FreakyFlyBri

I've been a proud Queen's/Diadem since their debut. I'm not going anywhere. I've stuck through them through some particularly nasty scandals. But this is the worst they've encountered yet. It makes Jiyeon's webcam scandal and the member additions seem trivial in comparison. I'm all for sticking by them, and I will continue to, but you need to brace yourself in the event that tomorrow's news isn't pleasant, because lately when KKS makes an announcement regarding T-ara it's rarely good news. The fact that he's not announcing anything sooner means he's taking into account the severity of the situation and trying to figure exactly what course of action he can take that won't irreparably damage T-ara. It's good that you want to continue sticking by them, and I will do the same, but we all need to be realistic about the situation as well. I don't mean to be a downer though, I just need to vent my frustrations and right now this is one of the few safe places to do so.

To be honest I'm not really blaming anyone more than the other right now simply because I think there was a point when all parties involved could've stepped back, reviewed what was going on, and sooner or later deduced that they needed to be proactive and either a.) stop the craziness before it spiralled out of control or b.) once it did indeed get to this point they should have had the foresight to know that they needed to step up and set things right. Whether that be apologizing for any perceived transgressions or just clearing the air and letting everyone know it was a big misunderstanding, I just felt like it was handled messily on their part. Of course, I've read a lot of REALLY great deductions on some fan's part (mad props to you, Mongrolian) that explain just where they may be coming from and what may be the causative factor for them to do what they did. Still, I can't help but feel disappointment in the whole matter. I'm not really sure who I'm disappointed with at this point, either...I don't know if it's the members themselves, or KKS for basically putting them in a situation where they may have already been combustible to begin with, or the netizens for taking the whole matter to entirely new levels of insanity. I'm partially mad with myself as I was hoping to keep a fair distance from threads related to the matter that were created by non-fans and antis, but I failed in that aspect. Still, sometimes it's a good way to get a better perspective from a casual onlooker's point of view, and right now, it ain't pretty. Still though, it's infuriating to read commentary from the peanut gallery...most of the people throwing in their cheap two cents have little to no background knowledge of T-ara as a group and are just there either because a.) everyone loves a good drama, or b.) they've never been fans of the group to begin with and they think it gives them credence to spew the nastiest, most hateful vitriol about the members that they can. They want to get all up in arms about cyber-bullying, yet they're even worse than the people they're lashing out at, and I just find it to be utterly hypocritical. Ultimately I'm not indefinitely calling them immature, I just wished that all of this had been handled in a better manner. One thing that the last two days have proven to me is that sometimes the supposed strong friendships people like to boast of their bias groups in K-Pop are as manufactured as the concepts and music. I used to think that the girls in T-ara were all really close, and to see the cracks in their already fragile image showing (hell, not even cracks at this point, it's downright shattering) is just a wake-up call to me, and really, it should be a wake-up call to ANY K-Pop fan who thinks this could never happen to their group, because it can, and more than likely it's been closer to happening than people want to believe. It's just that they aren't incompetently managed, and their label knows how to nip a problem in the bud before it gets to this level of ridiculousness. Ultimately I hope for the best possible resolution for all parties involved. If that means some members need to leave to be happy, so be it. If that means the girls take a break for a year, even better. God knows they need it. But I can't be excited for Sexy Love or anything else because as far as I'm concerned the rest of this year has been tainted for T-ara. And that's a damn crying shame, because I remember that in the beginning of the year most people were pegging it as their year to finally come into their own...and it probably would have been, had KKS just LEFT THEM THE HELL ALONE. Lovey-Dovey was a great way to start off the year for them, after their Japanese promotions ended they should've just taken a break and come back at the end of the year (if even that soon) and all would have been well...the sad thing is that I'm taking some sick pleasure in knowing that this has probably fecked up KKS's day majorly. The master troll has been trolled by his own damn creation, and I can't help but feel giddy about it. The student has surpassed the teacher. I just hate that it means T-ara as a group is destroying itself in the process.

