Crystal Kay stars on Hanil Top Ten Show and debuts her first ever televised performance in Korean

A screenshot of Crystal Kay performing “Koi ni Ochitara” on the Hanil Top Ten Show.

In a moment which is LONG overdue, Crystal Kay made an appearance on Korean television — Hanil Top Ten. This show is kinda like Kōhaku Uta Gassen, except the teams are red and blue instead of red and white, and the teams are split by Japanese and Korean singers, instead of men and women. Yeah…I do wonder how Kōhaku Uta Gassen would handle nonbinary singers.

HENNYWAY.

Kay’s appearance on Hanil Top Ten follows Mika Nakashima’s appearance on the show in January. It goes without saying that Kay sang the shit out of everything she performed. But as a long time fan, the best part of Kay’s appearance was seeing the adoration that the hosts and guests had for her as she sang. Every 20 seconds there was a gasp or a cut to a reaction of somebody making a stank face. I don’t think Kay has ever really received such receptions or reactions in Japan in quite the same way, despite being somebody who has always been a talented singer who has sounded better than most of the guests who perform on the likes of Music Station and CDTV Live! Live!.

A screenshot of Crystal Kay on the Hanil Top Ten Show, standing on stage with two of the hosts.

One thing about these singing talent show / singing showcase type of shows in Korea, is that the guests and audiences genuinely do appreciate a bitch who can actually sing. Not that weak sauce we be hearing in K-pop. So everybody was being super responsive to Kay’s performances. It would be nice if more TV shows in Japan acknowledged and focused on acts who can actually sing, but I know that’s an order as tall as Skytree.

Kay performed three songs, starting with “Koi no Ochitara”. Because…obviously.

Kay’s voice just gets better and better with time. And I never really appreciated how difficult this song can be to sing until now. That pre-chorus is particular is a bitch. “Koi ni Ochitara” was never a song that Kay struggled to sing live in the past. But you could hear that it required effort for her to sing it as close to how she sounds on the recording as possible. But here? She has a whole different approach to tackling it which works for where she feels more comfortable vocally. And you can tell that she is at a whole new level of comfort with “Koi ni Ochitara” now, because of the liberties she takes and how she plays around with it. The final run of the chorus where she changed up the timing and the melody? That note at the end? YES bitch.

Where is the live album? Where is the album of self covers?

Girl. Fire the whole management and marketing team.

Kay also performed a cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’ duet “Endless Love” with Son Tae Jin.

Kay had actually featured on this song with Richie himself back in 2012. However it was during that weird period of her career when the prefectural funeral for her 12th studio album, Vivid had already been held and Kay was kinda just…floundering. And in addition to this, the version of “Endless Love” with Kay never got a proper push and received a limited release. Back in 2012 Richie had released Tuskegee — an album of self covers, with each song re-imagined in a Country style and featuring a country act.The re-recording of “Endless Love” on this album featured Shania Twain. And there is also a story personal to Twain which is tied to her being on the song. So the version with Kay made no real sense. It seemed to be a case of the record label saying ‘Put this Japanese girl on this song for Japan’ and that was that. It was great Kay had the experience of meeting Richie and she can now say she is on a song with a music legend. But the whole thing was still weird. Kay’s 2012 album release went triple Family Mart carrier bag. And whilst Richie was still known, he wasn’t super active and was probably more known amongst younger generations at the time for being Nicole Richie’s father rather than for his music. But their cover was nice. Kay sounded great on it then and she sounded great on it here.

But as if this wasn’t enough, Kay decided to flex and also remind the girls that she is in fact Korean and sang Lee Sun Hee’s “Fate” — a bold move considering how well known and highly regarded this song is. But we’re talking about Kay. Somebody who walked out on stage at the Royal Albert Hall and sang “Eyes On Me”, a song which Final Fantasy fans hold dear and are quick to dismiss any version of the song which isn’t Faye Wong’s. But still. This was different because she was singing a song in a language she isn’t fluent in.

Based on emotion and singing technique alone, this performance was gorgeous. Kay really does shine when singing ballads. So it’s a shame that her record label hasn’t done a better job of having her push a really strong ballad with a J-drama tie in as a single. Ballads highlight so many qualities of Kany’s voice and ability to convey emotions that uptempo songs do not showcase.

Kay should definitely consider releasing Korean music. After all, she is Korean. And I think it would be so amazing for her to learn Korean and release music in it. Not just to broaden the access people have to her music, but to provide something which is so new and fresh for her creatively. And I think Kay would gain so much reconnecting to a part of herself which is tied to her mother, who is Korean. So I really hope her experience on Hanil Top Ten makes her consider this, especially given that two of her closest friends in the music business are also Korean — BoA and Verbal.

A screenshot of Crystal Kay on the Hanil Top Ten Show.

It was so nice to get to see Kay be in her element. One thing about Kay, is that despite not always having as many opportunities to perform as she should have and deserves, she really does love to sing and perform. And she is such a showoman. Looking to those on the stage, interacting with them and truly being present in the moment with them. And it was so nice to see that some of the guests on the show had actually heard of Kay, knew “Koi ni Ochitara” and seemed genuinely happy to be in her presence. They all knew she was that girl and it was so nice to see Kay receive such a level of adoration that she’s probably not received since the first season of The Masked Singer Japan.