The Return Of Running Man’s “Magic Girl” Lizzy!

Was pleasantly surprised to see Afterschool/Orange Caramel member LIZZY making a rare guest appearance on this week’s RUNNING MAN! As you all know, Lizzy was, for a time, a regular cast member of the Running Man team til she withdrew to focus on her AFTERSCHOOL activities.

Though she really was more of a background member (she didn’t come into her own until Afterschool’s own reality shows where you got to see how funny and outspoken she really was), she was very cute and when they made a montage of Lizzy’s adorable antics back in the day, I remembered how much I loved seeing her there as a member!

Anyway, this past week’s theme was “Who is the Biggest Loser” of Running Man, and they invited friends who they thought fit that description to join the contest. Poor Lizzy was the first one that Kim Jongkook, Haha and Kwangsoo thought of when considering bad luck, and with a call, was added to their team! Was really sweet seeing the members meeting up with her again, lots of hugs and laughter, and then it was off to the challenge!

 To win the coveted(?) title of most unlucky member, one had to get the “booby prize” of each challenge, if you were the one who sat on the whoopie cushion or lost in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, you moved up in the game, the more punishments you got, the unluckier you were and therefore them most unlucky of them all!
AHAHAHA, was so much FUN watching Lizzy going through her challenges, and for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, here’s a SPOILER ALERT warning you of going ahead any further because I’m going to be covering Lizzy’s hilarious results!

Okay, one of the challenges was hitting yourself over the head with a wooden stick. If you’re lucky, it will be a pre-cut wood that breaks apart easily, but if you’re unlucky, it will be a real piece of wood and you’ll end up seeing stars! And as you can see….

I sure hope this isn't a solid piece of wood...

...here we go....

WHACK!

Owwww! It WAS a real piece of wood!

How about a little Sympathy Here?

Poor Lizzy! There, There!

Poor Lizzy proved in that challenge that she definitely had what it takes to be unlucky!!! LOL
Next challenge was drawing a sword with a loud battle cry- if you’re LUCKY, there will be a sword there…if you’r UNLUCKY, some OTHER thing will be attached to the hilt…and once again…

Lizzy’s had not a sword, but a rubber snake, the sight of which of course made Lizzy scream and drop that thing like a hot potato!!! AHAHAHAHA
Unfortunately for Lizzy, her unluckiness didn’t last and at her last challenge where you broke an egg on your head (if it’s raw you’re unlucky, if you’re lucky, it’s hard boiled) Lizzy was to find that she was indeed the one with the hard-boiled egg, deeming her “lucky” and out of the game!(It was Kwangsoo and singer Wax who got the messy raw eggs)

Lizzy has always been my Afterschool bias, and it was so heartwarming watching her in action again! I’ve really missed her!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Orange Caramel and Apink Arrival!

Autographed Orange Caramel album "Catallena"

  Joining the ever-growing list of "K-pop Albums I already had but then an Autographed Special came up so I ended up buying another copy" comes the latest with Orange Caramel's "Catallena". This was even more frustrating at the time because the Autographed Special came out just hours after I'd ordered my "regular" copy, but as you can see, it was WELL worth it, because I now own an album signed by all three Orange Caramel Members, including Lizzy who's been one of my very favorite idols since the beginning!
Along with it came a very nice Orange Caramel drink coaster...  when the special said it would come with a coaster, I imagined a cardboard cutout thing, this coaster is of a higher wuality- almost like  mousepad material... Oh, and the trading card I got was Nana! Two copies of Catallena? NO PROBLEM!

APink "Pink Blossom" with Trading Cards

After weeks of watching my fellow APink fans (generally called “Pink Pandas”) all getting their PINK BLOSSOM orders in, MY package finally came, and though the CD itself is superb, with a hardcover photobook as usual, OH MY GOSH the POSTER that caem with the album is FREAKING BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Such high quality paper, too (seems to be some kind of photopaper?) WOW!

The official trading card I got was of Eunji, but they also included this double sided card with Naeun and Namjoo... So cool- even better is that since I ordered it during their pre-order special, the Poster came UNFOLDED and ABSOLUTELY FREE!! Hope they have MORE of these kind of specials, kekekeke 

APink Pink Blossom Poster.

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

It's Catallena Time!

Orange Caramel "Catallena" CD!

  I'd already put in my order for  Orange Caramel's new mini-album "Catallena" from K-pop dealer Kpoptown, but when Soompi offered up the same album AUTOGRAPHED, I had to order that one, too! So I knew I had two copies of the Afterschool sub-unit's new release on the way.
  Well, just today (along with my aforementioned 4Minute album) the initial Catallena order arrived, and though this wasn't the autographed one, I still was pretty excited upon getting it! The CD looks very nice and WOW! The free poster that came with it is beautiful! 

