Greatest Hits:: AOA: Miniskirt

 Welcome to August and the beginning of songs that could be considered "Events" in some way. It's what I'm calling this month, anyway. And we're starting with one of the technically milder songs, but still one of the bigger ones because of what this song did for the group. Cultural impact, not just a dinosaur-killing asteroid impact crater in terms of group popularity counts here in August, so you'll be seeing a range. Also, I'm going to quietly admit that I have fallen into my tendencies again for August, so you can expect boy groups to be b-sides and the girl groups to be title tracks and I really don't mean to do that as consistently as I do, so while I'm looking at the rest of the year, I'm going to have to be thinking about that tendency. Case in point, we have a girl group's title track to start out the month of August (my VIP friend picked this one from my list I was thinking about for August).

AOA debuted in 2012 as an eight-member group under FNC Entertainment, inactive since 2020 though I'm not counting them as done and gone because as we've seen recently with several YG groups, you don't actually have to have any members left at the company to still have your group housed there. That being said, after the scandals and everything the group faced in the latter part of their eight-year-run, I'd be curious to see what kind of line-up they'd have if they decided to get back together. Maybe for their fifteenth, since that's next year. That might be fun.

Miniskirt was released in 2014 as the title track for their fifth single album, Miniskirt. This was one of the biggest hits of 2014, hitting an impressive eleventh place on Melon Weekly Top 100 and an equally impressive eleventh place on the Gaon Weekly chart, though not the same week, and for the monthly charts, we have a healthy thirteenth place on Melon's chart and an eleventh for Gaon, though, again, not the same month, eventually ranking in at number fifteen on Melon's 2014 annual chart. It's also been making a comeback since October of 2025, managing to chart again, which I personally love to see even if the group isn't active anymore. But what's more impressive than any of that is this song gave them their first win five-hundred fifty days after debut! Our lyricists and composers are Brave Brothers (4Minute, After School, Park Bom, Sunmi, Samuel, BIGBANG, Brave Girls, Sistar, HyunA, Boyfriend, T-ARA, Lee Seung Gi, HELLO VENUS, DKB, BTOB, Uni. T, Dal Shabet, Candy Shop, ZE:A, and UKISS) and Chakun (AOA, The KingDom, HELLO VENUS, TRENDZ, Samuel, Teen Top, Weki Meki, Boyfriend, T-ARA, Sistar, DreamNote, INI, DKB, Candy Shop and BAE173). Our only composer is Elephant Kingdom (HyunA, Sunmi, After School, 4Minute, BTOB, Sistar, Teen Top, 9Muses, HELLOVENUS, ZE:A, UKISS, Brave Girls, BIGSTAR, and C-REAL). Which means that this song actually shares a lot of songwriting DNA with Rollin' by Brave Girls and, ironically, was also the song that saved this group as well.

• Group: AOA (Ace of Angels)
• Debut Date: 2012 August 09
• Company: FNC Entertainment
• Status: Inactive
• Album: Miniskirt
• Song: Miniskirt
• Release Date: 2014 January 16

As an unrelated note, but because I love finding little fun facts like this, one of the member's younger sister is in BerryGood, which I also covered back in May during "Battle of the Bridges" month.

Oh, look. Another song that had to have the choreography altered for broadcast because it was too provocative. I regularly find a lot of fun digging into those songs.

And because I am who I am, I'm going to gently but pointedly note that the maknae was seventeen when this song was released, and there are some questionably low camera angles on some of the members during the music video. I'm also seeing some comments on the music video defending the seventeen-year-old being a part of the sexy concept because imposing age limits on something as harmless and insignificant as dancing is projecting something onto the legal children.

It's not the children I have an aggressive issue with.

So, here is where I'm going to respond to those comments, but delicately as opposed to the angry hissing I usually do and without using inflammatory feelings. There are two basic principles of nearly every entertainment industry: it is built on exploitation (willing or unwilling) and that sex sells. But my perspective is this: children (even seventeen-year-olds who are nearly legally adults) legally cannot protect themselves and require adults to do so on their behalf. Not every adult will because not every adult wants to. Also, I have already covered a group that literally was exploited for the song, and the entire group was in their twenties at the time, so age obviously isn't the only factor, nor is a present power imbalance (or a perceived power imbalance). There's a very specific reason why I quit being a sociology major in college and I can still rattle off a lot of the statistics I had to memorize while I was one. Most of them are wildly depressing.

