So have not really watched the new Miss Korea Reality TV series, coz it seems it's about auditions and singing.
I've was getting kinda bored of that genre. There's been too may talent shows, and it gets repetitive.
But seems like there's a lot of hype about it, and in the end, I caved in.
Just watched 4 webisodes in a night and it's pretty addictive.
Though the new Miss Korea show does not have the same format as Season 1's, which featured super frank Mae, it now comes with 2 girls.
Here is where it gets interesting. Coz the 2 girls have different talents, background and personalities. The director/producer of the show also does not let the girls know that the format this time round is different, so they were both shocked to see each other at the airport.
There is some tension when Julia and Jojo first meet each other at the Seoul International Airport.
Julie excuses herself to head to the loo when she finds out she's not the only "Miss Korea". I think it comes off as a little abrupt of her, but understandably, she had been led to believe she was the only one on the show.
Some introduction about the Girls:
Julia (Student currently studying Music at Boston, originally from Australia, she also tried her hand at Australia's Got Talent audition )
Check out Julia's audition at Australia's Got Talent here:
Check out Julia's auditon reel here:
Jojo (Singapore dance instructor, Kpop enthusiast and I think she won a car before in a Kpop related contest when she was younger)
Check out Jojo's auditon reel here:
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 1:
K POP Challenge in Korea! The new story has begun!!
We are introduced to Julia in Boston, where she received a mystery gift box in her rented apartment. The crew plants cameras in her room and ambushed her. She is happy and surprised, wondering if all the setup was a joke.
We follow Julia as she lands in Seoul, where she was showered attention by the crew, but they suddenly leave her alone. She is left puzzled and confused.
Perhaps the difference in age, background and life experience shows during this "little experiment" set up by the crew. I thought it was a little unnecessary for them to put the girls up to such a awkward introduction to each other. Oh well.
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 2:
How to find a cheap place in Korea
The girls have a tough time finding a place to stay in Korea. As there is a language barrier, they meet various roadblocks, be it via phone calls, asking for directions, on their mission to find place to stay. With their heavy luggage and weary bodies, they get lost trying to find a hostel they found online.
When they finally reach it, it appears it's too late and it's already closed for the day. Where will they stay for the night? In the end, they had to sleepover at a nearby motel. They ended up getting a nice apartment for the stay via airbnb.
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 3:
Meet the Vocal Trainer for SNSD, Super Junior and 2PM
The girls have to showcase their singing skills to the Vocal Trainer. Julia kind of stands out during this round of auditions as she had a stronger voice and musical background. Jojo's voice is sweet and her Korean is much better than Jojo's, but her strength is really in dancing.
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 4:
Met K Pop Idols at last!!
This episode starts off kinda scary. Jojo is in the hospital! OMG, what happened! Julia explains that she heard a loud thud from the toilet in their apartment. Not much is explained. But research on the web seems to indicate that Jojo had a bad fall in the toilet. She had a bad cut on her lip and chipped off one of her front tooth. From then on, Jojo is filmed constantly wearing a cool black mask covering her mouth.
Julia offers to bring Jojo to a aesthetic clinic in Korea as a surprise and gesture of good will. But ends of enquiring a lot of other stuff for herself. Jojo was at first frustrated, but later gets excited at the possibilities of shifting body fats to different areas of the body. Funny! Catch Julia giving her a OMG death stare at this stage!!
The girls go in search of fav haunts of Kpop stars in Seoul. There's a couple of places that's recommended to them by the Tourist Board that's been touted as places where Kpop stars would likely appear, such as the SM HQ/office.
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 5:
A Day with a K Pop Star!!
The girls gets to chat with Brian from Fly To The Sky in his flower shop. Not sure if this was staged, coz it's been speculated in the YouTube page comments that his shop was one of the sponsors of the show. He did appear at a very appropriate time though. The girls each receive a flower bouquet for him.
The girls gets a surprise morning visit from a cute guy who's going to teach them how to pronounce Korean accurately. Jojo is shy and feeling insecure about not having makeup on, and makes attempts to put on eyeliner in the toilet. Julia tried to get her out of the toilet. Super funny!
