For our another music video review, we will feature another newbie group called 1the9 with their three various songs released last April. For a little bit info, they are the winners of a survival show called Under 19. The members are Doyum, Jinsung, Taewoo, Yechan, Taekhyeon, Yongha, Sungwon, Seunghwan, and Junseo.
And for the first time, we will review their three MVs at the same time. It was due to their simultaneous release of these songs last April. This article will be very long, so please have patience while reading.
(Side Note: Pardon also for the days missed in reviewing other music videos. As one of equipments were used, it might take long before I finish writing publishing some other MV reviews. As for MOMOLAND’s recent release, I’ll have to do it some other time.)
We’ll later discover how we will rate them separately. You may play either one of the three videos, or all of them, before proceeding to the review proper:
Storyline
- Video must have a storyline
Domino: (5 points) The storyline is very straightforward. At the first phase of the video, they featured the members who after a series of talks, agreed to dance together. The rest of the video focuses mostly on their dance.
Spotlight: (5 points) The two members were DJs serving on the campus radio station. They then engaged the students to listen on their performance. However, it turned out that the students wil have to see them dance too. After being “apprehended” by campus heads, they continued dancing.
The Story: (5 points) This MV portrays the different paths boys undertake in enterting a university, and the struggles in knowing each other. As they are introducing themselves, they share their talents little by little. Only the love for music binds them. And despite different challenges they face in featuring themselves in music and dance, they finally accomplished the said dream.
- Theme must be consistent and clear
Domino: (5 points) Their theme revolving on purely dance is very consistent.
Spotlight: (5 points) They made a good choice on featuring themes consistently. They featured the modern styles and campus vibe throughout the whole video.
The Story: (5 points) They also featured the campus side throughout the video.
Appearance
- The music video as a whole must be colorful
Domino: (4 points) Quite lacking in color.
Spotlight and The Story: (5 points each)
- Must be done in good taste – All songs: (5 points each)
- Does not celebrate Halloween, Easter, or similar celebrations – All songs: (5 points each)
- Does not feature astrology – All songs: (5 points each)
- Less horror is featured in the video – All songs: (5 points each)
- Not too revealing outfits – All songs: (5 points each)
Music
- Ability of the music to excite the listener
Domino and Spotlight: (5 points each)
The Story: (4 points) The drama present in the MV shall be enough to excite the listener. However, it would not be enough to spark interest to most of K-Pop fans.
- Music should not be deafening on the ears
Domino: (4 points) I gave four points to this, as chorus is deafening.
Spotlight and The Story: (5 points each)
Dance
- Dance can be learned easily even by beginners
Domino: (5 points) This deserves a perfect score, as they are making it easy for beginners. Particularly, the easiest parts can be seen at 1:33 – 1:47 and 2:32 – 2:47.
Spotlight: (4 points) I gave this rating, as points for improvement must be considered. These are on 2:00 – 2:05 and 3:40 – 3:45, where I questioned if the steps can be followed easily. Other than that, the easiest dance moves are on pre-chorus.
The Story: (4 points) The dance steps featured in the last part of the video can be easily learned. However, they should have featured it further.
- Dance must not be too sensual
All songs: (5 points each)
Lessons
- Moral lesson must be clearly stated
Domino: (5 points) They make it fairly simple to teach moral lesson, and that is on teamwork. They are following up on each other and are doing various meetups before beginning their dance.
Spotlight: (5 points) By the title, itself, this implies the opportunity that must be taken once we are featured on the spotlight.
The Story: (5 points) This is on interacting with our fellow people. Let them know us, and let ourselves know them. Let them share their talents, and let us share ours.
Another moral lesson that can be seen involves on bullying (6:16 – 6:28). If we can, we have to defend those who are weak and unable to fight back.
Another thing that can be learned from the video is not to give up. Despite so many challenges we are facing, and despite various frustrations, this should not hamper our willingness to face the same and overcome it.
- They must impart something beneficial for their viewers
Domino: (1 point) Sorry. Haven’t seen something beneficial from them.
Spotlight: (4 points) An instance featuring an old payphone (at 1:43) will make one aware on what our parents and grandparents used, at the time cellphones and smartphones were not yet available.
Also, by featuring what’s inside the radio station, they might raise awareness on another mainstream media. This also hopes to open young radio aspirants in their respective localities.
The Story: (5 points) At 7:55, a member is engaged in songwriting. Hope this feature inspires other artists to do the same, considering that fresh set of music is needed to keep the music going as a whole.
At 10:58 – 11:18, they are featuring themselves playing arcade games. By doing it, hope this let viewers visit and return to the games the youth (70s – 90s) previously played that time.