So. There's my requisite defense and response, which is actually about four paragraphs shorter than it was originally before editing happened, and I wouldn't have gone on this long if I didn't think that commenter was categorically incorrect, but I'd rather take the Enlightenment approach and respond this way than get into a fight in YouTube comments. For the rest of the song, I'm going to try to pretend that Chanmi was about six months older than she actually is, because it's been eleven years and I haven't seen anything implying that the members have spoken out against the song or the concept. 

And actually, there's a strong defense of the song in that Yuna says this is her favorite song. 

There's no denying that this is an incredibly sensual song, but this is one hundred percent a sister song to Abracadabra by Brown Eyed Girls (and funny story, Abracadabra is the third of the recommended videos after this one, so even YouTube agrees with me, and Something by Girl's Day is the second one, which actually adds to the narrative of reclamation if we are looking at these three songs in conversation with each other and absolutely not am I going to do that right now. I see that rabbit hole. I'm not doing it). It's got a similar liminality to it, but where Abracadabra is a rewiring of reality, this is a frame narrative structuring a wish or a dream made real by some hidden desire. 

There's so much symbolism for purity or innocence at the beginning. The gossamer white curtains flutter softly in a spring breeze (obviously spring because of the pastels with both the beige wall and her Daisy Duke shorts that are a light blue, where a summer setting would have more saturation and vividness) to evoke that sense of freshness and youth. There's a soft royalty to the room, princess and not queen. Her shirt is loose and white, as are the sheets as she gets into bed. Even as the camera moves up the side of her leg, it's still a soft movement rather than an aggressive one. A caress, if you will.

And then she falls asleep.

And suddenly there's color and the sensual choreography in a liminal space as the actual song starts.

The lighting is still soft because the shadows are not strong enough to indicate that this is using hard lighting, and the lighting effects soften everything and make it dreamlike, except for when they're in the choreography space.

And actually the pose she's in at 3:14 is very similar to how she's sleeping at 3:17. Almost identical.

So the majority of the song takes place in a dream, and to reference a Disney song, a dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep. (That's actually my least favorite Disney movie, but if you knew how often I hummed that specific song, you'd think it was my favorite.) 

With the contrast between the amount of soft white in "reality" and the saturation and amount of color of the sensuality in the dream, the song is obviously about the hidden desire of youth to grow up, even when the outward projection of the persona being put out in the world tries to hide or disguise that desire. Which is why we occasionally get flashes of the soft white of reality breaking through the dream. You could also argue that the music video is actually a representation of the Id and the Ego. I'm not going to. But you could. 

Each member has a reality version and a dream version. The reality version is the one in white, the ones in the bath tub and the shower to represent the perceived cleanliness of youth, and the dream version is the one with color and deep contrasts.

It's actually wildly fitting, considering the maknae would be turning eighteen in less than five months and would begin stepping into adulthood and figuring out who she is, which the others likely were still in the same state because none of them were really that old. 

The prominence of dressing and undressing, along with the amount of variation for the clothing, very much supports the idea that they're trying out different versions of themselves, including office worker, which is a standard job for the non-idol and could also represent the life that the members could be leading had they not gotten jobs that required dancing like this.

Honestly, one of the most powerful parts of the music video is at 2:06, when I think that's Jimin who yanks what looks like a very heavy necklace off her neck and drops it, rips off part of her dress that restricted her movement a bit and tosses it behind her unceremoniously. She's literally removing the trappings of things that she doesn't need and are keeping her from moving how she wants.

And at 1:00, the dream version of Jimin, the one who rips apart what she's wearing, is the one watching whichever member that is while she's sleeping, like she's waiting to see the transformation she wants, because even at this moment, she's wearing things that are beautiful, but restrict her. 

