Immortal Songs 2 (Korean Music Show)

[dreamalley]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd open a thread about this KBS tv show I love.

For those who don't know this is a weekly music show that celebrates classic/older Korean songs. Different singers/artists are invited each week to perform. Each week has a theme: usually a specific legendary artist/band or a holiday/theme (like Spring).
The challenge is: the singers choose a song about that artist/theme, arrange/change it as they like and then perform it on the show.
The audience (a total of 500 people) votes each performance if they like it. The singer with the most votes wins the episode in the end.
Some performances are just simple singing while others are a huge circus with tons of dancers, choir, props, acrobats and so on.

Maybe you've already heard of the show because an idol you like already performed there. Usually in each episode there's at least one idol/group.

It's very easy to watch the shows. KBS posts them on YouTube with English subs, every Saturday, one week after they air. There are available episodes since late 2013 until now. Here's the playlist.

It takes a little while to get used to it, but once you do you'll get hooked.

What I love the most about this show is that you can find out more about Korean music history, which artists marked the 70s, 80s, 90s and so on. There's a whole world beyond Kpop. Not only the legendary artists but the performers themselves. Sometimes you'll watch a performance by an unknown singer that just blows you away with their talent.

If you're scared and don't know where to start, here are a few noteworthy episodes to get you going:
- Yim Jaebeum Episode
- Seol Special Episode
- Yoon Bock Hee Episode

KBS also posts a few (not all) clips of the individual performances. Here are a few noteworthy ones:











If you watch it, list your favorite performances. If you don't watch it yet, what are you waiting for?

[Uknow!]

ALi was incredible in that performance.

I'm going to post some of my faves.

[dreamalley]

Originally Posted by Uknow!

ALi was incredible in that performance.

I'm going to post some of my faves.

It's so interesting to see other people's favorites.

The performances you liked the most are the ones that usually leave me cold. I usually prefer the solo singing performances.

There's something for everyone.

[Andrenekoi]

[owlflight]

Love this show! I wish that they would release the audio of the performances so I could listen to my favorites whenever I'm away from YouTube. Son Seung Yeon and Sohyang are amazing!

[dreamalley]

Originally Posted by owlflight

Love this show! I wish that they would release the audio of the performances so I could listen to my favorites whenever I'm away from YouTube. Son Seung Yeon and Sohyang are amazing!

They do release the audio! In fact, I think that's their main source of income/funding. I think after each performance you can go to Melon (their "korean iTunes") and buy the song you liked.

Plus, they release each episode as a singles album.

You can find a few of those online:
- Here or here or here. (I wish that blog had an actual Immortal Song tag so it would be easier)

These sound quality is much better than what you hear watching the performances.

[owlflight]

^Can someone outside of Korea use that service? That would be amazing if I could because the show has so many great performances.

[dreamalley]

I have no idea. :\ never tried it before! But Melon doesn't seem to have an option to see the page in English.