The Journey of a Cassie Part Two – The List Pt. 5

And now we’ve come to the moment that everyone – who’s at least been interested – has been waiting for: the reveal of my favourite DBSK member.

For those who’ve not had the chance – or the interest – to take a gander at the previous four, a quick recap: Changminnie took the number five spot [1], followed by leader-ssi, Yunho at number four [1]. Then it was, possibly, the most shocking member placement, Xiah Junsu at number three [1]. Our runner-up was the gorgeously talented Park Yoochun [1], which leaves only one member left.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The DBSK member that takes the top spot is none other than…

Jaejoong.

Now, there was a tussle between JaeJae-oppa and my number three, Kim Junsu. Truth be told, upon first impression their respective places on the list would’ve been reversed, leaving Xiah where many of you felt he belonged. However, upon getting to know Jaejoong – as much as someone can get to know another person from afar – the only option was to put him first.

Firstly, that voice. Anyone who knows me well knows that, as far as I’m concerned, technical perfection doesn’t necessarily make a voice perfect. While he isn’t exactly the vocal technician that Junsu is, Jaejoong has a purity in his voice that’s astonishing, a clarity that I’ve not heard in an artist in quite some time. His ability to mould sound allows him to effortlessly dance between genres. The difference between him and Junsu is that Jaejoong can sing literally any genre.

More than just being able to float between them, he seemingly bends genres to fit his will. Jae is a mood ring – with a roll of his tongue he can change the stars and make music out of any moment in time. In a span of 45 seconds he can move between R&B, rock, pop, and trot — the oldest form of pop music in Korea.

His range begins with a husky growl at a low tenor and a powerful wail when singing in a full voiced high tenor to low falsetto. When the man sings rock music, the angels incessantly weep – no wonder it rains so much in the summer in Korea [1].

When he wisps into his head voice, he literally attacks the notes and they come out crystalline and delicate as opposed to screechy and shaky. His vocal timing is spectacular, being able to improvise with a piano as if his voice were the composer of a song predestined to fit his disposition at that moment.

Cy

As unexpected as my path was to loving all things weird, more unexpected is my ability to get attention for writing about the stuff.

26 Responses

  1. Julyssa says:

    I mean, you just got in to DBSK. How the hell can you talk about Jae as u been a fan for years? xD

    But I got to admit, everything you wrote, makes me realize that I would probably put Jae in my number one spot as well…

    • Camiele says:

      @Julyssa, Woot woot! Seems like I’ve made a conversion of my own :P

      Because I SWEAR Junsu was it for you!

      Thanks, though. Gives me confidence that I know what the hell I’m talkin about :D

      • Julyssa says:

        @Camiele,

        Dude, I can’t even begin to try and rank the boys in my heart. Cus it’s a different think with them everyday and I find myself in some form of love/hysteria/hormones roller-coster with them.

        You are far more brave then I will ever be :P

        • Camiele says:

          @Julyssa, HaHa! Well…we’ll see hwo my list transforms as years go by…or months…days…

          ANYWAY…HaHa.

          I think it’s pretty much definitive here for me now. Though Jae’s not even my favourite member, per se, for me he naturally fit in the number one spot. Weird, I know. But that’s just how I see it realistically.

  2. fifi_moon says:

    I totally agree with what you said about his personality; his face is pretty but if that’s all he had I doubt he would capture our attention as he has.

    Its really his voice that gets me, how raw is can sound some times.

    http://youtu.be/zeAEI8qO50I

    This is the moment he made my brain totally melt.

    • Camiele says:

      @fifi_moon, Good. Lord O.O

      Yeah, the clip I have of him singing rock music, this song is the first song he sang. I always wondered where it was from. And now I know and now I’m even more mad about him…GAH! That voice…just…what…just…hfdioajvmreohijuiometa.

      Ahem…anyway. Thanks so much for reading. As I said, yeah, if it were just looks, Junsu would’ve actually been number one, with Jaejae at number three. But, Jae just stole it for me.

