and the next star to watch out for
아이유 미아
IU
Mia (Missing Child)
2009
korean
extra live (gee, lies, sorry sorry)
the extra live is her playing guitar and singing roughly 1.5 minute long covers of a couple recently really famous songs. basically if you dont know those songs youve been living in a cave as far as kpop is concerned. ironically, her standalone cover of gee was the first time i had heard of her. at that time she was performing with dara of 2ne1's brother, and i just assumed it was another fan vid since the recording was some simple do it yourself kinda deal. i do remember thinking that her voice was really nice though before i moved on. oddly enough, some months later i came across her except now shes getting famous and it turns out to be the same girl.
its really funny how the crowd is laughing at the host who cant help but stare at her during her performance. im not quite sure id be able to react any differently if i were sitting in his place, she was really that surprisingly good.
a little background. iu turned 16 two weeks ago, yeah, shes that young, making her 15 in some of these recordings. she also hasnt been signed for very long, which means that even though shes both young and old as far as the entertainment industry is concerned, she lacks the pedigree of having 5+ years of training that many others (cough snsd, wondergirls etc) would have had at this age. in that respect, she has quite a bit of catching up to do.
seeing her now, i still have to admit that shes lacking a few basics for making it in the korea. these include showing emotion while performing, animation, stage presence, and probably also the ability to dance. im sure that these had to do with her past rejection by jyp entertainment (producer of rain, wonder girls, 2pm), because they create some difficulties in marketability. faults aside though, theres no doubt in my mind that she has unquestionably enough talent for success. it seems that she also has the willingness to do what it takes, like picking up the guitar within the last year or so. everything counts.
ius company appears to be pushing her in the direction of true pop with tracks like boo, and her latest you know. while i dont think that this is the wrong move, given the currently immense popularity of those cutesy girl acts, i also dont believe that this will be her place. she will definitely end up as a singer, but i predict that as she matures through these next couple years through whatever she is made to do; that she will end up being a superb singer/songwriter/performer. at this point in time she has neither had enough opportunity to practice, nor perform. she is therefore not comfortable enough on stage, and as a result her voice isnt allowed to completely shine. my biggest hope for her is that she can write. if in the near future, she can awe people with both her voice and profound, moving, lyrics, she will have truly done her best.
the reason i picked the songs/perfs that i did is because those are the examples that i think fit her the best. mia is actually a track from last year since her newer stuff really doesnt feel like a match for now. as i said before, she isnt the greatest performer yet, but her voice, although not fully matured, is truly, shockingly good. keep in mind that the recording of mia was about seven months before the three covers she did on sketchbook; and in that short time alone shes already come a long way down the road toward stronger performances.
i firmly believe that with the right guidance, effort, and solid production she can become a superstar. i guess it also depends on if she can write though. all in all, theres just something about ius voice thats simply enchanting, looks like younhas got a rival now.
you can do it! iu fighting!