Kpop: AoA and an Eye contact videos

This summer korean group AoA released their new song Heart Attack and I was initially slightly disappointed as I felt it didn't live up to my (admittedly very) high expectations. Then they released the eye contact version of their dance practice video for this song - and everything changed. Eye contact videos has been there as long as fans have had video editing software, with crude versions of the original versions focusing on a certain bias (favourite). The music companies has caught on with this, and with AoA we have seen them produce these versions basically since the start. The point with  "Heart Attack" is that I feel the eye contact version actually even surpasses the original drama version in its appeal to us fans. Watch and judge for yourself.

• AoA - Heart attack (dance practice, eye contact version)
• AoA - Heart attack (normal video)
• AoA - Heart attack (choreography version - somewhere in between...)
• AoA - Like a Cat (dance practice, eye contact version)
• AoA - Short Hair (dance practice, eye contact version)
• AoA - Miniskirt (dance practice, eye contact version)
• AoA - Confused (dance practice, eye contact version)

Kpop: AoA - Short Hair (단발머리)

I thought AoA's song Confused from 2013 was the second best kpop songs of 2013 and the follow-up with Miniskirt was again a good pop song. "Short Hair" isn't quite up there, with a flirty video that reminds me of 9Muses. Don't get me wrong, again Brave Brothers have designed a smooth list song for the girls of AoA, its just not as good as what has come before.

• AoA - Short Hair (단발머리)

Kpop: AOA - Miniskirt (짧은 치마)

AoA (or Ace of Angels) did one of my favorite kpop songs of 2013 with their "Confused", where they like many other kpop groups this last year began moving into more overt sexualized terrain. This is continued in "Miniskirt", which will probably be remembered as "the zipper song" as they use it to show of the upper reaches of their legs in a way similar to the recent Girl's Day video "Something". While I think that video actually pulled of the sexy look, I find myself being a little unconfortable with Miniskirt. There is nothing inherently wrong with using this kind of "styling", but as with all other choices of looks it should be done well. My view is that AoA in this video veers into tacky, leaving us with a song that is, if not as good as Confused, best played on audio only. Also, is that pussycat at the end an intentional joke or what?...

• AOA - Miniskirt (짧은 치마)

Kpop: AOA - Confused (흔들려)

AOA is back with "Confused". It starts slowly, but then it is all about hips, hips, hips, with a a slick choregraphy that reminds me of Sistar. I wasn't so sure what to expect from AOA after their debut, but it is obvious that they got tha same kind of support and image going as just Sistar which is all about classic sexy (kpop) style.

• AOA - Confused (흔들려)