  3. Cheryl says:

    This is such a pretty post. :D

    • Camiele says:

      @Cheryl, HaHa. Thanks so much :). Whether it’s from Jaejoong-oppa or from my writing, I appreciate it. I don’t think anyone’s ever said anything I’ve written was pretty ^-^ :bows deeply:

  4. purplelykthat says:

    i’ve read and re-read your commentary on jae several times. lol. it pretty much sums up my sentiments on him.

    the voice! how you described the voice is perfect. it was his voice that pulled me in and then when i heard/saw the rest of him…personality and anime good looks…i was a goner :P

    excellent review ♡

    • Camiele says:

      @purplelykthat, HaHA! “Anime good looks”…yeah, that makes sense. Never thought of it that way…but that’s soooo real.

      Thanks so much for reading this. I mean, it’s always a voice for me. It starts there. It’s like everything with me (and probably most people)…you see the person first then they open their mouths. It just so happens when Jae opened his mouth I fell in love…HaHa.

      Thank you, really, for responding :)

      • purplelykthat says:

        @Camiele, you’re welcome. i quite enjoyed it. so true… people do see the person then the voice. for me it was the exact opposite. one lonely friday night, i was browsing dramas to watch and chance upon one and this song and this voice was so hauntingly beautiful. turned out, the voice was jae’s. lol it just snowballed from there and hasn’t stopped yet. (:

        • Camiele says:

          @purplelykthat, Oh yeah. I know all about that. I heard his voice by itself…I actually don’t know how. But when I did, I fell…and I mean HARD!

          I really thought to myself, “Ain’t no way in HELL a face like that has a voice like that coming out of it!!!” I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but I never really gave much credence to Kpop because I hadn’t heard any singers — a whole bunch of really pretty boys with pretty flashy dancemoves. Not really for me. Also, I’d always listened to Japanese music (from anime, but, I mean, it’s really good stuff). Most of it was jazz and rock…then Jaejonog happened! So, yeah, now I’m dead forever…HaHa!

  5. YAYA says:

    i love your comment about jaejoong. its so well-written.. keep it up girl. and i also like the way u comment about yuchun and junsu. it is so perfect.. i love JYJ.. jyj fighting =)

    • Camiele says:

      @YAYA, Well, thank you so much, YAYA. I’m glad you enjoyed the read. Indeed…JYJ HWAITING! Kim Jaejoong HWAITING! Park Yoochun HWAITING! Kim Junsu HWAITING! HaHa :)

  6. xavi says:

    This pretty much sums up why I ended up having Jaejoong as my bias too. As a singer myself, I actually pay more attention to vocals than the looks, and when Jaejoong started Doushite, I was speechless. Then there was Maze, It’s my World and Crying (the vibrato is just Q___). There’s just something in Jaejoong’s voice that I don’t find in Junsu’s (who btw is a brilliant singer too) . The fact that he’s extremely attractive and has a very charming personality just adds up to his appeal x100000 lol.

    I really enjoyed reading it. Well Written!

    • Camiele says:

      @xavi, Thanks so much :) I’m glad you enjoyed it. HEY! Have I seen you on Sharing Yoochun…? Because your name is MAD familiar. Anyway…HaHa. I’m so glad that you enjoyed my write-up. In all fairness, Yoochun’s my favourite, but in terms of what I think is reality, Jae’s the obvious number one for me. I don’t know if that makes any kind of sense, but I’m sorta ridiculous like that…HaHa.

      Kamsahamnida for reading :)

      • xavi says:

        @Camiele, LOL, yes I do often visit SYC…hmmm now even your name sounds familiar :D Yoochun is such a troll, I love him! hahaha actually it doesn’t make sense, but Jaejoong does that to people. I have a few friends who have serious love-hate feelings for him xD

        • Camiele says:

          @xavi, Hahah! Love-hate feelings! That’s hilarious. I actually do stalk Sharing Yoochun, but I’ve never actually commented on there before…HaHa. I guess I’m kind of a creeper XD.

          And, yes. Yoochun = TROLL DELUXE! But I love him for it. If wish he’d gone to my high school…we’d be friends FOREVER because he reminds me of SOOOOO many of the dudes I was friends with…HaHa. As far as Jae’s concerned, he reminds me of all my friends from uni. So, yeah, I’m all kinds of in love with them…HaHa.

