I Like My Leaders

Hi, blog. I'm still alive. Thanks for waiting for me ;)

This post is about a strictly personal phenomenon I have noticed. Here's the background: I have three favorite k-pop male boyband singers.

#1 (in a class totally by himself) Kim Hyun Joong of SS501



#2 (A distant second, but nonetheless adorable) Kim KiBum of UKiss



#3 (Charming in a completely different way, and the major plus is that he's of eligible age) Leeteuk of Super Junior




I was thinking about it recently, and I realized...these lovelies have one thing in common. Beauty? Well, yes, but that's a given. Brains? Also, yes, but not the focus here. Personality? Getting warmer, but not quite.

They're all group leaders.

I didn't set out to go for leaders. I was just naming off my favorites one day and realized it had happened. Now, if you've been a k-pop fan for a while, you're aware of boy (and girl) band hierarchies. Every band has at least a leader and a funny, outgoing person who acts as mouthpiece (think Kangin of SuJu or JungMin of SS501). Depending on the number of members, there is also usually a secondary leader whose style is different from the main leader (HeeChul of SuJu or YoungSaeng of SS501). There may also be a sweet member whose personality is generally popular, a "center" member (KyuJong of SS501, YoonA of SNSD, Eunhyuk of SuJu), and of course there's a maknae, the youngest member, which is a more flexible role because it depends so much on the particular member's personality (i.e. Dongho of UKiss, HyungJoon of SS501, TaeMin of SHINee, and Seungri of Big Bang have far less in common than, say, HyunJoong and LeeTeuk).

Do you find that your taste across groups favors members in the same position, or does your taste span all kinds of members? I guess something about leadership is magnetic to me. Maybe it's the unconscious residue of being a youngest child and naturally feeling comfortable with someone else in the leadership role. I like people who wear authority well, accepting the responsibility but not being too heavy-handed about it. The K-pop world has a lot of these kinds of leaders, and as much as I deplore a lot of the negatives, that's one aspect I applaud.

Are you a girl who goes for Centers? Maknaes? Clowns? Do you gravitate toward leaders like me? Or is it all just random? What do you think?