Mubeat Live with Rocket Punch (MC'd by Eunbi of IZ*ONE): if the video does not show watch the video here 'CHIQUITA' on Music Core today: if the video does not show watch the video here
Seriously, Woollim is clueless what to do with the group. I have talked already after watching Lovelyz in Queendom, I feared that the agency would fail to put the Rocket Punch on a right track. Ring Ring was not well-received and they decided to follow the failure with Chiquita. It's the same problem which barred Lovelyz from any success in Queendom. Rocket Punch was initially meant to go with energetic concept and, I think that is the right concept for the group. It resonated with personalities of most members of the group. They just needed a song stronger/catchier than "Bim Bam Bum". The latest retro concept is not "just right" for the group. It's just something they somehow can pull off because they have the skill and determination to, not something of their natural color. Neither it follows the current crushy trend. When I saw the group covered Seventeen's "Oh My", I thought the group should followed this concept, which no prominent girl group in the market was doing. Woollim let this chance slide and the concept was shortly later used by Weeekly and somewhat successful. K-pop market has expanded that many girl groups have experienced the soaring CD sale while Rocket Punch's sale has dropped further. With the quality of members and the power of the agency, the group should have sold 50k+ already. Looking at fellow labelmate Golden Child, its situation is better only because some members have managed to garner attention from variety shows or dramas. Nothing impressive about this group regarding its musical career. Perhaps, Rocket Punch will need to follow suite, praying if some members can be recognized via variety shows or dramas.
I don't necessarily think the retro concept is bad, I quite like that... I just think the songs are bad and the styling choices for the promotion are sometimes off. Especially for Juri, I've only like one or two outfits so far. I hope they can hire some people to make actually good music. I don't know Golden Child's music, but I do like Eunbi's music so far.
"Chiquita" itself is not bad at all and it unarguably is better than "Ring Ring", more catchy and more upbeat. The very problem was that this concept did feel as if it was meant especially for Rocket Punch. It did not look and sound like something tailor made just for them. It felt like the boss just threw something he liked onto them. Retro also has been fallen out of trend. Even if it were a retro song as good as "La Di Da", "I Can't Stop Me", "We Ride" or "So Bad", it would not feel "just right" on Rocket Punch still. I'm not a big fan of Chiquita costume but, Twice rarely wears something that really looks good and, Red Velvet occasionally wears something highly cringe-worthy. Rocket Punch remains superior in term of costume over these 2 top groups. So, overall, Woollim is doing fine on Rocket Punch's costume. Eunbi's Door fell flat on me and the song was not charted. I love "Esper" but it was a song by Universe, not Woollim. I totally forgot Drippin's existence. The group is that nugu. Welp. Easy-off daepyonim needs to get his shit together.
SBS Inkigayo - 'Chiquita' (220327) if the video does not show watch the video here if the video does not show watch the video here
Stage performances from Mubeat Live: if the video does not show watch the video here if the video does not show watch the video here
Rocket Punch with Kagawa Yu if the video does not show watch the video here Juri & Sohee in Strange World challenge with Suyeon & Tsuki of Billie if the video does not show watch the video here If I remember right, mubeat live with MC Eunbi was not subbed the last time I watched. It's subbed now. if the video does not show watch the video here
'Behind' video of the last week of 'CHIQUITA' promotions: if the video does not show watch the video here
Suyunkyoung tested COVID positive, isolate for the time being. https://twitter.com/balloon_wanted/status/1512219825904398341?s=21&t=GsD_wYfm3MaDUCGZNC7Wpg Another interview with Thai outlet (Eng subbed) if the video does not show watch the video here
Rocket Punch plays "fist and last" game if the video does not show watch the video here I think some questions were pretty interesting so, I translated it wholly. I don't wanna risk copyright strike subbing and uploading the video yet, I'll be glad if someone will risk in my behalf. *** is the name of question submitter I omitted 'coz lazy. YH: Ketchy, All: Miss you. YH: Now, questions Thai Ketchy submitted have reached Rocket Punch. Members ourselves will read and answer them. SY: Question from *** Rocket Punch releases EP as colored punch collection 4 times. In your opinion, what should the color for the next EP be? And, what concept? JR: Well. I think ... orange. JR: Orange color and freshness. We suit freshness ... or something energetic, I think. YK: I like that. SY: Nice. SH: *** asks "If you are to define 'Chiquita' with 1 word, what definition each of you will provide? SH: With 1 word. YH: I'll go first. SY: Let's go by our position. YK: Let's start with Juri unni. YH: Give us some time to think. YH: Ok. YK: I'm ready. SY: May we start? SY: For Suyun, Chiquita's light. SH: For me, it's "snipe". YH: For me, runway. DH: Refreshment. YK: For me, Rocket Punch. JR: Punch. YH: Next, *** asks "If you could switch body with another member for a day, which member will you choose and why? SH: For me ... YH: Who? SH: You may go first. YH: You tell us first who. SH: For this promotion, it's Suyun. The reason is the chorus part. YH: This part. SH: I love it lots. DH: Ah. You love that part. YH: You wanna sing that part, right? SH: I wanna try singing. YH: Can you sing to us? SY: I'll help. YH: Ready. Go. YK: Good job. DH: You sang well. YK: What's this? YH: Scratch scratch. SH: I wanna sing