        • xavi says:

          @Camiele, LOL no that’s cool.. I’ve started creeping on PrinceJJ too O.O that’s where I saw your blog=p SoulMates are a crazy pair, no wonder they’re joined together by the hip.

          btw I just read all the parts of this blog… hmm I’d replace Changmin with Yunho though … both talent and personality wise lol

  7. Camiele says:

    @xavi, I can understand that. I think many people would’ve done the same. There were just a number of factors for me that when I stacked the two against each other, worked out that the maknae was just a little bit less appealling to me. But, I don’t know, his sense of humour is the most amazing thing about him…and that counts for SOOO much…

    And yes, SoulMates…my life! It’s rare to find someone to whom you’re COMPLETELY compatible, and these two got damn lucky they found each other. What are the odds O.O.

    And, yeah. I sorta freaked major when I found out that my blog had been passed on to PrinceJJ…HaHa. The world, so small. The Cassies = NINJAS!

  8. Rodrigo says:

    Lol @ “How the hell can you talk about Jae as u been a fan for years? xD”

    Hmm… I found it interesting that you used a “Happy Birthday” video to illustrate Jaejoong’s singing skills.

    Dunno if I’d be able to debate properly your ranking (it was fun reading the articles thanks to your touch), but I think you could have swapped Junsu and Yoochun. Because the way you talked about Junsu seemed a lot more convincing to place him at #1 or #2 when compared to the praise you give to Yoochun. But that’s just me.

    I’ll launch you a question: which member could have the better future as a solo singer/artist and which one would have it tougher on his own? Dumb question because the ranking itself could answer it, but there it goes.

    • Camiele says:

      @Rodrigo, As regards the “Happy Birthday” video, it was the first one (don’t know if it’s the only one) that I saw that showed Jae singing in four different styles in the span of around 45 seconds. Literally, after he was finished with one genre it’d take one beat and he’d do another, then another. Just showing how easily it is for him to shift from genres without breaking a sweat…HaHa.

      Relating to Junsu, I know it’s kinda weird for most fans that I put Junsu so low. However, Yoochun was always going to be #2 for me, regardless of the fact that he’s my favourite member. I think in terms of the technical merits of Junsu, they do outshine Yoochun’s, and to a certain extent, Jaejoong’s. But the natural ability of Yoochun outshines Junsu’s years of training. I’m not knocking his training by ANY means, because obviously he has a great degree of talent to be able to do what he does, especially vocally. Maybe the lack of being able to convince anyone otherwise is because I feel so at ease with Yoochun. I think what makes it convincing, for me (and probably ONLY me) is the fact that so much of him appeals to me personally. Perhaps the connection is TOO personal and what I find as obvious pluses over Junsu just don’t do it for people, which is fair. I might do a little bit of a re-write on that one as well to get my point across better.

      Now, to your ACTUAL question…HaHa. I honestly think any of the JYJ boys could make a commendable career solo; however, I think that Jaejoong has the most overall potential in terms of who he could reach. I’d place Junsu at a VERY close (almost interchangeable) second. Both of them have the voices for it. I think JaeJae’s ability to do so much puts him ahead for me (writing, composing, arranging, directing…boy’s gifted). Vocally, he has so much range that he could sing any genre on any given album and make it powerful enough to reach anyone. Junsu’s technical perfection makes him prime talent for the stage, which is why he’s rather dominant there.

      As far as I’m concerned and feel, Yoochun wouldn’t be the best of these three solo singing…maybe rapping, but that’s a shaky maybe. Plus, I don’t particularly think he’d enjoy the solo stage as far as singing’s concerned. He seems like the more behind-the-scenes type. He loves to compose and write lyrics, and he’s amazing at it, as well. I think he’s the better actor of the three; however, in terms of a solo singing career (and it’s gonna sound strange because he IS my favourite of the entire group of five), his voice isn’t necessarily strong enough to carry it off. But his writing, producing, and composing would give him the better career behind the scenes.

