Throwback Thursday: Best Collaboration Stages Part 1
It’s not often that we see collaborations happen in K-Pop, especially when it comes to live performances. Often these uncommon stages occur during special music broadcast episodes that highlight milestones, or more often during the end-of-the-year music programs that are much more intricate and detailed. This week, we are going to look at some of the best collaboration stages in K-Pop!
The JYP Special - GOT7, SEVENTEEN, GFRIEND, & TWICE
Taking place during SBS’s Gayo Daejun in 2016, these four idol groups got together to perform some of the biggest songs to come from JYP Entertainment. A few TWICE members kicked off the collaboration stage with their rendition of Sunmi’s “24 Hours,” before GFRIEND joined to cover the all-time classic “Tell Me” by the Wonder Girls. But what heats up the stage even more is when the ladies are joined by some of the GOT7 and SEVENTEEN members to perform JYP’s “Who’s Your Mama?” Albeit a short stage, it leaves you wanting more and to see more interactions between the groups! You can’t deny you wish that their collaboration stage was just a bit longer!
Girl Power - 2NE1 & Lee Hi
What better stage is there than both 2NE1 and Lee Hi switching things up by covering each other’s songs? The ferocity of this stage proved that these are YG’s leading ladies (at least at the time) and they are here to make a statement. Effortless is the word for this particular collaboration stage, with 2NE1 covering the first verse of “1,2,3,4” before leading up to Lee Hi finishing the rest of her debut song, bringing instant chills. We wish that CL’s rap was part of the original song! Lee Hi kicking off 2NE1’s “I Love You” will have you in awe. It’s no wonder why fans were screaming at the top of their lungs for this performance, and we wish we were there to witness this greatness live. Let’s not forget to mention that their collaboration stage set up to rival labelmates BIGBANG in their special performance.
GOTX in LA - GOT7 & MONSTA X
Now this particular collaboration stage came from KCON LA in 2015, which put MONSTA X against GOT7 in a heated dance battle. This was the first time that both male idol groups had made their KCON appearance, and they brought their A game to the stage. It was honestly too short of a stage, and we need to see GOTX reunite once more to bring another fiery performance. Can we have more Shownu and Yugyeom in a friendly dance competition? Additionally, next time can the duo collaborate so that it’s more of a joint performance rather than these two groups standing on different sides of the stage?
The Sexy Match Up - 4Minute & MBLAQ
Taking it all the way back, especially to when these two groups were in their prime, MBLAQ and 4Minute teamed up to bring a hot special stage together. More recently in K-Pop, we do not often get collaboration stages like this, but these two groups have been known to interact with each other back then. For this particular special stage both groups had their moment to dance with their respective groups, before it moves on to the two groups dancing to Justin Timberlake’s “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows Interlude” together. It’s not the most intricate or complex collaboration, but it definitely had fans going wild in the crowd. Don’t try and hide the fact that we all have shipped these two groups together at one point; we are all guilty of it!