The Dancing Clip That Launched the APink Fandom Ship

 Cube Entertainment Idols A PINK were among the very first K-pop groups that my friend tried to turn me on to when he was introducing  me to the new world of Korean music, but for some reason, at the time I just couldn’t get into them. I think a big part of it was that they seemed so…J-Poppy to me, and I was far more interested in the exciting new KPOP sound, ya know whut I mean?
   Don’t get me wrong, they had quite a few songs I really liked, among them My My, Bubibu, and their latest (at the time) single HUSH, but I wasn’t interested enough to go exploring further into them. Even as they got more popular and well-known, they always appeared to me as “those cute J-poppy girls”…at least until the Idol Special episode of Running Man, that is!!!
   In this episode, each Running Man member was placed in a team with two idols from a group (most hilariously Kwangsoo with MBLAQ), and Gary of Leessang fame was teamed up with APink's Eunji and Naeun! Now, by this point I DID know both girls a little bit, as they had become quite prominent in entertainment/variety circles, but there was something about their appearance that suddenly took hold of me-First off, they were WAY more beautiful than I remembered and secondly-THAT DANCE!!!!

EunJi and NaEun with Gary in Tow

The newly formed "Gary Pink", LOL!

Dancing to "NoNoNo"

  For their latest single "NoNoNo", the girls had come up with a catchy new dance move (which they explained during their appearance on "Weekly Idol" was called the "OngGoJu" dance move), and WOW was it captivating! Equal Parts Soft-Shoe Shuffling and Hawaiian Hula Dancing, this was the PERFECT accompaniment to the catchy tune, and it was here on the Running Man stage I saw it for the first time!

Watching them do the dance just blew me away with all that sassy hip swiveling, swinging and sashaying, and they looked like they were having so much FUN dancing with Gary (especially Eunji with her DEVASTATING Eye-Smile!!!), I thought to myself, “CRAP, what have I been missing out on?” Further investigation on these gals was warranted!!

 After the show was over, I immediately began looking for live performances of NoNoNo, and BROTHER, if I thought the dance move looked cool with the two girls and GARY, you can BET I was all the more blown away when I finally got to see ALL SIX of the Apink members performing it onstage!!!! Such stylish synchronicity and refreshing girlishness, and MAN, can that Eunji SING!!!!!!! I had No IDEA she had such a set of pipes!!!

Yep, I  was really beginning to appreciate them in a new light, and then, as if to give my newfound love an added boost,  someone in a K-pop forum I frequent uploaded the MV for their new song “U You ” and WHOA, after watching THAT, it was ALL OVER- I was a FAN! My GOSH, these girls were SO DAMN pretty, sexy AND adorable in this video, all I could think was “Was THIS what I’d been AVOIDING all these months???!!!” I HAD to get into THIS game!!!

  SO yeah, I’m an admitted LATECOMER to the whole APINK experience, but as they say, it’s better late than never, and so I’ve been out grabbing all the Apink Goodness I can get my hands on, beginning with their new album “Secret Garden” which contains both U You AND NoNoNo! Awww Yeah, looks like ANOTHER K-Pop group is poised to enter the fold of Zdorama FAVES!”

PS: I've been since told that perhaps the reason why I'm only NOW getting into Apink is because I'm getting used to the overt sexiness and sultry style of K-pop and now Apink looks like sweet and innocent diversion...don't know if this is the case, but for now, I'll be busy studying the evidence!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com