Greatest Hits:: Crayon Pop: Bar Bar Bar

 I think this is the third girl group in a row that I've done one of these for. Not specifically for the Greatest Hits posts as the last one was obviously F.T. Island, but one of the specialty posts in general. Why? I'm feeling like the girl groups need some love right now. Especially Crayon Pop. I rarely see them get mentioned, which is a shame because what little I know of the group, they were fun. And with the award season coming up and so many fandoms that are tense and stressed over potential wins, I wanted to give you all something a bit more cheerful. So, no, this isn't a recommendation that was given to me, but at the same time, this is just some fun, second gen goodness that I want you to just enjoy, you know? Have some fun. Take a breather. Relax a bit. Also, their fandom color is apple green with their fandom called Sketchbook. That's adorable. I love that. (Also, congrats on the pregnancy, Choa! I hope everything goes well, and all three of you stay healthy!)

Let's go back to the summer of '13. I was a sophomore, going into my very stressful junior year that caused the only mental breakdown I had in high school (for the non-Americans out there, that's 10th going into 11th grade). Psy's Gangnam Style was still everywhere I turned. And on the other side of the planet, another banger was born. This was from Crayon Pop's second single album. Bar Bar Bar is actually a really impressive song. It was nominated at the 2014 GDA, the 2013 MAMA, the 2013 MMA, the 2014 KMA, and the 2013 Singapore Entertainment Awards (SEA) (please understand why that's the only one I did the full name for instead of the acronym). I'd be willing to bet that it was a strong contributing factors to the ten (10) awards the group won in 2013, one of which was for the 2013 Style Icon Awards, and that's something that I hope you understand why shortly.  (I've already seen the music video. I'm beside myself with glee over getting to show this to you). But, you want to know what major player was also hitting it big around the same time? EXO's Growl. Direct competition and very, very very different styles, but Bar Bar Bar did manage to snag a music show win from Music Bank! If you've never heard this song, you're in for a treat. If you have, I hope this is a welcome blast from the past.

• Group: Crayon Pop
• Debut Date: 2012 July 19
• Company: Chrome Entertainment
• Status: Inactive
• Album: Bar Bar Bar
• Song: Bar Bar Bar
• Release Date: 2013 June 20

I need you all to know that a women's police department did a parody/cover of this song. I couldn't find it, and I'm so sad about this. But it likely exists somewhere.

Also, I just went down a rabbit hole. So before I start talking about how absurdly delightful this song is, I needed to verify something, because watching that music video, it suddenly seemed really familiar. 

I just verified it. Okay. You'll get the video further down. I'm just going to say that I love the 2012 groups.

Lady Gaga liked this song so much that she asked them to perform with her. Honestly, I can see why. 

So, this music video was filmed at an abandoned amusement park with a pretty low budget. But you know what else? This is what we call fun. They're cute and adorable power rangers with thighs of steel, and this is the helmet dance. I'm going to talk more about the choreography, which is most of the music video, down later with the dance practice, but honestly, this is just such a catchy song. It kind of feels like a song that was made to be for a workout because between that very strong beat and the amount of demands for you to move, it is incredibly energetic. 

A lot of the performances you're going to see have had roughly a minute cut from the full song for their performances, which is a shame, but I also understand why given the size of the company and their relatively unknown-ness. I don't agree with it, but I understand why. It's funny watching this because this performance is a bit newer than most of the others, but there are a couple of things I really like about it. First, you can very clearly hear the fanchant, despite this obviously being a crowd that is not predominately made up of their Sketchbook. Again, such a cute name. Second, the crowd itself is so funny. You have some people who are very into it, and not Crayon Pop's normal demographic for the fandom, if I understand it correctly, and then some that kind of look like they'd prefer to be anywhere else. 

But there's one woman there, next to one of the really energetic ones, who looks completely exhausted, but she's still clapping. Depending on when this performance was, I feel that. Because after a long day of stuff, you can enjoy a song, but have no energy to emote that. And with a song this energetic? Yeah. Still, the dichotomy is funny.

Speaking of a delightful dichotomy, here's a hanbok version. I love these costumes. First and foremost, they're just really cute. I mean, look at them. Even in the thumbnail. Second, the song goes really traditional there, and I am all about that. Third, they still have their pants and helmets on, even with the handbook inspired dress/top and skirt. It's just odd, and I like that. And it's still so cute.

