Most Memorable SHINee Moments

We all have those moments of our Kpop groups that stand out in our minds. The ones we refer to whenever possible and show our fellow Kpop friends. "Oh my god, did you see when this happened..." In this blog, I discuss my favorite SHINee Moments (so far...)



My Most Memorable SHINee Moments

The title pretty much explains it all so without much preamble this time, I'll just begin!
Whilst other people analyze music videos, I analyze live performances so the majority of my "moments" will be live performances BUT not every "Memorable Moment" I'll have listed here will be. Also, I will mention mistakes that SHINee has made that I happened to catch while enjoying the moment but do not mistake me for trashing on SHINee. Most people like to tear them to pieces for the sake of doing so but me...well...I think

I love Key's personality!

I don't judge a group (Kpop or otherwise) on their mistakes. It is important to remember, these guys are only human and make mistakes just like the rest of us... and Lets be honest...if you or I were dancing those dances, we'd have fallen on our faces or tripped our other members at least once for every song performed on stage!! I just happened to find their mistakes incredibly charming and endearing--well...and Memorable! Now, if a random person accidentally hits another person in the face, I'm just gonna laugh while asking if they're ok...Just the way that I am!

The first group I think of when I think of "Most Memorable Moments" is actually SHINee. It's been kind of a big year (2013) for SHINee; 2 full albums, 1 repackaged album and a couple notable performances--it has indeed been a notable year for the 5-man group. The first one that comes to mind is...

Jonghyun's Comeback

On April 1st, Jonghyun was in a car accident and although he suffered no serious injuries, a hallyu star's face is as precious as their voice and to maintain his "perfect" image (No thanks to hardcore fans who enforce this unnecessary pressure--Yeah..I'm looking at you, Hardcore Fan!) Jonghyun stayed out of the any public appearances for well over a month. *cries in the corner* Doesn't seem like a big deal except...the filming of their music video "Why So Serious?" happened to fall during his hiatus as well as almost all of their comeback stages (*comeback stages are live performances to help promote their newest album*)--however! *smiles gleefully* Jonghyun made his comeback during SHINee's final "Why So Serious?" comeback stage which was during Mnet Countdown on May 23! Why did I smile gleefully? Because in my twisted, Kpop-fan heart, I prefer to believe Jonghyun personally gave me a present for my birthday by coming back (My birthday is May 23, case you missed that factoid). All SHINee fans were exceptionally happy because watching SHINee with just four members is tragically sad. This performance was also memorable for the sheer fact that Jonghyun changed his look, he was now "white-blonde" and it looks fabulous on him. When he does change it again (inevitably), it'll be a sad day...sad day... Anyway, that performance is below: 

Although I felt like Jonghyun was definitely feeling the pressure of his comeback and it can be heard slightly in his voice while singing "Sleepless Night", I just wanted him to relax and be himself. Since I put Jonghyun right up there with my beloved Yesung and Kyuhyun, I just wanted to shout "Don't worry, we still love you!" but it became perfectly clear that between singing "Sleepless Night" (Which I think was filmed earlier in the night) and finally singing "Why So Serious?" Jonghyun needed no reassurance and totally rocked the stage! Like I knew he would...*buffs fingernails on shirt*

It's Raining, Men! <-Note the Comma

This one is by far my favorite out of the memorable moments of SHINee and it also happens to be the most recent. This next one took place a little over a month after Jonghyun's comeback on July 1st. During a performance in Hong Kong, SHINee had their professionalism tested by being drenched in a sudden torrential rain. Before I discuss it however, I'm going to post the video so you can watch it. Now it's a long one because it features four of their hit songs ("Sherlock", "Dream Girl", "Beautiful" & "Why So Serious?") but let's face it...it's more SHINee awesomeness to view so watch the whole thing. BUT for this purposes of the "raining" portion of this blog, you can skip to 9:50 (the beginning of Minho's "Beautiful" rap sequence): 

Oh the many reasons I love this performance...

