Key's completely awesome and here's a few reasons why.

Been writing a lot of research-y fandom issue serious business posts lately so I wanted to do something a little fun. I've been rewatching a few old fancams lately and decided I wanted to compile a few videos I totally adore so here we have it: The Key appreciation post ^.^

I have a lot of love for the rest of SHINee so I think I'll throw together a few posts like this for destress purposes in the future. ^.^

I dunno about you guys, but one of my favorite things come concert time is anticipating what sort of solo work SHINee's going to pump out. I'm very rarely disapointed. When SHINee World Concert 3 rolled around and there was no solos I couldn't actually bring myself to be too upset because we got solos at SHINee's Anniversary showcase and The Wizard.



Cover of Take A Bow by Rihanna

This video was practically sent from the gods. I'm starting with this one because it might be my favorite Key solo of all time. It really is completely gorgeous. I love how into this song Key is. His English gives me complete full body shivers and the way he casually strips off that leopard print scarf at the beginning, and then the jacket later is just a celebration of everything that's beautiful about Key's body language. I love the way Key emotes; he's a true performer and this is a really good, early example of the spark Kim Kibum has on stage.

Bonus points for all the girls going completely mental when he takes his jacket off keke.

Cover of Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas

So I know a lot of people had a lot of things to say about this cover, however short it was, but I loved it. I love any time Key shows off his beautiful English pronunciation (does this count as a fetish maybe O.o). I also love how much attitude he has. Again it's a really awesome showcase of Key's stage presence and charisma. Key rapping really is such a treat OTL.

Bonus points for how cute and into Key's rapping Jonghyun and his other SHINee boys are.

Cover of Just Dance by Lady Gaga

This is actually the whole of SHINee but I think I nearly screamed when I saw they'd covered Lady Gaga. I love Lady Gaga so much. She's amazing. There was a bit of controversy surrounding this performance because SHINee's choreographer apparently stole this choreography from a somewhat youtube famous dance group. Which unfortunately overshadowed how freaking awesome this is. I love the ridiculous costumes. They all look so freaking adorable and tiny to my eyes now. At the time I remember I hated Taemin's outfit with a burning passion: now I kind of look back on it fondly and giggle ^.^;;; I also adore how Gaga-esque Key looks in his sunglasses and patchy, metallic, glittery, geometric ensemble. As always, SHINee kill it with their stage presence.

Bonus points for Super Junior and SNSD awkwardly pretending to be in a club in the background o.O. Double Bonus points for Sungmin who is adorably into his SHINee dongsaengs.

Cover of Hair and Judas by Lady Gaga

While we're on the topic of Lady Gaga; I think this performance actually changed my life. Call me insane, I don't care. I think I was lying on the ground and sobbing when the tweets starting coming out from SWC2 and people were saying Key was covering Lady Gaga's Hair and Judas. Had the very extremely fortunate opportunity to see SWC2 in Singapore with a very close friend. To this day probably the best vacation I've ever been on ^.^ My friend is a HUGE Taemin fan so I got to hold her when him and Jonghyun performed Internet War and she was probably making sure I was still breathing when Key came out to do Hair. I mentioned earlier I love Lady Gaga and I feel like she's such an opinionated, passionate artist. It's fascinating that Key obviously has respect and admiration for her work and I like to think it's a reflection of his open mindedness and his compassion and respect. Say what you like about Lady Gaga but she's an amazing woman in my opinion and so is Kim Kibum.

Completely immature of me, but bonus points for getting to hear Key say 'ear condom'

This is a shorter fancam but beautiful and clear. There are tonnes more on youtube with the full performance!

