On My Playlist: Cheeze by Sarah Kang (ft. Andrew Kang)
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Photo Courtesy of JTBC
K-Drama Review: Snowdrop
Disclaimer: The following is just my own personal opinion as a viewer (and a blink) who watched this series for entertainment purpose. Also, may contain spoilers ahead.
After (what felt like years of) long delay of the release of the Korean drama Snowdrop (설강화), the highly anticipated drama starring Blackpink’s Jisoo finally aired its first episode on December 18, 2021. I was probably one of the many blinks who were excited and curious about Jisoo’s acting debut as a main lead on this drama that has been gathering a lot of attention since the beginning of its filming. So, as soon as they released the first two episodes, I started watching and following this series as they unfold new episodes every weekend.
Jisoo’s Acting
First, I’m going to talk about the main reason I even started watching this drama, which is Jisoo because honestly, if I had to decide wether or not to watch this drama by only reading the synopsis and Jisoo isn’t starring in it, I probably skip this one altogether (historical drama is just not my thing personally). And just like any other times where an idol is making a main-lead acting debut on tv series or movies, people has certain expectations as well as preconceived bias (good or bad) towards that idol. Die-hard fans will mostly quick to support their idol wether their acting was good or bad while the general public who’s not necessarily familiar with the idol will either take interest in the debut or already has doubts about their acting skills because they are an idol. I’m not saying that these represent all general public, but these are some common reactions that I’ve read a lot online and I think it’s warranted for since there were cases in the past where idols crossed over to the acting world with subpar acting. And so, as much as I wanted Jisoo to do well, even I as a Blackpink fan was honestly a little nervous about Jisoo’s acting and worried that I will be disappointed.
But disappointed I was not because Jisoo did managed to perform above my expectations and then some. Starting off as a kind, funny, naive, and empathetic Yeong-ro in the first couple of episodes, she set the tone of the drama really well by giving the viewers a look into Yeong-ro’s mind and her world. From Yeong-ro’s friendship with her roommates to the love strucked version of herself after meeting Soo-hoo during the group blind date, every scenes Jisoo did feel natural and fitting to her character. Honestly, I see a little bit of an overlap between Jisoo’s real life character and Yeong-ro’s character that sometimes made me feel that I’m just watching Jisoo on screen (Blackpink members mentioned this too during their OT4 Instagram live a while back and I can totally see why). But when she’s in her Yeong-ro’s persona, she’s a little more restrained and graceful in the way she speaks and acts (albeit her funny scenes).
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
This version of Yeong-ro is then carried through the second part of the drama where it took a dark, dark turn with the whole hostage situation going on in the dorm. And this is when Yeong-ro’s character evolved to a more sombre, sad, and scared version but still maintaining her empathetic, good-natured self. I don’t think there’s a lot of scenes where Yeong-ro smiles after the hostage situation began and it’s honestly kind of depressing to watch Jisoo constantly in tears, feeling guilty, scared or having guns pointed at her head. But I have to say those scenes also showed a different side of her that I haven’t seen before. It was pretty captivating to see her portraying emotions that I never seen her wear on her face.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Then towards the end of the drama, we see another evolution of Yeong-ro where her braveness, determination, and selflessness shine. She was fighting for love, life and justice for the people around her and it was fascinating to see. I think all in all, for her first main lead role, she performed really well. We can truly see a wide range of Jisoo’s acting through this drama and I’m looking forward to other acting gig she’ll take on in the future (hopefully with a less depressing storyline than this one).
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Plot
Having been heavily promoted as a romance drama, I have certain expectations about the romance storyline between Yeoung-ro and Soo-hoo. I mean if you were me and looked at these promotional posters, you probably have that expectations too right?