this part. SY: I see. It sounded nice. YH: You sang well. YH: Next question. DH: *** asks "If all members come to Thailand, what's the first thing each member wanna eat?" SY: Let's start from Juri unni. JR: Mango smoothie. SY: I thought of the same answer. JR: Eat together. YK: I can't pick just one. I wanna go to the market and eat everything. DH: Tom-yam-koong. YH: My answer is similar to unni. They are mango carts there, right? YK: Yeah. YH: Mango from those tastes best. (I guess she meant freshly cut mango. Thai fruit carter is pretty famous for nimbly cut fruit right at the spot.) JR: Yas. SH: I wanna eat tom-yam-koong too. SY: For me, poo-pat-pong-garee. DH: Sounded yummy. YK: *** asks "During the preparation for the Yellow Punch comeback, was there any anecdote?" YH: During the preparation? YK: I have one. We had voice recording, right? Voice practice rooms attach. Funnily, I heard high notes from a room, rapping from the next room and, someone was singing "Chiquita~ wah". They were somehow harmonious. SY: And, it was that one time, I sang "So what ..." It must be Yunkyoung. "So what nae mame sseok deulge, shout up jigeumi joeunde". Suddenly, the next room sang continuously "So shout up". It's went seamlessly. SH: Right after you, right? DH: I can relate. SY: It popped up in my head that we might as well use the same room. YK: Next question. JR: *** asks "If you have the chance to collab with Joox to release Thai version, which song from Yellow Punch each Rocket Punch's member will choose for Thai remake? Is there a chance that we will hear your sweet voices in Thai version in near future?" YH: Sure. Of course. JR: Let's go. YH: If there's chance, we'll embrace it. We wanna sing in Thai for Thai Ketchy. YK: Seriously. JR: We wish to sing you a fun song. YH: Which song each of you wanna sing in Thai? YK: I wanna sing our title song in Thai. JR: Chiquita? SY: Yes. I wanna sing all our title songs. YH: I choose Bim Bam Bum. JR: That'll be so fun. SY: That gonna be good. YH: It'll be our first Thai release, right? I wanna introduce our beginning. That'll be nice. SY: Agree. SY; *** asks "What's the meaning of "Chiquita"? SY: Chiquita is a Spanish work mean "little girl". However, in our title song, it's kind of an interjection to catch your memory. YH: It's interjection. SY: Yeah. Interjection. SH: *** asks "If you are to describe the relationship between Rocket Punch and Ketchy in 1 word, what word will it be? YK: 1 word? YH: This is ... SH: How may I describe? It's impossible. YH: I have 1 word. YK: What's it? YH: Destiny. DH: I thought about that word too. JR: Destiny ~ YH: There's a proverb I love, small chances ... Nope. "Small incidences are knitted into a chance. Small chances are knitted into a destiny." YK: Yeah. YH: I love this proverb. You Ketchy might see us by chances but, as you welcome us into your hearts, those chances may become destiny. I wanna walk this destined path with all Ketchy. SY: So cool. DH: Wow. YH: *** asks "If you have a chance to come to Thailand, aside from concert, what else do you wanna do with Thai Ketchy? SY: What should we do? YH: Group photo? SH: Good. YH: The cameraman must stand at a very far distance. YK: Every of us must be in the frame. SY: Shooting from a far distance. YH: Yes. Everyone must be seen. A very high definition. DH: Whole group photo. YK: Next. DH: *** asks "If you dye your hair a new color, what color do each of you want?" YH: Do you want any color not one you currently wearing? SY: For Suyun, I've said for a long time that I want to try red hair. YH: Anticipating. DH: So hot. YH: Red hair on you piques my curiosity greater than black one. SY: Really? DH: Yeah. YH: I could somehow imagine how black hair would turn out. But, red hair's beyond my imagination. SY: Really? This is why I wanna try red hair. SH: That's a bold color. YH: To think about it, I wanna see red hair on Yunkyoung too. You 2, go dying together. YK: Dye together? SY: Dye together? DH: How about we becoming Red Punch? JR: 01'z YK: 01'z in red hair. Ok. SY: Let's try together. YK: Well. *** asks "What activities do Rocket Punch want to try in Thailand such as, elephant riding, banana boat, camping. YK: I badly wanna try banana boat. YH: Me too. DH: Yes. YK: Someone said "Yunkyoung can't ride it." I'll ride anyway. JR: *** asks "If you have a chance to hold concert in Thailand, will you sing any Thai song?" JR: Of course, I want. DH: Definitely. YH: I wanna cover Thai song as surprise event. YK: Surprise. SY: I've long thought about this. I don't know if it's ok to say here. SY: If we ever hold a concert tour in Thailand, LA or Paris etc., I wanna sing a song in which is the name of that city. YH: Advance preparation. SY: Such as, Paris in the Rainbow. That's gonna be good. YH: Let's sing together. YK: *** asks "If there is another you in the mirror like in the Chiquita MV and that you pop out, where do you wanna go or, what do you wanna do with the other you from the mirror? YK: Eh? There is Ketchy in the mirror, huh? YH: No. It meant what you would play with yourself. YK: Ah. How I would play with myself, right? DH: Better be Ketchy. SY: I guess you wanna have fun with Ketchy. YH: You wanna play with Ketchy. YK: To play with myself's creepy. Creepy. YK: Can I play with Ketchy or member? SH: It's creepy. YH: I won't be able to play. YK: Let me play with a member instead. YH: Yeah. YH: We Rocket Punch received a chance to communicate heartily with Thai fans through Joox. Right? YH: They were some innovative questions. YH: It's been our pleasure to communicate with Thai Ketchy through Joox like this. YH: From now onward, please give us Rocket Punch love handsomely. YH: You've been with us Rocket Punch. Wonder if this means anything. Joox is an affiliate of Sanook, which is an affiliate of Tencent. Joox is the most popular music streaming platform in Thailand. There is another interview with CH3. I'll later translate it.