Honestly, I'm not really thrilled with anybody right now, save for Qri and Areum, who wisely decided to sit this one out. Eunjung, Jiyeon and Hyomin should've known better than to make comments that could've been taken out of context on a social networking site like Twitter, Boram and Soyeon should've taken the mature route and not said anything at all (especially since they went ahead and deleted their tweets anyways), and Hwayoung shouldn't have added fuel to the fire by calling for a bid for public sympathy. None of them are impressing me right now, their behavior is reminiscent of twelve-year-old girls, so maybe Dani's inclusion shouldn't be such a shock anymore since their mentality is probably closer to her than we thought. And before anybody says anything, I still love them and will continue supporting them, but this whole ordeal is just ridiculous. Anyways, back on topic...I agree that maybe this is all a blessing in disguise. As I sat last night thinking about everything, the one thing that kept crossing my mind is how when idols get involved in scandals too big to be swept under the rug, they are usually put on an extended hiatus to let things cool down. If ever there was a time that such an action was appropriate, it's now. Day By Day showed us that T-ara has enough power to their name that they can withstand some controversy, what with the member changes and everything, but for KKS to keep them on track for two or more comebacks for this year alone isn't going to help matters. Sexy Love/Mirage and T-ara's Effect need to be put on the backburner until next year, and these 8 (maybe soon to be 9, who knows at this point) need to sit down, have a pow-wow, sing a couple of bars of Kumbaya, and GROW UP. All of them. As far as a member leaving goes, I've heard some interesting theories about Hwayoung...that she's actually been rumored to want to leave for some time, and that the member's tweets are actually in reply to her deciding that she's going to leave, and them questioning her level of dedication to the group. If that IS the case, I can somehow understand their frustration with her, but even then all of this Twitter mess is just driving me crazy. It's not that they had problems with each other, that's understandable, it's that all of their dirty laundry is being aired out in public, and they're the ones who seem to be responsible. Sorry, I'm just venting right now. I guess it's all of my frustrations over the past few months finally coming out all at once. I still love T-ara and hope for the best for them and will continue to support them, but I seriously hope they get put on an extended break, both for their sake and for the fan's sake. It's just not fair to keep f*cking with the fandom like this. EDIT: I was so busy ranting that I forgot to say apology accepted lol. But yeah, we're good, if there's anything good that's come out of this mess it's that I've realized that it's time for me to wake up. T-ara had a good run but they're just as fallible and prone to error as anyone else; time to be realistic about their current situation. You're absolutely right about one thing; Queen's need to brace themselves, the proverbial sh!t is about to hit the fan.

You know, I have to say...I know we've had our differences in opinion but I just wanted to apologize, you were absolutely right about everything. I'm not even going to lie, I am delusional when it comes to T-ara, I was truly hoping for the best possible outcome to happen, but I guess I was too naive. When you've followed a group for three years I guess you just always want to believe everything's going to be okay, even when all signs point to it being just the opposite. I just wanted to say that, I don't like being an ass and I'll always admit when I'm in the wrong. To be honest, I've had to take a major step back and examine this whole situation, right now I'm not sure what's going on or who to believe or who's truly the victim and who's in the wrong...makes me realize that I'm just going to kind of stop speculating so much until tomorrow, after we hear this announcement. An ex-industry insider says that a member will probably be leaving, and it's supposedly not Eunjung...who knows anymore. This whole thing has gotten far messier than it ever had to be. The girls need to be put on haitus, no more comebacks for a while, nothing, not until this whole mess is settled. Taking a member out of the group is only a band-aid for a bullet wound at this point...more problems will continue to surface, this is not going to go away no matter how hard they're worked or how many comebacks they make.

Does it matter? The fact is that they stayed quiet. I'm sure Qri has something of an opinion about the situation (because I highly doubt this all started on Twitter), but the fact that she decided to keep it to herself and not air it out on a public forum, even if she normally doesn't have an opinion on anything, is still better than the alternative, which is that she could've joined in.

You're right, Boram never did follow Hwayoung to begin with. Most people just automatically assumed that she followed her because they were members of the same group, lol. Honestly, this situation has become nothing short of frustrating to watch unfold. The ambiguity of it all is what's driving me crazy. To begin with, I don't know what to make of the five who originally started the Twit convo in the first place. When it was just the five of them it seemed like a relatively innocent conversation, nothing horrible or out of the ordinary...they just sounded like they were trying to give someone a pep talk. Then Hwayoung and Hyoyoung chimed in, then Hwayoung's rap teacher, and that's where it all went to hell in a handbasket. If the five of them were guilty of bullying (and reading their messages I still have a hard time seeing it) they need to face the music and stop acting like children. I understand they're all tired and on edge, but now is NOT the time to be sniping at each other, regardless of the circumstances. And this might get me flamed but I don't care, Hwayoung should've known better than to stir the pot by continuing to tweet those additional messages in a bid to gain public sympathy. She's only made this one hundred times worse than it already is, so I hold her just as accountable as I do the members who allegedly bullied her. They're all acting ridiculously immature, which is sad considering the majority of them are in their twenties and should be acting like adults. At any rate, ALL of them are old enough to know better. If they have problems or issues, that's fine. They obviously need some help sorting everything out. But to go about handling their issues like this is downright stupid, I'm quite disappointed in everyone who took part. Good on Areum and Qri for being adults and staying out of what is obviously a VERY messy situation.