These photos of Yeong-ro and Soo-ho basking in the warm yellow lights staring at each other longingly as if they’re falling in love in the prime of their youth can probably be categorized as strategic marketing or clickbait material, depending on how you look at it I guess. Me, personally, as a viewer, saw this as a clickbait poster because none of these scenes nor expectations of a good romance plot represented by these posters were delivered (imho). They probably should’ve used this poster for the main marketing materials and I would definitely have a different expectations for the romance arc.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
The series teased about the possibility of a happy ending for these two in the early episodes, where the story was still focusing on Yeong-ro’s dorm life with her friends and the couple’s brief interaction on the day of the group blind date. There were some good moments between the two that clearly showed their attractions to each other. But now looking back, I think those moments were too light and too few to overcome the darker and heavier things that happened afterwards and sustain the chemistry between the two of them for the rest of the series.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
It also felt like Yeong-ro and Soo-ho’s chance of finding love was doomed the moment Soo-hoo pointed his gun at Yeong-ro’s head and used her as a shield before taking the whole dorm hostage. After that episode aired, I remember discussing this with my sister and we asked each other how Soo-ho’s redeeming arc will be written in order for him to be able to be together with Yeong-ro. That arc needs to be really good because otherwise, there were only two possibilities that we could see going forward after seeing that scene. One scenario is that this is a case of stockholm syndrome romance where Yeong-ro will fall in love with her captor (the classic Beauty and the Beast scenario). And the other scenario is that those two wouldn’t end up together (which in the end was the case). Both weren’t very appealing scenarios to be honest.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Throughout the series, I honestly was hoping that there will be some kind of plot twist that will give them a happy ending. But it’s clear as the story progressed, no such thing was happening. Even the coffee making scene which led to the couple’s first kiss fell kind of flat and, I don’t know, forced in a sense that it felt like the scene was there just to get them alone in the attic and kiss. There were so many issues that haven’t been resolved between the two of them and drinking coffee and sort of just ‘forget’ about those felt a little bit like a cop-out solution. That’s just me though. Maybe I’m more of a skeptic. Maybe for a young girl in college who just met her first love, a cup of coffee was enough to forgive and forget. Don’t take me wrong though, Jisoo’s and Hae-in’s acting were good. The chemistry was there. It’s just the plot that was kind of disappointing.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Romance aside, the spy/political arc kind of took over the majority of the episodes after the hostage situation began and I feel Yeong-ro’s role faded into the background quite a bit. Jisoo’s screen time didn’t feel as prominent as it was in the earlier episodes and even her role as Soo-ho’s love interest also seemed to be slowly put aside, especially after Cheong-ya’s identity has been revealed to the hostages. There were more scenes involving Soo-ho and Cheong-ya after that and to be quite honest, given their history and interaction inside the dorm, a romance arc between the two seemed to be more plausible and made sense at this point.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Memorable Moments
There were some feel-good moments and also I-want-to-strangle-this character moments through out this series. Let’s start with the latter ones. I have to say I can’t stand Nam Tae-il and Ahn Gyeong-hui’s characters in this series. Nam Tae-Il’s constant obnoxious, loud, and sometimes stupid comments and Ahn Gyeong-hui’s yes man, people pleasing but cunning attitude sometimes made me just fast forward their scenes. Also, I would be very concerned if people like them hold high positions in the government.
Second there’s Gye Bun-ok who constantly made me roll my eyes every time she appeared. Her character was actually likable in the early episodes, when she was kind to Yeong-ro and tried to cover for her when she was late back to the dorm for roll call. But then she just turned to the dark side ever since finding out about Yeong-ro and Soo-ho during the open house. The girl seemed incapable of showing loyalty, compassion and accepting forgiveness. I get that she has a rough, traumatic childhood growing up but still. It’s fascinating to see, though, how different she and Ms. Pi responded to the situation despite their mutual traumatic past.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
For the feel-good scenes, Yeong-ro’s whole ordeal of getting back to her dorm room for roll call through the window was pretty epic. There was tension, drama and comedy all mixed together and we can clearly see the warm comradery between Yeong-ro and her friends. I think that is one of my favorite scenes in this drama. Other than that, I enjoy all of Yeoung-ro’s scenes with her roommates just because despite of Hye-ryeong’s constant protests, in the end they seemed to always band together and help each other out. Kind of reminded me of the good ol’ college days when friends feel like your family and you’d do anything for them.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
I also quite like Cheong-ya’s character throughout the series. She’s smart, loyal, and sometimes ruthless but without feeling like she loses her humanity in the process. I admire her for staying true to her words and helped out Soo-ho until the end.
Photo Courtesy of JTBC
Anyway, overall, it was still an enjoyable series. I think for me, following it when it was airing also helped me to not get bored and just abandoned the series altogether because of the heavy spy/political arc towards the middle and end. Also, having talked to a couple of other blinks who watched the series as well, I think the general consensus was we're all pretty happy with Jisoo’s acting, a little disappointed with the plot but enjoyed the series overall. And I think this review’s long enough so I’ll just end it here.
(If any of you watched this series as well, let me know your thoughts on the comments section. Would love to read them.)