1. The number one reason I enjoy this performance so much is the serious professionalism the members of SHINee exhibited: I mean, it was heavy, heavy rain and it started right at the beginning of Minho's rap part and he didn't even miss a step. He just kept going despite the fact that his face was actually facing the rain when it started. So props to Minho! The fact that SHINee didn't opt out and actually continued until their stage was done (which included the song "Why So Serious?" which came after "Beautiful") just proves how worthy this group is of it's fans. I'm not saying that if any other group had been on stage that they wouldn't have been as professional and as tenacious as SHINee was, but considering it was only SHINee on stage at this point, I can't speak for others (except maybe Super Junior who also, at one point, danced on a wet stage and laid down it in for a live performance).
2. Taemin...there are a few instances in this performance that stand out for me with regard to him. First, his outfit throughout the stage progressively changes--he starts off with a hat and jean vest...after dropping the hat and subsequently picking it up again he finally discards it completely after the first song. Taemin's vest also gets taken off--not sure why-- but it happens during Sherlock. (Game time: can you find the various Taemin outfit changes in the video?) But aside from the random taking off of Taemin's personal belongings, the thing that I found the most intriguing with Taemin (both in this performance and in the first one) is the intensity Taemin has begun to exhibit when he is performing. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that he no longer wants to maintain his "cute" image--which honestly, I want to scream good riddance to but at the same time desperately want him to keep--but it's no joke the intensity of his face during "Beautiful" at 10:40 of this clip and it makes me cheer for him harder. Aww..Our Taeminnie is growing up. Another notable mention is the fact that Taemin, at one point, loses his mic! (at 13:30) Minho can be seen helping Taemin gather the cord afterwards. Now I'm not sure why, but Taemin seems to have a thing for losing his mic as this is the second time I've personally seen it happen. However, the first time I noticed it will be talked about later...
3. That brings us to Key...oh Key. Key isn't my SHINee bias, but originally he started out at the bottom of my SHINee ranking but almost overnight he savagely snuck up and took Minho's place as my SHINee Second-in-Command and now...I'm ga-ga for Key. I find him the most adorable out of the five, yes...even more adorable than Taemin. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, it shocked the hell outta me as well, but you can clearly see why he's adorable during this performance. He is caught smiling throughout the entire performance but most especially after the rain started to fall--During Why So Serious? Key is actually laughing at Minho (I think, but he's the only one that makes geographical sense) at approximately 14:27. 
4. And last but not least...Onew. There was really only one part of this performance that made Onew stand out in my mind...But before I bring it up, I'm gonna talk about Onew for a quick, quick second. During a conversation with Firnlambe, she said to me it felt like Onew's leadership role was probably a "behind-the-scenes" type of thing versus Leeteuk's...well, you know Leeteuk is the leader of Super Junior. I always feel like Onew is just a member of the group but every once in awhile Onew's "Papa" image comes out and you see him take charge as the Leader of SHINee. Well, Onew had a moment during this performance that reminded me that he is very much the Leader of SHINee we all know and love. The moment happened at 10:47 and Onew takes a look behind him where Minho and Key are making their way back up the stage. Now this could, quite honestly, be just a moment where Onew was taking stock of his surroundings but something about his look just screams "worry" and "protectiveness". But...it could very well be just me. *shrugs* I do want to mention that Onew, while laying down for the opening of "Why So Serious?" did let out a hoot of laughter at the circumstances which I found...well...absolutely worthy of my SHINee Bias. 

I feel bad that Jonghyun didn't have any particular "Oh Wow" moments in this performance but let's face it, the first performance I talked about was entirely about him so I don't feel toooooooo bad. Next time Jonghyun...

 The Incomplete Pass

For anyone who is a Football fan--as I am--you will understand this analogy. This one could be mistaken for me picking on SHINee for their "oops" but truly it's not. So before you metaphorically shoot daggers into my heart, let me explain myself. Remember how I talked about how professional SHINee was during the raining performance? Well, this one actually happen long before that performance--in fact, it was one of their debut stages: 

While it's no shock that Taemin, even at the tender age of 15 (16 in Korean Years) was a disturbingly great dancer, what was shocking was his ability to not fumble after failing to retrieve his mic from Key during the beginning of their singing career. After 5 years, you expect well established artists to be able to keep up appearances while on stage after making a mistake but at 15...during your first song ever...? That's impressive. Did you miss it? Rewatch the video and look closely: at 2:24 Taemin passes his mic to Key, does his dance solo then at 2:32 Key moves to give the mic back to Taemin who misses it by a hair and must complete the song without a mic. Luckily it was towards the end of the song but the fact that Taemin maintained his composure and didn't mess up the stage was memorable to me. A complete pass can be seen during this debut stage for those who are curious. I promise I'm not picking on SHINee--they're my second favorite group in all of Kpop, but it was memorable.

