Frank Kogan

In any of these songs, the two I embedded and the ones you linked/embedded, is there anything that you would say is distinctly Korean? (Interpret that question any way you want.)

I like the singing and phrasing of the Sunny song (even when she's out of tune), but the overall melody is in-one-ear-and-out-the-other for me. That's on one listen. I have the same reaction to the Sung Si Kyung; I like the smoothness, he doesn't ick up the thing with sugar, but again I don't find myself humming it afterwards. My reaction to the HwanHee isn't hatred. My reaction is basically negligible, though I recognize he isn't a good singer. I do kind of like the lift in the singing that occurs at around 2:18; maybe that's the part you'd classify as an annoying wailing climax.

Unrelated specifically to ballads, what's your impression of Sunny? After watching some clips here and there of Invincible Youth, I had the idea that if Sunny has a strong analytic mind and an interest in, say, economics, she could conceivably become a political figure, say president of Korea, or secretary general of the U.N. A natural leader. I mean, assuming she worked to become it, not just on the basis of her being in SNSD and on Invincible Youth. If not politics, she's probably set for life as a talk-show host, if singing doesn't continue to pan out for her.