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Blackpink Lisa at Incheon Airport & Paris Sightings
12 March 2022 — Blackpink’s Lisa was spotted at Incheon International Airport on her way to Paris before leaving for Rome. Debuting her platinum blonde hair, the singer was seen greeting fans and the press who were waiting for her cheerfully. See the images below for Lisa’s airport outfit breakdown.
Photos taken by @jaylim1:
Photos taken by @foto_jo_:
When multiple people started to request a heart gesture from her, Lisa immediately answered to each request and threw different heart gestures to multiple directions in high spirit, inciting laughters from the crowd. She even did her signature ‘eehee!’ that she hasn’t done in a while before walking towards the entrance of the departure hall.
13 April 2022 — The next day, Lisa arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport safely with her entourage. Walking out to the arrival hall dressed in an all-black look, she was immediately swarmed by fans who were waiting for her with their phones out to get a glimpse of her and showered her with flowers, gifts and welcome greetings. She also managed to give autographs to several blinks in the crowd.
Lisa stayed in Paris for a couple of days visiting Disneyland Paris and was spotted strolling around the city with Austin Butler and CELINE's head of couture and events, Peter Utz before leaving for Rome.
Photo: 雪霏Sophia Weibo
Photo: 雪霏Sophia Weibo
Photo: 雪霏Sophia Weibo
Photo: 雪霏Sophia Weibo
Photo: 雪霏Sophia Weibo
21 April 2022 — A fan uploaded a video of Lisa in Paris with her entourage. Blinks on Twitter are now asking Lisa to post the pictures she took that day.
30 April 2022 — Lisa uploaded her Europe vlog to her LiLi Film Youtube channel.
13 May 2022 — Lisa finally posted the shot of the behind the scenes video that was posted on Twitter a couple of weeks ago.
Read second part of this series: Lisa at Bulgari Rome Flagship Store.
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Blackpink ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Mario Sorrenti for Tiffany & Co.
ROSÉ x Tiffany HardWear New Campaign
(Updated: Jul 5, 2022. Scroll down for latest updates.)
“On Thursday, March 10, Tiffany & Co. revealed a new campaign starring Rosé, who was named a brand ambassador back in 2021, and its latest HardWear collection.”
TL:DR Version:
“Less than a year after her first campaign as a brand ambassador for Tiffany & Co., BLACKPINK’s Rosé is back with a new campaign for Tiffany HardWear. She unveiled a new bracelet and necklace which are, fittingly, rose gold.”
—teenvogue.com
“Embodying the bold attitude of the collection, the K-pop singer shows off the new Tiffany HardWear jewellery pieces in a series of photos shot by fashion photographer Mario Sorrenti. Sorrenti famously photographed Kate Moss’s Calvin Klein campaign in the ’90s, and it’s not a stretch to say that his new portraits of Rosé will be similarly immortalised.”
—Tatlerasia.com
“The K-pop musician wears designs highlighted with the house’s iconic gauge link motif, which is inspired by a 1971 bracelet from its archives. Standouts include the new necklace and bracelet made of black titanium, 18k rose gold and diamonds that will be debuting this coming July.”
—hypebae.com
“The pop star wears minimalist fashions to emphasize the collection’s architectural shapes.”
—wwd.com
Continuing her role as Tiffany & Co’s global house ambassador, ROSÉ’s second campaign for Tiffany HardWear was nothing less than the previous first campaign she appeared on less than a year ago. Donning an all-black look for the shoot, ROSÉ’s wardrobe choices really highlighted the jewelry pieces against the black fabric as well as her platinum blonde hair.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Mario Sorrenti for Tiffany & Co.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Mario Sorrenti for Tiffany & Co.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Mario Sorrenti for Tiffany & Co.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Mario Sorrenti for Tiffany & Co.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Mario Sorrenti for Tiffany & Co.
My favorite look is probably the one where she wears the Khaite Yves Rib-Knit Bodysuit paired with the Saint Laurent slim fit tailored trouser and black Anja pumps (see outfit details here). The whole look just exudes simplicity, sophistication and boldness at the same time and they look really good on her.
As excellent as her first campaign was, dare I say (imho) that this campaign is definitely a step up from its predecessor. And Tiffany’s slogan is right. ‘She’s back and bolder than ever.’
Watch the campaign video below and check out the ROSÉ x Tiffany HardWear collection at Tiffany & Co’s website.
UPDATES:
11 March 2022 — A fan posted on Twitter a snippet from the podcast Luxury News Weekly talking about the impact that Rosé had after Tiffany & Co. appointed her as a brand ambassador and the international power K-pop stars are starting to have to influence the buying power of public.
