#ATEEZ_x_LAPOEM

ATEEZ's Answer: Ode to Joy featured La Poem 

To begin with, I have to confess my total ignorance of the world of K-pop idol groups. These days, there seems to be so many idol groups, and they look all the same to me. Despite the global fame and popularity of BTS, I've got aware of the members of BTS rather recently and have just started to pay attention to their music. 

So, when I found out that La Poem would be collaborating with a K-pop boy group ATEEZ on Mnet, I didn't know what to think. I vaguely remembered ATEEZ having performed on the KBS TV show "Immortal Songs: Singing the Legend" last year because La Poem also performed for the same legend Turbo. The TV show must have given ATEEZ and La Poem a good chance to get acquainted with each other. 

About a week prior to the Mnet TV show Kingdom: Legendary War, La View and ATINY (referring to ATEEZ fans) got busy with learning about each other. Particularly, ATINY showed great interest in La Poem and their songs, visiting YouTube websites that show La Poem's performances. As reading ATINY's comments on these websites, I was surprised about the global scope of ATINY. They seemed to be coming from all over the world. Given the fact that La Poem's activities have been restricted domestically, I wish La Poem moved to more global stages and were known to people around the world. 

On May 27, ATEEZ's "Answer: Ode to Joy" featuring La Poem was aired on Mnet. 

After I watched the show, my kneejerk reaction was that more air time should have been given to La Poem. Forgive me if it appears that my eyes are only directed to La Poem. I am a La View. I can't help it.

I was certainly not disappointed at La Poem's performance, though. La Poem's Ode to Joy brought a dramatic shift to the song and accentuated the feeling of joy. Here's a review on the dramatic shift delivered by La Poem: 

"What was really interesting about this version of Answer was despite the thrilling momentum of the rock sound, they cut it completely to make way for a bit of classical opera. La Poem was featured to deliver this opera. It was a brief interlude before an intense drumming to bring back and rock influences with the opera together. It was the best bit of the performance." 

(excerpted from KPOPREVIEWED, [Special] Kingdom: Legendary War Review - NO LIMIT EP 8 & 9)

Image from Ateez official twitter

Watching the performance over and over again, I got hooked on the tune of the song and the dance moves of ATEEZ. ATEEZ's dance style--masculine, controlled body movements made in sync--is a type of style that I tend to like. 

I also found out that ATEEZ's performance had a storyline. The story seems to be connected with their past performances. For this reason, ATINY felt a deep connection with this particular performance. For them, it's like a secret message sent from ATEEZ to ATINY.

 After eavesdropping here and there, I was able to gather a sort of plot regarding this performance. The masked guys in white are bad guys. The ATEEZ members and the guys wearing black clothes with the hat on (referred to as Halateez) are in alliance, fighting the bad guys together. In the end, ATEEZ defeat the bad guys.   

A K-pop fan calling herself K-Pop Mom reacted to this performance on her YouTube channel. She appears to have a good grasp of the story behind this performance. She, who happens to be German, was also impressed by the fact that La Poem sang in German. 

In addition to her interesting story behind this performance, her emotional reaction is contagious. I liked her reaction and would like to share it here. 

I never imagined that I would participate in voting for a K-pop group and streaming a YouTube video diligently to get the group a higher score. Well, when I was voting for La Poem last summer, I guess I already stepped into uncharted territory. Learning about ATEEZ is perhaps a gift from the new land. I wish ATEEZ great success going forward.