QUOTE: Confirmed: There will be serious decision announced in a press conference by KKS about Hwayoung being bullied. KKS is "very concerned." That's what the announcement will be pertaining to. Just pray that it doesn't spell expulsion for anyone.

Nice to see everyone getting some love with special stages! Gotta say that my favorite was Soyeon's...loved that she decided to go with Cutie Honey to perform to, and she was a lot of fun to watch. Dani's Japanese isn't half-bad, either...and she doesn't sound like such a chipmunk when she's speaking (or rapping) in English. Maybe there's hope for her yet, lol.

I know there were fan accounts that claimed Areum took over her parts in Roly-Poly and TTL, but not sure about Lovey-Dovey or Day By Day...I feel so bad that she wasn't able to be there though, that's such a huge thing that she missed. I'm glad that they didn't make her perform though, if she's injured she obviously needs to sit it out and get better! And why in the world are Gangkiz debuting in Japan this year? They haven't even been able to establish themselves in Korea yet. Lord...

I'm still peeved that that concert got cancelled! I so wanted to see T-ara perform and was going to try to get tickets for it. I think it should just be them though, out of all the acts that were featured T-ara is the most well known and it would probably have served KKS and CCM better just to put together a concert of the girls performing their material. I have nothing against Davichi and Yangpa by the way, I'm just not a terribly huge fan of either of their work. I agree. I don't really like all of these new changes and think there were other things KKS should have focused on instead of trying to shoehorn members into the group, but what's done is done and if it really upsets people badly enough then obviously the best course of action would be to not follow the girls anymore. But I've chosen to keep supporting them and will continue to even after Dani debuts, simply because I love 7-ara and am warming up to Areum. I'll also admit that right now my support for Dani comes more from pity than anything else, since she looks so clueless and scared. This is a lot for anybody to take in, I can only imagine some of the stuff she's probably going to have to endure after her debut. I was really critical of her when I found out her age and the fact that she never had aspirations to enter the entertainment industry, but she's ultimately just a kid, and who knows? Maybe she'll surprise us all.

And I think you're a bit too pessimistic to give a fair viewpoint on the situation. Long story short, some of the girls are by no means thrilled with the additions (we've already heard Eunjung give about as honest an answer as we'll ever get regarding her take on Dani and Areum's inclusion in Star Life Theater) but that doesn't mean all the girls hate them either. All anybody has to go on is what we see, and it looked like some of the members were trying to help Dani out while she was on stage and were trying to be supportive of her. She obviously doesn't know much Korean, they could've been rude and just let her sweat it out but Hyomin did her best to translate and Jiyeon tried to be supportive as well. After seeing Dani in this I can't hate on her. Maybe it's because I'm an adult and just can't find it in me to hate on a twelve year-old girl. She's going through that awkward, gangly phase of puberty and she looked nervous and scared. No, I still don't think she should be debuting any time soon, but it is what it is and I wish her the best, simply because she's going to need it. I don't think they plan on entering the U.S. market, but I do think they'll probably utilize her as a spokesperson for English-speaking markets and will probably try to do more activities overseas. It's becoming more and more obvious that KKS is trying to branch out beyond Korea with T-ara. I see them probably doing concerts and tours in other territories if their international popularity continues to grow.

Yeah, pretty much this. If your Spanish reading comprehension is even passable at best like mine you should be able to figure out pretty quickly that it pretty much reads like a Cliff's Notes guide to T-ara, lol. It's a nice intro to T-ara, though, and it's nice to see them making their way over to South America...they've really been gaining a lot of attention with these last few comebacks. It's amazing to see them branching out and getting recognition in the far corners of the world!

In my opinion she's become the best female rapper of the group, and for good reason...her intonation is perfect for rapping, and she writes a lot of her own raps (and some of her labelmate's raps as well). She's passionate about it, and I think she deserved every rap she got on Day By Day.