“She single handedly doubled the sales of the collection she was promoting. All by herself. Doubled. It’s kind of unheard of.”
They picked the right brand ambassador and matched the brand ambassador to the correct jewelry. That is not as easy as it sounds.
I love the fact that, with this particular influencer, there are tangible results. Because yes you could’ve driven millions of fans to their page and they would’ve got lots of visits, but at least the visits are converting. So they need to dive deep and find out why it’s converting. Obviously, the influencer has a lot of sway in that. But, one thing about fans is that, her fans kind of remind me of the Fenty fans that would literally put their money where their mouth is. They would go and buy the product. And that’s the kind of thing you want. So well done Tiffany and they need to really treat her very, very well.
She’s got a great internet personality and her followers are great too. And the nice thing about K-pop stars is that they’re really reliable. They’re pretty stable and it’s not popular to be chaotic, unlike in this side of the world, where if you’re not doing something crazy, you don’t make headline. They’re very safe when it comes to their images which makes for great brand ambassadors.
That tells me though, that that means they are look up to as proper role models.”
—Luxury News Weekly Podcast S02 Ep 06
Although I mostly agree with what was discussed in this podcast, I have to note here that there is a part where the hosts were talking about popularity amongst the members of Blackpink, which I personally don't necessarily agree with. I think all Blackpink members are popular in their own ways and have big influences over their fans' purchasing power. If you've followed their roles as brand ambassadors closely, you surely have came across at least one article talking about the positive impact they have on the sales of the respective brands they are representing. But I'll just chalked this up to perhaps inadequate research on their part since at some point, they also alluded to the fact Rose's the only one from the group who has a solo career (which we all know is not true because Jennie and Lisa have released their solo albums, and now we're waiting on Jisoo's solo) and mentioned that Blackpink consisted of "maybe five or so women as part of that group". I know with the numerous amount of K-pop girl groups that are out there, it’s hard to keep up with all the news so I can understand.
Listen to the full episode here (Rosé’s topic started at the 22:24 minute mark and goes ‘til 28:27 minute mark)
31 March 2022 — Tiffany & Co. released a second version of the video campaign. The video was circulating widely on TikTok and Instagram, running as an ad.
2 April 2022 — Tiffany & Co. also a guide of the hardwear line on their Instagram account.
4 April 2022 - The podcast Luxury News Weekly once again discussed about the sales impact that Rosé had for the Tiffany & Co.’s HardWear collection.
“I was very intrigued the first time that Tiffany & Co. decided to use Rosé as one of their brand ambassadors. Not just some generic brand ambassador, but specifically for their line of jewelry called HardWear.
…not long after that, their sales doubled and it propelled HardWear into being from this kind of sub-brand or sub-collection to one of Tiffany & Co.’s main collections. So you have Rosé to thank for that.
Now, they went from using her as an ambassador to partnering with her as a tenured partner for Tiffany & Co. A true representative, okay? Not just some influencer. So, they’re doubling down on a new campaign for HardWear.”
— Luxury News Weekly S02 Ep12“I love the fact that Tiffany is now finally getting back to what they do best. Blackpink’s Rosé, she’s wearing black, she’s got the jewelry on. Beautifully minimalist, the HardWear, the jewelry itself, very, very lovely. Some of the links are actually black, which gives a great nod to Blackpink. Also, when you look at the rose gold jewelry that they’ve used, beautiful, beautiful stuff.”
— Luxury News Weekly S02 Ep12
Listen to the full podcast here (Rosé’s topic started at the 10:30 minute mark and goes ‘til 17:30 minute mark).
10 April 2022 — Tiffany & Co. shared a Spotify playlist ‘Vibe Check’ by ROSÉ that contains songs for the hardwear campaign curated by ROSÉ.
12 April 2022 — Tiffany & Co. released the second video from the campaign on their YouTube channel.
1 May 2022 — Tiffany & Co. is printing ROSÉ x Tiffany HardWear campaign poster.
2 May 2022 — A fan found a video of poster of ROSÉ x Tiffany HardWear campaign being printed.
7 May 2022 — A fan found a video of the printed poster of ROSÉ x Tiffany HardWear campaign.
8 May 2022 — Since the campaign launched, common to what fandoms usually do, Blinks from around the world have started sharing photos of where they saw Rosé’s campaign on billboards (which are a lot by the way). I stumbled upon this tweet that features a clip of somebody documenting a list of places where the campaign have been spotted. I gotta say, it really took lots of dedication to compile all these photos including the locations where these ads are located. Plus I thought the tweet and the clip edit are pretty funny too.