Catallena poster with CD for scale

Standing at 20x31, this totally made up for any misgivings I had ordering two of the same thing! And the cherry on the top was the fact that the bonus card I got was once again my bias LIZZY!!!  Thought at first I'd have to give the second copy away, but maybe I'll hold on to both of them, Hee Hee Hee....

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Zany Fun A La Carte with Orange Caramel's New "Catallena"

Orange Caramel are back with their unique sense of Silliness!

 Pledis Entertainment group AFTERCHOOL has always been one of my favorite K-pop acts, but I’ve only ever been moderately into their sub-unit Orange Caramel despite the fact that my favorite member Lizzy is in it-But all of that has changed with the arrival of their latest song “Catellena”…In the recent oversaturated explosion of “Sexy Concept” comebacks, it was time for a change, and Orange Caramel’s new song is a bright, happy, childish and eccentric mess of ZANINESS that’s like a breath of fresh air!

Pretty Mermaids on the Shore

 The song begins with a slick, retro 1970’s disco vibe complete dramatic violins, scratching guitars, and laser gun sound effects and as the girls begin singing happily over it with their signature “Orange Caramel Chipmunk Voices” it turns into SUCH a toe-tappingly catchy song- and then they come in with the deal-sealer, a rousing refrain of “OYE HOI HOI!!!!” accenting the end of each vocal passage! Pure eccentric GENIUS!
   Catallena tells the tale of a girl having a “girl crush” on one of those popular, outgoing “mean girls”- where they don’t like them, but the girls is so outgoing and dazzling that can’t help being in awe of them and wishing secretly that they were friends- so how do they convey this message in the Music Video?  By having the three Orange Caramel Girls Nana, Raina and Lizzy…dressed up as SUSHI at a Sushi restaurant and being jealous of a huge, expensive Octopus dish! 

WTF!!! Seems totally wack, but Oh MAN, the visuals are so damn CUTE, Nana as the Salmon, Raina as the Mackerel and Lizzy as the adorable Shrimp. Really, the costumes are so innovative, using colors and patterns, you really get the “feel” of the dish they’re masquerading as, and you gotta laugh when you see Lizzy dipping her feet into the dish of shoyu and eventually happily laying in it OMG, so freaking FUNNY!

  As the video progresses, after seeing all the different people/sushi, the girls realize everyone has their own charm, and accept themselves for what they are. Symbolically, the girls enter the sushi restaurant and begin “eating” themselves, with tears trickling down their faces, and at the end, the only plate left is the super expensive Octopus dish that no one wanted!

"Catallena" Sushi takes to the stage!

 With the Music Video setting the precedent, I wondered just HOW they would convey this silliness to the stage…and it only took one look to see that they succeeded in THAT venue as well- the stage outfits are all variations of their “sushi” alter-egos, I ESPECIALLY love Lizzy’s Shrimp themes, the orange and white streaks making her look more yummy than she normally does!

Besides all that, though, is how much FUN you can tell the girls are having! With an enthusiastic King –Fu “HAAA!” in the tintros of each live performance, they attack the song with a deliriously chipper outlook- their faces beaming adorable smiles as they prance and skip across the stage! The song performances are SO MUCH FUN that even the usually hard-to-please netizens only have positive things to say about it:

1. [+2,198, -71] Bizarre at first but you get addicted to it

5. [+1,521, -88] It's addictive and they have good visuals so

6. [+424, -17] I always think that Orange Caramel can't come up with anything more bizarre but they manage to prove me wrong every comeback ㅋㅋㅋ

7. [+354, -19] You can't help but like them despite how weird their concepts are ㅋㅋㅋㅋ and it's cool how they match the concepts too ㅋㅋㅋ I really like their new song, very addictive!

8. [+335, -20] Crayon Pop and Orange Caramel really grabbed good concepts for themselves and hit daebak. Rainbow Pixie straight up failed. 

9. [+269, -45] They're pretty and the song is easy enough to listen to... I hope Orange Caramel keeps up the success. 