Onew-appa! Minho Broke the Mic Stand!

Since I'm on a roll with the "oops" of SHINee, I might as well get this one out of the way! During an interview on Beatles Code 2 (@16:52), SHINee talked about their "Dream Girl" debut stage accident wherein Minho actually made the "oops" in the way of breaking the mic stand. Now...I had seen the debut stage, thought it was amazing, watched it multiple times....and completely missed the accident entirely. If it wasn't for this interview, I would never have even noticed it! It was dealt with so quickly and under the guise of their spot-on dancing that I don't know how anyone noticed it. 

Give it a shot and see if you can't find the accident right away on your own...I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding it after I've told you it was there but if you can't, no worries, I'm about to break it down for you! At 2:02 Minho moves into place and attempts to get his foot around the mic stand but unintentionally gets it caught and accidentally breaks off the base which you can see then swivel a few feet away towards Key. This is not missed by Onew who sees the whole thing. Also, Minho's face...is priceless. If that isn't a 'I'm-on-stage-and-must-maintain-composure-but-oh-schieße' face then my facial recognition radar is off. Oh but here comes that professionalism to save the day! At around 2:46, Jonghyun (again, I think it's Jonghyun based off the geographical position at the time of the occurrence) pushes the actual mic stand out of the way for the rest of his members. Omo! But what about the base of the stand? Well, Leader Onew takes care of that! At 2:52 we see Onew take a very calculating look to his left where the base is laying on the floor before breaking formation slightly at 3:00 to nonchalantly swipe-maneuver the base out of the way of the dancing. Oh, thank you Onew-appa! This does, however, leave one of the members without a mic stand for the rest of the song but it's no biggie because they make it all look so natural that you don't even know the stand is missing--at least until they discuss it during an interview afterwards. 

I think...that's it for my most memorable "oops" performance moments...so let's move on to memorable appearances! 

"Ya!"

I mentioned earlier how Key just snuck up on Minho, chloroformed him into unconsciousness and yelled at my inner Kpop-Fangirl "You will love me!" I know that a lot of my fondness for Key has to do with their most recently TV special "One Fine Day", I think what took the Key-Cake and shoved it down my throat was the next Memorable Clip I'm going to present to you:

Key has probably one of the most unique personalities in all of Kpop--second only to Super Junior's Heechul--and this Special only emphasized the many great things about Key. In this clip he is reliving his pre-debut days but in the background Taemin is playing a soccer video game with Minho but Minho won--apparently by a small margin--and Taemin couldn't contain his excitement. Because Key was in the middle of making an anecdotal video, he shouts at Taemin in annoyance which instantly chastises Taemin. Between Key's adorable irritation and Taemin/Minho's reaction to Key, there isn't much that isn't completely memorable about this clip. This is probably my most referred to clip when I'm annoyed and need to smile. Thanks Key!!

SHINee's Back...In The Dorm

Since I'm on the subject of SHINee's Special "One Fine Day" I might as well get the next few clips out of the way. This is memorable, uber memorable, because I get supreme enjoyment out of seeing our Kpop idols in their...well...natural habitats for a lack of a better term. I don't like to see just the side of our Kidols on stage and being professional, I like seeing behind-the-Scenes and knowing who they are and SHINee's special gave us a small peak into their own personal SHINee World. At 35:00 we finally get to see SHINee in their dorm and interacting with each other without there being "professional" cameras in their face--there are, of course, camera's in their face still but...you know what I mean.

What made this clip so memorable is the fact that they're all sitting together, being themselves and watching themselves on the TV and being able to commentate about each other's reactions. If that wasn't enough, each of their individual personalities were exhibited in this clip. My favorite parts were:

