niKai cafe

Hello, everyone! I have not posted on this blog for quite some time. I feel so bad. Some changes are inevitable though and I've found a more convenient way to update and rave and rant about whatever program I'm watching. Please head over to my Instagram page  @nikaicafe for my recent posts. I've started the insta since June last year, so yeah, it's been a while. Appreciate any comments and discussions on the posts as I find it part of what makes drama-watching all the more interesting. Don't forget to drop by. See ya!

Like Being Shot By a Bullet  Covering one of Baek Jiyoung's popular ballads, Hwang Chi Yeul challenged himself again, this time rearranging the song into a rock ballad, or at least that's how I would term it. After listening to Kim Feel's cover many moons ago in Immortal Songs 2 , I did wonder how Chi Yeul's going to do it, because Kim Feel's version was pretty cool already. Turning the song into a rock style did give it an edge. His voice was perfect for the arrangement. It still sounded very sad like the original. It hurts, but it rocks. There's a segment in the middle where he sang without accompaniment from any musical instrument. His pitch-perfect rough voice just pierced through the hall, it was awesome. Towards the end the song just got higher and higher and he nailed it. Like, total daebak. He should do more of this. Rock ballad could totally be his style. Since this is the last round before the finale (unless you are substitute singers or el...

Gai Bian Zi Ji (Change Myself) Singing a cover of Wang Lee Hom's Change Myself , this performance was everything I was hoping for. No ballad, no extended, meticulous choreographed dance routine. It was a fun stage, seemingly freestyle and definitely free-spirited. It was not a thoughtless performance. Every move was rehearsed  and  timed perfectly and was meant to capture the audience. Hwang Chi Yeol made every transition smoothly that it seemed so natural. For the first time, he actively interacted with the audience and you can literally hear them responding to him, it was deafening, almost. The moment the audience was singing along loudly with him, you know he got this. It felt like he was having a fun stage at his very own concert! All in all, it was quite a breakthrough moment for him in my opinion. It was not something you've seen from him before, not even in Immortal Songs 2. He actually mimicked a formulaic performance that normally would have secured final win in I...

Y ou Are Just Somewhere a Little Higher Than Me Performing second, he was back to emotional rendition of a ballad song. This song holds a special meaning to me when it comes to Hwang Chi Yeul. It was, as far as I recall, the very song that has brought my attention back to him after  I Can See You Voice  and successfully thrown me to a point of no return to Hwang Chi Yeul fandom. The song was his performance for Immortal Songs 2 that earned him the title and trophy Super Rookie for the  Super Rookie Showdown  episode. It was not his first appearance in  Immortal Songs 2 , and not really his first win (He won a trophy in earlier appearance for song "Father"), but until that episode, I had no idea he was even in  Immortal Songs 2 . I was not a dedicated  IS2  follower, but was chanced upon that particular episode while browsing youtube. Since then, I had backtracked all the way to his first appearance and kept checking the  IS2  guest...

Honey Hwang Chi Yeul challenged himself again with a dance number. He performed fourth, this time with a cover of JYP's Honey. Well, not as exciting as Bang Bang Bang for me, but it did have a solo dance part that drove the audience wild. I suspect that I have to be part of the real time audience to truly appreciate this particular performance. There's high probability that the audio quality (always the case since episode 1) and the poor video editing for TV makes it less wholesome. That aside, I actually enjoyed the audience's reaction to him, especially Lala and Jeff Chang's manager, who drooled and all. haha. Now that was hilarious. This performance brought him back to top spot, after Bang Bang Bang. Two wins, both through dancing. I personally felt a little sad that his identity as a balladeer has yet to gain the highest spot it deserves in the competition. He was so close to it with his first and second appearances, earning 2nd place for both. And as far a...

I'm bored while waiting for his next performance...