Musing While Cruising the Hallyu Highway
I cannot remember exactly when the ASMR craze started but I think it was somewhere around 2018 or so. It seemed everyone jumped on the amplified whisper bandwagon, including some of our favorite K-pop groups. A.C.E was no exception offering up some fun ASMR moments via their VLive channel which included an ASMR reading of song lyrics. Back in February 2020, Donghun took the ASMR mic and shared a reading of the groups second single release following debut, Callin’.
I have to admit that in my last countdown series, I got decent mileage out of using the alphabet. That is, creating posts that use a letter of the alphabet as a prompt. With 26 letters in the English alphabet, that affords me an additional 26 ways to write about Donghun. Thus, The ABC’s of Donghun is born on this 25th day of his enlistment. Probably should have started on Day 26 just to be cheeky, but why wait?
I think it is safe to conclude that when A.C.E decides to hit the streets for a busking event, it doubles as a free fan meeting. There are no minimum requirements to attend, just mark the date and time on your calendar and show up for the show. The takeaway is an afternoon (or evening) filled with memories of an impromptu performance. Such was the case at the Han River back on November 23, 2019, when fans were treated with some extraordinarily cute moments of a very handsome Donghun in blue suit and tie, flashing his gorgeous smile (eye smiles included) and his customary fabulous vocals.
I was thinking, why not pay tribute to the many instances when our main vocal has turned the camera upon himself? There are plenty of Donghun selcas to keep this countdown afloat for a long time to be sure. And with roughly 616 days to go (geez, can we just get out of the 600’s already?!), those selcas will be a nice addition to the mix.
It’s a good thing there were five doctors in the house for A.C.E’s July 12, 2019 fan sign at Arc.N.Book Bookstore in Seoul because I am sure there were multiple cases of racing heartbeats and uncontrollable heart flutter in the building that day. Paging Dr. Lee, Dr. Park, Drs. Kim and Dr. Kang! Seriously, what a cute concept, even when coupled with the explosive choreography of Under Cover, which is my Hunnie Cam offering today. Bring your smelling salts…hehe.
How about today we go for a Vocal Magic moment that served as a vocal warm up prior to an actual recording? Instead of breath work, vocal runs or other vocal exercises to prepare the voice to sing, Donghun warms up with Sam Smith’s Too Good at Goodbyes and gives us a lovely vocal magic moment in time.
Okay, so here’s what happened. Back in late August there was a live streaming musical festival that featured Asian artists from all over the world. Known as The Joy Ruckus Club, this would be the 4th annual festival of its kind, and as we were still in the midst of COVID (and unfortunately still are), the fest would take place online. Artists performed live sets from various locales including small venues with small audiences, to the artists’ own living rooms. It was a full ten day festival and was broadcast from places like New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US, and of course, South Korea. Part of the festival included a K-pop segment called K-pop Superfest-New Beginnings. I bought a ticket and on August 28, 2021, I was officially introduced to MCND.
I guess I should probably mention that the DH One Shot sub-series will rotate in about every eight days. With 638 days to cover, I have to plan out posts ahead of time so I stay on schedule. The one shots help. They also make for quick and easy Donghun appreciation posts. Today a fan capture.
In the early days both before and after debut, and even up through their 2019 Under Cover Tour, A.C.E took to the streets busking. Out meeting the public, surprising and engaging with their fans, and garnering new Choice converts, A.C.E tirelessly put themselves in public view. It was not busking in the traditional sense however, as in setting up a mic, grabbing a guitar (or other musical instrument) and being impromptu troubadours. No, they were out there out there A.C.E busking in the dance performance sense. Like in Shinjuku, Japan in March 2018.
Content. Seriously, thank goodness groups put in place a variety of content well before we basically all had to go remote. Even with a robust selection of variety programs (on both television and the radio where we can enjoy seeing our favorites in various environments), K-pop groups expand that even further by way of V-Live and YouTube channels where they can create a variety of programming exclusive to themselves. From day-in-the-life vlogs to behind the scenes offerings, A.C.E serves up a variety of enjoyable content which included one of my fave video series of theirs, the A.C.E Diary.
The Fangirl Lane 