K-Pop - WIN Who Is Next? My Neverending Conflicted Feelings

Hello hello! My gosh it's been a while.. It's already November!
Well I've been MIA mostly because of school... I guess I could have found time to write here anyway, but I just didn't really feel like it. Who cares? lol it's my blog I can write when I want right :P

Anyway I just finished watching the last episode of WIN and... sigh... I don't know how to feel.
That basically sums up my feelings while watching the whole thing: I don't know how to feel.

I've posted a little bit about WIN before, but if you don't know, it's a "reality survival" series that sets two groups of YG male trainees, Team A and Team B, against eachother. I believe it was 100 or 150 days that the series lasted, and they ultimately fought for the group name "WINNER" and the immediate chance to prepare for an official debut with YG.
 
Anyway I was saying how I really don't know how to feel about the show... On a related note, I really don't understand how parts of the fandom can be so polarized. I've seen a lot of Team A fans who put down Team B (and their fans) and vice versa. Were we really watching the same show? I understand how someone can like one team more than the other, but they're friends, and they're the only male YG trainees left! (Even Bobby said this himself!!) Through WIN, viewers were shown both team's personalities and the behind-the-scenes footage of their struggle to improve and to ultimately debut. Both teams are very likable and I just do not understand the fans who will only support one team.. *sigh*

Their ~family portrait~ from ep 9... SeungYoon is too damn cute lol c:

I feel really bad for them cuz they were training together as 11 before the show began, and once they started doing the show, they had to split up into 2 teams and constantly be cautious of the other team. I can only imagine how much that affects their friendship.
It's not that they completely stopped being friends, though. Only through some unreleased clips of behind the show footage that you get to see that they all still really get along well and there are clearly some very strong bonds between both teams.

A few of my favorite clips include...

I love seeing them play together.. haha

The one time that we are allowed to see how well they bond as 11 is in episode 9 where they have a BBQ party and start talking amongst themsevles.
I think this is my favorite part of the whole series.
Starting @8:01 cuz I can't find a subbed cut :p

It's just so heartwarming seeing them gather around, chatting, sharing stories and laughing amidst the tense atmosphere created and perpetuated by the whole series.

So onto my thoughts on both teams, I guess.

*SPOILER ALERT* I will be discussing the winning team... and if you haven't found out which team won yet, and you don't want to find out, continue reading at your own discretion.

Ultimately I feel like I sort of already knew that Team A was going to win... Not really from the get go, but if you look back on it, isn't it a little obvious?
Like what people were saying from the very beginning, Team A has

Kang Seung Yoon - from Superstar K3, and who released three different singles under YG prior to the beginning of WIN

Lee Seung Hoon - From KPOP Star Season 1 (placed fourth in the competition and became a YG trainee)

and Mino - who some people might know from Block B's predebut days, or the group he debuted with, the now disbanded BoM

That's only one of the reasons for my hunch.. but honestly once I started watching, and with the first few episodes, I thought that Team B could totally match up to Team A, despite Team A being constituted by a few members who've already had decent exposure.
But it was really starting from the second stage battle on that I really thought Team A had an advantage over Team B.
I was really touched and sort of surprised at their performance of "Officially Missing You", a song that they rewrote to fit their situation. (From ep 7)

The judges didn't seem to reflect the general opinion of the audience (well the international audience, since I'm saying this from looking at YouTube comments) but this performance was truly beautiful.
I think from this point on, Team A really started to get a better grasp at the type of music that suits them as a team.

After seeing their performance of "Smile Again", the original composition that they made for the second stage battle, my opinion about how they found a style that works for them was solidified. (From ep 8)

Kang Seung Yoon's "Smile Again" left such a big impression on me, I think the songs he makes brings a really fresh element to what Kpop fans generally know to be "YG Style" music.
The final self composition song they performed for the finale stage had the same effect on me. I truly do believe that Kang Seung Yoon will lead Team A - Now WINNER - into a bright, successful future.
Here's "Go Up", Team A's self composition for the final battle.

I absolutely adore Kang Seung Yoon's ability to write uplifting, but truly emotional and inspired songs that fit the style of mainstream Korean music, while still adding something fresh into the style. I think the music that we've seen from him so far is really enjoyable and I really look forward to more of his songs (Nam Tae Hyun & Mino's too! cuz according to YG, their self compositions are good too ><)

Finally I just want to add that I think Team A's dance performance for the final battle was really cool. Not that I really know anything about dance, but just the way the choreography was really fluid and artistic, and still able to hold your attention despite not being super showy and bombastic like Team B's dance performances.
Kudos to Lee Seung Hoon~ there was definitely a reason he was praised as an artist during Kpop Star.