      Yunho might have the chops in terms his “star quality”; however, his dancing’s not gonna get by forever, especially since his singing is so weak and his writing is decent, but not outstanding. I’d place him something like a Justin Timberlake (who I hate, but it’s a relevant comparison). Justin has the dancing down, his voice is..meh, at best. And he definitely has the star quality. But what separates and, ultimately, puts him ahead of someone like Yunho is his ability to write great songs. Even with N’Sync (also hate, but also relevant), the songs that he wrote were well composed and very well written.

      Changmin’s voice has great range (as you know, since you’ve read my posts :P ), but it’s not incredibly strong. He’s not really effective as a dancer and his songwriting is simply decent…slightly better and more prominent than Yunho’s. But I don’t think of him as a solo artist. He needs the balance of a group in order to make his voice relevant.

      WHEW. That’s one hell of a response to a comment…sorry. But it was an (surprisingly) insightful comment. I hope people actually read the comments and see what kind of debate can get started! Thanks for reading :)

      • Julyssa says:

        @Camiele, Jfc. What’s with the need of raping our comment sections as of late?
        But you make very good points!
        And if Jae is going solo, he better make a rock album!

        • Camiele says:

          @Julyssa, HaHA! I don’t know! I like commenting to everybody who comments to me because I like to hear myself talk :P I’m all extra giddy, though, because of how much people actually like what I’ve written, so…there ya go! Twitter 1, Camiele 0.

          And, yes, Jae + Rock = PERFECTION!

  9. Teemeah says:

    Oh my, you nailed it so much. I am SOOO torn between Junsu and Jaejoong, it’s like being completely schizo. Both of them are so damn talented musicians (you HAVE to give credit to Junsu for the Tarantallegra album, Intoxication and MISSION – amazingly written!!), both of them can melt me with their voices, both of them are sexy as hell (Junsu’s getting sexier by the day, damn, and did you see just how good he looks in soccer uniform??), and Jae’s personality just cracks me up, he is totally nuts, just like TOP from Bigbang :)))

    But you totally forgot one very important plus point for Jaejoong.

    THE GUY CAN COOK!

    Hell, imagine of you had this guy come over to your house, and you’d introduce him to your mom as “Mom, this is a Korean half-god, and now he’ll cook half naked”. (faint) A guy who is not afraid to get dirty in the kitchen and the house is a major plus, my mom would totally love him for it. :)))

    and well, totally agree on what you wrote about his face, sheeshush christ in heaven, this is just the most chiselled face in the recorded history of mankind and the most amazing eyes I have ever seen. Are the rumours of plastic surgery true? I don’t know but I don’t care either….

    Strange thing is though, I have some friends who are totally unmoved by Jae’s beauty. It’s like they shrug shoulders and dismiss him as “too faminine”… No taste in men, no taste, reallly :))

    • Camiele says:

      @Teemeah,

      O.O

      Okay… HaHA! Let me just take a step back first and say thanks for reading. I totally appreciate it!

      There’s already so much perfect happening in Jaejoong’s life that the cooking aspect would’ve just slayed everybody, so I kept it to the same formula that I had for all the members on the list: musicality, talent, and looks.

      I don’t know about the rumours of plastic surgery. Every idol to ever come out of idol-hood has been rumoured to have plastic surgery. If anything, I can see it in his eyes. They were completely round, single eyelid when he was younger, and he now has double eyelid… which, by the way, he references and mocks all the time, which kinda makes me love him even more. As for general facial structure, it’s pretty much the same. His nose doesn’t look any different. I don’t see anything pointing to his done more than his eyes, if that. When he first started out, he had the baby fat and the teenage awkwardness. But as he started working out and grew into his body, the toning and slimming of his face was only natural. Take also into consideration that lately he doesn’t seem to be taking the best care of himself, and well… plastic surgery doesn’t physiologically add up.

      BUT THAT’S NEITHER HERE NOR THERE! Don’t know why I felt the need to entertain it, but anyway…

      Thank you so much for reading and for your spazz… HaHA. It kinda made my day a little bit brighter. Kamsahamnida *bows*

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