Other Matters
- Inject sense of humor in the music video
Domino: (4 points) This can be seen at the first twenty seconds of the video. Other than that, I did not find other scenes funny, as the next three minutes are focused on dance.
Spotlight: (10 points) Proceed to 4:20. Remember the storyline? That was in itself very funny. The students just go on with their activity after being “reprimanded”.
The Story: (10 points) Look at 1:20 – 1:24, where a boy starts to walk by dragging his feet.
Also, at 1:28 – 1:44, where the two boys who supposedly received “punishment” flex their muscles, as a way to ease the pain.
Another funniest thing would be on 11:19 – 11:32, where the nine, upon seeing their instructor, tried to flee from what would be the punishment or scrutiny, only to find out that they will be punished the next morning. It was funny how they act without teacher watching at them.
- Ability of the song to make it to mainstream media
Domino: (4 points) This might make it up to mainstream media, but lacks the hype needed to make it to the top charts.
Spotlight: (4 points) Same thing applies to this song.
The Story: (3 points) I suppose this will not be picked by media, due to its nature as a slow song.
Spotlight:
- Review by other sites
Domino: (5 points)
KPopReviewed described the song as an opener, and an “intriguing start”. The tempo present in the song further engages the listeners, and the vocals fit very well. Overall this is a good start for their album.
TheBiasList told that Crush’s composition of the song “fits well” into the group. While not favoring the usual pop and R&B tunes present, the song had been consistent enough. The tricks presented in the song will give surprise, something that the reviewer viewed as with “more power” than ever.
Spotlight: (3 points)
KPopReviewed noted that the song follows Latin pop, and it does not help in making the group stand out. Added to the lack of it was the electric guitar, which should have made a powerful grip at the end. While overall, the track was okay, it was “very typical”. On their performance, the most favorite was on the post-chorus section.
TheBiasList tagged the song also as a new concept of Latin pop, and as a follow-up version of a song from NCT127. The lines were awkward, and childish, and it was not something to be looked back for.
The Story: (4 points)
KPopReviewed noted the slow tempo, which suggests reflection of the group and their appreciation for all who are behind their success. The only problem is that it’s frequently used by Produce 101 (but for me, never mind.)
- Review of the music video as a whole
Domino: (4 points) I enjoyed their dance well. Though the storyline and the dance is fairly simple, this deserves better recognition by other K-Pop fans. However, one lacking factor for this was they didn’t prominently feature Crush, considering that he is also included in this song.
Spotlight: (5 points) As with Domino, I enjoyed their dance, and also their storyline. They made also a good deal contrasting the campus vibe, known for rigidity (as campuses follow rules), with the alley vibe, known for less restrictions (as the place tell you can do what you want).
It also presents the story in a different way. While they are dancing inside the campus, they imagine that they are outside of it.
The Story: (5 points) This deserves a perfect score, as this is the first time that they used this to connect the dots behind previous two songs. This also serves as synthesis of what they are, what they want to be, and how they do it.
- Other factors
Domino:
- Shares with other songs (5 points). At 0:32 – 0:46, their tune shares almost similar tune with Oneus’ Valkyrie at its first fifteen (15) seconds.
Spotlight:
- Shares concept from other groups (5 points). This refers to their setting where they almost copied the brick-and-fence setting from SEVENTEEN’s “Very Nice.”
The Story:
- Resembles other stars (5 points). At 6:50, a member quite resembles Taehyung (V) of BTS.
All videos:
- Uploads the video to 1theK (5 points each). This is in consideration of utilizing the video channel in promoting their content.
- Features the 1theK logo (0 points each).
1the9 is part of 1theK group.
No choice but to rate it at zero points. Ever wondered why 1theK itself didn’t care to feature it, considering that it also manages three out of nine members. It should have featured the logo, even as a simple poster on the wall.
TweetNewscaster’s Overall Rating (Separate):
- Domino: 82.73%
- Spotlight: 90.91%
- The Story: 90.91%
TweetNewscaster’s Overall Rating (Consolidated): 88.18%
Final Words
Again, this is the first time I reviewed all three in a single article. And so far, this is the only time in K-Pop that a group released more MVs in a single track (except TXT, which released recently their follow-up song called Cat and Dog.)
Pardon also for the delay. It was supposed to be finished last week, but considering the hectic schedule, it was only finished last Monday. However, this afforded me enough time to review these thoroughly.
It needs a little push for them to stand out. However, artwise, I appreciate these, and I find these interesting. I hope to see them improving on their next comeback, as they made a good start on these tracks.
TweetNewscaster 