At the beginning, Team A was really shaky - in terms of teamwork and their musical style.. I think it was a struggle for the group in general - since the group's comprised of members with such different styles.. but Team B's teamwork was solid.
I can't really say their musical performances had a huge impact on me cuz honestly I don't really remember many of them... except the disaster that was "Winnin" (not that it's horrible but compared to Team A's "Smile Again"... yeah... there was no comparison for the better song) oh and their self composition for the final round, "Climax".

I think "Climax" is absolutely beautiful. I end up getting super teary and/or crying every time I watch this performance... just the raw emotion that the members perform with... it's really heart wrenching.
As much as I do love this performance, I have to say that Team A's "Go Up" wins again in terms of everyday-listenability. What do I mean by that? I guess I mean that when I'm on the bus and I want to listen to some music, I end up enjoying a song like "Go Up" much more than a song like "Climax". "Climax", albeit a really good song, I feel that it is reserved for the stage, for a performance. Especially that part with B.I stepping into the centre and rapping his heart out. It just doesn't work quite the same way when I'm taking public transit to school and all I want to do is feel relaxed.
Ooh one more thing. I absolutely love Go Jun Hwae's voice (2:11). Wow man that is a nice voice! I can't believe how much I enjoy listening to his voice haha. It's got this sort of husky quality, but really strong and deep at the same time. I can't believe just a few years ago, when he was on Kpop Star Season 1, he couldn't sing at all.. and now he's improved SO MUCH. I'm really looking forward to this kid's future as a vocalist, I feel like he'll definitely get even better with time.
Here's him on Kpop Star (4:12)

I think I first took notice of how much I like his voice during their first stage battle, when Taeyang and GD came to coach Team A and Team B respectively. (From ep 6)

Damn Jun Hwe sounds good, lol (beginning of the performance). AND MY GOSH BOBBY. He stole my heart during this performance (1:09). His voice is so deep and sexy, but he is just so adorable! I love B.I. (2:27) too, I think he's extremely charismatic on stage and definitely commands your attention. This kid was definitely born to be on stage.

Team B's dance performance from the same episode (6) was equally as impressive. I remember thinking that they've totally got that spectacle element of performance down.

At this point of the series, I remember thinking that Team B was definitely more prepared to debut than Team A. Their performances up to this point were always better than Team A's. They were just more coherent as a group.

This is their dance performance from the second stage battle: I loved the creativity here.

This is Team A's dance performance from the second stage battle: equally loved the creativity in place and how they worked to incorporate Mino into the performance even though he hurt his ankle and couldn't dance.

Team B's final dance stage was impressive along the same lines as their previous dance performances. They're definitely really showy - I guess that's their style, but Team A's final dance performance carried that emotional depth that don't appear in Team B's performances.

Back to musicality... for the first round of the finale, both teams were given a track produced by Teddy, and asked to write the lyrics for it. So "same track, different composition".. I think that's what the mission was called.

Here's Team A's version of Teddy's "Just Another Boy"

Here's Team B's version

Ultimately I feel like Team B NAILED this song. Not that Team A's version is bad or anything, but I think Team B definitely first this "YG Style" music better than Team A. The overall song was just written very well too. I especially love the "clap clap clap your hands" part, it's super addictive.
I think Team A works better with their own distinct sound - the one that we've seen Kang Seung Yoon produce for them (with rap parts made by Mino and Seung Hoon). I think that's a part of the reason why Team A won too: because they're new and fresh. Their style is a unique hybrid combining Kang Seung Yoon's guitar/ballad-y style with the YG electronica/dance music style. While Team B really exemplifies the dance/hip hopness of YG, I feel that Team A brings something new to the Kpop market.