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 6:
First Performance in Korea
The girls have been in Korea for a month by now. They have been practicing and rehearsing for the 1st evaluation to their Vocal Trainer. They each have to perform 2 solo songs, as well as a group song & dance number.
They did pretty well for the song and dance number. However, they both received some serious feedback from their coach with regards to their solo performances.
For Julia:
She needs more emotion. Her pronunciation and understanding of the song lyrics need work. The coach wants her to push herself and not stay in her comfort zone.
For Jojo:
She needs to work on her rhythm and pitch. As well as practice, practice and practice. He also advises her to be more confident.
The girls head back to their apartment with heavy hearts. They receive a keyboard synthesizer from their coach as a present and look forward to their dinner.
Miss Korea 2015 Julia and Jojo Episode 7:
EP07 Makeover for Auditions Starts!
The girls go for a tarot card reading session at a tarot reading cafe popular with Korean teenagers. They are both curious to find out how their upcoming auditions will fare. Julia's first card is the death card. What does this mean????
Julia and Jojo hang out in the room and jam with the new keyboard given by KJH. Seems like they're bonding and getting to know each other much better than before. They are less awkward with each other by now.
Julia makes fried rice and seems to be a better cook than Jojo, even though she is about 5 years younger. Jojo finds the rice a bit bland and keeps adding a Korean Beef Marinade she found from the fridge to her rice. Julia thinks it's too sweet.
They rummage through their clothes to plan what to see for their auditions. And decide to go shopping and a hair makeover. They researched on the web and head to Hong Dae to the shop "Style Nanda" for a spree.
They turn heads on the streets with their new outfits and makeover. They get hungry and buy a street food "Korean Honey Pancake". And soon advance to the Tarot Reading Cafe.
For Jojo: The reader says she needs to "study more" and the audition results do not seem favorable.
For Julia: She is likely to do well in the future. However, the reader says she will become a successful "actress". Which seems to be wrong, as Julia aspires to be a Kpop singer currently.
Miss Korea Julia & Jojo -
EP08 Julia & Jojo’s first audition in Korea!
This episode is kinda depressing. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The girls go on their first and second audition for this episode.
First one was at Souls#Op. JoJo was the first to perform and she did a cover of "BANG BANG" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. She rounded off her performance with some sexy dance moves.
However, she received similar feedback from her vocal coach from these judges. She needed to improve on her singing and rhythm. Her beat was off. But strangely, when she danced, she was on beat.
For Julia, she did a cover of IRREPLACEABLE by Beyonce in her original piano mashup. She sounded pretty good. Next she was asked to perform an original number. She asked for a guitar but broke one of the strings while attempting to tune it. Other than that it went well.
The judges said that she had a strong musical background but she needed to work on her singing.
They were then released and had to wait for the audition results( probably a few days later?)
They were both shocked as they thought they would know if they passed the audition on the day itself.
The next audition was kinda cruel and short for the girls. They both barely perform for 10 secs and were asked to stop each time.
Dejected, they head for dinner at a near by Korean BBQ place near their apartment and tried to comfort each other. They seem like BFFs now. Julia commented that Jojo was one of the room-mates in her life that she can get along best, and that she has never met anyone like Jojo. They both get teary-eyed. Jojo exclaims "What are we going to do at the airport?!" (Meaning if they are tearing now, she wonders if they will go berserk crying later)
Miss Korea Julia & Jojo -
EP09 The Ultimate Seoul Tour
The girls go on for an open audition at DSP Media, where's there's a huge queue of other hopefuls lining up for their turn. It's a long wait for the girls, and comparatively their audition was rather short.
They went in with 3 other girls and took turns for their auditions. Julia realizes that there are a lot of pretty girls vying for a spot to be talent spotted by this agency.
Julia performs by singing without her piano, her rendition of "Gnarls Barkley - Crazy".
Jojo performs a street dance performance.
They are both not very hopeful of being shortlisted, as there was a lot of competition this time.
Next they head for comfort food "hotpot spicy steamboat" (Ma La Huo Guo) in Seoul's Chinatown "Daerim-dong". Julia orders from the menu to the waitress in a Chinese slang. Jojo is impressed with how effortlessly she seems to manage doing that. The narrator mentions that what they;re having is similar to Korean Shabu Shabu.