And you want to know the best thing about this music video? Honestly, you could see the concept as being unnecessarily provocative, to which I say, you're absolutely allowed to read it that way, but the stronger interpretation is that even though they're seemingly taunting the camera, Jimin's actions strongly indicate that rather than the focus being on who is watching, the focus is actually on becoming who they want to be, regardless of who is watching. That's why there are so many different outfits. That's why we have shower and bathing scenes (to literally wash away the old). That's why we have the soft lighting throughout the entire thing. The music video is about embracing the hidden parts that they wish they could show more or that they want to become.

There's also a pair of pumps that I swear I wore for my high school graduation. Silver and sparkly and high. I don't wear them too much anymore just because practicality wins out, but I have them still. Just in case.

There's an extended cut of the music video, and it's interesting. The majority of it is taken up by choreography as a version of a performance video, but then the extra bit at the end is more of the vibes with some extra little bits to join in. It's cute.

I mean, obviously, it's still very sensual, but I think it's pretty cute. Especially with the dog. 

I love the internet sometimes. In this case, preservation of the music show performances. Y'all know that I love to start these out with Music Bank if I can, but the performances from the applicable channel are bundled together in one video and I didn't want to do that. Not that this included the names with the lyrics, so I could have chosen one of the other stages as it wouldn't have really mattered, but I kind of miss this.

This is also the first instance you're getting of the choreography that had to be modified, as I previously mentioned. Most of it is the floorwork at the beginning and the iconic unzipping of the eponymous skirt, but this is one of those instances where if you didn't know it was modified, you might be forgiven for not realizing the choreography had been modified. But these skirts have the zipper down the side, even if they're unused. 

The relatively high collars are also doing a great job of concealing their throats. As good as they look in the office attire, and they do, but the folded point collar has enough of a stand that I'm not getting a good look to check for live vocals. And yes, I did just give myself a crash course on shirt collars, which both is something I've never really thought about previously and also has resulted in the word "collar" no longer looking like a real word.

Choa has a hand mic, which is usually a good indication that there might be live vocals on hand, and she's got some vibrato that you don't hear in the studio recording that caught my attention at 2:42. Slightly earlier at 2:36, though, there's a spot that also doesn't quite match between what I'm looking at and what I'm hearing, but I can think of several explanations (most of which would require me seeing what the sound engineers were doing on that spot because there could have been live effects for that line) (also, I recognize that the audio that gets sent to the official broadcast and thus the version that's on YouTube is often AR or Live AR, so this could simply be the disconnect on the part of KBS using a different set of audio vocals for this than were present at the time of recording.). But, again, being female and lacking an Adam's apple combined with the collar is making it a little difficult to check.

One of them, I think Jimin, gives a little whoop at 1:17, which is actually a good sign if we're looking for at least partially live vocals, though. 

However. What I really like about this performance (and the real reason why you're getting this one first) is the stretch starting at 1:20 and the camerawork. That's a handheld camera right there on stage, not a jib, and you can literally see the shadow of the cameraman at 1:26. But it's been a performance with jibs and the more-static static cams, as per usual, and then that sudden switch is so good. As opposed to at 2:00 with the obvious jib. The movements to focus on the relevant members during that little stretch are visually disruptive in such a good way to jolt the brain a bit to refocus it, and coming in at about the halfway mark is perfect timing in the context of the song in case you're a casual and only sort of paying attention. I say casual affectionately. I'm a casual fan of a lot of groups. And video games. And books. And movies. And if you are here and not a fan of AOA or particularly interested (although thank you for getting this far into this post), that little switch is basically to ask for your attention again.

Next up, we have their first performance of this song, which was on MCountdown, and does feature the floorwork at the beginning as well as the unzipping. And I'd like to point out that this stage has over four million views on its own. I did mention that August is for events, and not all events are massive, laser-filled events that can be seen from space with massive numbers of back-up dancers and enough bass to actually change my heart rate to match it. 