I'm definitely a fan of both groups, and while I think it is a better decision to let Team A debut right now, I feel that Team B should definitely debut sometime in the near future.
I think it was Daesung (MC for the finale) who said that this doesn't signal an ending to either groups, it's just that Team A is starting a little earlier than Team B. I really hope YG doesn't decide to change up the member line up of Team B and decides to debut them later on as they are. All 6 boys in the group already have fans, and I think it would be a loss to toss away any of them - especially after investing in this WIN project to garner more public recognition. However, I do recognize that during a similar situation in Big Bang's predebut documentary, he ultimately kicked HyunSeung out of the final line up of Big Bang, and HyunSeung ended up leaving the company. (just as a side I'm really proud of how far he's come and I'm glad that he was able to rise up to the top even if he isn't a part of Big Bang)
I'm just putting all my hope into YG right now not to mess with Team B. Some people assert that Yoonhyung and Donghyuk of team B are easily replaceable and they have very generic voices/talent, but I feel that the group works too well with the way it is right now, I really hope nothing happens to them.

Ultimately I feel like YG is a genius for producing this series. I've read many reactions and comments on the show and I have to agree that I think YG is using really smart marketing for this program so that viewers become emotionally attached to one group, and that Team A's success doesn't render a completely positive reaction since the viewer ends up feeling guilty about Team B and their uncertain future. Both teams have gotten a lot of fans through WIN and I really hope that this is all part of YG's big-picture plan to debut both groups and have them enjoy success together.

I wanna just write a little bit more about what I think about each member :P This is the last part of my post I promise!!

Team A
Kang Seung Yoon - really nice voice, absolutely adorable, I feel like he has a really kind heart

Sigh... yes he has a special place in my heart :c I've been keeping an eye on him ever since I watched him perform "Instinctively" on Superstar K3.
Plus here's a video that displays his 4Dness... He's such a cutie, haha.

There's a subbed version... but I can't find it on the search built into Blogger's youtube search engine... The method for adding videos in blogger is so stupid... =_=" I hate it. Anyway if you wanna see the subbed version, just go search "winnersubs unreleased a day of kang seung yoon" on Youtube.

Lee Seung Hoon - different from the image I had of him from Kpop Star (quirky, hilarious, creative, outspoken) he's actually quite calm,sentimental and reserved. Definitely an artistic type. I've been a fan of him ever since I saw him on Kpop Star.

I love Seungyoon and Seunghoon's interactions.. they're so cute :P There's a subbed version of this too.. but again I couldn't find it =_=

Mino - Love his deep voice, very charismatic and I don't really know much about rap but listening to him is very pleasant. I also love how he seems to have a really good relationship with team B.. he plays with them so often, haha

B.I. consoling Mino.. :c

Bobby and Mino hugging :c

:c...

Nam Tae Hyun - This kid is really cute! At first I didn't think he was that special, but he has a really likable personality, and I think his voice works well within Team A.

Mino and Tae Hyun making dolls.. xD

Kim Jin Woo - I still sorta feel just neutral about Jinwoo. He's a hard worker, and it was really heart breaking to see him break down when he went to meet his dad, but honestly he doesn't shine on stage much. He's good looking, which I guess is his role lol. I don't mind him though and I can tell that he's there because he's extremely diligent.

Team B

B.I - from the get go I really liked B.I. He's got that charisma that grabs a hold of you when you see him on stage. I feel a huge sense of responsibility on his part since him and Bobby are basically responsible for the music in Team B. I'm really looking forward to seeing him in the future.

Bobby - I adore Bobby! He's such a dork, but a real sweetie. He's got that deep rapping voice and I love it when he does his "lazy raps". It was really sad seeing him cry while talking to his mom... I feel so bad for him since his family is in America... hopefully he gets to see them soon!

Jin Hwan - He reminds me of Taeyang xD It's his eyes and his face in general.. and the fact that he's the shortest even though he's Team B's oldest, lmao. Love how him, B.I. and Bobby lead the other three as the more experienced trainees.

Dong Hyuk - Not much of an opinion of him... except for that part when he went to go see his late father :c That part was really heart breaking. I'm sure his dad is really proud of him.

YoonHyung - Same as Dong Hyuk... I dunno I don't have much to say about these two :s It doesn't really help that they didn't really get much solo screen time...

Jun Hwe - You guys already know I adore his voice. Looking forward to hearing more from him!

OK THAT IS ALL~ That concludes my long long post about WIN.
It's been a good few hours working on this post. I'm still trying to console my conflicted feelings about WIN and dilute the guilty yet happy feelings that remain. Good luck to WINNER and I'll be waiting Team B!!

Here's a funny gif to end my post :D

It's from this video, lol

~♔Josephine ♥