This was the performance from the day they won (which was also the day they got their first win out of two). I figured I'd be able to find it for y'all, but I'm still glad I did. Again. Listen to that fanchant. Hilariously, you can also hear the difference in screams. That's genuinely just great. The beginning of the video is also proof of that monumental win. Like, seriously, congrats, Crayon Pop. That was so close.

Here's a fancam from the performance opening for the Lady Gaga concert. Life can just be strange. There's an adorable little mistake in this performance that was brain and stress overriding muscle memory right there. 

If you were curious about learning this, I found this video from 1theK. It's both adorable and instructional. Enjoy.

Okay. Now it's time to talk about the choreography, and the dance practice is the perfect way to do this. Thank you, SHINee for helping to popularize these. 

And, bless, they've got their names attached. Y'all. That's so endearing compared to what we get nowadays usually.

There are so many tiny little details and I'm so glad that this exists so that we don't have all the camera movements and get to actually see them. And first of all, this isn't just choreography. This is a whole aerobics workout.

First of all, the one who is singing isn't always the one in front. They're just kind of popping up wherever they are in the formation, sometimes literally, with different choreography from the other four, which instantly draws the eye to that member. This does mean that there aren't a whole lot of formation changes. They tend to stay in a V, an M, or a line, and sometimes they travel to other spots on the stage in formation. But this is one of those choreographies where you're never quite sure what to expect because things are pretty constantly changing. 

Second of all, that jumping is so satisfying for the same reason that it's satisfying watching pistons and machinery working. I think this may actually have been called the engine dance or the piston dance, and there's a good reason for it. With the amount of jumping that this choreography has, if this group performs this with live vocals, they've got to have some of the most stable vocals in the industry. And I'm exhausted just watching them because again, this is an actual workout. 

Third of all, this is superhero anime choreography. I think I've literally seen some of those poses in anime and- Oh! I just realized where I recognize one of the poses they make! The Kinderguardians from FFX-2! It's probably not the same one, but it's close enough that they feel like cousin moves. Which just further proves my point that as kind of silly as this choreography is, there's something of the epic to it. And they're doing all of this in heels, because those are in fact wedges. Massive amounts of respect.

 

Remember how I said up near the beginning that I suddenly recognized the choreography and needed to verify that and that I would tell you later? It's now later. It's going to be the last thing I add to this just to highlight how well known this song and this choreography were, and also to highlight how difficult that choreography is because this also is a group that has a lot of hopping in their choreography, especially the early stuff when they were young. 

Some of you may recognize the green walls of the Melona Prison.

Y'all don't have to watch the whole thing, at least up until 2:18, but I thought this was After School's choreography. In my defense, I only can recognize one After School's choreography well and I haven't watched this video in ages. 

But I swear, the 2012 debuts are just full of ridiculously talented groups that had surprise flare-ups of popularity. This is NU'EST's dance practice for The girl next door, but they use Bar Bar Bar as part of their warm-up. The four members who are there at the start sync up pretty quickly, but they don't stay that way and Baekho falls over laughing, which says something about how hard this choreography is that we've both now been staring at for a while. (As a side note, I rewatched the full dance practice, and Bar Bar Bar and The girl next door have some of the same moves, and they both have a lot of hopping, but Crayon Pop has probably three times the amount of proper jumping between the two choreographies. It's insane. But also funny that the two songs had some of the same moves.)

I have nothing but praise for Crayon Pop because they handle incredibly difficult choreography so well. And in heels to boot! Well done, ladies. Well done. 

Thanks for coming on this journey with me! I hope you enjoyed the song choice and that you're feeling slightly less stressed. It's cute. It's fun. It's impressive.

And remember, if you'd like me to cover a song, feel free to leave a comment here or wherever it was that you found this, or alternatively, you can always drop something in The Form. The only information I strictly need is what kind of post it would be, and then artist/album/year/song title. Anything else just helps me focus on a specific aspect to make sure that I highlight why you, THE FAN, love this song. And hopefully, we can get others to love it too!

Thanks for reading!

This is Fangirl bouncing out until next time.