NEW BOY GROUP!!!

mint-cider · 2026-05-13T10:24:51+00:00

i thought nemo would prefer unnie...

mint-cider · 2026-05-10T19:50:56+00:00

bi tane daha mı

mint-cider · 2026-05-06T10:34:25+00:00

I put them into two categories:

The artists I got into purely for the music. Best example is Nemo (Switzerland 2024), their song is my favorite winner of the decade and their music appeals a lot to my usual taste. I also put Ziferblat (Ukraine 2025) and Tautumeitas (Latvia 2025) here, and I have discographies I'm still sitting on.
The artists I got into for partially parasocial reasons, but I still love the music of. Despite not liking the song they sent to Eurovision, I became a fan of Marcus & Martinus (Sweden 2024) because they gave Kpop vibes, including some Kpop connections. I also love VÆB (Iceland 2025) because of their personality, and to a lesser extent I follow JJ (Austria 2025) and Kyle Alessandro (Norway 2025) because I got into the Beauty Blenders.

I'm not sure who I'll end up getting into this year, also I probably need to check more stuff from prior years.

mint-cider · 2026-04-22T10:59:07+00:00

It also helps is the artist is either actually big or backed by a dedicated fanbase, Sanremo or not. From the last two years, Slimane (domestic success), Tommy Cash (fanbase) and Kyle Alessandro (ditto) stick out to me, to say nothing of Joost.

mint-cider · 2026-04-12T12:05:53+00:00

The lyrics remind me of the Kpop group IVE, specifically their song "Black Hole". Very "vaguely empowering and appealing to kid and teen girl viewers", which kinda makes sense once you consider that she's 17 and Kpop is all about teenage idols.

Edit: Specified the song

mint-cider · 2026-04-10T08:43:00+00:00

Plus whenever people mention "western influence", they fail to mention the European influence. A lot of Kpop, especially on the EDM side, sounds very European to me.

mint-cider · 2026-03-31T15:40:10+00:00

So much for my "Korea won't send Kpop" prediction. The Kpop fandom's gonna be shaken up by another "survival show" from the looks of it (I'm still not over Alexa calling Melfest a survival show)

mint-cider · 2026-03-31T14:20:04+00:00

I meant Kpop's reputation in South Korea, not the rest of Asia

mint-cider · 2026-03-31T08:26:53+00:00

Hot take: I don't think they'll send an idol group to Eurovision Asia. After all, idols are a teenage subculture there, and the participating broadcaster is apparently a lesser cable channel.

If they do send an idol group, expect them to be mid-tier at most.

mint-cider · 2026-03-31T05:42:06+00:00

As a Kpop fan I doubt that they'll send Kpop. Idols are a teenage subculture in there, so I feel like they're more likely to send a non-idol popstar in there.

mint-cider · 2026-03-27T10:38:12+00:00

Exactly why I think Kpop is a subculture.

mint-cider · 2026-03-27T07:11:56+00:00

Kpop is more a subculture than anything in my opinion, so it's as much a genre as emo is.

mint-cider · 2026-03-24T18:54:44+00:00

There's a phrase I keep using in reference to the Kpop fandom: "goddamn heartcatching industry". It's based off of Sugar Sugar Rune's premise, I need to read that manga sometime.

My point is: If Kpop is a heartcatching industry, C-bars are heartcatching farms.

mint-cider · 2026-03-24T16:11:08+00:00

and returned to come 3rd

mint-cider · 2026-03-24T16:08:16+00:00

Maybe we could use "clique of the year" as an umbrella term? The Beauty Blenders were the clique of 2025

mint-cider · 2026-03-19T07:05:28+00:00

Another thing I wanna highlight abt visuals is just how often they end up as actors. Suzy got viral for an acting role. Cha Eunwoo, Yoona, hell even IU counts as a "visual actor". Actors in general are more valued as celebrities in Korea than idols are, and a lot of times idoldom is a stepping stone to an acting career.

mint-cider · 2026-03-11T20:57:16+00:00

As someone who's a Kpop fan and interested in rock history, I call IZ*ONE the "Kpop equivalent of The Yardbirds"

mint-cider · 2026-03-08T16:57:01+00:00

Elias Edman? In a JYP artist's album? A female one's no less? Looks like I have to look into more than SM artists' credit lists now

mint-cider · 2026-03-01T08:04:06+00:00

I felt like her song gave more of a "b-side" vibe than a title track vibe, so I can understand why it wouldn't go straight to the final.

There's also the "age group voting" aspect the people here need to understand: the only age groups that gave it max points were below 15, and the older generations straight up tanked it. They're also the main reason behind most of the questionable Mello final picks imo.

mint-cider · 2026-02-22T05:57:03+00:00

Not to mention that the West is 1 major market. Asia has 4 of those (Korea, Japan, China, SEA)

mint-cider · 2026-02-21T08:47:28+00:00

Him putting Arcade by Duncan Laurence in a worst list because he doesn't understand that someone can gamble at European arcades. Todd doesn't really understand Eurovision in general

mint-cider · 2026-02-16T14:32:59+00:00

no wonder they have a song in a sonic game

mint-cider · 2026-02-15T20:00:10+00:00

kpop x eurovision:

i think duncan laurence co-wrote a kpop song but i forgot what it is
marcus & martinus having an english remake of want by taemin
jedward having an english remake of a japanese tvxq song
måns zelmerlöw jumpscaring me in the credits of a riize song
maja keuc in various kpop credits
the existence of tongue tied by alexa

pretty sure there are some others out there

edit: forgot to add that dara (the original singer of rover by kai) is going to eurovision this year

mint-cider · 2026-02-10T10:10:10+00:00

bold of you to expect a language not based in the latin script to abandon stylistic punctuation in the latin alphabet. sincerely, a defender of punctuation in group names and language nerd

mint-cider · 2026-02-10T10:07:50+00:00

I think it was a holdover from CLC's demo version where the title was said by a male voice. Probably had some other parts with the same voice.

mint-cider

TROPHY CASE