I don't think it's been discussed. Suyun buffed up during last comeback. Sohee's kinda buffed too but she was never so skinny so, it was not as big of a change as Suyun. I omitted parts like introduction and farewell as they were redundant and I was lazy. if the video does not show watch the video here Have any of you visited Thailand? JR: It's Juri. I've visited Thailand. There was the car so-called "tukutuku (tuk tuk)". That famous and cute car. I traveled on that car around the city. YK: That must be nice. JR: It's relaxing. I wish I can ride tukutuku again and take photos with members. Have you learnt any Thai message for Thai fans? YH: There is that sentence fans say to me during fansign "Chan rak Yeonhee (I love Yeonhee)." YH: Narak Ketchy (Ketchy cute). (Correctly, it must be "Ketchy narak" as Thai syntax goes [noun > subjective] and never [subjective > noun].) YH: Rakmakmak (Love you tons). All: Love you Ketchy. Muah muah. SY: To Thai Ketchy, we've had no chance to visit Thailand. I wish we will have a chance to perform before you and show good image. SY: We'll work hard so we'll get the chance to visit Thailand. Please wait. Tell us about Yellow Punch mini album. YK: It's named Yellow Punch as the concept is models struting on the runway. Yellow has bright image. Also, yellow is the color closest to the light. We think it will be the color to show our luminance. So, we've come back with Yellow Punch. SH: The lyric says about following one's heart. We express our confidence through the performance. How many songs are there in the album? What song each of you like most? YK: Including the intro, they're 6 tracks. SY: For me ... Argh. A moment please. For Yellow Punch, it has to be Chiquita. SH: I like Chiquita most too. YH: I'll be less conventional as they are many good songs. Among them, I love "In My World". Also, this costume was worn for In My World stage. Come on to my world. DH: Initially, I loved In My World but, recently, I'm hooked to our intro. The song "Yellow Punch" brims me with feeling thus, I love it. SY: Yellow Punch's seriously good. YK: Mine changes daily. Anyway, today, I'm jamming to Balloon, the 4th track. It's so good. JR: I love Louder. This song's so cool and fun. I recommend this song to Thai Ketchy since Thailand's hot. I wish you play with song while strolling outside. Which artist do each of you admire? SY: You must have known this, right? I love Rose of Black Pink. SH: Love confession. SY: Rose Black Pink's my role model. They're many things I wanna learn from her. If I meet her, I wanna confess my feeling. SH: For me ... Is it alright if it's male? YH: Of course. SH: I love Bobby of iKon for a long time. His stage charisma's no joke. I'm learning this from him. I greatly admire him. YH: I have many. But, for singing, it's IU. When we're trainees, every times she released a new song, we'd practice it. Thus, I wish to meet IU. DH: Actually, I love Black Pink too. You inspire me to follow you. YK: I was aspired to be idol after seeing the performance of Girls' Generation. So, I madly admire them. I've been learning to fix where I'm short of by watching you. JR: I love Wendy of Red Velvet. She's full of energy and she rocks any concept. She's so professional. We did radio broadcast together and she's so sweet. Once the COVID's gone, what's the first thing you wanna do? Where do you first wanna go? YK: First thing I wanna do is to see Ketchy. YH: Honestly, I want nothing but to see Ketchy and perform. YK: Yeah. YH: That's the first thing we wanna do. YK: The place I wanna go first is the stage with Ketchy. SH: Yeah. YH: I wanna go everywhere Ketchy exists. If you have a chance to come to Thailand, what's the menu you wanna eat most? SY: Poo-pat-pong-garee YH: I was about to say that. SH: Tom-yam-koong. YH: The local one tastes differently. JR: The fruit in Thailand's sick. There's that one dessert with mango. SY: Shaved ice with mango. (Nope. Juri definitely meant "mango with sticky rice" - khao-niaw-ma-muang.) JR: Members love fruit. I want them to taste such dessert. SY: I'm already thrilled.