Xiahtic by DBSK's Junsu featuring Kibum

After that brief detour into the future let's rewind back to 2009 when Key made a surprise appearance in DBSK Junsu's self composed solo from their Mirotic tour. Once upon a time I was completely in love with DBSK, before SHINee so I was pleasantly surprised when Key popped up here. I have a feeling it was part of SM's usual ploy to make a united SM Town fandom out of individual fan groups. I have this theory that their master plan is to unite all SM groups fans and make an army o.O. But conspiracy theories aside, I don't think Key and Junsu are particularly close friends so much as coworkers so this was adorably awkward to my mind. Especially since at the time SHINee and girls was just....no. No. Nowadays Key's kissed and touched so many sexy older women we don't even blink anymore but seeing baby Key surrounded by dirty dancers makes me laugh uncomfortably now.

The Key action starts at about 3:25.

Bonus points for Junsu and Key awkwardly body rolling at each other. At the time I was sobbing and rolling around but with age and hindsight it just makes me giggle ^.^;;;

Cover of Barbie Girl by Jessica featuring Key



While we're on the topic of Baby Key featuring in fellow SM concerts, we can't leave this sparkling gem out. Never mind that Jessica probably made a bad choice doing Barbie Girl because....well I don't think Aqua were being all that innocent when they wrote the lyrics >.> This makes me cringe and giggle and squeal all at the same time. I would absolutely love to show Key this video now and watch him die of embarrassment. He's completely adorable and his English certainly isn't up to the standard it is now, but I think that's what makes it so cute ^.^;;;

Bonus points for the adorable little butt wiggle in the awkwardly cute choreo OTL ....and the way Key kind of maybe looks like his soul is dying while singing Ken's parts kekeke


Cover of Like a G6 by Far East Movement


Key jamming to this at all the various SM Town's this was performed at was absolute gold. One of the things I totally adore about him is that when he's performing he completely let's go and gives it his all. He doesn't bother with being self conscious or worrying about looking silly. He just lets go and feels it and it makes watching him a total joy to watch.



This. fancam. gah.

The way Key crosses one beautiful leg over the other. The blue Doc Martens, the multi-coloured cow print jacket. The spunky sunglasses and the way his soft cotton candy pink, caramel blonde hair floats around his face like he's an angel descent from heaven to warn us that we sober girls be acting drunk around him and it's completely natural. The attitude as he pulls of his sunglasses and proceeds to lay on his tummy on the stage and pierce our souls through the camera with his beautiful cat-like gaze ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ ㅠ.ㅠ This is the bonus.


Cover of We Are Golden by Mika



I was blessed enough to see this one live as well at SHINee's 5th Anniversary party last year. Key was the last solo performance for the night and at that point we SHAWols had already been on an emotional roller coaster. Jonghyun was finally back just in time for the anniversary after his unfortunate traffic accident circa Why So Serious era and Onew had brought half the room to tears with his In Your Eyes performance. Minho had everyone squealing and rolling around and hitting friends and neighbors alike with his adorable rendition of One Day and Taemin did a cover of the classic Seoshi (which is one of my fav songs ever so I was really really excited~!Links here, I really love this Taemin solo SO SO much: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcTmHgTLK_g) And then Key, who at this point we'd mostly come to expect female pop song covers from, completely shocked the entire room with this golden little number.

I think my friend who was sitting next to me still has scars from where I grabbed her arm and just about died. This might be the ultimate example of why I have so much respect for Key as a stage performer. A completely ridiculous post came from this solo that slammed Key's singing ability (I have so much to say about that, first of which being that the performance is only available in fancam form so therefore only available distorted and covered in screaming), but that's not even the point of this performance. The point is that beyond just singing, Key is able to embody a character on stage and bring it to life. More than being a singer, he's a performer. He can grab people's attention above and keep it and everything he does is so thorough and well thought out from the costuming to the character. He also seems to have a passion for youth anthems, songs like Lady Gaga's Hair, Mika's We Are Golden and Katie Perry's Firework. I think this post is just a pile of gushy nonsense at the end of the day, but that's just how much love and respect Key is able to inspire in this little old fangirl ^.^