Honestly, their LBDs (that's an acronym for "little black dress" and is a fashion staple that I think everyone should have in their closet, and I said everyone) are reminding me a lot of mod dresses from the 70s, just in black. This is just classy. Simply classy. I also think their mic packs are attached to their dresses at the top in the back. The dresses also aren't all the same even though they're all very, very similar, similar enough that I initially thought they were all the same and I was going to make a comment on that, but they're not identical. And case in point that always amazes me about the female idols' clothing (and dancers in general) while they're performing, their dresses, skirts, and shorts, no matter how short, almost never ride up. The stylists know their business. That's why they're in charge and not me.

There's also something very particular that I want to point out about this one, which is the performance you see whenever someone wants to talk about this song so there have been a lot of people who have seen it but may not have noticed this. All of the members have a tan stripe up their right side, which highlights the split when the dresses are unzipped at :58. All of the members except one: Chanmi, the maknae who was only seventeen. She's also in the back during that part, and the camera doesn't go over to her at all during what is arguably the most iconic part of the choreography. The camera actually stays away from her for the most part (notice how fast it moves away from her at 1:35 while she's on the floor) so while I'm not overly fond of her age here for this particular song, I'm not dissatisfied with how she's treated.

Oh, and if you were wondering why there were only six members, one of them didn't participate in the release and one of them had an ISAC induced leg injury.

Speaking of legs, at :48, even under the dark pantyhose, you can see the line of thigh muscle at the side and also just above the knee. Her leg right there is also the backdrop for the hand details in the choreography, including some gorgeous nails.

I saw in the comments that Choa's voice cracked at 2:50, so obviously, I had to take a listen. And I didn't hear it the first three or so times I listened because I was expecting something big and obvious. I'm still not entirely positive that I'm hearing anything. I thought I did, but it's not consistent enough for me to definitively say that it's present or not.

Also, shout out to the fan who screams Choa's name at 3:09.

And then just because it was such a momentous occasion, here's the performance on Inkigayo on February ninth, which was the day the song and thus the group got their first win. This one is currently only just under two million views.

Only. 

Paltry numbers.

This is sarcasm. For the record.

We're back with the office attire and a blue skirt with red heels this time, which is fun, and this might be my favorite look we've had so far for the song. And the white shirts this time around look like they may have a collar more like they're winged, just not buttoned up too much. I told you. I learned about shirt collars. Also, fun fact, the song dominating the charts and the music shows at the time was Something by Girl's Day, which is why there's a comment on this performance along the lines of "This was the song that surpassed the invincible Girl's Day 'Something'".

Also, Yuna during the bridge at 2:30 is utterly gorgeous. I mean, they're all gorgeous, but I was specifically caught by her.

Did y'all know that this win was because the Girls' Generation fandom rallied behind AOA and helped them get a perfect fandom score in the voting after an Elvis (the fandom name) posted in their community? That's pretty cool, and it's something that I think the bigger fandoms should do during an "off-season" for their group. If the group isn't actively in comeback mode, there are smaller groups that need support to survive, which was the plea the fan made: that they may not have another comeback if AOA didn't get a win.

I absolutely adore the radio broadcasts. If I can find them, I share them with y'all.

Yuna over there with Jimin is adorable at the "AOA" part at the very beginning and Chanmi spends so much of this recording doing the choreography in tiny. She also laughs a little at the radio host at 1:17 for being a little silly with them. The host also moves her headphones at 2:11 so that she can hear better and does the "Oooh, oooh" part. Hyejeong at :31 and 1:37 has some very cute little hip and shoulder wiggles. 

I do have to say that they do actually sound very similar to the recording. Choa's voice is stronger and Jimin has a stronger tone when she sings (if this was a soup, the amount of garlic got doubled here), but otherwise, it's very similar to what we've been hearing. This is good, and that actually bodes well for the previous stages I shared. They've got strong vocals.

Excellent.

Hey, so remember how much time and energy I spent on the army performance section back for Rollin' by Brave Girls?

You didn't think I'd let their army performance go, did you? Not when this song got a boost because of the ROK army too.

The video spends more time on the men than the members, but most importantly, listen to soldiers singing along during the chorus at 1:36. In that section, one of them is literally sitting on the shoulders of one of the others, which is wildly hilarious. I laughed at the stampede of wildebeest superimposed over the men rushing the stage and startled my dog.