10. [+198, -4] Never did I imagine this group to last as long as they have

                                                                                               Source: OSEN via Naver  credit: netizenbuzz

Catallena is TRULY the feel good song of the Year so far!!!
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

More Afterschool Goodness

Afterschool Flashback Poster with Orange Caramel

 So remember that Afterschool Haul I received a few weeks back? Well,  their CD mini album for FLASHBACK was supposed to come with a 2'x3' poster, but as the poster comes unfolded, it shipped separately from the rest of the order in a sturdy tube. I've ordered from this one particular dealer Silver Cold Metal many times, and have always gotten the posters and CDs together, but this time when I went to the Post Office to pick up my package, it only had the CD package!
  No Biggie, I thought, the poster should be here any day now! But as the weeks went by, I was beginning to worry, so emailed the dealer to inquire how long it was supposed to take. When he related that the items were shipped together and should have arrived at the same time, I knew my poster had become one of those dreaded items called "Lost in the mail", NOOOOOOO!
  Instead of waiting to see if the package would ever show up, however, the dealer instead immediately sent me ANOTHER rolled up poster, all at his expense, and this time with registered tracking to make sure the item got to me! Not only did I receive it in a few days time, he had even added a poster of Orange Caramel's Lipstick album promotion for my troubles! How cool is that? You can BET he got some positive feedback from ME! 
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Afterschool Enters My List of K-Pop Faves!

 Seems like I'm discovering a new favorite K-pop group about every month, and this month is no exception as Pledis Entertainment group AFTERSCHOOL makes the leap to the upper echelon of my K-pop Obsession!
  Oh sure, I've liked them lots before (as witnessed by my earlier posts about them here and there) but for the most part, they were a band that (though I loved their singles like Ah!, Rip Off and Flashback), it was far more about my infinite love of Lizzy (via Running Man) than about the group as a whole.

  Somehow, the catalyst that sparked this newfound love was when I was trying to find a nice live version of their (awesome) song BANG! to show my friend Car, as I thought it one of their most visually stimulating songs (still do, in fact)... Well, I DID find some live performances, but more importantly, during that quest, I came upon a whole plethora of Afterschool goodness- super cool Music Videos,  Sexy Live Performances, and best of all, a whole bunch of Variety Shows and Specials with ENGLISH SUBTITLES!!! YES!!! I found myself watching everything hour after hour, and it was this (in particular the wonderful MBC show PLAYGIRLZ SCHOOL) that made me learn to really LOVE Afterschool and pushed them over into my Top Ten of K-pop Favorites!

Getting To Know the Girls: Raina, Lizzy, Kahi, Uee...

...and JungA, Bekah, Nana and Jooyeon

  After a time of learning the members both old and new (and being thrilled to find original member Bekah came from my humble state of Hawaii, no less!!!) and falling in love with their entire catalog of songs, I KNEW it was time to go out and GRAB some of their CDs!!! I wasted no time going online and putting together an order of some of their albums, and what you see below is the first of more to come (at least, if my WALLET can sustain it!!! LOL)

My Latest K-Pop Haul, Afterschool style!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Eye-Ai Changes Tactics, Gets Me To Buy New Issue

October Issue of Eye-Ai with Orange Caramel

  About a couple of years ago it seems like local Japan Entertainment magazine Eye-Ai figured out that the best way to sell lots of their issues was to simply feature a Johnny’s Entertainment Boys Group, because it became a regular thing to see them on the covers, month after month!
  Kinki Kids, Kat-tun, Arashi, even solo acts like Domoto Koichi and Takizawa Hideaki, it became a fun routine to visit Shirokiya each month to see which Johnny’s artist “made the cut”, so imagine my surprise when the new issue came out and featured on the cover was none other than K-pop Group AFTERSCHOOL’s cute sub-unit Orange Caramel!!!
  I couldn’t remember the last time a Korean artist was on the cover of the magazine, but this was certainly the first time since I became a fan of K-pop, and a group I adored, to boot! I HAD to pick this one up!!! Perusing the article, the interview was  pretty simple and basic, (the girls were promoting their cover of the Candies song "Sweet Devil" which I talked about here) but never mind, this was the first magazine in any fashion I’d bought with a K-pop act on the cover! Mmm, who’s next…Girls Generation? *Crosses Fingers*
Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Orange Caramel Candies

  I love After School's Lizzy and I'm also a big fan of 70's J-pop group Candies and so when I heard that Lizzy's offshoot group Orange Caramel was going to cover the Candies' awesome "Yasashii Akuma (Sweet Devil)", I was all for it! Then thinking about it later, I have to wonder why they chose a classic J-POP song for their first foray into the Japan market...isn't this like having an Italian Restaurant come to Hawaii and then serving up LauLau and Poi dinners? 
    Oh wait, looking at the track listing, looks like the Candies song is going to be released along with a Japan version of Orange Caramel's popular "Magic Girl" song, so I suppose they're covering all bases as they ease into the J-pop scene, LOL. Til we can hear the song, here's the Candies doing their classic original...

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com