The next day, they head out in the cold weather. They buy a selfie stick and embark on their adventure day tourist spots around Seoul. They introduced "JJ News" and pretended to be hosts on an entertainment show. JJ News = JoJo & Julia News.
They even dressed up in traditional Korean costumes at a special makeover cafe and visit places such as "Buk Chon" and "In Sa Dong".
Special moments include them hopping on a trishaw kind of transport as they visited a rustic area part of town.
Miss Korea Julia & Jojo EP10 -
The Ultimate Eating Show in Korea!
The girls continue their "JJ news" segment at "Gwang Jang Market. ". Jojo spots a pair of familiar looking boots. It looks like the same pair that the PD bought for Mae and cost only 7000 Korean Won.
They move on to try different kind of food at the market. Such as Korean pancake, Live Octopus and "Drug Gimbap" (Sort of like Sushi and Maki? Rice rolled with seafood and assorted vegetables/dishes).
While eating Beef Tartare (Which Julia gamely tries and Jojo squirms), they receive a phonecall for a 2nd audition from SoulShop (Soulsh#p).
They're both excited and practice for the audition. They're required to collaborate and do a rendition of a G.O.D. song. And before you know it, they perform for the judges and face a rather dreadful feedback.
This episode is depressing..
Miss Korea Julia & Jojo EP11 -
How to Film Your Very Own Music Video!
Jojo breaks down in the Practice Room over the negative feedback from their 2nd audition at SoupSh#p. The staff gives them some privacy to recover.
Julia keeps Jojo company silently. After a while the staff returns and gives the girls an idea. They suggest the girls to create a song or video and to send it to the Entertainment companies. The girls warm to the idea, though Jojo is a bit hesitant. Julia encourages Jojo not to give up and shares that several existing Kpop ideas also faced a lot of rejections and setbacks, but they kept trying.
The girls researched online and decide to head to Gwangwondo to shoot their MV.
The staff surprises the girls with a private bus and a personalized banner stuck on the outside with the girls pictures on it. They girls are amused and relieved!
They have fun shooting and directing the video in various places such as: Animal Farm, Fish Market, Ski Resort and a mountainous area with a giant Wind Mill that was super cold.
Along the way, they managed to rally passersby to dance along to their simple choreography, in tune with the Music Video.
Miss Korea Julia & Jojo EP 12 -
Good bye Julia & Jojo!
It's the last episode with the girls. Sadness overload.
They are on the way to a mystery accommodation organized by the staff. They're curious where it is.
The journey there is really dark and scary as it was snowing and there were no lamp posts. Slippery!
Finally they arrive at a nice resort. They had a good supper with everyone before falling asleep.
The next morning, the girls make Ramen for the staff, but they find it too soggy and salty.
They head to a Zipline kinda location to shoot their MV and to attempt crossing the wired line across the sea. Julia has a nervous breakdown as she has a great fear of heights.
They manage to pull through! They shoot some snippets of the MV during sunset at the Zipline area.
The next scene, the girls are packing their luggage at their Seoul airbnb apartment for the last night.
They say goodbye to each other at the airport the next morning. PD surprises them with a special gift.
Read a recent interview about Julia Wu here:
https://rconyourdial.wordpress.com/2015/03/06/rhythm-connection-presents-julia-wu-exclusive-interview/
Excerpt from the interview:
"Any advice for aspiring singers out there?Don’t be afraid. Sometimes we step back from opportunities because we think we’re not good enough or we shoot ourselves down before we even give it a go.
I’d like you to keep in mind that you’ll never know until you try. Oh and of course you’ve gotta practice hard to show everyone your chops as well!"
To be updated:
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/user/insiteTV1
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/music/story/singaporean-korean-reality-show-has-shot-k-pop-stardom-20150122
http://abc-korea.com/blog/2014/06/kwave-evolution-korean-night-festival-6-knf6
http://summerr-in-the-shower.blogspot.sg/2010/11/omg-grand-finalist-cj-crew.html
Screengrabs:
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