I see these girls probably doing the stage... From T-ara: Jiyeon, Areum or Hyomin From Sistar: Hyorin From f(x): Sulli or Krystal From After School: Nana, Uee or Raina It should be fun!

Best performance of the song yet! Everyone sang live and sounded great, except for Soyeon (who's still sick).

Haha I know I'll probably be scalped for saying this but I've always thought that Hwa's huskier, deeper voice was more appropriate for rapping than Eunjung's or Hyomin's. I think she could sound right at home on a hip hop track, she's got swag.

I love how Eunjung kind of echoed the sentiment that a lot of the fans had when the new member changes were announced...and I'm glad that even if she couldn't be totally honest about how she truly felt regarding the additions, she at least was able to say "No, it really wasn't okay with me to begin with." I'm warming up to Areum still and I'm still on the fence about Dani, so I can only imagine how they must feel about all of the craziness. But the one thing I was happy to read was the fact that Eunjung has no plans to leave T-ara any time soon! I remember when all of those crazy rumors about Eunjung possibly leaving the group started popping up last weekend due to her wearing black during their Inki performance and I was actually wondering if it was a possibility, but at least we know she's sticking with T-ara, for the time being anyways.

One thing I've loved about this comeback so far is that a lot of the less known members seem to be getting their time to shine, including Boram. I've noticed that she's been getting a lot of love and attention from casual fans who didn't give her a second glance before, and that's definitely a good sign. Plus Boram seems to be so much more open and talkative with this comeback than in past comebacks. I've been watching Star Life Theatre and it's amazing to see her being so candid, I never knew she could be such a conversationalist. She's starting to show people her personality, and I'm loving how much attention she's getting for it. It's still a long way from where it needs to be, but I'm glad that CCM is making efforts to put all the members in the spotlight, even if it's still not equal. They need to start doing this now so that come October they can have a game plan for when the group becomes nine strong. But maybe, just maybe, they're getting there.

Hwayoung truly has come such a long way since her debut...I remember how awkward, shy, and dare I say...messy she looked when she joined the group back in 2010, but she's really come into her own over the last few promotional cycles. She seems to be gaining more confidence and notoriety as a performer with each comeback, and that's exciting to hear that she wants to tackle acting in the future. I just hope she can be healthy about it since once she gets into it it'll probably affect her just as much as the other girls who simultaneously act and try to promote music with the group at the same time. But yeah, this interview has probably been one of the most candid ones yet, I'm surprised at how articulate she is! So it looks like they've interviewed each member, meaning we still get interviews from Jiyeon, Hyomin, and Qri. Can't wait!

I was wondering where Hyomin went but was totally stoked to see that Boram got to take over her parts in the first verse. My little kween is getting so much love lately!!! I might add that I was really impressed with her, I could hear her singing live.

Hahaha I know, I love her laugh! It put the biggest smile on my face to see her laugh out loud like that. I seriously cannot WAIT to see this, it looks like it's gonna be awesome!!!

T-ara's quickly gaining on Sistar, they should be number one on Instiz within a few hours. The only charts they aren't currently topping are Melon's Daily and Real-Time charts (number 3 on both right now), MNet's Daily chart (number 4), Cyworld's Daily chart (hasn't been updated yet), Naver's Daily chart (number 6), Soribada's Daily chart (hasn't been updated yet), and Monkey3's Daily chart (number 4). They're number one on all other charts. This is the best they've done immediately after the release of a new single, that deserves congratulations! This shows just how strong T-ara has become since "Roly-Poly." I have no doubt that "Day By Day" will join "Lovey-Dovey" on the year-end top ten lists, if not exceed it.

It's out, and it's amazing!!! Easily their best effort yet. Go to allkpop's forums if you can't find it, there are threads there with the vid in full!!!

The performance was so good! You can tell that this was a special day for them, those girls were giving it their all. They had to be emotional knowing that this was their last live performance as seven. Still, it's good to see them so energetic and fresh looking, I guess they're as revved up for their comeback as the fans are!

I agree for the most part, but to some extent I feel like some fans still fear that the new girls may take one or more of the existing member's places...hence, why I think some fans are having a harder time accepting them as members than others. Personally, I'm not really thrilled with the additions as I really didn't see the need for them in the first place since T-ara was doing fine as a seven member group...but at the same time I'm not going to lose any more sleep over it either. In time I'm sure I'll grow to love them as a part of the group, and so will other fans, it'll just take time.