunior, I can't help but find Mr. Simple, Superman and Sorry Sorry catchy and Kyuhyun whatever the youngest dude in SuperJunior name is HAWT when he doesn't smile.
girl here, and this is what i use to base my judgement:
ReplyDelete50% song
30% vocal ability
20% looks
of course, a bit of dancing is always a plus.
like: Miss A, Kara, Brown Eyed Girls, Girl's Day, Secret, Sunnyhill, Rania, A Pink.
dislike: T-ara, f(x), Dal Shabet, 5Dolls, co-ed.
groups that i don't care enough about to dislike: Rainbow, Nine Muses, SNSD, 4minute, 2ne1, sistar (i loved the ma boy song, however. so cool just sucks, so :\), wonder girls (sohee is a turnoff), After School.
boy groups:
like: mblaq, b2st, infinite, epik high, supreme team, ftisland, suju kry, suju m, 2pm, ukiss.
dislike: co-ed, almost shinee for their crap songs, suju at one point.
don't care enough about: boyfriend, ze:a, teen top, ss501 (sometimes care), shinee, suju, big bang, 2dbsk, jyj, block b (sometimes care), dalmation, and all the others out there that i can't think of cuz i don't care enough.
sex appeal doesn't really work on me.
aegyo only works for me if kara or secret are involved.
way rather listen to j-pop, however.
It's weird, im gay but i fucking hate boy groups.
ReplyDeleteI love my girl groups.
But really my bias is kara(I loved there variety show cuts and there specials(kara bakery))
But in talent, i go to after school.
After School Is BOSS
i liked Rania from the beginning, i think they are one of the most talented rookie group out there; amazing main vocalist and good live performances...i also like Sistar (i fuckin love so cool) for the same reason. I dislike too much aegyo...
ReplyDeleteAs a girl, I hate blackjacks but deep inside i kind of like 2ne1s songs. IMO minzy has the best voice, then cl is pretty good live and i like her tone, bom comes third because i like her tone but she cant sing while moving around a little and then comes dara i guess.
ReplyDeleteIf minzy was in another company we would have seen amazing dances routines already, but her skills are being wasted in yg. Like seungri, he was a good dancer during predebut days but he cant dance now, stupid yg cant make a good choreo for them.
I dont like t-ara but their songs are a little catchy but their lives are BAD. REALLY bad, even worse than the "average" group idol.
I hate aegyo, thats why i loved nothings lasts forever and hate hug me once.
For me its:
50% songs
10% concepts
20% voice skills
10% dance skills (thats for girlgroups, i care more about the dance when its a boygroup)
I guess this is irrelvant since im a girl, but my favourite male group is shinee
I only like Shinhwa. The rest of the males in Korean music I like are soloists, ballad group members, rock band members or a hip hop group member/soloist.
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, they're a mediocre k-pop act at best, but I stan T-ara because even though CCM gives them weirdass concepts (BPBP, YaYaYa), they always make it work. That says something about them... at least, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThey're not the best at singing, and they're not the best at dancing, but at least they don't pretend that they are. They're not afraid to make fun of themselves, even on stage. I think it's fresh, especially when everyone is taking themselves too seriously these days.
Honestly, the perfection that is son dambi would be enough to keep me happy honestly. Husky voice, gorgeous, hot bod, dances her ass off and she's nice.
ReplyDeleteGroups I really like as of the moment: BEG, T-ara, Miss A, f(x)
ReplyDeleteI used to stan SNSD, but not so much anymore. RDR was probably the last SNSD song I listened to. I used to watch them on variety shows, back when they all seemed like carefree girls, but now I've lost interest, especially since SM started making them look like they're better than everybody else. Like it would be so beneath them to work with other groups. They probably are (better), but there's no need to shove it down our throats. They just come out as being standoffish. It's probably why I disliked 2NE1 so much (which borders on hate whenever I encounter BJs who act like 2NE1 is best thing since sliced bread).
Humility goes a long way.
Some of DBSK's Japanese songs are alright to listen to.
ReplyDeletei'm a straight girl and i fangirl groups pretty intensely, but i'll legit only like a group if i really like their music and can somewhat relate to them. that basically takes groups with cute concepts out of the question, because who the fuck is like that in real life?
ReplyDeletefor girl groups, i'd say miss a just because their music as a whole is pretty great and easy to listen to. there's plenty of other girl groups that occasionally make catchy music, like t-ara, kara, and rainbow, but they just seem harder to relate to.
my standards are actually higher for guy groups, i'll only find members attractive if they can consistently make music that i would want to listen to, and not just their title tracks, i mean the entire album. therefore, my list basically consists of infinite because they do pop well and don't pretend to be any other genre like so many other groups out there. however, i stan a shit ton of underground hip hop artists just because they can make hella good music (which makes them like 10000x better looking in my eyes too) that keeps me more interested than a pretty face ever would.
I listen to CN Blue and FT Island, because they're the closest to a rockband in kpop (as far as i know. i dont know much)
ReplyDeleteI only watch hot vids of girl groups. 'nuff said
i'm a (straight) girl.
ReplyDeletesexiness is fine, but i don't like groups who try to be overly sexy because it looks tasteless to me. i think miss A does the sexy concept well, except i think they sex up Suzy too much. isn't she too young? oh well, you guys like it, so that's how they market it.
i like aegyo. most of T-ara are adorable. however, too much of a good thing isn't very good. sometimes it just makes me laugh because some girls overdo it and they just look ridiculous (the girl with long, dark hair in Chocolat was funny and at times, Sunny overdoes it so much that i want to throw something at her).
the girls themselves can't be pretty but have nothing under the surface (coughDaracoughHaracoughcough). they have to be able to sound decent live. right now, my favourite girl groups are Secret and 4minute (although i thought Heart to Heart was terrible and Sohyun makes me want to cry). i like Brown Eyed Girls, but i can't really say i'm a fan because i only know like 3 or 4 songs from them so far, but i'm going to look up their older songs, because i've seen people mention here that their older songs were their better ones.
i'm a man, straight . i listen to every song that is nice to listen, and i dont care what language it is . for korean boy band, most of them "sing" with their "pretty f'ass'es(faces)" or "buff body" . but there still talented groups that i find worthy my time to listen, such as bigbang .
ReplyDeleteI'm a girl. In girl groups I really have no idea what I look for but I like:
ReplyDeleteKARA, T-ARA (minus Hwayoung), Miss A, 4Minute when I don't watch them dance, 2NE1 before they came out with Can't Nobody, and Brown Eyed Girls.
I really don't like SNSD, I don't give a crap about the 60 new girl groups, and aegyo is annoying so any group that has too much of that pisses me off.
I listen to BEAST, my fav boyband.
ReplyDeleteI look for LOOKS and SINGING.
Cos both qualities, my dear Yoseob has it.
If I were to look for muscles and dance it would be Gikwang LOL
I mainly listen to male soloists,not groups.
ReplyDeleteBut I gotta admit I kinda like some DB5K,Big Bang,B2ST and SHINee stuff.