12 May 2022 — Examples of tweets I mentioned above from Blinks.
30 May 2022 - Tiffany & Co. released new campaign photo of Rosé.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Tiffany & Co.
30 Jun 2022 — Tiffany & Co. released new campaign photos of Rosé wearing black titanium gauge chain necklace that features a single 18K rose gold paved diamond link.
“Not only is this the first time a design from the HardWear line is crafted in a material other than gold, the facelift also gives this limited-edition piece a more comfortable quality since titanium is one of the most lightweight materials to be used in jewellery making. The semi-matte finish of the titanium links further ramps up the industrial edge of the gauge link necklace which is based on an archival Tiffany & Co. bracelet design from 1971.”
—femalemag.com.sg
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Tiffany & Co.
ROSÉ for Tiffany & Co. HardWear | Photo Courtesy: Tiffany & Co.
2 Jul 2022 — Tiffany & Co. posted new updates on the campaign on their Instagram & Twitter accounts.
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On My Playlist: Ganadara by Jay Park ft. IU
On March 11, Jay Park released his newest single ‘Ganadara’ featuring IU. This is also his first song release after stepping down as CEO of AOMG and H1GHR Music on Dec 31 and launching his new label MORE VISION recently on March 3.
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Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
Blackpink Jennie at Chanel FW 22/23 RTW Show
A Chanel ambassador since 2017, Jennie was once again found sitting in the front row at Chanel’s Fall-Winter 2022/23 Ready-To-Wear show at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris next to French model Caroline de Maigret. Fans who were eager to see a glimpse of her crowded the entrance of the venue from a safe distance while those who couldn’t be there hyped her up by trending her name and the special hashtags #JENNIEPOURCHANEL and #JENNIExCHANELFW22 on Twitter to join in the excitement of her attendance at the event.
Dressed in an all-black look from Viard’s pre-fall runway, Jennie arrived at the venue throwing a smile and a little wave to the paparazzis and fans who cheered for her before quickly disappeared into the building where the press are waiting for her. Minutes later, press photos of her started circulating on the web and the show started and finished in under half an hour before Jennie reappeared from inside the building, once again smiling and waving at the crowd before she left the venue.
Here’s Jennie’s attendance highlight video from Chanel:
Read Jennie’s pre-show full interview with Vogue here.
Read first part of this series: Blackpink Jennie at Incheon Airport.
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Blackpink Jennie at Incheon Airport
5 March 2022 — Blackpink’s Jennie spotted at Incheon International Airport on March 5 on her way to attend Chanel’s FW22 show at Paris Fashion Week. In March 2019, the French fashion house official announced Jennie as the Global/House Ambassador of Chanel. See her airport outfit details below. This has easily became one of my favorite Jennie’s airport looks.
Source: Photo by Osen (Press) • Outfit info from thekrad.com
5 April 2022 — Photographer Jay Lim (임재현) shared photos of Jennie on his Instagram @jaylim1.
18 March 2022 — Photographer Jay Lim (임재현) shared additional photos of Jennie on his Instagram @jaylim1.
9 April 2022 — Photographer Jay Lim (임재현) shared additional photos of Jennie on his Instagram @jaylim1.
14 April 2022 — Masternim @honeyflavor2116 shared photos of Jennie. Here are some of my favorites:
More photos:
Read second part of this series: Blackpink Jennie at Chanel FW 22/23 RTW Show.
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Image Source: New On Netflix
Discussion: The Tinder Swindler
Having seen the trailer for this before its release, I was pretty excited to watch this documentary about online dating scam. If you haven’t watched it already, I’d recommend you to watch this if you want to know one of the many, many scams that are happening in the online dating world right now.
THE PREMISE
“Posing as a wealthy, jet-setting diamond mogul, he wooed women online then conned them out of millions of dollars.”
—Netflix
“...an eye-opening documentary about a notorious con man who used the dating app to defraud multiple women.
The 114-minute doc tells the story of Israeli fraudster Shimon Hayut, who conned Scandinavian women into parting with hundreds of thousands of dollars by pretending on dating app Tinder to be Simon Leviev, the son of Israeli diamond tycoon Lev Leviev.”
There are some interesting points that we can discuss about this documentary. I’ve compiled my thoughts on it on the slides below. So here’s my review/discussion on The Tinder Swindler:
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