Crystal Kay performs on the Korean variety show Change Street. (I swear, she’s performing everywhere but in Japan).

A screenshot of Crystal Kay on a powder pink coat and a red braided bob — performing on the Korean variety show, Change Street.

Crystal Kay made an appearance on the Korea variety show Change Street, which is a variety show which brings together Korean and Japanese artists to compete in teams by performing songs. Think of it as a mini Kōhaku Uta Gassen, but instead of a red team and a white team, there’s a South Korean team and a Japanese team. A bit messy, but…okay. The performances are categorised as ‘busking’, but it’s more like luxury busking, if you can even call it that. Because these folk are performing in controlled environments with lights, top notch sound equipment and a live band — it’s a full performance production as it would be if it took place in a studio. It is absolutely not somebody with a bluetooth microphone, a karaoke machine and a jacket on the floor. Ain’t a damn thing about these performance busking. But, because they take place ‘outside’, I guess… [Shrugs]

HENNYWAY.

Crystal Kay featured in an episode, where she performed that damn ‘Kokoro kara’ song. But at least we got a new acoustic style arrangement of it and Crystal sounded great singing it. It really is hard to hate on “Koi ni Ochitara” when it is such a good song. Well… unless it’s the All Time Best 25th Anniversary version, but I’m not getting into that now. That’s a whole other post which already exists.

Crystal Kay really is a bad bitch, because “Koi ni Ochitara” is not an easy song to sing. The verses can really trip you up if you don’t have your breathing technique together. But that B-section is what will really fuck you up, because you have to have good breathing technique AND be fluid enough to go up and go down and then go up again smoothly. The song could be made easier to sing if it’s taken down a step or two into a lower key. But Crystal continues to keep singing this 20 year old song its original key and never falters. AND sounds better than she did when she originally sang it in 2005.

Crystal Kay is a SINGER. Which is why is pisses me off so much that Universal and LDH keep fucking around with her music and her career. Speaking of fucking around with Crystal’s career — Crystal performed “I Love…”, which reminded me of how badly Universal did Crystal by not giving it the push it deserved as a single. The song had the potential to be a big hit for Crystal, had Universal done ANYTHING to support it.

Crystal performed the uptempo version of her cover of “I Love…” for Change Street, which is a shame given that it’s the weaker of the 2 versions. And given that it was the run-up to the holidays when these performances were shot, the festive ballad version would have been fitting for the time. But I get it. “I Love…” was a huge hit for Official Hige Dandism. And there’s a greater likelihood that folk have heard the original, which is uptempo, versus Crystal’s ballad version. But Korea does love a ballad, and the ballad version of “I Love…” is not only better, but Crystal really owns that version and makes the song her own — so it’s a shame she didn’t perform it. But regardless, I’m just glad that we finally have an official live performance of the song on YouTube.

In addition to “Koi ni Ochitara” and “I Love…”, Crystal also performed her cover of Spitz’s “Kaede”, which is a standout from her cover album I Sing. This was such a nice surprise. “Kaede” would have made for a great single, especially for the holidays, as it’s so cozy. The cool thing about this cover though is that it has a whole different arrangement to the version on I Sing — flipping it into more of a winter ballad. And this version right here would definitely have made for a nice single. And it still could. Crystal. Sweetie. Get this live version up on streaming. We need more official releases of your live performances. Why do we not have any? Actually… Where is the live album?

Girl. Fire the whole management, marketing and legal team.

Not my overly emotional ass tearing up at seeing Crystal’s mother in the crowd. Crystal’s mother is Korean. So I imagine that it was a crazy feeling to be watching her daughter — who by blood, is also Korean — perform in Korea for a Korean TV show.

Crystal Kay on Change Street | ENA

Korea is such a good look for Crystal Kay. She herself is Korean. And a memorable part of her music career has been her partnership with M-Flo — one of the members of which is Korean. And then there is BoA’s relationship with BoA — who is also Korean, with whom she has recorded two songs and maintained a close friendship with. Crystal had also recorded a song with Korean singer Sung Si-kyung for his Japanese album Kimi ga iruyo in 2018. Had a song on her album Spin the Music produced by JYP Entertainment founder Jay Park. Last year Crystal appeared on Hanil Top Ten Show, where she gave her first live performance in Korean and was shown so much love. And Crystal also features in a KBS documentary about music acts with Korean roots who are active outside of Korea. Crystal has continually had a creative connection to Korea, so she should make something more of it. Represent. Damn.

Crystal having a career where she straddles Japan, Korea and the US with live shows might be the angle for her. She’s not so huge in any one market that it wouldn’t be possible. So she may as well put her finger in all of the pies.

But one thing about Korea is they love their variety shows with platforms for those who can actually sing, and this is where you see ‘older’ women of Korean music who can actually sing. So her booking these shows every now would be a great look for her to get videos of her up on YouTube performing. Because we know Japanese networks ain’t uploading shit. And even if they were, they ain’t booking Crystal to perform anyway.

It’s all so annoying, because Crystal Kay is so talented, which feels like a rarity in this current age of music where genuine music talent signed to major labels feels scarce.

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Crystal Kay performs on the Korean variety show Change Street. (I swear, she’s performing everywhere but in Japan).

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