I'm glad they enjoyed it.

The aggressive singing along with the cover of Tell Me by Wonder Girls also made me laugh. It's good to know that the army boys are the same no matter where they're from.

So this is a cover with the fromis_9 members as five from KBS Gayo Daejeon 2025, a delightfully recent performance from the hoobaes that sent a lot of people back to the music video and the stages, and the best part is that some of the slightly more problematic bits of the lyrics were changed. Chaeyoung, Jiwon, and Hayoung all had line changes (and that fact and this cover were apparently deemed important enough to the song's history that it got mentioned on the Namu Wiki). It's also good enough that this cover picked up some more fans for fromis_9, which is always important even if this isn't the full song.

Whoever made the decision to put two of them in pants, I love you. Jiwon's glasses were getting a lot of mentions in the comments. Chaeyoung in the pantyhose got a lot of attention. Nagyung's vocals got a lot of attention.

And, look. I've been watching a lot of these stages and performances, trying to find some for y'all, so I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on this song. And while I, admittedly, do like fromis_9 a lot, I do think that they handled the song well enough that I'd consider them a worthy successor. 

Y'all also didn't think I'd do this post without the Queendom performance, did you? We're down to five members here, but they're five women with seven years of experience in the industry and it just hits different. And now, of course, we get the names attached to the parts. (It literally just occurred to me that Park Bom only has a few more years of experience than AOA, so she may be the eldest there, but she's not sunbae by a lot.)

It took me the entire post to get you a performance with the names.

I love how it got rearranged to have a bit more of a latin vibe, and then a bit of a drum major flavoring over the top of that during the new dance break.

I want to specifically shout out Chanmi's dance break at 2:44. Like, the rest of the dance break is so cool with a leveled intensity to the camera that I really appreciate seeing. And I don't want y'all to think that the four of them don't have a really cool section. But Chanmi's part with her very sexy floorwork? Gorgeous, darling. Absolutely stunning. 

And then, of course, if you wanted to see the performance with the reactions from the other contestants, that's here. There is some squealing, and I love to see idols fangirling over other idols and doing the choreography in tiny.

And if you look carefully at their shoes, such as at 4:33, you may notice something shiny around their shoes that isn't a strap. What that actually is is a stripe of tape to help stabilize the heel so that they don't break. Cool, huh?

Dance practice time! And it's with the seven members who participated!

Again, it's amazing that their dresses weren't riding up with this choreography during the performances. You can also see the tape here on their shoes. Bet you're wondering if the previous stages also used that trick. Go ahead and go check. I can wait.

At :44, when they say "high heel", they reach back to touch their shoes, and at the word "stocking", they glide their hands up their offered leg.

It's very dynamic at 1:07, when they're wiggling and some of them are slowly going down, it's very dynamic and smoothly pleasing, as is 1:12 when they're rotating their hips to either lower or raise themselves, depending on where they were at with the end of the wiggling. It's very dynamic and using the different height levels is always such a nice thing to be seeing in choreography.

I'd also like to point out that they've got Chanmi the maknae tucked away a little when they're doing the chair work, which is good. I like that.

The choreography, in general across the board, is both sexy and classy, sensual in a way that holds up twelve years later when music trends have changed and even a new version has come out from the meme on TikTok. I'd say twelve years in a fast-paced industry is long enough to call a song iconic.

Thanks for reading, Champions! Even though I'm late on posting this! I hope you're enjoying the posts for the year because we have had a range, and I'd like to say that no one is going to be surprised by my picks through the rest of the year but I have one song in there that I can guarantee is going to be a surprise to probably 87.3% of y'all. Or more. But you'll have to wait until December for that. 

I'm still pretty loose on the rest of the year, so if you've got a song you'd like, feel free to toss it my way via either a comment on any post or page here (I get notifications when y'all leave comments and I do reply to every single one because I come from the days of fanfic where readers did that before the silent consumer became popular) or you can of course use The Form if you want structure and questions and complete anonymity. And if you've got an "Event" for me, I'm happy to swap out a song I've already planned.

See y'all soon!

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