1. At 38:48 Key is scolding his fellow members for not taking video's of themselves to which our usually reserved Minho tosses pillow into Key's face. Key then calls Minho a "bastard" before remembering he's on camera...the smile he gives in lieu of asking for forgiveness is...awwww-worthy. 
2. Throughout the viewing process, the members gently tease each other and laugh together and it's plain to see just how close these five people are and if you're anything like me, it makes you love them more because of it. 
3. At 44:50 the other members start guessing where Taemin lost his train ticket and it's not in a harsh-criticizing way but in way that makes you feel like Taemin does this kind of thing all the time and they're just so used to it. The even tease him later on about it. It's cute. 
4. At 45:53 Jonghyun suggests they wash up and go to bed; Jonghyun gets up and immediately disappears without grabbing any of the garbage on the floor. However, the best part, even though Key did grab some of the stuff from the floor, Minho doesn't fail to nag Key into picking up more. Pay close attention to Key's face in response to Minho's suggestion that he take more back into the kitchen. Ah, priceless Key. I love it! After Key grabs two more items, Minho gets in on Taemin telling him to help. Taemin's response: "I have to eat this" which Minho replies "Eating has nothing to do with cleaning" effectively scolding Taemin into cleaning up something--3 suckers. Minho still manages to be the one who puts the living room to rights. 

After watching it, there is no question why this moment was memorable. It's very comforting to know that our Hallyu stars can be real people. Of course, it also helps that all five of them are just good people in general--their celebrity status hasn't warped them into having ugly personalities.

Onew's Kindheartedness 

This was the episode that shot Onew into being SHINee bias. Sometimes Onew's inner beauty and personality is honestly something to be treasured. What was the memorable moment though? It happens at approximately 31:00 when Onew decides to treat his camera crew and PD to bulgogi barbecue that he personally barbecue's in honor of all of their hard work. Then he offers to provide Dinner and a Show by taking song requests to which his camera crew happily accepted and requested a ballad. It was this moment that I found out Onew actually sang a song for Minho's Kdrama "To The Beautiful You" and upon purchasing it on iTunes--it became one of my all time favorite Kpop ballads and the inspiration for a Tattoo I'm going to get in the future. (This just further proves how memorable this moment was to me). 

Onew definitely earned his Bias status in my mind...Gomawo Nige Naege Wajwosseo, Onew!

Jonghyun, Yesung Can't Win Every Time!

I previously spoke about how I felt Yesung had the most impressive voice out of all the Kpop Idols. Yesung, for me, even beats out my Ultimate Kpop Bias, Kyuhyun, who I feel is the second best voice in all of the Kpop Idols. These two precede Jonghyun by a very close margin but alas, Jonghyun is third and his voice is very impressive in it's own right. But what would happen if you pit him up against Yesung? Well, the first Episode of Immortal Song 2 put that very question to the test and as it turned out...Jonghyun beat Yesung in the eyes of the 200 guests that made up the audience. I watched the performances and honestly, it could have gone both ways and I would have been satisfied with either one winning. In this case, Jonghyun won and his reaction is probably one of the most respectful reactions anyone hubae could give their Seonbae. Not that the picture of Jonghyun being brought to tears makes my heart warm, I just felt it was memorable for the sheer respect Jonghyun paid Yesung in this clip:

He almost looks distraught that he won! Yesung obviously gives him a hug and is honestly enthusiastic that he won but it didn't stop our Jonghyun from walking off the stage and crying out of shock. It was memorable because Jonghyun is so humble that he couldn't believe he beat out his Seonbae. Don't worry, Jonghyun! Yesung beats you in the finale of the third episode so don't be too distraught. You're talented too and deserved to win!

Taemin Is AWhat?

This is a clip I stumbled upon--or Firnlambe show me (I can't remember)--and it was memorable because it was the first time we had seen Taemin forced to step out of his normal dongsaeng role and into the shoes of a Hyung. Even now, with EXO having debuted from SM Entertainment, Taemin is still mostly a hubae at the age of 21 (Korean Years). However, how he handles the situation--shocked and all--is what made this moment so memorable. Let's roll the clip!

You can even see the shock of the crowd around him but Taemin--being exceptionally quick in mostly everything--actually stumbles throughout this clip. Between being unable to resist showing the utmost respect to his hubae during his introduction (by touching his elbow during his greeting) he does, however, become more comfortable towards the end and actually accepts his role as Hyung in a matter of a few seconds (using the banmal (informal) language while giving his hubae advice). I can't explain why this moment was memorable except for the fact that I find myself every once in a while actually looking it up just to watch it again--I even used this very clip in a blog I wrote while discussing the concept of respect in Korea)

I will leave it here for today even though I have the nagging feeling I'm forgetting a memorable moment but I'm sure another opportunity will arise and I can talk about my favorite, most memorable SHINee moments again. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the clips I've discussed in this blog and as always, feel free to leave comments in the comments section below! Kamsahamnida!