Cover with Jonghyun of Daeng Daeng Daeng by Supreme Team


Once again Key blew all expectations of him out of the water by doing this hit song with our dearly talented and equally obnoxiously heart palpitation inducing Kim Jonghyun. This song by Supreme Team was super popular in Korea, I heard it all over the place just playing in shops and restaurants. It's such a fun song but not something I ever would have anticipated from Key or Jjong. It was completely hysterical and I should probably add that this entire concert was like a constant state of nirvana. The Wizard was honestly the funnest event I have ever been too and it just felt like we were at a party with SHINee and we were all jamming together. I don't think I need to say much more about this, it really does speak for itself. The costuming was also SO much fun.

Bonus: Jonghyun tripping out of his little car and telling Key to 'Hurry up!' in his completely adorable English.....Also Jonghyun revisiting his Internet War look with a Christmas twist.....And the infamous 'I say Jjong, you say Key! Jjong! Key! Jjong! Key!'

Cover of Bang Bang by Will I Am


This is completely adorable. I adore the way Key is so comfortable in his skin, so comfortable with English and the way his voice wraps around this melody and these lyrics so gorgeously. This was so much fun and I'm really glad he got the opportunity to do this special stage with the gorgeous Miss Tiffany~! One of the things I love about this stage is that Key looks like he's just having a lot of fun doing it. He has a really fun, casual energy with Tiffany and he did a pretty awesome interpretation of Will I Am's really distinct style. Another proof of Key's diversity as a performer ^.^  Also the choreography in here is stupidly cute, as is the bridge where Key sings 'Oooooooh yeah~! I love my baby!'

Bonus points for Key in a top hat. I mean really, just sit and absorb and appreciate how beautiful it is OTL. Also his infamous manner hands when handling Tiffany. Gah they get me every time; something so sexy about a man with a good set of manner hands ㅠ.ㅠ

Cover of A Story of a Couple in Their 60's


There are some gorgeous performances by the whole of SHINee as well as a beautiful interview in this video but my favourite part is at 13:10 when Key covers something completely different from his normal style. I am completely charmed, bewitched, ensnared by the way his warm, rich voice washes over this song beautifully. It really is a complete pleasure to listen to and the way you can hear his smile while he sings is completely enchanting. I am so in love with this little cover, which is why I left it for almost last. It's also an example of how he sounds in his musicals and how much his musical involvement has improved, enriched and enhanced his unique vocals. I have no words for Key's gorgeous expression at the end.

Bonus points for SHINee playing around like sweet little boys during Key's performance and the for how charmed Yoo Heeyeol is by Key's singing. Extra bonus points for Jjong and Taemin fanboying Key.

And last but not least: Key and Taemin covering Do It Well and SHINee covering Run it by Chris Brown




This video still makes a profound depth of feelings well up inside me. It was the first time we laid eyes on SHINee really and I remember sitting at my computer back when I was in high school and being so impressed by Taemin and Key. I was so so excited when they re-covered this dance routine again on Idol Army with 2pm years later. I love the passion in their dance, you can practically see it radiating from them. This is the SHINee that was still filled with youthful enthusiasm and determination. They've grown comfortable in their role and become a completely different kind of beautiful, grown so much as artists and people. But it's sometimes nice to reflect back on what they were and see how far they've come. I love this performance so much and it was the first time I fell under the spell of Key's beautiful bushy little eyebrows and his passionate dancing. Key really is a jack of all trades.


I really wanted to share Key's cover of Firework but the only video's I could find online were re-upload's of fansites video's so I couldn't include them. I'm not sure, but I think the re-uploads I saw were ripped from fansite dvds so I really don't want to include them here. They are on youtube though and go check them out, because they're also amazing.

So to wrap this post up I want to ask: are there any Key solos I missed that you guys love? Which ones your favourite? What video made you fall in love with SHINee? I'd love to know in the comments down below or via twitter~!